Going the Distance

From the Slums of Brazil to Mozambique,Africa!!!

2009-08-28T22:34:00.003-03:00

Hardly a day goes by when I don’t think about the slums of Brazil. The slums are places for pain, suffering to millions of people living in shacks and violence and every time I go to visit my family like two weeks ago or maybe when we go up to the biggest and most dangerous slums in Brazil to teach English to impoverished children. People living in such conditions long to leave and have a better future.

This is life in the slum—a life of those remembered by few, and forgotten by most… A life which they seek to escape, because to lead a hand-to-mouth existence is so painful. For most, their only option is to collect what cardboard, plastics and metals they can, to sell to recycling plants in the hope that the next day will bring a transaction through which they may escape their cycle of poverty.

I don’t know if you can imagine how hard it would be to get out of the slums for something better but I want to encourage all of you guys that have invested in my life and ministry. I would like to share with you about my sister. She has been in Mozambique now almost a month and she’s loving it. She’s serving as a full time missionary in an organization called “Dream Project” and you can learn more about her work at www.thedream-project.org

Please know your prayers and support helped my sister to fulfill God’s dream for her life. She is a full time missionary now and she is out of the country. Only God!!! She grew up in a big slum in Brazil and saw and experienced abuse by her own father but God restored her and today she is reaching and loving so many people for Jesus. I want to thank personally all the people that made it possible for my sister financially to go to Mozambique and I know God will use her there in a mighty way and you will be a part of it because you invested in my sister’s calling.

See, God can take a nobody and transform this person into a somebody’s in the Kingdom. My sister was rejected and forgotten by the society and the Churches of Brazil but God saw her and he fell in love with her and he couldn’t take his eyes off her until he could have her full heart and my sister gave her full heart to the Lord and she has never been the same and never will and many people are going to learn and understand the love of God through her life in Mozambique and around the world. I am so proud of my sister and I am so thankful to God for this opportunity that he have to my sister Luciana Pereira de Souza. God is so faithful and good!!!

An E-mail Written by My Editor

2009-06-17T15:15:00.003-03:00

Hi Everyone

This is an e-mail that was sent by a great friend of mine in the U.S.A and I just wanted to share with you all that you can do the same. Please tell all of your friends, family and church about my book. I know for sure this book will inspire and challenge you to fight for the millions of kids suffering in the big cities of our world. And of course please pre-order your own book now!!!

"Many of you are familiar with some of the young Brazilians my husband and I have been privileged to work with over the past few years. I am so excited to announce that Sidney, one who we have bragged about on many occasions (and many of you have also met) is nearing the final process of *publishing his life story!* God has blessed us to be a part of this project and we can hardly wait to see the finished result! For those of you who don't know, Sidney was born in the slums of Brazil,and at only 6 years old, he was forced to work in the streets to support his very large and very poor family. After fleeing an abusive alcoholic father at the age of 7, Sidney spent the next three years on the streets of the third largest city in Brazil - Belo Horizonte. Miraculously, by the age of 14, Sidney accepted Christ and began serving God faithfully. He has since traveled the world to preach the gospel, from the suburbs of the USA to the slums of Africa, South America, Europe, Asia and Oceania. His mission is to love the forgotten, lost, despised, unloved and unreached. While most Americans were exchanging gifts and enjoying Christmas festivities last December, Sidney was overjoyed to spend his Christmas in Darfur, Sudan.

Sidney's amazing story has inspired thousands of street children across the globe, and no doubt the release of his book will empower him to reach millions more. His heart burns for street children, and with the growing epidemic of kids who are forced to live and work in the toughest environments, this book couldn't come at a more urgent time. I invite you to *visit his new website and pre-order a copy of his book!* Scheduled for release in October of 2009 at $19.99 + shipping, if you reserve your copy now you will only pay $14.99 + shipping *and receive your copy a month before the official release* *date!*

Also at the site you can watch clips from the documentary my husband and I produced that chronicles some of Sidney's powerful testimony, see footage from a few of Sidney's mission trips and have the opportunity to donate to his ministry".

*www.RescuedToTell.com*

God bless you and thank you for your support!

Taryn & Damon Smith
Inspiring Minds Publications

Redefining Christianity

2009-05-21T14:36:00.002-03:00

Is it true that the church of today, the church that is called after Christ`s own name, would refuse to follow him at the expense of suffering, of phisical lost, of temporary gain? That is a question that is hunting me down every single day. I have read the book called "In His Steps" over and over again and every time I read it God speaks to me in a powerful way about sacrifices and suffering.

Today, our churches contains for the most part men and women who think more of their ease and luxury than of the sufferings and needs and sins of humanity. How far is that true? Are Christians of Brazil ready to have their discipleship tested? How about the men who possess large wealth in Brazil or the U.S.A? Are they ready to take that wealth and use it as Jesus would? How about the men and women of great talent? Are they ready to consecrate that talent to humanity as Jesus undoubtedly would do?

If every Christian in Brazil or the U.S.A did as Jesus would do, society itself, the business world, yes, the very political system under which our commercial and governmental activity is carried on, would be so changed that human suffering would be reduced to a minimum? What would be the result if all the the church members of Belo Horizonte tried to do as Jesus would do? It is not possible to say in detail what the effect would be. But it is easy to say, and it is true, that instantly the human problem would begin to find and adequate answer.

Is it true that Christian disciples today in most of our churche here in Brazil or around the world are living soft, easy, selfish lives, very far from any sacrifice that can be called sacrifice? What would Jesus do? What would Jesus do in the matter of wealth? How would he spend it? What principle would regulate his use of money? Would he be likely to live in great luxury and spend ten times as much on personal adornment and entertainment as He spent to relieve the needs of suffering humanity? How would Jesus be governed in the making of money? Would he work in a bar and sell alcohol? There are so many christians today that work in bars here in Brazil and they sell alcohol the whole day and then they go to church at night and ask God to bless their job and their hands.

Are we ready to take up our cross? What is discipleship? If our definition of being a Christian is simply to enjoy the privilges of worship, be generous at no expense to ourselves, have a good, easy time surrounded by pleasant friends and by comfortable things, live respectably and at the same time avoid the world`s great stress of sin and trouble because it is too much pain to bear it-if this is our definition of Christianity, surely we are a long way from following the steps of Him who trod the way with groans and tears and sobs of anguish for a lost humanity;who sweat, as it were, great drops of blood, who cried out on the unreared cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

I am ready to imitate Jesus. I am ready to do as He would do. I am ready to walk in His steps. I am ready to rescue the perishing, I am ready to care for the dying, I am going to fight for those who suffer, I am going to be part of the solution of this world,I am going to bring Jesus to those that are hopeless. But my question to you is "Are you going to join us?"

Are Street-Kids more important than your Dog?

2009-05-07T16:35:00.005-03:00

On the streets of Brazil there is somethinbg you can always find. Whereve you see street kids or any homeless you will always see some or a lot of dogs. But the dogs hurt their feet on broken glass, distemper kills the puppies meaning the little dogs but on the streets we were big fans of big dogs, while worms, fleas and other parasites would be great part of our dog’s lives too.

The dogs used to come from different parts of the cities or from the slums. In Brazil we have a lot of dogs wandering on the streets and of course street kids too.Coming from the streets myself I'm sure that the kids on the streets owning pets. We on the streets used take such a good care of our pets then we do ourselves due to the fact that they are the only things we had that we could talk to and know we could trust. I remember we had names for our dogs and we used to talk to them like if they were human beings especially when we were drunk or high that’s when we would talk to the dogs the most and we used to tell the dogs personal stories and I still remember the name of my favorite dog on the streets. His name was “Pretinho” and that means “little black”

But I have a question for all of you who are reading this blog, aren`t the kids more important than dogs? Aren`t we supposed to be fighting for kids who can`t fight for themselves? So why do we have close to 10 million kids around the cities in Brazil? So why we do have around 100 million homeless kids in the world? I love dogs but I can`t understand how people in Brazil and around the world can spend so much money on dog food and caring for their dogs while we have millions of kids suffering around the world. Here in Brazil we have so many rich ladies and families who spend thousand of dollars on their dogs and that almost make me puke or cry my heart out because I was just few minutes ago talking so some street kids here in Brazil and they were all looking for a way out of the streets but they don`t have anywhere to go. They were asking me if I could take them home but I told them I didn`t have a place for them but someday I will. I told them about my dreams and my dreams are to have houses around the world that will take in street kids and missionaries and people will educate, love, care for these precious children that God loves so much. Will you consider fighting for these unloved, forgotten children around the world?

Julia "Neguinha"

2009-05-01T21:51:00.004-03:00

I used to love Julia because she was about my age and I was really close to her. I remember everyone used to call her “Neguinha” and that means “black girl” and she used to be so nice to me. I remember we did kiss few times but I never had the courage to have sex with her because I knew she had had sex with many people before. She had sold her body many times before and she was always with different street kids. She always tried to have me sleep with her but I was always afraid because people used to say she had a disease that killed but I never knew what that meant.

I remember one day at night we were seating on the streets and we were really close to each other and we started sharing our lives and our past. I don`t know what was happening to me because I hate sharing about my past but that day I was so open maybe because I felt safe around her. I told her about my father and my past and she just listened and many times she used to agree by nodding her head and that meant her father was very abusive to her too.

Then after I was done she started telling me her story by gazing at the floor. It was a horrific story and I will never forget it. She told me that her mother died by her father. Then her father turned the gun on himself and Julia was found sleeping on the bed between her parent` bed when she was only 3 and a half. They were really poor and they lived on the slums and they didn`t have furniture so they had to sleep together. Julia told me about the domestic violence she had to go through and the chaotic living.

Julia tried very hard to forget about what happened to her and her parents but after that incident she started having nightmares and she became very sad and frightening. When Julia was telling me her story she never looked at me and I remember she started crying telling me about her fears and worries. She was in my life for a year on the streets and after I left the streets, I did see her couple of times but now I have no idea if she`s alive or dead. I hope my “Neguinha” is alive because she was truly my friend and I really liked her because she was good to me.

We Forget That He has a Name Too!!!

2009-04-30T14:30:00.004-03:00

I think about Pedro constantly when I am thinking back of my life on the streets or when I am telling my testimony. He grew up poor and he was still very poor on the streets. He was considered the fastest boy on the streets because he used to rob people and they would never be able to catch him. The police either!!! He used to tell me that he left home because he hated going to school and he had no interest in those borings subjects. He used to tell me that he never had nice clothes before he came to the streets because his family was too poor. His clothes were always torn, no slippers and he was always out of the house most of the time. He only cared about soccer and more soccer. He used to tell me the number one rule on the streets, he used to say “Bro(Sidney), you can`t be weak on the streets because the streets are tough”. Pedro was a boy that was totally indifferent to what was happening around him and another thing he used to say to me in his Paulista(People from Sao Paulo) accent was “Bro,you gotta live each day as it goes, if that means robbing or stabbing someone you gotta do”.

But he didn`t stay alive very long. They burned him alive with paint-thinner and he was taken to the hospitals and I never heard about him no more. He was cool but he talked too much. He was too crazy but his craziness took him to the grave. I didn`t really like him a lot because he used to dominate all of us on the streets and to tell you the truth I was afraid of him or what he would had done to me if I did something wrong.

The Most Amazing Woman in My Life!!!

2009-04-29T14:45:00.004-03:00

I will forever be grateful to mom and her name will always ring in my memory. Her name makes me cry and laugh at the same time. I love my mom and always will. My mom`s name is Juraci Pinto da Silva and she is a strong woman that has been through a lot. My mom has superpowers – the power to love, the power to understand, the power to sacrifice and to give everything that she has. I remember many times we wouldn`t have food or enough food and I remember she would sacrifice her own food for her us. She would give the last portion of rice and she would assure me that she was very full but today thinking back I know she was hungry and she needed to eat but she gave to me or my brothers and sisters.

