Oops my time is up and the internetcafe wants to close so i will write some more conversations with streetkids here on a diffrent day... I think tomorow
groetjes!!
donderdag, december 28, 2006
Life In Recife
Oops my time is up and the internetcafe wants to close so i will write some more conversations with streetkids here on a diffrent day... I think tomorow
groetjes!!
Intresting talks with Streetkids
Let me share with you some of the interesting talks i have had here while working on the street. And ill explain the thinking behind it what goes trhough the mind of these kids...
24th of December we went to the street for the last time in 2006... Normaly we dont bring food and drinks to the street. Becouse we believe that it doesnt help kids to give them food. It only makes it easyer for them to live on the street and so hareder for us to help them get off of the street.
One of the older boys asked me who we actualy are? This Jocum strangers who come and play games(checkers and domino) with us. So i explained to him we are JOCUM(YWAM) an evangelical christian mission organization who works through out the whole world to help people in need. And so Also in Brazil we work a lot in many diffrent cities, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Salvador Fortaleze etc. And so also in Recife. We are here on the street becouse we want to help you streetkids and streetboys!
He asked me if we maybe would have a place where he could sleep in the night and he came with a great suggestion... Why dont you people open a shelter so that we all have a place to sleep in the night! If you want to help us, this is the best way to do it! And you dont have to worry about us during the day then we will just go to the street again.
So i said well thats an intresting idear but we are not going to do it!
- What why not, We are realy cold in the night and when it rains its even worse
Well i said... Didnt i tell you that we are here to help you? Opening a house where you can sleep in the night will not realy help you. Just let me explain...
When we open that house you can come and sleep in our house. all nice, and during the day you are a streetkid. Thats what we want to change. if you look one month later what will you be doing?
- I will be sleeping in your house and i will be on the street during the day!
And what after half a year?
- I will be sleeping in your house and street during the day
And after five years?
Ehm the same?
Yeah so after 5 years we havent helped you even a litler bit! We want to help you change your life get of the street and have a good future. to be in a realy nice place after vife years and that you will be able to sleep in your own house.
- Ah so you people realy want to help us?
Yeah man we are here to help you!
Streetkids have totaly no hope for the future and so they dont even think about it anymore. They just live by the day or even by the hour. The have allready given up that their will ever be a change in their situation that they dont think about the rest of their life. All they want is the best for right this moment and as best for only them.
Many times it is not nice to remind them of their hopeless future... So well you have to be carefull with that. But its great to show them how their way at this moment is going no where but that we have an option for them to get a change. Remind them of their value and show then faith in them
woensdag, december 27, 2006
My Christmas!
This is how i spend my christmas...
In Brazil They celebrate christmas the 24th and 25th of December and so i had my gifts one day earlyer than you guys!! Yeah its a real american kind of christmass with a lot of pressents underneath the christmas tree...
YWAM or JOCUM Recife had gathered all the people who are pressent and we had a nice celebration at the base! I was welcome as well. I even got to play with the pressents game. Everybody had a secret friend(amigo X (the x you prenounse as sjies)) And for that person you bought a pressent. almost the same as lootjes trekken in Holland. well this was quiet difficult for me since i didn´t have a clew who the person was that i drew but after some help and finding a great christian cd store i was able to find a pleasing gift!
Then on the evening we had a huge meal and lots of lafter... They started with nice christmas music but soon after Brazilian samba was allready playing again! A real weird christmas! Sitting outside in your shorts and t shirt and samba music while the muscitos buzzing around you!
Then some one came forward and told a litle clew about her Amigo or Amiga X and we all had to guess who it was. And when we guessed it right that person could get his pressent and tell some clews about her Amigo x and so on!
I felt realy welcome and had a good time! Yeah i missed my family but thats oke!
Ywam is kind of a family as well a family all over the world oh my own family is all over the world as well ah well! Its great that in Ywam you can go to many coutrys and always have a home
zondag, december 17, 2006
donderdag, december 14, 2006
Arived safely!
