Lydia's eyes flew open as her alarm clock declared that it was 7:00 a.m. She jumped out of bed. Today was the day!

The date-Monday, July 4, 2005. This was the day Lydia, Beth, her sister, and Manasah, her brother had waited for the whole year! This was the morning they would head out for Brazil on a two week missions trip with their youth group and many other American youth.

She rushed through breakfast and getting ready. They loaded their three suitcases and three carry-ons into the van. Finally everything was ready.

By this time it was only 7:30. They didn't leave until 8:30! Lydia screwed up her face. They had a whole hour until they would leave. She had nothing else to do until then! For almost that whole hour she trailed after her little sister, Grace. The excitement was killing her!

"Lee, will you go see what time it is, and ask Dad when we're leaving?" Lydia inquired of her brother when she saw he was heading for the house.

"Sure thing."

Lydia was about to burst! In one way, it seemed like it had just been yesterday that their pastor had told the youth group about this trip, yet at the same time it had seemed like ages had passed since that cold November night. This can make one quite antsy-the effect it was having on Lydia.

"It's time!" Beth exclaimed, as she, their mom and dad, Manasah, Lee, and Zawadi poured out of the side and front doors and into the front yard.

"I think we need to pray before you leave," their mom, Jamie said picking Grace up.

"Dear Lord, I ask that You," Lydia's dad prayed as they bowed their heads, "would protect Lydia, Beth, and Manasah as they go down to Brazil to minister to the people down there. Amen."

Once all of the good-byes were said, Lydia, Beth, and Manasah piled into the van with their dad. They drove down the driveway waving to their mom, brothers, and Grace. They were finally on their way to Pastor Rod's house where they were to meet up with all the others. As ecstatic as they all were about going, they were going to miss their family something terrible. Lydia brushed a tear away.

"It seems odd to be finally going after so long." Beth mused from the front passenger's seat.

"Yeah, it does," Lydia agreed, "especially after all that work and frustration." She thought of all the paperwork and support letters they had worked on. She had never known how much work it took to get ready for a missions trip, even for only two weeks.

"It's going to be really weird being away from home and everybody for so long," Manasah spoke up. It had been a subject the three had talked about a couple of times during lunch chores. They had never been gone for so long from both of their parents.

"Yeah, really," both Beth and Lydia agreed.

Lydia jumped out once they were parked at Pastor Rod's house. They were the first ones there. Pastor Rod was packing his and Mrs. Olsen's suitcases in to the church van as they got out.

"Good-morning," he greeted with his usual, bright smile.

It wasn't long until the others started driving up. Everybody started talking all at once and fast.

"It's about time we started off, but first I think we need a group picture," Pastor Rod announced once the last person had arrived.

So everybody stood or knelt in front of the red church van as all the parents gathered around with their cameras. "Mom, can you take a picture with my camera too?" Cat Fallen gave her mom her digital camera and then fell into line in the back row.

"Come on, let's get moving!" Lydia thought trying to contain her anxiousness.

After what seemed like hours the cameras stopped flashing and everyone started piling into the two vans. It was about time! They still had a very long way to go, but at least they were moving again. Lydia thought little of the road that stretched out ahead of her. She was just glad to be heading in the right direction!

------------------

"Cat, you need to be getting up," Cat Fallen's mom called at the door of Cat's bedroom. Cat jolted up out of bed. She was filled with exhilaration at those very words. This was the day she had been praying about and preparing for for so long! Now it was finally here! At long last, she, her youth pastor and his wife, and thirteen other teens from youth group would be heading for Brazil!

"I can't believe it, I'm going to another country! I'm going to a completely different continent!" These ecstatic thoughts had kept her up late into the night.

"We sure are going to miss you," Cat's mom said coming over to her and giving her shoulders a squeeze as she ate breakfast.

"I'm going to miss you too." Cat leaned her head on her mother's shoulder for a second.

She finished getting ready and then hollered, "Mom, I'm ready to go!"

"Ok, let's go," her mom replied jingling her keys.

The half hour ride into town flew by. For the first few minutes she and her mom chit chatted, but after awhile Cat fell silent. Slowly she drifted off into a daydream.

Cat came back to reality when she saw the pastor's yard filled with youth and luggage. Cat jumped out and grabbed her bags out of the back seat.

Finally they started to load up into the church van and Rohn Yoder's green van. Cat was excited to at last be on the next leg in the journey. It still would be a long wait until she set her eyes on Brazil but that didn't matter. It was great to be moving. Besides each part of this experience had its own adventures, and she didn't want to miss any of them by wishing to be somewhere else.

2.

Lydia looked out the window of the Sao Paulo, Brazil airport at the early morning light. She barely comprehended the sight as she leaned against the luggage cart. She was exhausted and sore. It had been a long, dull plane ride.

She saw a lot of white cars with blue writing on them, parked along side the road, which she mistook for police cars. She thought it kind of odd for there to be so many, but she was too tired to really think about it. Later she found out they were taxis. On the other side of the road were palm trees and water fountains.

A lady in her thirties came up to the huge group of American youth and leaders. On the plane, Lydia's youth group had met up with church groups who were to be a part of the Global Awakening missions trip. "Hello, everyone, my name is Catherine. I'm going to list you off by last name first. Call out when I say your name. When you get outside set your luggage down by one of the buses. Don't worry about getting into the same bus as your bags are on. They are all going to the same place." She certainly wasn't one to tolerate nonsense.

They all started to file out. The roar of early morning traffic met them. Again it was a long time before they all got on the buses and started off. It had begun to seem like this trip was a lot of waiting to get from one place to another.

Finally they pulled away from the airport. Lydia was feeling a little bit more awake. During the trip Tom Oliveira, the organizer of this whole trip, explained the rules, how they were to get registered into the hotel, and gave them a bit of history on Sao Paulo. Lydia looked out the window at the totally new sights as she listened to him.

It was a beautiful day, with the sun shining brightly. There were so many different trees-ferns, palms, flowering trees, and other trees Lydia didn't know the names for. The flowers were vibrant whites, pinks, reds, and purples. There were trees that looked like umbrellas and trees whose roots were like a mass of ropes all tangled together. In a word the greenery was amazing!

Sao Paulo was a huge, bustling city. The traffic was horrendous!! In fact it was a law that on certain days, cars with certain license plate numbers couldn't be on the road during morning traffic. This cut down about fifteen percent of the traffic which still was mayhem.

Once at the hotel, everybody went to the several tables of Global Awakening registration. It all was kind of a blur to Lydia. She was a little bit more awake then she had been at the airport but still felt the effects of little sleep.

"Do you have someone you want to room with, or should we just put you with someone?" one of the young women sitting behind the last table of the registration line asked as Lydia handed her the piece of paper with all her information, e-mail address, home phone number, etc.

"Just put me with someone," Lydia answered. She and Beth had asked their mom if they could room with other girls, and she had said that would be fine as long as they kept tabs on each other.

"You'll have to wait awhile then."

"All right. Thank you." Lydia walked off a little ways to not be in the way. She was so ready to be laying down flat on a bed. She meandered about while she waited to be assigned to a room and roommate.

"Lydia?" The lady behind the last table said.

"Yes." Lydia walked up to the table. A girl, about Beth's age, was standing in front of the table.

"You two shall be roommates," the lady said handing Lydia and the other girl each an envelope. "You are in room 232, Your room keys are in the envelopes."

"Hi, my name is Dana." The girl held out her hand as the two went to find their bags.

"I'm Lydia." Lydia took Dana's hand with a smile.

They found their bags in a sea of other bags underneath a staircase. "Oh, man!" Lydia exclaimed seeing her red suitcase with the neon green ribbon in the middle of that sea.

"Here, let us help you," a bellboy said and called to his colleague in Portuguese. "Which ones are yours?" He asked Lydia and Dana. They pointed out their suitcases and after some digging the two bellboys got them out.

So with Wallace, and the other bellboy, Carlos, toting Lydia's and Dana's luggage they headed for the elevators. It took them awhile before they finally found the right room.

Lydia looked around the room that would be her home for two whole weeks. There were two beds on one side of the room, with a night stand in between them. On the other side was a desk with a little fridge underneath it. A bureau stood by the door.

Lydia started put-zing around the room wondering what she should do first. She was feeling scatterbrained, but at least she wasn't stressed. Thank the Lord for friends and family who were praying for peace. Through all the customs and waiting Lydia had never really felt stressed, only nervous. Thank You Lord!

Lydia looked about the room wondering what she should do next. She felt like she should be doing something, but she didn't know what. She was having a hard time gathering her thoughts.

"Do you mind if I go take a shower?" Lydia asked, remembering she hadn't taken a shower since her last night at home which was a day and a half ago. EEEWWW!

"Go ahead."

The rest of that morning and afternoon nothing much got done. Lydia got her stuff unpacked into one half of the closet, and she and Dana started getting to know each other. After lunch they talked some more and then fell fast asleep.

3.

"Lydia." Lydia woke up to Dana's voice. "It's time to be getting ready to go down to orientation."

"Ok," Lydia mumbled, rubbing her eyes and stretching. She hadn't thought she was going to be able to fall asleep with the city traffic roaring outside and being in a strange place. Yet a few minutes after shutting her eyes exhaustion had overcome her. After that she slept soundly. She now felt much better after a couple hours of sleep.

While Dana got dressed Lydia got her Bible and Global Awakening manual together, and did her hair. At last they were both ready. "Do you know where we're supposed to go?" Dana asked as they headed down the short hallway to the elevators.

"No, I don't." Lydia pushed the elevator's down button.

"Hey, Lydia," Peter, one of the young men who helped in her youth group said. He and Terrelle were coming down the same hall Lydia and Dana had come down. "Hey Peter, Terrelle. This is my roommate, Dana; Dana, this is Peter and Terrelle. They're from my church. So do you guys know where we are going?"

"No clue." Terrelle shrugged his shoulders, following the others into the elevator. They got down to the main floor and found themselves in the lobby/bar room. Here they met up with some other Global Awakening kids who were also on their way to the meeting. Lydia, Dana, Terrelle, and Peter followed them out of the building along the walkway to another building. There were, in fact, three buildings to this hotel.

After wandering around awhile and inquiring of people they finally found their way down to the conference room where they were supposed to be. At the front of the room, there was a low stage on which a worship team was gearing up to play. The rest of the room was filled with rows and rows of chairs. In the first few rows sat the rest of Lydia's youth group. It was good to see them again. She hadn't seen any of them since that morning. She waved excitedly to Cat.