I think my mom is very patient because she is still living with my father but now there are couple of months that she filed the papers to divorce my father but she is doing that through public service so it will take very long time, my mom is also very humble, caring, carefree and God-fearing.

My mom didn`t grow up in a city with big buildings but she grew up in the rural area and she tells me that she loved that life because life was very simple and you didn`t have a lot of things to worry about. My grandfather married early but he lost his wife because of diseases, then he married again but lost his wife again and then he married the sister of the second wife that died. He has had so many kids and most of them are still alive. He has had more than a dozen of kids and my mom is one of oldest. My mom just like my father didn`t study that much because in the rural area there wasn`t higher level of education. My mom says she would had loved to study more but it was not possible. My grandfather had a big land with a lot of acres and they used to have animals, plantations, a lot of fruit trees, water fountains and horses, cows, etc.

My mom grew up learning how to cook for her mom and take care of the house. My mom tells me some really fun, interesting and exciting stories of her childhood. She tells me stories of when she would steal oranges, bananas, berries with her friends just for fun on the way back from school. My mom grew up with a very innocent childhood and she had a fairy-tale of someday a prince was going to come and rescue her but instead of a prince came someone else. My mom tells me that when she was growing up it was hard for them even to see a car or television because they were living so removed from the city and all those things like car seemed like a dream to be near or even touch someday.

My mom tells me stories of how she and her family would walk for hours to get to a family`s house that had a small Television so they could watch the evening soap-opera or movies. She tells me to have a television back then it was a luxury thing and she used to love to watch the television and she would watch the soap-operas and she would image of someday being married and having her kids .

She tells me that everyone around her would be so afraid to get old and not get married so they would get married very early in their teens and back then it was completely ok. So all my aunties got married very early and my mom too. My mom got married in her teens and she tells me that she didn`t really love my father but she just wanted to get married to get away from home. She didn`t want to stay home until she would be older.

My mom got married and moved to the city and that`s when her life was changed completely from an innocent life to an abusive life. My mom tells me that when she was pregnant with all of us but I mean and especially with me my father used to kick her stomach and belly and he used to scream horrible names. She tells me that my father used to beat her down with pieces of woods, sticks and with his fists in her stomach and many times she thought she was going to lose one of us when she was pregnant. She tells me that my father used to choke her neck when she was pregnant and he would force her to carry for miles carrying woods for the fire because she didn`t have stove to cook with or get water from far away.

My mom has always been Christian and she tells me that when she was a teenager she started going to church and she has always been a member of a Pentecostal denomination called Assemblies of God here in Brazil. The Assemblies of God here in Brazil back then and still today most of them demand their members to wear long skirts and they can`t have their hair cut, trimmed, died and there are other little things like you can`t watch television or the guys can`t play soccer or can`t wear shorts. I think it`s so funny because we are a nation that is crazy about soccer and The Assemblies of God don`t allow the guys to play soccer. I remember when I was a little boy I used to feel like I was sinning by playing soccer or wearing shorts. Since I was little I never really liked those rules but I would go because my mom would tell me so.

My mom is a woman of faith and for me I think she is the greatest woman ever lived and will ever live. She is a woman of faith and forgiveness. I remember days and nights when I would see my mom kneeled down with her face down praying for God to save her children. I remember she used to tell me someday I was going to preach the Gospel and I was going to serve God. She used to call things that didn`t exist like they existed. She used to say that someday I was going to be serving God and today I am. Praise the Lord for my mom!!!

She has never given up either. I bet she has thought so many times to give up but she hasn`t. She had three of her kids running away from home and never coming back and she still never gave up. Even when my oldest sister ran away for a week she still didn`t give. She has been beaten, choked, slapped and she has heard many but I mean I think every bad word from my father and she is still standing and following Jesus.

My mom lost a son when he was just a babe and I never really know what really happened. I keep asking her for the whole story but she only tells me that my brother when he was just an infant and he died in the hospital without being able to breathe. I always try to get more information from her about my brother and I always feel she avoids that topic. I feel there is another part of the story that hasn`t been told and she doesn`t want us to know what really happened. She never mentions my brother that died and it seems like it is too painful to talk about it. But She is still standing and going.

She is a fighter and she will always be in my heart. She has fought for me and she is the greatest example of my life. She has taught me about forgiveness and love. She has always loved me and her love is so genuine and real that is hard to find anywhere I go. I love my mom and she is the most amazing and incredible woman in my life and history. Thank you God for mom and what she has done for me.

My Friend from the Streets of Brazil

2009-04-27T18:55:00.005-03:00

I think this is the hardest story I have ever heard on the streets. I had a friend called Lucilene but our crew used to call her by her nickname “Lequinha”. She was 14 years old when I was on the streets and she had a scar to her face that she bragged saying it was her father that did that to her. She used to tell me stories of her siblings and parents and I always felt that she hated her family but I couldn`t say anything to her because I hated my father too.

Lequinha told me one day when we were seating under a bridge downtown Belo and we were watching the cars pass by and we sniffling glue and re-thinking about our past. That is the day she opened herself to me. She walked with that posture that she didn`t care about life and didn`t trust people either. I knew it was going to be hard for her to talk so I gave her a little bit of more paint-thinner to sniffle. I tried to make her feel at ease by giving her that bit of thinner and a cookie I had with me, but she sat there just frozen gazing at the cars passing by.

Her face looked sad and her eyes were always big, almost always she had dried lips and she was so quite and she hated talking to people. She always seated by herself and she always used to sing a song that I knew called “Deus de Promessas” and in English would be “God of promise” and it was funny because I knew that song because they used to sing in my mom`s church. I was always so curious why she would sing that song when she was by herself and I always had that crazy thought that Lequinha had been or grew up going to church with someone.

I tried to make Lequinha to talk but I knew it was too painful to her. Her soul had been scarred and wounded. She was trying to forget her past and I wasn`t helping but I was so determined to talk to her that I was not going to let go. I understood what she felt inside and I think I was attracted to her quietness because most of the girls on the streets were loud and crazy.

She was young but she had seen so much and let`s not even talk about how she had been hurt so severely. Just two years ago she had seen her father beaten and shot, her mother and sisters raped in front of her. She herself was thrown and forgotten for dead in an alley of a slum until nightfall and then someone found her and took her to the hospital. She had been hurted, used, abused, thrown away. Man, I hated life on the streets because I was a lost case and everyone around me too.

It is so sad but funny because where we were seating under the bridge we could see the slum where she grew up from far away. The name of the slum is “Pedreira Padre Lopes” and that is he most dangerous slum in Belo Horizonte or better saying in the state of Minas Gerais. I did ask her if she wanted to go back to her relatives that still lived in the slum and she forced a smile and said “No Way”. She told me about the slum where she grew up and she told me that near her house there were restaurants, bars and magazines stands that there were bullet holes, stains were everywhere. When she was telling me her story I could hear Lequinha` voice drifting through the hot summer, humid Brazilian air.But I knew her mind was churning and she wanted to scream or cry. It was painful thing for both of us but we were glad we were under the influence of paint-thinner.

She began to unfold her story. I had made her feel good about herself I think. For a moment the pain was clear to her. I can`t believe my next reaction My hands reached out for hers and I wanted to hold her hands so tight during her sharing and I remember she kind of hesitated it but she allowed me to hold her hands. We smiled. Our eyes met and we looked at one another and we knew we were very similar in many ways. So after that she talked to me about her pain and her past. She talked, I listened, and tears welled up in my eyes as I heard her story in childlike terms. I felt her heart, I felt her soul, felt her pain. It was as if I was experiencing it vicariously with her and I couldn`t hold but cry with her. She saw my tears, she felt my hand squeeze hers and I could hear her heart beat so fast and she stopped using the paint-thinner and you could see for that moment both of us forgot about our addictions and we were in a time of healing together even though we didn`t know we were being healed by Jesus in that moment.

Lequinha explained to me with details about the ache of her heart and about her rejections, of feeling thrown away like a used Kleenex. I felt so bad for Lequinha because she was dumped somewhere to die by herself. I had never been dumped somewhere to die so I couldn`t really fell her pain but I could image that would be hard as hell. She had so many scars in her life that I even thought to myself that she would never be healed of her past.

That day I will never forget because it was the only time on the streets that I felt someone really understood me and I really understood someone. She wasn`t a close friend on the streets but I will never forget that moment we spent together. After two months and a half Lequinha died in a car accident downtown Belo Horizonte running for her life because there was three other street kids trying to attack her and she crossed the streets without looking.

“Looking at the World through the Eyes of God”

2009-04-10T15:26:00.002-03:00

John 3:14-21 – “Looking at the World through the Eyes of God”

I can’t think of a greater condemnation to be levied against a people than this: They loved darkness instead of light. I would never want that to be said of me. But that is the way God sees the world. You and I see the world as it is right now. Most of the people around us try and do the right thing and when we are wrong hopefully we apologize. So we tend to think well of most people. But look out on the passage of time….

The Ancient World of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Hellenism, Rome, Persia, India, and East Asia was filled with the ignorance of hundreds of thousands of gods, magic, rituals, superstitions, human sacrifice, conquests, sewage(refuse was mostly thrown into the streets for the rats and dogs), disease (priests attempted to foretell the course of a disease by examining the livers of sacrificed animals). And the list doesn’t end there: ethnic bigotry, civil wars, persecutions, despots, tyrants, class rule, and the systematic murders of tens of thousands.

The Middle Ages of Persia, Constantinople, Islam, Britain, China, India, Genghis Khan and the Mongols, Timur and the Turks, Europe, African Empires and the Americas. All of them covered in the darkness of man’s inhumanity to man: Revolutions, expansionism, Mohammad’s Conquest and Christianity’s Crusades, warlords, heretics, witchcraft, increased trade bringing death and plagues to millions, and the crowding in the cities spreading the misery all the more. And on top of this misery wars fought for every ridiculous reason known to man.

The Enlightenment and the Modern world also have faired no better. We too have loved the darkness instead of the light. Europe, Africa, Mid-East, India, and the Americas have all dipped their finger into the cesspool of sin: Guns, germs, slavery, the need for women’s suffrage, massacres, socialism, resistance to democracy, religious fundamentalism’s resistance to progress, Fascism, Communism, The Holocaust, the Ku Klux Klan, greed, the market crash, The Depression, world wars, The Bomb, terrorism, the crisis in Africa.

I can’t tell you what a short list this is. And this says nothing of the millions of women and children who have suffered throughout the ages at the hands of ruthless men. There is no way to write that history because it is hidden from the pages of history.

Yes! Men have loved darkness rather than light. There is a morbid destructive tendency in all of us. We dabble in the diabolical. We revel in revenge. And we hate in our hearts. My, how we love to live in the shadows! What must God think of us?

Here is his verdict, as true today as it was when it was pronounced 2000 years ago: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light, because their deeds were evil. This is Jesus’ description of mankind. And can any of us argue with him?

For a few moments let’s look at the world through the eyes of God. What does he see? He sees that....

1. There are those who acknowledge not the darkness.

2. There are those who acknowledge the darkness.

3. There are those who acknowledge their need for forgiveness.

Africa is Rising!!!

2009-04-09T21:54:00.002-03:00

I have heard my whole life about Africa and the issues Africa is facing. It is really sad when you think about the natural as well as man made disasters that have lampooned the continent in pretty much the same way with the droughts and famine such as endured for years in countries like Ethiopia and the region of Sub-Saharan Africa, and now Niger where millions are at risk of annihilation. I have witnessed civil wars and related conflicts that have culminated in genocides of the sort that have been witnessed in Rwanda, some parts of the DR Congo, and lately Sudan’s Darfur region.

I might say that Africa is like a demonstration continent that is constructed and then demolished, and constructed again, only to be demolished once again. It literally goes on and on in Africa. There seems to be no permanent or consistent pattern of development and advancement on the continent that is one of the richest in resources yet has the poorest and most miserable people in the world.

Something I really fight for is the change of social problems in Africa because there are some well to do African families that are living quite comfortably although these are surrounded by the sad realities of deprivation that hound the generality of the African populace.

