Today I had my first cell group meeting with the guys from the camp. It was awesome! After lunch my uncle Adolfinho took me to the neighborhood of the guys, but we couldn’t find any of their homes. They gave me their addresses, but we were lost for nearly an hour. Finally, Adolfinho gave up and said we should go back home. About 10 seconds after he made that statement one of the camp counselors walked by our car. I yelled out at him and it turned out that he was in the neighborhood to visit the kids too. So I got out of the car and followed him to the guys’ high school. God is faithful. He came through at the last minute.
We weren’t able to enter the high school because the students were practicing their dances for the Festa Juninha, a harvest celebration dedicated to St. John. It’s only celebrated in country areas with traditional country music called fojo, somewhat like bluegrass or Cajun music.
Somehow Alexander and Betinho found out that I was here and they showed up on their bicycles. They get out of school at 12, so they were free, but the other guys get out of school at 5:30. I have to explain this glorious reality. You see, Brazil is a student’s paradise. Every day school starts at 7 a.m. and ends at 12 p.m., so that everyone could go home and have lunch with their families since lunch is the main meal of the day in Brazil. Once the morning session is maxed out, the rest of the students have to come to school from 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. No students attend both sessions. You either go to school in the morning or in the afternoon. Also, they have half-days just like we do in the U.S. and on those days they get out at 10:30 a.m.
That is why Alexander and Betinho were out of school while the other guys were still in school. Once the other guys got out of school some of them came to hang out with us, but the rest had to go to work or home. In all, I got to hang out with seven guys, two of which were not at the camp. We all went over to Alexander’s house and hung out. We talked about God, life, soccer, and many other things.
Finally, I asked the guys if they would be up for reading the Bible together for a little bit. They all agreed, so we went to Alexander’s room and had our first cell group meeting. We talked a lot about girls and sex because that is the main vice that plagues these guys even though they all say they love Jesus. One of them just got a girl pregnant. Some of them have girlfriends, but they still flirt with and holler at any pretty girl regardless of whether they are in a relationship or not.
We then read the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. I emphasized Elijah’s statement when he said “How long will you waiver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, then worship Him, but if Baal is god then worship him.” I urged them to choose who they were going to worship, Jesus or the world. We had a great time together and they interacted quite a bit. I prayed over them and we ended the meeting.
Then I met Alexander’s parents and they thanked me for what I was doing even though they are not Christians. They were grateful for any wise guidance given to their kids.
The guys put on some music and asked me to do “the worm” because I had done it at the camp. I did it for them and then they tried to learn it for a while. It was fun.
It was already dark, so they walked me to the nearest bus stop. I bought a bus pass and a filet mignon “spetinho” (i.e. shish kabob) for one dollar and then hopped on the bus.
On the bus I talked with a man who was a Christian, but wasn’t going to church because his work hours overlapped with all the church services. Then I met Lincoln, who is a member of Videira, the largest church in Goiania and the church I want to work together with. He works recycling trash. We talked for a while and he told me that they have cell groups in the neighborhood where my guys live. So I’m going to meet some of the cell leaders from there and connect my guys with them. Praise God! He is faithful.
Finally, I reached Maranatha Presbyterian Church where I met up with my cousins and a bunch of young guys to play indoor soccer. It was awesome! I actually scored a goal! Playing soccer with these guys is like playing basketball with some big black guys in the hood. In other words, these guys were soooo good.
The championship game for the Copa Libertadores was tonight, so right after playing soccer we went over to Andre’s friends’ house to watch the game. It was Santos, a Brazilian team, versus a Uruguayan team. The final score was 0-0. It was a good game though. We had pasta and caldo de frango (chicken soup, only better) while watching the game. The game ended at midnight and we went home. What a day!
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Thoughts on my first week in Brasil
Brasil…a nation in need of God. Brasil…a nation saturated with the Gospel and a vibrant, multiplying church. Brasil…a nation that has more fun than any country in the world, always finding a reason to party and be joyful. Brasil…the most sensual nation of all. Brasil…a people who know how to live in community and truly love one another. Brasil…a nation raging with crime amongst the poor and corruption amongst the rich.
