Hello beloved church! Thanks for keeping up with what’s going on in Brazil, God has been so faithful! The team has some more stories and testimonies to share with you!

“Olá Calvary Prescott! It’s Corey here. Our first few days here in Peruíbe have been very exciting! Sunday the 8th was focused on getting the church building prepared for service that night. It was awesome to see the team joyfully work together to clean, set up chairs, practice worship, and prepare sound and media. Sara led us in our team devo which was all about God working through our weaknesses. It was a timely devo, as some of us have gotten sick, and we all gathered to pray for healing and God’s sustaining power.”

“Hello, church! This is Noah, and this mission trip so far has been such a blessing and so much fun! I got the awesome opportunity to play drums for the worship team with Pastor Ewerton and Jessica. We went to the beach, and on the way we ran into a group of teens, and we invited them to youth night, and we were able to evangelize to them! The Lord has done some great things through this trip so far, and I can’t wait to see what he does next!”

“Oi, eu sou o Andre! I’m one of the team’s translators. I wanted to share a story from Sunday. We had a short time in between cleaning the church and going to service to do something fun, so we headed down to the beach. On our way we came across a group of young friends and Pastor Jason asked me to introduce our group. At first, they thought I was selling them something – but we actually wanted to give them a gift. Pastor Jason and I connected with them and shared the gospel with them.

You could tell they were hungry for love and truth, but we could also tell they felt rejected by the church and religion. We wanted them to know what true love looks like. I also briefly shared the history of Calvary Chapel and how this young generation is similar to the hippies who started the movement. We built a good connection with them, invited them to our youth event this Friday, and I got two of their phone numbers. Please keep Marcos, Danielli, and their friends in your prayers!”

“Pastor Paul here! It is such a blessing to be here in Peruíbe with Pastor Ewerton and the church family. The team is thankful to have been sent by our church in Prescott and received by the church here in Peruíbe. There are many familiar faces as well as many new ones. Everything is going great!

I was given the privilege to share the message at their Sunday evening service. It was a great time of worship,  fellowship and being in God’s Word. The kids in the church especially love the attention they get from our young and energetic team members. Thank you for all your prayers and support. Deus o abençoe!”

“Hello church family, this is Jesse. The children in Brazil are a testament to their parents’ love and devotion. I got to teach the Sunday school kids class this week and meet some well behaved youngsters. We wondered about being in a small room with a dozen people but it turned out fine. Ava and I taught on the Fruits of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22-23. Inayá, a local that has served in this class a few times, translated for us. We had nine boys and girls, and nine fruits to look at.

I had fun beforehand learning the Portuguese word for each characteristic. Some are easy like ‘amor’ for love, and ‘paz’ for peace. Others are involved like ‘amabilidade’ for kindness. The last part of the word sounds like “dodgy.” Pastor Ewerton and Natasha’s daughter, Gabi, of course, knew all the answers during the lesson, but let the others answer too. Some of the boys (Felipe mostly) were quick to pipe up! Ava led the craft time, and showed us how to build our own colored paper fruit trees, then cut out a fruit labeled with each of the qualities of the Spirit to glue to the tree. I hurried to get snacks at the end before the parents came. Inayá was the linchpin that made it all work as she delivered messages smoothly and with precision. God has blessed!”

“Hi everyone! This is Ava writing, and I just wanted to share a little bit about my experience in kid’s ministry last Sunday. As for servants, we had Jesse teaching, Inayá translated for the kids, and I was there to help lift their arms and keep the kids paying attention. Jesse and Inayá did an awesome job! 

Jesse taught on the fruits of the spirit, and he had great examples and imagery (Natasha did a wonderful job preparing the lesson material for us)! Inayá, our interpreter, had told me before service that she had only interpreted from English to Portuguese about three times. She also told me that last year she was too scared to interpret for the team or even talk to them. I was shocked! We had already done events with her, and you wouldn’t have guessed! The Lord has grown her tremendously since last year, and I was so encouraged to see her boldness. When she interpreted for the kids she was quick, smooth, and communicated Jesse’s emotions flawlessly. She is such a provision and blessing from the Lord.

The kids were so kind and listened intently. Some of them memorized some of the fruits only after reading them a few times! One particular moment that stood out to me was an interaction I had with a young girl who seemed a little shy. She was sitting next to her younger brother, and a few times I had to “shh” him or ask him to sit down, and his sister was on top of it to tell him too. Every time she helped I would smile and thank her. By the end I could see her start to open up a little bit and then she smiled when I thanked her. It might be small, but for some reason it really stood out to me. I hope that all those kids were aware of God’s love for them. Please keep the Peruíbe kids ministry in your prayers, and like most kids ministries, they need servants!”

The Lord has really blessed this past weekend in Peruíbe! Here’s the latest team photo :)

Bom dia, Calvary Prescott!

Here are several stories and testimonies from the Brazil team members that they wanted to share with you. Thank you for keeping up with the blog and praying for the team!

“Oi, church family, Big Nate here! The morning of Saturday June 7th, our group went to a housing development, and afterwards we performed our skit for all of them. I got to share the gospel with over forty kids! With help from André, one of our translators, I was able to share how God loves them no matter what and that Jesus will always accept them. After I shared a little bit, I prayed over the kids. As André was translating, the kids were reciting it back in Portuguese which caught me by surprise. It was such a blessing to see all the kids verbally accepting Jesus into their heart!”