"I should probably go find my team leader and let him know I'm here," Dana said, turning to Lydia. She had come here by herself and was being put in with a different church group.

"All right," Lydia watched as Dana's brown head disappeared into the crowd before walking toward her own group.

"Hey, where have you been?" Beth asked sounding a bit agitated. "I didn't even see you at lunch."

"In my room, for the most part. My roommate and I went to lunch at about quarter to eleven. Other than that we have been in our room."

"Oh, we must have just missed you at lunch then."

"Yeah. Who are you roomin' with?" Lydia asked.

"Rose," Beth answered. Lydia gave her sister a questioning look. Beth had wanted to room with someone new as much as she had, but Rose was from their youth group. "She was the one who was behind me in the line."

Worship started a few minutes later. Lydia went to the back where there was some room and started dancing. As the notes of the songs filled the room, Lydia's heart began to soar! She danced with all her might. God's presence wrapped around her like a comfy blanket.

After worship, Randy Clark, the man in charge of this missions trip, got up to talk. He had gray short cropped hair and was in his fifties. He introduced his interns and other workers. He then had youth from past Global Awakening missions trips give their testimonies. One that really caught Lydia's attention, came from a guy in his early twenties with carrot red hair.

"Hi everybody, my name is Randy. Last year my roommate and I were praying and soaking in the Holy Spirit when we found a bucket filled with something we guessed to be spiritual anointing. Now mind you, we were seeing this in the Spirit. "Cool!" I said, "Let's go find someone to dump this on." It took both of us to carry it because it was extremely heavy. We got to the elevator as the doors were opening. In it were a group of kids.

"On the count of three," my roommate said, so we started swinging the bucket and counting. Now remember, this bucket was in the spiritual realm so the teens in the elevator couldn't see it. They looked at us as though we were out of our minds.

"Three!" When my roommate got to three, we dumped the anointing on them. They fell under God's power, and just at that moment the doors shut.

"Wow! Let's do that again!" I said. We went back to our room, and prayed some more.

The Lord filled the bucket up again. We dumped it on another group of kids, and the same thing happened to them. We did this several more times with the same amazing results! I tell you God is AWESOME!!"

Thunderous applause filled the room. "Wow! That's incredible!" Lydia murmured. More fantastic testimonies followed. Lydia's excitement grew as the stories went on.

Once all the testimonies were over, everyone helped stack the chairs. It was time for the impartation. All the youth and youth leaders stood about and Randy Clark, his interns, and Bill Johnson prayed for them all. While they prayed the young man who had led worship, played the piano.

Before they began to pray, though, Bill Johnson got up on the stage and gave a speech. "The two greatest tragedies I see in life, are having Christians who have the Spirit of the resurrected Christ in them, wake up morning after morning with no intent of shaping the course of world history. The second one is to see soldiers in the army of the Lord go to bed night after night with no blood on their swords. The great thing of this event is that y'all got up this morning to shape the course of world history, and by the time you go to bed tomorrow night, there will be blood on all your swords."

Since no one came to pray for Lydia, she just worshiped. Her heart soared away on the wings of the music up into the vision world. She found herself in a beautiful, silvery gown dancing in a ballroom with Jesus. As He was twirling her around, her gorgeous gown was replaced with armor.

"What does it mean, Lord?" Lydia asked in her heart.

"I'm now sending you out into battle, but I don't want you to forget to dance," He replied.

Lydia continued to worship her Lord and Savior, oblivious to the grunting and yelling of those around her. It was nothing new to her; the Holy Spirit had touched her church before. No, it had never been to the intensity it was now, but that didn't bother her any.

A few moments after Jesus had called her to battle, she was basking in the love of the Heavenly Father. He had her wrapped in a warm embrace as if to remind her that not even the fiercest battle could separate her from His love! Even though she wasn't afraid, because she already knew He was on her side, it was always great to have a special reminder! Every Christian soldier who is sent out must have an experience like that on the day their Chief Commander commissions them.

God's presence was so thick in that room it could of been cut with a sword. It enveloped Lydia like a big warm blanket. Never in her entire life had she physically felt His presence like that before. She had always tried to imagine it, but to no avail. Yet, this was the real thing! This couldn't be thought up in a weak human imagination. It was too tangible, too life-like to be anything but the genuine presence of Lydia's beloved Lord!

Then she felt a pair of hands in her own upturned hands. She opened her eyes just a crack to see who it was. It was Randy Clark himself. She closed her eyes again. She was glad to be prayed for, but was too enraptured by the love the Lord was pouring down on her to care much about who was praying for her.

Several minutes later Lydia could still feel pressure in her hands. She opened her eyes again. Randy Clark had moved on. What was even stranger was that the pressure in her right hand seemed heavier than the pressure in her left hand. "What's with this, Lord?" Lydia asked, confused.

"It's a sword," came the answer.

4.

"Come on out. It's ministry time." Erik, the bus captain, poked his head into the little room where Lydia, Beth, Peter, and the three other young men had been interceding for the service a couple nights later.

They all filed out and lined up with the rest of the ministry team in front of the stage. This was their first night of ministry. Lydia jigged excitedly. She couldn't wait to start praying!

Estevam, the young man who had preached that night, invited the people to come up for prayer. After the interpreter gave the invitation in Portuguese, a little, old lady hobbled up to Lydia with the help of a cane. "Voce quer ora cao para que?" Lydia asked what the lady wanted prayer for. The lady started jabbering an answer in Portuguese which Lydia couldn't understand. All the Portuguese Lydia knew were the few phrases that had been given on the tape from the Global Awakening acceptance package. Lydia bit her lip uncertainly, looking around the huge warehouse, where the church held its meetings, trying to find a translator.

"Do you need someone to translate?" a middle-age man in a gray, wool sweater asked, coming up to Lydia.

"Yes, Fausto," Lydia said looking at his name tag. "I can't understand what she is wanting prayer for."

Fausto turned to the lady and spoke to her for a second. "She is having trouble with her lungs. She has had this problem for nine months and the doctors aren't quite sure what to do."

"Ok," Lydia nodded and put her hand over the woman's chest. She started to pray, "Vem, Espirito Santo. Vem. Vem com seu poder."

Fifteen minutes went by and nothing seemed to happen. Lydia bit her tongue to stifle a sigh, having a self-pity party in her head. "How is it now?" Lydia asked for what seemed the hundredth time.

Fausto interpreted the question to the lady. As the lady answered, Lydia looked from her to the women gathered around her, who Lydia guessed were also praying. These ladies had made Lydia extremely self-conscious, causing her muscles to tighten up and spasm. Even though they had kind faces it seemed as though they were staring at her and expecting her to do something spectacular.

"She says she feels better and she believes the Lord has healed her," Fausto relayed to Lydia.

"Ok," Lydia wasn't satisfied with the answer but she was getting the impression that the lady was tired of being prayed for.

She moved on, and Fausto followed her. A woman in her thirties came up to Lydia. She was skinny, with short, black hair, and a friendly smile. She looked to Fausto and told him something. "She says that there's a tingling sensation in her feet. The doctors say it is bad circulation," Fausto told Lydia.

"How long has she had this problem?" Lydia asked.

"It started three months ago," Fausto replied after inquiring of the lady.

"Do the doctors know what caused it, or did something traumatic happen around the time this started?" Lydia queried. When the question was translated the lady looked thoughtful for a second and slowly shook her head.

"Nao," she said. Lydia recognized that word.

"No, ok. Qaul e seu nome?"

"Christiana," the lady answered.

"All right," Lydia nodded her head. She smiled kindly at Christiana before kneeling down to lay her hands on Christiana's feet. She began to pray the few simple Portuguese prayers she had learned. "Vem, Espirito Santo. Vem com seu poder. Mais Espirito Santo."

After a few minutes of praying in her broken Portuguese, Lydia straightened. "Is she feeling anything?" Lydia asked Fausto. As Fausto asked Christiana, Lydia watched her face and hands. Lydia could tell by her facial expressions and how she moved her hands that she was excited.

"There is fire moving through her legs and feet." "Good," Lydia exclaimed remembering from the teaching on healing that afternoon that fire meant God was touching the person. She knelt down and prayed again.

"Mais fogo, mais fogo, Senhor," Lydia called upon the Lord. Christiana shook uncontrollably under the power of the Holy Spirit.

"Is it better?" Lydia questioned several minutes later.

Once more Fausto and Christiana chattered in Portuguese. "She says that God has completely healed her," Fausto finally answered.

A huge smile lit up Lydia's face as she looked up at Christiana. She clapped her hands emphatically. "Gloria a Deus!" Lydia exclaimed. (Praise the Lord!)

"Gloria a Deus! Obrigada," Christiana said putting a hand on Lydia's shoulder and smiling. She then walked off.

"Thank You, Lord!" Lydia sent a prayer Heavenward. Still the frustration she had felt while praying for the older lady lingered. As much as she tried to shake the feeling she couldn't get rid of it. A huge rock weighed down in her gut, giving a sick-in-the-stomach feeling.

---------------------

Rose walked up to a man who was waiting with a little boy who was in a wheel chair. Beside them was a girl about Rose's age who held her hand out to Rose. "Hello....my name....Violate. This is...my uncle and cousin, Julius." Violate introduced them.

"I'm Rose. What is wrong with Julius?"

"He has been paraly...lyzed from birth and his left... leg is...longer than...right...one," Violate said in broken English.

"What caused him to be paralyzed?"

"Please...speak...slower."

"Sorry. What caused him to be paralyzed?" Rose asked this time slower.

Violate conferred with Julius' father and then turned back to Rose. "His...pel...vic bone collided...with his...femur?" Violate pointed to her own body to illustrate. She looked up at Rose with a confused look as though to confirm that she was saying it all right, that Rose understood.

Rose nodded as she knelt down in front of Julius. He looked at her with the saddest, deepest eyes she had ever seen. Those brown eyes looked fathomless. She laid a kind hand on his shoulder, her heart going out to this boy who had never known the joys of running. In one glance into those eyes, Rose fell in love with this little boy who sat hunched over in his wheelchair.

"How old are you, Julius?"

Violate translated the question for Rose. Julius held up nine fingers. "Nove?" Rose said with a smile also holding up nine fingers. Julius nodded his head slowly.

