New things for homeless lunch

So here's a struggle I'm going through right now - there were many many amazing things that happened over the course of the last months... there are also amazing things happening right now. So while I'd like to back track and give more details, I also don't want to skip what is current - so expect a mix.

I have been reading a book called "Compassion, Justice and the Christian Life: Rethinking Ministry to the Poor." The incredible Jim Clark recommended this book to me, and if you have any interest in helping with development of the repressed I strongly recommend it to you.

This book claims that the mark of a good leader is that "when it's all over, the ones being led will say, 'we did it ourselves.'" Interesting... kind of like when Jesus sends out 70 followers to share his message saying, "the harvest is plenty but the workers are few. Pray to the Lord of the harvest that He will send workers into the harvest. Now go..." He wanted them to feel responsibility for all of the progress being made. Not just the harvesting, but even the harvesting of the harvesters.

So we have this lunch for the homeless. We've been receiving them in our home for a year now. They get a change of clothes, a shower, a good lunch and we spend time with them. It's a good ministry, but we are getting a vision for how much more it could be.

I always address the group as we gather to pray before the meal. Yesterday I told the guys that we don't want to do this lunch for them anymore, we want to do it with them. And so the lunch hour took on a whole new identity. We started a garden which will supply salads for our lunches, they trimmed our trees (this was their suggestion after catching the spirit of partnership) and helped with some of the clean up.

The amazing bit was how quickly they jumped on the whole partnership idea. It showed that we were maintaining the distance between "us" and "them" by securing our role as the "helpers" and their role as the "needy." We are going to continue to develop this, please pray that God will grant us wisdom and courage as we do. It is our hope and prayer that in the renewal of these roles they will witness the redemptive nature of Christ.

God's been active in Itu this summer, we've been trying to keep up, and this blog has been left behind in the dust! So here is a start on the great things he is doing. We'll do this in doses.
For years we have done bilingual camps during the summer, this year we kicked off "Camp Roots", a four year sequence of camps with progressive themes.
Camp was amazing, in group and one on one, kids were drawn to worship by an awe of who God is. I saw this in my small group with Caio, a boy who didn't want to come to camp but was forced to by an exasperated grandmother. Caio began by sitting on the edges in typical teenage apathy. One day I had asked him to join into the activities of the program, but then during a time of worship I felt the spirits tug to welcome him in again. I went to where he was and said, "Caio, it's good that you're here. God is doing wonderful things and you're going to see Jesus in a new way this week, and more than program, I want to make sure you don't miss out on that."
Caio got it. He became a great part of our community within the camp, and he spoke about this transition a couple of times in group. He said, "I've never wanted anything to do with church, and I really didn't want to come here - but I think that's going to change. I want to be a part of this."

Youth group has been great since camp... and big! We have squeezed in our living room, and exploded out into the yard. We have had more fantastic worship, and spoken about not being an events based group, but having lives that are transformed by our faith daily.

Part 2 - Flashmob!!!
One of the fun, crazy activities of camp was doing a huge flashmob with the group! Our good friend and "ballerina missionary" Jackie Beth came down to help organize and teach a ridiculously cool flashmob that we did at the mall of Itu the night we came home from camp. Check out this video that Carioca put together for us -


Man I love these incredible kids!

Okay, more pictures and stories to come, check back!

a very special family day

Our church had a family day last week. We rented a retreat center that is located on a farm about 30 minutes outside of Itu. The day was fantastic and it brought together the different families of our church in an amazing ways. I borrowed a Volkswagen van to take in addition to our car and so I was able to take some of our homeless friends. They got really scared when I showed up though. They are staying in a house that they found open and as I arrived another family was following me in a SUV. They thought it was the owner of the house coming to kick them out! They freaked and ran to gather up their stuff... and were so relieved to hear that the car was with us!

A fun thing about these events is that they serve as equalizers amongst all who come. We player soccer, ate food, sang songs, played more soccer, talked, laughed, swam, walked - as one huge Christian family. It was a great way to include those on the fringes and celebrate unity we learn in Christ. Here are a few pictures.

a movement in the streets

We got back from Rio and it was incredible. Spending time with the families there who lost everything in the flood amazed me- but I will need to do a separate post on that.

Something is happening here in the streets of Itu that has me asking the question, 'God, what do I do with this?' We do a weekly lunch at our house for the homeless. Men and women come off the streets to eat, take a shower, get a change of clothes, and maybe a haircut. Beyond that, they come because we have become friends and they feel welcome in this home.

Every week I tell these friends that we do this for one reason: We are followers of Jesus, who teaches that there are two things of great importance, love God, and love those around you. I tell them that this is our way of loving them, and ask them to treat one another with the same kind of love while they are in our home. Beyond that we converse casually and one on one. They know that I work with a rehab program, and a support group, and that they are welcome to talk to me if they decide to pursue change.

Two of these guys in this group have been talking to me for about a month about going to rehab and starting a new life. One of them, Alermão (pictured here with Layla), followed through and We took him to rehab just before heading out to Rio. Thank God, the rehab program I work with accepted him free of charge, simply asking me to bring a mattress with me because they are out.

