Belle stumbled backwards to the wall and then slid down it to the floor. Her eyes not leaving the little contraption in her hand. She closed her eyes tight a moment, hoping she was just imagining the word on its digital screen. She opened her eyes again and groaned. That word came whistling into her mind and then exploded. BANG! PREGNANT!

How could this be? We were so careful! she thought to herself. "NOOOOOOO!"

"Belle, Are you all right? What's wrong?" Patricia, Belle's mom asked knocking on the door.

"Shoot!" Belle whispered before hollering, "I'm fine, Mom. I just accidentally dropped my ring in the toilet. I'll be able to get it out though."

Pregnant! Pregnant! Evil little monkeys chanted dancing around the bombed out wreckage of her mind. This can't be happening! I have two more years of high school, college, and then residency.

She grabbed the towel from the rack, wadded it up, and screamed into it. Then she gasped for breath and screamed again. "This can't be happening!" She muttered to herself. For a long time Belle stared at the painting hanging above the toilet. It was of a magnificent landscape. A regal range of mountains stood stoically in the background. They were robed in trees of every shade of green, with some of them changing to their autumn glory. A meadow lay before the mountains with clusters of lilies and blue belles in the foreground. Yet all Belle really saw were the evil monkeys chanting, "Dirty diapers, violent vomit, ceaseless screaming!"

"Belle, are you sure you're ok?" Patricia asked through the door.

"I'm fine, Mom!"

"Well than hurry up! Yedi is waiting for you in the living room."

YEDI? Suddenly Belle saw hot red light. Roaring, crackling flames sprang up in her chest. A bull was huffing and snorting. It pawed against her chest before charging, bellowing as it ran. She bolted up, yanked the door open, and charged down the hallway toward the living room.

In the living room, Yedidyah sat in on of the tan Maserati lounge chairs with his hand resting on his ankle. "Congrats on the game, Son! You, guys, gave those Lakers a proper thrashing!" Mr. Larson boomed coming into the living room. He handed his navy blue business jacket to the maid before taking his cardigan with the Aztec design on it from her.

"Thank you, Sir! If we beat the Beavers next week, we will go to state!" Yedidyah smiled as he nearly shouted the news.

Suddenly, Yediyah's conscience pinched the back of his brain. He jumped out of his seat, and unsure of what to do with his hands, he stuffed them into his leather jacket pockets. "Mr. Larson," he forced himself to look the middle age man in his piercing blue eyes as he apologized, "I came to apologize to Belle, Mrs. Larson, and to you. I should not have left Belle in St. Paul, the way I did. It was cowardly and wrong!"

Mr. Larson grinned thumping Yedidyah on the shoulder as he stated, "That is big of you, Son. No need to worry! Belle will get over it." He plopped his almost six foot frame into the rose colored with gold floral print cocktail chair. "Sit, Son, no need to be nervous. So, you went and got yourself a new religion! What was wrong with the old one? Did it finally break down after five thousand years!" Mr. Larson threw his head back, laughing at his own joke. He thumped the arm of his chair. Yedidyah took a deep breath and swallowed hard, trying to check the heat that was clamping on his chest and quickly flowing to his brain. "Well you see Sir..." he started to explain, forcing himself to keep his voice even.

"Yedidyah Cohen! I can't believe your nerve!" Yedidyah turned to see Belle charging toward him around the corner of the hallway.

She was wearing a baby blue tank top with purple, pink and white flowers and yellow shorts that were frayed at the ends. Her auburn curls were flying everywhere. Her jaw was set rigid and her eyebrows were knit together.

"Princess!" Mr. Larson raised his hand entreatingly to his daughter as he crooned, "Give the lad..."

"Daddy," Belle shouted, swearing, "Shut up!" She grabbed Yedidyah by the arm of his jacket.

Before he really could realize what was happening, he was being dragged down the hall and into Belle's room. She shoved him onto her bed before slamming the door. It was covered in posters of boy bands. On the dresser opposite the bed was a huge mirror and dancing competition trophies arranged neatly. A flower makeup bag rested against the mirror. A gentle breeze blew in from the open window and the sunflower curtains danced.

Yedidyah involuntarily shook his shoulders as he could feel the thorny vines of his past with Belle creep up his back from the rose print, cotton sheets. He quickly stood up and held his ground when Belle tried to push him back down. "Belle," He held his hands up in surrender, starting in a calm voice, "You have every right to be angry. I under..."

"ANGRY! Oh I'm past angry, Yedidyah Cohen! I'm furious, irate, livid!" She again tried to shove him down, but he stood solid. "You have some nerve! You promise me a life free of religion, you get me pregnant, than you decide you need religion in your life! You run out on me! Now! Two months later you feel the need to apologize!?"

Yedidyah sank to his knees as the fuchsia walls began to spin extremely fast. Belle pregnant!? He gasped for breath but the room seemed void of air.

YOU WORTHLESS SINNER! WHAT AN IDIOT TO THINK YOU COULD BE FORGIVEN AFTER GETTING BELLE PREGNANT! An evil voice cackled in his ear.

"Are you certain?"

"You got to be kidding me right now!" Belle screeched at the top of her lungs. "You are just trying to avoid responsibility right now!"

Yedidyah placed his hands into the soft blue strands of the rose latch hook rug. He made himself think about the day he gave Belle this latch hook rug kit. It has been a cold wintery day and the two of them had curled up on the couch watching chic flics while Belle worked on it. Odd, she kept it if she hated him so much now. He took a deep breath as he slowly rose to his feet, fighting the heat that was quickly rising again. It hadn't fully receded from Mr. Larson's joke. "BELLE," he started in a voice that was louder and more forceful than he intended. He closed his eyes and took another deep breath.

Across from him Belle watched as he slowly let his breath out. She could smell the sharp freshness of spearmint on his breath. Something about the familiarity of the smell caused a switch to flip in her brain. All of the anger quickly drained from her.

She burst into tears, falling against him. He wrapped his arms around her. His chest heaved out with a heavy sigh.

His chest heaved again as he breathed deeply in through his nose. His heart was beating rapidly against Belle's cheek. She rubbed her cheek against his leather jacket and inhaled deeply the woodsy smell of his cologne.

"Belle, I was wrong to leave you in St. Paul. I was wrong to not come apologize to you sooner. I am truly sorry! I hope you will forgive me." He cupped her cheek in his hand and gently brushed at the tears sliding down her rosy cheeks.

He let her go, closing his eyes. Yeshua, please would you forgive me of this sin, he silently prayed.

"How long have you known?" Yedidyah asked looking into her watery blue eyes. She rubbed hard at the tears with the palm of her hand. She then held up her other fist and opened it revealing the home pregnancy test. Yedidyah stared at it long and hard. He closed his eyes and opened them again. It still lay in Belle's hand.

Av is going to kill me! Eema is going to die of shame! he thought to himself as he shook his bowed head. Oh Adonai what have I done?! he prayed.

Belle stared at the evil contraption and then back at Yedidyah's bowed curly brown head. DIRRRR-TEEE DIIIAPERRRS! NO SSSSSLEEEEEP! CON-STANT CRYING! Say good-bye to your dreams! This fetus will....The evil monkeys taunted Belle, dancing around the ruins of her grand neurosurgeon dreams.

"I want an abortion!" Belle declared and Yedidyah's head shot up, "And you will..."

"NO!" Yedidyah interrupted, his brown eyes grew big. His hands shot up to Belle's shoulders. "PLEASE BELLE! Don't add this sin to our shoulders!"

Belle jerked away from him. "SIN?" She shoved him in the chest again, but he didn't budge. "Abortion is my right! Not a sin! You got me into this mess! You...."

Yedidyah interrupted Belle once more, "Belle, please, I will support you and the baby. Don't put blood on our hands."

"Yedidyah Cohen, there is no 'me and the baby'. This is a clump of tissue that I want gone!"

"Belle, that isn't true! That is..."

Belle went on her tiptoes to put one hand at the nape of his neck and one hand on his mouth. She looked him square in his brown eyes, with a vicious fire burning in her blue eyes. "You...WILL... PAY...FOR...THE ABORTION!" She annunciated every word.

His eyebrows knit together and he glared at her as he shoved her hand away. "I will do no such thing!"

He stepped around her and yanked the door open. He stormed down the hallway, through the living room.

"Yedi, my boy..." Mr. Larson called out, but Yedidyah didn't even pause as he slammed the front door and ran down the porch steps.

Belle stumbled backwards to the wall and then slid down it to the floor. Her eyes not leaving the little contraption in her hand. She closed her eyes tight a moment, hoping she was just imagining the word on its digital screen. She opened her eyes again and groaned. That word came whistling into her mind and then exploded. BANG! PREGNANT!

How could this be? We were so careful! she thought to herself. "NOOOOOOO!"

"Belle, Are you all right? What's wrong?" Patricia, Belle's mom asked knocking on the door.

"Shoot!" Belle whispered before hollering, "I'm fine, Mom. I just accidentally dropped my ring in the toilet. I'll be able to get it out though."

Pregnant! Pregnant! Evil little monkeys chanted dancing around the bombed out wreckage of her mind. This can't be happening! I have two more years of high school, college, and then residency.

She grabbed the towel from the rack, wadded it up, and screamed into it. Then she gasped for breath and screamed again. "This can't be happening!" She muttered to herself. For a long time Belle stared at the painting hanging above the toilet. It was of a magnificent landscape. A regal range of mountains stood stoically in the background. They were robed in trees of every shade of green, with some of them changing to their autumn glory. A meadow lay before the mountains with clusters of lilies and blue belles in the foreground. Yet all Belle really saw were the evil monkeys chanting, "Dirty diapers, violent vomit, ceaseless screaming!"

"Belle, are you sure you're ok?" Patricia asked through the door.

"I'm fine, Mom!"

"Well than hurry up! Yedi is waiting for you in the living room."

YEDI? Suddenly Belle saw hot red light. Roaring, crackling flames sprang up in her chest. A bull was huffing and snorting. It pawed against her chest before charging, bellowing as it ran. She bolted up, yanked the door open, and charged down the hallway toward the living room.

In the living room, Yedidyah sat in on of the tan Maserati lounge chairs with his hand resting on his ankle. "Congrats on the game, Son! You, guys, gave those Lakers a proper thrashing!" Mr. Larson boomed coming into the living room. He handed his navy blue business jacket to the maid before taking his cardigan with the Aztec design on it from her.

"Thank you, Sir! If we beat the Beavers next week, we will go to state!" Yedidyah smiled as he nearly shouted the news.

Suddenly, Yediyah's conscience pinched the back of his brain. He jumped out of his seat, and unsure of what to do with his hands, he stuffed them into his leather jacket pockets. "Mr. Larson," he forced himself to look the middle age man in his piercing blue eyes as he apologized, "I came to apologize to Belle, Mrs. Larson, and to you. I should not have left Belle in St. Paul, the way I did. It was cowardly and wrong!"

Mr. Larson grinned thumping Yedidyah on the shoulder as he stated, "That is big of you, Son. No need to worry! Belle will get over it." He plopped his almost six foot frame into the rose colored with gold floral print cocktail chair. "Sit, Son, no need to be nervous. So, you went and got yourself a new religion! What was wrong with the old one? Did it finally break down after five thousand years!" Mr. Larson threw his head back, laughing at his own joke. He thumped the arm of his chair. Yedidyah took a deep breath and swallowed hard, trying to check the heat that was clamping on his chest and quickly flowing to his brain. "Well you see Sir..." he started to explain, forcing himself to keep his voice even.

"Yedidyah Cohen! I can't believe your nerve!" Yedidyah turned to see Belle charging toward him around the corner of the hallway.