"All right, should we pray together and ask God to heal you?" Rose asked taking Julius' small frail hand. He nodded, staring at her with those fathomless eyes. "Ok." Rose started to pray, keeping her eyes open waiting to see any visible evidence of God moving on Julius. She prayed for him the whole hour of ministry time. The longer she prayed the more she wanted him to be healed. He wasn't just some little boy to her. He was someone with a character and emotions, someone she could empathize with.

Every once in awhile, she would ask him if he could move his legs or if he was feeling anything. Every time she got that sad shake of the head that told her so far nothing was happening. Still she refused to meet defeat! She wanted his healing as much as he did.

About a half hour after starting to pray, Rose got an idea. "Can I take his shoe off for a second?" She asked looking up at Violate. Violate asked Julius who nodded his head. Rose carefully untied the shoe and slipped it off. Then with her index finger she scratched his foot and wiggled his toes. "Can you feel that?" Julius shook his head. "Absolutely no feeling in the feet, eh?" she mused.

"All right. Vem Espirito Santo. Vem com seu poder. Mais uncao para a cura." Rose began to pray again. "Can you stand?" she asked after several more minutes.

Julius' father and Violate helped him out of his chair. No sooner was he in a standing position than his knees buckled underneath him. If it hadn't been for his father, Julius would have fallen onto Rose who was kneeling in front of him.

"All right, that's ok. Healing sometimes is a process. God will heal you! He loves to heal His children. We just will keep praying unless you want to quit for now, and we can pray again tomorrow." Violate put the suggestion past Julius.

He shook his head rambling something in Portuguese. "He says...wants to...keep praying."

"Good. Then let's get to it," Rose said happy that he wasn't willing to give up. "Mais uncao para a cura. Mais uncao em nome de Jesus," Rose continued praying.

"We have five more minutes, guys," Erik called out.

"I have to leave in a little bit. Are you feeling anything Julius?" Rose asked.

"Nao," Julius answered. This was the first direct answer Rose had gotten out of him.

Rose nodded. "Dear Lord, we know that You want to heal Julius. We thank You for that and that You are going to heal him." Rose waited for the interpretation before going on. "Come Lord and touch Julius with Your healing anointing in Jesus' name. Straighten his pelvic bone so that it won't interfere with his walking."

"It's time to get into the bus," Erik announced.

Rose looked up at Erik with a small frown and then back at Violate, Julius, and his father. "Are you going to be here for tomorrow's meeting?"

Violate looked to Julius' father and asked. "Yes, we will."

"Then you will be the first person I pray for. How does that sound, Julius?" Julius nodded his head. "Good! God's going to heal you, Julius. I know He will. God bless you." Rose squeezed his hand giving him one last smile before standing up and making her way to the back of the church where the rest of her team had started out for the bus.

--------------------

"All right, that was awesome! You all surely got your swords bloody tonight," Erik announced once everyone had settled into the bus. "I need everyone's attention now. We need to do stats. How many people got healed? Hold up fingers for how many people got healed." Fingers went up throughout the bus. "Estevam, help me count."

Once he had gotten all the statistics for healings, salvations, people who had been commissioned, and so on, Erik read the results aloud. The attack on the devil's forces of darkness had been successful, and many of his captives had been set free that night! So despite Lydia's feelings of frustration, the first night of ministry could be rightly declared a victory. So she took a deep breath and put on a smile.

"We were filled up on the bus ride here and then we gave out to the people. Now it's time to get filled up again. So everybody get into your receiving modes," Erik told the busload of teens and their leaders. Lydia closed her eyes and held out her hand with a heavy sigh.

Erik prayed a simple prayer and then in a quiet, gentle voice he started declaring the love of the Heavenly Father. He did it in an interesting way, a way that Lydia had never thought of before. "...God has a huge wallet, and in it He has each one of your pictures in it. He is so proud of each one of you. All day He goes about Heaven showing the angels your pictures saying, 'Look at My kids. They are down on earth working hard to touch as many lives as they can for Me. I'm so proud of them.'" As Erik talked the anxious knot that had been sitting in the pit of Lydia's stomach melted away. The peace of God filled the bus and it worked as a soothing ointment on her bundled up nerves.

5.

Lydia woke up the next morning to her clock going crazy. Beep, beep, 9:45a.m., beep, 9:45a.m. Lydia opened up her eyes just enough to turn the alarm off. She was exhausted!

Something caught her attention. It was a piece of paper sitting under her alarm clock. She picked it up; it was from a Global Awakening notepad. Fighting to keep her eyes open a second more, she read the note on it.

Lydia!

Happy Be-lated

Birthday!

(I didn't want to wake you up)

Love....Dana

Lydia looked over into the other bed where Dana was fast asleep. Lydia had to smile. She had had a great seventeenth birthday. This had been her first birthday away from home and still the Lord had made sure she felt special. Her youth group had sung to her yesterday morning. Then on the way to the warehouse church, the whole bus had sung to her. It was an awesome birthday!

Not able to fight it any longer, she closed her eyes. Before her head hit the pillow she zonked out. By the time her group got back to the hotel last night, it had been about one-thirty. By the time she had gotten to bed it was two.

"Lydia, we probably should get up," Lydia heard Dana groan. Lydia rolled over to look at her clock. It was eleven a.m.

"Ok," she got up and went to the bureau. She picked out a navy blue dress. She then went into the bathroom to take a shower.

When Lydia got out of the shower, Dana was still asleep. Lydia looked at the clock. If they didn't get started for the breakfast room, they wouldn't get any breakfast. She wasn't sure how Dana would take being woken up, but she didn't want to leave Dana out of breakfast either. "Dana, we have to be getting downstairs if you want to eat," Lydia whispered.

"Oh, ok," Dana stretched. She then threw a jacket over her white tank top and the two headed down to breakfast.

"Thanks for the note," Lydia said as the two sat down at a table by a window.

"You're welcome. I got in at two-thirty and didn't want to wake you. So how was it?"

"It was very nice." Lydia then bowed her head to pray and started to eat her food. The two sat in relative silence.

-------------

"I want the whole American team to pray for all the Brazilians. Pray that God would use them to tear down the barrier of darkness in Brazil," Bill Johnson announced at the end of his sermon later that night at the church called Bola Janeve. With that, Lydia and the rest got up from their places and started going throughout the big sanctuary.

Lydia went from person to person, praying that God would come down in His fire and power and use them mightily. The presence of God electrified the room. People were screaming and shaking under God's anointing. Up on the stage someone was playing on the keyboard.

After awhile Lydia came up to a teen girl and a middle-aged woman. They both had translator tags on. Lydia first just prayed for the girl.

After a few minutes of praying for the girl she moved on to the lady. She prayed basically the same thing for her. She had black, wavy hair, a slightly oval shaped face, a long nose, and was slightly taller than Lydia. She was beautiful. Lydia looked at her name tag but couldn't figure out how to say it.

It wasn't long before the woman began to weep. Lydia watched her face as the tears slipped out from under her eyelids and trickled down her cheeks. Feeling compelled to keep praying Lydia continued to petition God for His might for the lady.

"Lord, bless her abundantly! I ask that she would shine Your love to everyone she meets. Make her radiate Your love and mercy. I pray that she would be so filled with Your light that even as she passes people on the street they would see that she has something different. I ask that they would come up to her wanting that.

Five minutes went by before the lady wiped her tears away and gave Lydia a brilliant smile. "Thank-you." She wrapped Lydia in a warm embrace.

Lydia returned it. "You are very welcome!" That hug sent Lydia soaring to the ceiling with overwhelming joy. She was ecstatic that God used her to touch a life in a special way. This experience blessed Lydia as much as it did the lady. She had had many exciting experiences but never had she felt so high in her life.

She went on to others with a brighter smile than she had come with. The rest of that ministry time was not nearly as dramatic, but it did not matter. The picture of that one soul being touched by God was enough to keep Lydia's spirits high for the rest of the afternoon.

"Lydia, we're going." Manasah passed by her, throwing his book bag strap over his head.

"Ok, let me get my bag." Lydia rushed to get her bag at the front of the church. She then hurried for the door.

From the Bola Janeve they went to the Shastaria, the restaurant where one got most of their food at a buffet table but then waiters came around with big metal stakes of meat with little plates under them to catch the blood and grease. Lydia had gotten her food and sat down at a table with her friends. One of the waiters came up to her with a stake of little white balls of meat with seasoning on it. Having no other way of communication she nodded her head and the waiter started to scrape a few off onto her plate.

"Hey, that's chicken heart!" Erik hollered from way over on the other end of the tables.

Lydia bit her lip for a second in a quandary, and the waiter paused seeming to realize she was having second thoughts. She shrugged her shoulders and nodded her head again. It couldn't hurt any to try them, and besides it would be an adventure. So he scraped a few onto her plate, and went on.

She looked at them for a second, and then taking her fork she speared one and popped it in her mouth. "Mmmm," Lydia uttered as the delectable taste of chicken met her taste buds.

"How is it?" Beth, who had been watching her from across the table, asked.

"Really good, actually," Lydia answered spearing another one. "The thought of eating heart is kind of repulsive, but it tastes just like chicken."

All of the food was scrumptious and she was hungry. As she ate she listened to the conversation going around the table in her usual way, once in awhile putting in a comment, but for the most part keeping quiet. She never spoke up much in a big group. It wasn't because she was scared, but she just didn't have much to say.

Fifteen minutes into their meal Erik stood up. "We need to be heading out soon, guys, so if you want dessert you better get it now," he announced and sat back down.

------------------

"I want the ministry team to come up front. Whoever has a word of knowledge, come onto the stage here with me," Randy Clark said after giving a teaching on words of knowledge. They were again in the warehouse church, which the United States team referred to as "Alda's" after the pastor. The actual name of the church was too difficult for their English-speaking tongues to get around.

"Rose and the other intercessors haven't come out." Beth whispered into Lydia's ear.

Lydia looked over to the little room where the intercessors prayed. "They probably don't realize it's time for ministry. You think I should go tell Erik?"

"Yeah, probably should."

Lydia walked behind the line of teens to where Erik stood. She laid a hand on his arm to get his attention. "The intercessors haven't come out yet. Should I go get them?"

Erik looked over to the little room just as Lydia had. "Yeah, why don't you."

Once Lydia had gotten Rose and the others she slipped back to her spot in the line. By this time she had kind of lost track of what was going on. Several people in the congregation were standing, starting to shake under the Holy Spirit's anointing. Just then Randy Clark spoke up, "Team, go out to those who are manifesting." So the youth broke out of their line and filtered into the congregation.

