Fortaleza week 1

    Just in the last few days before I got here, God basically is giving Herbert and Lorelei and this Iris team a new base.  Its a huge house in the center of the city.  MUCH closer to the slum than their current house.  Its only a 10min drive/ 25 min walk.  As opposed to a 1-2hr bus ride.  It has 12 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 2 kitchen areas...  It has been one of their dreams to expand the team and 

missional community, but I don't think they were expecting it so fast, God just gave them this open door suddenly.(on Herb's birthday)  So the rest of the Iris team is praying about moving in, it will be another big step of faith for everyone, financially and time commitment  ministry possibilities etc.  We will be paying 1/3 the rent that it is worth, but still much more than anyone on the team is currently paying while living with parents or with current support.  Hopefully we will get the keys tomorrow so that this huge 28 person Iris Latin America team (that just arrived tonight) can help get it cleaned up and fix it up and have somewhere bigger to stay while they are here.

The only photo I could find that captured part of its mansion aspect well :)

We went to the beach Friday night to worship and minister to the prostitutes.  Lorelei is so passionate about this, and has made many friends there.  One girl in particular, R, has experienced the Lord and is kind of on the fence about taking next steps of faith and being obedient to follow the Lord in a new life.  She and her 'boyfriend' came to church with us tonight and to eat dinner at our house, so that really represented a big step for them hopefully.  They complain that since the team has been ministering to them, their business has slowed down and they are not getting any clients on that corner anymore. haha.  Also, Friday night, another girl was with them so we met her and heard part of her story, super hard family dynamics, and prayed for her.  Then she told us that she had a nervous disorder that made her move/twitch all the time, all over her body.  I thought that she had just been cold and nervous.  So she let us pray for her, and I asked to give her a hug.  She needed a hug really bad, and just held on for dear life, it seemed like forever.  I could feel her little body shakes/twitches.  Finally she started to relax, and then Bruno prayed for her.  She said that she was totally better and that she started to get healed when I was hugging her!!!!  Wow.  It is true, Jesus heals thru hugs!  Its what I have always hoped.  Especially while I can't use words yet. 

Painted this while praying for street outreach Friday night and gave to one of the girls there

This month is full of short term teams coming in, and moving, and preparing for the Call in Sao Paulo in November, so its a big transition month for the team, and I feel like the Kingdom of God is ambushing our lives and the city.  The Iris Latin America team, that has been traveling the continent all year arrived Sunday night.   And a team from Exodus Cry in Kansas City is coming in 2 weeks, they are passionate about impacting sex trafficking and it will be great to have them with us for a while.

The Iris Latin America team camped out in the courtyard of this neighborhood church the first night they were here, waiting  for the new house contract to open.  These guys are hard core, they've been traveling the continent all year.

a couple of Iris Latin America team members spending free time eating the white  part of a watermelon rind,  and braiding some tree roots into a rope.  See what I mean, they are out of control in their resourcefulness skills!