She was wearing a baby blue tank top with purple, pink and white flowers and yellow shorts that were frayed at the ends. Her auburn curls were flying everywhere. Her jaw was set rigid and her eyebrows were knit together.

"Princess!" Mr. Larson raised his hand entreatingly to his daughter as he crooned, "Give the lad..."

"Daddy," Belle shouted, swearing, "Shut up!" She grabbed Yedidyah by the arm of his jacket.

Before he really could realize what was happening, he was being dragged down the hall and into Belle's room. She shoved him onto her bed before slamming the door. It was covered in posters of boy bands. On the dresser opposite the bed was a huge mirror and dancing competition trophies arranged neatly. A flower makeup bag rested against the mirror. A gentle breeze blew in from the open window and the sunflower curtains danced.

Yedidyah involuntarily shook his shoulders as he could feel the thorny vines of his past with Belle creep up his back from the rose print, cotton sheets. He quickly stood up and held his ground when Belle tried to push him back down. "Belle," He held his hands up in surrender, starting in a calm voice, "You have every right to be angry. I under..."

"ANGRY! Oh I'm past angry, Yedidyah Cohen! I'm furious, irate, livid!" She again tried to shove him down, but he stood solid. "You have some nerve! You promise me a life free of religion, you get me pregnant, than you decide you need religion in your life! You run out on me! Now! Two months later you feel the need to apologize!?"

Yedidyah sank to his knees as the fuchsia walls began to spin extremely fast. Belle pregnant!? He gasped for breath but the room seemed void of air.

YOU WORTHLESS SINNER! WHAT AN IDIOT TO THINK YOU COULD BE FORGIVEN AFTER GETTING BELLE PREGNANT! An evil voice cackled in his ear.

"Are you certain?"

"You got to be kidding me right now!" Belle screeched at the top of her lungs. "You are just trying to avoid responsibility right now!"

Yedidyah placed his hands into the soft blue strands of the rose latch hook rug. He made himself think about the day he gave Belle this latch hook rug kit. It has been a cold wintery day and the two of them had curled up on the couch watching chic flics while Belle worked on it. Odd, she kept it if she hated him so much now. He took a deep breath as he slowly rose to his feet, fighting the heat that was quickly rising again. It hadn't fully receded from Mr. Larson's joke. "BELLE," he started in a voice that was louder and more forceful than he intended. He closed his eyes and took another deep breath.

Across from him Belle watched as he slowly let his breath out. She could smell the sharp freshness of spearmint on his breath. Something about the familiarity of the smell caused a switch to flip in her brain. All of the anger quickly drained from her.

She burst into tears, falling against him. He wrapped his arms around her. His chest heaved out with a heavy sigh.

His chest heaved again as he breathed deeply in through his nose. His heart was beating rapidly against Belle's cheek. She rubbed her cheek against his leather jacket and inhaled deeply the woodsy smell of his cologne.

"Belle, I was wrong to leave you in St. Paul. I was wrong to not come apologize to you sooner. I am truly sorry! I hope you will forgive me." He cupped her cheek in his hand and gently brushed at the tears sliding down her rosy cheeks.

He let her go, closing his eyes. Yeshua, please would you forgive me of this sin, he silently prayed.

"How long have you known?" Yedidyah asked looking into her watery blue eyes. She rubbed hard at the tears with the palm of her hand. She then held up her other fist and opened it revealing the home pregnancy test. Yedidyah stared at it long and hard. He closed his eyes and opened them again. It still lay in Belle's hand.

Av is going to kill me! Eema is going to die of shame! he thought to himself as he shook his bowed head. Oh Adonai what have I done?! he prayed.

Belle stared at the evil contraption and then back at Yedidyah's bowed curly brown head. DIRRRR-TEEE DIIIAPERRRS! NO SSSSSLEEEEEP! CON-STANT CRYING! Say good-bye to your dreams! This fetus will....The evil monkeys taunted Belle, dancing around the ruins of her grand neurosurgeon dreams.

"I want an abortion!" Belle declared and Yedidyah's head shot up, "And you will..."

"NO!" Yedidyah interrupted, his brown eyes grew big. His hands shot up to Belle's shoulders. "PLEASE BELLE! Don't add this sin to our shoulders!"

Belle jerked away from him. "SIN?" She shoved him in the chest again, but he didn't budge. "Abortion is my right! Not a sin! You got me into this mess! You...."

Yedidyah interrupted Belle once more, "Belle, please, I will support you and the baby. Don't put blood on our hands."

"Yedidyah Cohen, there is no 'me and the baby'. This is a clump of tissue that I want gone!"

"Belle, that isn't true! That is..."

Belle went on her tiptoes to put one hand at the nape of his neck and one hand on his mouth. She looked him square in his brown eyes, with a vicious fire burning in her blue eyes. "You...WILL... PAY...FOR...THE ABORTION!" She annunciated every word.

His eyebrows knit together and he glared at her as he shoved her hand away. "I will do no such thing!"

He stepped around her and yanked the door open. He stormed down the hallway, through the living room.

"Yedi, my boy..." Mr. Larson called out, but Yedidyah didn't even pause as he slammed the front door and ran down the porch steps.

Lydia's eyes flew open as her alarm clock declared that it was 7:00 a.m. She jumped out of bed. Today was the day!

The date-Monday, July 4, 2005. This was the day Lydia, Beth, her sister, and Manasah, her brother had waited for the whole year! This was the morning they would head out for Brazil on a two week missions trip with their youth group and many other American youth.

She rushed through breakfast and getting ready. They loaded their three suitcases and three carry-ons into the van. Finally everything was ready.

By this time it was only 7:30. They didn't leave until 8:30! Lydia screwed her face. They had a whole hour until they would leave. She had nothing else to do until then! For almost that whole hour she trailed after her little sister, Grace. The excitement was killing her!

"Lee, will you go see what time it is, and ask Dad when we're leaving?" Lydia inquired of her brother when she saw he was heading for the house.

"Sure thing."

Lydia was about to burst! In one way it seemed like it had just been yesterday that their pastor had told the youth group about this trip, yet at the same time it had seemed like ages had passed since that cold November night. This can make one quite antsy-the effect it was having on Lydia.

"It's time!" Beth exclaimed, as she, their mom and dad, Manasah, Lee, and Zawadi poured out of the side and front doors and into the front yard.

"I think we need to pray before you leave," their mom, Jamie said picking Grace up.

"Dear Lord, I ask that You," Lydia's dad prayed as they bowed their heads, "would protect Lydia, Beth, and Manasah as they go down to Brazil to minister to the people down there. Amen."

Once all of the good-byes were said, Lydia, Beth, and Manasah piled into the van with their dad. They drove down the driveway waving to their mom, brothers, and Grace. They were finally on their way to Pastor Rod's house where they were to meet up with all the others. As ecstatic as they all were about going they were going to miss their family something terrible. Lydia brushed a tear away.

"It seems odd to be finally going after so long." Beth mused from the front passenger's seat.

"Yeah, it does," Lydia agreed, "especially after all that work and frustration." She thought of all the paperwork and support letters they had worked on. She had never known how much work it took to get ready for a missions trip, even for only two weeks.

"It's going to be really weird being away from home and everybody for so long," Manasah spoke up. It had been a subject the three had talked about a couple of times during lunch chores. They had never been gone for so long from both of their parents.

"Yeah, really," both Beth and Lydia agreed.

Lydia jumped out once they were parked at Pastor Rod's house. They were the first ones there. Pastor Rod was packing his and Mrs. Olsen's suitcases in to the church van as they got out.

"Good-morning," he greeted with his usual, bright smile.

It wasn't long until the others started driving up. Everybody started talking all at once and fast.

"It's about time we started off, but first I think we need a group picture," Pastor Rod announced once the last person had arrived.

So everybody stood or knelt in front of the red church van as all the parents gathered around with their cameras. "Mom, can you take a picture with my camera too?" Cat Fallen gave her mom her digital camera and then fell into line in the back row.

"Come on, let's get moving!" Lydia thought trying to contain her anxiousness.

After what seemed like hours the cameras stopped flashing and everyone started piling into the two vans. It was about time! They still had a very long way to go, but at least they were moving again. Lydia thought little of the road that stretched out ahead of her. She was just glad to be heading in the right direction!

------------------

"Cat, you need to be getting up," Cat Fallen's mom called at the door of Cat's bedroom. Cat jolted up out of bed. She was filled with exhilaration at those very words. This was the day she had been praying about and preparing for for so long! Now it was finally here! At long last, she, her youth pastor and his wife, and thirteen other teens from youth group would be heading for Brazil!

"I can't believe it, I'm going to another country! I'm going to a completely different continent!" These ecstatic thoughts had kept her up late into the night.

"We sure are going to miss you," Cat's mom said coming over to her and giving her shoulders a squeeze as she ate breakfast.

"I'm going to miss you too." Cat leaned her head on her mother's shoulder for a second.

She finished getting ready and then hollered, "Mom, I'm ready to go!"

"Ok, let's go," her mom replied jingling her keys.

The half hour ride into town flew by. For the first few minutes she and her mom chit chatted, but after awhile Cat fell silent. Slowly she drifted off into a daydream.

Cat came back to reality when she saw the pastor's yard filled with youth and luggage. Cat jumped out and grabbed her bags out of the back seat.

Finally they started to load up into the church van and Rohn Yoder's green van. Cat was excited to at last be on the next leg in the journey. It still would be a long wait until she set her eyes on Brazil but that didn't matter. It was great to be moving. Besides each part of this experience had its own adventures, and she didn't want to miss any of them by wishing to be somewhere else.

@Reaper

Lydia headed into the dining room which easily seated the three hundred to four hundred crew members. A slight smile graced her face as she listened to the low hum of the breakfast audience. Every once in a while, the hum would be punctuated by a boisterous laugh from the Chief Engineer. “Our four hundred seventy crew are the heart and soul of Mercy Ships!” Chief Tom pounded his fist on the table with enthusiasm. Without missing a beat, Lydia could join him in his speech that he gave to every new person who sat down at his table. “Our surgeons couldn’t help the people of Africa without the dedicated engineers keeping the lights on. The dear nurses couldn’t speak comfort to a scared baby with the cleft lip if it wasn’t for our faithful dining room stewards keeping the dining room clean and serving us food. Yet more importantly, Mercy Ships would only be another organization stitching people up if it wasn’t for the crew’s whole hearted commitment to LOVING GOD!” No need to look, Lydia raised her right fist into the air shadowing Chief Tom’s motions. “LOVING AND SERVING OTHERS, being people of integrity in all we say and do, and being people of excellence!” Since Lydia worked in the dining room, she had heard the loud spoken chief engineer give that speech countless times while making coffee, sweeping floors, or wiping down counters.

“Uhhh...” a small nervous cry escaped her lips when she glanced at the clock mounted on the glass wall that divided the dining room into halves. She could sense the second-hand ticking. She scurried over to the food and drink lines. The way the lines were set up created a horse shoe in the front of the dining room. She quickly made herself a peanut butter sandwich and sat at one of the front tables to scarf it down. She had the sandwich finished in a surprising amount of time for such a sticky substance.

She walked in behind the horse shoe and into the dish room where she found one of her teammates stacking the plates in the shallow, pronged crate. “Mar-ty!!!” Lydia sang in a goofy voice. She set down her breakfast plate on the stainless-steel counter trying her best not to reveal her jittery hands.

“Morning Lydia, how are you?” The bald chaplain from San Fransisco asked as he hosed down the dirty plates.

“Scared and overwhelmed by the prospect of going to screening today,” she finally admitted. There was no use denying it. She was in desperate need of prayer. The small, Minnesota, country girl inside her desperately wanted to run back to her cabin.

