Oi! Hello from Brasília!
We have spent the past week partnering with local churches and ministries in hopes of sharing the love of Jesus with the community. We served at Igreja Batista Esperança (Hope Baptist Church), and the outreach days there were super rewarding. The first day, we went door to door to reach out to the community about a kid’s fun day with dinner and a church service. We had several sweet conversations with the residents of the area and were able to pray over a lot of them. The second day was spent entertaining the kids, but more importantly, teaching them the gospel in a way meaningful to them. 
One of the most beautiful moments for me (Fayah) was when a girl came up to our team asking for a Bible because she wanted to start reading it every day and remember us by it. In our search for a Portuguese Bible, she started tearing up; we didn’t think we would be able to find a Bible on time, but God provided. Someone on the Carcará team was able to provide his Bible, which we all signed for her and highlighted John 3:16. The girl and her family were greatly impacted, and we all became very emotional. Earlier that day we were evangelizing to the community, and we were worried we would not be able to go with the heavy rain. But, the rain ended the moment we stepped outside to evangelize and started again the second we came back to the church. These small moments have marked the lives of our team, and evidence how our God is Jehovah Jireh, a God who provides.
After the experience with Hope Baptist Church, we participated in a project started by LifeShapers called Ruah. This project was created to take care of children in vulnerable situations and provide them with the opportunity for education, health, and friendships. Our role in this project was to guide the kids around a job fair and show them opportunities for a future career. It’s been incredible partnering with a project that was started by the LifeShapers themselves and seeing the Lord working through it.
Something the Lord has been showing me (Jacob) is that my plans are tiny compared to His. I’ve experienced several difficult things in Brazil, but I am being constantly reminded of the Lord’s faithfulness. He has used the challenging moments to bring me closer to new friends and closer to Him. It’s really cool to see how God can take our times of struggle to bring us into a deeper union with Him. While these times are often frustrating in the moment, it has been helpful to look back and be in awe of God.
Jacob Waddell and Fayah Tornij