Almost every day we receive e-mails or messages on Facebook asking for more information about the eight-month training program: a Discipleship Training School (DTS) and a Children at Risk School (C@R) that we are planning for 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.
2016 sounds like a long way off, but in reality it will be upon us in just a few more months. We are offering this training program together with the local YWAM bases. It is for (young) people who want to dedicate their lives to God and who desire to know His heart for the lost and for children at risk. The whole program will be presented in two languages (Portuguese and English).
Investing in Rio de Janeiro
For us the program is an investment in the city of Rio and we hope that through our students, many children at risk from the streets, slums and the red light district will be reached with the love of God and practical assistance.
At the end of October we plan to go there for a couple of weeks for some staff training. From our house in Belo Horizonte, it’s “only” a seven-hour drive. During this visit, we also hope to be able to rent an apartment for us, close to the church in the center of Rio where the students will be staying. I am already searching the internet, but haven’t found anything yet… In the beginning of January we hope to move there for eight months. We are very excited about this!
Preparations for the Olympic Games
The upcoming Olympics are getting more and more attention in Brazilian newspapers, like: “The Olympic village is far from ready; the main bay for water sports is still very polluted; many slums are still unsafe, etc.” But there is also good news: many churches in Rio and around the country are preparing themselves for outreach during the Olympics. During the 2014 World Cup, lots of churches and young people really enjoyed the intense weeks of evangelism and outreach. Individuals and groups are already contacting us, wanting to be part of this exciting event.
Many practical opportunities in the “Marvelous City”
We are very happy with the church building that was offered to us for the eight-month training program. We only need to adapt some toilets and showers. The rooms normally used for Sunday school classes will be transformed into student dorms. The nice thing about living in the center of Rio is that the teachings from morning classes can be put into practice in the afternoons—doing outreach in the slums, working with children and teenagers, going to the red light district to have times of intercession and to reach out to those trapped in sexual exploitation. And of course, during the Olympics, the students will spend even more time in all kinds of strategic activities, in what the people themselves call the “Cidade Maravilhoso”: The Marvelous City.
Johan and I really think that Rio is the most beautiful city in the world, but that is based only on the cities we have visited to date. So it’s a little bit subjective. :)
What is our goal in all of this?
We hope that our students will learn how to the hear the voice of the Lord, to know His will for their lives, and to share His love with the people around them and especially with children in need--children who would never be able to achieve the purpose God has for their lives without the help of God’s loving people.
Some young people who apply for the eight-month program will come for a gap year, while others plan to stay on staff for a longer period in Rio, at another YWAM base in Brazil or somewhere else in the world. There are more than 12,000 YWAM bases around the world, so there are plenty of choices and opportunities!
Hurry with your application
We still have room available, so if you want to apply or know some young people who would love to come, it is still possible. However, time is getting short, as the visa process itself can take several months to finalize. Please take a look at the website: http://jlukasse.wix.com/ywam-rio-2016 or email Johan: johan@jocum.org.br
Belém
From now until our move to Rio, we will stay busy teaching and giving seminars about children at risk in some other cities. A church in Belém, a city in northern Brazil in the Amazon region, invited us to speak at a missions conference. This is surprising, because we don´t know anybody there. Some people from that church had read our book “A Cry from the Streets” and decided we should be the speakers at their next missions conference. Isn’t that wonderful?
Phuket -Thailand
After that conference we will be going to Phuket in Thailand, where a Dutch-Brazilian family, ex-staff from our base in Belo Horizonte, is starting a ministry for children and adolescents in need. It is a city where many young girls are being forced into sexual exploitation. We are going to give a seminar for people in the local churches and also hope to explore the possibility of running a full three-month C@R school there in the near future to train more workers.
Kurdistan
On the way back to Brazil, we plan to stop in Kurdistan where we have been invited to give another seminar for refugees from Iraq. Just like last time, we plan to train a group of Christian refugees, in partnership with local churches. We aim to give them tools to help their own traumatized children as well as to reach out to the many children in the “child safe areas” run by UNICEF and Christian NGOs in and near refugee camps.
Considering all the conflicts and fighting in that region, we would like to ask you to pray for peace and protection there. Many of the refugees have been uprooted more than once. They had to leave everything behind and don’t know if they will ever be able to go back. They need to rebuild their lives from scratch. During the day, they are afraid for the safety of their families, sad about the possessions they lost during their escape, and even worse, terrified about the situation of friends and family they lost contact with. During the night, they have recurring nightmares. They need peace, love and hope. Would you please join us in praying for them?
Our own offspring
Our kids are doing fine. Davi is totally used to his Uri stoma, and his kidney function continues stable at about 50%. Dilma loves her beautiful new little apartment. We see Pieter, Melissa and their kids almost every day on WhatsApp J. In July we went to stay for a week with our daughter Johanneke. She and Jonathan and their three little girls are really enjoying their work at the YWAM base in the small city of Pira in the south of Brazil, about 11 hours’ drive from Belo Horizonte. It´s wonderful to see how they enjoy their new ministries, but also a bit difficult for us, since they are no longer our neighbors as they were before… Also Michele, Romeu and their two kids, who normally live in our downstairs apartment, aren´t at home right now. They are in Indonesia, on outreach for their DTS. So it is very quiet here at home! Luckily they are coming back at the end of August. We are very eager to hear all their stories.
Getting old? Who? Us? Of course not!
Funny fact: For quite some time now, when we are teaching, we look at the students and think, “Hmm, they are the ages of our own kids!” When they ask us how long we have been in Brazil (since 1984), this is usually longer than they have been alive--most of our staff and students were born in the nineties! J
But currently we see that most students are even younger than our kids. Does that mean we are getting old? Not yet! One of the students for the eight-month program in Rio next year is the grandchild of my sister. In Dutch she would call us old-uncle and -auntie. In Portuguese, she would call us grand-uncle and –auntie; in English it would be great-uncle and –aunt. The Portuguese and English sound a little better somehow! J
Thankful
We are so thankful for our good health and the ability to do many different things. God is so good to us! We are also grateful for our friends and family who stand with us and support us in many different ways. Together we are able to continue this work, so that many children in need are being reached by the love of our Heavenly Father.
We wish you all God’s richest blessings!
Johan and Jeannette Lukasse
Prayer points:
- Pray for the students who are preparing to participate in the program in Rio de Janeiro--especially for the foreign students to get their visas in time. Praise God for the church building that we are allowed to use for this program.
- Pray for the seminars we are planning for Belém, Phuket and Kurdistan. For safe travels and for the local people who will receive the training, that they´ll be a great blessing as they reach out to the children in need. Thank the Lord for all the faithful workers in those places.
- Pray for the refugees from Syria and Iraq--that they will experience God’s love for them. Thank God for the many local churches that are hosting hundreds of families.
