My last days in Brazil

Right now, I'm sitting in a comfortable lazy chair in the Dallas/ Fort-Worth Airport not know what to think. I have so many emotions going through my mind. I just left a place where there are many people that I have come to love and may not see them again on this earth. On the other hand, all of my family is waiting for me at the airport in Minneapolis. Plus, my girlfriend Becky is coming next Wednesday! There is so much going on in between the ears! I cannot give a reflection on the entire trip yet. That will take a bit of thought and time. What I can do is tell you about this past weekend. There were so many goodbyes. I hate them. Too many tears... I'll tell you about some highlights from last weekend.

On Friday the 29th, we hosted about 15 girls at Tom and Penny's house for a sleep over. At first I was thinking, "Get me out of here". Way to much noise. But Penny asked me if I was willing to do an interview in front of the girls about Biblical womanhood and manhood. I love the subject so I immediately said yes. Just before I was about go downstairs I was talking to Becky on Skype. I had the idea of Becky being involved in the interview as well over Skype for a woman's perspective. I went downstairs, called Becky up and Penny interview her on her faith, her relationship with me and advice she had for the girls. I did the same thing from my perspective. It was an amazing experience. I feel so blessed to be able to give that to the young girls in the church. It was an amazing bonding experience for Becky and I as well. We really want to do that again.

On Sunday, I had the amazing opportunity to preach for the first time to the church I have been attending during my stay in Brazil. I chose to speak about the blind beggar from John 9. It is my favorite chapter in the whole Bible. I wonder how many pastors preached their first sermon through an interpreter. It is really interesting. I pray that the message that God wanted came through the translating. After I was finished, one of the deacons and his wife came up and washed my feet. I have never felt so humbled. I felt so undeserving of such a service. I will always remember that gift Paulo and Nubia! There was many tears after the service as I said goodbye to the congregation for the last time. I truly love every person in that church. I am overwhelmed with the love that they have shown me. I will miss them so much!

Finally, yesterday we made our way to the airport to send me off. I rode with Tom and Penny and their son's family came to send me off as well. They have been such an amazing blessing! Their names are Shane and Erin Latham. They are missionaries in Gravatia as well and are in need of support! Pray for them. They are doing so many wonderful things for the Lord. I'm getting a little of topic. Sorry. We ate at the airport and relaxed for a while and slowly but surely made our way down to the gate. My great friend Martin arrived just before I was to leave. It was such a blessing to meet him and get to know him. I'm so glad he came. 

A few thoughts:

-It's crazy being able to understand everyone's conversations going on around me. 

-I never knew what it was like for the security guard in the airport to say "Welcome home". Amazing phrase! Made my day so far!

-I don't know how I'm going to react to getting back in with American culture. Please pray for my transition.

-Please pray for my heart. My desire is to stay committed to the Lord as I plug back in to daily life in America. I have been taught so much and my heart for the Lord has grown fonder and fonder for Him and His glory. I still want more. Please pray for growth. 

The girls from the church listening to my beautiful girlfriend Becky speak about womanhood.

My great friend Gabriel. He was a great help in basketball. Amazing guy!

Paulo and Nubia washing my feet after I preached.

My great friend Samuel. He told me and showed me everything I needed to see and know about Brazilian culture. He was such a great blessing!

From left to right: Gabe, Martin, Me, Penny, Tom, Camilla, Shane, Erin. This is in the airport right before I left. 

