There is Always Hope!

Meet Sander (on the far left), a missionary from Holland, who is a part of the Lighthouse Community Center team.  Sander is a great asset to our team and has a huge heart for the people living in the slum.

Sander literally spends hours upon hours every week visiting and spending time with people in the slum.  He spends time with the drug addicts and the homeless who hang out on the streets to families living in the slum who are in great need of encountering the love and hope Christ.

In Luke 5, you can read about how Jesus Himself spent time with sinners and tax collectors then he is questioned for his actions.  Basically he was asked, "Why do you spend time with people like this?"  His reponse was,  "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick."

  

Sander is following the example of Jesus.  He is reaching out, showing love and offering friendship, encouragement, hope and support to the truly sick people living in the slum.

Many times a week Sander goes out in the streets and invites men and women to come to a small group that he holds in a church which in located in the heart of the slum.  Most of the people who come to the group are homeless and/or are addicted to drugs.

This little classroom is usually FULL of people for the group sessions Sander holds most mornings. Sander brings snacks, talks with the people, shares a Word from the Bible and shows kindness and love to those who often feel rejected and that they have no value, diginity or hope in life.

Sander knows many people in the slums and has many stories he could tell about the precious people he has built a relationship with.  For example, this man, Mr. Eugenio, is homeless and addicted to alcohol.

 In the morning Eugenio walks around on the streets collecting scraps of iron and then he sells the iron at a nearby hardware store.  He then uses the money he has earned, to buy a bottle of cachaça (white rum).  Eugenio's happiness depends on that one bottle. He has been doing this for about twenty years now.

One day, Sander let Eugenio play the guitar during one of his group sessions.  He was a bit shy as he began to strum and play as it had been a while since he had played, but once he got going he was good! He sat and played, concentrated, with passion and emotion, as a true artist.  Sander said he could see a small glimpse of the man he once was on this day.  Eugenio was brought great joy through playing the guitar and not from drinking...

This is a couple, Jose and Vania, that Sander often visits here in the slum. They both struggle with alcohol addiction, and they work gathering recyclable materials from trash in the streets. This means they spend many hours searching through garbage just to find items they can sell for a few cents  This is the reality of their lives...

 Jose and Vania are in need of much prayer.  They have 4 children - their 13 year old daughter has stopped going to school and their three older sons are active in the local drug gangs.

 Jose and Vania have little hope of a better life, but we know that there is always HOPE in Jesus.  Vania has been long afflicted with depression and  feels much pressure to provide for her whole family, as her husband does not fully take on this responsibility.

This is a photo taken inside their home.
This is their reality, their life.

The house is very small and dirty and they have no money to renovate their home.  Rainwater often seeps through the walls and there is little ventilation for the warm humid air that gets trapped in the house.  You can also see the mold growing on the walls here, which is dangerous to the health of the family.

 

Fortunately there is ALWAYS HOPE with Jesus!  

 

Many of the people living in the slum are in great need of a transforming encounter with God.  They are also in need of support, guidance and direction in how to better their lives and make choices that bring them life and not death. 

Please pray for our slum, for the people mentioned in this post, and for the valuable work that Sander is doing, as he is sharing Jesus with people who are in great need.  Thank you!