Well here i am in the North East!!
RECIFE!! And its crazely hot here! its like 39 celsius if not warmer then that!
In the evening its still around 30 and so you sweat like crazy during the nights
Now im still inside a lot need to get adjusted to the warmth
The last days in Belo it was around 20 with a lot of rain
The bustrip was a huge adventure again.
I realy dont understand why almost all the time that i travel something has to wrong... This time the bus got trouble it broke down and we couldnt go on any more.
After two hours an other bus organization came and brought us to the next village where we could wait until a new bus would arive...
Well we waited there 8 hours! And nobody understood what was going to happen are we going to get a new bus or are they going to fix the old one... what going to happen with our lugage... Then some woman went into town alone and well miraculously they got robbed so they came back all emotional everybody angry at the buss drivers who got the blaim... (I understood all that Portuguees Good huh??)
Well finaly two busses came to pick us up. Our old one and a new one. they got all our stuff in the new one and everything was allright for me... but not for the other passangers they started a war against the bus drivers who got angry becouse they couldnt have known that the bus would brake down. And finaly i the foreigner had to quiet them down... I said yeah yeah yeah it doesnt matter who has the blaim lets just be glad that now there is a new buss and we can continue our trip. i dont wont to here more complaints i just want to go to Recife! Everybody was looking dumm at me some smiled about this foreigner that spoke terrible portuguees but they understood and we went on!
Then there was just one more problem... We were eight hours behind scedule and so many people came to late at the place where they had to be. Including me. I had aranged that i would be picked up from the bus station in Recife at eight o clock in the morning. And eight o clock in the morning my friend was there waiting for me. He waited until one o clock and then got frustrated at me and went home. I arrived at 16:00 so there was nobody to pick me up... Now where did i have to go?
Luckely i was wearing a YWAM tshirt and someone in my bus had recognized it! (what is somekind of miracle allready) He asked me if i was a YWAMer and told me he was from a church in Recife where some people of YWAM went as well. And he could tell me there was a YWAM home in the neighbourhood Derbie. And he told me what bus to take there. But he didnt know where in the neighbourhood but probably other people would know... Well a realy kind litle old lady told me when i was in Derbie and so i got out of the bus but when i went asking around nobody knew YWAM
Well so i got realy worried. there i was wlking in the center of town, with all my stuff. This area is known for its high crimerate and i literaly saw people gazing at my seutcase wanting to have it... And how must it have looked for them. This rich tourist is lost in the centre of Recife becouse i was asking the road to many people. He looks tired! can never guard all three of his lugage. Thats an easy target!
Well nobody knew YWAM and so i kind of was lost. But i had mentioned the word missionary to someone and this person knew someone who had talked about missionarys ones and so he went to his friend and called him that i was looking for missionarys... This guy came to me and first asked me if i was a mormone... (they seem to have a lot of missionarys here as well) But then i said no i am a YWAMer. So he said ah thats great my sister has been a YWAMer for 8 years. So he finaly called his sister. who gave the nuber of the YWAM base here in Recife, Who we called and brought us in contact with my friend who had tried to pick me up. And then after one our wainting my friend came walking down the road. then it was dark allrady!
So what an adventure again!
Thank you God that everything went well!
RECIFE!! And its crazely hot here! its like 39 celsius if not warmer then that!
In the evening its still around 30 and so you sweat like crazy during the nights
Now im still inside a lot need to get adjusted to the warmth
The last days in Belo it was around 20 with a lot of rain
The bustrip was a huge adventure again.
I realy dont understand why almost all the time that i travel something has to wrong... This time the bus got trouble it broke down and we couldnt go on any more.
After two hours an other bus organization came and brought us to the next village where we could wait until a new bus would arive...
Well we waited there 8 hours! And nobody understood what was going to happen are we going to get a new bus or are they going to fix the old one... what going to happen with our lugage... Then some woman went into town alone and well miraculously they got robbed so they came back all emotional everybody angry at the buss drivers who got the blaim... (I understood all that Portuguees Good huh??)