Once again the pleading eyes of African mothers and children are watching us from our TV screens. They are destitute and starving. This time it is Darfur, Sudan. The terrible TV images of children with bloated bellies and stick-like limbs. Why does it keep happening? Is Africa somehow doomed eternally to hunger and misery? Can we not do something about it? Yes I believe we can.

I have been very frustrated every time I go to Africa because I see horrible social injustice in Africa and I think about our world that is just standing by and watching what`s happening in Africa. There are millions of refugees and internally displaced people from conflicts in Africa. Hundreds and thousands of people have been slaughtered from a number of conflicts and civil wars like in Sudan. I have been to Sudan and I heard the missionaries and people telling me stories of kids fighting for something they don`t even know. They are just kids but child soldiers in the same time and if you would ask them how old they are they would tell you I believe that they are 11 or 12 years old. If this scale of destruction and fighting was in Europe or in Americas, then people would be calling it World War III with the entire world rushing to report, provide aid, mediate and otherwise try to diffuse the situation.

I am going to tell you stories from my mission trips to Africa and I am only telling you these stories because I believe we can change Africa. We were created to be agents of transformation, change and healing. God has called us to be a difference-maker and a generation that is willing to give up everything for the Gospel and my greatest joy is Africa but it is also my greatest cross.

I love Africa and I always will. I have been to Africa 3 times and this year I am planning and praying to go twice. I have been to many countries like South Africa, Mozambique, Uganda, Sudan,etc. God has been so good to me because he has allowed me to see or hear many different things in Africa. I will never be the same. My testimony seems or becomes small when I am in Africa. My problems become small when I hear or see what`s happening to millions of people in Africa.

My heart is to bring doctors, lawyers, police officers, nurses, teachers, politicians, pastors, missionaries, worship leaders to Africa for short-term or long term to see the realities of Africa. And I know when they see the realities of Africa they will never be the same and I pray many of these people that go to Africa with me they will go back to stay and live in Africa to transform communities from the inside out.

Africa is in the heart of God and I know he loves every African person just as much as he loves me and you that live outside of Africa. God is bigger than the problems in Africa and he will raise up a generation in Africa that will love and serve him with everything they are. I believe Africa is going to be the epicenter of the revival that is about to happen in our world. I believe Africa will shine and will be great among us. God is rising up a new generation in Africa of pastors, missionaries, worship leaders and true followers of Jesus Christ that will impact the whole world for Jesus. Africa is ready and the time is now!!!

I will never forget Peru!!!

2009-04-04T18:07:00.002-03:00

Peru is located in western central South America. It is a country that is pretty big, it has close to 30 million people. Over 90% of the population adheres to Roman Catholicism and only close to 8 percent out 100% are protestant Christians. It is a very oppressed country and the people in Peru likes to practice Vudu or better saying Witchcraft. I spent a little bit over a month there and I was preaching and trying to disciple the missionaries on the ground and pastors. I spoke in some mission conferences but to tell you the truth you can drive or walk for hours in Peru and not find or see a church. That is the reason why I really wanted to go to Peru and I knew God was going to do amazing things in that place. I knew I was going to see signs, wonders, miracle happening in Peru because the church is at the earliest stage in Peru. God is pouring down his fire in that place and many, I mean like multitudes are coming to Christ.

I traveled all over the country and it is a very beautiful country and I love Peru and especially the people. They are so open and receptive to foreigners. They love Brasilians so I felt at home in Peru. I worked with streets kids too trying to restore their dignity and there are so many street kids in Peru and God used my life to impact their lives because I could tell all of them that I was an ex-street boy from Brazil and now I was a preacher of the word of God. I did a lot of leadership training with the missionaries and I also visited the slums of Peru and I cried out to God to rise up that nation as a nation that serves God.

But the most memorable thing that happened in Peru was when I got an invitation to preach at one of the most dangerous prison in Cusco, Peru. It is one of the largest and tightened prison in Peru. It was a Sunday morning and the sun was radiant and I was so happy because I was going to meet all these guys that had done horrific things in life that had harmed them and other people. I was so excited but so scared at the same time. I thought to myself this is real church and I had the conviction in my heart that if Jesus was still on earth he would be chilling with the people in that prison. I know he would and that is the reason why I accepted the invitation to go.

It was close to 9 o`clock in the morning and I was in front of the that huge prison with this pastor and his crew. They were giving me all these instructions of how to act and what to say inside of the prison. I was paying very close attention because I didn`t want to die or get hurt in that day. They told me that the worst criminals of Peru was in that prison and many times they would riot and evoke their rights by getting people hostage in a visit day meaning an open day for their family members and friends to visit them. I was processing all these things and I was thinking “Oh, God. I know we are going to have a lot of people in our service this morning and what if these crazy guys go crazy and decide to get us in hostage here?” and God quietly answered in my spirit “I have called you, I have a calling for your life and even if you wanted to die you wouln`t because I am not done with you yet.” I was so encouraged by that word that I couldn`t stand still and I started singing and praising the name of Jesus right in front of that prison and the people that were waiting on line were looking at me and thinking I was a crazy foreigner that had a relative inside or someone I knew.

The line kept walking and I could still hear the voice of the pastor explaining to me how did the whole prison ministry started and about the hardships of his ministry. I was right in front of a hero in our faith and he was definitely a miracle. He was so in love with God and you could see in the pastor`s eyes that he loved God above everything else in life and he loved the lost souls inside of that prison. He was willing to give his own church to be full time as a counselor and pastor of that prison. He helped the prisoners in everything they needed from lawyers to supplies of food and clothes.

It was a very tight security and it took us close to an hour to bring all the equipments and boxes inside. Everything we had were checked by the prison guards and they were very tense you could see that because I tried to be nice to them by trying to talk to them but they didn`t even look me in the face and they were short and mean. But I was willing to shine the light of Jesus in that day but it wasn`t working maybe it is because of my Spanish. Maybe not!!!

After they were done checking everything we had and checking out our own bodies if we were bringing anything illegal to give to the prisoners they let us go but the funny thing is that they didn`t want us to go by ourselves because of security reasons. I remember walking inside of that prison and thinking the prisons in Brazil are luxurious mansions compared to this one. The structure was horrible and falling apart and it was a dirty place full of people with mean looks and tattoos. All the prisoners were checking us out and they wanted to jump us. Some of them asked me for money and some of them even threatened me to give them money. I wondered to myself “Are these guys going to be in the chapel this morning for service because if they are I want to leave?” The prison guards were protecting us and they made sure nobody would touch or steal us. One guy heard I was going to be the speaker for the morning chapel and he started yelling and telling all of his friends that a Brazilian preacher was going to be there that morning. He was very excited that he went through his whole section announcing there was a Brazilian preacher there and everybody had to go.

I was shaking during worship time and I was crying out to God and saying God “what do you want me to speak this morning?” and God said speak about my restitution and just tell your story to these guys. I remember after 4 songs in Spanish the pastor got up to introduce me in front of that big crowd and I remember I was sweating and I wished God would take me out of that place because first I was going to have to preach in Spanish. I can understand and speak Spanish very well but I had never preached before in Spanish. I thank God now for all the classes I had taken of Spanish in Brazil and all the Hispanic people God had brought into my life years passed. I had many friends from Spanish speaking countries and I kept in touch with all of them and now I was desperate for God`s help.

I stood up and suddenly something happened inside of me. I knew I was just like Moses because in that moment I felt like I couldn`t speak and didn`t have the words for that type of crowd. But the Spirit of the Holy Ghost fell upon me and I remember I said good morning church. And to tell you the truth, it was one of the best experience of church I have had in my life because I heard God`s voice and I saw God manifesting himself in ways I had never seen it before. The worship was genuine and those guys you could see they were really hungry and desperate for Jesus. Jesus seemed to be their everything and they knew without God they were done. They knew their sins were too big and they knew that God was bigger than their problems and sins. They were crying, kneeling down, jumping, praying during worship and now I was looking at these guys with a different eyes. I was looking at them not as prisoners but sons of God. They were physically in Jail but their Spirit wanted to be free or better saying I believe most of them were free in God.

I stood in that pulpit looking at the audience and I could see some familiar faces from the moment I came in and they were asking me for money. I don`t know how long I stood there but I think couple of minutes and all of them stood there waiting for me to start preaching. They were staring at me and hoping I would say something that would change their lives. I was praying inside and asking the Holy Spirit to anoint me and suddenly the power and anointing of God fell upon me and I opened my mouth and I started declaring in the spiritual world that God was going to do super-natural things that morning and I started calling things that didn`t exist like they were and God started doing some crazy powerful things in that prison. I told all of them that God could restore their lives and families. Their past was their past. Their past didn`t have to determine their present of future. They were so passionate and ready for change and in that day many but many accepted Jesus Christ. It was hard to count how many accepted Jesus Christ but a Christ revolution was about to start in that place. Many of them came to the altar call crying and screaming for Jesus to come and change their lives and family. They felt really encouraged by my testimony and they started believing they could so it too. Until these days, almost two year later I still hear about what God did in that prison in that day. Many started reading the Bible and obeying the prison system because now they were willing to fight for purity and their families. They are walking in victories now and many of them have left and they are doing good. I still hear from my friends in Peru that the fire that started that day has not stopped but it is growing and it is spreading across the prison guards, family members and different cities that are involved in the prison in anyway.

I love South America and I know God is going to raise a generation that will follow God 100%. I know we have problems with idolatry, extreme poverty, millions of street kids, child prostitution, child slavery, forced prostitution, killing addictions like alcohol and drugs that are destroying families, unemployment, huge slums with horrible conditions but still God is raising up a generation that will change the face of South America. It is time for South America and I know we will fulfill God`s calling in this era.

Você pode ajudar a África?

2009-03-17T12:02:00.002-03:00

África, um continente dotado de imensos recursos naturais e humanos, bem como grande novidade cultural, ecológica e diversidade económica, África ainda permanece subdesenvolvida. A maioria das nações Africanas sofrem de ditaduras militares,corrupção, Guerras civil e extrema pobreza, do subdesenvolvimento e millhares de pessoas morrendo por causa do Virus do HIV/AIDS. A maioria dos países classificados pela ONU como países menos desenvolvidos estão na África. Várias estratégias de desenvolvimento ainda não conseguiram produzir os resultados esperados. Embora alguns acreditam que o continente está condenado a perpétua pobreza e escravatura económica, a África tem imenso potencial. África é a minha cruz e minha maior alegria, ao mesmo tempo. Hallelua!

As imagens de dor e de sofrimento em todo o nosso canais de TV. Essas imagens vêm do Iraque, Afeganistão, Israel, Palestina e África. Vemos a morte e o sofrimento de perto. Pensamos que é apenas notícias, como imagens alimentadas a nós através de câmeras, satélite, telefones vídeo, imagens fixas. A cada ano, vemos milhares delas, elas vêm de todo o mundo.

O mundo está apenas olhando e não estar fazendo nada. Vemos as imagens, temos pena, mas a maioria de nós não fazemos nada. Vemos imagens da África, as crianças com fome, garotos soldados no Congo, no Norte do Uganda e do Sul do Sudão onde milhares e milhares morrem de fome e por causa das Guerras civis.

Há anos que eu tenho levantado dinheiro para Projetos africanos ou viagens que eu fui para a África. Fui três vezes à África e sempre quando eu volto para o Brasil, eu sempre tenho encontrado essa atitude de piedade das pessoas, essa atitude de sentir pena da África, mas essas pessoas não colocam em ação seu sentimento. Gostaria de contar a história da África, as suas possibilidades, suas riquezas, seus recursos, a história de um povo que tem fome de liberdade, fome de Deus e fome das coisas básica da vida como comida. Eu encontro pessoas nas Igrejas e elas falam assim pra mim as vezes “Tenho pena das pessoas na África, mas porque elas não têm menos filhos e os seus problemas podem ser resolvidos - ou - Por que precisamos ajudar a África - se tudo o que eles fazem é matar uns aos outros - Eu sinto muito por eles, mas a África é longe e temos necessidades aqui no Brasil ou nos Estados Unidos, mas eu tenho pena deles. "

África não precisa da nossa pena, nosso sentimento triste por eles, mas o que eles necessitam é da nossa compaixão. Pena conduz à inação, vemos as imagens de crianças com barrigas distendidas, vemos mulheres emaciado, homens sangrando e sentimo-nos tristes, mas não fazemos nada sobre isso. Pena leva a sentimentos de inação, se tornando anestesiados do sofrimento, dor, injustiça que está perante os nossos olhos sobre a tela da TV ou nos Jornais.

