19 February 2006

LAsT tImE FiRe...tHiS TiMe iCe aNd rAiN !!!

Well, for those I told Portugal is hotter...check this out !!!


We went to another district of Portugal to help setting up another prayer room and share the vision of the National Prayer Campaign in April...It was an amazing time we had together with a group of young people from Braga (north Portugal)...they are from different churches and are already used to gather and pray together...Their heart are for unity among all different christians in that district and beyond...Joana was telling me how she's been growing so much just by opening her heart to accept different expressions of christianity and different opinions in some "non essencials"...It's a real encouragment to see young people thinking that way...They are giving a great example to many "grown ups"...That's the way !!!

I went on Friday with Joao, from the Matrix, and Edna, my sister, who offered to go and help... Juran also went with his van to meet us on saturday...

It was really nice to meet this group in Braga and also Sara and Daniel who open their house for us to sleep on friday...What a sweet couple...what an open heart...I was glad to know I will meet Sara soon in London...it was really funny, because I relly wantted to involve someone from GBU (University Bible Group) with "SPEAK" (the network of campaigners/intercessors) with whom I'm gonna be with in London next week...so, Sara is one of the leaders of GBU in Portugal and she was already going to London anyway, exactly the same days of the "Soundcheck" conference... and she thought she would go just to be with a friend and help her to bring some things back to Portugal...Ah, there are no coincidences !!!!
So, this group of young people got the vision and I believe they will spread it well...Claudio, a young guy who just came from Cape Verde (Africa) to study in Braga, got really impressed with the vision of the prayer rooms, and he was helping us during the setting up, so he knows what to do now...well, there's really not much to do...that's what I most enjoy in the prayer rooms...it's all about God !!!

17 February 2006

cHuRcH pLanTiNg aMoNg tHe tHe uNdErGrOuNd sUbCuLtUrEs iN EuRoPe...ONE FAMILY


I have not enough words to describe this gathering…But as far as I know myself, you can expect this post to be long ☺
It surpassed all our expectations...I remember Mirko (Jesus Freaks International - Germany) saying in the car on the way to the gathering (6 hours driving from the airport, by the way) : “ I have no idea of what this gathering will look like… we have no plans…I don’t even know exactly how many people there will be”…Inside of me I thought “Yes, that’s the way I like it ☺…I like to be surprised by God”…And so He did…Everyone loved it…

We felt like family…Actually that was something that Morten (SubChurch - Norway) shared with us in the end of the gathering…2 words He felt from God to share :
ONE…FAMILY…
It was all about that…Being ONE, united, staying connected, supporting and encouraging each other…and we definitely felt like FAMILY, it was all about relationships…someone quoted Pete Graig when some one asked him about the future of 24-7 Movement, which he answered “ I Hope we can still be friends”

And this gathering was also about that…it was not so much about “doing” things together, but it was more about “being” friends and family to each other ...
We were from 9 different European Nations (Norway, Denmark, England, Germany, Holland, Czech Republic, Switzerland, France and Portugal), and we had also one Brazilian girl, Paula, who lives in London and is married with Michael, one of the leaders of the church “Glorious Undead” in Camden Town…
It was really cool to meet her…it was the first Brazilian I met who speaks perfect English with no Brazilian accent at all ☺…We had a great time together (also during the 6 hours drive back to the airport ☺)…I will be with them in London soon as well…
It was really encouraging to hear about how Jesus Freaks had started, 15 years ago, with a handful of 14 year old kids, who believed that Jesus was the friend of the rejected ones and could do things everyone thought to be impossible…
It was also encouraging to hear what’s going on in other countries and how God is moving among the underground subcultures all over the world…

We heard from Morten really encouraging testimonies among the punks in Japan…there’s already a girl from “Subchurch” there and another couple on their way to disciple this punk youth who are thirsty and hunger for more of Jesus…
All this started with a short trip of a group of young people from “Subchurch” to Japan…one day a girl decided to go alone to a cloth store where 2 punk girls worked and they started to speak…they pulled out a T-shirt with something written in English so the Norwegian girl could translate for them…amazingly that T-shirt had something written about Jesus, and against drugs (I don’t remember exactly what)…as the girl translated, the Japanese girls asked “Who’s Jesus? A Rock star?” (this is not a joke)…so the girl end up speaking about Jesus and about “Subchurch”… after that all the rest of the group was invited to hang out with all the punks from that area… in the end Morten felt to ask them if he could pray for all of them which they accepted… they were already asking if they could have a “Subchurch” there … I guess that Norwegian group of young people must have impacted them profoundly…and I guess that whole experience was impacting for the Norwegian group as well…after this trip they went back to Norway and one of those kids sent an e.mail saying that till that day, his life meant nothing, but now he feels totally different and with a mean in life…
The girl that had the meeting at the cloth store is the one who went back there to eventually start a community centered around Christ among those punks…
Amazing isn’t it ?!!! This is just a bit of what God is doing and what He wants to do among the Underground Subcultures all over the world…
Hajo and Rebecca (Jesus Freaks International - Germany) also got impacted in Istanbul , where they found a whole underground movement…
We hardly think about Underground movements in those countries ( speaking for myself), but truth is that the Underground has no borders and no Nations…a punk is a punk, an hippie is an hippie, a goth is a goth…no matter what language they speak, no matter the Nation they grew up in, or they’re living in…
So, this gathering was not only about Europe, even though we were looking at it…but our eyes were raised up to see all the Nations… “till the farthest ends of the earth”…
We had a great time praying for each other and each Nation we were representing… I guess we all got extremely blessed and encouraged…

I’m glad I’m part of this Big Family !!!
And I hope to see them all soon…


GOD IS CALLING OUT THE FOOLISH...AND I WANT TO BE ONE OF THOSE :-)

God, gather Your army,
They are out there,
Everywhere…
They don’t use swords, nor poison or bombs,
They use the Truth with humble and simple hearts,
They use Love instead of hatred…
They are among thieves and murderers,
But they know You are with them,
They recognize their human weakness,
They are humble and broken…
Call them out
And gather them around You,
Just like you did
With those who gathered around David
In Adulam’s Cave…
They were the rejected ones,
The anarchists,
The rebels,
The despised,
The ignored,
The foolish,
The convicted…
But those are the ones
Who are thankful,
They would choose to die
Just to bring You a cup of the best fresh water…
They recognize Your Grace,
They know the meaning of Your forgiveness,
They see their sins in front of them,
And how You simply erased them…
They are sick of religion,
They are sick of religious people
Who think they need to tell them what to do…
They are not heard by them,
Because they don’t have the “religious school”…
Yet, they have the spirit to share
And the Truth to speak out…
Raise them up Jesus,
Give them a voice where You want them to be heard,
Even if they need to shout in the desert…
Tell them they are in Your hands,
They belong to Your Revolution
Which is bringing confusion
To all those who think they already got it…
This movement is coming,
To reform,
This movement is arising,
To transform,
You are crossing our paths
So we realize we’re not alone…
WE ARE NOT ALONE,
We are many,
United by Your Love and Spirit,
Not by selfish ambitions,
Nor man made programs…
“this is just the beginning”,
what it will be,
only You know,
we just trust and obey,
We keep following You…
The tower built on top of the mountain
It’ s been edified by You now…
Your Temple,
Spread like a Body with different parts
All over the world…