Well finaly two busses came to pick us up. Our old one and a new one. they got all our stuff in the new one and everything was allright for me... but not for the other passangers they started a war against the bus drivers who got angry becouse they couldnt have known that the bus would brake down. And finaly i the foreigner had to quiet them down... I said yeah yeah yeah it doesnt matter who has the blaim lets just be glad that now there is a new buss and we can continue our trip. i dont wont to here more complaints i just want to go to Recife! Everybody was looking dumm at me some smiled about this foreigner that spoke terrible portuguees but they understood and we went on!
Then there was just one more problem... We were eight hours behind scedule and so many people came to late at the place where they had to be. Including me. I had aranged that i would be picked up from the bus station in Recife at eight o clock in the morning. And eight o clock in the morning my friend was there waiting for me. He waited until one o clock and then got frustrated at me and went home. I arrived at 16:00 so there was nobody to pick me up... Now where did i have to go?
Luckely i was wearing a YWAM tshirt and someone in my bus had recognized it! (what is somekind of miracle allready) He asked me if i was a YWAMer and told me he was from a church in Recife where some people of YWAM went as well. And he could tell me there was a YWAM home in the neighbourhood Derbie. And he told me what bus to take there. But he didnt know where in the neighbourhood but probably other people would know... Well a realy kind litle old lady told me when i was in Derbie and so i got out of the bus but when i went asking around nobody knew YWAM
Well so i got realy worried. there i was wlking in the center of town, with all my stuff. This area is known for its high crimerate and i literaly saw people gazing at my seutcase wanting to have it... And how must it have looked for them. This rich tourist is lost in the centre of Recife becouse i was asking the road to many people. He looks tired! can never guard all three of his lugage. Thats an easy target!
Well nobody knew YWAM and so i kind of was lost. But i had mentioned the word missionary to someone and this person knew someone who had talked about missionarys ones and so he went to his friend and called him that i was looking for missionarys... This guy came to me and first asked me if i was a mormone... (they seem to have a lot of missionarys here as well) But then i said no i am a YWAMer. So he said ah thats great my sister has been a YWAMer for 8 years. So he finaly called his sister. who gave the nuber of the YWAM base here in Recife, Who we called and brought us in contact with my friend who had tried to pick me up. And then after one our wainting my friend came walking down the road. then it was dark allrady!
So what an adventure again!
Thank you God that everything went well!
zondag, december 10, 2006
Traveling
Tomorrow evening 20:30 i will wave Goodbye to Belo Horizonte...
Today i bought a ticket to go by Bus for 36 hours to Recife. Later on ill give you more information about that city. And what i am going to do there. But you can see on the map where it is! Oh wednesday morning eight o clock i will arive!
so pray for protection!!
Thanx!
Mango mania!!
Hi you all!
This Brazil country here is absolutely strange! but lovely!
Check out this picture... Its a picture from the garden of the house that i have lived for the past months. And yes its totaly filled with rotten Mango´s... What are you crazy you just let them rot away?
Well there are just to many... As you can see the floor is quiet clean. The day before the garden was cleaned by some guys and this is what lay there the next morning again...
The kids of the house search the good ones and eat them ad what left is what you see on the picture! Weird huh... In Holland you hardly see mangos out of the supermarket
But here they fall with tomany at a time out of the trees!
What a blessing!
woensdag, december 06, 2006
The dragon...
There was once a great and noble King whose land was terrorized by a crafty dragon. Like a massive bird of prey, the scaly beast delighted in ravaging villages with his fiery breath. Hapless victims ran from their burning homes, only to be snatched into the dragon's jaws or talons. Those devoured instantly were deemed more fortunate than those carried back to the dragon's lair to be devoured at his leisure. The King led his sons and knights in many valiant battles against the dragon.
