Preaching in a High School and Projeto Amar

Today was amazing!
Antonio, who is one of the leaders of YFC (Youth For Christ, here it is known as Mocidade Para Cristo or MPC), is also a Presbyterian pastor and a teacher at a Baptist private school. The school is open to all students, so many of the students are also Catholic or are unbelievers. He teaches the religion class for the school and he asked me to teach all three of his periods today.
I stayed up late last night writing an outline for the class since I would be teaching three 50-minute classes, but I ended up not speaking on what I had prepared at all. I was completely surrendered to the leading of the Holy Spirit and in all three classes I shared completely different messages. In general, I would introduce myself and let them ask me whatever questions they may have about American culture, politics, or economics. Then I would sing my song “Holy Sacrifice” in English and after the song God’s presence was always so tangible that I would just go with what the Spirit was leading me to say that very moment. Each class seemed to be deeply impacted. I asked all of them very penetrating questions and they gave me very honest, real answers. It was amazing. I really think I want to be a teacher for my tent-making job.
Moraes, a rapper from YFC, met me at the school at 12:30 and Antonio took us both to the YFC base in downtown. There we met up with Welson, the leader of the YFC chapter in Goiania, and we went out to an awesome restaurant to eat. Our conversation was all about the state of the church in Goiania and in Brazil. I was surprised to hear that the fastest growing denomination in Brazil right now is one where all the women have to wear veils. I asked them why that is and they said that one main reason is because the church never takes up offerings, never preaches about money, is very united, and doesn’t have any paid pastors. All the church leaders are voluntary. It was a very interesting conversation.
Then Moraes and I went together to Projeto Amar (Project Love) by bus. The bus was so crowded that during the entire one-hour bus ride we stayed standing. During the entire ride Moraes respectfully told me why he loves the American people, but does not like and is even fearful of the American government because of their use of violence in order to complete their missions in the world. He explained to me why he knows that the war in Iraq and Afghanistan were all about oil and control and how he deeply disagreed with the war policies of America. He praised Fidel Castro for providing free education and the best health care in the world for the Cuban people. He also praise Lula for all that he did for Brazil and the doors he has opened for the nation. He expressed that he was scared of the U.S. because he knows that Brazil is a nation that is growing in influence and power and he fears that one day in the distant future the U.S. might use force to use Brazil’s resources since Brazil has the largest water supply, river, forest, and swamp in the world.
Also, later on in our conversation Moraes calmly stated that he was a socialist
and that he loves socialist philosophy. This is something hard for an American to grasp. How can someone be a Christian and a socialist at the same time? However, here in Brazil it’s actually quite normal to meet radical, on fire Christian who have a socialist philosophy. For Brazilian Christians it is hard to grasp that there are American Christians who passionately support war, own guns, are antagonistic towards illegal immigrants, and believe in free-market capitalism with little to no limitations. It’s funny to me we Americans view the word “socialist” as virtually demonic and atheistic because that is what the American experience with socialism has encountered, yet many Christians in Brazil view the word “capitalist” as being synonymous with worldliness, exploitation, and injustice.
Once we arrived at Projeto Amar I interviewed Cidinha, the leader of Projeto Amar, and I filmed the entire facility, the kids, and the activities of the ministry. It was amazing! This ministry is based in the most violent neighborhood of Goiania where murders happen almost daily. I think I might make a mini-documentary film with the footage I got of the ministry.
I fell in love with the kids there even though I only spent a short amount of time with them. We got there pretty late because of the long bus ride. They invited me to a camp they’re going to have next weekend, so I’m going to go for sure. Also, they reminded me that YFC is going to have their national convention in Brasilia this weekend and I decided that I want to go to that also.
Lastly, I met four Germans at Projeto Amar. It was super awesome and super random! They have been living in Goiania for a whole year serving with Projeto Amar and Videira and now they all speak fluent Portuguese. It turns out that Germany requires their youth to either serve in the military or spend one year doing community service in another nation before entering college. I think that is the coolest requirement ever! So they decided to come here. We talked for a long while and became good friends. They were so happy to speak English with someone again.
After our one hour bus ride back where I was so dizzy, dehydrated, and felt like I was going to vomit, I finally arrived at home.
Also, today was officially the first day of winter in Brazil and in Goiania it was in the upper 80’s.