Brazil Trip Day 7

09/24/2010
The day started off great! Sis. Thompson cooked fried eggs for breakfast, Fruits from off their farm, toasted bed, mango and apple juice and of course Brazilian Coffee, in fact gave me a bag to bring home of the coffee that was roasted in town! That’s what I’m talking about.
We were scheduled to be at the radio station at 10, but stopped by a home of a boy who was shot about a year ago. This is a tragic event that took place; he was innocent and shot in the back by a guard in front of a Grocery store. Anyway, a couple of months before he was shot he started going to church and had been baptized in the Wonderful Name of Jesus Christ. The grandmother was there as well as some other family members, the mother was at work. The bullet entered the middle of his back right below the shoulder blades and lodges at the base of his neck. The doctors didn’t remove the bullet for fear if they tired he would have further damage. The bullet is still there. Jonathan and I saw the X-rays and the pictures of the bullet entry in his back. I took a picture of the picture. Also, the grandmother gave me a picture of him at his 16th birthday several months before this happened. He was a very polite young man; even though we didn’t understand each other verbally I could tell he wondered why this had to happen to him. We prayed for him. Like everywhere else we felt the presence of God. Also, while we were there another lady who was unrelated came in during this time; her husband was a quadriplegic for 2 years due to a gunshot wound as well. We had a few pictures taken with him then left to go to the radio station.
One of the ministers at Bro. Thompson’s church was into the first ½ hour of the program. We sat down at 10:30 and Bro. Thompson took the microphone. He had Jonathan speak for a few minutes in which Jonathan was completely shocked. LOL! But he did a very good job. What we didn’t know is that this radio program reaches out to 17 different local towns/cities with the possible listening audience of 400,000 or more. It’s a great outreach tool. Bro. Thompson told me at first that he wasn’t sure if this was a good way to reach out, but he said he was pleasantly surprised. They have an average of 750-900 call in prayer requests every single month! Anyway, I was next and talked for about the Hope of Jesus Christ. I talked for about 5 to 7 minutes. Next up was the trivia questions, the winner of the difficult question would win dinner in town, I forgot what the winner of the easier question won. There is one easy and one difficult question. Before hand Jonathan came up with the difficult question of “Who was Bathsheba’s father.” I came up with the easy question of “Where the Holy Ghost was poured out.” The easy question was snatched up. The difficult question took a couple of calls but the one who won was a spiritualist, or one who practices witchcraft. The unique thing about this radio outreach is people from every belief and background listen daily. The people are looking for something real and for something to fill the void in their lives. Jonathan spoke for a little bit and was saying how beautiful Brazil was, the churches he visited and glad to be with Bro. Thompson. He is getting pretty good at this!
After the radio station we went to downtown Arapicara for Suave! Ohhhh! Our favorite drink of melon, pineapple and oranges, all fresh! And a Brazilian burger, with and egg on it!
After we went through lunch and 2 orders, 1 full pitcher of Suave, we headed to the city dump. The village of people sort through the trash and try to acquire as much recyclable stuff as possible as well as other items they can use. At night when the trash trucks come in they are scrambling to be the ones who go through the trash and will fight each other for items. It’s the survival of the fittest. The children that were there broke my heart and were scared of us. This little village of people sat behind the millionaires homes in the city. What a contrast.
Went headed back to Bro. Thompson’s to pack up and head for Maceio after we had service with the Drug rehab center.
We packed up the care and squeezed 8 of us in the small rental car, pics are on FaceBook, they make the most of ALL space available, no matter where they are. LOL!
The rehab center was colorfully painted and it stood out in the row of houses, the Church provided all the paint. Once inside it was a well manicured center and people welcoming us to their center. It was a weekend getaway for a lady a while back. This place was the dream of Bro. Thompson and Bro. Marcos, but the church couldn’t afford the $5,000 - $8,000 per month. The community came together with business owners, individuals and the Church to open and run this home. The corrupt Government will not support such rehab centers in Brazil.
In the back is the kitchen and a multi-purpose pavilion where the men can eat, study and have church. We took a tour of their living area and then back to the pavilion to have church. Their living area consisted of bunk beds, small desks to house their personal items and books. That was about it.
We started service and began to worship the Lord, as the service was going families of the men started showing up. They too wanted their husbands to be delivered.
The men bought goat and lamb meat to thank us for coming to the Drug Rehab and one brother prepared the meat on the back table as the service was in progress.
I have worked with jails and prisons for years and I felt right at home in this atmosphere. I asked Bro. Thompson if I could do something a little different and instead of preaching to them I asked if we could arrange all the chairs to be in a circle. He said I could do whatever I felt.
I asked them to arrange their chairs and we all sat down. I wanted all of us to be on the same level. As I started exhorting and encouraging the men and families and a Sweet Presence of the Lord moved in the place. I noticed a man who stood in the back and he was listening intently with tears in his eyes. As I was finishing up, Bro. Thompson asked that I pray for every single one there. A man that sat next to me, who was new and I don’t think had even been to church, asked that everyone pray for him. He knelt in the middle of the circle with 2 other men that wanted prayer and we prayed. As we prayed I looked up and the man standing in the back with the black jacket and helmet was crying. I got up and went to him and hugged him. As soon as I did he put his face in my shoulder and sobbed. Both of us were crying and I was praying that God would show him Truth.
I asked Bro. Thompson about the man and he was a Police Officer that was a helper in the Rehab. He had never been to a service or to church but he told Bro. Thompson that he never felt anything like that in his life! To God Be The Glory!!!
After the service they fed us the Goat and a tomato salad. Then they wanted to present me with a clock/picture that has scriptures printed on it. It got to me. These men don’t have anything and they want to show their appreciation that we stopped by. We had a group picture and then had to leave so we could make it back to Macieo in time for the Youth Service where Jonathan was to preach and the 10th Anniversary service where I was going.
I had so many hugs and handshakes as we were leaving the rehab, I’ll never forget those men or the work that the Church is doing to show them Hope, it truly was one of the Highlights of my trip! I thank God that I was allowed to be with them.
As we headed back to Maceio we were stuck in traffic due to construction. It’s not like here where we can usually find an alternate route, no you stop your car, put is in Park and wait. There is no hurry. Everyone waits. LOL! I think we were there for at least 20 minutes or so.
We made it to the Alvears in time and got ready for church. Jonathan went with Bro. Michael Alvear for youth service and I went with the Elder Alvears. The camera was giving our dear sister fits and didn’t get video but we did get a couple of pics. Bro. Michael told me that Jonathan did VERY good and even got a little loud. He went about 10 minutes. After it was over my son got a severe migraine headache and was out for the rest of the night and in fact slept in most of Saturday.
At the service I was in the Spirit of the Lord moved in an people were worshiping all over the sanctuary. The pastors wife is in the later stages of cancer and had a chemo treatment earlier that day, but she was in service and worshipped with the ladies up front and even did a themed worship song. She was in so much pain that they had to leave the service early. Please pray for this dear sister that God would heal her body.
The church surprised Elder Alvear for his birthday with a HUGE cake, Brazilian bbq and drinks.
We headed home ate again. Gabriel Alvear, Bro. Michael and Sis. Marcelas son, had put a couple of coconuts in the refrigerator and Bro. Michael cut the top off so I could drink the cold coconut water. The coconuts came from the trees on their place.