Riding alone in the forest, one of the King's sons heard his name purred low and soft. In the shadows of the ferns and trees, curled among the boulders, lay the dragon. The creature's heavy-lidded eyes fastened on the prince, and the reptilian mouth stretched into a friendly smile.
"Don't be alarmed," said the dragon, as gray wisps of smoke rose lazily from his nostrils. "I am not what your father thinks." "What are you, then?" asked the prince, warily drawing his sword as he pulled in the reins to keep his fearful horse from bolting."I am pleasure," said the dragon. "Ride on my back and you will experience more than you ever imagined. Come now. I have no harmful intentions. I seek a friend, someone to share flights with me. Have you never dreamed of flying? Never longed to soar in the clouds?"
Visions of soaring high above the forested hills drew the prince hesitantly from his horse. The dragon unfurled one great webbed wing to serve as a ramp to his ridged back. Between the spiny projections, the prince found a secure seat. Then the creature snapped his powerful wings twice and launched them into the sky. The prince's apprehension melted into awe and exhilaration.
From then on, he met the dragon often, but secretly, for how could he tell his father, brothers or the knights that he had befriended the enemy? The prince felt separate from them all. Their concerns were no longer his concerns. Even when he wasn't with the dragon, he spent less time with those he loved and more time alone.
The skin on the prince's legs became calloused from gripping the ridged back of the dragon, and his hands grew rough and hardened. He began wearing gloves to hide the malady. After many nights of riding, he discovered scales growing on the backs of his hands as well. With dread he realized his fate were he to continue, and so he resolved to return no more to the dragon.
But, after a fortnight, he again sought out the dragon, having been tormented with desire. And so it transpired many times over. No matter what his determination, the prince eventually found himself pulled back, as if by the cords of an invisible web. Silently, patiently, the dragon always waited.
One cold, moonless night their excursion became a foray against a sleeping village. Torching the thatched roofs with fiery blasts from his nostrils, the dragon roared with delight when the terrified victims fled from their burning homes. Swooping in, the serpent belched again and flames engulfed a cluster of screaming villages. The prince closed his eyes tightly in an attempt to shut out the carnage.
In the pre dawn hours, when the prince crept back from his dragon trysts, the road outside his father's castle usually remained empty. But not tonight. Terrified refugees streamed into the protective walls of the castle. The prince attempted to slip through the crowd to close himself in his chambers, but some of the survivors stared and pointed toward him.
"He was there," one woman cried out, "I saw him on the back of the dragon." Others nodded their heads in angry agreement. Horrified, the prince saw that his father, the King, was in the courtyard holding a bleeding child in his arms. The King's face mirrored the agony of his people as his eyes found the prince's. The son fled, hoping to escape into the night, but the guards apprehended him as if he were a common thief. They brought him to the great hall where his father sat solemnly on the throne. The people on every side railed against the prince.
"Banish him!" he heard one of his own brothers angrily cry out.
"Burn him alive!" other voices shouted.
As the king rose from his throne, bloodstains from the wounded shone darkly on his royal robes. The crowd fell silent in expectation of his decree. The prince, who could not bear to look into his father's face, stared at the flagstones of the floor.
"Take off your gloves and your tunic," the King commanded. The prince obeyed slowly, dreading to have his metamorphosis uncovered before the kingdom. Was his shame not already enough? He had hoped for a quick death without further humiliation. Sounds of revulsion rippled through the crowd at the sight of the prince's thick, scaled skin and the ridge growing along his spine.
The king strode toward his son, and the prince steeled himself, fully expecting a back handed blow even though he had never been struck so by his father.
Instead, his father embraced him and wept as he held him tightly. In shocked disbelief, the prince buried his face against his father's shoulder.
"Do you wish to be freed from the dragon, my son?"
The prince answered in despair, "I wished it many times, but there is no hope for me.
"Not alone," said the King. "You cannot win against the dragon alone."
"Father, I am no longer your son. I am half beast," sobbed the prince.
