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!



Sunday August 21, 2011

Sunday August 21, 2011

I want to apologize for being such a slouch and not posting for a few days. There simply has not been enough time! I'll fill you in a little on the main events that have transpired since Friday.

Friday was by far the most memorable day thus far. There was a family member of mine that was having some health problems in Minnesota. And it was really tough for me to be sitting in Brazil while family is hurting. It made me really homesick. I came down to the kitchen for breakfast and Penny and their maid were waiting for me. Right as I walked in she says, "We're going to pray for your family member right now if that's ok". So they both prayed in Portuguese. It brought me to tears I was so moved by the Godly love that was shown to me and my family member. That was by far the highlight of my trip so far! Friday was also the
that an opportunity to teach English came about. I have about four hours of free time during the late morning and early afternoon and I thought that time could be used better and more for God's glory. So now I'll be teaching at least 4 people every week how to converse in English. Please pray for wisdom and opportunities to share my faith. I haven't ever taught  English. So this will be a new experience for sure! Friday was my first day of basketball practice as well! I wrote out an introduction to myself in Portuguese for the kids and I read it to them when they all arrived. I told them my background in basketball and coaching.I also told them that above all these things, I am a Christian and my prayer is that you come to know the glorious savior Jesus Christ. I don't think many of the kids know much about the Gospel. So in the one a week I have for practice, I need to install the Gospel with the power of God to these kids. I am so excited! Practice was very interesting as well. Only two of the thirteen that came had ever played basketball. So this is going to be about the basics. Rules and fundamentals are going to be the only things we will basically do. AND I have to make that fun as well. Phew! It's also a challenge to do this with an interpreter. Think about trying to teach or coach through a medium. Tough to say the least. It seemed as though the kids had fun though. Most of them said they would be back next week. I'm so excited! After practice I came home and ate dinner and hoped on the computer for a cyber date with my girlfriend :) While attempting to do that, I made a monumental discovery! Gmail has a voice chat. Its kind of like Skype with no video. So we had the opportunity to hear each other's voices. About brought me to tears and it surely did to Becky. So now anyone that wants to talk with me online can just add me. My email is erik.aleckson@gmail.com. I'd love to talk.

Of all the times in my life that I have thirsted for the Word of God. There has never been a time that I have thirsted more. I am making so many new discoveries each day in my reading! Maybe it's because of my lack of communication with the people or my looming loneliness. But many times people try to figure things out on there own when times get tough or sticky. I have found that the opposite, seeking God through his Word, prayer, and Biblical preaching from a pastor and myself have proved to be so much more full of joy and contentment. Seeing the richness and fullness of God in His creation blows me away. There is no other place to be if I desire to minister to anyone. My heart needs to be seeking to magnify Him, to glorify Him, and to honor Him in my daily reading, my conversations, my theology, and my thoughts. After that, just let the chips fall where they will in the words of John Piper. I can't be a second-hander who seeks to please men. I need to focus on what pleases God.

Yesterday was pretty much a day off. In the morning, the assistant pastor, Pastor Edilson and I set up a trampoline at a school in Gravatai for an event they were having. We then went to wrestling practice where I was yet again pummeled during the demonstrations thatTom does. I am getting better at teaching the moves though. In no way am I good at it yet though. After practice we came home and pretty much called it a day. At night, Becky and I had Bible study over Gmail chat again. Romans is such a deep and glorious book. If you want to know how you were saved. Read it. Study it. Listen to sermons on it. John Piper preached over 250 sermons on Romans. Desiringgod.org has every single one. Becky and I are only through the first one, but oh, we are so excited! The Gospel really is Good News! And the Romans is filled with Gospel!

I'm going to start taking the city bus into Porto Alegre a few times a week to go and play basketball in the parks there. I really need to feel a little independence. I currently only leave the house without Tom when I go jogging. So I need to get away occasionally. Hopefully Porto Alegre is a rich ministry field that needs harvesting. I'll be sure toalways carry Gospel tracts.

