Adventures in Brazil: Part 5

Whew!!!  God continues to fill me with incredible opportunities to live for Him. Yesterday was supposedly a rest day, and I was able to review all of my memory verses, have some good times of prayer including praying for a little church that God told me to adopt for intercession, and work out my finances.
    In the early afternoon Samir and I went to a restaurant "livre", where for a set price one can eat all they want from a buffet. I am learning to stock up on the fruits and vegetables and go easier on the rest. Then we went to the airport to pick up Nilson, a friend from my last visit, and his wife, who were returning from a two month visit to brethren in Scandinavia. They told us a little about God's work in northern Europe.
    Inbetween we dropped off an offering to the pastor of Brasa church. Their building had burned down in a fire sometime before. Then I was taken to the home of Asaph Borba, probably the most well known Christian musician in Brazil, referred to as the father of modern Brazilian Christian worship music. He has traveled the world for Christ including many visits to the US. Soon, he, his son, and I were in a taxi heading for a benefit concert to raise funds for the church whose building had burned down. He is a very down to earth man, and we had a pleasant conversation.
     We arrived at a large municipal building in downtown P. A. He invited me backstage to have a little snack with about fifty other people, either musicians, relatives, or others involved with the concert. There I had fellowship with a young man, Marco A, who is a photographer, a very precious brother in Christ; another brother and vocalist named Marcelo, who has an extensive ministry in Eastern Europe, and Asaph,s brother Abner, who is a recording engineer for their studio.; and to Andre, one of the vocalists.I was also introduced to the mayor of the city, a brother in Christ. P. A. has 1.5 million people.
    Afterwards I was given V. I. P. seating with a number of others third row center. Asaph was accompanied by a number of his relatives, and a band. I am beginning to recognize some of the Portuguese worship songs, and to learn the lyrics. The auditorium seated about 5,000 and it was packed. Brazilians are very animated. They stood up the whole time, did choreographed movements, sang along with the band, and as we say in English, "rocked out."
   I should mention that the burned church building had hosted a ballet school, and we were treated to a very nice little performance by nine teenagers. We also saw a video of the burned out building and the plans for rebuilding. Then we saw a video about Project Water, an effort to provide clean drinking water for poor people in dry areas of Brazil. This was initiated by a brother named Juliano Son, the most well known Christian singer of the younger generation in all of Brazil. He and his band had come from Sao Paulo to play at this benefit. I have heard him preach on a You tube video.
   While Asaph is more like a folk singer, Juliano is like a rock star. Unfortuanately the music was so incredibly loud, that even the Brazilians sitting next to me could not decipher the words. The crowd did not seem to mind but after awhile my ears began to hurt.
     On the ride home with a car load of Brazilians, Asaph's wife told me that playing in this building, which is used for many city cultural events, represented a major spiritual victory. She said it was the first time that Christians had been allowed to use the building in the almost forty years of their ministry.