Brazil Summer Outreach 2006
An Outreach Team from Calvary Chapel Corvallis will be in Florianopolis, Brazil August 13-31 working with Claudio and Jessica Caze. The Caze’s planted a Calvary Chapel fellowship in Florianopolis in 2005 and the church is beginning to flourish as college students, local surfers and families are being drawn to the teaching of the Word of God.
In preparation for the outreach the team completed a NIKO training camp at Youth With A Mission, Salem, Oregon. Having learned how to be a support for each other team members Kristi Bare, Kathleen Yaeger, Carly Gray, Chelsea Foss, Scott Schindelar, Shawn Woods, Jorden Hinds, Daniel Udell, Jordan Smith, Joe Murray, and several YWAM leaders, hold Chad Weaver on their shoulders.
Scroll down for the most recent team update…
August 30
Chad offers this summary of the teams final Sunday service with the church in Florianopolis;
“We woke up and had a great time of prayer and worship. After that in the early afternoon we played Soccer and had a Big BBQ with most of the church. The weather was great! After the BBQ we setup for church. Church was really good.”
“I love hearing the worship songs we sing back home in another language and hearing those people sing with all there heart. There was over 50 people again this week. Joe taught again and Claudio talked as well. After the service they had the whole church pray for us. It was awesome.”
Jorden Hinds takes a last walk on the beach and lifts his hands in worship…
Today is the day the team will begin their journey home.
Some final observations from Chad Weaver, the teams faithful scribe;
“Today….Joe and I walked and watched the sunrise on the Atlantic and got some pictures. It was beautiful. We got back spent the day debriefing. We did affirmations and spoke into each others lives about what we saw in them. It was pretty powerful time and people were being blessed and encouraged. It was awesome to hear the team talk about each other. God has really brought us a long way and everyone cares so much for each other! Praise God!!! Thanks so much for your prayers!”
August 26
The word is that it was a hook Shawn had in his hat and a strand of Kathleen’s hair that produced this catch. Pretty resourceful, but through the Lord’s hand the team has had much greater success fishing for men.
The drama’s have been a great tool and many have come to the Lord through the performances with preaching and testimonies afterward.
One of the most remarkable things the team has experienced is how open Brazilians are to have conversations with about the Lord.
August 24
Wednesday was another good day!
The team started at the beach watching a mock surfing competition supporting the guys Claudio and Luis are discipling. There were several Pro Surfers there!
After lunch on Wednesday it was off to the Big City again and God led the team to a great spot to do outreach. There were people everywhere. Several came to the Lord!
Daniel shared the gospel message after the first performance. “God is doing amazing things through us and in us here in Florianopolis. Through sharing my testimony and talking with people I have learned so much about what it means to really follow Jesus.”
Everyone is being used by the Lord in new and sometimes challenging ways.
Carly says, “Today I got to share the gospel for the first time and it definitely stretched me out of my comfort zone. I also got to lead a man to Christ for the first time and I was so blessed. Praise the Lord! Not only is he working in this town but he is working in all our lives in amazing ways.”
Jordan Smith adds, “I’ve never been challenged to learn so much so fast as I have these last two weeks. I have learned to serve the Lord in ways I never thought I would.”
This picture speaks for itself… Chelsea and a new friend.
Chad calls this a “perspective shot”. Reaching out to surfers is a big part of the Florianopolis ministry.
August 22
Sunday night church was the first opportunity for the team to fellowship with the whole church body. About 50 people attended.
Monday was mostly a day off and God in His goodness provided time for the team to enjoy the beautiful beaches of Floripa.
There are a number of professional surfers in Florianopolis who Pastor Claudio disciples and teaches God’s word. Patricka and other surfers spent several hours on Monday teaching the team about surfing.
After taking part of the day off on Monday, the team left the island for their first trip to the mainland part of Florianopolis. There they ministered to 50 men in a rehab center.
The director said “We have had other Christian groups come before and most of the men leave before the end. This time every man stayed for two hours!” She was in tears and very greatful for the team.
Tuesday it was back to the Federal University and downtown area for outreach.
Here’s another report from Chad about their day of ministry…
“There is a Christian group of students meeting on the campus and Claudio teaches there every Tuesday. A lot of the team members have gotten close to the Christian college students because they have been our translators and always want to help us.”
“We did both dramas and reached out to different people walking by. Many heard the gospel proclaimed. Kristi and Chelsea each shared the gospel after the dramas. They both did awesome!”
“Chelsea said that was her greatest fear and it was awesome to see the Lord use her the way he did…even in spite of her fear of sharing in front of a lot of people. Kristi did an awesome job of keeping it simple and understandable. Everyone is learning a lot about sharing the gospel on a microphone and starting conversations.”
August 19
A Sunday afternoon update and team perspective from Chad Weaver…
“Friday we hopped in a bus and went to the main city…It is BIG! We met some cool people. The girls met 2 sisters that look almost alike. They speak English well and are believers! So God provided us two more translators! Saturday we did an outreach on the streets for several hours. The two girls found us again. It was amazing…God was moving. We did “Decision Time” and big crowds stopped to watch.
This one time after I played Jesus, a women came up to me and asked what I was offering when I was pleading with the crowd. I said I was offering Jesus and my life to Him… she was overjoyed and started crying. Chelsea was nearby and was able to talk with her for a long time. She really liked Chelsea…she even came by the hotel later that day. It is neat to observe the different team members. Everyone brings something different. When we fit all the pieces together it makes an awesome team!
Jordan Smith played Jesus and we did “Redeemer” and the crowd was really big again….There were so many people out and about.
It was cool to see the Lord move the past couple of days. I know those first few days when it reigned and we spent a lot of time praying He was preparing us and His people! Praise God!
We really having been learning about persisting in prayer. Please continue to pray for us to keep healthy and that we would always be bold. We all agreed that we felt the power of the Holy spirit last night on that street corner….he was moving and we weren’t scared to be there nor scared to be bold for Him! We are going to continue crying out for the people!
The weather here has been awesome the past 2 days….Church is in a couple of hours and we are praying that a lot of people will come as a result of the outreaches.”
August 17
Steady rain on Wenesday kept everyone indoors but Thursday was better and the team enjoyed a good day of outreach.
The drama team prays together before their first performance.
“Today we went to the State University and it was awesome….we did the drama and the people loved it. There were a lot of people there.” Chad
It is not hard to make friends quickly in Brazil; especially easy with a game of soccer.
August 15
The night before the team left for Brazil they spent the night at team member Carly Gray’s house in Portland, enjoying fellowship and practicing their drama’s.
Little rest, 4 airports, 1 adventurous busride through Sao Paulo, and 36 hours of traveling later the team arrived safely in Florianopolis. They still look pretty good, just not as perky as they did two days earlier.
Claudio and Jessica are joyful to have friends from Corvallis join them in Floripa!
Tuesday the team spent some time in personal evangelism at the University. The first of many opportunities they will have to share the gospel.
Luis is a rising leader in the church at Florianopolis and a man you fall immediately in love with. You will hear alot about him during the outreach and after the team comes home.
August 11
Praise the Lord for His faitfulness! All team members have their passports and visa stamps and will soon be on their way to Brazil.
Team member Chelsea Foss is the first to celebrate the arrival of team passports and Brazil visas!
