Drug Rehabs in Goiania

06/24/11

This week I have had the privilege of ministering in two Christian drug rehab centers: Jovems Livres and PROAME.
Jovems Livres is the first drug rehab center ever established in Brazil’s history. It was founded by and is still being led by my grandma’s first cousin and my third cousin. I visited their main center in Goiania on Wednesday of this week and spent the whole day there. I got there around 10 a.m. and they had me lead a time of Bible reading with the men there. We read a couple chapters from the book of John and we commented and explained as we went along. I also sang some worship songs with them.
We had lunch together, a one-hour siesta, and then we split up into groups to conduct our cleaning duties. I helped water the plants. I interviewed the leader of the ministry and a couple of the men in the program.
The leader explained to me that they have great facilities, a great amount of funds, and lots of young men who want to be rehabilitated, but what they are lacking is workers and volunteers to help them do the work. They have so few workers that they are only able to have about 15-20 men at a time in their center, while they can be helping 60-80 men at a time if they had the workers.
In the afternoon I was asked to preach to the entry level men who had only been in the program for a month. I preached about the two greatest commandments of loving God and loving our neighbor. I urged them to passionately fall in love with Jesus because He is the only One who will set them free from drugs and sin permanently and give them an abundant life. I sang a song for them and I prayed for them. They told me that my message was one of the best they have heard since arriving in the center.
Finally, Jonatas, the leader of the ministry, gave me a ride home on the back of his motorcycle. It was pretty wild because I had a backpack and my guitar with me, so I had to carry my guitar in my hand while we rode through the insane traffic of Goiania. It was really fun.
On Friday, I went to JAM (Jovems Adultos Maranatha or Young Adults of Maranatha) expecting it to be a hang out time for the young adults of the church. It ended up being a full-blown church service with food at the end. What was awesome though was that the drug rehab center PROAME brought over 40 men with them to the meeting.
When I first arrived I had no clue that a drug rehab was bringing their men to the meeting. I came early cause my uncle was in the worship team and the rehab group was already their too sitting around doing nothing. I thought to myself, “Man, these are some rough looking guys. They are definitely not from Maranatha. Sweet!” I immediately sat next to one of them who’s name was Guillerme and we started talking about Jesus. I ended preaching the Gospel to and having glorious conversations with five of them before the meeting started.
Four of the men I talked to were from the neighboring state, Minas Gerais, and only one was from Goiania. All of them had only been in the program for nearly two months and all of them had first given their lives to Jesus at the beginning of their time at the center. They were all former crack addicts and/or drug dealers who were at the end of their rope and needed help. Even though they had already given their lives to Jesus and were being discipled I still spoke to them as if they were not saved because I am sure that they are still struggling with their addictions.
I encouraged them in their walks with Christ, explained the Gospel to them, and challenged them to transform their neighborhoods when they returned. We had a great time talking and they were really encouraged.
Lastly, I sang “Holy Sacrifice” at the end of the service. I broke a string and my finger started to hurt in the middle of the song. At the end of the song I looked at my finger and it was covered with blood and blood was splattered all over my guitar. That’s when you know that you play guitar passionately. ☺