Saturday, June 28, 2014

38. Half of the World Cup is finished... but who is our passion?

Half of The World Cup is finished and several national soccer teams have returned home, but Brazil and Holland are moving on. Many people ask us which team we root for and as you can see by Johan`s soccer sweater the answer is, both! But if you ask about our passion, then that is different because it extends beyond the borders of countries, our passion is the Lord Jesus!



It has been wonderful to hear so many great stories from all the 12 host cities of  The World Cup these last few weeks and here are several we would like to share from Belo Horizonte.

Women who work in the prostitution area in Belo Horizonte became much more open after YWAM missionaries played soccer with them on their team. The women have started going to the 24/7 prayer room (a ministry of Exodus Cry) to hear more about Jesus and some of them have given their lives to Jesus.



In the poor communities, favelas, where we have YWAM community centers,  we set up a few giant tv screens which we borrowed from Athletes in Action. The entire neighborhood was invited to come, and people showed up with their whole families. It has been a great success. Before and after the games and during halftime, the YWAM missionaries and members from visiting teams gave their testimonies of what Jesus means to them. Various people have already given their lives to Jesus.  




Around the stadiums, we have had big evangelistic outreaches. We gave out red cards against sexual exploitation, played drums, sang songs, preached, performed dramas etc. Every day we share new posts on the YWAM Kickoff Facebook page





Teams are coming and going until the middle of August. Young people from churches and many YWAM DTS (Discipleship Training Schools) teams from all around the world are here for this key time in Brazil to glorify the name of Jesus and preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. In Brazil alone there are about 1300 fulltime YWAM missionaries and it is fantastic to be able to work together in unity with so many different people.



We have one team that is traveling to 8 of the host cities of the World Cup. They made a documentary about Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation in Brazil. They are showing the documentary with their bus in public squares, beaches etc. so that people can be made aware of what is happening and with the hope that they will join the fight against this great evil. You can watch the documentary yourself if you click on this link.

The following pictures speak for themselves. (They were taken by Felipe Matias, YWAM missionary, and a gifted photographer)







Please continue to pray for us and all the national and international teams, that we will be able to proclaim the word of God, and that people will be convinced of the love of Jesus.

Thank you and God bless, 
Johan Lukasse and the Kickoff team

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