Brazil Trip Day 6

09/23/2010
Elder Alvear and I went back to the little shop to eat Egg Sandwiches, Passion Fruit juice and of course the Brazilian Coffee.
Missionary Ryan Thompson was to pick us up around 11 or so. Since I left Jonathan to sleep I purchased an egg sandwich to go and a cup of coffee. They didn’t have a cup to go so they gave us a glass with coffee. They cups here are very thin plastic, the napkins are small squares. Anyway, we went back to the Church Compound to pick up Jonathan and meet Bro. Thompson in Downtown Maceio.
Elder Alvear had to have some documentation notarized and sent to Bro. Raul Alvear, Jr. We drove downtown to the Notary and spent about 20 minutes there. When we left Bishop Alvear wanted to show us the hundreds of people around the corner. It was another area with street vendors and actual stores. The shoe store was displaying Nike, Reebok, etc tennis shoes for up to $599 Real’ each, or about $350 - $400 US dollars. Insane. The pricing in Brazil isn’t balanced, the prices can be all over the place from food to cars. One thing that we saw was a blind beggar in the middle of the way, playing a tambourine and a Ganza (similar to maracas). It reminded me so much of Biblical times being laid out right in front of us. Very say.
We then left and headed to the Church compound. We ate a very good Brazilian lunch made by Sis. Alvear and the ladies of the church of a beef, fried potatoes, “field” corn, rice and beans. Very good!
After we finished we loaded up the car and headed Arapiraca, Brazil where the Headquarters of Bro. Thompsons work is located. As we drove from Maceio to Arapiraca the scenery of the land was absolutely Beautiful!
Luziapolias and Teotonio and Vilela are the 3 villages we visited before we got to Bro. Thompsons home. The homes are in the back of the churches that we visited were clean but very poor. One of the homes when you walk from the sanctuary you walk directly into their kitchen/dining area. To the right you step outside, the homes are so close together there is only 3 foot wide walkway between the homes. When you step outside, immediately to the left is there restroom. Back inside you continue on to the kitchen, then to the left is an open are where the children sleep and to the left again is where the parents bedroom is. Even in the most uncomfortable situations and tight quarters, I noticed some Brazilians try to be as clean as possible. It’s not what many in America would consider to even be sanitary, but when you see these people, their lives, etc. one starts to look at things a little differently. By the way open sewage was running on the street right in front of the church. Oh and just about 2 or 3 houses down was a prostitute house. The immorality of this country is everywhere you look.
On our way out of this little village children were playing in the streets at one time I saw the children playing Futbol or Soccer with a little ball of sorts no bigger than a tennis ball, Bro. Thompson said they will use cans or trash of sorts just to play the game. Naked children were to the right playing in the streets as well. Fireworks were going off and I found out that means a politician is nearby, and there was. A former President of Brazil was in the area, this particular president was impeached back in 1994 for his corrupt ways. He was making a comeback and running for senate. As we were nearing the paved road you saw several people then on the other side of the road a helicopter had landed in the Sugar cane field. It was the senate candidate and people were in awe and were getting their pics taken with the helicopter and quite joyful at the whole situation.
When we left this village we took the Pastor of the church with us to a village on the way to Arapiraca. I was inquiring about all the sugar cane and how it tasted. Well the Pastor that was traveling with us had worked in the Sugar Cane field so we pulled over and he cut down a stalk. He intended to press it in the next town so we could drink the juice. As we were going through the streets of the little village heading towards the church service that was in progress, we stopped by a street vendor who carried sugar cane. He had a little motor that had a little contraption that you would feed the stalks of sugar cane into and it was crush each stalk. Out flowed a whitish/grayish substance that ran into a pitcher. The vendor filled our cups and we drank the sweet, thick waterish substance. Oh, just a side note, this particular vendor wasn’t the cleanest fellow I met. Before he started his motor he sort of tried to wash the unit down and then proceed. One thing I have learned to do when growing up and having to eat or drink in rather unclean places is to turn a switch in my mind to kind of block out what I’m eating or drinking. You really need to be able to do this in a 3rd world country at times. Just so you know there are times when it’s very difficult to do this. Anyway, I digress, he poured our ups from the juice and Jonathan said is sort of reminded him sweet tea, it sort of reminded me of a liquid medicine that wasn’t too bad. It had a different flavor and consistency than just about anything I’ve had before. Jonathan and I drank about a ¼ of a cup each. The Pastor that was with us drank his cup and he finished of my cup. They don’t think twice about drinking after someone else.