Estou tão animado, porque Deus está me permitindo levar uma equipe para a Uganda e Sudão, em Dezembro de 2009. Neste momento temos 11 pessoas que vão e a maioria de nós não temos idéia de onde vamos conseguir o dinheiro para ir. Cada um de nós temos que levantar perto de 4 mil dólares para a nossa viagem. Nós acreditamos em um milagre e sabemos que Deus vai providenciar de alguma forma. Por favor, peço-vos a todos que têm orado e clamado pelo continente africano. Agora é a hora de agir todos vocês que conhecem o nosso ministerio, e você pode fazer isso de muitas formas, uma orando para nossa equipe, orando por mim como o líder da equipe e, obviamente, financiando a nossa viagem missionaria. Por favor, Se você quiser fazer uma doação para nós como equipe ou se você quiser enviar uma doação financeira para mim especificamente . É muito fácil e rápido. Basta me enviar um e-mail: sidneypereira915@hotmail.com ou ligue no meu cellular (19) 9291-1278.

Sua ajuda é fundamental, porque as crianças da África precisa - agora mais do que nunca! Crianças que necessitam de cuidados de saúde, educação, alimentação, abrigo e cuidados e apoio. Mas, com o seu apoio, A nossa equipe vai poder satisfazer todas as necessidades básicas dessas crianças; também você pode trazer esperança, oportunidade e salvar vidas de pessoas!

Can you help?

2009-03-17T11:55:00.003-03:00

Africa, a continent endowed with immense natural and human resources as well as great cultural, ecological and economic diversity, remains underdeveloped. Most African nations suffer from military dictatorships, corruption, civil unrest and war, underdevelopment and deep poverty. The majority of the countries classified by the UN as least developed are in Africa. Numerous development strategies have failed to yield the expected results. Although some believe that the continent is doomed to perpetual poverty and economic slavery, Africa has immense potential. Africa is my cross and my greatest joy at the same time. Hallelua!!!

The images of pain and of suffering move across our TV screen. They come from Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, Palestine and Africa. We see death and suffering up close and yet are comfortably enough removed from it. We see them as news, as images fed to us via cameras, satellite, video phones, still images. Each year we see thousands of them, they come from around the globe. Most of the time we see them as mere images and not as the people and lives, the families, the communities they represent.

The world is standing by doing nothing. We see the images, we have pity, but most of us do nothing. We see images from Africa, children starving, boy soldiers running around in Congo, Northern Uganda and Southern Sudan where thousands upon thousands have died.

For years now I have been raising money for African Projects or mission trips I took to Africa. I have been three times now to Africa and I have found this attitude of pity from people, this attitude of feeling sorry for Africa but not putting it into action as the prevalent mood of the day. I would tell the story of Africa, its possibilities, its riches, its resources, the story of a people hungering for freedom, for the basics of life and I would get “that is nice, I pity them, but why don’t they have fewer children and their problems be solved – or – Why do we need to help – if all they are going to do is kill each other – I feel sorry for them, but Africa is far away and we have needs here in Brazil or in the United States, but I do pity them.”

Pity regards its object not only as suffering, but as weak, and hence as inferior, and I am sorry to say that such an attitude still exists in the year 2008. Africa does not need our pity, our feeling sorry for them, but it needs our compassion. Pity leads to inaction, we view the pictures of children with distended bellies, we see emaciated women, bloodied men and we feel sad, but do nothing about it. Pity leads to feelings of inaction, becoming anesthetized from the suffering, pain, injustice that is before our eyes on the TV screen or in print.

Compassion on the other hand leads to action that is not based on pity for someone lesser than, but reaches out to a fellow human being. Pity might give a handout, whereas compassion not only tends to the immediate needs at hand, but also empowers the person in need to be all that they are meant to be.

I am so excited because God is allowing me to take a team to Uganda and Sudan in December 2009. Right now we have 11 people going and most of us have no idea where we are going to get the money to go. Each one of us needs close to 4 Thousand dollars for our trip. We believe in a miracle and we know God is going to provide in some way. So please I call all of you who have prayed and cried for Africa. Now it is the time for all of you to act and you can do that in many ways by praying for our team, praying for me as the leader of the team and of course by financing our mission trip. Please let me know if you want to do a fundraising for us or if you want to send a financial donation. It is very easy and fast. Just send me an e-mail: sidneypereira915@hotmail.com or call: (19)9291-1278.

Your help is critical because the children of Africa - now more than ever! --- are in need of health care, education, food, shelter and care and support. But with your support, they can meet all basic needs; also you can bring hope, opportunity and save their lives!

You were not created to be Mister "Cool"

2009-03-13T11:03:00.003-03:00

Have you ever noticed what "Christians" look like or like to perceive themselves? Of course it is not all of them but most Christians have tried to show to the world that they are perfect if not perfect close to perfect. Many people in the church think they gotta have everything together and be good or sometimes they even describe themselves as cool people. But something you never really hear is that they are messed up people and they have no clue of what`s going on in their lives or around them. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ and I know life is not going to be all good and fun like we want it to be. But we don`t hear that from Christians or churches anymore. We only hear that after we accept Jesus Christ, everything is going to be fixed (good,fun,easy). But I have some bad news for you or I am going to mess up your theology.

After you say yes to Jesus or better saying become a follower of Jesus Christ, disciple of the King. Your life will never be the same because it just can`t be. It is funny how Jesus or the Bible always teaches us the contrary of what the world values or says we should have. Remember? We serve an awesome God and he is very different than the God we hear in churches. We serve a God that loves the prostitutes, murderers, street kids, prison inmates, Osama Bin Laden, Hitler, Fidel Castro the same way he loves us. His heart is crying out and calling all the destitute, forgotten people to have a relationship with him.

For example if you think about Jesus ministry. He used to hang out or better saying talk to prostitutes, tax-collectors, murderers, fisher men, lepers, orphans, widows and most of the time Jesus used to slap spiritually the religious people and he used to call them liars, fake and a bunch of other ugly names. Oh, I almost forgot to tell Jesus never looked at this people and thought I am talking to a prostitute. Not even once. Never!!! but he always I guarantee you thought I am talking to my daughter, someone that I love and care about. Wow!!! It messes with your theology. Hum?

Jesus is tired of all those people in the churches trying to fit in and be cool. God is trying and calling out those people that want to jump from the windows instead of going through the doors. Almost every christian is coming in and going out through the doors, but God wants to raise up a generation that is radical and is not conformed with the normal anymore. God is tired of people that are tiptoeing through life but he wants people that are willing to run as fast as they can or jump in life for Jesus and the kingdom of God.

Is Our Generation ready for the Challenge?

2009-03-09T13:28:00.004-03:00

I hear a lot about our generation` selfishness, pride, lack of commitment to God. Sometimes I wonder if our generation is going to make it? But when God allows me to speak at cell groups, youth services, churches around Brazil or around the world I find some young people that are willing to pray that dangerous prayer "God, Here I am, so use me."

When our generation decides to pray this dangerous prayer and when they decide to stand up, stand out and make the difference then something radical and noble it is going to happen in our world. It is hard today to find a devoted, fully committed young person completely in love with God in our generation and ready to impact our world. Nowadays, we need young people that are willing to give up their comfort(family, fame, power, fun)for the cause of Jesus and the expansion of the kingdom.

I went to a cell group last Friday and I met some awesome young people and I am so thankful to Jesus because when I meet young people like that it really encourages me because sometimes I feel I am a weird, strange, radical young person that is by himself. It is so encouraging to meet and find other crazy young for Jesus. God is good!!!

There is nothing better than living my life for Jesus and for this suffering and dying world. I want to love the unloved, care for the forgotten, embrace the orphans, care for widows, accept and minister to the despised people of our world. My calling and purpose is to serve and bring help to the poorest of poor. "God, Thank you for being with me".

Is the Church Dead?

2009-03-05T19:57:00.002-03:00

The church today is not changing and upsetting the world, it has lost its way. Christians doesn`t speak from the rooftops the things they have heard in secret anymore. Satan is winning in this world. Over a million babies are slaughtered in the womb. Divorce is rampant. Children are abandoned by their fathers. Parents are not parenting and the children are lawless. Pornography is a national disease that ruins the minds of young boys. And the Gospel is not being preached in most pulpits. The Gospel of Jesus has been replaced with a message of convenience. Preachers are pressured to offend no one. Leaders have heard the cry for ear-pleasing worship and they are giving it.

For example: Most churches just wait for special holidays or events to help the poor or in the slums here in Brazil. Most of the churches here in Brazil and also in the world wait for Christmas time to give things to the poor communities. But God has called us for something greater. He has called us to be agent of change, restoration, healing in this world. We need to influence, impact locally and globally especially on this issue of poverty. We cannot become weary of doing good and think we can`t do anything. Nowadays we have a lot of lazy and faithless Christians inside of the church. We have so many Christians that are fat spiritually speaking, obese spiritually speaking and they are just concerned about themselves and their little world but when they are doing that. Just check this out:

The world, some 26,500 children die every day.

That is equivalent to:

- 1 child dying every 3 seconds

- 18 children dying every minute

- A 2004 Asian Tsunami occurring every week

- An Iraq-scale death toll every 15-36 days

- Almost 10 million children dying every year

- Some 60 million children dying between 2000 and 2006

The silent killers are poverty, hunger, easily preventable diseases and illnesses, and other related causes. In spite of the scale of this daily/ongoing catastrophe, it rarely manages to achieve, much less sustain, prime-time, headline coverage.

Unfortunately, it seems that the world still does not notice. It might be reasonable to expect that death and tragedy on this scale should be prime time headlines news. Yet, these issues only surface when there are global meetings or concerts (such as the various G8 summits, the Make Poverty History campaign in 2005, etc).

Who is going to speak up? What is the church of Christ doing today? Are we sitting by on the sidelines saying it is not our business or are we speaking up and proclaiming God's will? Where does the church stand on the things that matter to God?

Something comes to mind when I think about a church that is thinking about a global issues but that church is taking global solution. I think about the the morally energized, spiritually motivated church in the Bible that was viewed as radical and a force to be reckoned with. An example of the influence the Gospel is seen in Acts 17. I can assure you that we can become that church again and we can make the difference and we can change our world and especially the numbers of children dying because of hunger or better saying starvation.

5 But the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the market place, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and attacking the house of Jason, they were seeking to bring them out to the people. 6 When they did not find them, they began dragging Jason and some brethren before the city authorities, shouting, "These men who have upset the world have come here also; 7 and Jason has welcomed them, and they all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus." (Acts 17:5-7)

I am never going to live for myself and I am ready to fight for this dying world and I am ready to take as many with me to Heaven. I will make the difference and I invite you to do the same. Lord, Help us all. Amen!!!

If I could change the world!!!

2009-03-03T20:25:00.003-03:00

If I could change the world, I would do it by putting an end to abortion.

About 4,000 babies die a day in the United States. About 120,000 babies die each day in the world. That's in only one day, and that is a lot of babies. More babies are killed a day by choice than the total men killed in World War II. 545,108 men were killed in World War II and since the year 1995, 34,000,000 babies have been killed by abortion.

Dr. Jean Garton once said that we would have to be quiet for 10,000 hours if we were quiet a second for each baby that was killed by abortion. That is over a year. That is a long time to be quiet. I don't know if you could do it, but I know I couldn't be quiet that long.