Brasil is a nation of polar opposites. The rich are very rich, the poor are very poor, yet there is a growing middle class. The church here is booming and the Christians are full of zeal for God and evangelism and live holy lives, but those who are not Christians are extremely sinful. Crime is a daily reality amongst citizens of all classes and murder and kidnapping are normal events whether you live in the rich part of town or in the ghetto. Just this weekend, I heard statistics that 80% of murders in Brasil are unresolved and just in the city of Goiania 500 cars are stolen every month. Furthermore, spiritism and witchcraft are so normal here that it’s frightening. They have spiritist mega-churches here and the witchcraft forms of Macumba, Umbanda, and Kandomble are practiced in the open with no shame.
No nation parties more than Brasil. This is both a blessing and a curse. The righteous here are the most joyful, festive Christians you could ever imagine who know how to worship incessantly, while the unbelievers here are known around the world for having the “best” (i.e. most immoral and excessive) parties in the world.
Community is amazing here. People here don’t even seem to understand how it would be possible for any human being to live an individualistic life. Independence, individualism, rebellion, and being “different” than everyone else is shunned upon by almost everyone I meet. The only people I know who value the latter traits are people who’s lives revolve around American music, movies, and culture. Family and friends come before everything. Work, errands, responsibilities, and completing tasks never are more important than spending time with a family member or friend.
What shocks me the most every time I come to Brazil and especially during my time here in this trip is the rampant sexual immorality here. I once thought that the United States and Europe were the most sexually immoral nations in the world, that is, until I came to Brasil. The women here dress more sensual than in any nation I have ever seen. The men act like savage dogs whenever they see a beautiful girl walk by and what shocks me the most is that the girls love it and they lasciviously encourage the men in their savage behavior. The t.v. shows, soap operas, commercials, and billboards are so graphic here that it is practically pornography.
This brings me to my experience here in the last three days. I arrived here on Thursday night and on Friday afternoon I was off to a Youth For Christ Camp. The camp had 90 young people, all of which were in high school and none of which were Christians. YFC of Goiania has been visiting two public high schools for the past two years and teaching them biblical principles and ethics. They are not allowed to talk about Jesus, the Bible, or the Gospel, but they are allowed to teach morals and ethics to the students. However, the schools allow them to have one day at the end of each semester where they can have a rally at the school and openly preach the Gospel with an altar call. They did this in two high schools and then invited the young people to this camp. Thus, 90 students showed up for the camp and this is where I fell into the picture.
My cousin Andre and his friend from church were leading worship for the camp and they asked if I could come and be a part of it. They appointed me as one of the cabin leaders where I was put in charge of 9 young guys. Their names were Alexander, Thiago, Louanderson, Betinho, Lucas, Aliff, Marcos, Israel, and Romario and they were some cool cats. They all loved me and had great respect for me. They loved the fact that I was from California and they never stopped asking me questions about America and how to say things in English. For them, English is the coolest language in the world and it’s the language you use to romanticize women.
Alexander and Thiago were naturally the leaders of the group since Alexander was the funniest and most charismatic and Thiago was the tallest and the best looking. By God’s grace, they were also the ones who loved and respected me more than any of the others, so the others naturally loved and respected me too. We had lots of fun hiking, swimming, playing soccer, wrestling, and square dancing, yet we still had several great chapel services, small group devotionals, and Bible studies. All of my nine guys gave their lives to the Lord by the end of the camp and virtually all, if not all, of the youth in the camp gave their lives to the Lord by the end of the weekend. It was truly an amazing weekend.
However, I was greatly frustrated at the end of the camp because although the youth gave their lives to Jesus in tears and seemed to be completely genuine their behavior afterwards was still as sinful and worldly as when they first arrived. The guys were still acting like wild animals whenever they were near the girls and the girls were still dressing and acting like seductive Jezebel’s when they were near the guys. Both guys and girls were equally flirtatious, seductive, and sexually-driven. Even though the entire camp revolved around God and we were constantly engaged in fun activities, what absolutely dominated the thoughts and desires of the young people of both genders was the opposite sex.
