Dear Family, Partners and Friends,
March - April 2017
I hope this finds you doing well. I just returned from two back to back trips to Brazil, and by the time you read this, I will be heading back to finish up another series of meetings! We started in the State of Bahia and ended our events in the state of Brasilia, the seat of government in Brazil.
All I can say is wow! God is doing such amazing things, it has left me a bit speechless. Every service has been an open heaven for those in attendance. The power of God’s Word, His powerful presence at each altar call, was changing the lives of all who respond to Him in faith. These times in His presence lasted for over an hour as we decided to pray for each teen in attendance. I am still amazed at the goodness of God and His willingness to forgive and redeem all who would ask. I will admit that there was significant opposition as we drove 16 hours to our final destination. Only eight hours out of our trip the clutch in the truck decided to stop working. Stranded, with no cell service, we had to find some help. After much prayer, lots of water and a kind mechanic, thirty six hours later, we were back on schedule, undeterred. We knew that the events we had planned were going to be explosive!
After much prayer, lots of water and a kind mechanic, thirty six hours later, we were back on schedule, undeterred.
In one of our meetings a young girl, sitting on the fifth row was staring at me with great ferocity in her eyes. Arms folded in defiance, she hung onto every word I said never breaking eye contact with me. As the message progressed she began to nod o , which is to be expected by most teens. But as I made the altar call and encouraged the crowd to respond to Him in faith, God directed me to leave the stage and walk down to the now visibly angry girl. As I approached her she tightened her gaze, sat back in the chair and narrowed her big brown eyes at me. I put the mic down and through my interpreter asked her one question.
I placed my hand on her shoulder and asked “how is your relationship with Jesus?”
At that moment she broke, a deep cry of desperation came echoing out of her that sent shock wavs through the church and me. Her great pain, her great need was now being expressed. Suddenly, she fell forward in a broken heap as church members gathered around her in prayer. It was at that moment the presence of God descended in the church in a very noticeable demonstration of mercy and grace. People began to run forward, those who were already at the altar began to weep audibly. This precious girl was what I call the trigger, once she broke, under Gods direction, the rest followed. It was a glorious night!
On my first trip in March, I celebrated my 51st birthday. It was a Saturday night and happened to be the last night of a conference I was hosting. Since my Portuguese is very limited, my friends planned the surprise announcement right under my nose. As I approached the stage Saturday night, my interpreter David took the mic and directed me to sit in a chair on the front row. I thought they were showing the App promo and said, “why am I sitting here, I need to talk about it when it is over?” Suddenly the lights went out and a video began to play. It was an overview
of my last 450 meetings in Brazil, set to one of my favorite worship songs, “10,000 degrees of anointing.” The crowd cheered as I wept like a baby for 5 minutes. I was speech- less, the video was much more than a surprise, it was a testimony to Gods grace in my life as we have labored
for years in this nation. My composure was gone as they escorted me to the stage and presented me with a double layer, ornately decorated birthday cake. It was too much.
I stood there and sobbed for what seemed like eternity as the crowd sang to me. Someone asked if I minded being away from home on my birthday,
I responded quietly, “I am home!”
Needless to say, the service that night was incredible, Jesus showed himself powerful in our midst!
As with all we do around the world, none of it would be possible without your faithful support, both financially and spiritually. God has continued to open many more doors of opportunity in Brazil and around the world, thanks for helping me obey His call to go into all the world. I want to say a special thank you to Joyce Meyer Ministries for providing her incredible books to all the teens in our meetings free of charge. Thanks- CHAD
In each event the snake was not only requested, but was used as a very real spiritual object lesson.
The joy of seeing someone forgiven by Jesus is something that I never grow tired of.