Update from Brazil

I'm going to try and post again to sum up everything that happened during my trip but I need to share a little update on some answered prayer. In my last post, I asked for some financial help to buy some clothes for a family that is in the church I attend here in Gravatai. Very soon afterwards, my prayers were answered with just the right amount of money to supply this family with a haircut, clothes and a load of groceries. Praise God for what He has done! 
I'll tell you a little bit about their haircuts. During my stay here, I've needed a few haircuts. So the place that I chose was a salon in Wal-mart. I ended up meeting the owner of the salon due to my lack of language skills. She was the only staff member that could speak English. We ended up talking for a really long time at the store and I found out she had just moved back to Brazil from South Carolina. She gave me her card and invited me back before I departed Brazil. When I realized that the boys needed haircuts, I knew where I would be going! Our first stop in our big day of shopping was in the hair salon. They got their haircuts done pretty quick. I brought them up to the counter to pay, and the employee told me, "No pay". What?! That was so cool to receive that kind of generosity from people that I barely know! With the money that we saved we were able to buy socks. Little did I know that they had been sharing socks with their mom for the entire winter without having any of their own. After the haircut we headed over to McDonald's for an ice cream treat.  I don't know how often they get to go to McDonald's because in Brazil, McDonald's is where you go if you HAVE money. A Big Mac meal runs you about 15 dollars. So I'm sure that was fun for them :) After the treat we went shopping and I was able to get them two nice shirts for church, and a pair of new shorts. That may not seem like a lot but Brazil is very expensive. It is unbelievable. A pair of Nike running shoes costs about $300! I had some extra money so I decided to head to the grocery store and fill their refridgerator. It was so awesome to see Nelci's (the mom) face when I saw her. She had tears of joy! God's grace is so humbling! It's crazy how He uses undeserving sinners like us to carry out His purposes. What an amazing privilege to be able to serve God! 
It was an amazing day! One of the many highlights of my stay in Brazil! I have already started my "farewell tour". It has been really tough saying goodbye to people that I have grown to love for the last time. Lord-willing I will see them again on this earth. I have so many other thoughts in my mind about Brazil, missions and God I could type forever! I will try to get a few more of these written before I leave! 


Oh! One last update! I will be preaching on Sunday for the first time in my life! It will be on my favorite chapter of the Bible; John 9. Please pray for God to speak through me to the thirsty souls of whoever comes to hear. Thanks!

Outside Wal-Mart before haircuts. Gabriel on the left, Mateus on the right.

Fitting rooms

McDonald's

The family outside their house. They look mad, but it is customary to not smile in pictures in Brazil. They're happy I promise!

Missions trip within a missions trip. Oct 16th

My time is running out in Brazil.  I now feel so comfortable here that it doesn't seem like I will be leaving in three weeks. I have fallen in love with the people. It will be one of the toughest times of my life to say good-bye. I am currently on my way back from Argentina where I accompanied other Baptist church in Porto Alegre on a mini missions trip. This weekend has been the highlight of my stay here for sure. I'll tell you a bit about it :) 

I didn't really have an idea about how it would go. All I knew was that I was going to be teaching basketball to some little kids. Little did I know was that there was much more God had for me and the team that I was with. On Saturday, I got to meet everyone on the team that came. There was around 40 people in all. We spend the early morning inviting kids and their parents to an afternoon of fun in the park. The kids had many little games for them to play and the parents could receive free hair-cuts, manicures  pedicures, and free legal advice from a lawyer. The turnout was amazing! I'm not sure how many kids were there but it must have been around 100. We shuffled the kids to each activity station, let them play the game, and for the last five minutes, we shared part of the salvation story with them through the salvation bracelets we gave them at the beginning. It was a great experience to share the gospel to the little ones. 

After the game day, we went to a praise rally in the park where some of the team members lead worship music and we listened to a pastor share the gospel again. Many people attended. I'm not totally sure what was said. Even with my interpreter friends helping me. But from what I know, it was a great message of salvation. After the message, a famous soccer player named Lucio shared his testimony and gave out a ton of soccer memorabilia that was used on World Cup games and professional league soccer in Brazil. I was lucky enough to catch a soccer ball that was used in an Internacional (Brazilian pro team) game! Crazy! God blessed me with enough height to catch it over the crowd :) 

