Full week Paraty

We have had another filled week.
Last Friday we were picked up by Uilliam, the pastor from Paraty. How sweet, because the trip from Sao Paulo to Paraty takes about 4 hours. So he had half a day on it. Meandering through beautiful nature, we made our way to the tropical coast.

Again, we were hospitably welcomed to the home of Uilliam and Ariani, a warm and welcoming pastors couple, whom we had met 5 years ago. Uilliam is a man of vision. He is busy learning English because he has on his heart to reach Portugal and Africa with the good news of Jesus. We have a lot of fun mixing English and Portuguese. And communicating is sometimes wonderfully laughable.

Four years ago, God has put Uilliam in contact with someone in Mozambique who was eager to be taught as a pastor. From this contact, 54 little churches have sprung up in Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia. Each week, Uilliam teaches 16 pastors online. We were asked to also speak at one such meeting with the people in Africa. Several of them don’t know much yet of the Word or even have a Bible. The people are hungry and really eager to be further trained. The question came: can you help? Well that doesn’t sound like an opened door, but more like an opened giga gate! We are going to experience how that will develop.

Besides this surprise, our stay in Paraty is wonderful. Being on an adventure with God sometimes seems like a movie. From one scene to another.
It started with a hospital visit. An uncle of Uilliam’s was shot 2 weeks ago. They had accidentally shot the wrong one. He was in bad shape with a shattered shoulder and forearm and an infection in his blood. Normally only 1 person is allowed to visit, but praise the Lord, they made an exception for us and we were able to pray with him for healing.
Then Uilliam asked if we also wanted to go with him to visit a friend of his. He owns the most expensive hotel in Paraty and needed prayer. Well, go with the flow! And then suddenly you find yourself in a little paradise with beautiful cottages, swimming pools and an owner laden with gold. And then of course when you are praying, several staff members are immediately called in to receive a prophetic word from God. God in action! And how blessed are the people then when they hear what God specifically wants to say to them!

And then the special services in the church had yet to begin! There, too, people were very much built in their faith. Two gave their lives to Jesus and several received healing. For example, there was a man who had a lot of pain in his shoulder for 2 years, could not turn his head and no painkiller helped. Arjan put a hand on his shoulder and felt the hard spot under his hand disappear. Thank You Jesus! The man was amazed and very happy! There was also a child with a high fever lying limp in his mother’s arms and fifteen minutes after the prayer, Amanda saw the child running happily through the church.

In addition to these pursuits, we also visited the tropical beach. We enjoy the bountiful meals we eat together. And the mega sweet desserts that are a challenge to our taste buds! Not surprisingly, our stroopwafels (Dutch cookies) do well here.
Friday morning we will drive back to Sao Paulo with Uilliam and Ariani for the conference there.