Brazil Ministry Tour Nov. '99 - (Part 3 of 3)

10 years ago today, I got on a VASP 757, an overnight flight, bound for São Paulo, BR for a whirlwind ministry tour.

The following are the notes I wrote for my prayer team and supporters at the time.

We had a wonderful trip. This is a partial journal of the happenings in Brazil during my nearly three week stay this past November. I hope you'll enjoy hearing about some of the people that you have supported in prayer. It is a blessing to have been. Thank you.

Nan (a teammate with her own amazing story of getting to Brazil) and I arrived in Curitiba on November 13. We were met there by Carlos and Pastor Silas and his wife Angela. They pastor a church called Monté Hebron in downtown Curitiba.

From the airport, they took us out to a farm style retreat center to have lunch. There we met Paulo and Deborah, a couple from their congregation. After a shower and an hours rest, we went to a small Pentecostal church that meets in a garage. We had a time of prayer before the meeting and the fatigue of a 25 hour trip faded.

The worship team began and the Spirit of the Lord came. I had chance to share on the river of God's refreshing. Then we had a ministry time for the refreshing and the Spirit of God moved powerfully. His presence was glorious. About 50 received prayer that night. The word of knowledge, prophecy and healing were common place.

The Lord did a miracle that night... I was told that the 6 hour bus ride to Londrina was canceled. YES LORD! Someone would pick us up in the morning to make the trip. We went to dinner and had fellowship until the wee hours of the morning - typical of Brazilian culture.

I awoke the next day refreshed and enjoying the perfect weather. After a wonderful meal we met Walter, who was to take us to Londrina for a meeting starting at 7:30 PM. Walter is an electronics wizard and in 6 hours learned a staggering amount of English compared to my 3 or 4 words of Portuguese.

The 400 km ride was beautiful and sun-filled as we motored through the mountains of Paraná in Southern Brazil. We arrived in Londrina and had some trouble finding the church. They had held worship for nearly an hour. We changed quickly in an empty classroom and headed for the platform.

As we walked into Igreja Evangélica Pentecostal O Brasil Para Cristo the worship was sweet. There was a choir accompanied by contemporary instrumentation. The last note died away and Pastor Lessak from our team began to preach on the fire of God. A few hundred attendees clapped and cheered as the power of the Holy Spirit came with a great fire.

Carlos and I shared briefly about our team was assembled by the Lord for this purpose. Here is the story he shared most nights. The Lord moved powerfully in words of knowledge that night as we went to ministry time. I was blessed to see that the church had six intercessors, posted all around the church, praying for the duration of the meeting.

It was here that we met Flavia, a 19-year-old that had learned English in the US as an exchange student. She was such a blessing to us as an interpreter. She was nervous about her assignment, interpreting prayer for 400 or 500 folks in one evening! During the ministry time the Lord really began to speak to her and His grace was all around her. I allowed her to pray for some of the folks that came forward, and I could see that the Lord was using her too.

That night the Lord established some ways of working together the we used for the entire time that I was there. We were a team. The next night was more of the same except that we had a wonderful time of prayer with the pastor (above). He anointed us with oil for the service and the Spirit of God moved greatly that night too. Some of the intercessors came to help during the ministry time and we began to build a bond through working together.

We were blessed to stay with Pastor Erinaldo Lopes and his wife Sarah and their two children, Philippe and Joanatan. He is the pastor of Igreja Evangelico Poço de Agua Viva. They were amazing as they were ready to serve our every need. Food, laundry, showers and trips to the different churches, luncheons and other appointments. We were very grateful.

Our next night we were at Igreja Presbiteriana do Brasil, the largest congregation in the city. It was a beautiful church and we were received into a prayer room where everyone took off their shoes and we prayed for about 40 minutes before the service. (wonder why they are the largest?)

The worship was powerful, a full band, spectacular voices, and the anointing of God. It was a non-church night and the place was packed to capacity.

We prayed for hundreds in a bit hurried fashion but the Lord moved powerfully. I had a line of woman that were recently divorced that night. They just kept coming asking for prayer for there marriages. The brokenness and fear was great in many of them. There is no welfare in Brazil and this makes for a difficult situation. But the Lord came to many with a gentle peace that was so very refreshing.

After the meeting we had a time of thanks in the office of Pastor Osni. Fortunately many of the attendees needed to go to training meetings that night or we would still be there praying. We were invited to attend a birthday party not far from the church. It was in a courtyard of a high-rise apartment building surrounded by towers on three sides. The open side was facing the street. Many who did not have a chance to get in line, found us here at this party and the ministry line started again. It went until some time after 3 am!

