Marathon Relay - 3rd edition

On November 15, we competed as the 3rd edition of our chacara marathon relay team in the Paqueta Esportes Marathon Relay. It was a difficult one to prepare for (I had to find substitutes for 3 of the original team members during the week), but we managed to pull together a good group and concluded the race! The team, L-R: Rodrigo, Jander, Kleiton, Marcio, Wilson, Renato, Edson and myself. Jander & Edson are currently in the program; the others are graduates, except for Kleiton, Marcio's brother. I made jerseys with the logo of a local TV stations's campaign: Crack, Don't Even Think About It, along with the chacara's official name Centro de Recuperacao Jovem. These guys are living proof that it is possible to overcome addiction, and I think we got the message across, as the jerseys and our race made people take notice!

Here's yours truly kicking things off, turning in his 5.3km in just over 23 minutes. Not too bad considering my inconsistent training this spring. To top off my day, I preached at the 3pm worship service at the chacara...God gave me the energy to do that because I was pretty wiped out from my race as well as handling all the logistics of our team race organizations and transport.

We were blessed to have some of our Rotary Club friends join us - below: Adriana & Emanuel, Claudia & Mario. And of course, Paulo Renato, constant presence at our events, was there as well.

Sometimes the real victory is just finishing the race! We didn't get any trophies for our finish position, but the medals proved that we ran in such a way as to win. Congragulations guys and thank you Lord for letting us run!

One More Who Has Overcome

On the left here is our brother Edison. He is 28 years old and a metal shop worker by trade. He is the most recent graduate of the chacara's 9-month recovery program. His last day at the chacara was last Tuesday, October 27. We praise God for Edison's faith and perseverence in allowing the Holy Spirit to transform his life!

Here's a shot of Edison with Isaias, the director of the chacara. I helped them start a new tradition of each student who finishes the 9-month program receiving a certificate of commemoration. This can certainly open doors for them in the professional world as they re-enter society, and it reminds them of how much they have sacrificed to achieve their goal.

This is Edison with his fiancee, Veridiana (I love these names!) They plan to get married next year. Paulo Renato and I took him home last Friday after our devotional with some other graduates who live nearby. We met Veridiana, her mother, and her nieces. Edison consideres these people his family because his blood family members have either passed away or have not maintained contact with him. Edison also recognizes that God has given him a new family in the church!

Praise God for Edison and his victory, and pray that he will continue to live out his faith with courage every day!

Rotary Club Involvement

Our Rotary club continues to show interest in helping the chacara. Waleska is pictured here with Martha, our current club president; Jander, one of the current students; Gustavo, our friend and club member; Paulo Renato; and club secretary Klaus (yeah, like Santa Klaus). The first task is to help them refurbish their topsoil, which has lost many nutrients after years of erosion. We are getting estimates on material to conduct this refurbishing. The next step is to help them build greenhouses so they can cultivate year-round. Finally, we hope to help them organize a small business so they can not only raise crops for their own sustenance, but also sell them to local markets and use the income to support the work of the chacara.

Rotary Club Alvorada, the suburb where the chacara is located, also plans to join us in this project! We are thankful for these partners and look forward to seeing a more fruitful harvest - in every respect - next crop season!

A New View of an Old Favorite

Let's have our brothers Paulo Renato, Elinton and Gabriel (along with Pedro the guard dog) give you a tour of the refurbished chacara exterior!

New front of chapel...

New look of cafeteria and office area...

New kitchen, from the back, remodeled and repainted.

Side view of kitchen and chapel.

The dormitory got a fresh coat of orange as well.

The panoramic view looking down from the parking area.

Looking up from the dormitory to the office and cafeteria. Lookin' good in the neighborhood!

The Latest Winner

This is our brother Valter (third from left) with the Aggies for Christ group that was with us last month. Valter graduated from the chácara program on July 13. He is now living in Canoas suburb with his family again and already has a job, and is attending church with his family! Valter formerly worked as a cellular tower maintenance technician. He got to travel and enjoy a wide variety of experiences because of this, but his many travels got him mixed up in bad company that led him to drug use. Now Valter wants to do a theology course and work for Jesus! We praise God for Valter's victory and will do our best to help him mature in his faith walk.

Possible Partnership

One of the blessings of being involved with our local Rotary club is the possiblity of forming international partnerships with clubs from other countries for the purpose of developing community service projects. Through Rotary's Matching Grants program, funds can be obtained from Rotary's international foundation to aid in community development projects. We may be on the way to forming such a partnership with a group from Holland...who recently visited the chacara and saw firsthand what good can be done when community service groups join forces!