Lydia went over to a lady who was standing in the second row of white, plastic lawn chairs. The lady was jumping and shaking uncontrollably. "Mais Senhor, mais Senhor," Lydia began. The feeling that she should pray for more of the Lord's love came upon her.

"Mais amor, Senhor, seen, mais." Lydia prayed putting one hand on the lady's back and one under the lady's own upturned hand. As Lydia prayed for more of God's love to be poured out on this lady she watched the woman's face. It wasn't long before tears were streaming down her tan cheeks. The manifestations got stronger. Lydia pushed chairs out of the way so the lady wouldn't hurt herself.

"Revela a seu amor Deus Pai. Reveal Your love, Father. Show her how precious she is to You." The lady continued to weep as Lydia prayed.

"All right, everybody, it is time to start praying for physical healing," Randy Clark announced. Lydia, a bit uncertainly, left the lady on the floor crying with one of the translators. She didn't fully understand it at the time but that was the second emotional healing she had seen that day, and she was to witness many more during that missions trip. Through all of them she began to learn a paramount lesson. God loves to heal and one of His favorite healings is emotional healing. He loves to take a broken soul, piece it back together, and once He's finished, it is prettier than before. He shows the person Himself. Also He shows them how beautiful they are in His eyes, and how much He wants to use them for great things!!

-----------------

Rose looked around and found Julius with his father and cousin Violate on the other side of the church. So she headed over to them. "Oi, Julius. How are you doing tonight?" She asked kneeling beside him.

"Bom," Julius replied. His eyes still had that sad look to them. At least he was talking to her, which was an improvement.

Rose put a sympathetic hand on his shoulder and began to pray. A sense of urgency came over her as she prayed. She wanted, more than anything, to see this nine-year-old boy be able to walk.

"Can you stand?" she asked after several minutes. Like the night before, Violate and Julius' father helped him up, and like before, if it wasn't for his father, he would have fallen forward.

Manasah, Beth, and some of the others came up once in awhile and also prayed for Julius, but it was Rose who stayed with him the whole time. Something was very special about this little boy and Rose wanted to see him healed. She had loved seeing the other people she prayed for healed too. With Julius, something made his plight personal to her. She couldn't put her finger on it, but it was something beyond that small, weak frame of his that caught her attention and wouldn't let go.

"Dear Lord, come with Your healing anointing. Let it flow through Julius' body." Rose made sure to speak slow so that Violate could understand. "Mais uncao. Mais uncao. Mais Senhor. Mais."

Rose looked up at Julius' father who also had sad brown eyes. Oh how she wished there was something she could do or say to bring some hope to this family. "Can you move anything?" She turned her attention back to Julius.

Julius looked to Violate who told him what Rose had said. He then closed his eyes and scrunched up his face in concentration. He shook his head his eyes telling a story of a boy who now had a glimmer of hope and yet was still feeling a bit discouraged. "God's going to heal you, Julius! Sometimes it takes awhile. Have you heard the story where Jesus meets a blind man and has to pray a couple times before the man is healed? He will heal you, Julius. It just takes time sometimes." Rose wasn't saying this to raise false hopes. She just knew with all her being that he was going to be healed. She couldn't explain how she knew. Julius smiled sadly at her. The first smile she had seen from him. At least that was a start. Rose smiled encouragingly at him.

Rose continued to pray, and every once in awhile asking him if he could stand, move anything, or feel something. Every time she got that shake of the head, and every time she went back to praying with increased fervency and determination. Yet, she always remembered that it wasn't her fervency or determination that would heal Julius. It was the power of the Lord that would do it!

She had been praying for quite awhile when she felt something actually move in his knee. She looked up at him with excitement welling up in her eyes. A spark of hopeful excitement lit up Julius' eyes, telling her that he had felt it too. He looked up at his father telling him what he had felt. Rose saw something light up in the middle-aged man's eyes. It looked like hope, yet there was something else in those brown eyes that looked scared to hope for too much.

"Can you move anything?" Rose asked. Again Julius closed his eyes with concentrated effort. He shook his head. Even still, that spark of excitement didn't dissipate. God had shown Himself to Julius! Now he wasn't going to be discouraged so easily.

"Lord, we thank You for giving Julius a sign showing him that You are going to heal him and that You love him. We ask for more of Your anointing, Lord." Rose went back to praying.

Fifteen minutes went by and nothing more happened. Erik hollered for everybody to start heading out. Rose said good-bye and promised to be back the next night. Julius nodded his good-bye giving Rose a small smile. That look of hope still hadn't dissipated and now he had given her a second smile, small as it was. She counted the night a success, even if Julius hadn't gotten out of his chair yet. Rose praised the Lord for the success of seeing Julius smile, for the hope planted in him. She was truly grateful!

---------------

Beth came up to one lady who was standing up front waiting to be prayed for. The lady had reddish-brown curls that reached to her shoulders and dull hazel eyes. Beth motioned to one of the translators to come over to her. "Ask her what she wants prayer for, please." The young translator, Ana, nodded and started talking to the lady. Ana had honey brown hair, a fine aristocratic nose, and royalty emanated from her.

"She has had a severe headache for twenty-six years," Ana said.

"Thank-you, Ana. Can you ask her what her name is," Beth asked.

"Her name is Beatriz."

Beth nodded her head and started to pray. She gently put her hand on Beatriz's head. "We thank You, Lord, that You are in this place and are wanting to heal Beatriz." Ana translated the prayer. "Mais fogo. Mais Senhor. Mais uncao para a cura," Beth continued to pray. "Seen Senhor, seen."

Beth prayed for a minute or two and then turned to Ana. "How is she feeling?"

Ana interviewed Beatriz for a second. "She said the pain is less and she is feeling heat all over her head."

"Thank You, Lord, for what you are doing in Beatriz." Beth started again and waited for Ana to translate. "I ask that You would continue what You are doing in her. Seen Pai. Mais Poder."

"How is she feeling now?" Beth asked again.

Beatriz got excited when she heard the question. She got very animated as she rambled her answer to Ana. Her hands were flying everywhere and her eyes now sparkled. Ana smiled as she told Beth what Beatriz had said. "She says that God has completely taken the headache away. The heat she was feeling in her head melted the pain away completely. She says thanks be to the Lord."

"Thank You, Lord!" Beth agreed beaming with pleasure.

Beatriz said something more to Ana. "She says thank you for praying for her God bless you."

"Tell her that she is welcome, and may God bless her too." Beth nodded to Beatriz and then walked off to find another person to pray for.

At the moment there was nobody needing prayer so she walked over to where Annie D. and Cat Fallen were praying for a girl who was probably eight years old. Ana was the one who was translating for them. "What are we praying for?" Beth asked Annie.

"She only has fourteen percent of her eyesight. Her name is Belinda."

Beth began to pray along, kneeling beside Belinda. She had huge brown eyes that bore into Beth as though she were trying to figure out what or who was in front of her. She smiled at Belinda reassuringly, putting a hand on the girl's small shoulder.

"Can she see any better, or she is feeling anything?" Annie asked. Ana knelt down beside Beth in front of Belinda and asked the question.

"She says she can see a little bit better but she doesn't feel anything."

"Lord, come with Your power, heal Belinda. Bring sight into her eyes, Lord," Beth said with bowed head and closed eyes.

"Yes, Lord," Cat replied.

They prayed for several more minutes as little Belinda looked at them with eyes that were glassy. She looked unsure, ready to run away. Beth watched her with sympathy. "This must be extremely overwhelmingly scary. Not being able to see and surrounded by people who can't speak her language," Beth thought.

"Is there any change?" Cat asked. Ana asked Belinda. "She doesn't know."

"Maybe we should test it," Annie said, stepping a few feet away and held up three fingers. "How many fingers do I have up?"

Belinda squinted at Annie. She then turned to Ana and gave her answer. "Three."

"Good!" Annie's face lit up with a smile. She stepped backwards several more feet and held up five fingers. "How about now?" Again Belinda got it right.

Annie backed up farther and asked again. This time Belinda got it wrong. So Annie came back and they prayed again.

Several minutes passed as they prayed. Beth began to notice during that time that Belinda was becoming antsy. "How is it now?" Beth asked understanding how she must feel.

"It is much better. Things still look a bit fuzzy, but it is much better," Ana answered.

"Praise the Lord!!" Beth, Annie, Cat said in unison. Belinda gave a shy smile as a thank-you before running off.

Beth prayed for several other people. They all got healed. She was overjoyed at this! The night before she hadn't seen many healings and had been greatly discouraged, but tonight had her bouncing for joy. It was awesome! The Holy Spirit had started to show up from the beginning of the ministry time. "Ooohhhhh!!" Beth groaned really loudly as the power of God came upon her in a strong wave. "Ooohhhhh!!!" She couldn't stand up under His power.

She went up to a group teens who were also being blasted by the Lord. They took her by the hands and started praying for her. "Ooohhhhh!" Beth went down under the magnified power. "Wait a minute I'm supposed to be praying for you," she thought as she went down, but she was helpless to do anything. She lay on the floor doing "holy sit-ups."

When it was time to get back on the bus, Beth had difficulty getting over to it. It was very hard to walk bent over under the anointing. She kept on stopping, unable to continue because of the uncontrollable bobbing. Manasah, shaking his head in amusement, finally picked her up and carried her the rest of the way to the bus.

-------------------

Pastor Rod sat down at his desk with a tired sigh. He needed to write an e-mail to the kids' families before getting to bed even though he was exhausted.

Boa noite,

So much has happened today. I will try to just bring out the main things.

Terrelle is not in our group because it was too large. We see him everyday. Yesterday he had a word of knowledge about a woman with a tumor on her breast. He was one of many who had words so he didn’t know who the word was for. He prayed he could find out. Last night a woman grabbed him and said, when he said it, the fire of God immediately hit her and she felt the tumor had been dissolved. He also prayed for someone who was almost blind and 75% of sight immediately returned.

Our kids are totally wrecked!!!! We came down with 14 relatively quiet kids. They are not that way anymore! In our afternoon training service Manasah and Beth had words of knowledge. In our evening service Beth, Lydia, Peter, Annie, Kari, Cat, and Joan were on the platform with words of knowledge. Many people were healed without even coming forward. I think all of the kids have prayed and seen someone healed.

Bill Johnson preached this afternoon and then had USA team pray for the Brazilian team...We got blasted!!! The power of God was all over the kids. What can I say …. It is great!!!! The kids don’t stop praying for people until we drag (or carry) them out. The impartation increases by the moment.