“Oh,” Marty stated in an understanding tone.

Lydia had been with Mercy Ships for almost two years, and had yet to be at a screening day. Screening Day...Lydia was thrown into thoughts that she wasn’t quite sure how to put into words…A day that for many had been long awaited. It was a day that had been advertised for weeks. It was a day that could very well launch a person into a new beginning, one that would be of living and not just surviving. Children who couldn’t walk to school because of painful club feet and had to forlornly watch from the sidelines as their friends played games that they couldn’t join because their clubbed feet prevented them from running. For some, even, it was a matter of life or death, a matter of being given a better life, or dying a slow, excruciating death of starvation, suffocation, and rejection. Men, women, and children suffered rejection because others thought they were cursed or possessed with a demon because of facial tumors that made it impossible to eat or breath.

Lydia's eyes flew open as her alarm clock declared that it was 7:00 a.m. She jumped out of bed. Today was the day!

The date-Monday, July 4, 2005. This was the day Lydia, Beth, her sister, and Manasah, her brother had waited for the whole year! This was the morning they would head out for Brazil on a two week missions trip with their youth group and many other American youth.

She rushed through breakfast and getting ready. They loaded their three suitcases and three carry-ons into the van. Finally everything was ready.

By this time it was only 7:30. They didn't leave until 8:30! Lydia screwed up her face. They had a whole hour until they would leave. She had nothing else to do until then! For almost that whole hour she trailed after her little sister, Grace. The excitement was killing her!

"Lee, will you go see what time it is, and ask Dad when we're leaving?" Lydia inquired of her brother when she saw he was heading for the house.

"Sure thing."

Lydia was about to burst! In one way, it seemed like it had just been yesterday that their pastor had told the youth group about this trip, yet at the same time it had seemed like ages had passed since that cold November night. This can make one quite antsy-the effect it was having on Lydia.

"It's time!" Beth exclaimed, as she, their mom and dad, Manasah, Lee, and Zawadi poured out of the side and front doors and into the front yard.

"I think we need to pray before you leave," their mom, Jamie said picking Grace up.

"Dear Lord, I ask that You," Lydia's dad prayed as they bowed their heads, "would protect Lydia, Beth, and Manasah as they go down to Brazil to minister to the people down there. Amen."

Once all of the good-byes were said, Lydia, Beth, and Manasah piled into the van with their dad. They drove down the driveway waving to their mom, brothers, and Grace. They were finally on their way to Pastor Rod's house where they were to meet up with all the others. As ecstatic as they all were about going, they were going to miss their family something terrible. Lydia brushed a tear away.

"It seems odd to be finally going after so long." Beth mused from the front passenger's seat.

"Yeah, it does," Lydia agreed, "especially after all that work and frustration." She thought of all the paperwork and support letters they had worked on. She had never known how much work it took to get ready for a missions trip, even for only two weeks.

"It's going to be really weird being away from home and everybody for so long," Manasah spoke up. It had been a subject the three had talked about a couple of times during lunch chores. They had never been gone for so long from both of their parents.

"Yeah, really," both Beth and Lydia agreed.

Lydia jumped out once they were parked at Pastor Rod's house. They were the first ones there. Pastor Rod was packing his and Mrs. Olsen's suitcases in to the church van as they got out.

"Good-morning," he greeted with his usual, bright smile.

It wasn't long until the others started driving up. Everybody started talking all at once and fast.

"It's about time we started off, but first I think we need a group picture," Pastor Rod announced once the last person had arrived.

So everybody stood or knelt in front of the red church van as all the parents gathered around with their cameras. "Mom, can you take a picture with my camera too?" Cat Fallen gave her mom her digital camera and then fell into line in the back row.

"Come on, let's get moving!" Lydia thought trying to contain her anxiousness.

After what seemed like hours the cameras stopped flashing and everyone started piling into the two vans. It was about time! They still had a very long way to go, but at least they were moving again. Lydia thought little of the road that stretched out ahead of her. She was just glad to be heading in the right direction!

------------------

"Cat, you need to be getting up," Cat Fallen's mom called at the door of Cat's bedroom. Cat jolted up out of bed. She was filled with exhilaration at those very words. This was the day she had been praying about and preparing for for so long! Now it was finally here! At long last, she, her youth pastor and his wife, and thirteen other teens from youth group would be heading for Brazil!

"I can't believe it, I'm going to another country! I'm going to a completely different continent!" These ecstatic thoughts had kept her up late into the night.

"We sure are going to miss you," Cat's mom said coming over to her and giving her shoulders a squeeze as she ate breakfast.

"I'm going to miss you too." Cat leaned her head on her mother's shoulder for a second.

She finished getting ready and then hollered, "Mom, I'm ready to go!"

"Ok, let's go," her mom replied jingling her keys.

The half hour ride into town flew by. For the first few minutes she and her mom chit chatted, but after awhile Cat fell silent. Slowly she drifted off into a daydream.

Cat came back to reality when she saw the pastor's yard filled with youth and luggage. Cat jumped out and grabbed her bags out of the back seat.

Finally they started to load up into the church van and Rohn Yoder's green van. Cat was excited to at last be on the next leg in the journey. It still would be a long wait until she set her eyes on Brazil but that didn't matter. It was great to be moving. Besides each part of this experience had its own adventures, and she didn't want to miss any of them by wishing to be somewhere else.

Terrelle put his hand in his coat pocket for his gloves and brushed his fingers against a piece of paper. His brows knit together in confusion as he pulled it out. "What's this?"

He unfolded it to find a carefully printed note.

You went on a missions trip

to Brazil. Tell me

about it.

CW

"CW?!" CW was a troubled teen. He had been sent to the Juvenile Detention Center, where Terrelle worked, for several things. He hadn't know CW had even heard about his trip to Brazil. Though he realized this was CW challenging him, he was delighted at the unexpected opportunity.

He walked out to his car, shoulders hunched against the cold wind that had picked up. He was overjoyed by this opportunity that had opened up. He had prayed for something like this ever since he had come home from Brazil. He drove out of the parking lot and into the flow of traffic. Even though he had prayed for such an opening, he had never dreamed of getting a note from CW, an angry, rebellious sixteen-year-old with long brown hair. He had been on Terrelle's heart ever since he had seen that young man hauled into the center.

That note was an unexpected, pleasant surprise. CW was a street kid with a rock in his chest instead of a heart. Yet Terrelle had never given up on him! CW was often in his prayers and thoughts.

"How to reach this young man?" Terrelle thought. He knew the direct approach would just push CW farther away. "Lord give me wisdom."

Terrelle stopped in front of of Mandie's house. He was going to take her out to a nice restaurant and a movie for the night. He and Mandie were going to get married once they were done with college. Until then they went out as often as their school and work would allow.

"Hi, Terrelle."

"Hi, you look very nice tonight," he said when Mandie opened the door revealing herself in a blue full-length dress.

"Thanks."

The two talked about school on the way to the restaurant. Yet hard as he tried, Terrelle was failing at concentrating on the conversation. He couldn't help but think of that note. His mind was roiling with ideas of how to answer. The possibilities for CW were endless and that was exciting!

Five minutes later they stopped in front of the restaurant. Terrelle opened the door for Mandie and the two walked in. "I have a reservation for two," Terrelle told the waiter.

"Your name, sir?" The man said grabbing two menus.

"Terrelle Peterson."

The waiter led them to a table in a far corner. He placed their menus on the table and left. "You seem to be distracted. Is something wrong?" Mandie asked Terrelle who held her chair for her.

"Am I that obvious?"

Mandie shrugged her slender shoulders. He looked at her over the candles that burned in the middle of the table. Shadows played over her face and accented her slanted eyes.

Terrelle pulled the slip of paper out of his coat pocket. "I found this in my pocket today as I was leaving."

Mandie read the slip of paper, "Is this the kid you're always talking about?" She handed it back to him. "The one with the long, straggly brown hair?"

"Yes, that's him," Terrelle said his eyes dancing with excitement. "How would you think I should approach him?"

"I don't know," Mandie said looking thoughtful. She didn't act very excited, but Terrelle hadn't expected her to. God had put the passion for CW on his heart not hers. Even so, she possessed a knack for thinking through things, seeing them at angles he had never even known had existed.

"Why not just use the same approach he did? Give him a note."

Terrelle had thought about it but hadn't been real sure about it. "To tell him all about it in a note I might lose his interest before I was half way through, losing maybe my only chance at reaching him."

"Only tell the best story you have. You know like these appetizers." Mandie made a graceful gesture over the list of delectable looking appetizers. "They are just a small taste of what is to come. A starving man eats an appetizer-his hunger won't be quenched but increased. He has had a taste of something divine and knows that the main course will be ten times better. If CW is truly searching for an answer, one story will be an appetizer."

Terrelle got a far-away look in his eyes as he thought about that. It made sense. It was ridiculous that he hadn't thought about that. He had been so excited about telling CW everything that he hadn't seen that option. The problem with a letter was he wouldn't have been able to see if he was boring CW and should stop or not. He knew just the story he would give. He started to slowly nod. "Thanks, Mandie, I'll do that."

After the supper and movie Terrelle took Mandie back to her house. He then headed home with a tired sigh. It had been a good night, but now he was exhausted. He had thought he would be able to write out that story after his date with Mandie, but as it was he was having trouble just staying awake long enough to get home. He rolled down his window thinking maybe the brisk, fall air would help keep him up long enough. It worked well enough. It was a beautiful night. The stars were out in all their glory, the moon a radiant orangish-red color. "Lord, I thank You for CW, and that You have started to work on his heart," Terrelle spoke out loud.

The next morning started out bright and beautiful, with the trees donning their fall splendor. It was a Saturday-Terrelle's day off. He started his day with a piece of toast, an apple, and a glass of milk. Once he had prayed for his meal, he took paper and pencil in hand and went to the task of writing down the story he had chosen for CW. It had been one that had stayed with him ever since that day.

"CW...

When he had finished it and his breakfast, he hopped into his car with the letter in hand. He wanted to get this to CW as soon as possible. It only took a few minutes to get down to the JD Center.

"Terrelle, what are you doing here?" the front desk officer asked, looking up as Terrelle strode in.

"I have something I need you to give CW."

"You mean Mr. I'm-going-to-make-you-pay-for-arresting-me? You mean, of all the places you could be today, you came here to give something to him," the officer asked raising an eyebrow in suspicion. "Read it yourself, Michael. There is nothing subversive in it." Terrelle handed the folded piece of paper over to the older man. Michael was a new Christian that Terrelle had come to respect.

"I'm sorry, Terrelle," Michael gave a tired, frustrated sigh, "I know that. I'll be sure CW gets it."

"Thanks, God bless you," Terrelle said over his shoulder.

"You too," Michael called after him.

-------------------

CW stood on the far side of the courtyard where the kids were allowed out on nice days. He had his arms crossed and was glowering at all the guards who were posted around the perimeter. He hated this place and the guts of all the people who had put him here.

He saw the guard who usually was posted at the entrance and who had to clear people before they came in walking toward him. He stiffened, his eyes narrowing. What did the fool want? He was asking for trouble.

"I was told to give you this," Michael mumbled handing a piece of paper to CW. CW glared at him ripping the paper out of his hand.

Michael bit his lip looking ready to take offense. His whole face told CW that he was fighting the urge to beat CW's face in. CW gave him a menacing grin, just daring him to do it.

Michael whirled around on his heel and strode off. CW at first thought about throwing the paper away. "What does anyone care about me anyway?" No one cared. If they did he wouldn't be here.

