Broken by Poverty
The past two days I have been very humbled by the severe poverty we have seen. I have seen much suffering since beginning LBM, but these cases were especially bad. Not that they were the worst possible conditions, but that seeing my brothers and sisters in Christ suffer is especially difficult. A couple of evenings ago a small group of us delivered the food kits from Vila Nova to some of the elderly women in the church.
One of which was Tereza. She had a massive stroke over a year ago and has lost the use of the right side of her body. She cannot speak, and just lies in bed all day. She lives with her children who are not believers. The house is filthy and overcrowded, and she has a stick on her bed to keep the rats away. While there we prayed for her and she held her Bible up to Pastor Magioli to read God's word. A 16 y/o girl who was with us commented that she knew the gospel was real because of the peace and tranquility visible in the face of this dear women. Even so, it is hard to see a child of the King ending her days like this.
Family in Campo Novo
Yesterday, we visited Campo Novo and Vila Nova. We went into the home of some lost people who benefit from the church's feeding ministry. While maybe not the worst housing I have seen it was humbling to see the hopelessness they are living in. To hear the woman say she wants to go to church, but her boyfriend beats her if she does was heartbreaking. To see three generations living in filth with barely a roof over them, was more than I could bear. As the group spoke with them I stood in the back and fought back the tears. Earlier in the week I had agonized in prayer that these women would respond to the preaching of the gospel, but they did not. They are bound by poverty and despair, and unless the Lord intervenes they will stay that way.
Please continue to pray for us as we are going to the most dangerous neighborhood in the city today.
One of which was Tereza. She had a massive stroke over a year ago and has lost the use of the right side of her body. She cannot speak, and just lies in bed all day. She lives with her children who are not believers. The house is filthy and overcrowded, and she has a stick on her bed to keep the rats away. While there we prayed for her and she held her Bible up to Pastor Magioli to read God's word. A 16 y/o girl who was with us commented that she knew the gospel was real because of the peace and tranquility visible in the face of this dear women. Even so, it is hard to see a child of the King ending her days like this.
Family in Campo Novo
Yesterday, we visited Campo Novo and Vila Nova. We went into the home of some lost people who benefit from the church's feeding ministry. While maybe not the worst housing I have seen it was humbling to see the hopelessness they are living in. To hear the woman say she wants to go to church, but her boyfriend beats her if she does was heartbreaking. To see three generations living in filth with barely a roof over them, was more than I could bear. As the group spoke with them I stood in the back and fought back the tears. Earlier in the week I had agonized in prayer that these women would respond to the preaching of the gospel, but they did not. They are bound by poverty and despair, and unless the Lord intervenes they will stay that way.
Please continue to pray for us as we are going to the most dangerous neighborhood in the city today.
Posted by Patrick at 7/15/2010 8:54 AM 
Categories: Mission Trip Updates
Tags: world missions mission trip Latin America Jesus Christ poor Brazil Jesus poor and needy missions missional homeless global missions feeding ministry church planting world poverty hunger poverty hungry short term missions South America global poverty
Categories: Mission Trip Updates
Tags: world missions mission trip Latin America Jesus Christ poor Brazil Jesus poor and needy missions missional homeless global missions feeding ministry church planting world poverty hunger poverty hungry short term missions South America global poverty
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