Gotta Go

Deus te abencoe

6.

"Oi, Julius. How are you doing tonight?" Rose asked walking up to him on Friday night.

"Bom," Julius answered with a smile. Tonight the smile was actually happy. There was hope in his eyes.

"It's good to see you smile." Rose knelt down in front of him and returned his smile. "I'm having the feeling that we should start by praying for your leg to grow out. Can I take your shoes off?" Julius nodded.

Rose took his shoes off and took both feet in her hands to compare them. There was a noticeable difference between them, with his left leg several inches longer than his right. "In the name of Jesus we command the right leg to grow out to the same length as the left," Rose began to pray.

After about ten minutes Rose saw the right leg slightly move. At first she thought she was just seeing things but than Julius began rambling excitedly. "Pi! Pi!" he squealed pulling at his father's sleeve.

Rose looked at him with a big smile. His eyes sparkled with boyish delight. "Lord, we thank You for the work You have started in Julius. We ask that You continue."

"Leg, grow, in the name of Jesus!"

Ever so slowly the right leg grew out. Finally it was the same length as the left one. Julius clapped his hands in excitement as he continued to ramble something to his father. He then looked directly at Rose and said something. "He...can feel your...hands on...his..." Violate pointed to Julius' feet as though she couldn't think of the word for them.

"Feet?" Rose said.

"Yes, his feet."

"Thank You, Jesus!" Rose looked back to Julius, her own face mirroring his exhilaration.

Rose thanked God for what He had done for Julius and went back to praying. Now she turned to praying that God would bring strength into the boy's legs, enabling him to walk.

"Can you stand?" Rose asked as it was almost time to leave. Again Violate and Julius' father helped him out of his wheelchair. This time, however, he didn't fall but stayed stable. The smile that had been getting bigger and bigger through the night now swallowed up his whole face. Rose also smiled. How she loved to see this boy with a radiant smile. The eyes that had been a fathomless pool of sadness and lost hope were a deep pool of joy and hope. She couldn't stop praising the Lord in her heart for the wonder He had done in this precious child.

"It's time to be heading to the bus," Erik announced. Rose looked up and saw the others leaving.

"I have to go now. I don't think I'll be coming back, but you keep coming up for prayer if it takes that. I believe you will be healed," Rose said looking back to Julius.

Julius who had been resettled into his chair leaned over and gave Rose a big hug. Rose returned the hug smiling to herself. She was overjoyed at how much Jesus had already touched him. She knew without a doubt that soon he would be walking and running. She loved this little boy and would never forget him. She was sure he was going to grow up to be an impressive young man and was a little disappointed that she would miss it.

She straightened with a groan as her legs complained at being left in the same hunched position. She turned to Violate and then to Julius' father and shook their hands. His father didn't show the same level of excitement as Julius did but it was still evident that it did him good to see his son doing so well. With one final smiling nod, she headed out.

-----------------

Lydia wondered about trying to find someone to pray for. She had prayed for several people. There was no one else to pray for. Those wanting to be prayed for already had one or two people surrounding them. She absent-mindedly listened to the Brazilian band as they were playing in the background.

Seeing there was absolutely no more people seeking prayer, she grouped up with Kari who was praying for a middle-aged lady who was shorter then both of them. "What's she need prayer for?" Lydia asked looking over the lady's head to Kari.

"She wants a deeper relationship with God."

"Qual e seu nome?" Lydia asked cocking her head so she could look the woman in the eye.

"Kyla," the woman responded. She had beautiful hazel eyes that seemed to be searching for something.

"Vem, Senhor. Vem." Lydia looked up heavenward as though in invitation.

"Draw Kyla into Your arms, Father," Kari chimed in.

"Yes, Lord. Sim Senhor. Woo her like a groom woos his bride and give her a love for You that is beyond her own capability." Lydia took Kyla's hands in her own as she prayed.

Kari walked away but Lydia felt that she should stay and so kept on praying. "Lord, she can't understand what I'm saying but I ask that You would translate for her. Give her a deeper revelation of who You are and let her know how You see her."

"Give her a kiss from Me." Lydia heard that still, quiet voice.

"No, Lord, what would she think of me? What would everyone else think of me?" Lydia argued.

She thought maybe it had just been her own random thoughts, but it was such a wild one and something that had never even entered her mind before. Also, she felt Him urging her to do as He said. Still, she didn't like the idea. The more she argued the point, though, the more she felt God urging her on.

Finally Lydia relented. "Ana, can you translate something for me?" she called to Ana who was not occupied at the moment. Ana closed the distance between them with her long, graceful strides. "She is wanting a deeper relationship with the Lord. I was praying for her when I got the impression He wants me to give her a kiss from Him," Lydia explained.

"He wants you to give her a...what?" Ana raised her eyebrow in confusion.

"A kiss. God wants me to give Kyla a kiss from Him," Lydia restated slower this time. She also used her hands to try to make it clearer, pointing upward, at herself, to Kyla, then back up at the ceiling.

"The kiss is from God?" Ana asked as though trying to clarify that point.

"Yes," Lydia nodded.

Ana nodded uncertainly as though she was still not real sure about the assignment. Yet she turned to Kyla and relayed the message. Kyla looked to Lydia as if to confirm it. Feeling awkward and uncertain Lydia raised her hand to her mouth and blew a kiss to Kyla. She in return turned her face up and blew a kiss to Him who had just given her a token of His love. She closed her eyes and kept her face heavenward reveling in His presence.

Lydia sighed a sigh of relief; Kyla had understood. She gently squeezed Kyla's shoulder with finality and moved on, letting Kyla alone with the King of kings.

Several minutes passed by before Erik gave the summons to head for the bus. Lydia grabbed her bag, slipped her sandals back on and headed for the door. This was their last night at this church. It had been a good three days and Lydia was pleased. "Thank You, Lord, for coming and meeting these people." She whispered a prayer as she climbed up the steps into the bus.

"How's that little boy you've been praying for?" Lydia asked Rose as she sat down in the seat across the aisle from Rose.

"Fantastic! He was standing up just now and he could feel his feet. Before tonight he didn't have any feeling in them!" Rose bubbled exuberantly.

"Awesome!"

"Yeah. He's going to walk. I just know it."

"What about you, Cat?" Lydia asked turning to Cat who was sitting beside her.

"I prayed for several people who were healed," Cat said with a tired sigh. Seeing that she didn't seem to want to talk at the moment, Lydia backed off and let Cat have her space.

Lydia looked back across the aisle at Rose who was looking out the window at something and wiggling two fingers back and forth like little legs. "Yes?" Rose said opening the window. Portuguese drifted through the window. There was a moments pause and then English words that Lydia couldn't quite make out followed. Rose's face was lit up with renewed exhilaration.

"Thank You, Jesus!!" Rose exclaimed. She laughed with pure delight. Lydia knew before being told what had just been said.

"Julius has started to walk a little bit!" Rose informed whoever would listen.

"Was that the kid who was in the wheelchair that you have been praying for?" Pastor Rod asked from a couple rows back.

"That's him." Rose's hazel eyes danced.

"Praise God!"

"That was an amazing night!" Erik voiced the sentiments of the bus. Some turned their attention to him but as always there were those who still talked. "All right, I know it's been a great night, but I need your attention for a few minutes. We need to do the stats."

It only took a few minutes for Erik to get through all the stats and he was about to go into his usual entertainment mode when Stefano's phone rang. He was one of Randy Clark's Brazilian interns. He answered it and began a conversation with the person in Portuguese. Erik gave a mischievous grin and without missing a beat put on a high-pitched, mocking voice. "Hi, Honey. Yes, I'll be there for supper." The whole bus load of teens and leaders began hooting behind hands. The scene of Erik "translating" Stefano's call was too funny. Erik had a certain flair that made him a hilarious actor.

Lydia felt sorry for poor Stefano who was trying to have a serious conversation and had to deal with Eric's tomfoolery. Stefano bent over in his chair trying to escape from Eric's translation game. He didn't have such luck for Erik kept it up.

"Sure, I'll do the laundry for you tonight. Yes, I can do the dishes with you too, Pumpkin. I love you, Sweetheart." Eric's grin got even broader when Stefano gave him a raised eyebrow. He pursed his lips and made a smooching sound for added effect. Stefano hung up and looked up at Erik with feigned disgust, but anyone could see he was taking it all in good humor.

Lydia shook her head in amusement at the antics Erik thought up. She had learned to like and respect the twenty-six-year-old man who had been the "bus captain" of her bus. "Bus captains" were the main leader over all the teens and other leaders, gave announcements, took stats, and were the spokesman to the churches they went into. He could have made a great pirate with the bald head and gold hoop in one ear. Yet it didn't take long to find out that Erik was on fire for God and had a gift for keeping an audience entertained over an extended period of time. Overall he was a neat Christian man who was liked by all.

----------------

Pastor Rod eased himself into the chair in front of the desk. He shook his head in a vain attempt to shake the tiredness out. He was too old to be staying up late and getting up early. "Can I write something first?" Mary came into the second room of their suite.

"Yeah, here." Pastor Rod got out of the chair and let her sit in it. He leaned against the wall and closed his weary eyes as he waited for her to finish.

Hi again,

Mary first;

Guys, the kids and Rod and I are wrecked!!! I honestly had doubts if it was really true what we heard about this trip. It is true!!!!! Beth, Rose, and Kari have been drunk in the Spirit the last 2 nights. The meetings have been unbelievable! The kids will come back changed and on fire for God and healing and everything else. This is like Toronto. Lots of drunk in the Spirit kids.

"Here you go," Mary said, getting up and moving out of his way.

Pastor Rod sat down in the chair and began to type his own piece into the e-mail.

Rod:

Today was our best day yet! One night in youth group before we left, Lee Yoder had a vision while they were praying for those of us going to Brazil. He saw an eagle wrapped up in chains. Then he saw the chains break off. That has certainly happened!!!! The prophetic has been released on this trip. The kids are all hearing from God.

This afternoon we had worship and Randy Clark preached on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Then it was off to our evening meeting. Randy started it with words of knowledge. Ellie, Lydia, and Beth were some who had words. Sixty-four people there were healed in their seats before Randy started to preach. Randy was in the pulpit for 3 hours with all of us at the edge of our seats. After that, we prayed for an impartation for people. People were receiving God's power throughout the room. Then it was prayer for healing. A lady with a tumor in her lymph node the size of an egg was instantly healed! Another lady had a tumor in her arm pit area the size of a golf ball and was also instantly healed! Hearing was restored to some. We ran out of time in the bus for testimonies.

