The true meaning of Christmas

Last week we organized a Christmas party for the street children in partnership with REMIR a network of organizations which works with the street kids of São Paulo, it was fun, and the children had a great time, we made them a tasty barbecue, there were also ice cream and soda, before dinner was ready they watched to a play and danced a lot.

We couldn’t make it without the financial help of people who generously helped us, and also the volunteers who helped us serving and cooking and playing with the kids, definitely together we are stronger.

We also went to the country side (Campos do Jordão) to visit Jaqueline, Emma and Jackson who are recovering from tuberculosis, they are getting better, pray that they will remain at the hospital until January when the treatment is over,and that we are able to find vacancies at the rehab-houses for them.
It’s Christmas time, a good occasion to stop and think about the real meaning of Christmas, we asked many women who are prostitutes if they knew the real meaning of Christmas, and many did not know how to answer the question.

Sunday at church our pastor Sandro Baggio talked about how it’s so rare to see Nativity scenes on our Christmas decorations, it’s a time where people are living without hope, their hope is in accumulating more things more stuff that this world offers, so they buy…buy… and buy ...

How easy it is to be conformed with the world’s way of thinking that encourages us to always have more, how many people work like crazy so they can get better salaries, achieve better positions, and have more. And we have great arguments for this, and we can even prove our reasons to have and accumulate more.

We must be careful not to be adjusted to worldly thinking.

This morning on our devotional Adriano shared about 1 Cor 15:19 “ If our hope in Christ is for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone else in the world"

Luke. 2:21, talks about man named Simeon who was good and godly, he had been waiting for the consolation of Israel, when he saw the baby Jesus, he recognized him immediately, then he declares that it is ready to die, because his eyes were not in this world, Simeon was fair and gracious, qualities given by the Spirit of God, was a man who walked with God, his vision of eternity made him live as if he was already there.

Simeon waited for the consolation, he lived for that day, was aware and ready to recognize the Saviour. Eternity has already began to anyone who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. We have our Hope in Christ not only for this short and temporary.

This Christmas may we remember the incarnation of our God who became man, who came to this earth like a baby to give away His life for our sins, may we live following the example of this man Simeon, with our eyes on eternity, waiting for Jesus promise, for the day Jesus comes back to reign throughout eternity!

Amem!

News and Christmas dinner for tranvestites

Hello dear friends!

We are so happy with what God is doing here in Sao Paulo and we want to share the blessings with you our partners and friends of work and prayer.

About 3 weeks ago, at another Wednesday night outreach with the transvestites of downtown, we met a guy who have been our friend for two years, although he is a boy, he would dress up like a girl at night to do prostitution, so that night he asked for help, saying that he couldn’t cope with living that kind of life of drugs and prostitution anymore, then we invited him for lunch at our place on the following Friday, he came, we had a very good conversation, and encouraged him to make a resume and give at the mall shops, it´s X-mas time so people are hired easily, so we spent the afternoon with him looking for a job.

On Monday he was called for an interview, and on Friday he was already employed, all the other stores we gave his resumes to, contacted him for a job opportunity.

God completely open the doors for this boy, right now he is living with at Projeto Toque in Sao Paulo and has been attending church with us, Caetano and Adriano started a Bible study with him twice a week.

I´m soo moved when I remember the many times that saw on the street dressed like woman, and I prayed so much for God to get him out of this life, that he´d listen to the Holly Spirit wispher, my heart broke every time he saw this boy living so far from God's purpose for his life.

It's amazing seeing him talk with such an enthusiasm about the new life God gave him, and his thankfulness to be one more worker with his badge hanging on his neck walking for lunch ,he is happy to be tired at the end of the day after a decent work, to see the bus packed of people and say…”I’m part of the working society.”

In such a short period of time his dignity is being restored, and we can only once again thank God, because for him Nothing is Impossible. Please, pray for him to grow in his relationship with Jesus, that he’ll be open for God’s healing and deliverance in his life life.

I also would like to share about the Christmas dinner we made with Missão Cena for the transvestites on Monday 11/24,it was a very good time, there was live band playing, Christmas decoration, and the menu was chicken stroganoff and chocolate cake for dessert.

They had a blast, all of them live far from home and probably won’t have a X-mas party with their families.

We thank our friends from Projeto 242 who helped us with organizing and serving the tranvestites at the party.

The guys from the band Inversa (Hudson, Dalila, Adriano, Dalte, Felipe and Mauricio) thank you so much guys! David Kim who made the pics, and São who also helped organizing!

Blessings on you all, and don´t forget to pray for us!