However, just as he was about to rip it into a million pieces something made him stop. Who would have written him? He knew it would have been screened before given to him so it couldn't be from any of his friends. "Some friends they are!" CW snorted. They had helped and had even planned some of the schemes, but when the police came they had run off, leaving him to fend for himself. He had been bleeding and couldn't stand up and even his best friend had deserted him.

"Who cares," CW thought shoving away the feeling of abandonment, "I don't." CW tried to be tough and berated himself for caring about those dumb guys. They didn't mean anything to....It didn't work. As hard as he tried to put up an indifferent air he felt like curling up in a ball and crying. Angry at himself for being such a cry baby he whirled around and slammed his fist into the cement wall.

"Hey! Cool it kid!" one of the guards hollered.

"Zip it!" he screamed back.

He turned around so his back was to everyone else. Still brooding over being a sissy, he unfolded the paper.

CW,

You sure are giving me a challenge.

CW grinned. So Terrelle had gotten that, had he? Good.

Yet I love a good challenge and so I shall meet your challenge with the best story I have.

There wasn't a smug attitude or a defensive attitude behind that sentence. It was just a simple statement.

The first day we were ministering at Bola de Neve, one of the churches, the speaker asked for everyone to pray about receiving words of knowledge for ministry time. Words of knowledge are where God tells you something about someone. Like something about their past or if they have an illness. I had never gotten a word for anyone during ministry time. I prayed a simple prayer and asked for one. I got a vision so quick I didn't know if it was me or God. The vision was of an older woman with a cancerous tumor in her left breast. I went back and forth between going up and giving the word and not giving the word. I decided that I would rather look foolish and obey than not look foolish and sit in disobedience.

CW snorted at this.

I went up and gave the word, but no one stood up to claim the word. I thought to myself, "Oh well, I obeyed God." That night I was still thinking about it and I prayed another simple prayer, "God, if that was You, I want to meet the woman who had the tumor. The next day at Bola de Neve, after ministry time, a woman came running up to me almost in tears. She found the nearest translator and began telling me the story. She said, "Yesterday, when you gave that word I knew it was for me. All of a sudden the fire of God fell on me and burned out the entire tumor. It is gone!" She said she was going to the doctor soon to prove it, but she knew it had dissolved. I was so happy and overwhelmed with her. I took pictures with her. Later on she bought me a shirt that said in Portuguese, "Approved by the Holy Spirit." That story has stuck with me for this entire time. I carry her picture in my Bible to always remind me of what God can do with someone who is willingly obedient.

Hope that helped.

God bless you!

Terrelle

P.S. I do care. I hope this testimony shows you that God cares too!

That last part hit CW hard. Someone cared about him?! Why would anyone care? No one had ever considered what happened to him! There he went again, getting all emotional. "What's with you CW? You're being such a baby!"

Yet he couldn't shake the feeling. Someone actually went out of their way to tell him one simple sentence. Who would do that? Then there was this issue about God dissolving a tumor. Could He do that? Did He even exist? How could He exist? He had never done anything for CW. When CW had been young, he had thought there might be a god and had cried out for help. He had been answered by cold silence!

"Hah! CW, what are you thinking? This guy's crazy, that's all. No one could be cured of cancer like that," he mumbled to himself. Oh great, now he was talking to himself. He was loonier than Terrelle!

He crumpled up the paper and threw it to the ground in defiance. He resented the fact that a few sentences could rouse such emotions in him! He was being one of those emotional ninnies he and his friends had laughed at. He stalked away from the paper.

The rest of the day he tried everything he could think of to shake the feelings that had been stirred up by Terrelle's letter. He tried harassing the guards, railing on the other kids, and ramming into things. Nothing worked. Those three words kept running through his mind. I do care! I do care! I do care!

-----------------------

"Michael said you wrote CW a letter. What did you write to him?" Clare, JD Center's cook, asked when Terrelle entered the locker room, where the guards and other workers kept possessions while on duty.

"I told him about my trip to Brazil. Why?"

"He's been acting odd. It's like he has something on his mind that he can't get rid of."

"Really?" Terrelle gave a pleased smile.

He put away his coat and stuff and headed out to start the day. He wanted to go to see CW but decided against it. If CW was impressed by the story he would seek him out. "Thank You, Lord!" Terrelle praised God as he went about his work.

"You!" Terrelle heard CW come up behind him a few minutes later. He turned around to find the teen practically on him. "You really believe all that stuff you wrote?" CW growled.

"Yes." Better judgment told him to let CW say his piece before trying to back up that statement.

"You're crazy!! There's no god who could do that! Even if there is a god who could do that, he doesn't care about people."

Terrelle felt the Lord guiding him to jump on that statement. "CW, God loves you. He never abandoned you. He was just waiting for the perfect moment to reveal Himself."

CW took a startled step back. He looked to the ground as though trying to regain his bearings and control. When he looked back up, he had masked his feelings with rebellion. "He doesn't care about me," CW snapped, though weakly.

"Doesn't He? Did you ever call out to Him?"

CW looked like he wasn't sure if he should admit to that. "Yes, a lot of times, and I never got a response."

"If He had answered you at the time would you have stayed with Him?"

CW didn't answer that question. Terrelle closed his eyes, searching for the right words. "Lord, give me wisdom," he prayed. Still the words seemed to elude him.

He finally just opened his mouth out of faith that God would bring the words if he would just step out. "CW," he put his hand on the boy's shoulder, "I can't tell you why God stayed quiet at the time you called out to Him. Yet it is from personal experience that I can tell you that He is always in control and will turn things around if you will turn to Him wholeheartedly. I could be wrong, but maybe God was waiting until you were really desperate and really wanted Him. Maybe when you were calling out to Him you weren't really wanting Him and just were trying to find an easy way out of your troubles."

A tear welled up in CW's eye. His perpetual glare faltered and then shattered as he totally broke down into tears. This didn't surprise Terrelle. He had been thinking that under that mask of a bully was a little, hurting boy. Terrelle looked around and then with a fatherly arm led CW into one of the rooms where lawyers interviewed the kids. He closed the door and sat down in a chair. CW plopped down in a chair across from Terrelle still crying.

"It can't be true. If God is as caring as you say, then why would He allow so much hurt in this world?" CW was still fighting the thought. It was obvious a loving God was still beyond CW's comprehension, yet he was hoping it was true. Terrelle saw that look of fearful hope in CW's eyes. He desperately wanted love yet was afraid to reach out for it in case it was a mirage.

"Because a couple thousand years ago God created the world and the first man and woman, and gave them a free will. They chose to disobey Him. Because of that abuse, disease, murder, and rejection entered the world. He didn't want it that way, but He gave them the choice."

"Why would He do that?" CW looked up surprised.

"He wanted to have a relationship with His people. Can you force someone to love you?" Terrelle looked CW straight in the eye knowing this would be a fact the kid would know well.

CW looked down at the table in front of him. "No," he whispered.

Terrelle nodded his head. "God wanted to love His people, but He gave us the choice. We chose to disobey Him. We were made to be in communion with God. When we turned from Him we lost a paramount part of us. You have an understanding about cars don't you?"

CW nodded.

"If you pour water onto the wires and into parts of the car that aren't supposed to have water in them, what will happen?"

CW looked at him as though he was being dumb. "It will break down."

"That's right. We doused water on God that moment of the first rebellion. Now we are breaking down. That's not the end of the story, however. God loves us so much that He sent His Son to save us from our sin. We deserve to die! We rejected God. Even so, He sent Jesus to die in our place, to defeat death and illness by rising from the dead! Now we can have eternal life! All we have to do is accept His gift of love and life."

CW wiped at the tears that ran down his cheeks. He looked down at the table thinking through what Terrelle had said. "It can't be that easy. Nobody gives something for nothing," he said gruffly, pushing his chair out from the table and heading for the door.

"CW." In two long strides Terrelle was beside CW. "Try Him. You have nothing to lose." He pulled out a small Bible out of his hip pocket and held it out to CW. CW looked at it unsure of himself. Still he took it silently before walking out the door.

Terrelle had to admit he was a bit disappointed as he watched that receding back. He was so sure that he had seen a hunger in those eyes. He couldn't just stand here brooding about it, though. He went back to work, praying for CW as he went about it. He had obeyed the Lord in speaking up. Now he would just have to lift the situation up to Jesus.

Finally Terrelle's shift was over. He headed out for his car. He hadn't seen CW for the rest of the day, but he had kept him in his prayers. He wasn't about to give up on CW.

----------------------

The next day Terrelle had school. The whole day CW was in his thoughts and prayers. On Wednesday he went back to work, but for half the day saw nothing of CW. Where was he? Terrelle usually saw him at least twice a day.

"Terrelle, come here I have something you are going to want to see for yourself," Clare said coming up to him. She led him to the cafeteria and pointed to a table in a far corner where CW sat, his nose stuffed in a little book. Beside him was a plate of food. "Monday about this time I was about ready to close up shop when he came waltzing in asking for his lunch. At first, I was a bit perturbed that he hadn't been in here before with the rest of the kids. Than I got a closer look at the book he's reading now. Terrelle, it was a Bible. He's been reading it ever since you gave it to him. He goes to a part of the center that is kind of secluded and sits there for hours until some of the kids start paying attention to him and then with a gruff word he moves to another spot," Clare explained quietly.

"Cool!" Terrelle exclaimed with a smile.

"Are you going to say anything to him?"

"No, I've said all I can. If he wants to talk to me, he knows he can. Thanks, though. That was good to see." Terrelle went back to work, praying for CW as always.

"Lord, it is now in Your hands, but I would like to know what's going on."

---------------------

CW went to bed that night feeling more turbulent than ever before. He had devoured the stories of Jesus, especially the ones about healing, over the past few days. He had felt crazy and foolish for reading a Bible. His dad always said the Bible was for the old and helpless. Yet, he couldn't stop himself. Something in the stories drew him in. He couldn't put the book down. The only reason he stopped at night was the lights were turned off without exception.

He tossed and turned in his bed for over an hour unable to sleep. He felt so lonely, more alone than he ever had. The walls of the center closing in on him ever since he had come. Tonight, the oppression was suffocating. He had tried to hide the depression by acting angry and rebellious. That was failing miserably! He was at the very bottom. There were many times he had thought he couldn't get any lower, but those times were incomparable to this! He was definitely at rock bottom now. He couldn't live this way any longer!

Finally, he rolled out of bed and knelt beside it. "God, I've read stories about Your Son. I don't know if You'll forgive anyone like me, but if You will have me, I will do whatever You ask!" As the words left his mouth, a peace beyond words filled his innermost being. With that peace came a weariness that he couldn't fight. He fell asleep on his knees that night. Even though he slept in a weird position, it was the best sleep he had in years. For as long as he could remember, he had been plagued with nightmares. For the first time in eons, he dreamed of beautiful colors whirling around him. It was an odd dream, but with it, there came feelings of euphoria, which he had never felt before! He had met the God who heals physical, emotional, and spiritual problems. Now he would never be the same!

--------------------

The following days passed by him like lightning. There was so much CW wanted to do! The days didn't afford him enough time to do it all! Where as before he had thought the days were cruelly long, now he thought they were way too short. Yet, also in a way, he was glad that they were short. That meant less time until he saw Terrelle again.

Friday night came, and CW was waiting for Terrelle to come in for the night shift. He excitedly bounced around. He itched to see Terrelle and tell him the good news!

"Hey man! I've been waiting for you!" CW pounced when Terrelle arrived.

Terrelle took a step back, shocked at the sudden appearance and the emotion in which he was greeted, but not really surprised by the change in CW. It took him a second to regain himself, but then he smiled at CW. "Wow! It's good to see the change in you!"

"Wednesday night I couldn't take it any more. I asked God to come change my life," CW told Terrelle having to tilt his head back slightly to look Terrelle in the face. His own face was one huge smile.