Did you ever wonder why we don't have a cure for AIDS or a cure for cancer? With all the babies that have been killed maybe one would have grown up and found a cure. Think about how many famous athletes, musicians, scientists, and teachers must have been killed. How many Michael Jordans, Beethovens, or Albert Einsteins have been killed?

A life starts inside a woman's body. This life will grow, and if allowed to be born, will become a person like you and me. As early as 3 weeks or 18 days you can hear the baby's heartbeat inside its mother. To find out if someone is alive or dead, a doctor listens for a heartbeat. Why doesn't the heartbeat inside the mother mean that there is life?

Another way a doctor checks a person to see if they are alive is to check for brain waves. A baby's brain waves are present at 6 weeks or 40 days. If brain waves indicate life, then why doesn't a baby's brain waves mean that there is life inside the mother? What kind of people are we to kill our own babies?

In the state of Ohio, there is a law that says if an "unborn member of the species homo sapiens, who is or was carried in the womb of another is killed, it is considered a form of murder or manslaughter." That means that in Ohio if you get in your car and have an accident, and an unborn child dies, you can be charged with a form of murder. But, a pregnant woman can get in a car and get an abortion killing the life inside her, and it is not considered murder.

I can't go to the mall and get my ears pierced without my parents signed permission. But I could go to an Abortion Clinic and have an abortion without my parents' permission. It seems to me that what they are saying is that getting my ears pierced is more important than a life of a child.
What would make a woman consider abortion? Could it be FEAR?

Women have abortions because they are afraid their lives will change: they are afraid they can't afford a baby, and they are afraid they will have to raise the baby alone. If you become pregnant, don't be afraid, and don't choose murder. There is help out there! You can choose to give the baby up for adoption to people who want to have children or you can have your parents help you raise the baby. But don't kill the baby.

Just imagine if you couldn't buy a Wendy's cheeseburger, a hot cheesy slice of Dominoes Pizza, or type e-mail to a friend on an Apple Computer. The people who created all of these were adopted. If Dave Thomas's mother had considered abortion there wouldn't be any cheeseburgers from Wendy's. If Tom Monaghan's mother had considered abortion, there wouldn't be any Domino's Pizza. If Steve Jobs's mother chose abortion, you would not be able to type on an Apple computer. What would our world be like without all these great contributions?

About 57% of Americans believe that abortion is murder. What do you believe? Do you believe that abortion is murder? Remember that if your heart beats or if you have brain waves, you are alive. Why shouldn't a baby be given the same right? The fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution says that "The State shall not deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law." Where are the rights of the baby?

Three things that we can do to reduce the numbers of abortions are to educate ourselves, and others, write letters, and vote. We could write letters to the media about how we feel, and visit your elected officials telling them how we feel. You could also collect signatures to change the law about abortion. If you are old enough to vote, you could vote for those candidates who are against abortion. There are a lot of different ways that you could help.

Because of abortion we are losing valuable human beings who could make endless contributions to our world. Maybe by raising my voice, I could change the world by putting an end to abortion!

The Reality outside the Church!!!

2009-02-09T14:06:00.002-02:00

I go to speak in a church here in Brazil or I just go to visit and the sad thing is that right after the service I am faced with the reality of Brazil. I am a missionary and my heart breaks when I just left from a big church that has so much resource, money, people and they are just concerned about themselves. I know and understand the impact the churches in Brazil can have in the slums, prisons, streets of Brazil but most of the churches in Brazil are just worried about numbers of people, money, fame, power. I look forward for that day when we as Christian Brazilians will wake up and shake this beautiful nation of Brazil. The world needs to see how Brazil is devoted, committed to the cause of Jesus.

But outside our churches and behind the popular images of Brazil, the tropical beaches, soccer and carnival lies another reality, that of desperate poverty. Kids are subject to police brutality, rape, violence, and being forced into prostitution just for food or to stay alive. Brazil's GDP ranks it as the eighth richest country. Less than one percent of the population owns more than fifty percent while more than fifty percent of the population owns less than one per-cent of the land. Brazil has the greatest disparity between the rich and poor of all countries.

Brazilian churches need to wake up and do something. We need to fight for those that can’t fight for themselves, we need to love those people that are unloved, we need to care for the forgotten ones, we need to embrace those that are desperate for love, we need to cry with those that are crying, we need to be agents of transformation, restitution, healing here in Brazil. Brazil is so ready for change. Are we ready to be the change? Lord, help me to fulfill your dreams(will, purpose) in my life.

Is Brazil ready for change?

2009-02-09T13:07:00.003-02:00

I have been discussing a lot with Pastor Richard about the real Brazil and I know the real Brazil is being built right now as I write this entry in my blog. What we see in the newspapers, TV news is not true. The country is on the road towards an ever more participatory, responsible democracy.

The economy is growing, and in a short time we will be competitive in high-tech industries; agriculture is turning us into a world granary, tourism will contribute increasingly to the national revenue.

But it will be difficult for our per-capita income to meet that of the First World countries, or that of the new rich that form a New Second World.

Brazil will continue as the champion of income concentration. We are not undergoing a tragedy like Africa, but neither are we distributing income in a rational, sustainable manner.

Education—the only instrument capable of changing the income distribution pattern—will show improvement in the number of students enrolled, the number completing high school, the number of college-admission candidates.

But those improvements are insufficient to reduce the distance between rich and poor, or the growing gap between our education level and that of countries making a serious investment in educating their people.

By maintaining the present course, we will not be exporters of science and technology, except for isolated sectors; we will not be great producers of art; nor will we win more Olympic medals.

Healthcare will certainly undergo improvements in quality and universalization of delivery, but housing conditions will not make great progress. The cities, above all, tend towards urban chaos, and crime—both organized and petty— is becoming uncontrollable.

Surprisingly, two sectors are advancing and give signs of growth: solidarity and organizing. The last few years have shown an increase in the organization of society and in socially responsible actions on the part of the wealthiest Brazilians.

But social responsibility does not necessarily evolve from mere assistance into transformation. And the social organizing can increase corporativism, each group fighting for its own interests and ignoring—even tearing—the social fabric.

Despite this greater organizing and solidarity, the growing distance between the extremes can be foreseen: the 10% richest, families with an average monthly salary of 5,600 reais (US$ 1982), and the 50% poorest, families that receive an average of 272 reais (US $96) a month.

Even graver, is the growing distance in access to, and quality of essential services according to social class.

If urgent changes are not made, that will be the most serious tendency for the future: an inequality so great that it will consolidate the rupture of the Brazilian species into two groups that will not recognize each other.

More than unequal, they will be distinct; they will form different races in culture and in interests.

This tendency has been evident for years, and for years we have insisted in maintaining that course, despite the illusion of the political rituals, the economic data, and the timid advances in education and healthcare.

But even if we are ever more distant from the countries forming the New Second World, we have the resources to reorient our destiny and all the conditions are present to do so.

We will not catch up to the countries that changed course in the twentieth century, but we can reorient our own twenty-first century.

It is a shame that the superficiality of politics impedes us from making the change that Brazil needs. We can be so much better but we still have a lot of people in Brazil just thinking about themselves. Let’s not even talk about the churches in Brazil, Right? They need Jesus. Oh, how we need a revolution in our country and churches. Brazil will never change if we don’t accept the Jesus’revolution,

My Sister is Heading to Mozambique!!!

2009-02-05T17:06:00.002-02:00

I am not too proud to ask for help. Joseph asked for help. Genesis 37:15-16 “And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou? And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks.” For him to get the passport into Egypt, he needed to fulfil his father’s assignment. When he faced challenges in doing this, he asked for help and got back on track. I do not know it all. If Moses, the anointed prophet of God received wise counsel from Jethro, his non-prophet father in law how much more do I need? (Exodus 18:13-26)

We all have dreams. Dreams about our life,future and etc…..In the Bible we always see people who have dreams. I have asked God for his dreams for my life and now I am in the process of asking God with my sister God’s dream for her. My sister is so excited and I am very excited to let all of you know that my sister is going to Mozambique in June 2009. She has never been to Africa but she can't wait to get there to work with forgotten, abandoned children. I am in the process of raising money for her to go and live there for a year as a missionary and I have been asking churches and friends to partner with us. The missionaries in Mozambique are so excited to have my sister with them and she will be of great help for them. She will be working with orphans that need Jesus’s love, care, protection. I am praying and fasting for a break-through financially for my sister and I know I can’t do this without your help. Please let me know if you want to bless my sister financially or sponsor her monthly during her time in Mozambique. God is faithful and he wants to use you!!!

I know many of you don't know my sister but you know my ministry and my life story, so you know I am a fighter for justice and people. I am so excited to see what God is going to do because he is a God of miracles and I have seen him time after time pouring down his blessings from heaven and this time my sister and Africa will be forever changed. Man, This life is so exciting with Jesus and it is so cool to chase after his heart for me, my family, ministry, Africa!!!

My Sister is Restored for God's glory!!!

2009-02-05T16:49:00.001-02:00

Although growing up can be difficult, most children and young people receive the love and care they need to develop into healthy, happy young adults. But some children are hurt, neglected and used by adults or other children. Younger children may not be aware that what is happening to them is abuse. That is what happened with both of my sisters. They were abused not once but many times.

I grew up at home seeing my father hitting, kicking, beating with objects, throwing and shaking my mom and my siblings. I grew up in a big and dangerous slum here in Brazil without hope, destiny, love, proper care from my parents. Our father abused us in every sense of the word. My father didn’t give us love, approval or acceptance. We were constantly criticised, blamed, sworn and shouted at, my father always told us that other people were better than we were. My father didn’t provide for us proper food, warmth, shelter, clothing, care and protection. We had to go to the streets of Brazil and beg for money and food and stuff.

But I am so glad we have a heavenly father that cares for us and fights for us until our last breath. How often did I wish or dream I could turn back and start all over again in my life? Although the past is irrevocable, irreversible, and unchangeable but we serve a God that restores people’s lives. God is in restoration business. He wants and have restored almost everything the enemy has stolen from my family.

For example: My sister just got married with an awesome young, passionate, honest, Christian man. She is so happy and I gave her away at a church in the city I was born and she was so beautiful with the dress I picked for her. It was those Cinderella’ dress and she sang a beautiful song walking in to the arms of her future husband. He was shaking because he was so nervous because he knows my sister is a gift from God to her. What a huge responsibility!!! It was my sister happiest day and she couldn’t believe now God was restoring her to completeness, wholeness. That is the God we serve!!! He restored her virginity, ability to dream. By the way this is my younger sister because the older one is getting ready to go to Mozambique, Africa as a missionary.

I was in the wedding and I couldn’t believe how God is faithful. I thank all of you my friends and sponsors who paid literally my sister’s wedding with sacrificial gifts. Thank you and you should had been here to see how beautiful she was and how far your money went in Brazil. God bless you and I am so thankful to God for your friendship and support.

Death is so Painful!!!

2009-02-02T11:15:00.004-02:00

I am seating here and I am so overwhelmed by the lost of Edipo. He grew up with me in the restoration house in Belo, Brazil. I can’t believe that I just came back from his funeral because he was only 20 years old and still a long way to go in life. He died because of his bad choices in life. I can’t believe two months ago he was living in the restoration house with great missionaries that loved him and cared for his future. Now two days ago he was found dead in front of a brothel with no friends, family member, love or Jesus in his life. He had just got his driving permit and was working as a mechanic with a bright future ahead of him.

Edipo was a bright and wonderful person, intelligent, with special energy and God definitely loved him until his last breath. God was always chasing after him and still gave him the chance to reconcile to the people in YWAM and also to hear about God’s love to him one more time.

I wasn’t able to hold my tears in the ceremony because I was thinking about my lost brother. I haven’t seen my brother for 5 years and I have no idea if he’s alive or not. I hope and pray he is. Today I cried so hard and if you know me I never cry for any reason. But tears were coming so easily out of my eyes and I couldn't control those tears. I have always tried to be tough but inside I am someone that is full of grieve, pain and lost. I was so glad I had people from YWAM to hug me and comfort my spirit. We loaded a bus, a van, a car full of people to go to the ceremony of Edipo and it was so hard to see Edipo’ face. But I am so glad Jesus was there to comfort our hearts.