Since I don't speak Portuguese, I never know what our schedule is. So I have to expect the unexpected. This morning, we had a choice of many different ministries. The choices were: helping with clothing donations, painting, yardwork, soccer and going to a prison. As soon as I heard about the prison, I knew that was where I needed to be. God led a new freind of mine named Martin to come with me to interpret and translate for me. I didn't know what to expect, but it turned into the most powerful evangelism I have ever been a part of. I looked through a dollar sized crack in a door and told prison inmates about true freedom in Christ. I looked in there eyes and saw grown men with hearts that longed for hope. I pray that God gave them hope through the words that He gave me. One group of inmates asked if I would read Romans to them in English after I shared. I have there names somewhere and I will try to get those on the blog soon so you can pray for them. I also had the opportunity to pray with a lady named Debra. She is the only Christian that works at the prison. She is responsible for bringing us there. I prayed for strength and comfort for her. She is in a really tough position to be a light in her workplace. Just imagine! 

I expected to look at the inmates with pity something similar to that. To my surprise, by the grace of God, I saw them no different than I was before God opened my eyes to his beauty. They are created in God's image and in need of a savior! Praise God for sending His Son to humble broken sinners!

God also sent many people on the trip with me that speak fluent English. It was great making some good friends and hearing some of their testimonies. I pray that I will see them again someday. In the United States, Brazil, or in Heaven. I have been so encouraged my them and how they have found Jesus to be the treasure of their hearts. 

On a different note concerning my health. One or two times a day, I have been having a difficult time breathing. It feels kind of like I am breathing through a straw or there is a weight on my chest. I went in to the doctor, they did a bunch of tests and they couldn't find a thing wrong. They said maybe allergies or the pollution in the city ( there is so much pollution in the air!). If you could pray for healing, I would love for this little bug to fly away! 

And last but not least, God has placed on my heart to help a family in my city of Gravatai. There is a single mother named Nelci' and two sons named Mateus and Gabriel. They go to Tom and Penny's church. They are poor beyond belief. They live in a little shack with dirt floor. They barely get by each month. Both of the boys are in need of some summer clothes and new shoes. If you feel led to help someone, I know that this family is in need of it. Personally, I do not have the funds to help them. I wish I could just pick them up and take them shopping but unfortunately I cannot. If you would like to help, email me at erik.aleckson@gmail.com. Thank you!

The painting that the team created in front of the church in Argentina.

Me in front of the prison after we visited.

Kids playing basketball at Kid's Day on Saturday.

All the kids that showed up.

Mountains of clothes that the church donated to the community.

The 24th of September

Hey! This is getting kind of crazy with all these blog posts that I'm pumping out huh?! 


I just want to give a quick update on the Argentina missions trip that I had talked about in the last post. It has already been taken care of! I didn't know that I had been given a large amount of money two weeks ago! Praise God! Crazy how God works things sometimes. So I will be going to Argentina on the 15th of October for 4 days I believe to teach basketball and to help with evangelism activities. 
Another exciting item... I attended a youth praise rally tonight at a neighboring Baptist church about 40 minutes away from me. I randomly ran into an American missionary family who have been in Brazil for 10 years. We got to talking for a while about what we are up to in Brazil and out of nowhere, they asked if I would like to preach one Sunday before I leave Brazil! Whoa! I couldn't do anything but say yes! I'll be preaching for two different services on a Sunday sometime in this next coming month. I would really appreciate prayer for this huge and exciting challenge! I pray that God's light will shine through me to their congregation. I will keep you updated! 

PS It's getting warmer in Brazil! Should be in the 80s or higher until I leave! Sorry MN!
Go Vikes!

Three of my favorites from the wrestling ministry. This was at our tournament at our church today.

The youth praise rally. Can you spot me?

Finally Back! September 22nd

Greetings from Brazil! It sure has been a long time since I've written one of these things! I apologize for the laziness. I sure have been busy though! I'll try to let you in on as much as I can! This has sure been an adventure so far! Many, many ups and downs. As a Christian in America, most of us never really think about not being able to communicate and what that does to your spiritual health. It can get really tough! I have made a huge attempt to listen to at least one sermon a day from a solid pastor. Usually I listen to one while I run and then another for my devotions. It has really helped my Bible study. Listening to Paul Washer, Mark Driscoll and John Piper have ignited my heart with a thirst for the Bible unlike any other time in my life. I had to make the choice to either wallow in despare because there is limited chance to learn spripture and thus losng my grip on my joy for God, or wash myself in sound teaching and Biblical truth. It still has been a struggle though. Busyness can deter anyone from drinking living water. Meditating on maybe just one Biblical truth or a Bible verse throughout the day has helped me so much.

