Brazil Throwback
I went to Brazil exactly two years ago now, for almost a month. As a world traveller, been in almost every continent and seen a lot of places, this trip was something else. Most people travel because they want to experience different cultures and so did I for many years, but nothing is as fulfilling when you go to places to actually make a change. There´s nothing wrong with having a holiday abroad but this trip wasn´t one of those. I was part of a team of radical lovers of God&people - we loved on people in different cities like Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Lafaytte, Belo Horizonte, Campinas. I´ll never forget that trip, it ruined my life in the most wonderful way, for good. You might be wondering why haven´t I shared these pics and stories earlier? Well, I felt like it was time and to be honest, I didn´t have time/make time to go through all the photos I took before(I like to take a lot of photos and get overwhelmed with them then, haha). But better later than never, aye?
I believe that the Greatest Power in the whole universe is, Love, and His name is Jesus. The Bible talks a lot about love (I highly recommend you to read the Bible and especially everything to do with Love, even if you wouldn´t believe in what I say - it still tends to give people life) and God´s love is referred to as agabe love which is the highest form of love that is selfless and sacrificial, it is unchanging and unconditional. Every single person and creature crave to be loved, right? I believe that every one of us, we were made for Love. In this post, I´m talking about the supernatural, incomprehensible Love of God. I surely don´t have all the understanding about this subject, I´m only talking about my own experiences and this time, what happened in Brazil two years ago. I believe that when we encounter His Love, we want other people to encounter it too(and yes, I wouldn´t be talking about this, if I wouldn´t have had personal encounters with Him, and if you want to hear about my encounters, I will share some later on in a another post too, so stay tuned). I share a couple of true stories what happened in this trip(some of the photos have stories hidden in them btw) and I hope you get encouraged by them. :)
One of the places we went to share the Love, was in a women´s rehab center. Their life stories were heart breaking. You just never know what people have gone through and why they have ended up in the situations where they are at. These women are so precious to God, no matter what they´ve done(many of them ended up using drugs because of abuse or other horrific reason). I believe God´s Love extends through every barrier, through everything - it can break every chain and bring even the most unlikely people back to Life. God doesn´t give up on us, even if we would - He never stops loving us. After our meeting with them, they shared what had happened to them during that time. I had given an encouraging word(one of the things I saw for her in the spirit was that she was a worship leader) for one of the ladies and after that, she couldn´t stop crying. She told me that every word I spoke to her was right on. I just called her out in her true identity. She told me she had been a worship leader back in the day, but because of her downfall, she didn´t think she could be worthy of that kind of a position anymore, to lead people to worship God. But after that, she had new hope and vision for the future! Obviously, I couldn´t have known such a thing without God speaking to me, I had never seen her or talked to her before. God loves to speak to people through us and encourage them. Some of the ladies also testified they had been healed through prayer!
In Sao Paulo, we went to the favelas and streets to love on people. We saw some people get healed while we prayed for them and I sang in the street spontaneously while a new brazilian friend accompanied me. It was so much fun! But one of the most powerful encounters were when we stopped one lady. She was on her way to commit a suicide.. but instead, she had an encounter with the love of God and she surrendered her life to Jesus. I held her in my arms for some time and we both cried our eyes out. It was such a holy moment.
One day we stopped at a grocery store. Meanwhile I thought to go outside and take some photos. I didn´t realize we were not in a good neighborhood and it was actually a really dangerous street to go out alone. I started taking photos and soon enough a man comes yelling at me, behaving violently. I don´t speak portuguese so I didn´t know what he was saying. He clearly wasn´t in his right mind, but I wasn´t afraid. I felt such love towards that man and I wish I could have spoken to him. Soon my brazilian friends ran to me and told me to leave before that man would attack me. I insisted my friend to translate to that man and tell him how much God loves him and so he did. That man calmed down and left, he didn´t want to listen to us. My friend told me that that man thought I was a cop(ha!) taking photos of him, but he could sense an atmosphere I carried and when my friend talked with him, he knew what it was. Apparently he was the most violent and dangerous man in the neighborhood, selling drugs etc. But man, I just saw how God loves that man and I wasn´t afraid. I knew God was with me, I could feel the Love in my bones!
One day we stopped at a grocery store. Meanwhile I thought to go outside and take some photos. I didn´t realize we were not in a good neighborhood and it was actually a really dangerous street to go out alone. I started taking photos and soon enough a man comes yelling at me, behaving violently. I don´t speak portuguese so I didn´t know what he was saying. He clearly wasn´t in his right mind, but I wasn´t afraid. I felt such love towards that man and I wish I could have spoken to him. Soon my brazilian friends ran to me and told me to leave before that man would attack me. I insisted my friend to translate to that man and tell him how much God loves him and so he did. That man calmed down and left, he didn´t want to listen to us. My friend told me that that man thought I was a cop(ha!) taking photos of him, but he could sense an atmosphere I carried and when my friend talked with him, he knew what it was. Apparently he was the most violent and dangerous man in the neighborhood, selling drugs etc. But man, I just saw how God loves that man and I wasn´t afraid. I knew God was with me, I could feel the Love in my bones!
In Campinas we ministered in couple of different places. One of the meetings got a bit wild.. People there started to get in a reeeaally good mood. If you know me, you know that I love to laugh and get filled with Joy. This time, people in the meeting, got hit with supernatural Joy. Those people weren´t exactly the kind that you would think end up rolling on the floor laughing uncontrollably. I bet you can imagine it haha(proverbs 17:22 says "A merry heart does good like a medicine"). By the way, if you haven´t seen Mary Poppins, I encourage you to watch at least the laughing scene! Did you know that imagination is the most powerful tool you have? Your thoughts are like seeds and they produce something always. So think happy thoughts! Movies are just someones thoughts in the screen. :)
So much more happened in my trip to Brazil and I´m forever grateful for the opportunity to go there! I love the nation of Brazil&Brazilian people, they know how to love well and they are really hospitable! I hope to go back to Brazil, hopefully again soon. :)
Btw, my stripy dress is from Marimekko and it is super comfy especially when the weather is hot&humid.
I wish you have a miraculous week! ;)
Intricately yours,
Marjo