Church was in progress when we pulled up. This was a new work that was started in February of this year; I believe there were about 22 members. About 10 or so total in attendance since everyone else was at work. We had a tour of the church, front and back and here the Pastor and his family lived as well. The poor living conditions were not much different. We stayed for a few minutes to encourage and pray for this daughter work. Jonathan spoke here as well. He’s getting quite good at it! We left the Pastor of the previous town here and headed to Ariparaca.
Bro. And sis. Thompsons place is about 8 Km outside of town in the country. It sits on 14 acres, fruit trees, tilapia and fresh shrimp in tank. Fruit trees of several types, I think it is something like 30 plus different kind of fruit grows in its natural state here. They have a family that helps them who lived in the adjoining area of the home with them. They have a mule and cart for work around the farm, a couple of dogs, a black cat that will not leave and turkeys. Yes, wild turkeys that live around their home. In fact Wild turkeys are all over the area.
They were so embarrassed because the water ran out, especially Sis. Thompson and we told them not to worry at all. They tried to get a truck full of water delivered but it wouldn’t be there until morning. They do have a well, and I have pics on FaceBook that is their backup water supply through most of the year when it doesn’t dry out. Sis. Thompson said they have to use this if they run out of city water supply or if they run out of money and they cannot afford to have it delivered. By the way both the Alvears and the Thompsons are very frugal with their funds and neither family live a life of luxury. They make do with what they have and are most hospitable folks. I enjoyed staying with both families so much and a week just isn’t enough.
The Church was beautiful! Right above the baptistery hung a banner with a pic we had taken in Maceio welcoming Jonathan and I. It was another humbling experience. Jonathan Played drums in the service so he is officially a Brazilian drummer! He testified and he’s opening up quite a bit more! Several men were there from the drug rehab were in service. Bro. Thompson wanted us to stand up front so we could meet with everyone. Oh when you meet with everyone you get hugs from EVERYONE, men, women and children. A 95 year old man came up and gave me a hug and then started worshiping the Lord with all his heart, he jumped up and down and danced. It was beautiful and if I live to be 95 I too want to worship like that!
After the service the ladies gave me a bed spread to give to my wife (it was hand-made). This is a form of showing their appreciation and love. The ladies choral gave it to my wife. I could not stop the tears from flowing and was thinking they have so little yet they sacrificed so my wife could have the beautiful bed spread. All the ladies gathered around Jonathan and me for pictures.
Oh, the 95 years old man had lost his 1st wife several years ago and had remarried. He was married to his current wife, who was in her late 70’s, for several years and they acted like a young Honeymoon couple in love. He showed me the Red Tie he was wearing and was very proud of it. Bro. Thompson translated that Bro. Beard, the brother who just left to go back home in Mississippi, had given it to him. I had to give him my tie, so now he has a Red and Blue tie. It was so funny, Bro. Thompson tied started to tie it for him around his neck, then left it loose, then placed it on the elderly man’s neck. You would have thought he won a million dollars with the smile on his face. It was a priceless moment!
After church we went to Downtown Ariparaca to a juice and sandwich stand that served several different juices and sandwiches. Bro. Thompson recommended Suave. So we had the Suave and another drink, Frutas. The Suave reminded me of the old Orange Juilius back in the 70’s. It was simply the best fruit drink we have had.
Suave - (Swa-vay) melon, pinapple and orange. Did I tell you it was out of this world?
Frutas – Had SEVERAL different fruits/vegetables, but wasn’t as good as Suave.
The Suave was so good we had one to go. Bro. Thompson said “you’ll get a kick out of the way they make it to-go.” He was right, LOL, they had these plastic bags and doubled them up, poured the drink in with 2 straws and tied a knot at the top. That was it…. No cup. Ha!
We headed back home where I tried to access the internet on Bro. Thompsons laptop, but it took 5 minutes just to post an update on my FaceBook account. So in an sense we didn’t have internet access for the first time on the trip.