I'll let you in on a few of the hightlights of the past month.

I went to the park in nearby Porto Alegre to play some basketball. I didn't know what to expect but was surprised by a couple of fellows that spoke English! We eventually got a game of 5-on-5 going. It was really fun to play ball again. One of the guys I met is not a Christian for sure and I really hope to share the gospel with him next time I see him Lord-willing!

I had the pleasure of meeting some church member's son one evening at their house named Samuel. He speaks fluent English and was really excited to talk with me supposedly. We hit it off pretty much from the start. The day after he took me to my first pro soccer game! We went to watch Internacional. There are two pro teams in Porto Alegre. The rivalry is much like Cubs-White Sox or Auburn-Alabama in football. One team is Internacional and the other is Gremio. And everyone in the surrounding cities is a die-hard fan of one of them. I am still not sure which team I like. Many people have tried bribing me in a certain direction but neither has succeeded yet. Either way, it was really fun to spend time with Samuel  and watch a pretty exciting game (4 goals in the first 15 minutes!)

Basketball coaching is going really well. I have been blessed with a helper named Gabriel who translates and helps a lot with coaching. Hopefully he will take over full coaching responsibilities when I leave. Three weeks ago I had the opportunity to share the gospel with them. I wrote it out, had it translated, and then Gabriel read it to the team. I pray that seeds were planted. There were about 20 kids there. Just this last Saturday, we had our first official game. We didn't have anyone to play this time so we played against ourselves. It was still really fun. I reffed and coached at the same time while Tom ran the scoreboard. After the game, we had the team over to his house for a soccer game. Including the church kids, 30 people showed up. After the game, I was able to share my testimony to all of them. Again, I pray that seeds were planted or watered. This nation needs Godly men and women. I have been told that 80% of married men cheat on their wives. And the wives tolerate it. It has turned into part of the culture. Blows me away!

I recently started teaching English to a man named Junior. Yes, that's his real name! He is studying to be a flight attendent and would like to be a more desirable applicant when he starts applying for jobs. He is a Christian guy and we have had some good conversation on what we believe. We can't go too in depth because of the limitations on communication but nevertheless they have been encouraging! We study three days a week for an hour and a half each time. He is steadily getting better and better. I can't wait to see how much he has improved by the time I leave!

Many of you know I like to run for exercise. Recently I had been discouraged on the lack of evangelism I was doing. So I brainstormed a bit and had an idea. While on my runs, I could pass out gospel tracts to the numerous people I see on the road or at bus stops. I usually try to pass out around 20 before I stop running. Sometimes the miles really rack up! Please pray for those people that recieve them and for me to stay fired up to run!

This Sunday Lord-willing I will be singing a special number at church. How Deep the Father's Love. I am taking a big step of faith by doing this! I haven't performed any song in front of anything but my steering wheel so I suppose I'll be nervous! Please pray for that!

One last thing! I was approached my Tom's son Shane about going on a missions trip to the slums of Argentina in 3 weeks to teach basketball and help share Christ with the neighboring Argentinians for a week. I immediatly said that I was on board for the trip. But there was a catch. It costs about $90.00 for me to go along to cover expenses. Please pray that I can raise the money. If it isn't in God's plan, I'm alright. I can still fill my time with other things. But boy! That would be a great experience!

That is all for tonight! I'll try to keep up with this a little better! It has been tough with the amount of time in the day! 

A couple more prayer requests:

-Please pray for my girlfriend Becky. She has been nothing but supportive, understanding and patient with me throughout these first few months. It gets tough sometimes for her though. Pray that she, as Hebrews 12:1-2 says, "...let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith..."