Today, after church is another lounging day. I am filling it with reading, study and worship. I'll have to admit that it is really easy to do today since its in the 40s outside! Brrrrrr! I'll hopefully be able to keep up with my posting this week. I should have a lot to share about my studying since we are going on vacation in Gremado. Tom says all we do is swim in the pool, watch movies and eat chocolate! So I'll have plenty of time to read and skype. If anyone wants to skype this week, I should be available a good portionof the time! Thanks!

"I used to want a lot of things. All that stuff that's on TV. Education, cars, and clothes. Fashion lights and jewelery. Focused on the wrong stuff. Now I got my eyes on You and now I know that God is enough!" -Lecrae



Joanie and the church kids playing "ninja" after church





Tom teaching Carla how to run the scoreboard in the sanctuary for the wrestling tournament next weekend at the church.

August 17th, 2011

Even with all my efforts to communicate with the Brazilian people, I talk a lot less here in
Brazil. This gives me a lot more time to think. I listened to a sermon before I left the
States that talked about God's love. One could write and write and write all about he many
different facets of God's love. Before I say more about that, what about God's wrath? The
Bible also speaks abundantly about this. Many people in the world today say that God isn't
real because so much evil is going on in the world. What is evil though? It's anything that's
against God. Anything morally bad or wrong. Lying, stealing, cheating, rape. But if we want
God to stop evil do we want Him to stop all of it or just a little bit of it? If God stops all
the evil things what about OUR evil thoughts? Where does God stop it? The murder level, the
lying level, or the thinking level? If we want to stop evil we have to be consistent. We
can't just pick and choose. That means you and I would be eliminated because we think evil
things. If that's true then we SHOULD be eliminated! But thanks to God that Jesus stepped in
to save us from our sin! Christ died for all evilness! So many people ignore the wrath of God!
Why would a loving God allow the mass murder of thousands of "innocent" people in a tsunami?
Many people think that it isn't fair. Don't fall victim to a fallen understanding of fairness.
God works on a different wave length. Isaiah 55:8, " For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways My ways, declares the Lord." So be careful before you start beginning a
sentence "I don't think God would do..." Do what? Do something your fallen ways and mind
wouldn't do or think? Remember this is the same God who sent His only son to DIE for we
"filthy rags". I wouldn't do that. God did. Before you criticize God, thank Him for the love
he shows even to the unsaved by bringing the sun up in the morning. I could go longer but I
think I'm done ranting. The main theme: Repent of your sins and turn to Jesus! God's worth
is higher than any hardship or persecution this life offers.

Inviting kids to basketball tomorrow! Please pray that it goes well! Pray for humility and
patience too. I was on low supply today. Thanks!

The wrestling scoreboard Tom and I installed at the church for the tournament next Saturday.

My second option for basketball practice if the first school doesnt have enough kids show up. Stands, lights and rims!

August 16th. 2011

August 16th, 2011

Day one of going solo! No more Americans for comfort and easy conversation. All I have now is Tom and Penny as fellow English speakers! I didn't come down here for comfort and a vacation. I got up today at 8:20 and had my first opportunity spend a large amount of time emailing family and friends. I got a surprise instant message date with my girlfriend for about an hour too :) It's such a treat to talk to her. Even if it's on a computer. I came downstairs at about 10 am and found a big jar of peanut putter and waffles on the tables. Random fact: Brazil does not sell peanut butter or ranch dressing! America runs on that stuff! Brazilians don't even like it! Crazy. It is abnormally warm for this time of the winter in Brazil. It got up to 85 degrees today. Everyone is in shock. Tom says Al Gore could sell a lot of books here. Hehe. Looks like I'll have an extension to my summer instead of a shortened summer. Went to wrestling practice again today and had 22 kids show up. With just Tom and I running this thing, it was a lot. And I avoiding wrestling like it was the plague my entire life so I'm no help with teaching. I just make a good demonstation dummy! I hope God brings these kids to himself. They all seem so lost. Tom has so much patience with them. After practice I
had my first opportunity for a good run in Brazil. I only had time for four miles but man did it feel good. I plan on running every day from now on. Tom said he would get me in to a few races while I'm here. I am so excited for that! I'm starting to ask questions to Tom about his heart. I'm finding he's an old time navy-type guy who pretty set on his ways and if I don't conform to him I don't think we'll get along. He's not doing any changing it seems! That's just the way it is. Please pray for my heart to stay humble, patient and resting in God.