"Hallelujah! I'm so glad to hear that!" Terrelle gave CW a slap on the back.

The two talked until it was time for CW to go to his cell. Terrelle promised to come back the next day and start a Bible study with him. CW headed for his cell with a light step. The past two days had been the best in his life but talking to Terrelle had made them even better!

-------------------

Terrelle was praising the Lord tonight. He was so glad that CW had at last asked God to be ruler of his life! He was so happy. He could hardly wait to tell someone!

Early the next morning as he was driving home into the bright morning sun, he was still excited over CW's news! The beautiful morning matched Terrelle's high spirits and he reveled in it. He bounded out of his car door and up the steps to his door. He rushed in, went straight to the phone and dialed a phone number that he had become familiar with. He knew this person would be up by now.

Ring! Ring! Ri... The phone on the other end was picked up. "Hello, Pastor Rod and Connie Olsen's residence," the female voice on the end said.

"Hey, Connie, I'm sorry to be calling so early, but I just had to talk to someone! There has been this kid at the Juvenile Detention Center where I work that I've really felt burdened to pray for ever since he came a couple months ago. He just accepted Christ!"

Terrelle held the phone away from his ear as the expected squeal of delight came over the receiver. He smiled. That was the response he had been waiting for. "That's wonderful Terrelle! Praise God!" Connie finally said.

The two talked a minute longer before hanging up. Terrelle went about his day with a smile. It was great to see another of his prayers being answered. He never tired of seeing the different ways God answered them!

13.

Molly Bea gave a tired, heavy sigh, flopping down on her bed. It had been an extremely long day, with flying back from Brazil and then going to youth group. Yet, she wanted to write a few things down in her journal before succumbing to sleep. She grabbed her journal and a pen from her little box with drawers in it her grandpa had given her. She flipped to an empty page and began to write.

We are finally home! It was a wonderful trip! We saw thousands of healings and just as many deliverances and salvations. It is hard to put into words. It was so awesome!

One really neat thing that happened on the Brazil trip was getting drunk in the Holy Spirit. Once, about the third night, my roommate, Rose, and I got drunk on the Lord's annointing in our room. We had just gone to bed. I was laying there twitching and such. Rose said, "I want that." So I prayed for her. Then she started laughing and couldn't get back to her bed. I ended up on the floor too. It was so much crazy fun! We finally got back to bed about 3:15 a.m.

Another time, Rose and I got drunk on the Lord's annointing at a meeting. We were still drunk when we got on the bus to go for dinner. Erik, the bus captain told us that we couldn't go into the restaurant until we stopped manifesting. So everybody got off, and Rose and I were still on the bus. In a couple of minutes we had cooled off and went in to have supper. Myself, and Cat, got hoarse while we were in Brazil because of yelling so much when the Holy Spirit came on us. I could hardly talk at times.

The last night in Brazil, we had a fire tunnel. It was so awesome! You went through, got blasted with blessings from the Lord, then started praying for the others. By the time we finished up, I was looped. I swayed, staggered and laughed the whole way to my room. God is absolutely so much fun!

MollyBea looked over her entry smiling. It had been a great time. She would never forget it! She was extremely tired now. She had very little sleep the last night at Brazil and then hadn't gotten much on the way home. So now she was having difficulty keeping her eyes open. She yawned as she put her writing paraphernalia away and turning her light off.

"All right. Mind if I stay up awhile longer?" Lydia asked looking at her from her own bed.

"Don't care, but will you pray quick." MollyBea threw her blankets to the end of the bed and fell onto her pillow.

"Sure. Dear Jesus, we thank You for this day and all You have given us! We thank You for giving us the opportunity to serve You in Brazil. Thank You for moving so mightily through us. In Your name we pray. Amen."

"Thank-you," MollyBea mumbled already half asleep.

"Mmmhhhmmm," Lydia murmured and turned back to the letter she had started.

Dear Grandpa,

Hi, how are you doing? I'm doing pretty good. Exhausted! I haven't had much sleep the past few nights. I really need to get to bed, but I wanted to write you quick and tell you about Brazil.

It was awesome! We saw so many people healed and touched by God. The best part of it though was that I got to be a part of it all. I didn't just have to hear about it. I lived it!

I also learned a lot of things during the trip. I learned that God wants His people to be forceful, for that is how they lay hold of the kingdom. Also that God loves to heal everything, even the sore knees and the "pain-in-the-neck" colds. He will never say, "You whiner, stop tying up My time!" He would never even think it! Jesus loves to bless His people! It makes Him sad when we don't ask for His help. He loves it when we come to Him with everything. Whether it be finding a boyfriend, life, a headache, and much more!

I was also disappointed at first because I thought I wasn't changing during the trip and the Lord began to teach me that sometimes change comes a little at a time. I asked Him why. I got the impression that He does that so we keep pressing in to Him, never losing our dependency on Jesus.

Another thing I learned down there was that God will draw close to us, but He wants to know that we desperately want to be close to Him. In James 4:8 it says, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." Notice how it says we have to take the first step. If we desperately draw close to Him, no matter what it costs, He will draw near to us.

Well, Grandpa, it's getting late, and I'm bone-tired. I shall tell you more about Brazil later. I love you lots. May God pour His abundant blessings on you!!

Love,

your granddaughter,

Lydiamcfiddia

Lydia signed her letter by her nickname that her grandpa had given her. She looked over what she had written and then with a sigh folded it up. She set it on the trunk that sat between her and MollyBea's beds. She said her own personal prayer before falling into heavy slumber. There would be no tossing and turning for her tonight. Even though she usually was a night owl, sleep came to her quickly tonight. It had been a great trip. It was just as great to be home! It was always good to come home to her own bed!

----------------------------

"Hi Cat." Shanice greeted Courtney as she entered the house, arms loaded with baggage.

"Hi, it's so good to be home." Cat sank down into the couch and leaned her head back. She soaked in the softness and familiarity of it.

"Your lunch is almost ready, Cat," her mom said from the kitchen.

"Thanks." Cat reluctantly got up from the couch and dragged her stuff into her room. She then went into the kitchen.

"So tell us all about your trip." Shanice barraged Cat with questions as she sat down.

"I saw and learned a lot. It was great! Summing up my whole Brazil experience in one word-Wow! Before I was in Brazil I believed in healing, but I believed in healing through other people. I was healed by laying on of hands. I had seen it happen and believed the testimonies, but I had never laid hands on somebody and watched them get healed!" Shanice and their mom nodded acknowledging they were giving their full attention.

"I didn’t even realize I hadn’t experienced that until the first night. God healed this young man's rib right in front of my eyes! I couldn’t believe it! When I asked if the pain was gone, he nodded his head, shook my hand, and walked away. I thought that maybe he didn't understand, but then it kept happening! Each person I prayed for walked away with God healing them! There were so many physical healings. There were also many people who walked away with a touch from God which brought spiritual and emotional healings also. I had intercession for many of the people that I prayed for. I felt their emotional pain, knew things they thought about themselves, lies they believed that got in the way of their physical healing. Sometimes God showed me situations in their lives I needed to pray for for breakthrough. The things God showed me were always things I could use to pray for them. Most of the time I didn’t even tell them what God had showed me; I just spoke life and interceded for them in those areas. It blessed me as much as it blessed them because it showed me different ways God can talk to me that I had never experienced before." Cat paused a second as she relived the passion, joy, and exhilaration of the ministry times. For the millionth time, she thanked the Lord for all of it.

Cat shook herself out of the reverie and continued, "Once I had prayed through those things the healing would come…that was so amazing! It confirmed that God actually talked to me, and I was doing the right thing. Oh, to see the look on their faces when they received their healing! Wow!" Cat's mom laid a plate of food in front of her.

"Thank-you, Mom." Cat said a quick prayer over her meal and took a bite. "Yum!" She hadn't realized how much she had missed her dad's barbecued beef.

She then went on with her story. "I don’t even know what else to say. It’s hard to formulate words to relate everything. I'll try to sum it up in one paragraph:

God demonstrated His loving power through us daily while we were there, in an undeniable way! There were so many testimonies of amazing things that He did that it couldn’t be ignored. It was a life changing experience four hundred youth from all over the world got to participate in! God showed me that He could use “even little ol’ me”, and taught me nothing was too big for Him!" Cat's mom and Shanice both shook their heads in amazement at what they heard. There was definitely a change in Cat. It was obvious even in the way she talked.

-----------------

The days passed by quickly and soon it was a week since they had come back from Brazil. Lydia went to youth group with MollyBea, Jordan, and Jesse, and looked around for someone to talk to. Cat was at the piano getting ready for worship. "How have you been doing during this week home?" she asked Cat.

"Doing all right."

"Your flip flop stopped flashing?" Lydia asked looking down at Cat's flip flops.

"Yeah, last week when we had that mini fire tunnel we had here it stopped."

"Are you bummed?" Lydia asked picking up a sheet of music that had slipped from the keyboard.

"Thanks," Cat took it from her. "I was at first, but then God told me that it was symbolic. It started to continually flash during the fire tunnel in Brazil and stopped at the fire tunnel here. When we were in Brazil, we received a new level of anointing that was for our whole church. We carried it all the way home with us and imparted it to the people here the same way in the same level that it was given to us!" She went through her music book, picking out different songs.

"How long did it flash for?" Lydia knelt on the couch by the keyboard.

"Well we had the banquet then...," Cat wagged her finger thinking about the days, "...then we had youth on Wednesday. So it was two or three days."

"Wow!! Three days of continuously flashing. Did it break?"

"Everybody in the circle. It's time to start," Pastor Rod called turning off the lights. Everybody went to their spots and the worship started. It wasn't quite as good as at Brazil but it was still good.

-------------------

The weeks and months went by, bringing everyday challenges to the Mt. Zion teens who had gone to Brazil. Even still these fourteen young adults, Pastor Rod, and Mrs. Olsen had each learned something very important. They all saw God move and that would never leave them! Part of Brazil would always be with them, no matter where God took them next.

Then as time continued to go by the Lord began to teach Lydia about why there had been the level of anointing, power and passion in Brazil and not in the Mt. Zion church. In Brazil everyone had come with a hunger to see God move and to be used by Him. They had eaten, breathed, slept, and moved to bring their Savior glory. On top of that they were all constantly using their spiritual weapon of prayer. One of the strongest assets that God gives His children. Why wasn't Lydia seeing the same level of passion and hunger manifesting in Mt. Zion as she had seen in Brazil? The Almighty began to reveal to her that it wasn't necessarily because there wasn't any hunger, but that the enemy was out to try to keep Mt. Zion from fulfilling it's potential. God had given them the anointing and power. Cat's flip flops attested to that. All that was needed was for the people of Mt. Zion who had the hunger, to press in and pray it through. Lydia believed it could be done, because she had seen the same predicament solved with the church that Allie, Natalia, Terrelle, Pastor Rod, Mrs. Olsen, and herself had gone to. As Allie had said then, it was going to take a lot of prayer on their part and God's faithfulness on His part to break through it. It had been done before, it could be done again! To God be the glory

12.

Cat slipped her name tag over her head and looked at herself in the full-length mirror that hung by the closet. She wore her brown and cream striped shirt. She had on her khaki slacks and had made a belt out of all the Jesus bracelets she had gotten down here in Brazil.

Cat went over to the night stand and picked up her room key. Beside it lay the silver ring a nine-year-old boy had given her last night. She smiled to herself at the memory of it. Young Zacarias had come up to her with the ring and asked her to marry him. "I'm sorry I can't. I'm going back to the United States on Monday," Cat told him.