Mary and I also got to pray for a witch who gave her heart to Jesus in tears. An older woman also received the baptism of the Holy Spirit with speaking in tongues. She was so excited she hopped around for 10 minutes! By the end of our prayer time almost 100% of people were being healed! A total 146 people were healed tonight!

Good night!

Keep praying!

Tomorrow will be our longest day yet. We start at 8:00am and go till ……

Blessings!

7.

Saturday ran totally different than the other days. The youth were expected to get up for breakfast at eight. It was then off to Bola Da Neve for morning and afternoon training sessions led by Bill Johnson, these were to be the last. The reason for the early start was that the Brazilians didn't have work or school that day and so more people could come. During the night everyone went to a gigantic stadium for a huge concert with the Brazilian Christian band, Casa de David. Beyond those who had come as part of the Global Awakening Youth Ministry, there were two thousand people in attendance. It was estimated that 500 people were healed and 40 saved!

Sunday afternoon at 2:00, all who were a part of Sao Paulo's Global Awakening trip congregated in the counsel room which had been used for the orientation of the United States youth. The first thing they did was to split everyone up for that night's service. Randy Clark, Bill Johnson, and the interns were to be the speakers at different churches. The youth and leaders then could go with whichever speaker they wanted to. They didn't have to stay with their groups.

Once that was all figured out, Tom Ritolo asked for everyone to find a seat and to quiet down. Once everyone had settled down he started giving the total statistics for that first week of ministry. Physical healings, emotional healings, salvations,...they were all in the thousands! Wild applause filled the room. Young and old alike were ecstatic at the miracles God had done in the past week, and what was more, He had let them be part of it all!

"Christ did the same amount of miracles this one week as He did in the whole two weeks of last year's trip!" Tom Ritolo's brown eyes flashed with excitement. "How many do you think we'll see by the end of this trip?" More wild applause filled the room and it took several minutes before everyone quieted down.

When the clapping had ceased and everyone was ready to listen again, Tom Ritolo introduced Bill Johnson, who was to speak. Bill Johnson was probably in his early sixties, He was a wise and godly man. He gave a rousing sermon on taking Christianity out beyond the four walls of the church. Lydia had to shake out her wrist several times as she took hurried notes.

After he was finished, everyone was broken up into groups of three: a translator, someone who was confident, and a-not-so-sure person, to go out to minister to people on the streets. It took forty-five minutes for them to get all paired up and for instructions to be given. At last, though, Lydia, the translator Julianna, and another girl, Becky, who was probably about fifteen, headed out.

They first headed for the supermarket where they didn't see much happen. "Why don't we go to the mall? Here people are just getting what they need and hurrying on. At the mall more people are just hanging around," Julianna suggested after half an hour of being rejected.

"All right," Becky nodded her head. Her blond, curly ponytail bobbed up and down.

In the mall, they looked for people who didn't look too busy. "What about her?" Lydia questioned nodding toward a girl, who looked to be in her early twenties, and was standing near the escalators.

"Ok, how should I start out?" Julianna asked. The three stopped and huddled together to confer about the matter.

"If we don't go up soon she'll be gone," Lydia remarked, seeing the girl start to walk off in the other direction.

"Ok, ok, how about I ask if she has ever felt a touch from God, and if she'd like to?" Julianna said as the three started off after the girl.

"Sounds good," Lydia and Becky agreed.

"Oi," Julianna greeted the girl. She went on in Portuguese with the girl. Lydia guessed she was introducing them when she heard Julianna give their names and pointed to her and Becky.

"Her name is Emilia, and she would like to be prayed for."

"Great!" Becky gave her brilliant smile to Emilia.

So the three began to pray. They prayed for God to come with His love, power, and anointing. Emilia stared at them as though not quite sure what to think.

"Is she feeling anything?" Becky asked.

Julianna interpreted the question. "She says she feels something good, but she doesn't know what it is."

They started at it again, asking God to continue His work in her. Tears began to glisten in Emilia's brown eyes and slowly trickled down her tan cheeks.

Lydia watched Emilia as they corresponded with God on her behalf. In that huge mall, bustling with people, Heaven had started to come down to earth for one beautiful Brazilian girl. Jesus Christ's love was being revealed to her that day.

As Lydia watched, she got the sense that Emilia had a brother who was sick. Was it a word of knowledge or just a passing thought, Lydia wondered. It didn't seem like the time to share it so Lydia just kept on praying and waited for the right moment.

In the meantime a little girl about four or five came up and took a hold of Emilia's hand. She had jeans and a teal blue shirt on. She stared up at Lydia wonderingly. Lydia smiled down at her and waved.

The little girl tugged on Emilia's hand and prattled something in Portuguese. Emilia answered her and then turned to Julianna and said something. "This is her niece and she has to go now," Julianna explained. Emilia then hugged each of them.

Lydia watched as Emilia walked off with her niece. "Lord, let this be a major turning point for her," Lydia's heart called out. She internally kicked herself for not speaking up about the word or knowledge. Maybe they could have prayed more specifically then.

"She said she felt something good, and did you see she was crying?" Julianna was beaming with excitement.

They walked around awhile going from floor to floor. They eventually came up to a middle-aged woman who agreed to be prayed for. She said her name was Marcia. She had on jeans and a green shirt, with a low neckline. She had shoulder length brown hair, brown eyes and a tan complexion.

----------------------

Marcia looked over her shoulder to see three young ladies following her. They were talking to each other in English and looking at her as though they were talking about her. She stopped and turned around to face them.

She needed something to preoccupy her mind, and maybe they would be her ticket to that distraction. The only one of the three who looked at all like a native Brazilian came up to her while the other two hung back a couple steps. Now Marcia's interest was really peaked. She raised her eyebrows.

"Hello, we are with the Global Awakening Mission and we were wondering if we could pray for you. I'm Julianna, this is Lydia, and Becky." The girl told Marcia in Portuguese.

"I guess so," Marcia said uncertainly.

Julianna turned to Lydia and Becky and talked to them in English. The two came up to Marcia and put their hands on her. They smiled reassuringly at her. They began praying and once in awhile one of them would revert to a weird language that wasn't either English or Portuguese.

---------------------

"Are either of you getting anything?" Julianna asked after they had prayed several minutes.

Lydia nodded her head. "Has anyone broken her heart?"

"Like who?" Julianna asked before translating the question.

"I'm getting the sense that it is a boyfriend or a husband."

---------------------

"May I ask if either a boyfriend or a husband has hurt you emotionally?" Julianna asked.

Marcia's heart tightened in anxiety. How could they know that about her? She fought to mask her surprise and apparently by the girls' reactions, they hadn't seen it.

She and her husband had been fighting constantly for over two years, and just a month ago she had found him with another woman. She had to admit she was as much at fault as he was. Even so, she wasn't being unfaithful! Finally she had had enough of it all and filed for a divorce. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep the tears in check. How could they know that?

------------------

Julianna and the lady talked awhile. "She and her husband have just gotten divorced. They have two children, and it has been rough on all of them."

"Oh," Lydia gave a sympathetic look. Then she, Julianna, and Becky began to petition Christ to come down with His love and healing power.

------------------

Marcia fought back the roiling emotions; she hadn't bargained for this. She didn't want to be thinking about her hurts any more. She had come to the mall to get away from her quiet home where her thoughts overwhelmed her. Her son and daughter were with their father for the weekend. If she had known stopping for three innocent looking girls would have stirred up all of these feelings she would have run the other way.

She hated her husband; she hated herself; she hated this woman who had come between her and her husband. She wanted to go back to when she was young and first married, when everything was perfect and good. When and how all this started she didn't know but she wanted to erase it all and be back with the only man who had been able to make her laugh until her sides hurt, and she wanted to be in love with him again.

"Marcia, Jesus wants to take care of you, to love you. You need Him to be the foundation that your family is set upon, for He is the only firm foundation you will ever find." Julianna looked up into Marcia's eyes with such passion and compassion that it amazed Marcia. "Without Jesus, you have lost even before you have begun."

If this Jesus was the one who told them about her being divorced, and if He could still love her enough to send them to her, then she wanted to know Him personally. "Of course I want Him to be all those things for me," she said after thinking about it for a second.

Julianna gave her a brilliant smile, "Then pray this prayer with me: Dear Lord, I want You to care for me and be my Savior. I want You to be the foundation that my family is set upon. Please come and bring Your reconciliation into my family. In Your name I pray, amen."

Marcia finished the prayer, and she felt an overwhelming peace. She couldn't explain it but she could already feel a change happening in her. She opened her eyes and Julianna was giving her the biggest and purest smile she had ever seen.

Julianna gave her some information about some different churches and people she could talk to. "I shall be praying for you Marcia. God bless you and your family. Good-bye." Then Julianna turned around and started walking off with her friends.

-----------------------

Julianna began talking with the lady. Neither Lydia nor Becky could understand what was going on and so just kept praying. After some time Julianna said good-bye and started walking on. "What was all that about? Lydia asked as she and Becky followed after her.

"Ok," Julianna's face was one gigantic smile. "I told her that she wants Jesus to take care of her, to love her, and to be that firm foundation for her and her family, and she said 'Of course I do.' So I said, 'Pray this prayer with me,' and I led her through a prayer of salvation!"

"Yes!!" Lydia exclaimed, jumping into the air with a victory fist. A huge smile lit up her face. "Thank You Jesus!" Lydia was overjoyed to see someone come to Christ!

They prayed for a couple more people before realizing they had better be getting back to the hotel to get ready for the night services. "Good-bye, Becky. Good-bye, Julianna," Lydia hollered over her shoulder as the three broke up at the hotel. She rushed to her room to get dressed in nicer clothes. She was just sure she was going to be late. She threw on a lilac flowered skirt and a pink blouse. She ran a brush through her hair and hastily braided it. She then grabbed her book bag and rushed down to the restaurant for a quick bite to eat.

Lydia ended up being one of the first to the van. After awhile everyone was congregated and they started out. It took a good hour for them to find the church.

It was a good night with many healings. During the ministry time the front was crowded with people wanting to be prayed for. Lydia prayed for probably ten or so people and they all were touched by God.

