Dearest Friends,
The King was a Banana
Some things simply do not translate ! Friday, I spent hours watching presentations from our teams. Their creativity astounded me! I learned so much! The teams came from all over Brazil! Even the Amazon region and Peru were represented. One couple was telling a story of a king in the Bible. They said that the King was a banana. It is a phrase that means that the king was weak. So, the lesson is, do not be a banana!
These friends came to children’s ministry through many different paths. Some saw Faby and Gerson and wanted to do what they did. They are good examples for many to follow! Some knew great brokenness in their own lives and wanted to see Jesus rescue children from such pain. Others came to this conference and felt God calling them. There is even a team here who came and friends to this conference years ago. Last year, he proposed here. Wow! They are called 4:3. This is for Mark 4:3 where the Lord talks about sowing seeds of hope. Truly, hope is what these stories that we tell are all about!
One couple works with the Brazillian version of Mission Aviation Fellowship. He is a pilot serving remote areas , but they also serve with Agape Brasil! Here their name translates, “Wings of Help”. They serve 1000’s of indigenous people and many missionaries. A while back, they took a sick little boy to the hospital. He lived because they were there. At every show, they open with a particular song and the children sing with them. They take many trips into the Amazon.
Junior is a puppet director who lives in a place where the grass turns golden. Then, they weave it into hats and baskets and many other things. He tells the children that true treasure is Jesus! Many of the children he serves come from homes that were destroyed by drug abuse. They ache to be loved!
One of our teams is a young couple from a very remote area of Brazil. They are expecting their first child! They live in a forest. There are so many children in the area and God has opened doors for them to go into many of them. At first, there was resistance, but now they are getting many invitations. Like most of our teams, the children they work with are poor and suffer greatly because of their parents choices!
Nemesio, from Peru ,spoke of being challenged by Proverbs 22:6 to work more deliberately with the children. God’s promise really spoke to his heart and He wanted to do even more to tell the children that Jesus came to rescue them! We are hoping to work in Peru next June. Please pray about that possibility!
“Sailing with God” reaches children that are best reached by water. They sail along the Brazillian coasts, building houses, partnering with doctors and dentists, but always talking about Jesus. They see so many children as they are working and it is easy to get a crowd for a show. I saw tears in their eyes as they talked about the experience of a child hearing about Jesus for the first time at a puppet show. He is one of many! They said that hold onto
the truth written in Romans 14:7, ” For none of us lives to himself and none of us dies to himself!”
There are 17 teams in Brazil working with Agape Puppets Brazil. There is not time to write about all of them. Please hold them all in your prayers and especially pray for Faby and Gerson as they are being used by God to hold it all together!
The Big Event
Yesterday, Saturday, was the day of our big children’s conference. It was glorious and amazing and wonderful and exhausting! I spoke in the morning, telling mission stories. Then, we all taught 3 classes each, 2 hours in length. Faby and Gerson and I did not get in bed until after midnight! We had actually finished around 10 PM , but it was simply hard to let go of such a beautiful day! Over 200 people traveled from all over Brazil, some driving many hours, and still arriving by 8AM. All of us laughed at how many people wanted to have their picture made with me. 86 times people asked me for a photograph! It was very funny!
I heard many testimonies of how people were blessed and challenged by the classes they took! It was a day of laughter and tears. Please pray for all who came. Please pray for the mission report that I bring today and a puppet show we are doing this evening. My time is almost finished here and I want to honor the Lord with the days that I have left!
In Jesus, Linda for more puppet people than I can count!!!