Zacarias looked to the translator who was standing nearby. After a minute of Portuguese exchange Zacarias looked at Cat again. "I go with." His eyes sparkled with hopeful delight.

"Don't tell him you will or that you wish you could. He'll take you seriously, as will his parents," the translator warned.

"I'm sorry, Zacarias. I can't take you with me." Again Zacarias discussed Cat's response with the translator.

"For you." He finally had spoken to Cat again, after the translator instructed him what to say. "Don't forget us."

Cat took the ring from him and wrapped her arms around him. "Obrigada, Zacarias."

When he pulled away his eyes were filled with delight. He then waved and ran off to play with his friends. Cat smiled after him as she slipped the ring on her index finger.

"He's so sweet," Cat told the translator as she stood up to leave.

"He is. He loves to give things to people. If he was given a hundred bucks, he would have a...how do you say it...a hay day giving people presents."

"That's cool." Cat put her Mickey Mouse book bag over her shoulder and started heading out after her team. "Bye, it was nice meeting you."

"You too," the translator waved. Cat returned it and then turned around.

That had been the last she had seen of either of them. Zacarias had endeared himself to Cat over the three days she had been at his church. He was a very special boy who would be in her prayers quite often.

"All right. Let's go," Stephanie said heading out the door in front of Cat.

--------------------

"You look very nice," Lydia complimented Dana when Dana came out of the bathroom. She was wearing a Chinese looking outfit with a matching headband.

"Thank-you. So do you," Dana said.

"Thank-you," she said finishing braiding her hair. "Ready?" she asked grabbing her name tag.

"Yep."

The two headed down the elevator, meeting several others on the way down. They were all in nice dresses and suits for the semi-formal good-bye meal. They went down to the conference room where they had all been the very first day. It, however, had been transformed. There were twenty round tables. The tables were covered with white table cloths and were set with fine plates, goblets, and silverware. In the middle of the room were several long tables that held all the food. Around the doors and pillars were wound thousands of balloons. There were also a lot of balloons floating up around the ceiling. Lydia had helped blow those balloons up for over three hours. There were over two thousand balloons hanging around that room! Lydia knew that it wouldn't take that long before the children of the pastors who had come would start popping them. Though it looked nice, Lydia thought it a waste of money and time to have so many, especially since it would only be for one night.

Dana wandered off to talk with some of her friends, so Lydia went to find someone from the Mt. Zion group. She ended up at a table with MollyBea, Jordan, Pastor Rod, and some of the others. MollyBea was beautiful in a blue, flowery dress and the makeup Lydia had given her for an early birthday present.

The night went on with the dinner and pastors giving testimonies of what had been happening in their churches. Then they had worship. Afterwards they had a massive fire tunnel: a human tunnel which other people went through and got prayed for. It was a wild night to top off a wonderful two weeks of Jesus blessing and healing people through them!

---------------------

"Let's go get into more comfortable clothes," Stephanie said coming up to Cat who had just broken out of the fire tunnel for a second.

"Sound like a good idea."

Cat had been having a blast in the anointing of God! The Holy Spirit had come down really strong in that room as they started worship and it continued as they did the fire tunnel. It was so amazing!!! People were getting drunk on the Lord's annointing and falling all over the place. Some were even having to be carried out of the way. Cat was loving it, being able to just love on the Lord and feeling Him loving on her! Yet more casual clothes did sound nice, so she followed Stephanie up to their room.

She kicked off her flip flops as she switched on the light. She had the flip flops that lit up every couple steps and loved to wear them everywhere. The right one landed leaning up against the dresser and kept flashing. "That's cool. Maybe it's how it landed." Cat thought and turned around to get dressed.

Once she was finished, she went to slip her flip flops back on! They were still flashing continuously! "Hey Stephanie, look, this flip flop hasn't stopped flashing since I kicked it off."

"Weird."

The two headed back down to the party and rejoined the fire tunnel. Cat went through several more times reveling in the tangible power and love of God. When it was announced that they had to break things up and get out of the conference room, her flip flop was still flashing continuously!

"Hey, look at this," Cat told Pastor Rod, Jordan, Lydia, and Kari. "My flip flop won't stop flashing. I noticed it when I kicked it off in my room, and it kept flashing!"

"It could be symbolic. It's your right flip flop that means your right side is closest to God."

"Cool," Kari exclaimed staring at the flip flop.

"Wow!" Cat agreed, amazed at the thought of it.

That night she had to throw a pillow over the flip flop, so she and Stephanie could get some sleep. In the morning it was still flashing like crazy. Cat shook her head in amazement as she slipped them back on in the morning. She was continually amazed at the different ways God showed Himself to people.

-----------------

"Lydia, I'm going to go get breakfast and then I'm going to leave." Dana's voice woke Lydia up. "Did you want to come down with me?"

"Yeah, sure. Thanks for waking me." Lydia shook her head in an attempt to clear the fog. She had asked Dana to wake her so she could say good-bye. She looked at the clock-quarter to six.

Lydia threw her flowery wrap over her shorts and followed Dana out of the room. They went to the main building where Dana dropped off her bags in the lobby. They then went up to the dining area where they were serving an early breakfast for the kids and leaders who were leaving on the morning plane.

Lydia talked with Dana while she ate and walked out with her to the waiting buses. Dana turned to Lydia before getting in line to board the bus. "Good-bye," Dana said and the two embraced.

"Good-bye."

Dana got into the line. Lydia waved one last time before turning around to go back in. She had come out in her stocking feet and thin sweater and was starting to feel the morning chill.

-------------------------

"I want to be home!" Lydia thought bouncing up and down impatiently the next afternoon. She and the rest of the Mt. Zion team waited out in front of the Minneapolis airport waiting for their rides. Lydia was tired and couldn't wait to be home.

All of a sudden a familiar green van came into sight. "Dad!" Lydia cried. Her eyes flew open with delighted surprise.

As soon as the van parked at the curb, Lydia ran around the van and yanked the door open. "Dad!!" She flung her arms around his neck. She had never known she would miss her parents so much. She was so excited to see him here!

"How is everybody?" Lydia asked moving aside so MollyBea and Jordan could say hi.

"They're all doing good," their dad replied walking around the van to help load up the suit cases and all.

It only took a few minutes to get everything packed. Then everyone piled into the Yoder van and the church van which the Fallens had driven up. Lydia hopped into the front with her dad.

"I thought the Zimmermans were going to come pick us up," Lydia said happy that her dad had come instead but curious as to why the plans had been changed.

"It turned out that there would be too much baggage and people to fit in just the church van and the Zimmerman's suburban so they asked me to do it again."

Lydia nodded her head in understanding. She answered her dad's few questions and then lapsed into a tired silence. She stared out at the beautiful, bright sunny day as she thought about the trip. It had been a fantastic trip with many memories made and a multitude of lessons learned. She would never regret this trip or the long frustrating hours of preparation. Still, it was great to be going home!

11.

The next night Lydia crossed the hotel lawn with book bag bouncing against her hip. She headed for the row of white vans parked along the curb. She popped into the van that had Allie Nopp's sign on it, only to find she was the second one to arrive.

"Hello, my name's Katie," the girl introduced herself. She had a very marked southern United States accent.

"I'm Lydia." She extended her hand to Katie after settling on the bench in front of her. "Where are you from?"

"West Virginia, and you?"

"Minnesota. Have you been on any of Randy Clark's other missions trips?"

"Yes, last year was my first time," Katie informed Lydia. She had long, orange hair, creamy white skin, with a smattering of freckles.

"Really? Which trip have you liked better so far?" Lydia asked turning sideways on the bench so she could look back at Katie.

"Well there have been things I've liked and not liked about both trips. This hotel is a lot nicer, but I think the anointing was stronger last year."

"Tom gave us sandwiches. The church will be giving us a snack after the ministry time but that's going to be a long time," Allie informed hopping into the car with a plastic, grocery sack. She handed each of them a sandwhich.

The others began to arrive. There was Randy, Savoy, Pastor and Mrs. Meyer who were friends of Pastor and Mrs. Olsen and had flown down with the Mt. Zion team. The rest of the people were unfamiliar faces. The girl who was to be one of the translators for the team looked as though she was from Indian descent. Her name was Cindy.

During the sermon Lydia, Katie, and another girl named Laura went up to a classroom to intercede. This church was a bit better off than the one Lydia had been to the past few nights. This classroom had a small collection of children's books, a long low table, and several kids-sized chairs.

When it came time for ministry Randy poked his head in. "C'mon down," he whispered.

They went down the steps, through the kitchen, and out the door of the partitioned off hallways. They lined up with the rest of the team as Allie opened up the front for anyone who wanted prayer. A man who was about her dad's height and had bleached, curly hair came up to Lydia. Her chest got tight with the feeling of anxiety. She looked to her right and then to her left looking for someone to change places with. Global Awakening had told the teens not to pray for anyone of the opposite gender unless there wasn't anyone else to pray for them, and Pastor Rod had said to use one's own good sense. "You will know if a man's reason for having you pray for him is not right," he had told Lydia. Lydia wasn't sure, the almost hectic atmosphere of having so many people around her and wanting prayer had often left her flustered. So trying to discern something on top of that was difficult for her.

Mike, who was on her left, had a woman in front of him and was also looking around. "I'll trade you," Lydia said, thankful for an excuse to not pray for a man.

"Thank-you," Mike said in a heavy, British accent.

The two switched spots and Lydia asked the translator what the lady needed. "Her son is backsliding." Lydia put a hand on the woman's shoulder with a smile.

"Vem, Senhor. Vem com seu poder. Lord I ask that You would touch this young man's heart." Lydia waited for the translation. "Stir up a hunger in him for You. Vem com seu paz."

Lydia prayed with the lady for several minutes. The lady smiled. "Obrigada," she said before walking off.

Another lady in a pink sweater came up to Lydia, and she guessed that the lady wasn't much older than her mom. Lydia tapped Cindy on the shoulder and Cindy turned around. She talked to the woman for a moment. "She has been struggling with arthritis." "What is her name?" Lydia asked.

"Lucilia." Cindy then walked off to help others.

"Vem, Espirito Santo. Mais uncao para cura. Lord, I ask You to heal Lucilia. Bring Your healing anointing." Lucilia began to shake under the Holy Spirit's power. She began to sway back and forth, looking like she would topple over backward. Lydia put a hand behind her. Yet, Lucilia was Lydia's height and heavy set. Lydia knew she wouldn't be able to catch her. "Pastor Meyer," Lydia called out to the pastor who was walking by at that moment. Seeing the predicament, he was behind Lucilia in one long stride.

Lucilia, who now had no way of staying on her feet, fell against his chest. He lowered her to the floor. She shook wildly the whole way. Lydia knelt down beside her to pray awhile longer while Pastor Meyer walked off.

"Mais Senhor. Mais uncao para cura," Lydia prayed unsure how long she should keep praying. The youth had been taught that when someone started manifesting that it was up to their own discernment how much longer they should pray. After awhile longer Lydia straightened and walked off. She would have to remember to ask Lucilia if God had healed her later, once the anointing had lifted.

The sanctuary was a fair sized room. On the left there was a fake partitioning wall that ran the length of the room, with a door at the back and one up front by the stage. The makeshift hallway led to a bathroom, the kitchen and the stairs up to the classroom where Lydia and the two others had interceded earlier. The chairs, like at Pastor Alda's, were plastic, white lawn chairs.

A man came up with a little, blond-headed girl in his arms. In Portuguese, he called out to the translator in a striped wool sweater who had glasses perched on top of his nose. "He wants you to bless his daughter, Beatriz," the translator explained.

"Thank-you," Lydia said. The translator nodded and walked off.

