Chico - The Brazilian

Brief testemony from one american student that is here in Brazil


Hello everyone!
Well, we have only 6 days left before we leave for home. It has been a great summer here in Brazil and I am both sad and excited about coming home. Our retreat went awesome! After a summer of continually devoting ourselves to the students here in Belo, we finally got a great chance to go deeper in our relationships and begin to discuss our desires and where they lead us.
Students were challenged again to think about fulfillment and how or if their desires could be fulfilled. One student, Lucas, came to the retreat not knowing what his desires were or where they were leading and left the retreat considering Jesus. He was challenged to investigate the life of the "real" Jesus and not the Jesus who others might portray him as. He left with a real hunger to know the real Jesus and what He stood for (John 6:25).
I read a passage in 1 Thessalonians 2 today that really summarized our time in Brazil. Paul had gone through much suffering while in Philippi that had produced a boldness to declare the Gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. I have felt similar many times here because it has not been easy meeting new people day after day, but through those sufferings, God has given me boldness and a desire to proclaim His love to others.
The passage goes on to say that while Paul was declaring the Gospel, he never came with words of flattery, or seeking glory from people, or others but came to them as a humble servant, being affectionately desirous of them, sharing not only the gospel of God but his very self because they had become dear to Paul. I believe the same is true for the team and me as well. We came to Brazil to share not only the gospel of God but also our very selves and through all of that time we have developed great relationships with the Brazilians here because I believe they have become very dear to us.
God is doing great things here in Brazil! Each of you has played an important part in my summer. Therefore, on August 5th I would like to invite you to come and learn more about my time in Brazil. I have planned the night to consist of music as well as information about our summer and what we learned while we were here. I am excited and look forward to talking to each of you when I get back home!
In Him,
Isaac

Join us in prayer!

Chico.



This letter is from a student that is laboring here in Brazil with me.


Hello everyone!

I hope that everything is going well for all of you back home! It has been
an amazing experience so far here in Brazil, God is revealing Himself in
many new ways as we push forward to the final 2 weeks. This is our last week
that we will spend time on campus as a team and we are inviting students to
our Investigative Retreat. Thomas and I have been laboring hard as a team
within “the team” and have built great relationships with a group of
Chemical Engineering students.

Please pray for J, V, M, B, B, L, and R. (just to protect their identity)
These students have been studying hard for final exams as their semester is
ending this week. One thing I have learned here is the power of prayer. God
wants us to humble ourselves and seek Him, He will hear us heal His people
(2 Chronicles 7:14). Please pray for these students and that God allow them
to come to our retreat and that maybe for the first time they would consider
Jesus. There is so much power in prayer!

The retreat is designed to discuss desire. Through each of the days we are
at the retreat, we will discuss why we have desire, the problem with desire
and what our desires are moving us toward. We will also have discussions
within smaller groups, hoping that students would see that all of our
desires are pointing us to God and that those desires are fulfilled in
Christ. We are very excited about this retreat and the opportunities that we
have with students who are investing in it.

Even as we near the last few weeks of our time in Brazil, our team is
continuing to focus on finishing strong. Please pray that God would give us
His strength to push forward and that we would struggle with all of His
energy to finish our time in Brazil doing His work (Col. 1:28-29). Thank you
for all of your prayers, we have seen them answered in many ways! You have
played a major role in many students lives here in Brazil this summer. God
has proved faithful to His Word as He always does.

Thanks again for all your prayers!

In Him,
Isaac