Thus, I have concluded that for a Brazilian to come to Christ is not a difficult task, but for a Brazilian to be a strong Christian is truly a miracle. Evangelism is absolutely necessary here, but what is needed much more is discipleship because the people easily get “saved”, but they still live very sinful lifestyles. In fact, I think that Brazilians are some of the easiest people to bring to Christ.
At the end of the camp I got the phone number and address of all nine of my guys and I have now committed to discipling them during my time here in Goiania. I am going to visit their homes, meet their families, and witness to people in their neighborhoods. My hope is to form a cell group out of this group of 9 and many of their friends and family members. Then I would give them over to a local church with a local leader to take charge of the cell group. Thus, in a few weeks time I would have planted a house church in Goiania.
Please pray for me concerning this mission because we all know that “it’s not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit” that souls will be saved and discipled and a house church planted in a few weeks.
Brasil is a nation of polar opposites. The rich are very rich, the poor are very poor, yet there is a growing middle class. The church here is booming and the Christians are full of zeal for God and evangelism and live holy lives, but those who are not Christians are extremely sinful. Crime is a daily reality amongst citizens of all classes and murder and kidnapping are normal events whether you live in the rich part of town or in the ghetto. Just this weekend, I heard statistics that 80% of murders in Brasil are unresolved and just in the city of Goiania 500 cars are stolen every month. Furthermore, spiritism and witchcraft are so normal here that it’s frightening. They have spiritist mega-churches here and the witchcraft forms of Macumba, Umbanda, and Kandomble are practiced in the open with no shame.
No nation parties more than Brasil. This is both a blessing and a curse. The righteous here are the most joyful, festive Christians you could ever imagine who know how to worship incessantly, while the unbelievers here are known around the world for having the “best” (i.e. most immoral and excessive) parties in the world.
Community is amazing here. People here don’t even seem to understand how it would be possible for any human being to live an individualistic life. Independence, individualism, rebellion, and being “different” than everyone else is shunned upon by almost everyone I meet. The only people I know who value the latter traits are people who’s lives revolve around American music, movies, and culture. Family and friends come before everything. Work, errands, responsibilities, and completing tasks never are more important than spending time with a family member or friend.
What shocks me the most every time I come to Brazil and especially during my time here in this trip is the rampant sexual immorality here. I once thought that the United States and Europe were the most sexually immoral nations in the world, that is, until I came to Brasil. The women here dress more sensual than in any nation I have ever seen. The men act like savage dogs whenever they see a beautiful girl walk by and what shocks me the most is that the girls love it and they lasciviously encourage the men in their savage behavior. The t.v. shows, soap operas, commercials, and billboards are so graphic here that it is practically pornography.
This brings me to my experience here in the last three days. I arrived here on Thursday night and on Friday afternoon I was off to a Youth For Christ Camp. The camp had 90 young people, all of which were in high school and none of which were Christians. YFC of Goiania has been visiting two public high schools for the past two years and teaching them biblical principles and ethics. They are not allowed to talk about Jesus, the Bible, or the Gospel, but they are allowed to teach morals and ethics to the students. However, the schools allow them to have one day at the end of each semester where they can have a rally at the school and openly preach the Gospel with an altar call. They did this in two high schools and then invited the young people to this camp. Thus, 90 students showed up for the camp and this is where I fell into the picture.
My cousin Andre and his friend from church were leading worship for the camp and they asked if I could come and be a part of it. They appointed me as one of the cabin leaders where I was put in charge of 9 young guys. Their names were Alexander, Thiago, Louanderson, Betinho, Lucas, Aliff, Marcos, Israel, and Romario and they were some cool cats. They all loved me and had great respect for me. They loved the fact that I was from California and they never stopped asking me questions about America and how to say things in English. For them, English is the coolest language in the world and it’s the language you use to romanticize women.
Alexander and Thiago were naturally the leaders of the group since Alexander was the funniest and most charismatic and Thiago was the tallest and the best looking. By God’s grace, they were also the ones who loved and respected me more than any of the others, so the others naturally loved and respected me too. We had lots of fun hiking, swimming, playing soccer, wrestling, and square dancing, yet we still had several great chapel services, small group devotionals, and Bible studies. All of my nine guys gave their lives to the Lord by the end of the camp and virtually all, if not all, of the youth in the camp gave their lives to the Lord by the end of the weekend. It was truly an amazing weekend.