Erik getting smushed during a wrestling move demonstration.

Brazil gas stations still have workers fill your tank up. This van takes propane!

August 15th, 2011

This has definitely been a crazy last 15 days! I apologize for not keeping up with the blog! I caught the flu on Friday night. It took me out the whole day on Saturday. I slept 22 of the 24 hours of the day! I got so worn down with such full days all week and so much touching little kid's hands that someone in the group was bound to catch something. I'm glad I was the one to take the hit. I'm the one staying for the long haul. If anyone else in the group would have gotten sick it would have really cut in to their time in Brazil. We said good-bye today to both the California and Kansas teams. I'm really starting to dislike airports. I get emotional every time I go there now days. Ususally cry my heart out... Call me a sissy but it is what it is. I loved both of the groups. They both turned out to be a huge encouragement to me. I had a great conversation last night with the pastor from the California team about doctrine. We don't agree totally, and he's naturally trying to sway me in his direction, but the conversation was a huge gift from God and I was so excited to have had that talk. I couldn't sleep! Please pray for more conversation with him. Then this morning on the way to the airport, God gave me the opportunity to share my testimony to all 17 people in our van. My story is A LOT different than everyone else's it seems and I think they were a bit in shock to hear it, but it spurned on the most God glorifying conversation the group had the whole time they were down here. Praise God! So now its just the Latham's and I! Please pray that I can stay content with God and Him
alone! The Lathams are the only English speaking people I will talk to for the next 2 months basically. This is going to be more of a challenge than I thought! I'm so excited to see what God will do with me! Tom and I will be going around to several public schools this week to invite kids to basketball practice on Friday! I'm hearing through the grapevine that many kids are excited to come. I'm very curious of the skill level of the kids. This will be the hardest coaching job I've ever done! Like teaching I baby how to read. All they know is soccer. I'm really excited nevertheless! My girlfriend and I started listening to a sermon series on Romaans today. This is going to be so exciting. Husbands and boyfriends, it is so crucial that you base everything you are as individuals and as a couple on God and what he has done for you through Christ.Without that, what kind of relationship do you have? One build on sand is what it is. When the storms come and the rain
comes down on you, your relationship fails because you fall into sin. And sin is so destructive! So many insecurities arise from sin. Don't venture there. I'll end with a little of scripture. Romans 1:1, "Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God". It kind of sounds like Paul starts his letter to the Romans by firstsaying who he is. But I really believe that he is saying whose he is. He has been purchased. In 1 Corinthians 7:23 Paul writes," You have been bought with a price; do not become slaves of men." Paul is bought, owned, and ruled by Jesus. If Christians are bought, he bought me, and he owns me. If you are owned you are owned by virtue of creation by God and by virtue of purchase. Doubly owned. Doubly not your own! Galations 1:10, ".... for am I striving to please men? If I were still  trying to please man, I would not be a bond-servant (greek- doulos- meaning slave) of Christ. We are not our own Christians. There is no better life or Master to have!

The entire team

Tom and Chip making his famous churros

August 11th, 2011

Wow it has already been a week in Brazil! Time has definitely flown by so far! I had to skip a day of blogging yesterday.
I was so tired last night that I couldn't put a thought together. I'm struggling tonight as well so bear with me!
I started reading a missions book by John Piper today called Let the Nations Be Glad. All I read was the first three pages
and I was super charged for being here! I'll give you a few quotes and thoughts on the book so far.

"Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn't."

"Therfore worship is the fuel and goal of missions."

"The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God."

"You cannot commend what you don't cherish. Missionaries will never call out "let the nations be glad!", who cannot say
from the heart, "I rejoice in the Lord.... I will be glad and exult in thee, I will sing praise to thy name, O most high"
(Psalm 104:34; 9:2)
There is no way you can go and preach the Gospel to the peoples of the world if you are not in awe of God and what He has  done. Piper goes on and quotes Charles Misner. Misner talks about Albert Einstein and why he may not have been a follower of Christ.