But his father replied, "My blood runs in your veins. My nobility has always been stamped deep within your soul." With his face still hidden tearfully in his father's embrace, the prince heard the King instruct the crowd, "The dragon is crafty. Some fall victim to his wiles and some to his violence. There will be mercy for all who wish to be freed. Who else among you has ridden the dragon?"
The prince lifted his head to see someone emerge from the crowd. To his amazement, he recognized an older brother, one who had been lauded throughout the kingdom for his onslaughts against the dragon in battle and for his many good deeds. Others came, some weeping, others hanging their heads in shame.
The King embraced them all.
"This is our most powerful weapon against the dragon," he announced. "Truth. No more hidden flights. Alone we cannot resist him.
" Melinda Reinicke, Parables for Personal Growth (San Diego, CA: Recovery Publications, Inc., 1993), pp. 5-9.
Riding alone in the forest, one of the King's sons heard his name purred low and soft. In the shadows of the ferns and trees, curled among the boulders, lay the dragon. The creature's heavy-lidded eyes fastened on the prince, and the reptilian mouth stretched into a friendly smile.
"Don't be alarmed," said the dragon, as gray wisps of smoke rose lazily from his nostrils. "I am not what your father thinks." "What are you, then?" asked the prince, warily drawing his sword as he pulled in the reins to keep his fearful horse from bolting."I am pleasure," said the dragon. "Ride on my back and you will experience more than you ever imagined. Come now. I have no harmful intentions. I seek a friend, someone to share flights with me. Have you never dreamed of flying? Never longed to soar in the clouds?"
Visions of soaring high above the forested hills drew the prince hesitantly from his horse. The dragon unfurled one great webbed wing to serve as a ramp to his ridged back. Between the spiny projections, the prince found a secure seat. Then the creature snapped his powerful wings twice and launched them into the sky. The prince's apprehension melted into awe and exhilaration.
From then on, he met the dragon often, but secretly, for how could he tell his father, brothers or the knights that he had befriended the enemy? The prince felt separate from them all. Their concerns were no longer his concerns. Even when he wasn't with the dragon, he spent less time with those he loved and more time alone.
The skin on the prince's legs became calloused from gripping the ridged back of the dragon, and his hands grew rough and hardened. He began wearing gloves to hide the malady. After many nights of riding, he discovered scales growing on the backs of his hands as well. With dread he realized his fate were he to continue, and so he resolved to return no more to the dragon.
But, after a fortnight, he again sought out the dragon, having been tormented with desire. And so it transpired many times over. No matter what his determination, the prince eventually found himself pulled back, as if by the cords of an invisible web. Silently, patiently, the dragon always waited.
One cold, moonless night their excursion became a foray against a sleeping village. Torching the thatched roofs with fiery blasts from his nostrils, the dragon roared with delight when the terrified victims fled from their burning homes. Swooping in, the serpent belched again and flames engulfed a cluster of screaming villages. The prince closed his eyes tightly in an attempt to shut out the carnage.
In the pre dawn hours, when the prince crept back from his dragon trysts, the road outside his father's castle usually remained empty. But not tonight. Terrified refugees streamed into the protective walls of the castle. The prince attempted to slip through the crowd to close himself in his chambers, but some of the survivors stared and pointed toward him.
"He was there," one woman cried out, "I saw him on the back of the dragon." Others nodded their heads in angry agreement. Horrified, the prince saw that his father, the King, was in the courtyard holding a bleeding child in his arms. The King's face mirrored the agony of his people as his eyes found the prince's. The son fled, hoping to escape into the night, but the guards apprehended him as if he were a common thief. They brought him to the great hall where his father sat solemnly on the throne. The people on every side railed against the prince.
"Banish him!" he heard one of his own brothers angrily cry out.
"Burn him alive!" other voices shouted.
As the king rose from his throne, bloodstains from the wounded shone darkly on his royal robes. The crowd fell silent in expectation of his decree. The prince, who could not bear to look into his father's face, stared at the flagstones of the floor.