"Vem, Senhor. Lord, I ask that You would bless Beatriz abundantly! Si Senhor. Bless her with a hunger for You and a passion for Your word. I ask that You would give her many Christian friends. Friends who would build her up when she is feeling weak, and I ask that she would be able to do the same for them." Lydia began praying in tongues for a minute. She smiled at Beatriz. The girl was beautiful with golden curls, sparkling blue eyes, and fair skin. Beatriz stared at Lydia wonderingly as she prayed.

"It's time to start wrapping things up," Allie called out.

"Lord, I thank You for this precious little girl. May she give You praise through her life, showing many Your salvation. Amen!" Lydia finished and waved to Beatriz smiling. "Chow."

Beatriz's father spoke to her and after some cajoling a little uncertain hand began to wave at Lydia. Lydia smiled with delight. With one last wave she turned around and followed the others down the aisle to the waiting van.

--------------------

"Have you seen any amazing miracles?" Lydia asked striking up a conversation with Allie the next afternoon.

"I've seen blind eyes see, I prayed for several people with headaches, and a few broken bones. One thing I've learned though, is that all healings are amazing! I could never heal someone whether it be a sore knee or a cancerous tumor."

Lydia nodded. "Very true." She had been bummed. She had only been getting people with sore knees or things like that. She had thought those healings were small and of little significance. What Allie said was right, and it made Lydia realize how wrong her thinking had been.

Lydia looked out the window at the passing scenery. They were driving parallel to a river that was filled with garbage. It gave off the worst smell, making her feel queasy. On the medians between the busy highways people stood with booths of things to sell. Big balloon Pooh Bears and Mickey Mouses were tied to tree limbs and tables were arrayed with various items. Lydia had learned that Sao Paulo and its suburbs were filled with extreme contradictions. There were areas of big beautiful homes, expensive stores, and restaurants, while at other places there were only ramshackle buildings that were sorry excuses for abodes. There were men and women in fancy cars who paid poor children to clean their windshields while they were stuck in traffic.

--------------------

"The five steps to praying for healing are simple. This is not the only way to pray for people. Global Awaking uses it though because it is easy and proved to be effective." Paul was teaching on the "Five Steps of Healing". He had the translator who seemed to always wear a wool sweater and had glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. "Always rely on the Holy Spirit and what He is saying. The first step is to introduce yourself to the person and get their name. Be friendly and polite. Second, you want to find out what they have come up for. The third step will kind of just slip in with the second one here. Find out what caused the problem, whether it be physical, emotional, or spiritual. By now it is time to decide what prayer type is appropriate to pray. There are two types of prayer, petition and commanding." Paul looked to the translator and the translator interpreted for the Brazilians. "Petitioning is where you ask God to come and heal the person. Such as 'Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that You would heal Jack's leg.'" Lydia looked around the room. There weren't many chairs filled. There was probably no more than twenty or thirty people there. That was including Allie Nopp's attack force team.

She began to fidget a little. It was a beautiful day, that really should be enjoyed outside taking a walk or something of the sorts. It didn't help she had already heard this teaching several times already.

"Commanding is where you command whatever is causing the problem to leave. 'In the name of Jesus, I command the spirit of infirmity to leave Elizabeth's back.' When using this type of prayer, always remember to say 'In the name of Jesus' as it is in His authority that you pray for healing. You may want to command when there is some kind of spiritual attack causing the problem. Remember to listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying and ask Him what prayer type you should use. Step five, invite God to come with His healing power and wait to see what He does. From there it's just following His leading."

"Every once in awhile you will want to ask the person how they are doing, and if they can sense any change. They may feel heat or electricity in the area receiving healing. Just because they don't feel anything, though, doesn't mean God isn't healing them. Global Awakening has found out that fifty percent of the people who get healed don't feel anything."

If it hadn't been for the fact that so many different people had taught this teaching at the different churches Lydia had been to, she might of had parts of it memorized by now. "Remember-thank God for what He has already done and what He is going to do. If you run out of time, encourage the person to come back again to receive more prayer some other time, or to find someone else who could pray for them. Also if the person has several conditions they want you to pray for, always pray for them one at a time, asking God which one He wants you to start with."

"I prayed for this elderly lady the other day who believed she was going to be healed. She said that she had a pain in the neck, pain in the back, it was hard for her to breathe, and she said her legs didn't respect her any more." Paul bent his legs mimicking the lady in his story.

"So we started with the chest and prayed for a minute. I asked her to take a deep breath to test it and see if there was a difference. She was healed of that so we went on to her back and neck next. After awhile, she swung her torso side to side-no pain! We prayed for her legs last. She was going to test them by getting into her car at the end of the meeting, because that's where she had the most trouble with them. Yet, she said she believed they were also healed."

Paul then asked if somebody wanted prayer and would allow him to use them as an example of how to use the five steps of healing. A lady came up, and he and Allie prayed for her, talking through the steps as they prayed. After several minutes, she announced that she had been healed, and everyone clapped. Once she had stepped down, Allie called the rest of the attack force up and opened the front for anyone who wanted prayer.

---------------------

"Gabriella, can you tell me what she's saying," Lydia called to a girl about her age that she had met before the meeting had started. She had greeted the woman who had come up to her in Portuguese. That had been a mistake. The woman assumed Lydia knew more Portuguese than she did. She had burst into a torrent of words Lydia had never learned.

"She asks that you would pray that God would send her a boyfriend. Do you want me to stay?"

"No, you can go help somebody else." Once Gabriella had left, Lydia turned her attention to the woman. "Qual e seu nome?"

"Claudia," the woman answered Lydia's question.

Lydia prayed for several minutes for a godly boyfriend who would love and cherish Claudia. She prayed that it be someone Claudia could someday marry and live with for the rest of her life.

"Tell her how precious she is. Tell her that I love her very much," Lydia heard the Lord whisper. His still, small whisper was followed by an urgent pressure in her chest. It was a feeling she got when she had a word she needed to share.

"Gabriella, will you translate for me again?" Lydia laid a hand on the back of Gabriella's shoulder. Gabriella turned around and flipped her straight, black hair over her shoulder in one fluid motion.

Lydia then turned her attention back to Claudia. "Claudia, the Lord sees you as a precious jewel," Lydia began as she felt the Lord lead. "You are so beautiful! The Lord has made you very special. He wants you to know He loves you more than you'll ever know! He has the perfect man picked out for you. He will reveal him to you in the right time." Tears, that had begun to well up in Claudia's eyes when Lydia had begun to say this, now were trickling down her cheeks.

"More of Your love, Lord." Lydia prayed with Gabriella continuing to translate. "Reveal Your love to Claudia, Father."

A few minutes later Claudia wiped the tears away with her palm. Looking Lydia straight in the eye she smiled and said something in Portuguese. Lydia looked to Gabriella for the interpretation. "She thanks the Lord for His amazing love, and she thanks you for praying for her." Lydia watched as Claudia walked off. Her flowered skirt swishing around her legs. As there was no one else to pray for, Lydia went looking for Lucilia to ask if she had been healed after Lydia had prayed for her. Lucilia was at the back manning the table that had Randy Clark's books and tapes that were for sale. Gabriella had already walked off, so Lydia had to look for another translator. "Cindy, can you help me with something?" Lydia asked Cindy who was standing nearby.

"Sure, what?" Cindy asked picking up her Portuguese/English Bible.

"I prayed for this lady last night but she was slain in the Spirit before I could get a chance to ask if she'd been healed," Lydia explained nodding to Lucilia. "Could you ask her for me?"

"I can do that." The two began walking toward her.

"Thanks."

"Boa tarde," Cindy greeted Lucila.

"Boa tarde," Lucilia returned.

Lydia recognized the greeting as "good afternoon." After that the conversation was lost to her. "The Lord has completely healed her," Cindy finally told Lydia.

"Gloria a Deus!!" Lydia smiled at Lucila. She was pleased and thankful for another answered prayer.

"Gloria a Deus!" Lucila agreed matching Lydia's smile.

Lydia looked over her shoulder at the front at the sound of Allie's voice. Allie was dismissing the people and inviting them to come to the night's meetings. "Chow." Lydia nodded to Lucilia and headed back toward the front with Cindy following her.

When they got up to the front Allie was talking to the pastor of the church, with Gabriella's help. Once she was finished, she motioned for the team to gather around. "It is going to be about half an hour to forty-five minutes before they will have our supper ready. Does anyone want to do some street ministry?"

Paul, Mike, and Savoy all volunteered. Lydia looked out the big door at the beautiful day thinking it over. In the end, she decided not to. She was tired, and she still hadn't read her Bible.

-------------------

"Pastor Meyer, will you pray for the meal?" Allie asked once everyone was gathered. All heads bowed as Pastor Meyer began to pray. After he finished, everyone started to fill their plates and to pass around the beverages.

"How did the street ministry go?" Allie asked pouring a cup of coke and handing it to the van driver who had joined them for the meal.

"Fine. We met up with this elderly women who knew a little English. She asked us to pray for her son and daughter. Something about struggling with some issues in life. We prayed for her for fifteen minutes. Then she had to leave so we invited her to the meetings," Mike reported.

"I knew this lady who heard God tell her to go to China and translate for some big speaker...what was his name..." Pastor Meyer mused playing with his mug handle. "Ah, well, it isn't important. Anyway, she argues with God saying, 'Lord, I don't even know Chinese.' He told her to just go to China and let Him worry about the details. So she went, and the second she got out of the plane she could speak Chinese. Now, whenever she gets out of a plane in a new country she can speak the language."

"That's amazing!" Lydia shook her head in astonishment. "Does she remember all of them after she leaves the countries?"

"Well, from what she's told me, she processes everything through in her mother tongue," Pastor Meyer tapped his forehead, "but it comes out in the language of the country."

"Incredible!!" Mike said chuckling.

The rest of their supper time was spent passing stories around. It was a lot of fun and interesting. Lydia sat enthralled hearing stories from all over the United States, and in Mike's and Cindy's cases from different countries.

----------------------------

Pastor Rod sat down at the desk. His team had gotten back early, and he still had a little energy left. So he went to the job of telling the families what had been happening.

Oi.

It is late evening now:

I made it home by 12:15am. I went to a church of 250 people packed into a little building. It was a poor area of the city. When we walked in we walked into an open heaven. The people were hungry for God's presence. Worship was exciting!

Our team leader is 20 years old, knows 5 languages, and is planting a church on a college campus in Tennessee. When he graduates he plans on helping plant a church in Jerusalem. He gave a powerful message. He preached on the power of the testimony. In it he used the example of how April Heller’s missing muscle was restored, then the next day when her testimony was given two more were healed, then in the next city others were healed from hearing the testimony. If anyone sees April, they can tell her that her testimony is healing people all over the world now.

After the message we started praying for people. I saw three people healed when I prayed. One man had pain in both of his ankles. After a short prayer the pain was gone. An older lady had a buzzing in her ears and pain under her right shoulder blade. The buzzing went away and she felt no pain. Another younger woman testified that 8 years ago she had been paralyzed from the waist down due to an accident. God healed her 3 years ago but she still had pain in her back, and her feet remain very cold. God knocked her down, and she shook for 20 minutes. When she got up, her pain was gone and her feet were warm! I felt like Jesus was right beside me hugging the people! Ministry was easy tonight. There were about 80 people at our church who said they were healed!

It always gets better after the first night!

Thanks for you prayers,

Pastor Rod

-------------------

"Hi, Corrie," Jordan greeted his roommate coming into their room.

"Hi, Jordan." Corrie looked up from his Bible on the desk. "What happened with your team tonight?"

"Well we arrived at our church early tonight, so the Brazilians decided to take us to their prayer room to intercede for awhile before the night got rolling. It was awesome!" Jordan threw his blue book bag down on the suitcase stand. He plopped down on his bed and leaned over to untie his shoes.