Brazil Trip Day 5

09/22/2010
Woke up a bit later than usual at 9:30 and headed to the little store where we ate breakfast yesterday. Jonathan got an egg sandwich, we had the Brazilian coffee and I ordered a Mango juice. Very good! We then stopped by a grocery store to buy bread for lunch. While there I bought a few Brazilian cookies and 4 packages of vacuum packed Brazilian Coffee! Oh yeah! This store did not have the bread so we headed out to a bakery and picked up a loaf of bread.
Came back to the house and ate lunch around noon. We got ready for an afternoon Church service at one of the Daughter works. They wanted us to come while I was here so they scheduled a special service in the middle of the day. As we drove to the church, once again the signs of absolute poverty were everywhere, from a horse drawn box buggy with a little boy sitting on the front with his dad to a street market that was set up in the median of the road. The same faces we’ve seen day in and out, hopeless ,hungry (physically and spiritually), depression, filthy children everywhere, and etc.
One thing I started noticing yesterday were the way the homes were built, actually it was last night after church. The home next door had a car parked inside with a thick barred gate closed. Some man walked to the gate and hollered in, after a couple of minutes a lady came to see him. She disappeared to another room and came out carrying a couple of cigarettes. At first I thought it was a drug house, but then another person came to the door, hollered in and another lady came to see what he wanted. She too disappeared and came back with a Coca-Cola. I was talking to the Alvears about this and they told me is that people use their home for multi-purposes. It’s their home, their garage, their store per their profession, i.e. grocery, car repair, etc. And just about every home has it set up to where their cars can pull inside so they are not out in the streets. That’s why in so many of the pics it looks like empty streets when they really aren’t.
The people here live in constant fear of bandits. The doors are always locked, the cars are pulled in the tiny driveways in the homes, the doors have locks and special wooden openings that allow you open them up without having to open up an entire window that would allow bandits easier access. People usually go about in groups of 2 or more.
Once we arrived at the church the service had already started, as we pulled up the first thing I noticed were the mangy, sickly and diseased dogs at the front of the church. At first my heart went out to the poor dogs, but then very quickly I thought about the humans who were living in much worse conditions than the dogs.
When we entered the service one could feel the presence of God. There were about 30 people gathered for this service. Most of the members had to work. There were a few visitors as well. The Pastors wife was up speaking to the church. When she was through there were a couple of groups that got up and sang a song. As they were singing the Pastors wife gave Elder Alvear, Jonathan and I a cloth that said Welcome’B.Bentes. The word welcome was purposefully done in English. She made these and wanted to welcome us to their Village and to their Church. We had a beautiful service and felt the blessing of the Lord.
After service they asked if we would stay, they made a snack for us to thank us for coming. It was a Brazilian Hotdog, Coca-Cola and homemade white cake with chocolate and coconut topping. They really wanted to make us feel at home.
The Pastor and his wife are such a sweet couple with a burden for their village. As I walked out I wanted to try to get a few pics and maybe a video since this was rare that I could get good shots of a church in the middle of the day. Behind the church the ground shot straight down several feet and below was a meat packing company. In the streets of the church were dogs, chickens and trash strewn about. A lady and her baby were next door standing in their doorway; hopefully she was able to hear the service.
After we left Elder Alvear showed me where the Pastor and his wife lived, or I should say what street they live on. Once again my heart was broken. The street the live on T’s into the street where the market and vendor shops were set up in the median.
When we left the church we went to the Brand New Mall and this is the absolute Paradox of the entire area. I literally felt like I was walking into a mall in America. Just imagine that you take 1/3 to 1/5 of the Parks mall, or any nice mall, and literally drop it in the middle of all this poverty. That’s exactly what it was like. There was a iron fence encircling the entire mall to prevent bandits from climbing over.
When we left the Mall it was getting close to 6 pm so we headed for home to get ready to leave for service around 7 pm. We were going to preach at the church where Bro. Michael Alvear pastors. This church was no different from the rest of the Daughter Works we’ve been too that were located in the city limits of Maceio.
I did find out something else; if one isn’t sure what church the groups of singers go to, just look at the ladies. Those that are wearing all matching colors/clothes the group of ladies that color matches the color of the wall covering on the wall behind the pulpit is the home group. Each group matches the exact color of the wall covering color. It is Brazilian Culture and I thought it was pretty cool.
We had a good service and Bro. Gabriel Alvear played the drums. You could barely see his head over the tom’s but he played them with all his heart!
Once again the spirit of the Lord was so rich. His presence was so close. It was almost like we could feel him hugging us. Absolutely beautiful!
At the end of the service Sis. Alvear went to the pulpit to make an announcement. She had the church sing Happy Birthday to Elder Alvear. His Birthday is on the 26th, in fact he shares his birthday with Sis. Fatima. They presented him a cake that Sis. Marcela made for him.
Then from the room behind the pulpit they brought out Brazilian BBQ sandwiches that Sis. Fatima made for everyone to eat. Then they served Kuat (Koo-weight) to everyone to drink. Kuat is a carbonated drink that is similar to American ginger ale. It’s very good and something Jonathan and I really enjoy. Everyone sat in their pews while being served. They all enjoyed the food and the fellowship. I was taking pictures (which I posted) because to me it was so unique to see how a different culture would fellowship.
We headed home and had a bite to eat of Rice and Beans, mashed potatoes, and very tender and tasty meat. Oh, one thing different is that we eat outside on the porch, which is covered by the roof. The dinner table will easily sit 10 people. Then I heard it, the whistle. Someone during the night, every night, constantly blows on a police whistle in various tones and ways. I asked “what in the world is that whistle and who is constantly blowing it all night long.” Elder and Sis. Alvear told me it was a night guard that people hired to keep an eye on the bandits and to periodically blow into the whistle to scare them off just in case they were close by. Once again here is the fear factor playing in. That is all this guard does, he doesn’t carry a gun so his job is very dangerous according to the Alvears. The jobs and circumstances the people here put themselves into just to make a few dollars is unsettling. Anyway, back on the meal, Jonathan and I really enjoy the common everyday Brazilian food.
After our meal I started uploading several of the pics from our 5th day in Macieo, Brazil.
Please remember to pray for Brazil. As I was going about my day today, I noticed something happening to me. I hope I can explain it properly, but with everything we have seen this week, the images rolling over and over in my mind, the absolute shock of filth, children running like wild animals, raw sewage, the begging children and adults, the stench, the naked children, the markets, the devastation from the Rio Largo Flood, the hugs from impoverished children, the beaten buggy horses with hide stretched over bones, the mangy dogs, the poorly dressed saints of God, the plantation owners, the flush less toilets, the hardened labor working for peanuts, the fear of bandits and organize crime, the absolute despair I see in face after face, the hopelessness seen deep in their eyes, it seemed a mechanism inside me was trying to block out what I saw with the complete depravity of humankind. It seemed almost like a wall was trying to be built up that would protect my mind from the realities of life in this 3rd world country, that would allow me to go back to my world, go back to my day by day life, to go back to my concerns and not to worry about what was happening here or all around the world. But the wall couldn’t even get the first layer of bricks laid and set. I pray God NEVER allows that wall to be built. I don’t want to forget what we saw. There are so many hurting and so few to reach out to them with the Hope of Jesus Christ. It’s not just here in Brazil, but the same people are in my home city of Ft. Worth, Texas. The same eyes I’ve seen this week are in every nation in the world.
Please pray for Brazil and if you feel a nudge to go talk to someone about Hope and about the one who has the Ability to give us Hope. Please follow that leading. Jesus Christ is our Hope, the Hope of Glory!