"Take off your gloves and your tunic," the King commanded. The prince obeyed slowly, dreading to have his metamorphosis uncovered before the kingdom. Was his shame not already enough? He had hoped for a quick death without further humiliation. Sounds of revulsion rippled through the crowd at the sight of the prince's thick, scaled skin and the ridge growing along his spine.
The king strode toward his son, and the prince steeled himself, fully expecting a back handed blow even though he had never been struck so by his father.
Instead, his father embraced him and wept as he held him tightly. In shocked disbelief, the prince buried his face against his father's shoulder.
"Do you wish to be freed from the dragon, my son?"
The prince answered in despair, "I wished it many times, but there is no hope for me.
"Not alone," said the King. "You cannot win against the dragon alone."
"Father, I am no longer your son. I am half beast," sobbed the prince.
But his father replied, "My blood runs in your veins. My nobility has always been stamped deep within your soul." With his face still hidden tearfully in his father's embrace, the prince heard the King instruct the crowd, "The dragon is crafty. Some fall victim to his wiles and some to his violence. There will be mercy for all who wish to be freed. Who else among you has ridden the dragon?"
The prince lifted his head to see someone emerge from the crowd. To his amazement, he recognized an older brother, one who had been lauded throughout the kingdom for his onslaughts against the dragon in battle and for his many good deeds. Others came, some weeping, others hanging their heads in shame.
The King embraced them all.
"This is our most powerful weapon against the dragon," he announced. "Truth. No more hidden flights. Alone we cannot resist him.
" Melinda Reinicke, Parables for Personal Growth (San Diego, CA: Recovery Publications, Inc., 1993), pp. 5-9.
zaterdag, december 02, 2006
Last days in Belo Horizonte
Yeah the school is over!
Most of the students are gone allready.
Some back home, some are traveling through Brazil and some are sitting in an Air plane right at this moment!!!
I kind of want to go now as well! There is not realy anything for me to do here anymore. I am trying to keep myself entertained. But well thats not realy easy1 What can you do between 8 in the morning and 10 in the evening? specialy when you are on your own. Well im still managing. Going to the internet (a lot), cleaning my room, playing basketball. watch movies...
But well departure day is getting closer... at the end of this week ill surely be off. Maybe wednesday allready.
Ill let you know what im going to do at first!
now its time to eat so see you later
I have my Diploma!!
Congratulations Wouter!
You just completed the children @ risk school and here is your diploma or well its only a certificate ofcourse but well who cares about this litle paper anyway...
But it does feel good! i cant wait to be back in Holland. Becouse there i have my big study bible in wich i have my diploma of the DTS as well so now i want to add this one... I hope i can keep it clean and without folds until im back in Holland. this will take a long time still since...
... I got my visa renewed! yesteday i went together with one of my Brazilian friends to the Policia Federal. Sat there for about one hour waiting but then finaly i could ask to get my visa renewed. They were giving me a hard time becouse it seemed that the last time that i was in Brazil in 2005 then i did get a stamp when i came into the country but they didn´t stamp my pasport when i left. So it looked as if i stayed ilegaly in the country for a year. But then it was strange that i had a new entree stamp for comming in this year so somehow i did gp out of the country...
Well finaly an hour more later i got my new visa and i am aloud to stay in the country until the 6th of march 2007...
Totaly not wanting to make you jealous!
Well yeah it seems that i am just a litle lucky having a lot of nice weather! But then im unlucky not being in the Netherlands at the moment... I realy miss every thing around sinterklaas. I was lucky to eat a few pepernoten but that was all...
And well its not true that its 31 degrea every day over here. For example the past to days it was deffinetely raining season. two days ago it rained so hard and the whole day the the garden became a swimming pool and we were stuck inside of the house all day... You can go outside with an umbrella but that wont help you at all. You will be totaly soaked a hundred meter futher... To bad i didn´t take a pictures. I have a tendency to only make fotos of nice things!
Sorry im a positive guy!
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