"The design of the universe is very magnificent and shouldn't be taken for granted. In fact, I believe that this is why
Einstein had so little use for organized religion, although he strikes me as a basically very religios man. He must have
looked at what the preachers said about God and felt that they were blaspheming. He had seen much more majesty than they had ever imagined, and they were just not talking about the real thing. My guess us that he simply felt that religions he'd  run across did not have prosper respect... for the author of the universe."

Do we know who this Being is that we talk and sing about when we go to church, ride in the car, and stand in the shower?
It's the God of Isaiah 40:25-26. "To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the holy one. Lift up
your eyes on high and see: who created these stars? He who brings out their host by numbr, calling them all by name; by the greatness of His might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing." He knows each star's number? He has them aLL named? To ignore Him is suicide! A God this powerful, should put you in awe. This is what blows me away, I can talk to this God! I can talk to the one named all the stars? Not only that but He answers! That alone wants me to get to know Him a whole lot more! I pray that God reveals Himself to you through what I just said.
Tomorrow is also the last day of our drama. Every school we have visited has been very different. Yet no matter where we are, we are celebrities. Pray that I can use that to lead souls to Christ. I'm starting to learn some vocabulary words, verbs, and phrases to communicate so hopefully I'll be able to somehow witness to them. That's all for tonight! I can;t focus anymore! God Bless!

Autographs after the perfomance.

Pastor Jimmy and Mckenna from California at the Latham s

Day Seven August 9th, 2011

I've been reading through John for the past few months. Boy-howdy! (New phrase I've learned for the Kansas team :)) There is a lot to learn in it! Pastor John Piper is currently preaching through it if you want a deeper insight on the book. But I'll tell you what I learned tonight! Quick side note: Today was pretty much exactly the same as yesterday. With the exeption of having dinner at Carla's house. Great time! So with the time I have I'll share with you a little bit of John chapter 10. Discussion on this is invited! So post something if it is interesting to you. So in John 10, Jesus just finished up healing and seeking out the blind beggar. Boy-howdy did Pharesees hated that! And Jesus spends the first 21 verses of the chapter 10 saying He is the door to the sheep and the shepard of the flock. Then the Jews, starting in verse 22 start to manipulate Him trying to get Him to say "plainly" that He is the Son of God so they could have a reason to kill him for blashemy. Jesus responds in verse 25 that He already told them that He is the Son of Man.This whole time I'm thinking. "Why don't these people (Pharesees, Jews) believe Jesus when he tells them that He and God are one? Many of His doubters know the Old Testament very well and know that I foretells of a Messiah that performs many signs.Why are they so ignorant?" Well, verse 26 tells the story. They are blinded. It says, "But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. My sheep hear My voice, and I know the, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of my hand." (vv 26-28) You see, they don't understand because they are not one of God's chosen. Their lifestyle of ignorance, pride and Law says that they worship themselves instead of Him. In verse 47 of chapter 8 it says, " He who is of God hears the words of God, for this reason you do not hear, because you are not of  God." So the Jews that sought to kill Jesus were not of God. Becuase they didn't hear Jesus, who IS God. Oh, how breathtaking it can be to be one of the "called" of God! Romans 1:7 says it wonderfully when Paul addresses the Roman chrisians as beloved called by God. Why is it so breathtaking? Because it is all by GRACE that I am called by God to be His slave! I should be crying out "thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you oh mighty God for imputing your righteousness into a dirty, evil, prideful, arrogant, undeserving sinner like me who could have never come to God without Him taking
away my blindness and giving me a sight to His spendor, beauty, and glory! And now that I know that I have salvation and an eternity with God that was undeserved, I am able to give God the glory that He doesn't need from me, but deserves from me! note: God doesn't need any praise from us. He is all-suffient. God doesn't rely on any other being for glory. He is glorious in Himself. If you are not sure that God has saved you from your sin, you may not be saved or your being too intospective. If you are not saved, and God has revealed His beauty upon you right now, pray that God would become your treasure and that He would give you the desire to live for Him for the rest of eternity. Then read Romans 3:22-26. Heck, read the entire book. It is
the greatest and most life changing letter ever written! God, change the hearts of the unrepentant today!

