I have been trying to get to the blog weekly and so far I have failed miserably and for that I am sorry! Again, please check my facebook if you haven't already!
In the time since my last update much has transpired. Some ups and downs but God has been good through it all! There has been more soccer ministry and I think I'm getting better! I can play with 14 year olds and not look like a total goof so that's good.
We also have been blessed with the opportunity to teach music to kids at an orphanage. As most already know, I am studying to be a music teacher so the opportunity to teach music and share the Gospel at the same time is fantastic! We have had two sessions with the kids and are scheduled to have a third session Thursday the 24th. We also may get to come back and contiue working with them in our last week.
Another ministry we will be partaking in is next week we will be traveling to a pastor's conference. Our job will be, for five days, to teach the children of the pastors. We have a program set up explaining different "Bible Heroes" and much more. We will be using songs from various years of Uncharted Waters curriculums which will be super fun! Chloe will be teaching English and I will again be teaching them music! Please pray for the preparation as we depart Monday for the conference.
Thank you all for praying for the ministry in Brasil! One last thing that I would especially appreciate prayer for is this coming Sunday. After hearing me talk to kids at a soccer night, the pastor of the church invited me to preach at the church's Sunday night service! Please pray for me as I prepare the message and that God will clearly guide me in the words to use as well as for Felipe, my friend who will be interpreting for me!
Appreciate all the support everyone! May God be glorified!
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Saturday, July 5, 2014
Camisa 10 and Nova Campina
Hello everyone! I hope that many of you have been seeing my more regular updates on facebook. If you are not friends with me on facebook please send me a friend request! That way I can add you to the group page. Today I would like to update you on what has happened so far. There are three topics I´d like to mention in this post.
The first is the ministry we took part in over the first week and a half of being in country. Part of YMI Brasils long term ministries is a soccer school called Camisa 10. It´s name reflects the Brasilian tradition that the best player wears the number 10 jersey. The school teaches the kids how to play their best while also being their best. I was able to play with the kids each session and had a great time doing so. Also, I had three oportunities to share with them. The first time, I shared my testimony and the other two times I shared Bible stories. Please pray for these kids and the ministry.
The second is that Chloe and I traveled from Atibaia to a small town called Nova Campina. Here we are staying with the Pastor of a local church and his family. We all get along really well and they have become like family. I feel very at home here. We came to Nova Campina in order to help run a sports camp which we did starting on Wednesday. We had at every session no fewer than 15 kids, usually more like 30. The sports camp which was made up of 2 sessions for kids about ages 5-14 and then an older group 14-18 or so. Many kids came for both groups. Here at the camp I shared my testimony and as well as the fufillment of God´s plan in His Son Jesus. Please pray for the kids of Nova Campina as several are not church goers or go to churches that have a misleading understanding of the Gospel.
Thirdly, as I have conversed with Pastor Ademir and his wife Denise, there are several churches in the area that teach if you pray hard enough then God will do things for you. That He is essentially a God who bows to the whims of those who call on Him. We know that God does hear our prayers and often answers them but we also know that sometimes He doesn´t. So there ends up being people who get mad at God when He doesn´t help them like they think He should. Or they feel abandoned when a loved one becomes ill and God doesn´t miraculously heal them. I bring all this up because I had the honor to preach at the church´s midweek service on Thursday night. I had been praying about what God wanted me to share and He led me to John 9. This is the story of Jesus healing a man born blind. I saw this man in the Bible becoming so thankful to Christ that the man worshipped Jesus. Now that may seem pretty obvious. I mean He was Jesus after all. But if you look at the chapter you´ll see that the man was heckled by the pharisees and eventually kicked out of the temple. To us that may no seem like no big deal, we would just find another church, but for this man, he was a Jew who had been kicked out of the temple. Who would employ him now? Even now that he can see, he has become a liability. But wait, according to the ``gospel´´ shouldn´t he have had nothing but good things happen after encountering Jesus? That´s what many churches would have us think. That way they can increase the size of their congregation. But in the story of the man born blind we see a more accurate picture of the life of a believer. We encounter Jesus who enables us to see God, but now we are contrary to the world so we are put out. This did not stop the man born blind though. He continued to worship Jesus despite his new dire circumstances. This was the message I felt led to share, and it was received very well, praise God! In the little english people knew, I was told it was ``beautiful.´´ I am very thankful to God for the opportunity to share. Please pray for the church in Nova Campina, and I mean all believers. Pray that the Spirit will lead all to a true understanding of Scripture and the Gospel.