However, I was greatly frustrated at the end of the camp because although the youth gave their lives to Jesus in tears and seemed to be completely genuine their behavior afterwards was still as sinful and worldly as when they first arrived. The guys were still acting like wild animals whenever they were near the girls and the girls were still dressing and acting like seductive Jezebel’s when they were near the guys. Both guys and girls were equally flirtatious, seductive, and sexually-driven. Even though the entire camp revolved around God and we were constantly engaged in fun activities, what absolutely dominated the thoughts and desires of the young people of both genders was the opposite sex.
Thus, I have concluded that for a Brazilian to come to Christ is not a difficult task, but for a Brazilian to be a strong Christian is truly a miracle. Evangelism is absolutely necessary here, but what is needed much more is discipleship because the people easily get “saved”, but they still live very sinful lifestyles. In fact, I think that Brazilians are some of the easiest people to bring to Christ.
At the end of the camp I got the phone number and address of all nine of my guys and I have now committed to discipling them during my time here in Goiania. I am going to visit their homes, meet their families, and witness to people in their neighborhoods. My hope is to form a cell group out of this group of 9 and many of their friends and family members. Then I would give them over to a local church with a local leader to take charge of the cell group. Thus, in a few weeks time I would have planted a house church in Goiania.
Please pray for me concerning this mission because we all know that “it’s not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit” that souls will be saved and discipled and a house church planted in a few weeks.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Our New Website!
We just finished building our website for GGM! Check it out eveybody!
www.globalgospelmovement.org
Friday, October 9, 2009
Please Pray for the Guys
Please keep all the guys in your prayers. They are on the front lines fighting for the souls of our generation. Let's cover them in deep intercession.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Ready for War!
I don't know about you, but I'm ready for war!
We just had a great victory f0r the glory of God! We finally held our first official training for Global Gospel Movement! It was absolutely glorious!
We trained five young men in a five week boot camp evangelism training. We had 18 different teachers train them in many forms of evangelism and in how to evangelize to people of different religions and cultures. We also gave them solid biblical teaching and lessons on having the character of Christ. They all grew immensely in these five weeks both spiritually and in their character and I can confidently say that they are ready to go to the front lines of war for the Kingdom of God.
We anointed them and launched them out on Sept. 1, 2009 and now they are preaching the Gospel across America. The first group is currently in Las Vegas and the second group is in Phoenix. We encourage you to read their blog and fervently pray for them as you follow them along in their journey across America. Both groups have video cameras, so they will be making videos regularly and posting them up on their blog and we hope to create a documentary out of it at the end of their trips.
Here are their blogs:
Group 1:
sergegustave.blogspot.com (Serge Gustave)
preachaman247.blogspot.com (Andy Peredo)
Group 2:
bonafidechristian.blogpost.com (Peterson Jean-Baptiste)
guyjulien.blogspot.com (Guy Julien)
mpierre-toussaint.blogspot.com (Mike Pierre-Toussaint)
Ways to Get Involved:
1. Our next training will start on January 5, 2010, so we are already beginning to prepare for that and we are praying for God to raise up more laborers to go out as itinerant preachers into the American harvest field. If you feel called to be an itinerant preacher and desire to come to our training in January or to the training following that in June please contact us as soon as possible.
2. If you would like to open up your home for these itinerant preachers and/or future itinerant preachers to stay in whenever they come to your city to preach the Gospel please sign up with our ministry as a host home.
3. We urgently need intercessors to intercede for each individual itinerant preacher for God to use them, protect them, and provide for them every step of the way.
4. If you feel led by the Lord to give financially to our ministry it would be our honor receive them and sow them into the Kingdom of God. We have many needs and need much support in order to start this movement from scratch.
5. Lastly, if you are in a place of leadership in your congregation and feel from the Lord to have your church partner with our ministry in order to disciple the souls that come to Christ when an itinerant preacher comes to your city please sign up to become a lighthouse church.
Unfortunately, our website is still under construction, so if you would like more information or if you would like to sign up with our ministry to become an itinerant preacher, host home, intercessor, or lighthouse church you can contact us at ggmovement@yahoo.com or call me at 714-341-2049.