Day Six August 8th, 2011

Whoa! What a day! Today by far had the most variety of activities! I got up at 5:55 am to shower and hop on the computer to email someone special... and to do some blogging and other emails. I ran in to a bit of a challenge when I turned the knob to the shower. The water wouldn't come out! All houses in Brazil rely on gravity for their water pressure. There is a big tank on the top of every house that water from their well runs into. I guess the circuit broke last night and prevented any re-filling of the tank. Just another small adjustment in Brazil! Oh, another adjustment, we can't flush our toilet paper down the drain. It would mess up their system. So we have to put our used paper in a trash can next to the toilet! I never thought I would do that! Anyways, after email time, I had a good breakfast of eggs, apple crisp, and squash bread. Next was
putting make-up on for the drama we would be performing three times today at a local school. Random fact: There is 80 public schools in the city we are in and the population is 240,000! Doesn't seem necessary to me. We got to the school and performed the drama and Pastor Tom shared the Gospel with them and we handed out pamphlets to each kid about how to get saved and about Pastor Tom's church. Afterwards, we were able to interact with the kids a lot. I was very surprised at how aggressive the students were. Especially the girls. Screaming and yelling and giggling. Very overwhelming! I'll have a ton of new Brazilian Facebook friends within the next few days I suppose. I pray that God opens the door to witness to them. What a blessing to be able to share the gospel message in public schools! Some places in the world are still doing it OK! After our drama, it was time for my first wrestling practice at a different school than the one we were at for the dramas. Wrestling is one of the avenues he uses to reach the youth in the city. He has found it to be his most effective form of evangelism. Praise God for the passion he has for the Brazilian people. When we got to the gym, Tom mentioned that this will be the gym that I would be coaching basketball in. It's sort of a piece of junk. Roof leaks everywhere and only to baskets but the Lord provides how He sees fit. It will be so much fun! Anyways, I got to try on my first singlet today! The wrestling gear designers need to find a new design for those things! They are ugly! Nevertheless I got to get my first experience of wrestling on a mat.
Got dominated in every way by a 17 year old. Not my sport. After packing up the van after practice. The whole group went out to eat at a pizza place in town called Roda Pizzeria. Roda means wheel in Portuguese. In the restaurant, the waiters kept coming around like a wheel with the most unique pizza I have ever seen! Corn pizza, beef strogenoff (spelling??) pizza, salmon pizza, broccoli pizza, chicken heart pizza. Crazy stuff! Then most of the dessert pizzas had some sort of chocolate as the first layer and then cheese on the top. Very different but I guess that's how they do things in Brazil! After dinner, we came home and had missions class where we are learning about Tom and Penny and their lives as missionaries and why other missionaries quit the ministry. It has been very informative. I love learning this stuff because God has really placed long-term missions work on my heart. So it is really a blessing to learn from one of the best in the world. Today is much of the same
as today! It's been a tiring day! Time for bed! God bless!

Jonie s house for dinner. He is in the front in the red shirt.

Kids at the school. Joe and Mustova

My attempt at wrestling...

