Abracos

Smiles for a King!

Oi, my precious family! I love you!!! Can't believe 5 months have zipped on by so rapidinho! Here FINALLY, and sorry it took a second longer than one second to do: my last days in ministry in Belo Horizonte, for the record, y'all!Saying goodbye to Crianca Feliz at the 15 year anniversary celebration. Praise You, Lord, for beautiful memories, and new friends!This is Thomas Padley's annointed home church. The Holy Spirit is always welcome in this rockin' place in Nova Lima, a city just outside of Belo Horizonte about twenty minutes. The whole idea is so amazing... AUTHENTIC COMMUNITY at it's very best! More to chat about when I come on back! For now, check this out!
Kathy, James, his precious wife and only one of the four cuties of theirs, and Thomas Padley.

Aguaviva ministries! This is Pastor Daniel and Sandra O'Brien. I love these guys! They have the biggest hearts for the poor! I have spent some profound days with them in ministry and cherish this time. They have a school, church, and feeding ministry with about four restaurants who donate huge to Aguaviva! I have some awesome recordings of this missionary from the UK here 23 years and ongoing to share when I return. Please keep daniel and his Brasilian wife in prayer as they continue in the phenomenal work they have started.

One of the 4 chains that donates. This is Fernando, or just "humble-heart bear". He and I went to do the pick ups together and pray for the people working before the feed one afternoon.
We filled the buckets to the brim! ALWAYS ENOUGH! OH what an awesome God we serve, family!


The children that the Lord loves and looks after... as they wait in line for the food.

Rice, beans, kale, eggs, salad, squash, and two different gourmet style types of traditional Brasilian meat entrees are filling up these containers , and so many hungry tummies, I tell ya! This little girl let me pray over her family, and I started to cry deep in the earthquake part of the spirit, ya know....I had to hold the tears back from jumping out of my face to continue ministering! Ooooooh, God is so darling! I have no words for the poverty in the favelas...only love to give that comes from the Father, and keeps on coming, and coming, and coming, and coming...from the intimate place.... and never stops! Thanks be to God!

Lindaura: a woman who asked Renilda and I to make a visit... she is struggling right now. She is finding herself falling in love with a Savior, JESUS... in the mean time, she has two extraordinary girls, a restaurant to keep functioning, and a husband who lives with her, yet vomits every night after coming home late and very drunk, from spending the day and night with his other girlfriend from the streets. Yes, he is very open about the whole thing. She is yearning for true love, and serious about finding it. God is so close to her, so taking his beautiful moments with her, so wooing her to Him...SO PRECIOUS!!! I came to teach her in the Word about holding on.As soon as we got through with the special ministry it was like God said: "I'm not quite finished, ladies"... and the whole neighborhood came over to her house for prayer as well! How good and pleasant it truly is when we dwell together in unity! Pics of my family out here!


Yes, it is a real baby owl! Renilda went and found it for me...I couldn't barely part with it, stayed so close to me for two days, but was too scared of everyone elses and I had ministry to do...and... sadly had to let the baby go back to her house.... casa della.
RENILDA THE GREAT! With her hanging bananas in the kitchen... from the tree in the backyard, ya know!

And after a loooooong day....Anabella, David, and Daddy Celinho cuddle up together before sleep. A few cuties. Yeah, I live here. Yeah, we love Jesus! Even in the heat!
The famous terraço where I have gathered my thoughts and spent my many days with Jesus, overlooking lindo Céu Azul, B.H Brasil. The family is so hilarious! They are getting ready for my little going away tomorrow... Please pray for me. I am well... sad. It is hard to say goodbye to the Bride on another continent. I hold mixed feelings in my pocket this moment as I write. Love is stronger than the grave. I am a strong woman, yet Daddys little girl. I have a delicate heart right now. I have forever fallen in love with Brasil, and the people I now know close.

Sending my abraço to you (my hug).

See you soon, California and all the cuties there. Thanks for yours for me- the hug I feel so near every day... Hugs are the best thing in the world, I think. Even if only from the spirit. I love you.

Will hug you in the real very soon... in three days. Your hearts, comments, and encouragement in word or prayer have meant the entire world to me, and I look forward to spending time.

I will email you Keri and Keith with the details on the flight.

Bejous!

Eu gostaria que vocês entendessem o meu coração, e difícil e leve ao mesmo tempo. Somente uma coisa esta claro pra mim... Deus esteja conosco e meu coração esta com vocês e minhas orações tambem, fiquem com Deus. Te Amo realmente.

Jeanne Michelle Gergis

I heart Ype´ Amarelo...

The favela and growing area of Novo Contagem and Ipe Amarelo. A pic from the busride there.

Dinada, one of the social workers with me in the middle of our house visits...

the children always follow me around on Wednesdays in the village. They think i am some famous person because I am from California and they ALL know this. Small villas and favelas are like this. If this is what it takes to bring them over to hear the Word and get the love, then that's fine with me, so long as JESUS gets all the glory! These cuties wanted to be photographed and I said WELL...YEAH!!! Our Father kisses them close, yeah?