I´m sorry this was so long, I will try to update far more frequently than every two and a half weeks! Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement. I feel the faithfulness of our God and His saints every day. Praise God for opportunities and good health and healthy relationships!
The first is the ministry we took part in over the first week and a half of being in country. Part of YMI Brasils long term ministries is a soccer school called Camisa 10. It´s name reflects the Brasilian tradition that the best player wears the number 10 jersey. The school teaches the kids how to play their best while also being their best. I was able to play with the kids each session and had a great time doing so. Also, I had three oportunities to share with them. The first time, I shared my testimony and the other two times I shared Bible stories. Please pray for these kids and the ministry.
The second is that Chloe and I traveled from Atibaia to a small town called Nova Campina. Here we are staying with the Pastor of a local church and his family. We all get along really well and they have become like family. I feel very at home here. We came to Nova Campina in order to help run a sports camp which we did starting on Wednesday. We had at every session no fewer than 15 kids, usually more like 30. The sports camp which was made up of 2 sessions for kids about ages 5-14 and then an older group 14-18 or so. Many kids came for both groups. Here at the camp I shared my testimony and as well as the fufillment of God´s plan in His Son Jesus. Please pray for the kids of Nova Campina as several are not church goers or go to churches that have a misleading understanding of the Gospel.
Thirdly, as I have conversed with Pastor Ademir and his wife Denise, there are several churches in the area that teach if you pray hard enough then God will do things for you. That He is essentially a God who bows to the whims of those who call on Him. We know that God does hear our prayers and often answers them but we also know that sometimes He doesn´t. So there ends up being people who get mad at God when He doesn´t help them like they think He should. Or they feel abandoned when a loved one becomes ill and God doesn´t miraculously heal them. I bring all this up because I had the honor to preach at the church´s midweek service on Thursday night. I had been praying about what God wanted me to share and He led me to John 9. This is the story of Jesus healing a man born blind. I saw this man in the Bible becoming so thankful to Christ that the man worshipped Jesus. Now that may seem pretty obvious. I mean He was Jesus after all. But if you look at the chapter you´ll see that the man was heckled by the pharisees and eventually kicked out of the temple. To us that may no seem like no big deal, we would just find another church, but for this man, he was a Jew who had been kicked out of the temple. Who would employ him now? Even now that he can see, he has become a liability. But wait, according to the ``gospel´´ shouldn´t he have had nothing but good things happen after encountering Jesus? That´s what many churches would have us think. That way they can increase the size of their congregation. But in the story of the man born blind we see a more accurate picture of the life of a believer. We encounter Jesus who enables us to see God, but now we are contrary to the world so we are put out. This did not stop the man born blind though. He continued to worship Jesus despite his new dire circumstances. This was the message I felt led to share, and it was received very well, praise God! In the little english people knew, I was told it was ``beautiful.´´ I am very thankful to God for the opportunity to share. Please pray for the church in Nova Campina, and I mean all believers. Pray that the Spirit will lead all to a true understanding of Scripture and the Gospel.
I´m sorry this was so long, I will try to update far more frequently than every two and a half weeks! Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement. I feel the faithfulness of our God and His saints every day. Praise God for opportunities and good health and healthy relationships!
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Day 1
Good morning from Brasil!