Ready for War,
Joshua Carvalho
We just had a great victory f0r the glory of God! We finally held our first official training for Global Gospel Movement! It was absolutely glorious!
We trained five young men in a five week boot camp evangelism training. We had 18 different teachers train them in many forms of evangelism and in how to evangelize to people of different religions and cultures. We also gave them solid biblical teaching and lessons on having the character of Christ. They all grew immensely in these five weeks both spiritually and in their character and I can confidently say that they are ready to go to the front lines of war for the Kingdom of God.
We anointed them and launched them out on Sept. 1, 2009 and now they are preaching the Gospel across America. The first group is currently in Las Vegas and the second group is in Phoenix. We encourage you to read their blog and fervently pray for them as you follow them along in their journey across America. Both groups have video cameras, so they will be making videos regularly and posting them up on their blog and we hope to create a documentary out of it at the end of their trips.
Here are their blogs:
Group 1:
sergegustave.blogspot.com (Serge Gustave)
preachaman247.blogspot.com (Andy Peredo)
Group 2:
bonafidechristian.blogpost.com (Peterson Jean-Baptiste)
guyjulien.blogspot.com (Guy Julien)
mpierre-toussaint.blogspot.com (Mike Pierre-Toussaint)
Ways to Get Involved:
1. Our next training will start on January 5, 2010, so we are already beginning to prepare for that and we are praying for God to raise up more laborers to go out as itinerant preachers into the American harvest field. If you feel called to be an itinerant preacher and desire to come to our training in January or to the training following that in June please contact us as soon as possible.
2. If you would like to open up your home for these itinerant preachers and/or future itinerant preachers to stay in whenever they come to your city to preach the Gospel please sign up with our ministry as a host home.
3. We urgently need intercessors to intercede for each individual itinerant preacher for God to use them, protect them, and provide for them every step of the way.
4. If you feel led by the Lord to give financially to our ministry it would be our honor receive them and sow them into the Kingdom of God. We have many needs and need much support in order to start this movement from scratch.
5. Lastly, if you are in a place of leadership in your congregation and feel from the Lord to have your church partner with our ministry in order to disciple the souls that come to Christ when an itinerant preacher comes to your city please sign up to become a lighthouse church.
Unfortunately, our website is still under construction, so if you would like more information or if you would like to sign up with our ministry to become an itinerant preacher, host home, intercessor, or lighthouse church you can contact us at ggmovement@yahoo.com or call me at 714-341-2049.
Ready for War,
Joshua Carvalho
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Thanksgiving
We spent Thanksgiving with the Crespi, Santillan, Viana, and the Sanchez families. It was a big party. It was so awesome. All these families were families that my parents had brought to Christ, discipled, and were members of the church that they started in Orange County. So most of them only knew me as a kid. Half of the people there had kept in touch with us throughout the years and half of them hadn’t seen me since I was twelve years old.
We had a great time giving thanks to God, worshipping God, and reminiscing past times. It was so awesome to see where everyone was now in their lives, to see the fruit that they were bearing, and to see that they are still solid in their walk with God. What an amazing testimony and joy!
We had great Argentinean food for dinner and really good Mexican desserts. Almost everyone cried throughout the night, many hearts were healed, and past hurts forgiven. It was so beautiful to see brothers and sisters in Christ who had not seen each other for years because of the spirit of religion now come back together as family once again.
We had a great time giving thanks to God, worshipping God, and reminiscing past times. It was so awesome to see where everyone was now in their lives, to see the fruit that they were bearing, and to see that they are still solid in their walk with God. What an amazing testimony and joy!
We had great Argentinean food for dinner and really good Mexican desserts. Almost everyone cried throughout the night, many hearts were healed, and past hurts forgiven. It was so beautiful to see brothers and sisters in Christ who had not seen each other for years because of the spirit of religion now come back together as family once again.