But today It has been a very sad day in YWAM and espeacilly for me and Anderson because our family is in the same situation as Edipo. Today, God please don't let me see miracles happening in my life and still give up some day in life. But God I desire pasionately to be faithful to you until the end of my life, Help me not to drop my cross. I want to serve and follow you God until the end. Please God, help me not to be like my father or my brothers. I want to be different and make something out of my life for your glory and honor. It doesn't matter what it is going to cost me but I will be not give up on you Jesus!!!

But when "pain" is dead, Who will take it to the mortuary? Who will bury it? Lets us get this right, I am not referring to pain as in physical wound or injury. I am referring to the pain of the heart, emotional pain, psychological pain. The kind of pain that is even more dangerous.

The only prize we can pay for pain is to cry (since it is painful). When we cry, we are telling pain that it cannot do anything rather than to make us cry and that crying is not enough reason for it (pain) to inflict us.

The main method of handling pain is to cry, grieve, endure and move on. This is the general method of handling pain. We should never allow pain to destroy our lives. We should never allow pain to remove our happiness. We should have control over pain and not pain having control over us.

Today Anderson and Myself are taking Alexandre and Lorinda out to go to Baby’ Beef just to honor them because they have laid their lives to help, encourage, pour into our lives and we want to thank and honor them. Alexandre and Lorinda are my parents and I am so thankful to God to have them in my life. God is always faithful and good!!! But He gives us the choice of choosing life over death, choosing light instead of darkness. Hallelua!!! Thank you Jesus!!!

Master's Commission Brazil

2009-01-28T15:56:00.003-02:00

Master’s Commission was established in 1984 when volunteers committed one year to learning principles of leadership, self-discipline, moral ethics, and personal integrity, and to the responsibility for serving their local community, country, and the world.

Since its beginning, Master’s Commission has effectively trained thousands of young adults and has expanded to cities throughout the United States and Canada with several international affiliates.

With professional backgrounds in Human Resources Management and Education, Pastor Richard and Jocelyn Moore have created with their staff an effective leadership program.

With collaborative partnerships with local churches and a large variety of social assistance programs, Master’s Commission has been able to design “on-location classrooms” where leadership training takes on a whole new meaning.

Within the realities of developing world-conditions, dynamic and life-changing leadership training transforms the average young adult into a global citizen with passion, purpose, and a commitment to serve his or her fellow citizens around the world.

Master’s Commission is a training program created for young adults to provide a stimulating environment for developing personal disciplines, moral character and leadership qualities.

Our training program is divided into three primary modules, giving interns valuable real-time learning experiences.

• Personal Development – Learning the basics of personal disciplines and practical life skills reflecting high moral character and ethical values. Interns have purposed to invest up to two years of their lives for hands-on leadership training where they realize the lasting values and benefits of hard work, integrity of character and self discipline.

• Service to the Community – Practical service within the local community, including public schools, churches, social service agencies, shelters for the homeless, after-school programs, safe-houses for former street children, and orphanages. .

• Global Compassion – Compassion and service with a global focus. Through collaborative partnerships with local social projects, interns learn what goes on behind the scenes. Through on-site experiences, interns develop a global perspective on relieving world needs.

Quotes that changed my Life!!!

2009-01-28T09:51:00.006-02:00

"Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase." Martin Luther King Jr.

"The church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society." Martin Luther King Jr.

"Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it." Martin Luther King Jr.

"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." Martin Luther King Jr.

"It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can stop him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important." Martin Luther King Jr.

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." Martin Luther King Jr.

"Segregation is the adultery of an illicit intercourse between injustice and immorality." Martin Luther King Jr.

"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools." Martin Luther King Jr.

"When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative." Martin Luther King Jr.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Martin Luther King Jr.

"I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law." Martin Luther King Jr.

"I submit to you that if a man hasn't discovered something he will die for, he isn't fit to live." Martin Luther King Jr.

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved." Helen Keller.

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it." Helen Keller.

"Never bend your head. Hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye." Helen Keller.

"People do not like to think. If one thinks, one must reach conclusions. Conclusions are not always pleasant." Helen Keller.

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt within the heart." Helen Keller.

"We could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in the world." Helen Keller.

"The highest result of education is tolerance." Helen Keller.

"When we do the best that we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another." Helen Keller.

"Before God we are all equally wise - and equally foolish." Albert Einstein.

"Imagination is more important than knowledge..." Albert Einstein.

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." Albert Einstein.

"Laws alone can not secure freedom of expression; in order that every man present his views without penalty there must be spirit of tolerance in the entire population." Albert Einstein.

"Gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love. How on earth can you explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love? Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That's relativity." Albert Einstein.

"A woman is like a tea bag- you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water." Eleanor Roosevelt

"Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people." Eleanor Roosevelt

"Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art." Eleanor Roosevelt

"I could not at any age be content to take my place in a corner by the fireside and simply look on." Eleanor Roosevelt

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." Eleanor Roosevelt

"One thing life has taught me: if you are interested, you never have to look for new interests. They come to you. When you are genuinely interested in one thing, it will always lead to something else." Eleanor Roosevelt

"Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself." Eleanor Roosevelt

"A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned to walk forward." Franklin D. Rosevelt.

"The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today." Franklin D. Rosevelt.

"Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth." Franklin D. Rosevelt.

"We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future." Franklin D. Rosevelt.

"We must remember that any oppression, any injustice, any hatred, is a wedge designed to attack our civilization." Franklin D. Rosevelt.

"It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something." Franklin D. Rosevelt.

"A friend is one before whom I may think aloud." Ralph Aldo Emerson.

"A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer." Ralph Aldo Emerson.

"All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen." Ralph Aldo Emerson.

"Character is higher than intellect..."Ralph Aldo Emerson.

"A great soul will be strong to live, as well as to think." Ralph Aldo Emerson.

"If I have lost confidence in myself, I have the universe against me." Ralph Aldo Emerson.

"God enters by a private door into every individual." Ralph Aldo Emerson.

"Don't waste yourself in rejection, nor bark against the bad, but chant the beauty of the good." Ralph Aldo Emerson.

"If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend." Abraham Lincoln.

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." Abraham Lincoln.

"Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves." Abraham Lincoln.

The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just. Abraham Lincoln.

"You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today." Abraham Lincoln.

PREACHERS ARE IMPORTANT

2009-01-26T16:42:00.002-02:00

The thing about preachers that we must understand is that they don't know how important they are. Your preacher is more than likely a very important person in your life. A preacher not only listens to your problems, but also helps to guide you down the right path to a peaceful after life.
Weeks go by and they will not have heard an intelligent word about any of their sermons. Sure, they get the "Good sermon, Pastor" at the door from 80 percent of the people from the church. But seldom does a person pick up the telephone or stop by the office with a question or point to discuss.

Preachers don't know whom they have inspired or how many have gone home with a new insight. The best preachers are more human than holy. They understand when others fail. When they preach, it is for stirring people rather than impressing angels.

I am so thankful I have Pastor Richard as my coach and pastor. I am so thankful for Pastor Richard’ life. I Love what I do and I know God has called me to preach the Gospel in this dying and decaying world. I love preaching about the restitution, restoration of God. God is so good and faithful!!!

The Nasty Habit of Ingratitude

2009-01-26T15:41:00.002-02:00

Am I possibly guilty of the nasty habit of ingratitude? I have been praying and asking God for a financial miracle in my missionary life. I am asking him to open the doors of miracles from heaven and pour down his blessings in my life. I need from January on to raise 200 dollars per month and I know God is going to raise people to fight this battle for me. I am so thankful for those few people who are helping me financially and I will never stop being thankful.

As gentle as I am, I am greatly concerned – I have missionaries friends all over the world now and I have always a question in mind “Do missionaries not say thank you anymore?”Opportunities for missionaries have been given for them to speak, offerings have been taken up for the missionaries in churches, etc. etc. and sometimes not a personal note or a phone call even, to say thank you. These missionaries stay in homes and never say thank you. Never a note!

These things I know because I have some missionary friends that do that. My question is how will we as missionaries ever get and keep support if we don’t show appreciation.
I don’t know what to say. Love and appreciation is a fruit of the Spirit. If we have a nasty habit of ingratitude what does that say about our walk with God.

I spend a lot of time coaching new missionaries about being thankful. We spend time discussing it in our support development training in Master’s Commission or YWAM. It should be a normal expression of love and appreciation.

When someone donates Money to any missionary but this missionary takes weeks before He says thank you. This is inexcusable. The nasty habit of ingratitude. It poisons the desire to give again! But in my ministry I am determined to do it differently, I am willing to fight for those that have given so sacrificially to my ministry here in Brazil. I need you big time, sponsor!!!

I am taking this time to say thank you and I would never be able to do what I do without your support or prayers. Please if you want to increase the amount you are blessing me or talk to me about how we can partner together, Just let me know.

I am ashamed, but determined to let this fruit of the Spirit be more effective in my life. We can’t do everything, but we must do what we can. Appreciation is like an insurance policy. You have to keep renewing it! You cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late. Kindness is a hard thing to give away - it usually comes back.

Sudan is forever in my Heart!!!

2009-01-20T22:48:00.005-02:00

Sudan is forever in my heart and I will always remember what God did in my life and through my life in that beautiful land of Sudan. I worked with Iris ministry for 10 days and I was able to meet real missionaries that are laying down their lives for the cause of the Gospel and needy people. I will never forget the faces of the kids I was able to love for 10 days and I would give anything to see them again. I slept on the floor, I didn`t have my nice modern bathroom and all the comfort that make my life so boring here in Brazil. But I am so glad I went to Uganda and Sudan because it was the best Christmas and New`s Eve I have ever had in my life. Sudan rocks!!! But Jesus is the best. I am so excited to share with everyone that I am coming back to Uganda and Sudan this year with a team from Brazil in the end of the year so please keep myself in prayer and if you feel like partnering with me on this journey please just let me know. Here are some informations on Sudan:

The LRA represents itself as an opposition group resisting the inequality of the Ugandan government by an armed struggle to form a separate government in the northern portion of the nation. The facts strongly suggest that the LRA is an extremely violent and brutal terrorist organization that has no real concern for the needs of the people of northern Uganda whom they claim to represent. However, some northerners do support them. In the last year, because of pressure from the Ugandan government, the LRA has operated more than usual in Sudan and Congo. Pray that this group will be eliminated.

Sudan is a beautiful country with amazing people. I will always remember the Arabic that I learned there and especially how the people dance and their big smile even though around them is only extreme poverty, Death and lack of everything we here in Brazil hold so dearly. Sudan will forever be in my prayers and life. I love Sudan and I believe God will use Sudan to impact not just Africa but the whole world. Just watch and see, folks!!!

Uganda is for sure the "Pearl of Africa"

2009-01-20T22:23:00.003-02:00

I love how god used me in Uganda and I am praying about going back. I was Uganda for 5 days and I was working with Uganda Jesus Village, fresh fire ministry, local churches and just encouraging the missionaries on the ground. Uganda itself is doing better politically. It is Africa’s rare success story in the fight against the AIDS pandemic (although interesting is that Human Life International says that “condoms are adding to the problem, not solving it”). The LRA still exists, but there is a hope of peace and stability. More important, there is a tremendous opportunity for the Gospel message to be shared in Uganda today.

So how can we pray for Uganda?

* Do not pray against the nation’s problems. That will solve them, but others will rise in their place. Pray that Uganda finds its redemptive purpose, and God will take care of the problems.

* When people hear of what God is doing in Uganda today, they consider it impossible. But Uganda’s example demonstrates that God can turn impossible situations around, and reveal himself as the living God in the midst of immense problems. Therefore pray in faith.