-Pray for my family also. They are such a great encouragement to me with how faithful they are to the Lord and to me.

PS Sorry about any words that aren't spelled correctly. The spell check won't work for me!

Laurissa, Andressa, Ezeikial and I about to eat the biggest hotdog ever! There are 3 hotdogs and 3 fried eggs in each of those buns. Never has my stomach hurt so bad! Delicious! 

Part of my basketball team after our game.

The big group that showed up to play soccer at Tom's house after our basketball game! (This is the group that I shared my testimony to.)

You can see Ezekiel and Andressa on the right. The others are Ezekials's parents and grandparents. Great family!

My first ride on a horse comes in Brazil!

I'm dressed up in native Brazilian gear about to take a bite out of a sugarcane.

Eziekial's extended family. I took a day and hung out with them.

I float in the parade in Gravatai. It was the states independence day last Tuesday. The state independence day is much bigger for them then the national independence day.

Tom's son Shane (right) and his son Gabriel (left) playing Xbox Kinect at Gabriel's birthday party.

August 27th, 2011

August 27^th, 2011

It sure has been a while since I have been blogging! I had a very busy week on vacation in the mountains in a city called Gramado. Supposedly the biggest tourist town in Brazil. I pretty much hung out in the time share and video chatted with family and Becky J. It was so nice to see their faces and hear their voices! We got back Thursday night. It was a great trip! Back to the grind!

I had my second basketball practice on Friday. This time I had hoops on the backboards so that made a bit easier to run a practice. An 18 year old Gabriel and his girlfriend came this time. He’s 6’5’’ and plays a lot of basketball so it was really nice to have a helper there to interpret and coach a little. I had 13 kids come to practice again. Most of them were there for the first time so I had to explain the defensive stance and defensive slide again. They learned how to pass correctly, do a proper lay-up, and the correct shooting form. Rome wasn’t built in a day! We have a game next Saturday! That will for sure be an adventure. They don’t even know the rules yet. So I told them to go home and look up the rules on the internet because I don’t have time to explain them J It is so fun to be in the gym! Basketball is basketball no matter where you are in the world!

Today (Saturday), I got to experience my first wrestling tournament at the church. 80 kids showed up from the various schools we travel to. It was so interesting. My job duty was to control the scoreboard. So I was pushing buttons for four hours. Many parents showed up. So the church members took advantage of the opportunity and went out and talked with them about the church and about Christ. One parent is for sure coming to church tomorrow morning. Praise God!

For those of you who are praying for me, please pray for my heart to keep looking to God not only as Savior and Lord, but as my Treasure. Encouragement from other people is slim a majority of the time since there are so few people to have an in depth conversation with. I can’t minister to others with the message of Christ without a heart that treasures Him and is committed to staying free from sin. When sin creeps in, I do not find joy and contentment in my salvation. Sin is always caused by us not treasuring Christ. The root of every sin is that. I pray that God will give me that heart that gives Him authentic heartfelt worship! 

The only picture that would load!! Tom, Penny and I at a Fondu restaurante in Gremado