Day Five August 7th, 2011

Sunday today! Before I tell you all about my day today I really want to share some things about what I've learned about God. I read a book recently called God is the Gospel and man alive did it put a whole new spin on how we as Christians, true Christians, should view salvation as. Christianity is not first theology, it is news. Great news! Urgent news! Saving news! So what good is this "news"? Is it ultimately that you will live forever? Is it that you won't go to hell? Is it that you will get to see loved ones that have previously died? Is it so your conscience won't feel guilt from my sin? None of these answers are wrong! Some if not all of these things happen to Christians when they are saved! But the ultimate good of the "good news" is God himself. Everything leads to Him. Every word of the Gospel leads to Him. As John Piper says "It doesn't take a new heart to want the psychological relief of forgiveness, or the removal of God's wrath, or the inheritance of God's world. All of these things are understandable without any spiritual change. You don't need to be born again to want these things. The devils want them." We should want these things because they bring us enjoyment in God himself. Do not value gifts over the Giver. Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God. (1 Peter 3:18). Christ's blood is the only way to God. If you believe in Him, He died for you! Come to Christ! I don't want to take away anything from the previous paragraph so I'll keep this part short. I'll just note some things that I didn't think that would be difficult before I came but have learned that they will be challenging. First, I do not know a lick of Portuguese. All sermons will be preached in Portuguese while I am down here. So it will be tough to get fed the word in person for the duration of my time in Brazil. Fortunately, I have sermons on my computer to listen to. But it is still not the same as worshiping with your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. So please pray for my faith. That it grows and is fed and encouraged in ways I can't imagine! Next, please pray for my experience after the missions teams from the U.S. leave. Currently I have interaction with English speaking folks and have a sense of companionship. That will be gone when they depart. I have made a friend named Jonie and he volunteered to pray for me during my time in Brazil in church today. Tonight at dinner we decided to teach each other English and Portuguese. Pray that that friendship grows. I am also not getting as much time as I would have hoped to communicate with my girlfriend, family and friends. Most noteworthy is my girlfriend Becky. Please pray for her and our relationship to sustain us and help us grow together during my time here with God's love and power. I still love you family and friends though! You also mean a great deal to me! Please feel free to contact me anytime! The food is so good here! I hear the best is yet to come! I really need to start running to keep my weight at a good number otherwise I'll be coming home a new man! The music team from Kansas has turned out to be a real treat! Wonderful, God loving group! Packer fans though... God's grace might be needed to get over that issue!! :) Long day tomorrow. We will be traveling to 3 different schools to perform and gospel musical drama as well as our first day of wrestling practice! LONG day! It will be great though! God bless!

Pastor Tom s church

Inside

Chip Herbert giving his testimony

Day Four August 6th, 2011

Day 4 8-6-11

 Today was by far the most tiring days of them all! I got up as early as possible with no alarm clock to hop on the computer. With all the people here, it is tough to find the computer open except for in the early morning. After computer time, breakfast was served! I had the best scrambled eggs I have ever had this morning. Penny mixes Lawry's seasoned salt with everything and eggs are no exception! Marvelous taste in the mouth! After breakfast the team and I helped Pastor Tom get his yard ready for a sports day for all of the area's church youth. We cleaned his bathrooms, picked up random trash, smoothed out the lawn bowling court, and filled in muddy holes in the soccer field. This whole time the ladies were preparing food for the night's festivities. Around 10am the youth started showing up. Lets not kid ourselves, all they wanted to do was play soccer. So we played for at least 4 hours with lunch in between. They can really play well! I was very proud of myself. I was able to make 2 shots on the goal! With my skills, its a minor miracle... I mentioned lunch. What a treat lunch was! A hot dog trailer came and parked in the driveway and began making the most delicious hot dogs you will ever taste! He stuffed hash browns and ketchup and mustard in a HUGE bun with the meat and pressed it in a grill. Then they are served flat. They were so, so good! After the kids left we did some minor cleanup and got ready for dinner. Three doctors and their wives were coming over to eat and listen to music from the new music team that just arrived. Boy was this a feast! We listened to music after dinner. By the way this music was top notch! 6 person family that all plays brass instruments well together. They will be performing tomorrow at church as well. Anyways, after the music, Tom, Penny and their son Shane all gave their testimonies to the guests (all of whom are not saved). It was all in Portuguese but it was still very good for me. I'm starting to understand some reasons why Tom and Penny have such a beautiful house. One of which is maybe they choose to take the avenue of hosting dinners to wealthy people to share Christ with them at their home. Where they probably would not come if they didn't live in such a nice house. Just an idea to throw out there. I'm looking forward to getting to know the new family that just arrived to play music. The son's name is Chip who is my age and is attending seminary school in Kansas. Can't wait for great conversation with him as well as the rest of the family! Side note: please pray for my relationships with a couple Brazilian guys who I just met today. Their names are Ezekiel and Joanie. Both are 17 years old and both like to speak as much English as they can so they are grilling me with questions. Joanie doesn't have many friends and I don't know if he is saved. Ezekiel is saved seems to be a great role model for Joanie. Pray for the proper avenue to take to share Christ with Joanie. I would much appreciate it! Another side note: Basically none of their words end in consonants. So everyone calls me Erikie. Kinda funny. God Bless!