Brazil trip Day 4

Day 4 in Maceio, Brazil the people call it the “miserable place.” The heaviness of so many untouched lives by the power of Jesus Christ is most overwhelming.
We left early this morning intending to go on a boat ride, but that didn’t happen. We left and ate breakfast at a local shop. Egg Sandwiches, freshly squeezed orange juice and Brazilian coffee. We then headed to the other side of Macieo in “Rush hour” traffic. I still have no idea why they call it rush hour because there wasn’t a rush about it. I just thought we had crazy drivers in Texas, but even my friends Bro. James Christian and Bro. Reuben Najera have nothing on the drivers here. There are 2 lanes for traffic but they make 5 lanes out of them. No Joke! The motorcycles/scooters cut lanes and all the drivers are jockeying for the next open slot in the road. There is constant “beeping” of the horns (they don’t have honkers they are beepers). =)
Anyway we cut back down on side roads (see Tammy men try to find short cuts when driving in every country) and ended up where they built their very first church in Macieo. Behind this church was the slum area and houses built in and around the raw sewage. Elder Alvear said his wife never, not once complained at their living conditions.
After this we passed the slum area on the way to the boats. When we got to the boats the guy kept trying to take advantage of us once we decide we would not go.
Since we didn’t go on the boat we decided to go and walk around the market. Once we got to the market we decided it was best that we didn’t get out of our vehicle because we felt very vulnerable and unsafe. Instead drove around the market and surrounding areas. There are different fruits, vegetables, trinkets and we saw a satanic store that sold good for witchcraft. There were people walking in and out of traffic, horse pulling rough square buggy’s, people moving items with wheelbarrows, others were pulling carts of food, items, trash and you name it. The cars were so tightly packed in while driving I was amazed that we were not hit or bumped into. The vehicles here are quite small and I think I’ve seen only 1 Ford F150 and it was a 90’s model and 2 or 3 VERY old Chevy trucks. There are not any large SUV’s like we have Stateside. There are several different models I’ve never seen before, Fiats, VW’s, Fords, Chevrolets, etc. Vehicle models that are not in the States.
We then headed to the Lake Mundau where clams are harvested, boiled and sold to restaurants and stores as a delicacy. This is the disgusting part, all the raw sewage we saw flowing down to the lake is the same lake where the clams come from. The poorest of poor lived here and they call it “Manna from Heaven” because they can pick up nets full of the clams from off the bottom of the lake. The people would boil and shuck the clams then bag them to be sent out. The smell of clams mixed with raw sewage is not to be forgotten. The sight of naked children, young kids playing in and around the street, ladies washing clothes on the side of the street in filthy bowls, men working on the clams with ladies. As they would prepare the clams they would eat mouthfuls at a time. So hungry, so depressed, so filthy. The worse part to me is the children, filthy, full of lice, disease, running like animals all over the place. Child prostitution is big in Brazil. They sell the children as prostitutes for drug money. Please, Please, Please pray for Brazil. I’m weeping as I write this, I’ll have images, sounds and smells in my memory that I’ll never, ever forget.
Just a couple of blocks from here lives Brother Adelmo, a preacher in the church in Maceio. Yes, God has used the Alvears to touch lives in areas where no human being should be forced to live. I have a picture of this Brothers home.
By the way the average income for a working person is equivalent to $200 US Dollars a month.
After we left this impoverished area we then headed to the beach for lunch. The complete opposite from what we saw, but in comparison the beauty of Maceio is limited to the beach and one or two other areas. We had a great lunch of Shrimp, rice, and fries. I had coconut water again! Passion fruit drink and Graviola (a common fruit in Brazil). The beauty of the deep blue Ocean water, the beautiful tropical trees and flowers was breath taking. All the while the images of what we just saw was continuously at the forefront of my heart and mind. I’m eating like a king and there are beggars and children literally starving for food and for someone to Love them.
We left the hut where we ate lunch and went to a VERY expensive hotel to check out prices. Security had to let us in. One there we were in a Beautiful world of exotic flowers, fruit trees, cleanliness, a beautiful hotel, a swimming pool that is only built for resorts with a clean and sewage free water way flowing into the ocean.
As we left the hotel we went out the other end. Across the street at the Ritz hotel were big time politicians the governor of the state and a presidential candidate. The presidential candidate was the former mayor of Sao Paulo, a city in South Brazil of 22 million people. I was immediately turned off and couldn’t wait to drive away from them. Those men are so oppressive with their socialistic and communistic ideologies and the constant oppression of the people. Pray for the leaders of Brazil that God would change their hearts or that God would replace them with God fearing and honoring administrations.
It was around 12:45 pm so we headed back home. There was a bridge we crossed the day before that I wanted to cross again because I didn’t have my camera ready and you can’t stop on the bridge. The bridge spanned across to the other side and thousands and thousands of homes, shanties, etc were below. I have pictures and videos of this place on Face Book. As we crossed to the other side and around the corner, our hearts broke again and started weeping and praying for the lost and lonely souls of Maceio.
As were heading home Elder Alvear stopped by to see Sis. Agnes Taylor’s grave today, this is Sis. Alvear’s mother. Before she came to Brazil, Sis. Alvear asked her mother “mother you’re getting old what if you were to die in Brazil?” Her mother replied “Janice do you think Brazil is any further from heaven than the States?” Sis. Taylor’s heart was where her daughters heart was, on the mission field of Brazil. This was most touching. I have pics of the grave site and will post the pictures in a little while.
As we arrived at the other side of town we stopped by “Plastic City” which is about 4 blocks from the Church compound. Men, women, young people, children and families live in homes literally made from trash, plastic, particle boards, etc. Of course there is no running water, plumbing, electricity, etc. It’s pure poverty and the Church compound is on poverty’s front door step.
I’m about to head to church tonight to preach at another daughter work. I’ll finish this journal entry after service.
We had a wonderful service at another daughter work in town. I’m amazed at how many daughter works the Alvears have either started or are instrumental in their growth. There are over 300 works all over the country of Brazil, all the way from south Brazil where Bro. Raul Alvear, Jr. Pastors and the Vice President of the Mission work in Brazil, up to the North East where we are in Maceio over to the Jungle in the Amazon where another son pastors, Bro. Arlei Alvear. And churches scattered all across Brazil. Brazil is massive in size and is almost as large as the US.
Please continue to pray for Brazil!

