Blowing my Mind

Last Friday night was our regular accountability group night with the guys who have left the chácara. Every week these guys continue to blow me away.

Christian hasn't been able to be a part of our accountability group for the last three weeks because he got a new job at a gas station. He now works every night of the week except one, and that day off is a different day every week. So, he is no longer able to be a part of our group. We've really missed Christian. He brings an incredible worship and confession spirit to the group. Even though we've lost Christian we've gained two new brothers every Friday night (Ellinton and Eduardo). Our group is growing, and getting stronger and more encouraging every week.

One of the things that we've shared that we like so much about house churches is that you can change them weekly to meet the hurting or celebratory needs of people. It's a hospital one week, a baby shower the next, a prayer group the next, etc. It's exciting to be able to change everything as the Spirit leads.

Our accountability group is no different. Last Friday night we decided since Christian is no longer able to be a part of the group then we would take the group to him. On the way out Anderson suggested that while we were out visiting Christian, that we also look for guys who have left the chácara but are struggling right now. We know that some have returned to drugs, some have stolen to buy more drugs, some have returned to being with prostitutes, all have fallen away from their church family.

So we squished 7 people in this type of car. It looked like a clown car..........and we were off.

We went to visit Christian and it was very encouraging. He thanked us for coming to see where he worked. He talked about trying to be the light to the other men he worked with. He had already told them of his recovery from drugs. We were all blessed to be together with him at his work. We all gave him a big hug and we were off to try to find the guys who are struggling.

We had gone about a block from the gas station and we saw the first guy on the street we were looking for. His name is Marcelo. It truly was a God thing. We were headed to a park where we thought he would be and within 1 minute we saw him on the other side of the street. In our city you rarely are able to make left turns on roads. It's just the way the city was planned. You have to make a right turn and do a circle to come back to the road you were just on to be able to make a left turn and go back. Sound confusing? Try figuring that out when you first move here and don't understand the language or the signs which usually look like this:Thankfully it makes sense to us (most of the time) now. We finally made the big circle back and went back to where he was. We didn't see him. We thought that possibly he went into a church that we passed by, so we made another circle and came back and saw him again. He had not gone into the church but into a little cafe to get some coffee with a friend. We literally stopped on the sidewalk and all piled out. He did not look good, but was excited to see us. It was amazing for me to see the love that my brothers have for this fallen brother. No judgment, just love and concern. We talked to his friend that he was with. He and Marcelo had just met this week. Paulo Renato invited both to the house church that meets in his house on Sunday. We pray they both will show up. As we were talking to Marcelo's friend I saw Anderson quietly ask Marcelo point blank if he was using drugs again. I saw Anderson looking at his hands and fingers for signs of drug use. Marcelo confessed that he is smoking cigarettes and drinking but not using crack again. The brothers, who know what it looks like from experience, all said he was lying. They could tell by his appearance that he is again using drugs.

While we stood on the sidewalk of this very busy street on a Friday night, we made a circle around him, laid hands on him and prayed loudly for him. I am slowly getting more comfortable with praying the way the guys from the chácara pray. When I say we prayed, I mean we all prayed in a loud voice at the same time. Let's just say that didn't happen too much in the church family I grew up in, the Christian college I went to or, to be honest, any church experience I've had up until now. I used to think it was a disruptive way to pray that made it hard to focus. I was judgmental. I know better now. It's not the way we pray every time but it is an incredibly powerful way to pray for someone and the Spirit guides every second of it.

Please pray for Marcelo. It really hurt my heart to see him that way. When we were leaving he asked how my Anderson was doing. We visited him one day at the chácara over a year ago and Anderson was with me. Marcelo has never forgotten my son. Please pray that Marcelo will return to the family of God and recover from his return to drugs. I want my Anderson to grow up around Marcelo and to see God's power in him.

We then went to find Josemar. He used to live with Christian and Anderson but they had to ask him to leave because of his return to a life of drugs. Imagine an addict fighting against being around any type of temptation and having his own roommate coming home messed up. It was a tough decision but the right one to ask him to leave. We went to where he lives and spoke with some men who lived in the same complex. They had not seen him all week. We were not able to find Josemar. Please continue to pray for him.

We then went to Diego's grandmothers house. Diego came to our first couple accountability groups. Here is a picture of him (in the middle) with Paulo Renato to the left and Isaias (who runs the day to day operations at the chácara). Diego was a little surprised by our visit but he welcomed us into his home. We shared with him our love for him and how he needs to come back to our support group. He told us he is not on drugs but he is far from his church family right now and he confessed some impurities in his life. I once again got to witness my brothers talking to him about his sin and encouraging to come back to the family of God. Rodrigo asked me to pray for Diego before we left. We got up and put Diego in the middle and prayed over him. He told us he will come to our accountability group next Friday. I ask that you pray for him to do so.

Here is a group picture of some of the guys as they had a ceremony last year to celebrate their completion of the chácara program. Some other incredible things happened last Friday night:

One brother told me that he broke up with his girlfriend last week because of sexual sin. He wants to be a pure servant of God and he knew that he could not be one and continue to live the way he was living. He decided, as he told me, to put God first in everything in his life.

Two brothers and their girlfriends want to begin studies with Benay and myself about marriage and what the Bible says about it as they are thinking about getting married soon.

One of the girlfriends (who 1-2 months ago wanted NOTHING to do with Christians or Christianity) spoke with me for about 30 minutes about life after death questions. She will begin a Bible study with Benay in the next few days. She also brought her brother and his family to house church Sunday. They loved it and have already invited our family to visit them in their house this Saturday. A miracle is the only way I can explain the transformation in this young woman's life from just a few weeks ago to today. Amen.

One brother asked if there were any Bible studies he could do during the week. I told him about our teammate Paul's study that he started recently. He was very excited about it.

The title of this blog explains how I feel after every Friday night group time. I am amazed at how open these guys are and how they take that openness to their brothers who have fallen away. It would be much easier to say, "Let's pray for him" or "what a shame" about these fallen guys but these guys made a game plan and we acted on it last Friday night. I saw the power of a group of guys coming in love to hug on fallen brothers. They also demonstrated tough, compassionate love. It's a great example to the family of God.

I pray that the example of these men will bleed through our house church network and that soon this city will look at this church family and understand the true meaning of John 13:34-35:

"Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other."