"Really? Tell me about it?" Corrie asked twirling the chair around so he was facing Jordan.

"First off it wasn't even anywhere near the church. We started on this rocky path that led us into the woods and up a hill until we came to this large white building. The whole walk took about fifteen minutes.

While still outside, we removed our shoes. Then we walked through these huge double doors and into the prayer room. When we first walked in there was this huge room with nicely kept wooden floors. There were pillows lying everywhere. There were six smaller closet type prayer rooms off of the main room.

It was so peaceful and serene. When we first walked in, I was overtaken by it. The love for God in that place was just so amazing! They told us that there are literally people in there praying every single hour of the year. I don't know if that church was the most powerful one that I went to, however, it definitely was the hungriest for more."

"Wow!" Corrie whispered, his eyes lighting up with interest. He twirled back around and put a bookmark in his Bible and shut it.

He grabbed his guitar and strummed a few bars tuning it by ear. "What song do you want to do?" he asked looking up at Jordan.

"I Can Only Imagine."

Corrie nodded and began the song. The two began to sing their praises to the Lord, making sure not to be too loud. Jordan's deep voice and Corrie's higher one mingled and rose to the heavens in a pleasing sound to their Maker. They had been in Brazil almost two weeks. They had both been changed in many different ways. They had both come loving God, yet they would both go back to their homes with a deeper love and hunger for Him! It was an experience they would never forget! One that would open doors to new journeys for them.

10.

"Everybody, Pastor Tiago has something to say to us," Allie raised her voice above the others the next evening.

All eyes turned to the tall, older pastor and Alzira. "Our church has been going through a terrible struggle," Alzira translated what Pastor Tiago said. "We have faced much persecution from those around us." Pastor Tiago was about five foot eleven inches, in his fifties, and looked to be in good health for his age. "You have brought God's anointing to us and have strengthened us. I want to thank-you for that. We are truly grateful!"

Clapping and "Amens" circulated the little classroom as the Global Awakening team heard the answer to their prayers. When it quieted down Allie turned to Alzira, "Will you tell him that we have been feeling like something like that has been going on. It is encouraging to hear that confirmation."

Pastor Tiago left and Pastor Rod prayed a blessing over the meal. "I think since Izabel is preaching tonight it would be best if the rest of us just stay up here, so someone doesn't have to translate for us. That way she will be able to flow in the Spirit more easily," Allie announced as they all began to eat. The agreement was practically unanimous.

So that night those who couldn't speak Portuguese stayed up in the little classroom to intercede. Heaven broke loose in that church, July 13, 2005! God finally blessed their diligent prayers. The passionate fire of God was in Izabel's every word. Her voice carried up to the prayer warriors in that little room. There was no denying that God's Spirit was flowing in that place.

At one point, towards the end of Izabel's sermon, Lydia and Natalia went out to the small balcony that overlooked the sanctuary. The sight was truly amazing! If one didn't believe in the power of the Lord Almighty it would be impossible to believe this was the same congregation that had been in this church the first night. The first night it had seemed like they were barely entering into worship; now most of them were out of their chairs groaning, hollering, and laughing under the Holy Spirit's anointing.

"It looks like God broke through that barrier Allie talked about," Lydia smiled leaning against the ledge enjoying the sight.

"Mmmhhhmmm," Natalia agreed. She turned to go down the steps with the rest, Lydia following behind her.

A man with a little girl, who was two at the oldest, came up to Lydia. Lydia caught Alzira by the arm. "Can you ask him what he wants prayer for?"

"He wants you to bless his daughter," Alzira replied and then hurried off to help others. It was often that way. Unless you had someone who you really needed to keep up verbal contact with, the translator stayed only long enough to communicate the prayer need, if you were even that fortunate.

"Vem, Senhor. Vem." Lydia prayed placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. The girl retreated farther into her father's arms. Lydia couldn't blame her. This was all probably strange and frightening from a two-year-old's point of view.

Lydia alternated between praying the simple Portuguese prayers she knew and blessing the girl with wonderful things in English. With no interpreter to give her aid, she just trusted that Jesus would reveal the content of her words. When she had blessed the girl with everything she could think of she gave a friendly smile to the father and daughter and walked off pray for others.

In one corner Allie, Natalia, and Savoy were praying for a girl and the girl was thrashing around and screaming. As Lydia approached she sensed something was not right. An oppressive, evil atmosphere hung in that corner. It was a major contrast to the joyful, Holy Spirit filled air that filled the rest of the church. It was creepy how real and forbidding it felt.

"What's going on?" Lydia whispered to Natalia who was standing up but had her hand held out to the girl curled on the floor.

"The girl was sexually abused when she was a child, never forgave the man, and now is demon-possessed." Natalia explained. Allie was kneeling beside the girl's head, softly talking to her and commanding the spirit to submit when it would start to manifest. Savoy had his hand on the girl's hip.

"Savoy do you know what you are doing?" Lydia thought biting her lip uncertainly. Where that might not have been that bad of a thing if she had needed prayer for something else, sexual abuse would make that a very offensive position.

All of a sudden the girl thrashed out at him with an unearthly screech. An iron claw of fear gripped Lydia's heart. There was so much of a contrast between that scream and the scream of someone who was under the power of the Holy Spirit that there was no way to even compare it. It was like nothing Lydia had ever heard. "Sorry, Sorry," the girl pleaded now in a normal voice.

"In the name of Jesus, I command you to submit," Allie ordered the evil spirit. "Shh. It wasn't you, sweetheart. We understand that," Allie soothed, stroking the girl's black curls. "Savoy, maybe you should go." Savoy gave an understanding nod and got up to leave.

As scared as Lydia was, she reminded herself that her God was bigger and knelt down beside the girl. The girl was around nineteen and had a nasty scar above her right eye. Lydia laid a hand on the girl's shoulder and began to pray in tongues under her breath.

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Oh why wouldn't it stop and just leave her alone! She didn't even know what the "it" was, yet she was scared out of her mind! On top of that frantic fear, was an intense hatred that was eating her alive!

Every time she thought about that man in the dark alleyway, the "it" attacked her with such a ferocity that the rest of the world disappeared and that was all she could think of. "It" was alive and bent on destroying her. Oh, what she wouldn't give to be free from this monster!

"It" had control of her limbs. "It" thrashed her back and forth against the hard wooden floor. Bruises started to form on her wrists. There were scars up and down her arms from "it" forcing her to cut herself.

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Allie led the girl through deliverance and after forty-five minutes the girl was sitting up and wiping tears from her eyes. She took a deep, relieved breath and turned to give Allie a hug.

"God bless you," Allie said as the girl released her and turned to go.

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She gave a sigh of relief; she felt worlds better. She was free, totally and explicitly free! Her smile engulfed her entire face. No more of those claws around her throat! No more hatred! Most of all no more feeling constantly dirty and unworthy of love!

She jumped up and down, laughing and clapping her hands. The feeling was beyond words, and imagination! Jesus was so good to her! Now, not only was she free from that evil spirit, but she had a reason to live and to walk into each new day with her head held high.

On top of that, she was now excited about her life. God had revealed to her through the deliverance what He had planned for her-a wonderful destiny! She could hardly wait to get started!

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"We should go in about fifteen minutes," Allie said looking at her watch.

"Ok, I just need to do something quick," Lydia said, sweeping the sanctuary with a glance trying to spot Catalina. She found her sitting toward the back of the sanctuary. Catalina had been one of those who had been blasted by the Holy Spirit, but she seemed calm now. Lydia walked over to Elana.

"Elana, I was wondering if you could help me with something?"

"That's what I'm here for. What is it you need?" Elana asked following Lydia.

"Remember Catalina? She was the one we prayed for whose father was a witch? I just want to know how she's doing now."

"You're sweet," Elana said putting a complimenting hand on Lydia's shoulder.

Catalina stood up as the two of them came up to her. She was wearing a turquoise turtleneck and jeans. She was pretty! Elana told Catalina what Lydia wanted. Catalina looked at Lydia with a huge smile and speaking in Portuguese. Elana translated Catalina's message for Lydia, "She says she is totally cured."

"Gloria a Deus!" Lydia exclaimed matching Catalina's smile. The two hugged.

"All right everybody, it's time to head for the vans?" Allie announced.

Lydia waved good-bye to Catalina as she started for the door. One thing she had learned to love about the Brazilians-they were so open and amiable. She smiled one more time before turning around.

Once again, they filed into the two vans. They waved good-bye to the people for the last time. They had come to bless this church, but they left being just as blessed as the congregation. Also, whether they knew it or not at the time, they had each learned valuable lessons.

Allie did the stats first thing. They were amazing! There had been a major improvement. The van was filled with praise to their faithful God.

Once everything quieted down Allie sat back down. "Can you two pray for me? Doing deliverance scares me a bit," Allie referred to the deliverance of that girl. "I heard of a man who was doing a deliverance once and the demon went from the person to him."

Savoy and Lydia, who were sitting on the same bench as Allie, prayed for her. Once they finished praying for her the three of them sat silently. Lydia tried to settle her own shaken spirit, seeing that deliverance had rattled her nerves too. She had never witnessed that depth of evil first-hand before. She held her hand to try to stop the trembling. Then to have Allie admit to being a bit frightened herself didn't do Lydia any good. What Lydia had seen in Allie was an amazing Christian with seemingly insurmountable faith. So for Allie to admit something like that worsened what Lydia already felt.

To make matters worse, Lydia was tired! While trying to fight the shaken feelings and unstable emotions, a wave of homesickness washed over her. The memory of her last hug with her dad at the airport came to taunt her. "Lord, I just want to be home right now!" Lydia thought feeling vulnerable and alone.

Tears began to slip down her cheeks. "Are you all right?" Savoy looked at her in the dim light offered by the street lights.

"I'm just feeling really homesick right now," Lydia explained wiping away a tear that was dangling from her chin.

"You want to switch spots so you can talk to Allie?"

"Sure, thank-you."

"Lydia is feeling homesick so we're switching spots so she can talk to you," Savoy relayed the situation to Allie as he got up so Lydia could scoot over.

"You want to lay your head in my lap?" Allie asked out of genuine sympathy. Lydia nodded and took up the offer. "If you'll take your hair band out, I'll massage your head." Lydia did so and soothing fingers began to weave their way through her hair.

Allie's beautiful voice started to flow over Lydia. Still she fought the sense of Jesus trying to embrace her. "God, I want my parents tangible arms around me." The prayer was pure ludicrous, yet it was how Lydia truly felt at the moment.

She felt like a big baby, crying on the lap of a girl only a year older than her. The feeling, though, was too overpowering at the moment for her to really do anything about it.

Finally, however, Allie's voice, the sound of a soft, whispering breeze, began to soothe Lydia's shaken nerves. At last, Lydia stopped fighting and let the Lord comfort her. His presence quieted her spirit and calmed her emotions.

"Feeling better?" Allie asked when Lydia sat up.

Lydia nodded. "Thank-you," she murmured drawing her long, brown hair back into a ponytail.

"Izabel says there are angels up over the other van gathering the others' praises. Soon they'll be coming over to our van, so we should give praises too," Elana called back from her spot up front with Izabel and the driver.

Elana and Izabel began singing a song in Portuguese. Lydia listened to the beautiful song. "That is pretty. What does it mean?" Lydia asked once the song was over.

"Uhh....I wouldn't be able to tell you without hearing it. Izabel, sing it again." So while Izabel sang in Portuguese, Elana sang in English. Lydia liked the lyrics as much as the tune. Unfortunately, one time wasn't enough to learn it. Lydia soon forgot it.