Brazil Day 3

09/20/2010
Just a pre-note before I talk about what happened. I will be sitting somewhere thinking about this trip and start weeping for the people, my heart is so heavy, my mind is filled with awe at the utter poverty I’ve seen everywhere I look. At the hopelessness in their eyes, the fear in their eyes and the filthiness they live in. I see vividly in my mind’s eye the street children bumming for money and yet scared to death of the people they are asking for a “coin.” Their hunger over rides their fear of “big people.” Of people that may and possibly will hurt them. I just now remembered an elderly lady on the plane from Sao Paulo to Macieo crying before take-off. I thought well maybe she is scared to fly or maybe she just lost a loved one, but as the flight continued, she was wiping tears from her eyes. Who knows what this poor lady faced as she headed to Maceio. The heart beat of the Alvears for this people is overwhelming. I’ve seen at times both the Elder and Sis. Alvear with tears in their eyes. Elder Alvear is a prankster and full of humor, he told me “Bro. Ballard we have to laugh or we would be so depressed all the time.”
I woke up before 7 a.m. and couldn’t go back to sleep so I got out of bed and got ready for the day. My son slept for a couple hours longer and Bishop Alvear and I went to the Airport to retrieve additional funds from the ATM and then to drink cappuccino and espresso. Well, the ATM wasn’t a bit helpful and wouldn’t let go of money. I tried 3 times and was almost in panic mode. I was running out of money and fast.
We drank our Cappuccino’s, by the way have I told you how much I LOVE BRAZILIAN COFFEE? If not well, it’s better than Starbucks. Anyway, we headed back to the church compound.
Elder and Sis. Alvear, Jonathan and I went to the other side of Maceio to see the ocean and eat at a very nice Churrascaria. While on the way the traffic and the way EVERYONE drove would give you high-blood pressure whether you had it or not. Everything was so depressing to see, from the homes, the stores, the markets, the street vendors, horse drawn carriages, children running wild in the streets, motorcycles and scooters cutting in and out of traffic, horse drawn buggy’s, etc. The drivers are nuts! Anyway, back on the Churrascaria, the beef they serve here is Brahma that is raised all over the area and it’s so fresh and wonderful to eat! After our meal we headed down to the beach to purchase souvenirs for my wife and daughter. While there Jonathan and I had our first taste of fresh Coconut Water, we actually drank straight from the coconut with straws. It was so refreshing!
On our way back to the Church compound we stopped to get fuel up and while there Jonathan and I went to take pictures of the huge coconut groves and I got a pic of Jonathan holding fresh bananas on a banana tree. Oh one thing I don’t think I mentioned is the fresh fruit that grows wild all over the place from bananas, papaya’s, coconuts, cashew nuts (don’t eat raw from the tree very poisonous and will kill you), and various other fruits.
We drove by several different areas of town, we drove past a rich coconut plantation owners home, and the hundreds and hundreds of acres of Coconut groves, a satanic church, the city dump which loomed over that part of the city. On FaceBook I posted a pic and you can barely see the top where horses/mules are. This dump was home to several homeless people.
Once we were back at the Church compound it was time to get ready to go to the Farm Church. The farm church is outside of Munici, the church I preached at on Saturday night, it is 8km off of a paved road. The road is very dangerous for a couple of reasons, it is very treacherous due to the mud and it’s full of water in some spots. A 4x4 is almost a must at times. There is a bridge where Bro. Alvears son-in-law was driving a church van full of people and it was raining, he panicked and almost slid off one of the bridges because he was going too fast. Another reason are the bandits, since this area is so remote the bandits will bring people out there and kill them. No one will know who or when they were killed.
When we arrived at the Farm Church service was already in progress. Some people walked for 30 minutes to an hour just to be in service. The service is held every Monday night. The place where the service was held is in one of the workers homes, it was a very rough shod place. A bit of information about this place is the plantation owner allowed the Alvears to have service on his property, which in itself is a miracle. The plantation owners home is up on a hill overlooking the buildings. Sis Alvear told me that some planation owners beat their workers just like what we read about in the slave days. This truly is modern day slavery. The poor people feel they have nowhere to go and in actuality they really don’t. It breaks my heart to hear and see how one group of people treat other groups of people. In Brazil it’s the Very rich and the Very poor with very few middle class people.
The people are paid very little wages. I believe the average pay rate is a couple hundred dollars a month. That figure doesn’t just apply to the plantation workers but it’s a general base salary.
Anyway, back on the Farm church, the horse stables seemed to have better living conditions than the homes our Brothers and Sisters in Christ live in. As I was saying it is a very rough place, the roof is basically the bottom of the tin. Lizards were scurrying about on the roof. There were about 3 or 4 single light bulbs hanging down from the ceiling. The bathroom had a toilet that was only the bottom part, no tank at all. Just the toilet bowl sitting on the drain pipe. One would have to fill a bucket with water and pour into the toilet bowl in order to flush. The entire floor of the bathroom was wet and the smell was less than desirable.
The conditions of this arrangement didn’t deter the people from worshiping our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! There was over 60 people crammed into this room and about 10 or so on the outside looking in through the back door and windows on the side of the house. The power of God was so strong in this place. Many songs were sung, prayers were prayed and then I preached on the Oneness of Jesus Christ and who He really is! There were several Trinitarians in the service tonight who Elder Alvear is praying will come to the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They will be at the ladies conference this weekend at the Headquarters church.
As I reflect back on tonight’s service my heart is broken, these people who have so little seem to be very happy. They love each other and worship God with all their hearts. Some from the American church may look on them with disdain because their sleeves may be too short or their skirts are not fitted correctly, maybe the men have facial hair or some are wearing wedding bands and other jewelry, but can we not get past our differences and pray for the Brazilian church?
For some of these people to have to dress “just right” they would have to give up food money in order to line up. That is so sad.
I truly believe that we can make a Difference, if we set our Differences aside and pray for them with No-strings attached!
God Bless The Brazilian Mission and God Bless the Alvears.
Please, please, please remember Brazil and the Alvears when you pray.