We are in the "talking stage" right now about developing a greenhouse project that will allow the chacara to grow plants, vegetables, flower bulbs, herbs and spices to sell to the community, and use the profit to cover operating expenses so it can become a self-sustaining entity! Now let's put the dream into action...

Another Victory

This is Jeferson Pereira. He is the most recent graduate of the recovery center 9-month program! He comes from a large Italian family in Viamao, a suburb between Porto Alegre and Alvorada. He has moved in with his older sister and has obtained a job as a machine operator at Mu-Mu, a company that produces jellies and sweets. Praise God for Jeferson's victory and pray for him to persevere in his new life!

Hip-Hop City

One Saturday last month, I went to Alvorada to visit another therapeutic community and took a friend with me - Jefferson Braga, one of our recent chacara graduates. A simple stop at his brother's bait and tackle shop led to an invitation to go to a radio studio and participate in a live broadcast of gospel hip-hop in Rio Grande do Sul!This is Vinicius, the host of the show. It comes on every Saturday at 5pm on the station SaraBrasil. Vinicius interviews local and regional gospel hip-hop artists, plays their music, reads Scripture, and serves as a call center for folks who need help finding a drug or alcohol rehab center. This show reaches people who might otherwise never be interested in hearing the gospel!

On the left is my buddy Jefferson, and on the right is Di-Mc, or Elder, one of the members of the hip-hop group G.A.P. that I've helped in the past (David, Jeff's brother who works at the bait and tackle shop, is the other member of G.A.P. who couldn't be on the broadcast because he was working). With Elder are his wife Elisangela and his son Eminem (yeah you read that right!) We all shared a bit of our faith story on the radio, and Elder got to publicize their CD.

I thank God that a Saturday can begin ordinary and end extraordinary!

Recent Graduates!

Well, I am way behind on my postings for this remarkable ministry, so it's high time to get caught up. Here I'll talk about the guys who have (fairly) recently completed the 9-month recovery program and are now out and about in society again!
The main factor we have noticed in the ability of these guys to maintain a successful recovery is getting involved with a local church. Besides that, it's very important for them to find a job, continue schooling, and find a place to live that is not where they lived before, in areas of drug trafficking and hoodlum activity. We try to help these guys to make wise decisions in all these areas, and ultimately it is up to them to follow the path of recovery they've started on.

Marcio is the man in the photo on the left, while Ezequiel is the man on the right, on the far right side. Both of these guys finished their treatment on Christmas Day! From what I have heard, Marcio has unfortunately not been able to sustain his recovery, but I just saw Ezequiel on Sunday and he is doing great!

Josimar, picture above, is quite a character. He finished the program back in September. He will be the first to tell you about his colorful background: arrests for assault and robbery, prison time, high on drugs...but no more. He would make a great actor, he really knows how to get inside a personality and portray the ups and downs of a person, probably because he has lived so on the edge. Josimar is one of the guys that is sharing a special apartment with other graduates, which I will tell you about in a coming post.

This is Leandro. He actually finished his 9 months back in October, but decided to stay on until February to reinforce his recovery. He has moved to Cachoeirinha, a suburb of Porto Alegre, and is working in an industrial cleaning service. From what I understand, he is also reunited with his wife and daughter. Leandro is a very quiet and discreet man, one who doesn't make waves but wants his example to do the talking. Keep up the good work Leandro!

There are four victorious ones in this photo ! From left to right - Jeferson, Wilson, Dagoberto and Renato. Jeferson is only two weeks away from completing his 9 months, and is serving as one of the program monitors. Wilson and Renato finished their time in January, and Dagoberto finished his in February. I have seen Renato a couple of times; he is working at a automotive sound system shop, which is good, but he seems to have latched onto a girl he just met, which may not be so good (more on that later). Wilson is living with his father, and I do not have any news from him. Dagoberto went to live with his aunt and is doing OK, but could be doing better.The guy in the middle here is Diego Souza, flanked by Paulo Renato on his left and Isaias on his right. Diego just finished the program at the beginning of last month. He is now living with his mom and working in a plastics factory near his home. We are in constant contact with him and he seems to be doing well!

Last of all, I will mention Jorge, the guy on the left here. Jorge has completed one year of the program and for now has no intention of leaving. Jorge has some mental deficiencies that require special attention, and we are not sure yet how his exit will take place, if his family has conditions to take care of him. He is another guy, like Leandro, who is quiet but works his tail off and lets his example do the talking. He's also a very skilled guitar player!