Background on Uganda

Islam was introduced into Uganda in the mid-1800’s. Muslims are mainly Sunni, although there are Shi’a followers of the Aga Khan among the Asian community. While today’s Muslims complain of being marginalized, in truth, private Qur’anic schools are becoming more common. Holy days celebrated as national holidays include Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr. Muslim prisoners usually were released from work duties during the month of Ramadan. And the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council enjoys diplomatic relations with the USA.

On 3 June 1886, thirty-two young men, pages of the court of King Mwanga of Buganda, were burned to death at Namugongo for their refusal to renounce Christianity. Instead of impeding Christianity as intended, it only built the faith and strength of Christians.

Economy of Uganda

Uganda has substantial natural resources, including fertile soils, regular rainfall, and sizable mineral deposits of copper and cobalt. Agriculture is the most important sector of the economy, employing over 80% of the work force. Coffee accounts for the bulk of export revenues. Since 1986, the government - with the support of foreign countries and international agencies - has acted to rehabilitate and stabilize the economy by undertaking currency reform, raising producer prices on export crops, increasing prices of petroleum products, and improving civil service wages.

About Uganda

Population: 30,262,610 (July 2007 estimate)
Note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected.

Life expectancy at birth: 51.75 years

Ethnic groups: Baganda 16.9%, Banyakole 9.5%, Basoga 8.4%, Bakiga 6.9%, Iteso 6.4%, Langi 6.1%, Acholi 4.7%, Bagisu 4.6%, Lugbara 4.2%, Bunyoro 2.7%, other 29.6%

Religions: Roman Catholic 41.9%, Protestant 42% (Anglican 35.9%, Pentecostal 4.6%, Seventh Day Adventist 1.5%), Muslim 12.1%, other 3.1%, none 0.9%

Languages: English (official national language, taught in grade schools, used in courts of law and by most newspapers and some radio broadcasts), Ganda or Luganda (most widely used of the Niger-Congo languages, preferred for native language publications in the capital and may be taught in school), other Niger-Congo languages, Nilo-Saharan languages, Swahili, Arabic.

Literacy: 69.9%

Where is my brother?

2008-12-01T23:35:00.003-02:00

My brother disappeared 5 years ago. December 1^st 5 years ago is when I saw my brother for the last time. He was HIV positive and he had given up on himself and on life. I was visiting my biological family and that was the last time I talked to him. I feel horrible and I am getting ready to go to my bed right now and I am pleading with God to bring my brother back. I spent the whole day thinking, praying, crying out for God’s strength in shopping mall here in Campinas, São Paulo. It was a very hard and sad day for me. I should have hugged him and told him that I loved him very much. I would've gotten to talk to him longer and I would've gotten to tell him how much God loves him again. I feel so much regret and guilt. I miss him so much. I'm having a hard time dealing with this pain in my heart. I've tried to talk to a couple of my friends, but they don't understand, some have avoided me. I've been putting on a fake smile and trying to act 'normal'. But I cry whenever I'm alone. When does it get easier, or stop hurting so much? I can't accept that he's gone. He was too young. Please can you tell me if he's alright,God? God, please show me or at least give me strength.

God, you have allowed me to speak into so many people’s lives all over the world. But I have lost my own family. My two oldest brothers are gone and I don’t even know if Marildo is alive. My mom is divorcing my father right now as I write this e-mail and I have no idea if my family is eating or struggling for food. I am almost certain they are crying out for your provision because every time I go home I meet my family without food.

God, I need you and I need you now. In this journal I am honest and I know I am lost without you. Many times you know I feel lost, tired, discouraged, unloved but God tonight when I lay down my head please show me your face of your love. Please reassure me that you will never leave, forget, forsake me in this journey I call “Life”.

I love you Jesus and I know if my brother is alive, you are taking care of my brother and please bring him home safely and well. I am trying to maintain hopeful of a better future but the enemy is lying to me. I am going to my bed right now thinking “Where is my brother?” But I also know the enemy is trying to bring me down and my family. But in the same time God is reminding me that no weapon formed against me shall prosper. Amen!!! Thank you Jesus.

Forgotten Chldren!!! Who Will Help?

2008-11-26T14:36:00.002-02:00

Children are the future of every society. Many children in Uganda and Sudan have been deprived, robbed, neglected of a beautiful future in God. There are so many that are living on the streets, bearing the chilling cold or dangers of the streets, feelings the pangs of hunger, and living like unwanted children in their society since some of them have lost their homes, parents and any other thing that would give them a sense of belonging.

For decades now Uganda and Sudan have been one of the most dangerous places in the world for children to live. Children there have not known love but cruelty. Many children bear the scars of war, they have suffered silently the atrocities of war especially in Darfur-Sudan right now. But Jesus Christ has clearly stated in the Bible that he loves the little ones and in his heart there is a special place for children.

I love children and I am so excited that I am going to be spending my Christmas and New’s Eve with so many children in Africa. I am leaving to Uganda and Sudan on the 17th of December and I am believing God for a miracle. I already bought my tickets but I still need close to 800 Dollars for medical evacuation, visa fees, food, ministry fees, housing, etc. I have prayed so much, I have shared my needs with so many but many people all over, I have preached in many churches here in Brazil and they have helped me but most churches in Brazil are not missionary oriented because most of them have the mentality of “We don’t have a lot of money” and “If we help we won’t have enough money on the end of the month to pay or accomplish all the things we as the “Church” wants to do”. So Now I know I am leaving in 20 days to Africa and I felt the need to ask for all of you guys to pray and I know many of you are prayer warriors in the Kingdom of God.

Thank you very for all of you that have partnered with me already in prayer and financially. I am so thankful for your life and I couldn’t do this by myself. I thank God and you my faithful supporters for allowing me the honor of being a part of so many marvelous kingdom advances. The mountains before me are large but God never failed me when I faced past giants that threatened to stop his Kingdom's advance. If I continue SEEKING FIRST His KINGDOM and His RIGHTEOUSNESS God will not fail me now! Please let me know if you want to be a part of this great adventure God has entrusted me with. God bless you and hope to hear from you soon.

Your fellow laborer in the Great Kingdom of our Lord and Savior,

Who is God going to raise to help Africa?

2008-11-16T15:40:00.004-02:00

Do I like movies about Africa?

Hotel Rwanda, Blood Diamond, The Constant Gardener, The last king of Scotland etc..they are not just random movies they are movies about the beloved continent of Africa. We are in the 21st century and the world is still worried about Africa seeing that most African countries greeted the 21st century and the new millennium armed with poverty, illiteracy, war, destructive ethnic or religious conflicts and underdevelopment. In the 1950’s and the 1960’s, the world wasn’t very worried about Africa, they were worried about Asia. Yes, Asia, I am talking about the Middle east, the near east and the far east. However, this century is truly the “Asian century”, Asians proved that they can solve their conflicts and problems and started developing their countries (Hong Kong, Thailand, UAE, China etc…). While America was entering the digital age, Europe was recovering from the destructive WW2, Asians started using their resources, Africa was too involved in pointless ethnic conflicts, corruption and other problems which often lead to humanitarian disasters.

Why is Hollywood so interested in making 20th century Africa into movies? Because we have plenty of amazing, unbelievable, touching and shocking stories ( not to mention that they are most definitely Oscar-winning stories!).

Yes, No, May be. I do like watching movies about Africa because Hollywood succeeds in making them very real and believable. However, I hate watching such movies, it makes me helpless, it makes Africa seem helpless. Africa is not a helpless sad continent and I hate being helpless.

Maybe the 20th century wasn’t “Africa’s” century, maybe the 21st century will not be “Africa’s” century but maybe the 22nd century will be theirs. Africa has so much potential. At least, I think so! I believe in her. Honestly, I’m not against watching Hollywood movies about her or any movies about Africa at all but please, stop the afro-pessimism and stop making Africa look helpless.

Moreover, what did they all have in common except hotel Rwanda?

The European trying to save the helpless little sad Africans. Europeans come to Africa expecting change and of course they will be the ones responsible for this change. They will come to Africa and all of a sudden, AIDS disappear, poverty is gone, all people are educated, development is all over the place but wait a minute, this is the real world.

Why is Hotel Rwanda different from the other 3 movies? It is real. It happened. Yes, that one African man, Paul ,saved thousands of lives. Yes, Africans are capable of great things once they get to work.

Europeans did a lot for Africa, Europeans are doing a lot for Africa right now but what can Africans do for Africa? A lot. Who is going to change Africa? its own people, the Africans. Is there any hope for Africa? Yes, its people.

The Hollywood movies are true, I’m not going to lie but its history, history is the past and the future is the present. The continent of Africa should look forward to the future while not forgetting the past, acknowledging it while learning their lesson for it, they can make a brighter future for themselves, their children and the next generations.

I love Africa and I will always believe in the continent of Africa. I believe God will raise Africa to change to the whole world. I believe God will pour his blessings on Africa and he will bring revival to that land. God will be the God of Africa and he will wipe away every tear from every single person in Africa. God, Use me Lord to bring healing, restoration, restitution, joy, salvation into the lives of people in Africa. Sudan and Uganda here I come and I can’t wait to arrive there next month.

Is The Church, Really The Church of Jesus Christ?

2008-11-10T22:20:00.006-02:00

You hear a lot of stuff happening on the news and elsewhere nowadays. People are fatter than they were 10 years ago, The gallon of Gasoline is absurd, Israel and Hezbollah are having a free for all with each other, the Iraq conflict is continuing on and on and on with no end in sight, hurricanes threaten Gulf of Mexico oil supplies, sex offenders maraud the landscape and so forth. But what really are the biggest problems we face today?

I really believe the biggest problem we face today is not Hiv/Aids, Prostitution, Child Slavery, Child Trafficking, Immorality, Depression, Poverty, Illiteracy, Corruption, Terrorism, Pornography but I really think the biggest problem we face today is our church. But now I am not talking about the Church of Jesus Christ, but I am talking about the church that men have created in this century. What does the world see of the church, the visible church? What is the extent of your church’s witness, visibility, and influence in the public’s eye? I have heard it said that we (as believers) gather together on Sundays to get equipped/energized so that we can then go out into the world to be a witness for Christ. And I agree with that. But, so often, once we depart from being together with our brothers and sisters within the confines of the four walls of the church building, we become soloists.

Through our actions in a globalised world, we are inescapably connected with and responsible for the fate of countless others, whether we like it or not. I don’t know what you think is the biggest problem we face nowadays, but for me I really believe we as the Church of Jesus Christ need to wake up and be Jesus in this dying and decaying world. We need to stand up for life, freedom, for the oppressed, for the sick, for the poor, prostitutes, drug addicts, etc. We need to stop being just one more problem in the world and we need to start being a solution. We need to make a difference in this world as a Church, We have a Giant inside of us and that Giant is the Holy Spirit(Jesus Christ) and we can do all things through Christ who strengths us. We have the power and the love of Jesus to embrace a homeless, widow, Gangster, sick person and we one more time can change this world. We are world changers, we are history makers, we are blessed by Jesus, We are anointed by Jesus, We are redeemed through Jesus, We are warriors, We are Kingdom Fighters, We are agent of restoration in the name of Jesus.

We gotta stop looking into ourselves and we need to start caring about the millions of people dying and living because of starvation. We need to stop worrying about growing the number of people in our church and we need to start looking at people as an individual who needs Jesus. We need to stop spending millions of dollars in improving the carperts, TV sets, Sound System and we need to start spending more money on taking the Gospel into the whole world. There are millions of people that will die without hope and knowing Jesus as their savior if we keep being content with the way we do "church". Common, Somebody? We need to change our mentality and we need really to become the Church of Jesus Christ. The world is waiting and Jesus is also waiting for us to really surrender and say "Lord, we as the body of Jesus Christ want and will change our family, community, city, nation and world with your love and mercy." Amen!!!

Does My Life Matter to God?