Hot dog stand

Pastor Jimmy giving his testimony while Tom translates

Day Three August 5th, 2011

Day 3 8-5-11

I start this entry out by quoting some scripture that I hold very close to my heart. It's John 9:25, "He then answered, ""Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see."" This was the blind beggar speaking. Who Jesus just healed and gave sight to. The Pharisees were grilling him with questions and condemnation saying that Jesus was a sinner. Doesn't the blind man's short testimony sound a lot like our testimony? We really cannot explain what in the world happened to make our eyes to see the glory and majesty of Christ. Be for some reason, WE SEE!!!! How exciting is that??!! For the blind beggar, that gave him the confidence and courage to stand up to the Pharisees risking his Judaism.That was a huge deal back then if you didn't know. Think about getting kicked out of your church and not being able to go to any other church for the rest of your lives! That still may not have the same weight on you as it did for the blind beggar.Either way this was huge. Another thing about this story that I find glorious and praise-worthy is verse 35. After being cast out of the synagogue, instead of the man going and looking for Jesus, Jesus went and found him. Another amazing example of rebellious sinners being unable to come to Jesus. He finds us. Still can't figure out the reason for that kind of love. Thank you Lord! Now with my day today. I woke up at 10:30 am. Giving me 18.5 hours of sleep since I went to sleep at 4 pm. So to say the least,I woke up recharged!! I guess I'll be going out to lunch every day during my stay here and today was no exception. We went to a buffet style restaurant that served some great food! One thing that is really unique about this place is that you pay according to the weight of your plate after you go through the buffet line. The more you eat, the more you pay. Then desert is free. After lunch we came back to the house and practiced our drama that the mission team and I will be performing this Sunday and Pastor Tom's church. I am not a good actor at all so I will for sure need a lot of grace from God to put on a performance worthy of being on stage! After practice it was free-time for the team. Not for Erik though! Since I am Tom and Penny's "son" while I here, I got the opportunity to wash all of the Lathem's vehicles. Two conversion vans and one small sedan inside and out. I'm lucky I love cleaning cars so it wasn't a chore for me. I was more of a getaway and some time to myself. That took a good three hours and after that there was time for about an hour of ping pong against the leaders of the mission team Jimmy and John. I got dominated and went 0-11 against them cumulatively. Pretty poor but they are really good.Once 7:30 pm came around it was off to a lady's house to have dinner. The lady has been attending Pastor Tom's church for four years now. She started coming to the church through the youth wrestling ministry that her son participates in. She was addicted to drugs and alcohol before coming to Christ. Now she brings hoards of unbelievers to the church trying to bring them to Jesus. What an amazing lady! Her house was very very small and run down. Probably the size of most people's living rooms. She doesn't have much material things but boy oh boy does she have joy in the Lord! She is a testament to counting everything as loss and Christ as gain. God doesn't promise riches, health, or a running toilet. Look at Romans 8:36. But Romans 8:35 says that nothing will separate us from the love of Christ. No matter what, whether in this life or the next, we will be delivered. What a glorious and empowering thought! No matter what happens to Christians here on earth, we will be delivered. That should give us so much confidence in sharing God's glory through Christ in our everyday dealings. Anyways, I'm getting a little off course. We had a great meal at her house. Once we got back, Pastor Tom shared some of his testimony and how and why he became a missionary. He has a very moving story. I'll give you that story another time. I have a feeling over the next few months I'll have more to add. That pretty much brings us to me typing this blog entry. A few prayer requests: Language barrier is still pressing heavily on my heart. Pray for an understanding. Even a small one. Last, I'm still a bit emotional from leaving the States and missing my girlfriend and family. Skype will most likely not work the whole time down here due to the connection speed. So I will have limited ways of communication. I know God provides all needs according to His divine knowledge. So prayer for joy in whatever He provides is needed. Pray for my girlfriend and family as well for I do not know exactly what emotions they have running through their veins. Thank you all so much! God bless!

