The Promise

And, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. " Matthew 28:20

What a wonderful promise! I have been taking this one to the youngest house of Crianca Feliz this week where the toddlers to 7 years are living along with a few older sisters and brothers. Casa Enseada. What a bunch of cuties!

Every week I spend four days total working with and walking through the word of God in theraputic arts lessons with different homes in Crianca Feliz. How precious it always is the first day! This is when I make my introductions, get to know the house, and really get to just play with the cuties! For our first day at Enseada, the Lord and I ...plus two brazilian angels named Renilda and ...ANGELcelia (no joke!) brought over a few boards to go with my wood duckies and ocean colors to paint. The theme was "Everybody needs a home"...we talked about the animals, the bugs, the trees, the fish, and people. These children are all learning and growing together in a ministry home apart from their biological families, so we talked about how people live different then fish, animals and trees and how there is something we do that is different; we learn to work together with a language called love!

Then we talked about Gods home... IN US! We talked about how Daddy God wants to live inside of us to teach us how to love people. This was fascinating to the children, and they loved it so much that we started off just inviting Jesus to come on in. Oh, awesome! What is amazing is that I know the children really got it! Halelujah! These very young children have all been either sexually or physically abused. They were rescued just in time! I have so much hope for all of them, seeing that they are in the stage of life that is extremely pliable right now, and with continued love, and protection they will be ok because they are all still very young. God is with them in that house! Praise You, our King over every child and life upon the earth!

The pictures from our first day will come later but the second day I came to visit them was two days later,after my work in Novo Contagem and Casa De Apoio. This is my week, guys, if you were wondering: Sundays are now my day with the Lord, totally (halelujah!!),

Monday: introductions at one of the 8 homes of Crianca Feliz and getting to know eachother...sometimes a small or super relaxing work together, afterwards I take the bus to the metro station to get to the last stop on the line: Eldorado, Contagem... to sleep in my other bed for two nights in Casa De Apoio...

Tuesday: Art therapy class 8AM first group of kids, rest and prep for next class, big lunch, 2nd class @2PM, rest, and... sometimetimes update the blogaroo! (*These pics are some of our time together doing the Tree of Life this last week, which has become a very endearing work to the children here in Brazil)

Awesome collages with the kids at Casa De Apoio!

..I love this little girl, Luana. She actually snatched my camera to capture these shots, this one is her leaf for healing in the tree of life. I loved it!


And...to bed...@ 10PM LATEST!!!

Wednesday: Early morning bus to Novo Contagem to meet Rosie, my translator. Pray and prepare in the spirit together, do family visits with the Social Worker until lunch...EAT yummy Brazilian foods!!!...1:30...pssst: outdoor evangelism, yeeeeah PFTS style! This week will be our first time. Pray for us! So excited! We will just be three tomorrow RIGHT in the center of Casa De Apoio in Novo Contagem where the very poor pregnant mothers are waiting to be seen along with children in the free dental clinics. Pics soon. At 3PM we finish and I am off to Belo Horizonte to my Casa Meninas Abode.

*Pastor missionary friend in Novo Contagem, and Edson, a social worker onsight.

Thursday: early in the morning wake up to cafe mañan (breakfast) with my lovely girls in the house and Cida (the house mother) and Betche. Prepare for my 2nd visit to the house I visited on Monday. Always super excited for my day coming back! Eat with my family at Casa De Meninas...brush my teeth, and head out to the house by 2PM
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I had just a small moment to wrap their work from the first day together in brown paper bags and give them to the children as gifts...with wire and screws on the back for hanging on the walls in their house! Remeber...? These ones are in the house called Enseada, for the little, little ones. The cuties had so much fun rockin´ the presents before we got started on our next work. Check them out! What a blessing to see their faces of awe over works that they themselves had created just days before... now masterpieces for their walls forever!

Friday: Same schedule as Thursday...
These are dome of the older children who finished up the beautiful rainbow that the youngest ones started. Now: I, of course, rapped about the great promise in the Word and we talked about rainbows and their perfect refined beauty...in kid talk right? Right! I spoke about our value as little creatures here on the earth...what are we here for? To shine our joy, and love, and peace together so Gods rainbow smile will shine as He holds us and rocks ud in Hid arms. We danced a bit and sang about the children of the world and all of our unique and beautiful differences, so important, just like each color in the precious bow... Then the kids had a huge blast painting together, some for the very first time. I am instilling parallel play with not only the babies but the older children in the other homes as well; so, so many of the children didn't get the pleasures of school and healthy learning through playing together when they were toddlers and in the early years of child development. It is such a joy to teach them through LIFE NOW!!!































Here is Pedro on our third day together! This is now "What do I wear?", a work where I read the famous Galations 5:22 passage of those awesome fruits of the Spirit! What should we really be all about? What kind of clothing are we going to be robed in today? Humility...VOCAB time for the children...this is a "STOP THE PRESS...you may only find this word in the Bible nowadays so lets do some explaining!!!!"...Peace, Gentleness, Self Control, Joy, Goodness, Faith, Love, Long- suffering... thank God for the Portuguese KIDS Bible while we teach, Amen! I cut out little girls and boys out of foam sheets, and brought along lots of goodies for decorating these guys. Take a look at the works! So beautiful!

Hey! Who are these sillies makin a giant mess? Me and the Brazilian angels early on our Saturday...texturing the new house Angelcelia is going to be moving into with her new husband after the marriage early next year. Renata is in the middle. Get a load of this:
Saturday: Same schedule as Monday, Thursday, and Friday, but I make this day the grand finale in every house so far! We will do the biggest project, or theater, or special treasure hunts, prizes, you name it! I try and do this to REALLY bring the message home about the love of Jesus and His great example for us to give and live in good, real, healthy love together. I always make dure to have a translator on my last days with each home...this time it was my two cuties above...well, Renata doesn't know a lick od English, but she sure is a cutie anyways!

Check out the pics of our grand finale! After painting we went straught to their house on Dat. to make beautiful colored clay (What I would make at home in the states ... but Brazilian play-do), chocolate lollies, and prep dor our theater of the Good Samaritan. Woweeeee!

More pictures of the clay and play later...

This is my lovely sister in Christ, Renata. Her heart is so big it could wrap around the universe! I spent all Sunday with her and her mother in a beautiful country home away from the big city. What a blessing. God is so goof to lavish beautiful love upon us! Friends in big cities mean more than gold! I love you, family, AND miss you all. Thank you so for all of your prayers; I wouldn't survive without em! A giant hug to you, and stay with God!

Yours,

Jeanne