Sunday, Sunday, Sunday (or, how to get your mind in proper frame to serve God)

So, outside of watching a daring rescue by the Rio lifeguards this afternoon, God once again helped place our role in His world into perspective. A normal part of our routine is that we spend Sunday morning in worship with the members of the local church (igrejia) before we come and open the clinic. This time allows us to learn some of the names and faces of who will be working beside us over the next few days. The church is relatively new within the favela and seems to have a small membership, but there is no doubt that the Holy Spirit is moving amongst its members in ways that leave us wondering why it seems to be missing at home.

The church’s pastor gave us an inspiring message based on Acts 8:4-8 and how God is using our time in Rio not only to aid the ill, but to help set the scene for Him to heal the souls of those that will allow Him to enter their hearts. Even though the pastor was speaking in Portuguese, it was evident that he was feeling the presence of the Spirit and his words (on later translation) provided us with a jolt of enthusiasm for our tasks here.

Philip in Samaria

4Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ[a]there. 6When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7With shrieks, evil[b] spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed. 8So there was great joy in that city.

As favela churches go, our site this year is very nice. There are no issues with the building or its location. We have been assured that the usual safety issues with the gangs and such are not a problem at this site and that we will be able to operate in an unmolested environment. While physical challenges with buildings and locations are not going to deter us from our work, it is certainly nice to know that we won’t have to deal with any major problems like open sewage lines in front of the building or having to walk half a mile uphill to set up the children’s area. Everyone will be working in close proximity to one another and we have already worked through what few issues we expect to encounter this early.

We did have one unexpected piece of news today. Wes Dubose, our optometrist, was planning on arriving Monday morning due to work issues that prevented his flying in sooner, but weather in Atlanta is delaying him another day. How does weather push someone back an entire day? It’s easy; there aren’t that many flight from the U.S. to Rio on any given day. So, we will adjust as needed and our eye team will cope with its missing leader for a day and take the opportunity to thank God for the additional challenge. Pray that God will lend His hand of kindness to Wes and allow him to travel unimpeded the rest of the way to Rio.

So, looking forward to the week ahead, we expect to work very hard and love, laugh, and cry together as we grow closer to one another and the Lord who we are serving while in Rio.

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