Brazil Day 2

09/19/2010
We slept until 10 then went to the airport, which is about 5 minutes from their home for Cappuccino and Espresso with Brazilian pastry filled with heart of Palm and the Brazilian cheese rolls. Ohhhh sooo good!
We then headed to Rio Largo the place where the floods this summer killed thousands of people. On the way they the country side is amazingly beautiful. Rolling hills scattered across them are herds of white Brahma bulls. Different types of fruit trees. Then we were welcomed with another area very similar to where we had church the night before. Sad. It was like the entrance to the town. Once in town we stopped so Elder and Bro. Michael Alvear could explain what happened to the homes, where the waterline was on the homes, the utter devastation of what the flood did and the hopelessness. While we were stopped to boys came up to the driver’s side wind to ask for change. They had a coverless soccer ball that was nothing more than threads wrapped around the core. Elder Alvear gave them some money and I gave them 1 Real’ each (Brazilian dollar). He told them to go around and thank me and give me a hug. They did and they were more than willing to get their picture taken, in fact Most Brazilian’s are happy to have their picture taken.
On the plane from Sao Paulo to Maceio Jonathan commented on how much ALL of them continuously took pictures of each other and of people around them.
As we journeyed further in, we saw the destruction, roads and railroad tracks completely gone. One spot, the Mayors home over looked the destruction and they were locked inside this beautiful home and having a very loud party. The Government will not help the folks of Rio Largo whatsoever and the
Mayor is having parties in the middle of such loss, hopelessness and destruction. Honestly, I was furious.
We drove around the town and it reminded me of a VERY OLD New Orleans where Bourbon Street is. Very narrow roads, people pushing wheelbarrows around hauling their goods they bought from the street markets.
Oh, one thing I didn’t mention and that’s the bicycles, motorcycles about 125 cc – 250cc but not many larger than 600 cc riding all over the place. The cars are tiny; in fact several are not even sold in the US. The people here drive like maniacs. People don’t think about walking right in front of moving vehicles. Horns are constantly “beeping” (I really can’t call it honking). LOL. There are even horse/mule drawn buggies being pulled.
We also drove to a place where it was utter destruction from the floods. Not a single home remained. People set up lean-to’s and cardboard huts as squatters hoping the government would come and rebuild for them. These people lost everything they had. Even when they had something it wasn’t much at all.
After that we headed back to the Church compound. We were to meet at a nice Churrascaria but ladies and sinner ladies showed up at the Alvears for lunch (they got confused and were suppose to show up the next Sunday), but that didn’t deter the Alvears. Sis. Alvear stayed behind and I told the Elder that I’m with him, if he wanted to stay and eat with the ladies so would we. It looked like relief was on his face and in fact they ladies were actually very glad that we stayed to eat with them. Bro. and Sis. Alvear then told us that the people were honored that we Americans would sit down and eat a common meal with them. Toward the end of the meal, I wanted a few more beans but I couldn’t find a spoon. So I asked if I could pour the beans on top of my rice. I proceeded to do so and one lady told Sis. Alvear that I passed the “test” and that I was now Brazilian. LOL!
We left from there and went to a small store about 2 blocks away and Elder Alvear took us to see the government housing and the “plastic town.” Where homes are set up with whatever material could be found.
My camera battery died so we didn’t stay long.
At service I preached on Acts 18: 1-11 about where Paul had a vision and Jesus told him that He has many people in that city. God really did a great work. 5 received the Holy Ghost, 16 were baptized in the wonderful Name of Jesus Christ, 1 man who was tortured his life with demons was delivered, and in fact he was into some sort of witchcraft. The demons were trying to get him to leave but he came forward to the altar at the end of service. One man was dancing and shouting, the testimony here is 2 weeks ago he had a spinal injury and the doctors said he would get to a point where he wouldn’t be able to walk; he walked on the crutches that wrap around your wrists. He was prayed for 2 weeks ago and miraculously healed!
After service we went to a sandwich stand right in the middle of a poor area, but then again the whole area is poor. After we ordered we were waiting for our food, these 2 little boys stopped by our table asking for change, we gave them a little. Then they turned around and went to a table that had not been cleaned off yet to see if there was food. The food they are eating are leftovers that were given them by the cooks. I wanted to get a pic of them and when I stood up and went toward them, their eyes got as big as silver dollars and they starting backing up, Sis. Fatima (her and her son Kelvin live with the Alvears) ran to them to explain that I wouldn't hurt them. They reluctantly and shyly allowed me to take their pic. After this I gave them 5 Real’s. They immediately went to the cooks and bought a Brazilian hot dog. They were so hungry. It broke my heart. :(
Well it’s almost 2:30 a.m. so I’m hitting the sack. So much to write about.