Monday August 22, 2011

I listened to a sermon about six months ago. I can't really remember what the main point of the sermon was or what text John MacArthur was using but the key thing I remember was that the Gospel needs to be preached daily. In every sermon the Gospel needs to be made clear. It was hearing and confessing with our lips that Jesus is Lord that saved us from our doom. In addition to hearing the Gospel from the pulpit, we need to preach it to ourselves daily, even hourly. I need to see God's majestic love and authority each and every second to keep myself from sin. So what it is the Gospel or Good News that I speak of that saves us? I'll do my best to explain it. What I am about to write is not exhaustive by any means. The Gospel has an
infinite amount of discoveries that come to light each day. Infinite amounts of eternal joy. In the words of C.S. Lewis "Stop settling for mud pies in the slums when a holiday in the Alps is offered in allegiance to Jesus."
The world we live in wasn't always like this. It was perfect and without sin. Adam and Eve lived in a perfect world. But Adam let his guard down and Eve lacked discernment and they messed up and ate the forbidden fruit. And that was the first sin. From that sin, everything changed in the human race. Everyone after that comes in the world "hostile to God", "an enmity with God", we want to set the terms on how we get God. And the proof is all around us. The world we live in so evil! Jeremiah 14:7 says, " Although our iniquities testify against us, O Lord, act for your name's sake! Truly our apostasies have been many, We have sinned
against you!", Isaiah 59:2-3 says, "But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear. For your hands defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken falsehood, Your tongue mutters wickedness." Romans 3:23 says, "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." You see we are all destined for hell if God doesn't step in somehow. You may say that you are a good person and you donate money to the poor, or volunteer at a school or something like that. But be careful who you are comparing your goodness to. Don't compare yourself with other sinners. Compare yourself the perfect God. Righteousness is what He demands. We fall way short if that's the case and we are no longer "good" people. We are filthy. Isaiah 64:6 says, "For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away."This filthy garment the author rights about is a menstrual period cloth. You see our sin condemns us before a righteous God. We cannot satisfy God's righteous requirements. A divine rescue is necessary! We need some kind of Savior because we are destined for eternal torment in hell due to our sin. Romans 6:23 says" For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Since our sins deserve death, someone needs to die or atone for that sin. That's where Jesus Christ comes in the picture. God treated Christ as if He were a sinner, as if He had committed every sin that every believer had ever sinned, even though He wasn't a sinner, in order to treat us as though we had never committed a sin and appear before God as sinless and lived a
perfect life. 1 Peter 2:24 says, " and He Himself bore or sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed." And 1 Peter 3:18 says, "For Christ also for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit."By realizing that we are sinful and our sins are taken away IF we believe that deep in our hearts, God's infinite beauty and grace should pour into our hearts. That death on the cross frees us from the captivity for the sin that held us down and sentenced us to death! God's infinite beauty and love makes anything that is not of him gross and unattractive (drunkenness, sexual immorality, greed, lust, pride, dirty talk). Those kinds of things are binding us down anymore. We are no longer a slave to that! We are now a slave of Christ! He purchased believers on the cross! In response to everything above, we need to repent and believe in Him. That is a requirement! Mark 1:15 says, "The gospel of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel!" Turn from your sinful ways! Do not live to please others or the culture you live in! Live to please God. Remember,He's the one who PURCHASED you! Please your Master, not the culture and what it says is ok. God's Word is the only ultimate truth! For God so loved the world; that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not parish, but have eternal life. John 3:16. We give our lives to God because He sent His Son to give His life up for us. Don't deny Him, nothing on this earth is
worth compromising His eternal riches. I'm not writing this to scare anyone into Heaven, but the truth needs to be heard of the reality of what the consequences of sin are. We need to weigh our options. There is no middle ground. Does eternity in torment or eternity in heaven being full of joy in God appear more attractive? Do not believe to just escape hell and pain though. That brings God no glory. And His glory and worship of Him is why we live and why we were created. We want to go to heaven because God is there. God is what makes Heaven so good! Not eternal life, or seeing dead family members, or escaping hell. God is in Heaven and being with Him and glorifying Him, and magnifying Him should be our aim.  Our eternal joy depends on that! I'll be writing more on this during the next few weeks. There is so much more to say of God and His glory! I pray that God's love and mercy towards us causes your eyes to be opened to more eternal and glorious things. Rather than anything money can buy. Do not worship yourself by the way that you live. Worship God. Trust in Him at all times people. God is a refuge for us.

I pray that I got this right. Be in prayer for yourself for God to open you eyes just like He did in John 9!

"There is a common, worldly kind of Christianity today, which many have, and think they have enough-
a cheap Christianity which offends nobody and requires no sacrifice- which costs nothing and is
worth nothing." -J.C. Ryle



Me putting up brand new rims at our gym!