Meeting With Eddie Brown and Company
A week after The Call Daniella Lopez invited everyone who was at the reception the day after The Call and who lived in Southern California to have dinner and a time of worship and prayer at her house. The meeting was on November 15 and Brooke was working that day from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. , so we weren’t sure if we were going to be able to go or not. We knew we needed to go and we really wanted to go, but the meeting started at 2 p.m. and Daniella’s house is a two hour drive from where we live. But something deep within me told me that I had to go. I had to go. Even if it ended right when we got there God was going to do something and I had to be there.
So we ended up leaving at 5 p.m. in faith that something was going to happen. We got stuck in heavy traffic and ended up arriving there a little past 7p.m. To our surprise there were still about twenty people there, people were fellowshipping, eating, and watching the local fires on TV (the fire was only a few miles from their house). We talked with several people there and met several people for the first time.
Then I met Eddie Brown. Eddie is the leader of JHOP San Diego and he is absolutely insane for God. He was the very last person to speak and pray at the end of The Call. He prayed and called forth itinerant preachers to arise and for martyrs to arise in this generation. Eddie leads a house of prayer right in the heart of the University of California in San Diego (UCSD). In the middle of the campus the main pathway is a huge serpent and the head of the serpent ends at the very entrance of the library. It is supposed to symbolize the serpent in the garden of Eden and the library is supposed to symbolize the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which is basically what it really is. So anyways, every day Eddie and his prayer team pray and worship with all of their hearts and as loud as they can right on the head of the serpent. He told me for the first two years they only prayed and worshipped, but eventually God spoke to them to begin open air preaching and now they open air preach every day right in the heart of the campus. He told me about several ways that both the students and the administrators have persecuted them for praying and preaching the Gospel. It was amazing. Then he told me about how JHOP San Francisco was just severely persecuted right in the heart of The Castro. Around 500 violently angry homosexuals began rioting against them and beating them up just because they were singing worship songs on a street corner. The video is on You Tube: .
Furthermore, I told Eddie all about my mission trip across America and our entire vision for Global Gospel Movement. He was in complete agreement with the vision and our hearts connected in a very real way. He told me that he would love to come and teach at our training school whenever it begins and of course it would be my honor to have him with us. He invited us to UCSD whenever we could make it and we exchanged contact info.
Many people have told me that I had to meet Eddie Brown and I always felt like I needed to also. Now that we’ve met I realize why: God destined for the two of us to work together for the establishment of His Kingdom.
So we ended up leaving at 5 p.m. in faith that something was going to happen. We got stuck in heavy traffic and ended up arriving there a little past 7p.m. To our surprise there were still about twenty people there, people were fellowshipping, eating, and watching the local fires on TV (the fire was only a few miles from their house). We talked with several people there and met several people for the first time.
Then I met Eddie Brown. Eddie is the leader of JHOP San Diego and he is absolutely insane for God. He was the very last person to speak and pray at the end of The Call. He prayed and called forth itinerant preachers to arise and for martyrs to arise in this generation. Eddie leads a house of prayer right in the heart of the University of California in San Diego (UCSD). In the middle of the campus the main pathway is a huge serpent and the head of the serpent ends at the very entrance of the library. It is supposed to symbolize the serpent in the garden of Eden and the library is supposed to symbolize the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which is basically what it really is. So anyways, every day Eddie and his prayer team pray and worship with all of their hearts and as loud as they can right on the head of the serpent. He told me for the first two years they only prayed and worshipped, but eventually God spoke to them to begin open air preaching and now they open air preach every day right in the heart of the campus. He told me about several ways that both the students and the administrators have persecuted them for praying and preaching the Gospel. It was amazing. Then he told me about how JHOP San Francisco was just severely persecuted right in the heart of The Castro. Around 500 violently angry homosexuals began rioting against them and beating them up just because they were singing worship songs on a street corner. The video is on You Tube: .
Furthermore, I told Eddie all about my mission trip across America and our entire vision for Global Gospel Movement. He was in complete agreement with the vision and our hearts connected in a very real way. He told me that he would love to come and teach at our training school whenever it begins and of course it would be my honor to have him with us. He invited us to UCSD whenever we could make it and we exchanged contact info.
Many people have told me that I had to meet Eddie Brown and I always felt like I needed to also. Now that we’ve met I realize why: God destined for the two of us to work together for the establishment of His Kingdom.
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