2008-11-09T00:23:00.003-02:00

I am always thinking if my life has meaning, worth, value, significance to God and people. Let me tell you something my life was never the same when I saw the preaching of Pastor Louie Giglio. He has a powerful DVD out called "Indescribable" and It has changed my life for the rest of my days and now I am just going to share with you a little bit about what he mentions in the DVD. This is what he says:

“The heavens are telling the glory of God, and their expanse declares the work of His hands. Night after night they remind us of just how small we are, and how huge God is. Looking out into the far reaches of the universe, we find a seemingly infinite expanse of mystery and wonder, intricately fashioned by a God of unfathomable size and power. Just a glimpse of one of the billions of visible galaxies He has formed resizes us, shrinking us, and the world we call home, to seeming insignificance in an instant. But as tiny as we may seem, the God who knows every star by name also knows yours, and mine. And in the most stunning rescue imaginable, God sent His Son to this spinning planet we call home--the Creator reconnecting us to Him with life that never ends. The entire universe displays God's fingerprint and this is just one example...the cross of Jesus was on the mind of God even as he was creating the universe. We are so very very small... Our significance is in our insignificance. God cares for us so much that his same fingerprint can be found within us. When we are developing in our mothers womb...just for the eye to function a million nerve endings start to travel to the eye and another million from the eye to the brain, these nerve ending meet up and have to find their EXACT match in order for the eye to work... the cross is EVERYWHERE...it casts a shadow over the entire universe...constantly reminding us of what Jesus did for the world.” By Louie Giglio

LAMININ

Every living creature has laminin inside of them...the purpose of laminin is that it basically keeps our bodies from falling apart. It holds us together as one united whole. Wanna see what laminin looks like??? I know you do.... check this out!

This is powerful because the shape of Laminin is the cross. God holds our lives on his hands and he loved us so much that he sent his only son to die for us. His son was willing to die so he could keep us close to his heart. God bless you and hope your life was changed for the rest of your lives. You gotta check it out on the internet about Pastor Louie Giglio and also please read about Laminin. Ok? And you will be blessed. www.wikipedia.org, http://images.google.nl/images?hl=nl&q=laminin&gbv=2 Amen!!!

Should I give up?

2008-11-04T12:14:00.000-02:00

“Never give up. Never give up. Never give up." I have preached and said this to so many people all over the world. But It is so funny that you have to go through a time when it seems God is far away to really understand it. I have always thought this was an excellent advice for politicians and soldiers facing defeat, for students facing exams and papers, for athletes facing stiff competition, for parents despairing over wayward children, for married couples wondering if they should divorce, for those lost in the despair that follows the death of a loved one. To all these people I said, never give up. never give up. never give up.

But now I am going through that time where it seems the world has forgotten me. It seems prayers doesn’t work or sermons from inspiring preachers. I have taken so many “prayer –walks” in Master’s Commission and I have read so many books about never giving up on your dreams or in the promises of God. But let me tell you something today in my prayer walk I was so real and honest with God. I was telling God this “God, If you don’t come through I don’t know what’s going to happen, Oh, God Why is it so hard to see your arms of embrace, love, care in my life today” Let me tell you something, my heart was so broken before the Lord and one more time God reminded me of his unfailing and unconditional love towards me.

I have so many reasons to give up if I look in the natural world. Everything is against me. I have nothing but Jesus. No power, No status. A nobody to most everybody. But not to myself! I refuse and will always refuse to sit down and sing that old Hee Haw tune. I am not going to take on the role of victim, of woe is me. To the contrary, I have a sense of dignity, of worth. My voice is tiny, but I am going to raise it anyway. My power is small, but I am going to use what I have. Maybe everyone else have given up on me, if they noticed me at all, but I have not given up. Never! Ever!

It really hurts when I get the message from others that I am a nobody, that I don't matter, that I am a loser. That's a terrible burden to bear. But I can bear that as long as I do not say to myself, "They're right. I am a loser. Give up." Yet that's how many people do see myself or are made to see themselves. But I know who I am in God and I am never giving up. I can face the Giants, But I know my God is bigger. I can face lost in my financial life but I know my Lord sustains me for ever and ever.

Man, I never thought raising money to go to Africa would be this hard. Many days I want to give up on raising money but The cool thing is God shows me the face of the hopeless children in Africa and He shows me hugging and embracing them and whispering in their ears do never give up on life. So I will keep going for the people in Africa that need Jesus. Even if Churches don’t help me, or people I thought they would . I am going to fight for those people and I will never give up on them either because they need the Jesus in Me. Amen!!!

I will never give up on being a Disciple!!!

2008-11-02T16:25:00.001-02:00

Raising financial support is a difficult hurdle. I have talked to pastors and churches mission committees and it is so funny to me because most of these people didn’t encourage me or they didn’t talk well about missions. It is funny because some denominations chose not to support me because I go to a different denomination than theirs. Some of them chose not to support me because they said their churches are not very involved in missions. But it is so funny to me because if Jesus would be on earth he would be ministering to the sick, oppressed, tired, street-kids, prostitutes, drug or alcohol addicts, widows, orphans but most of these churches were looking more inwardly and about growing a bigger church with better carpets and T´V sets on the Halls of the church.

I am 21 years old and I am sold out to the cause of Jesus Christ. I am ready and willing to love the unloved, care for the forgotten and I am decided to fight for those that can’t fight for themselves. I want to hate and detest the things that God does. That is the reason why I am going next month to Sudan and Uganda. I am so excited and can’t wait for that day to come. I know God is going to use my arms to embrace and comfort the broken hearts, he will use my mouth to speak prophetic words of hope and truth into people lives. I know people’ lives will never be the same after they see the power of the Holy Spirit through my life and I know they will find hope after they hear my testimony. God has healed, transformed and changed me from the inside out and I know God can do and will do that in people´s lives in Uganda and Sudan. It has been a long and hard process to raise money for this trip to Africa. I have learned a lot about where the priorities of the church is nowadays. But I am not going to wait for the church to wake up and be who God created them to be. I am going to do my part and that is be the church. I know what it is to be in pain, depression, dirty and full of sins in my life but I also know the special touch of God in my life. God has changed my life and I am willing to die to save other lives. How many Sidney’s Pereira are still on the streets without love, care and family? I know I am called to make a difference. Amen!!!

I am excited to let all of you know that I have bought my tickets to Africa. I want to thank all of you that have given sacrificially and I am praying for you and your family. I don’t take your gift lightly especially in this delicate moment we are living in economically. So now I just need to raise my spending money, ministry money, visa money, entrance fees in the countries, etc. I need to raise one thousand dollar and I am praying, fasting and sharing with people and churches and believing God for a miracle. Nothing is impossible with God!!! It looks impossible right now and sometimes it causes a lot of fear on me but I know my God is bigger than my trip to Africa or me raising money.

I know some of you guys are just waiting for the right time to partner with what God is doing in my life and I really believe now it is a critical moment because I am leaving to Africa next month on the 17^th. So God bless you and hope to hear from you soon. Please get in contact with me if you have any questions or some exciting ways of helping me. I really need your help right now. Please keep reading my blog and I know you will be blessed. Until next time and hope that will be soon.

How Many "Sidneys" do we have?

2008-10-30T00:28:00.002-02:00

I remember my past like it was yesterday. I know my past does not have or need to determine my present or future. But there are so many days that the memories of my past chase me down and it seems like I am living everything all over again. Memories like when I was forced to pour paint thinner on a lady on the streets, days when food seemed like a dream far away or maybe when I had to run from the police that wanted to beat me up. It is so funny how we can forget our past. I have seen so many people that grew up in very humble circumstances and now that they have something they are so snobby and prideful. I don’t want ever to forget where God has rescued me from. I was a hopeless case in the eyes of the government, churches, people and family. But God loved me when I didn’t love myself and he cared about me when I didn’t even care about myself. That is why I love God above everything else.

But we can’t forget that there are still many and many Sidney in the world today that are lost and without hope. There are so many people just shining the benches of churches today instead of going to those people that are crying desperately for help and they are not getting it. Did you know that It is estimated that the numbers of Brazilian street children vary from 200,000 to 8 million. In one recent survey in São Paulo, 609 children were found to be sleeping on the streets. At least 50 were under 12 and unaccompanied by adult relations. The main means of surviving on Brazil's streets are: finding food in rubbish bins or on refuse tips; being financially exploited by street sellers or as shoe shiners; stealing; prostitution; drug running and drug taking. Street children are known to receive beatings from the police or members of the public and also can face imprisonment, malnutrition, disease and AIDS.

We need to be people that make a difference in this world. I am fully convinced that we are called to be the church without walls because maybe we will be the only Jesus or Bible people will see or read. We need to cry for the things that make Jesus cry, we need to hate the things that God hates, we need to hurt with the things that hurt the heart of God and of course we need to love the things that God loves. God loves the poor, widow, prostitutes, outcasts, forgotten, rejected, abandoned, heroin addicted and you!!!

The Voice Within me!!!

2008-10-24T23:29:00.003-02:00

My whole life has been always hard. I have always a voice inside of me that I so strong and every day I have to fight against it. I grew up with the feeling of wanting to die, of not wanting to be here on earth. My sense of self was shattered and fractured and broken into pieces growing up - not my true

Self, I never thought about myself as God thinks about me. I never loved myself the way God does love me.

By the time I was 4 or 5 I felt overwhelming shame. I felt like I was inadequate and defective because I was unable to protect my mother from my father. My mother emotionally incested me - made me her surrogate spouse - and I felt at that young age that her feelings were my responsibility. By the time I was seven I would not allow my mother to touch me - because her touch felt “icky” - and would not show her any feelings. I was being cool at seven in a passive-aggressive response my mothers complete lack of emotional boundaries - I would not admit to being happy about anything or hurt or scared or anything. I was completely emotionally isolated by the time I was seven years old. I was also full of despair, my spirit broken, and I tried to commit suicide by trying to jump out of a bridge but God saved me from that stupidity.

The seven year old within me is the most prominent and emotionally vocal of my inner children. There are two distinct sides to my life - the despairing child who just wants to die, and a child full of rage because death/escape was not allowed.

The despairing seven year old is always close by, waiting in the wings, and when life seems too hard, when I am exhausted or lonely or discouraged - when impending doom or financial problems seem to be immanent - then I hear from that an inner voice. Sometimes the first words I hear in the morning is the voice within me saying “I just want to die”.

Now I know that is just a small part of me. When that feeling comes over me now I can say to that seven year old, “I am really sorry you feel that way Sidney Pereira. You had very good reason to feel that way. But that was a long time ago and things are different now. The seven year old who is full of rage is Sidney Pereira he wants to destroy. Awhile ago I heard about a guy who went up in a tower at the University of Texas and just started shooting people. I knew exactly how he felt. For most of my life that rage was focused on destroying my own body because I blamed it for trapping me here. I knew after my attempt that suicide was not an option for me in this lifetime so I worked on killing myself in other ways with alcohol and drugs, food and cigarettes, self-destructive and insane behavior. To this day the seven year old in me has incredible resistance to me treating my body in healthy, Loving ways.

I can Love myself, validate my feelings, and assure myself that everything is different now and everything is going to be all right. When the feelings from my childhood comes over me it feels like my whole being, like my absolute reality - it isn’t, it is just a small part of me reacting out of the wounds from the past. My past doesn’t have to determine my present or future. God is my shield and strong tower.

My life has been and is so different now. When I started dreaming God’s dreams for my life, I decided completely on my own, it was something I felt I should do secretly. Dreaming to be a missionary wasn't cool and it isn’t still, like being good at sports, or being part of the in crowd, or winning fights on the playground. Becoming a missionary wasn't a "normal" thing, and like most people in my age, I desperately wanted to be "normal." Becoming a missionary wasn't discouraged or encouraged, it simply wasn't considered at all.

So Every day when I think I can't make it or will never make it. God is always helping me and telling me I am more than victorious and I will make it. I have a giant inside of you and his name is Jesus and He is just waiting for me to wake him to start doing great and powerful things in and through me. I can do all things through Christ who strengths me!!!