Foz do Iguaçu, Recife, and Natal

For the Shores of Grace retreat we stayed at a camp near Foz do Iguaçu. 

As you can see it was a beautiful trip. My mind was blown away by the sights we saw walking along the waterfalls. Not only were the falls memorable, but the times we had together as a team was incredible too. Together we shared dreams and visions of what God was showing us. We had amazing times of worship and are really looking forward to where God is taking us.
Around June 2012 the Shores of Grace team is moving to Recife. There, we'll be opening a house for children who have been in prostitution and abusive situations. This past week I had the privilege to stand ground in this city we're moving to. After seeing it, there's an even more urgency in my heart: to get there, get settled, and get a house open for these children. 

Beautiful city huh?? Yes, to an extent it is. But right at the end of the beautiful beach is a Favela. Also, we found mixed in with all the fancy hotels, a really old building that is now a Favela. Right outside of this building, we ran into a girl about 17 years old (maybe) who's a prostitute. Who knows how many other children are doing the same thing in that one favela building. 

One thing you can be specifically praying for our team about is this: new tactics on how we can get to these children. Recife is known as one of the worst children sex trafficking cities in the world! However, it's hidden in these favelas, bars, dark streets, and even around the truck stops. After being on this trip, we've realized we'll need to go at this giant with new strategies. 

Natal (another city known for sex trafficking), is a city that's about 4 hours north from Recife. We drove up to Natal for a couple days to visit a rescue home for girls. While we were there we spent a lot of time in the house, what a beautiful thing it is to see these girls being transformed in their hearts and physically. They are amazing beautiful girls :) But their stories are really sad. (There's a video being made right now and on it are some stories of those girls, I'll keep you updated on when it's finished). Also, while we were there we went into a bar that was filled with girls prostituting themselves to all the tourists. One of our members tried to talk with one of them, but immediately her pimp walked up asked what we were doing there. We also drove by a "truck stop" where we saw many girls walking around, some getting in the trucks and some leaving. 

After leaving this bar, our entire team was in shock from seeing all the girls in the bars working to get a "program."

If you have any questions or comments please let me know, I know this one is loaded with information, but to be honest I could write so much more about these trips, especially the one to Recife and Natal, this trip, to say the least, has really opened up my eyes even more with the giant we're coming against.

I can't believe it, but I'll be home for the holidays in just 7 days now! See you soon!