“Hello church family, it’s Eve! I wanted to give you a little update on what the Lord has been doing since we got here in Brazil. On Saturday, our group was able to go to a housing project to reach the children and families there. We made balloon animals, did temporary tattoos and a puppet show for the kids and we were able to perform our “Lifehouse” skit to them! It was amazing to see the looks on the children’s faces when we did these things for them. A couple of us got to play football (soccer as we call it in America) with the kids and it was such a blessing to be able to minister to them with our actions and not just our words. 

1 John 3:18 says “Little children, let us not live in word or talk but in deed and truth.” That verse never really applied to my life until now. The language barrier is difficult but we were able to work around it so well that we had kids come up to us when we were leaving and give us big hugs. We plan to have more opportunities like this while we are here. Pray that we can still show our love through our actions and that the joy of the Lord will shine through us. We still have so much ahead!”

“Hello this is Jacob! On June 7th, the Brazil team visited what pastor Ewerton identifies as “the slums” that have been improved into condensed housing. Upon our arrival we were greeted by a 3 year old boy who immediately ran with excitement through the compound screaming what I can only imagine is “Come quick and see!” in Portuguese. Within minutes our team was surrounded with joyful kids who jumped in joy with the balloon animals, temporary tattoos, and toys that were brought for them.

For a brief 2 hours our team and the kids forgot where we were, as the joy was abounding. The kids tested their English with us and we tested our Portuguese with them. For a brief moment on this gloomy day, in this gloomy place, kids screamed with happiness, parents wept with the love shown, and God was honored.”

“Hello CCOP, Benji here! I just wanted to share about the team devo we did on Saturday! After we got back to the hotel after the morning outreach, we headed to the beach and Noah led us in our third team devo! He encouraged us to serve humbly, faithfully, and with a God-centered heart. It was awesome to see one of our youngest members lead us in such a powerful study!”

“Hey everyone! “Little” Nate here. Saturday night, we had a great men’s event and several of the men from the church and community attended. I had the privilege to teach on what it means to be a man like Jesus as we spoke about several of the characteristics of Jesus that we are to exemplify as men. It was a blessed time and we were able to pray with some of the men as well. We appreciate your continued prayers as we serve our great God and these beautiful people!”

“Hey church family! This is Corey, I’m here in Brazil, and wanted to share my experience at the men’s night we had on Saturday. It was great seeing the men I met last year, as well as some new guys! I had a great conversation with one young man in particular, named Thomas. He shared how he had come out of Catholicism three years ago and started coming to Calvary Peruíbe. He explained how freeing it was to know he doesn’t need a human mediator between him and God, and doesn’t have to earn his way to Heaven. Sadly, much of his family is still in Catholic beliefs, which is hard for him. Please keep Thomas and his family in prayer! Thank you and love you all!”

Praise the Lord for all the wonderful opportunities He’s given so far! Stay tuned for more stories from the team as they continue their mission!

Hello church family!

We miss you all and want to thank you for your ongoing prayers and support. The Calvary Chapel of Prescott Brazil mission trip this year has started out well!

Our travels kicked off at 3 AM when the team met at the church’s old coffee shop. Alissa Philips graciously made us breakfast burritos, and after saying our final goodbyes, we boarded the vans with Don and Leo behind the wheels.

We arrived at Sky Harbor Airport and, as Pastor Paul described, it was the smoothest airport check-in that the team had ever experienced! A nice worker helped us check in our group and all our bags separately from the rest of the crowd and we got through security with no issues. God’s hand was clearly over our travel.

We also had encouraging encounters with some strangers while waiting at our terminal. A man named Vince approached us as he observed our mission trip shirts, talked with Little Nate for a while, and then prayed for us before we left. Also, Little Nate talked with a man named Raul who was heading to Mexico, as his mom had passed away. Nate was able to encourage and pray for him. It was cool to see the interactions God led us to, even while we waited at the airport.

Benji led us in our very first team devotional in the airport, and it was a sweet time to center our hearts on why we’re going and a reminder that where God sends, he equips. Afterwards, we made the long flight south from the states to Brazil. Once onboard we settled in and got what sleep we could and filled in gaps with games, conversation, and movies.

After flying through the night, we landed in São Paulo Friday morning (some of us with more sleep than others). We had arrived with no lost baggage or other issues, which was a huge blessing! Seeing the smiling face of Pastor Ewerton was also a blessing after 25 hours of travel! We all loaded up in the vans and headed to Peruíbe. On our way, we stopped at a convenience store to enjoy some delicious pão de queijo (cheese bread), then continued on our way to Peruíbe. Fun fact: some of the tunnels through the mountains were almost 2 miles long!

When we arrived at the hotel in Peruíbe, it was great to reconnect with some of the staff we met on prior trips. One of the managers recognized a few of us and pointed to each one welcoming us as we walked in the front doors. We were really blessed by their hospitality as they already knew some of our preferences – such as lots of salt and pepper and lots of coffee. They also helped us move our 26 bags to the second floor, where we got settled in before heading to the church for the evening.

That night, we made our first walk to Calvary Peruíbe for an introduction and a time of fellowship with Pastor Ewerton, Natasha, Gabi, and our translators, Dani and Andre—who we’ve adopted as part of our team now! Ava led us in our second team devo on God’s provision. Some members of the church then joined us and we had some amazing foods and desserts together with the love of Christ flowing past the language barrier. 

We’ve already seen His faithful provision by getting us here! And we are so excited to see what He has planned for us!

Check back soon for more updates from our team in Brazil!