Camp!!! White water rafting!!!

I am just arriving home from our 4 day camp for the Radicais (Radicals, the kids/teen group from our community). We went to a place about 2 hours outside of the city, but still in the state of São Paulo. I left for the camp early to help set up a zip line and a nature trail with an obstacle course to simulate their arrival to camp as if it was their arrival to Babylon. We studied the first four chapter of the book of Daniel seeing how God used Daniel and friends to change the empire. We focused on our commitment to God, prayer and love for God. I was really encouraged by the stories, it seems each time I really take the time to dig into the Hebrew scriptures (also known as the old testament) I find such rich and encouraging stories of God's faithfulness to his people. Daniel was such an inspiring figure as he ministered to 4 Babylonian kings and made a real impact on Babylon. On the first day we read about when Daniel refused to eat the kings food challenging that God's food was better for your health than the king's food. I challenged the 3 teenage guys (Afonso, Pedro, Erick) in small group to take that lesson to heart with sexuality, I think they were surprised I brought up the conversation, but I challenged them to challenge their friends and not live like everyone else, but to know that God's ways are better, that God knows what we need and set rules for us to protect us, not to keep us from fun. We continued talking about the power of prayer and love for God and I think they were really challenged by the life of Daniel.

We also got a chance to go white water rafting. We ended up paying next to nothing for the trip as the place that took us was amazingly generous and kind. I really enjoyed the experience. I had a long conversation with our river guide and was really happy how my Portuguese pretty much let me say whatever I wanted to say, he said he had thought I had been in Brasil for a long time. (still worrying about losing my spanish though) Our boat ended up flipping on the big rapid at the end which for me was a cool experience, but there were two pretty little girls on our boat who were really panicked, I managed to grab them and pull them up to the guys who were helping get people out of the water, then one of them fell again and was about to hit her head on a rock and go back into the water, but I managed to grab her foot and pull her back up. Now I really want to do some more serious and more difficult rafting as I had such a good time. The coolest thing though was to see the smiles on their faces. These kids don't often get a chance just to be kids and to see unabashed joy on their faces throughout the camp was amazing.

It was great to get to know some of the kids better, especially some of the older guys. One of the guys really shared his heart with the group and brought me to tears. He thanked everyone for the camp and said that at that moment he felt truly happy, that its not often that he could say that, but he appreciated the few moments. This guy, Danilo, has an amazing heart, he loves God and you can see it, but he definitely has a rougher side, he happens to be an amazing free style rapper and showed off his talents the last night of the camp as he did some free style and then took some popular Brasilian songs about drugs and sex and changed the lyrics to be about God. His mom spent a long time in prison and he is constantly faced with the reality of that and of the weight of the drug traffic all around him. He lives in the neighboring favela that is constructed mainly of 4X4's and plywood. I would ask for prayer for Danilo as he continues to try to figure out what it looks like to be a man of God. The juxtaposition of the situation of these kids and my childhood are astounding. When I was in Sunday school we talked about temptations and problems, but they were really so small and not that significant compared to these kids. Pretty much every kid has a brother/sister/mom/dad or cousin in jail, normally because of drug trafficking, they often have to deal with death in the family and absentee father and the weight of having to be the man of the house at 14 and 15 years old. There is a constant temptation for the easy money and status of the traffickers and the lure of alcohol and women to numb the pain of the reality of their lives away.

It is really a privilege to be able to work with them and be a friend and an encouragement for them. They are such special kids who are so much stronger than I ever had to be as a child. They have seen and experienced so many things that no kid should have to. Each and every kid could tell a story about how they had to overcome so much to follow God and I fear for all the little ones, to know the challenges that face them ahead. But, I also know that God loves and takes care of each of them and that if they can remember that, cling to that, then they will be able to make it through the storm. I was just struck this weekend at how precious each and everyone of their lives is. I'm tired and so thats all for now, thanks for all your prayers and support, love and miss you all.


You can check out more pics from camp here

some more rafting pics too

all the guys from the house

Fabio and I working the zipline

I was the braking system in the zipline i helped build for the camp

my small group, from left to right Pedro, Erick, Afonso

white water rafting!


check out my face as the boat flips

helping the little girls get out of the water