Brazil Day 1

09/18/2010
Brazil Trip Journal
We landed in Sao Paulo around 6:30 in the morning. Excited to be here! We were following everyone off the airplane, down a very long walkway to show our passport. When we got in the line it seemed to be moving along at a quick pace but the people in front of us who flew on the same flight said that this line is for Brazilian residents and that we had to go to the other line. Of course the other line was long and not moving. That was the “foreigner” line. LOL! As my son and I were waiting in line I looked to the other side of the Passport agents to a huge group of people, it had to be a least 1,000 but I’d be safe in saying it was probably more. I mentioned to Jonathan to look at the baggage claim.
It took us about 20 minutes to go through the first line and while we were in line we heard some yelling and very high tempered people getting after it from the crowd at the baggage claim. After we got passed the passport check we headed to the baggage claim. We had to go to claim 19. As we headed over to 19, fighting and being run over, people started getting upset with us. Of course we didn’t understand what they were saying and certainly couldn’t figure out why they were upset with us. I mean we were not in the same line as they were; they were in line for baggage claim 15. I soon found out there was only 1 line for all the baggage claim and that we had to wait like everyone else. I kept trying to find someone who spoke English to help. A gentleman whose origin was from Africa and who was on the same flight stated that we had to stay in the line, he was very friendly, that it was only 1 line. Another couple told us that it’s always this disorganized. And that there were 5 international flights that landed at the same time. Well by the time we finally nudged, scooted, and shuffled our way to 19 there was only about 6 bags left to claim. 4 of them were ours. After this event we then had to get back in line to go through Customs. The entire process took right at an hour once we stepped foot in the baggage claim area to finally exit out through customs.
The first place I stopped was to the currency exchange. I exchanged $100 US dollars and in turn received $164, minus the tax fee or whatever fee it was, I ended up with $157 Brazilian Real's.
We then went to eat “breakfast” which consisted of 1 cheese roll (Oh this is heaven) and 1 hot dog, with some sort of chips “fritas” and tomato soup. Jonathan and I had a double espresso (large size), added the sugar and we were once again back in the saddle.
The espresso or coffee here is some of the best I’ve ever had!
One more experience was that Bro. Alvear wanted me to call him once we arrived in Sao Paulo. I saw a lady who was wearing a shirt “I love Brooklyn” and asked if she spoke English, she did speak broken English and she was willing to help us purchase a phone card, and taught us how to use the phones here. I know this is odd since I have a phone surgically attached to my ear in the US, but here I really was lost. I couldn’t read nor understand any of the language. What little bit of Spanish I know is to no avail here.
Well our plane just arrived so we are about to board to Maceio. More to come…..
We landed in Maceio safely and were greeted by Elder Alvear, Bro. Michael Alvear and Bro. Eddini Alvear, the Pastor of the Headquarters church.
We are staying with Bro. Michael and Sis. Marcela Alvear in their downstairs bedroom and bathroom.
Sis. Alvear had lunch prepared, and then we rested for a bit before heading out to the Munici, Br.
On the church compound, live the Alvears, Bro. Michael Alvear and his family, Sis. Fatima and her son Bro. Kelvin and Bro. Michael Alvears Sister and her husband live about the carport.
Trees on the property coconut trees, cashew trees, mango, banana and papaya. In fact these grow wild all over the place. We headed to the Munici daughter work and passed fields and fields of Sugar cane. Bro. Alvear said that wolves live there as well as a special type of bug called a “kissing bug” where if it bites you, one will die within 7 years because from the bite. Somehow it enlarges your heart.
I’ve never been to such a shambles of a place where the people lived, rough streets, concrete houses built one connected to the other, peoples clothes hanging everywhere, clothes being washing in front of the homes, raw sewage flowing in the streets, the smell was horrible. The service was beautiful, it was held in the church which is a small building with one small restroom behind the platform area. About 80 people were there and others were on the outside looking in the windows. 2 received the gift of the Holy Ghost and possibly 2 others. 1 was a backslider that prayed back through!
Jonathan testified and was actually put on the spot because he wasn’t expecting it, but he did a very good job.
After we left, Elder Alvear, Jonathan and I followed the church van full of people, about 15 or so and Sis Alvear back to the main road. We all stopped at a Texaco. The 3 of us stayed and ate at a Churrascaria inside the Texaco, The food was Excellent!
Got home and stayed up posting pics on Facebook.

Brazil Trip @eptember 2010

I'm trying to keep a daily Journal of our trip to Brazil. This will be rough with out all the punctuation and spelling completely correct. But I not only wanted a Word doc but also a repository that I can go to in the future. I hope you enjoy reading it. Also, this an old blog I tried to start back in 2005 and it went kerplop.

I hope you enjoy my trip to Brazil through this blog.

God Bless,
Bro. Roy Ballard