When she finally got back to her hotel room it was twelve o' clock. She stuck her card key into the little pocket to turn the lights on. With a sigh she threw her book bag on the suitcase stand and kick her shoes off. She then started getting ready for bed.

------------------

"Santo, Santo, Santo, Senhor!" Everyone sang along with the worship band, "Filhos de Homem". Everyone was up in the front of the church and going wild. The Spirit of the Lord was heavy in that sanctuary. It was an awesome worship time! Manasah jumped along with everyone else, singing his heart out.

Then, after Randy Clark spoke, they had ministry time. There weren't many people who came up for prayer. That meant that many of the ministry team had to group up in threes and fours to pray for people. Jordan came up to a man who was sitting on a chair with some of the team standing around him. The man's left knee was two or three times bigger then the other one. "Kind of looks like the difference between a softball and a baseball." Manasah thought out loud.

"Qual e seu nome?" a girl named Amy asked. She had blond curls and hazel green eyes.

"Diego," the man replied.

"Diego right?" Amy asked.

The man nodded his head. Amy nodded her own head and started praying. "Vem, Espirito Santo. Vem, Espirito Santo. Vem com seu poder. Vem."

Manasah and the others prayed with her. Manasah held his eyes wide open. He wanted to see what would happen.

For five minutes nothing happened. Then all of a sudden Manasah saw Diego's big knee shrink considerably. Manasah's jaw dropped in amazement! "Am I seeing things?" Manasah wondered. It kept on shrinking until it was almost the same size as the right one.

"Wow!!! Look, look, did you see that!" Amy screamed ecstatically, her eyes sparkling with excitement. She kept pointing and clapping.

"I guess not." Manasah thought to himself with a smile.

After a few more minutes both knees were the exact same size! Before the night ended, Diego received several other healings. One of those healings was of a spinal injury.

Manasah rejoiced that night as he headed to his hotel room. It was really neat to see God work His healing power! Manasah loved seeing Him work.

------------------

Peter got up when Estevam, one of Randy Clark's interns who was speaking at Bola Da Neve, gave the call for ministry time. It was good to stand again. The church was so packed that many had to sit on the floor between the stage and the first row of chairs. "Like a can of sardines we are, on this warm July evening," Peter thought with a grin as he stretched his cramped legs.

For as crowded as it was, Peter had trouble finding anyone to pray for. There were more Americans who were praying then there were Brazilians who wanted to be prayed for. Peter wandered around for several minutes before he came upon a translator. "Hello, do you need help?"

"Sure, that would be great! My name is Peter." Peter held out his hand.

"Ricardo." Ricardo took Peter's hand. His handshake was strong, but was filled with a godly love, and his eyes were filled with a passionate fire.

Together they found a young lady who had fallen away from her faith. As Peter prayed he realized that Ricardo was repeating after him word for word. Peter felt the pressure that urges one on to go a step higher. "Jesus, will You give me a word for her other than Mais Fogo, Mais Fogo?" Peter silently prayed.

In answer, the parable of the lost sheep came to Peter's mind. "In the Bible Jesus was talking to some of the Pharisees..." Peter began. The girl had started to cry and bob up and down.

"He told them that God rejoices over those who come back to Him and He told them a parable about a sheep that had gotten lost..." Peter racked his brain to remember it, but the rest of the story eluded him. "Ricardo, do you know the parable I'm thinking about?"

Ricard nodded his head. "Will you explain it to her then?" Ricardo turned to the woman and began to explain it to her. She started sobbing and bobbing under God's power even more. It became so uncontrollable that Peter and Ricardo led her to a chair and then went to find someone else to pray for.

They prayed for several other people who all were touched in some way or another. "Start bringing things to a close, guys," Estevam said a half hour later. Peter straightened watching the boy he had just prayed for run off to play with his comrades. He smiled after the boy and then turned to Ricardo. "Thank-you, Ricardo, and it was nice to meet you." The two shook hands before Peter turned to head for the van. "Oh how good You are Jesus!" Peter rejoiced in his heart as he sat down.

8.

"All right, everyone, we're going to separate you into your attack forces for this second week. First I want all who are going to teach faith to go over to one of the attack force leaders," Tom Ritollo started on Monday morning once everyone was congregated in the council room. "All you leaders, the number of chairs you have are the number of spaces you will have in the vans. You also need to keep in mind that you'll also need to keep a space open for your translator and Brazilian teacher or preacher."

"All right the rest of you may find who you want to go with," Tom Ritollo announced once all the team leaders had their teachers and preachers.

Lydia got up and looked around wondering who to go with. She wanted to be in a team with a couple of familiar faces but not too many that she would only talk to them. She wanted to stretch out and make new friends. It wasn't long before she was one of a handful still walking about. "We need to get going so the rest of you need to find a team," Tom Ritollo said. Lydia bit her lip and looked around the edges of the room where the different teams were set up.

"Ok, ok," Lydia mumbled walking over to Allie Nopp's team. When she had first met Allie she hadn't liked her real well. She had thought Allie eccentric and...she wasn't sure what else but the first impression Lydia had gotten of her she hadn't liked. Ahh well, she didn't really want to go with any of the others and at least Pastor Rod, Mrs. Olsen, and Terelle were on her team. That was enough for Lydia's comfort zone, and yet she would also be stretched to step out and make new friends.

She sat down next to Mrs. Olsen. "Should I come with you or go with another team?" a girl with long brown hair asked the boy sitting in front of Lydia. Lydia recognized both of them from the first week. They had often been on the same bus as Lydia. She watched them curiously as the girl gave the boy a hug. "Are they brother and sister or boyfriend and girlfriend," Lydia wondered. They looked a lot a like but Lydia had never seen a teenage sibling group hug before.

"I don't care," the boy answered.

"Well, maybe if those girls stay with this team, I'll go to the other one," the girl said nodding to two girls sitting behind Lydia who had been wavering between Allie Nopp's team and Erik's. Those two girls eventually went over to Erik's team and so the other girl sat down by Lydia setting her purple backpack down by her feet.

"Hi, I'm Lydia." Lydia extended her hand to the girl.

"I'm Natalia." The girl accepted Lydia's hand with a smile.

"All right I need everyone to sign their names on these lines," Allie Nopp instructed holding up a piece of paper for all to see. Toward the bottom of the page were two columns of lines. She then handed it to the first person.

"All right, everyone, it is time to head up for lunch. I want everyone to eat with their attack force today. Start to get to know each other. I will dismiss you by teams. Catherine, you and your group can go," Tom Ritollo announced once everything had been put in order.

It was fifteen minutes before Allie Nopp's team was told they could go. Once they got their food they sat down at two tables that were close to each other. Allie and Natalia sat at Lydia's table, along with several boys.

Lydia found out that she really like both Allie and Natalia. They were both a lot of fun and easy to talk to. "How old are you, Allie?" Natalia asked.

"I turned eighteen on April fourth," Allie answered taking a drink of her coke.

"Really, that's my mom's birthday," Lydia spoke up.

"Cool!" Allie's face lit up in a smile.

"How old are you Natalia?" Lydia asked looking over at Natalia.

"Eighteen, and you?"

"I turned seventeen last Wednesday."

"Well happy birthday," Allie and Natalia said together.

"Thank-you." Lydia nodded her appreciation.

The conversation went on pleasantly between the three girls. At one point Lydia tried to include the boys sitting with them, but they weren't very talkative. So Lydia just continued to talk to Allie and Natalia.

Allie was beautiful with straight black hair that reached to her chin and a kind of olive complexion. She was about Lydia's height, skinny, and she had eyes that flashed with an inner light. Yet the thing that Lydia thought topped Allie's beauty was her brilliant smile. As the conversation went on Lydia realized that what she had thought annoying about Allie on Saturday was actually an exuberant love for her Savior. When Lydia recognized what it was, it attracted her instead of annoyed her.

"When do we have to be at the van?" Lydia asked as they started to get up to go their separate ways.

"Six-thirty is when the van is supposed to leave," Allie replied looking at her schedule.

"Good, I will see you all then," Lydia said smiling.

She headed down the stairs and out of the main building. She would have time to read her Bible and get freshened up. She got her Bible, markers and pens and then headed back down. She didn't want to be cooped up in her room on this gorgeous day.

She settled herself on the steps situated between two of the buildings of the hotel. She turned to Psalms 135.

Praise the Lord...

praise Him, you servants of the Lord,

you who minister in the house of the Lord,

in the courts...of our God...

for the Lord is good;

sing praise to His name, for that is pleasant.

For the Lord has chosen Jacob...

Israel to be His treasured possession.

I know that the Lord is great,

...our Lord is greater than all gods.

The Lord does whatever pleases Him,

in the heavens and on the earth,

in the sea and all their depths.

He makes clouds rise...

He sends lightning with the rain

and brings out the wind from His storehouses.

He struck down the firstborn of Egypt,

the firstborn of men and animals.

He sent his signs and wonders into your

midst, O Egypt,

against Pharaoh and all his servants.

He struck down many nations

and killed mighty kings-

...

and He gave their land as an inheritance,

an inheritance to His people Israel.

Your name, O Lord, endures forever,

Your renown, O Lord, through all generations.

For the Lord will vindicate His people

and have compassion on His servants.

The idols of the nations are silver and gold,

...

They have mouths, but cannot speak,

eyes but they cannot see;

they have ears, but cannot hear,

...

Those who make them will be like them,

and so will all who trust in them.

O house of Israel, praise the Lord;

...

you who fear Him, praise the Lord.

Praise be to the Lord from Zion,

to Him who dwells in Jerusalem.

Praise the Lord.

As she read, Lydia basked in the cool Brazilan spring. The sun shone brilliantly and kept her warm even though a crisp breeze had picked up. It was a great day to be outside!

"Hello Lydia." Dana came up and sat a step beneath Lydia.

"Hello, how did your night go?" Lydia asked. She had been asleep by the time Dana had come in the night before.

"Interesting to say the least. We got to our church early and so our translator took us to see this one monument. It was this huge image of the Virgin Mary that had a stair case winding up it. It was nasty." Dana cringed at the very memory of it. "Its face was angry looking and you could feel the evil emanating from it. There were rooms on different levels of it and our translator, who is very discerning, said he saw demons in one of them. I asked him why they didn't try to attack us and he said we had angels all around us.

That was the most horrible thing that I've ever seen. It...it was just evil," Dana finished having no other words to describe it. She shuddered once more.