Day Two August 4th, 2011

Day Two 8-4-11
Where I last left you I was on a plane somewhere over the Carribean Sea as I was thinking about how this whole trip is going to play out.  Boy did I get a treat today! I landed safely in the Sao Paulo airport a little early and was instructed by my buddy on the plane to go on a certain line to get ready for my connecting flight to Porto Alegre. Little did I know at the time that those instructions were totally wrong! So I go and look at the TV screens to check where my flight was to take off from and I could not find it anywhere! I go looking for someone to help me in on of the gates but there was few staff available to help due to the time of the morning. So now I'm lost, can't communicate, and my flight takes off in an hour.I have no idea what to do. Then miraculously a man shows up next to me and asks me if I needed help. I told him my situation
and through very broken English we figured out together that I took the wrong turn from the start and needed to go through customs before I could board another flight. So by this time I have less than an hour to catch my flight. I'm getting pretty stressed by this time because I don't have the money to buy a new ticket. So I'm praying for help from God to deliver me from this sticky situation. So I get to customs and they start questioning me about a briefcase of chimes that I have along."Where did you get these?", "How much do they cost?", and "Are you going to sell them?" were some of many questions they had for me regarding these things. By this time I'm doomed. I'm not making my flight. I talk to the customs officer about it while
he is charging me $200 to bring these chimes in. He writes a note to my airlines asking them to give me a free flight because HE took too long with me! I thought, "What a huge blessing!!". I could relax then. I get my new ticket a go to my gage and who else meets me there but the same man that helped me out of the sticky situation in the first place. He had the same flight as me! I got to talk with him and get to know him a little bit before we boarded. His name is Ivan and he and his wife Corinna are from Barcelona, Spain headed to Uraguay to visit his sick mother. What a great blessing he was too! As I finished up my conversation with Ivan and Corinna, another guy approached me that had overheard the conversation with Ivan. He used
great English and asked me where I was from in Minnesota. I told him I lived in Shoreview for the past few years. He replies by saying, "Oh, I know where that is. I was just there last week." What??!! I'm in Brazil and this random guy was just in Shoreview, Minnesota? Small, small world. His name is Eduardo and we added each other on Facebook and he said he wanted to help me with anything while I was here in Brazil. Blows me away sometimes thinking about the mercy God shows to undeserving, rebellious sinners like me. My next big challenge is the language barrier. I'm feeling useless right now not being able to communicate with any natives. A few Americans arrived today to help Tom and Penny out at church so pray for good conversations with them as well. This whole day has been a huge blessing from beginning to end. I'm with a great family with a safe, beautiful house. I was delivered here safely and without a ton of confusion. I can only thank God for His mercy upon me.I rested this whole afternoon and to catch up a little and hopefully, Lord willing, I will hit it hard for the Lord tomorrow! God bless! You cant praise what you do not prize!

PS I can see my breath as I'm laying here in bed. IT'S COLD HERE!!! Low of 39 tomorrow!

Day One August 3rd, 2011

Day One 8-3-11

It has come to the end of day number one of my trip to Brazil. What an emotional day!!! I've dealt withthe emotions of leaving the most comfortable place in the world to a to a place where most everything is unknown. From the language, the culture, the people, the food, to the city. There is so much I do not know. The United States has my family, whom I love dearly, my friends, the girl I love, the language I know, the food I enjoy, the job that I love, and the church the has welcomed me and preaches the

Word of God with passion. To look at that situation on paper seems like a very scary thought that doesn't sound beneficial or comfortable at all. This is the scariest thing I have ever done in my life. But I know I was called to this. I can't explain why or even how I was called. Just like I cannot explain why or how I was called to salvation in Christ. Just like the blind begger in John 9. Where the Jews asked him what had happened that made him see. He said he had no idea, but, HE SAW!!! That is what has happened to me. I do not know what the Lord has in store for me in Brazil. All I know as I am sitting in a plane headed there is that it is not by chance that I will step foot on South American soil. God is all sovereign and He has placed me there for a reason. Mainly His glory! I pray that I can fully show His glory through my deeds, my words, and my love. I pray that the lonliness I have for my girlfriend, my family, my friends, and my church do not overcome the mission I have been called to. I pray that God totally becomes my portion and strength through His word. I am so excited to get started with coaching and serving the Brazillian people through Christ! Thank you so much for your prayer and support over the past 5 months. I am humbled to know I have so many people that care about me and what God is doing outside the borders. God bless you all and may His face shine upon you and keep you to overcome all unrighteousness for His name's sake.