Tuesday, July 7, 2009

"In each indigenous community a genuinly Indigenous Church!"
It took place the weekend after we returned. The YWAM base in Cuiaba was responsable for most of the organization, but the event took place at our Goiania base...
...so we had all of the set up and decoration to do to welcome over 50 indians from various tribes in Brazil, along with many others who came to be part of the event!
This young man was the artist that painted all the signs for the event...he is currently an intern at our rehabilitation home and is recovering successfully.
I helped out in the kitchen, helping to cut the mandioc for the meals... cutting them takes some practice!
Washing them was a breeze!
This is Pastor Seth (from Ghana). He has been living at the YWAM base for almost 5 years and the Lord is using him tremendously...He also was  great help in the setting up....
Mario also is always helping...
These boys were some of the first to arrive at the base...
This is Pastor Eli from the Ticuna tribe. He is a renowned speaker all over Brazil and is doing a tremendous job of making indigenous causes know to the Brazilian church. He is also the vice-president of the CONPLEI.
It was a blessing to hear him speak of all that the Lord is doing in many Brazilian indigenous tribes throughout Brazil! 
Also present was pastor Enrique (from the Terena tribe). He wore a headdress that represented a different tribe from his own and inspired us all about working together in reaching the tribes that are still unreached. He also made us laugh with his funny sense of humor!
Not a comon sight but....this is the 21st Century for ALL of us!
Indigenous tribes are receiving more attention than ever in Brazil because of the infanticide issue. Even a secular TV station was there to document this unique event where Christians of many different tribal "nations" and cultures were gathered together in one common purpose... to glorify their Father!!! 
This is one amazing family! If you have never watched the movie "Hakani"; It's a 40 minute documentary about Hakani's story (the little girl in the picture). Marcia and Suzuki are her adoptive parents and are ardently working on passing laws to protect and give rights to the indians though an organization they have founded, called Atini, voice for Life. Their biggest focus right now is trying to pass a law called "Muwaji" that will make human right applicable to indians and give them the rights to choose against infanticide (the practice of killing babies, in this case, for the sake of culture).
Hakani was burried alive by her tribe, Suruaha, because she was born with a deficiency that made her cripple...by the rules of the tribe, her parents had to kill her because she brought "bad spirits" to the tribe, but they preferred taking their own lives, so the tribe took it upon themselves to bury Hakani. 
Her older brother, Bibi, was able to unbury her in time and managed to keep her alive for three years, in which Hakani was shunned by the tribe, speared, laughed at and cursed and was not allowed to seek refuge under their roof. Bibi finally was able to find his way to the YWAM base in Porto Velho where Marcia and Suzuki were missionaries. The boy in the picture below is one of Eli's sons, Josue. He played the part of Bibi in the documentary.
It was awesome to hear so many different languages spoken from one nation...Brazil!
Everyone wanted to take pictures with our special guests!
This is Muwaji with her daughter Iganani. Iganani was born with cerebral palsy and was condemed by her tribe because she was believed to be born without a soul. Muwaji was the first in her tribe to shun her culture by refusing to kill her little girl and seek help from the "white people" in Brasilia. Due to her courageous act of faith, the law against infanticide that is trying to be passed, received her name "Law Muwaji".
My parents, Jonas and Iria, were also present and had the honor of having Eli's family and Suzuki's stay with them one night.
In this picture there are at least 5 tribes represented...
My wonderful husband never misses an opportunity to challenge us all in ministry!...
There was also a special presentation for the chidren...some of the Terceiro Espaco kids were also present...most of them had only heard about indians, and unfortunately public schools in Brazil, teach kids that indians are just like animals, creating a lot of prejudice. Praise God that some of that was broken here!
Even Iganani seemed to be soaking in every word...
This mother (on the left) is one of my dad's disciples. My parents brought her to the event and she was so touched that she wanted to share in front of her church of what God is doing in the tribes of Brazil. She was so proud to take this picture with her two children and Amale' (also a survivor of infanticide- he was buried alive).
Several missions agencies were present like Wings of Mercy, New Tribes Missions, Wycliffe, and others. My brother Jeyson and his wife Stephanie were also present at the event helping run the booth.
On the last day of the event, indians from five different tribes put together an amazing skit representing the creation and fall of man and Jesus as our Savior....
God created all man in His image...
and gave them each special gifts...like the ability to make and play instruments....
But Satan (whom they called the "evil god") came to man and tempted him to sin... (becoming addicted to alcohol for example)...
bringing hate, destruction and death...
But God sent his son, to restore man and bring him life...eternal life in Him!...
...He is worthy of all our praise!!!!
In the end we had a special time of prayer for Amale' who has to get blood transfusions every month...we prayed for his healing!
We also shared communion together...
Using guarana' juice and Acai juice to represent the wine...
...and Tapioca made from Yuca starch as the bread...
What an awesome celebration!!!
This was a globe that an indian painted on a real coconut! Beautiful!
In ending, I want to encourage you to join in our indigenous brothers and sisters in the fight against infanticide. There are many sources of informations out there, some saying that infanticide is not true, that there are only isolated cases of it, others saying that fanatic Christians are making it all up....I assure you, infanticide is real and it is happening in over 20 Brazilian tribes (that we know of). Each year hundreds of indigenous children are killed. 
Please pray that the Muwaji law will be passed in our country!
The CONPLEI gave me great inspiration to paint this picture...
WOMEN'S TEA:
A few weeks upon our return from the USA, we had the first "Women's Tea" for the women of the base at our home. It was a wonderful time talking, laughing, snaking, sharing prayer requests and having a wonderful time of prayer together. The first one was a couple weeks ago (pictured below), but last week we already had the second one, and hope to continue getting together every 15 days at our home. My prayer is that through this time together, God will bring us closer together and help us to grow and mature as women!

1 comment:

  1. Hi Lika! This is awesome what God is doing through you over there! Love you guys!

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