When I got home I heard that I had just missed another one of our friends who had hoped to jump in too. We didn't hear any more about this before heading out to Rio, but when we got back our 'son' Manu handed me a notebook with the names of three more of our friends and their document numbers, each wanting to get into rehab. Last night we drove by the bus station at about 11:30 and saw Edwardo (pictured here). He was sober, which was a shock, and he told us, "I need to get into rehab because I know that if I don't change now, I'm going to die." I have never seen Edwardo so serious and lucid. I asked him to come by the house today for us to talk more.

God is changing the homeless of Itu - I am well aware of how ridiculous that sounds. It was not our goal, we were simply trying to do what we thought Jesus might, and that was enough for us. But last night the reality of what God is doing hit me like a ton of bricks. It is bigger than me, and bigger than my resources. The rehab is pretty full, and there is a cost to taking in new people too.

Ali and I want to open a rehab program here in Itu. We have a lot of plans for it, but a wave of need is rising and we are not ready to receive it yet. We are talking to other rehab programs, looking for any opportunity we can pass on.

AGHH! Barbara (our daughter pictured below) just got off the phone with a rehab program in Belo Horizante, they will accept Edwardo free of charge!!!! God amazes me! He is changing lives that we would call lost, and opening doors we wouldn't have imagined! Pray for us that we can keep step! What a life!!!

Celebrate Recovery

In November when Ali and I were visiting Granbury we were introduced to an incredible ministry called, "Celebrate Recovery." After attending one of their meetings we visited with Daryl, Shannon, Billy & Maxine Martin to hear more about their ministry and to learn how to implement it here in Itu. We have been running with this ministry for 2 months now... I can't summarize the blessing this has been in words, but I thank God for it!

If you haven't heard of Celebrate Recovery, check it out (http://www.celebraterecovery.com/?page_id=4).

CR is a Christian support group for individuals with various problems (addictions, co-dependency, emotional scars, bad habits, etc.) And it is a great way for the church to become a relevant source of help in the lives of the broken.

We have a great core group now. The testimonies shared are incredible. Members share of living with the of guilt having robbed from family to support drug habits, trouble in marriage caused by pornography and apathy, the damage done by being raised by a father addicted to cocaine and being told by family that the only future was in prostitution, and the struggles of being honest with loved ones about the lives they lived. Last night a member shared that since he first came to us, the week of Easter, he has stopped drinking and using drugs. He is now trying to call the friend he first came with to make the same life change.

The openness, honesty, and acceptance in these group meetings is life changing. And with the deeper issues in view, suddenly having a God who is interested in us and has the power to make a difference in our lives becomes... a great thing.

Pray for this group. It is touching lives that are hungry for change, and it's changing mine!

Rio-Niteroi Campaign: i care.

about a month ago tragedy struck Rio de Janeiro.
the city was battered by hard rains, that eventually flooded the metropolis, caused landslides and killed a few hundred people.
Rio has the perfect structure for treacherous condition under lots of heavy rain - there are millions of citizens that have set up precarious houses on the hillside; what we call FAVELAS


when we heard about the chaos in rio, we wondered what we could do to help. . .
so we launched our " i care " campaign. we went around the neighborhoods that surround our church, and our youth did 2 weekends of door-to-door knocking asking for clothes and cleaning supplies for Cariocas (the nickname for people from Rio)
we also asked the church members to bring donations.



then we had the challenge of finding a way to transport all the good to Rio.
we prayed about it over lunch at the mall last tuesday, then as we were leaving i met up with an old friend who works as the distribution manager for Frito Lay in Brazil. bingo! we are now in the process of setting up a pick up day/time for them to take our 3 pallets of donations.

our team-family leaves on thursday - Mark & i, barbara, sarah, and carioca (yes, we have our own Rio citizen with us! tokenism?) .we are joining a group of Christian volunteers that have been working non-stop for 1 month. we will distribute the donations, help gather information for a census and participate in evangelistic activities.


your prayers will carry us there and back.
more to come!
ali

enjoying a picnic lunch last Sunday with amazing community.

have you ever been hiking in beautiful, tall, majestic mountains?
weeks or months of preparation- living in the theoretical climb - preparing your body, materials, setting goals, etc.

then the day of the journey arrives. when you begin the the first morning hours, the mountain stands strong between you and the horizon. as the hours go by, it grows bigger and closer and steeper, and before you know it, you're breathing deeper, your brow and hair are damp, and your skin blushes from the rush.

i think this captures well where we are in life today.

the first months of the year have been incredible months of events and conversations and experiences that have prepared us for the mountains ahead.

we've started the climb.

all the preparations for our bilingual camp (www.camproots.blogspot.com), the meetings and training for our medical campaign (www.curabrazil.com), gathering information to begin our "I Care" Association (an official organization of all of our social work ministry efforts, including our new Relief Efforts for RiodeJaneiro), and dreaming about our Urban Community Center.

we will keep you in tune with the climb. it'll be long and hard, but more exciting and rewarding.

much love.
kaiser home