Thank you all for your prayers! My fellow intern Chloe and I arrived safe and sound at Juca's house about an hour ago! I'm super excited to be back here and Juca has already shared that we have ministry to do tomorrow! In the mean time, our gracious hosts are allowing us time to rest and relax after 18 hours of sitting in airports and/or on a plane. We will watch the World cup games together today and just get accustomed to each other and the dynamics of our transnational team. Please continue to pray for us, for focus of our ministry and our relationships with each other and the people we will meet. May God be glorified by our prescence here even while we rest up today. Return regulary for more updates!
In Christ,
Troy
Thank you all for your prayers! My fellow intern Chloe and I arrived safe and sound at Juca's house about an hour ago! I'm super excited to be back here and Juca has already shared that we have ministry to do tomorrow! In the mean time, our gracious hosts are allowing us time to rest and relax after 18 hours of sitting in airports and/or on a plane. We will watch the World cup games together today and just get accustomed to each other and the dynamics of our transnational team. Please continue to pray for us, for focus of our ministry and our relationships with each other and the people we will meet. May God be glorified by our prescence here even while we rest up today. Return regulary for more updates!
In Christ,
Troy
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
1st Blog Intro
Hello Everyone!
The purpose of this blog will be to update followers and supporters of my trip to Brasil (next Summer) on the status of fundraising, encouraging lessons God teaches me between now and when I leave, and updates as much as I'm able while in country. If you follow in the facebook group I created great! I'm hoping to keep them both up, probably simultaneously, with the same updates that way there is more than one way to view any information!
For those who do not already know, I will be traveling to Brasil next Summer for an 8 week college internship with Youth Mission International (YMI). I'll be working with various churches and ministries during my stay in Brasil. Also for those who may not know, this will be my second time to Brasil. My first time was three years ago and I was there for ten days. I am very excited to go back and stay for a much longer time and see how God will use me and grow me during my time there.
During my trip Brasil will experience a massive influx of people from all over the world due to the fact that Brasil is hosting the FIFA World Cup! No, this does not mean I will be partying the whole time I'm there. Only part of it! lol Of course I'm kidding, I plan on having fun, but I also am taking this seriously and am excited to see how God is going to use the church to reach people during this gathering of nationalities.
If you would like to receive a copy of my support letter either by mail or email please send me your address or email address. You should be able to reach me through this site, but if you can't then you can contact me a few different ways.
Email: godstrumpet@gmail.com
Phone: (406) 366-4127
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tleven1
Also, if you would like to support me financially please contact me for the mailing address. I appreciate everyone's prayers, support, and wisdom. Thank you all very much!
The purpose of this blog will be to update followers and supporters of my trip to Brasil (next Summer) on the status of fundraising, encouraging lessons God teaches me between now and when I leave, and updates as much as I'm able while in country. If you follow in the facebook group I created great! I'm hoping to keep them both up, probably simultaneously, with the same updates that way there is more than one way to view any information!
For those who do not already know, I will be traveling to Brasil next Summer for an 8 week college internship with Youth Mission International (YMI). I'll be working with various churches and ministries during my stay in Brasil. Also for those who may not know, this will be my second time to Brasil. My first time was three years ago and I was there for ten days. I am very excited to go back and stay for a much longer time and see how God will use me and grow me during my time there.
During my trip Brasil will experience a massive influx of people from all over the world due to the fact that Brasil is hosting the FIFA World Cup! No, this does not mean I will be partying the whole time I'm there. Only part of it! lol Of course I'm kidding, I plan on having fun, but I also am taking this seriously and am excited to see how God is going to use the church to reach people during this gathering of nationalities.
If you would like to receive a copy of my support letter either by mail or email please send me your address or email address. You should be able to reach me through this site, but if you can't then you can contact me a few different ways.
Email: godstrumpet@gmail.com
Phone: (406) 366-4127
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tleven1
Also, if you would like to support me financially please contact me for the mailing address. I appreciate everyone's prayers, support, and wisdom. Thank you all very much!
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