We went on the house visits today checking out all of the rain damage. World vision partners with Casa De Apoio to help financially in these situations. I was the missionary onsight to listen , encourage, and pray for the families as we observed absolutely horrendous conditions; roofs ripped off of homes, hurt children, glass and debri, as well as just serious damge to the materials in the very simple construction work of the homes. The men of this home are brothers and real friends. They have a teeny home and over seven people live in it together. I listened as they shared about their roof being swept away, and was so touched by the profound inner strength and determination to keep moving forward. They were standing testimonies of commitment and hope.Offering prayer; this woman is no quitter either! She was going to pick up her food bag from the government when the rains came. Her children were alone in the house. We prayed for continued strength and the refreshing of the Lord to rest upon her and her children as she is alone to raise them. in Jesus name!!!On the way to Josie's for dinner (actually lunch...remember?), we run into one of my favorite families! This mother makes the sweetest cookie jars for work! Casa De Apoio has tuaght her through the program this trade and she is precious at it! You better believe I got one for my mom!!!Josilea (my translator) and her mai (mom)!Helping make dinner. Gotta wash the lettuce outside near the hose cuz sometimes the houses don't have sinks all over the place like in the states ya know! Praise God!Futeball in the streets... the normal every day event after school. Behind these guys is the school and offices of Casa De Apoio, Novo Contagem. This big yellow building and these green shirts mean peace for the families here. Casa De Apoio is the only project set up this way in the entire favela/villa. Just behind the children in this photo is the huge prison, almost like a city all of its own with lights and glitz and all, devastatingly, and subliminally stealing away the hopes for many of these children if there were nothing else to look at here. I love my time spent with these children because they are so hungry for a new hope, and I love to give it thru Jesus!
Why the kids always want to play around with my sauvage (wild) hair...who knows? These cuties are from the Casa De Apoio program/school in Ipe Amarelo. We took some videos together this day too. Pretty hilarious really! I love these guys!


I asked the children if I could take some close up pics of them today. This boy in the red shirt is absolutely precious. One day during ministry his friend told me while we were all eating dinner together that he had this friend (the one in the red shirt) who was having some major learning problems and difficulties with focus; he shared with me that many other kids in the streets were starting to make fun of him, and it was becoming scary because he was watching his friend start to act violent because of it. I askd him if he believed in a miracle for his friend, he said yes, and I asked him to go and get him from the streets. No less then five minutes later he came back with him to the house. I began to minister the love of Jesus to him and he started to sweat. I asked him if he knew about Jesus... he told me only that he had heard of him because his grandmother went to the catholic church. I asked him if he wanted to experience Him right now. He nodded and I simply began to pray in English for the correct words and spirit governed completely by the Holy Spirit to use me to deliver the absolute correct word to this boy in Jesus name. Suddenly God spoke clear... I told the boy what He said... "I am going to put my hand right here on the back of your head and ask for the knowledge from heaven to fill you by the power of the Holy Spirit in Jesus' name, ok?" He nodded his head again and started to cry a little, and I did exactly that. At this moment the boy began to sweat perfusely and an authority came over me to cast out the lies that had him all twisted up and tormented for years. I demanded the enemy to take his hands off of this child of God in the blood and name of Jesus, and like a calming stream, it was as if water began to flow through the place where my hand was behind his ear. I started praying in agreement with this release of knowledge from heaven, right from the throne room in my Jesus' name and at this time, a breaking occured in the boy. I told him today in Jesus name God is delivering the miracle for you to percieve and understand with heavenly knowledge, the things neccessary for growth in this earth, but the real miracle was recieving the knowledge neccessary for growth in the spirit in understanding God and his son Jesus sent for us. He received Jesus as I asked him to just talk to his creator right there in my translators home with her mother and brother. so beautiful. The boy told me afterwards that something really heavy that he had known sort of like a friend for years felt as though it ran away from him while I prayed. And the update is that he DID recieve a miracle in Jesus name!!!! He is percieving all sorts of new concepts and work in school with a new ease. PRAISE THE LIVING LORD!!!! God bless Josilea (my translator) and her sweet mother, for a place for God to be invited in to come and dwell and have His awesome way!

Love You Jesus! My life is for you! (teaching the children two ways to make the heart... and me... well, God loves the teacher even though I am slow for the camera...you get the point...hahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!)

God bless you with a hug and heart from Brasil and from heaven. See you soon!

Jeans

Casa de Mexico...

This house rests beautifully on the Rua (or street) called "Mexico".

My last house for the biblical arts/exression. This week's visit was out of this world! All boys, and absolutely extravagant in their expression through the arts. Work with Crianca Feliz has been awesome!



Que Istou? What is it? The brilliance of a life: each set of fingerprints are different. A finished product of what it means to be the clay as the Potter forms and shapes us perfectly into His image year by year, day by day, tuning into precious gold in the end, as we are refined over and over again into glistening lights in the world.


Ready to see the works in this home? This was a beautiful day of explaining the Potter and the clay. The children were so relaxed as we went through the Word, and I praise God for that! He brought Himself to them in such a special way as they went through the pressing and pounding, and piecing together a person. We talked about creation as well. I told the children that they had a Father in heaven before the one who brought them into the earth. I read them about Isaiah 49:14-16...that they were inscribed on the palms of Daddy's hands forever!

Beautiful works!
Most of the time spent in this house I led the cuties down the road of Father God as ...PAPPA, and as the Potter (and we are the clay), but I also used the same theme of John 15 about staying close to him during our daily struggles and hard times together in the houses as I did with the others. The children painted out their own flowers, trees, or nature scenes to express good fruit being produced even during the difficult or lonely times. The whole lesson was about inner endurance. We did some theater to help demonstrate and bring home the message of loving others even when we don't feel like it, or when it seems like theres not any time to do this, or when we feel like we are the ones who need the love. Afterwards we talked about it and the kids had some great things to say. And finally... we painted! I loved the way these pieces came out!

A Brilliant Light....YOU! More on the cement textures we did together as our finale project!


Tons of fun spraying the creations with gold spray paint!

The finished products are spectacular! I cant wait to hear where they will hang these! In the other home they put them directly on the wals after they dried, and now there is a constant reminder there that they are the precious little lights of the whole world every day! Yeah! That their lives are brilliant, and unique, and absolutely beautiful as they shine for Jesus every day together in the midst of the tough truths, and stories of where each one of them came from before. God, You get all the glory!