The next evening we were in the satellite church of Igreja Evangelico Paco de Agua Viva in the slums on the outskirts of the city. We were asked not to dress in a showy fashion that night. It was a small church and the children had learned to say "I love Jesus" in English to greet us.

One young man, eleven years old, Rafael sang praise that made us cry. He had a powerful anointing from the Lord. We prayed for everyone there and then we left with the children shouting, "I love Jesus" as we pulled away. We had a visit with Pastor Beniditos and his family until late that night. He and his daughters played CD's that they had recorded. WOW! So much talent. We liked them so much that we had them come to perform a few nights later.

Our team also attended a pastors meeting in Londrina at the home of an American Missionary, Michael Shea (now of Casa de Davi - when I was there it was just a prophetic vision.). We got there late and everyone was on their knees praying (on ceramic tile floor... softer than concrete I guess).

The Spirit of the Lord was present as we took chairs in the last row. My Portuguese is minimal, but after months of being with my friends Carlos and Lessak, I had picked up quite a bit. The praise and adoration of the Lord was very touching. All around the room you could hear sobs of gratitude. For those of us here in the US it was not a "business as usual" type meeting. It had a "serious about God" feeling to it.

After prayer there was a time of worship followed by specific prayer requests for the community, the country and the world. And finally, a time to lay hands on those who wanted to receive prayer. We enjoyed praying for the pastors there and our team received prayer too. But the real joy came later as the Lord began to move in the fellowship afterwords. The Lord leading, we met and prayed for a number of men there. The Lord moved solidly in a ministry of encouragement. It was amazing how the Lord gave knowledge about situations and circumstances allowing for a very focused time to minister to the lives of a few men.

Across all barriers of language the Spirit of God caused a unique type of fellowship to happen. As I looked into the eyes of some of these men I was moved by that which they have given to each other and to the cause of the kingdom. Only tears of gratitude were the appropriate response.

On November 19 we did another meeting at Igreja Evangelica Luz do Mundo. It was strange, but the pastor left to go somewhere else; another commitment. We just started to pray for people and Nan laid hands on a woman that had a severe car accident and was in wheelchair. She got up and started to walk around. Another woman with leg braces, who was about 60, took them off and she was running about the sanctuary, shouting "Gloria Deus!" For she had been crippled since birth!

November 20 we put on a meeting at Comunidad Evangelica Adonai. Again, the word of the Lord came, and there was healing and something a bit strange, religious spirits were cast out in the name of Jesus. False tongues were silenced, and Jesus was glorified.

One of my favorite meetings was at Igreja Presbiteriana Independente. The pastor had checked us out pretty well, having us for lunch the day before. His wife received healing and the words of knowledge about him were so very personal that He was convinced that it was God. The worship team played Aclame a o Senhor (Shout to the Lord) for 20 minutes and the presence of God was so great I could hardly hold the mic to my mouth. Some of the elders could not even stand up at their seats. So we just had everyone come forward to the altar area for personal ministry. We saw many prophetic words, and great power displayed by the Holy Spirit. It was amazing.

Having the chance to minister, to pray, share communion and fellowship with thousands, it is hard to pick and choose what to share. (You can read lots more about our trip to Brazil by clicking the Topic Link "Brazil") My personal favorite experience was this one. Although there were many saved in the meetings, many blessings, healings and other types of spirit-lead ministry, this particular one touched my heart.

I stayed in Londrina for most of my time in Brazil at the home of Pastor Erinaldo, a Baptist pastor, and his family. Each day I was there I watched the housekeeper, an indian looking woman in her late 20's named Sandra. The pastor mentioned that she did not know the Lord in a personal way but he was praying for her. Each day I saw the look of despair in her eyes as she went about her work: washing dishes, doing laundry, and preparing meals. I felt impressed to ask the Lord for the opportunity to share the good news with her.

I waited and waited until the day before I was to leave. I awoke Saturday morning and saw her in the kitchen. I spoke to my ministry teammate, Carlos, and asked if he would interpret for me.

We said a quick prayer and asked her to sit down with us. We chose a quiet room and began to talk to her. I felt the Lord tell me to talk about rejection, her two failed marriages, and the fact that she was living with her boyfriend. At the very first mention of the word rejection, she began to cry. We talked for just a few minutes about Jesus and she said that she wanted to know Him in her heart. Carlos led her in a simple prayer.

She left this note for us.

Dear David and Carlos, I thank God for sending you to Brazil.

I hope that you will remember both Brazil and me in prayer. It is with tenderness that I will remember those moments when my heart was filled with the love of God. I remember only some words that are in the Bible. "The Lord is my shepherd." I know that He will take good care of me now.

With love,

Sandra