Folks, there’s been so much going on and I’m so far behind on reporting we’ve got another group of adolescents at camp this weekend and I still haven’t told you about the amazing camp we asked you to pray for in January! I promise I’ll get to that next week. There, I’ve said it so now I’ve got to get it done!
But before, that PLEASE be praying for Riquelme, Richard, Jennyfer, and Rauane. They were all in the very first group of children from the favela we took to camp back in October of 2024.
From that group of seven, three were baptized. Richard was one of the three and he’s been pretty regular at church since.
However, neither Riquelme, Jennyfer, or Rauane, or their moms are going to any church services other than our Sunday worship and message in Derby Park.
My prayer, and PLEASE join me in this prayer, is that from this camp we can see Riquelme, Jennyfer, and Rauane starting to attend regular church on Sundays with us after our worship in the Park.
Riquelme, Richard, Jennyfer, and Rauane
Why is this so critical? Because they are in the 11-12 year age range and within the next 12 months of their lives, living in the only place their mothers can afford to pay rent and raise them, the girls will be seeing boys on the side and it’ll be a miracle if they aren’t pregnant with their first child before they’re 14. The boys will be pressured or enticed into the drug trade or some other criminal enterprise, then gangs, then jail, and then it’ll be a long time before they’ll believe or even care about the Gospel.
Just so you have an idea of their present living situations: Riquelme’s mother couldn’t go with us to take him to the bus for camp because his father was just released from prison and she was desperately trying to get a restraining order to keep him away from their door. Speaking of doors, remember the door I put up for Raiane? The one Riquelme’s dad kicked down?
That’s the man she was trying to get a restraining order against today. Jennyfer’s 14 year old sister, because she was seeing a boy from a rival gang, was told she either had to leave the neighborhood or the local drug gang, the one that “runs” the neighborhood where her mother lives, would kill her. So, she was sent to live with an aunt who’s “partner” stabbed her two weeks ago and now Jennyfer’s sister is living with a friend. She may never be able to go back to her mother’s house.
So… please, please pray for these four 11-12 year olds. May this all too brief weekend camp be a turning point in their lives. And who knows, maybe the lives of some of their brothers and sisters. And even their mothers and fathers.
First ones on the bus! They are excited!
Like a scene from a Christian movie, as we were waiting for the bus to leave for camp, Mylam Lima, who I’ve known since she was a little girl, told me her father, who battled alcoholism for years, along with her mother began going to church, were converted, and are now active faithful Christians because Mylam’s aunt Vera started taking her to Sunday School when she was a little girl.
Miracles still happen. Pray for a miracle this weekend at the children’s camp here in Recife.
[Please continue to pray for support as we seek to replace the loss of another 25% now in August.]