Lydia shook her head in disbelief. Before she had come on this trip she had heard of such darkness but from the safety of her home, it had never fully registered. Now she was right in the middle of a deep pool of that darkness, and it astonished Lydia. "That's interesting, I've heard one of the other kids say they went to a Catholic church where the Holy Spirit was really moving and the people were truly hungry for God." Lydia stated looking thoughtful. "It must not be Catholicism as much as where the people set their loyalty: with God or with the saints and Mary." It made her even more grateful that she knew the one, true God. She looked down at her Bible which was still opened at Psalm 135 and smiled as her heart swelled with thankfulness.

"Well, I better go. That's probably my team that's getting loaded up," Dana said squinting across the hotel grounds to where a group of teens and leaders were filing into a white van.

"See ya later. God bless," Lydia called to Dana, as she jogged off.

"You too," Dana hollered over her shoulder.

Lydia went back to her reading. Once she had finished Psalms 135 she wrote her thoughts on it in the margins of her Bible.

People who make idols and believe false gods are missing out on so much!! They believe in inanimate objects and imaginary beings. How it must break God's heart-the people He wants to love and comfort turning away from Him. Then they turned to inanimate things that can't even hear, understand or care about them.

-------------------

"You a...pastor?" A young lady came up to Pastor Rod dragging another lady behind her.

"Yes." Pastor Rod nodded, noting the desperate look on the face of the young lady who had asked him the question and the hopeless look of the other one. "Pray for...friend." The first lady pushed her friend toward Pastor Rod. Her English was extremely broken and heavily accented.

"We are going to be leaving soon," he informed her, "Can you come back tomorrow?"

"No, you...pray...her now. She...going to commit sui...cide...tonight...you don't pray...her!" The young lady's voice was urgent and fearful.

Pastor Rod looked at her uncertainly for a moment. "Wait right here. Ok?" He looked at her wanting to make sure she understood. She nodded indicating that she did. He hurried off to find Mary. This was a job for her, not him.

"Mary, I have a job for you. Come," he told her when he came up to his wife. "There is this young lady who is going to kill herself if God doesn't touch her tonight," he explained as they headed back toward to the two women.

-------------------

Clara didn't want to be here. Life wasn't worth living any more. She wished that her friend would just let her get on with her plan! Irene insisted on bringing her to this meeting. She told Clara it would change her mind. It hadn't! It had just made her uncomfortable! She wished all the more to be at home, locked in her bedroom with the knife poised at her heart. Her heart was in a million pieces-irreparable!

She had lost her three, beautiful children to the burning inferno of the car crash! Then her husband was told by the government if they couldn't pay their taxes they would lose the house. Yesterday her mom was diagnosed with cancer, and her sister had started drugs. To top all of that, she lost her husband's love! He was beating her. She couldn't handle any more pain! She would rather be dead than hear another piece of bad news.

She saw the man who Irene had accosted about praying for her coming back with a woman. She tried to tug free from Irene's grasp to get away from here. Irene just tightened her hold. Irene had amazing strength for being so small!

Irene, with her broken English, reexplained the situation to the American woman. Clara who knew nothing of the language had no way of telling what the woman's response was. Not knowing what to do, she just stared at the woman. The woman was in a type of business suit and had very nice jewelry on. She looked to be in her fifties. What would this lady know about her problems? She had everything in the world. Clara tried even harder to get away. This time the woman took the hand that Irene didn't have and looked into her eyes with deep hazel eyes. Those eyes were overflowing with a caring love that stopped Clara. It was like the woman could almost understand what she was going through.

"Vem, Senhor... Vem com...seu poder... Mais." The woman prayed in broken and mispronounced Portuguese yet there was a conviction and power in her voice. Clara looked down at Irene wondering what she was thinking about all this. Irene looked back up at her with a small smile. She put her free hand on the small of Clara's back. Clara shifted from one foot to the other, uncertain of what to make of this.

For several minutes the woman prayed with the same conviction, power, and authority. As she prayed, Clara started to feel a heavy presence. Not an oppressive heaviness, just a pressure that pressed down on her. Next thing she knew, forbidden tears were slipping down her cheeks. What was this? Why was she crying in front of everyone? She hadn't wanted to do this! Now she was balling in front of complete strangers! "Just let it out sweetheart," Irene translated for the woman. The woman was rubbing her arm.

Next, something she never believed could happen came about. She started to feel the pain ease ever so slightly. It didn't all go away but it did lessen. She was beginning to distinguish what that heavy presence was. It was like loving arms surrounding her, arms of someone who cared truly about her pain and had the power to overcome it all. It was almost like if she looked hard enough she would be able to find the solution to her problems in those arms.

The woman said something else. This time Irene looked confused. The woman tried a different way of explaining, but Irene looked even more confused. Irene finally turned around and called for a woman named Elana, who strode over. Irene asked Elana to explain what the woman was trying to say. Elana and the woman conferred a minute before Elana turned to Clara. "She wants to know if you want to accept Christ as your Savior. There will always be problems. He can help you through them," Elana explained.

Clara heard herself say yes. She startled, surprised at herself. Yet, all of a sudden, a feeling of joy she had never felt before poured into her heart and started to overflow. Irene, Elana, and the woman all beamed at her response. The woman led Clara through a simple prayer and by the end of it, Clara was laughing for joy. She felt so much better. No, her problems hadn't left but now she could feel loving arms wrapped around her giving her hope. She knew she could always stay in those arms!

-----------------------

Mary smile at Clara who had undergone a major transformation. Mary was glad the girl had come to Christ. It was wonderful to watch people walk out of the darkness and into God's light!

Allie called for everyone to head for the vans. Mary shook Clara's hand with a smile. "Chow." She nodded and then turned away.

-------------------------

"Was it just me or was that hard tonight?" Lydia asked as they all started filing into the two van's later that night after ministering at the church they had been assigned to.

"It was difficult," Natalia agreed sitting down beside Lydia.

"It feels to me like there is some kind of barrier blocking the direct access to the Heavenlies." Allie held her hand palm down to illustrate her point. "I think it's going to take a lot of praying on our part and God's faithfulness on His part to break through it."

Allie turned around in her seat. "I need everyone to settle down so we can do stats." The statistics weren't quite as impressive as the ones they had been getting before but they were still fairly good.

After that everyone started talking in their own little groups. Lydia, Allie, and Natalia settled into a pleasant chat. They didn't talk about much in particular, just general things about themselves. It was quite interesting.

It took forty-five minutes to get back to the hotel. When they got back Lydia said good-night and headed for her room. She stuck her key into the slot next to the door and the lights came on. She shut the door and began to get pajamas on. The door began to open as Lydia was half dressed. "Aahh..." Lydia screeched, running the few feet to the bathroom.

"Sorry," Dana's muffled voice came under the door.

Lydia pulled her t-shirt on and exited the bathroom. "That's all right. How was your night?" Lydia asked hanging up her dress and getting a cookie from her stash of snacks.

"Good. How was yours?"

"Fine. Do you want a cookie? They're kind of stale but you can have one." Lydia held up the plastic wrapped cookie.

"Thanks, but no thank-you." Dana set her Bible and note book on the bottom shelf of the nightstand.

Dana went into the bathroom with her pj's in hand. A minute later she came out pulling her long brown curls into a pony tail. She plopped down on the end of her bed.

"Anything interesting happen with your team?" Lydia asked dangling her arm over the chair she was sitting in.

"It was too wild! I was just talking to one of the translators at the end. You should of heard her testimony! A few weeks ago she didn't know any English. God started teaching her a few English words. Tonight God brought it all together for her, and she was able to translate for us!" Dana told Lydia, settling into her own bed.

"Wow!" Lydia exclaimed amazed.

"Did you see many healings?" Dana asked

"No. What about you?"

"Several." Dana then proceeded to tell Lydia about her night. Lydia listened with interest. She really liked Dana, because she was easy to talk to, and fun.

"Praise the Lord!" Lydia said with sincerity once Dana had finished. She was overjoyed at the ways God was moving in their midst. Even if her team hadn't see many healings, at least Dana's team had seen success. God was faithful; He would answer their prayers.

9.

"How many of you feel like this group? You believe God can heal, but you don't know if He is willing?" Terrelle asked from behind the pulpit.

Lydia looked around the worn down church as the question was being translated. Even fewer people than before stood up. Terrelle was teaching on the four types of faith and was asking the congregation what category they fit into. With the first category, of no faith, a lot of the people stood up. Then with the second group, those who didn't believe but wanted to believe, even fewer people stood up. Now with this third category, that one believed Jesus could heal but didn't think He was willing, only a handful stood up from their orange, plastic seats. This was becoming discouraging. It looked as though there was very little faith in this place. That would explain the struggle the girls had notice the night before.

Terrelle looked down to where the team was sitting. He looked to Allie with a perplexed shrug and waited for her direction. "Why don't you go into words of knowledge,"Allie said after a moments thought.

"You want me to do that?" Terrelle asked.

"Yes, go ahead."

"All right I'm going to ask any of the team who has a word of knowledge to come up and give it..." Terrelle paused so Alzira could interpret. "If you have the problem they call out I want you to stand and then I'm going to give a prayer for all of you. When I'm done if you've been healed eighty percent or better I want you to wave your hands like this." Terrelle demonstrated, waving his hands above his head and crossing them when they met in the middle.

Those on the ministry team who had words of knowledge went up and gave them. Several people stood up when they heard the ministry team call out their problems. Terrelle then held out his hand and began to ask for those people's healings. He then asked them how many had gotten healed. Several pairs of hands started waving.

"Praise God!" "Thank-You Jesus!" "Hallelujah!" Lydia and the others exclaimed as they and the rest of the congregation clapped their thanks to God.

Terrelle prayed two more times and after the second time eight pairs of hands waved thanks to Jesus, their Savior and healer. Lydia smiled, pleased by even that small number of healings. Even one healing is enough to be overjoyed about, worth praising the Lord for!

Once all the clapping had subsided Allie went up on the stage and took the microphone from Terrelle. "We are now going to have a break. So you all can go grab something to eat." Allie looked to Alzira to translate her announcement. "We will have another meeting in one hour." She paused again as Alzira interpreted for her. "We hope to see you and your guests tonight."

After that last part was translated the Brazilians got up to go while the ministry team headed to the back of the sanctuary and up a rickety old stair case for their supper. "YES! Fresh tangerines!" Lydia squealed her delight. Pastor Rod prayed a blessing over their meal and then everyone started digging in.

"Yum!" Lydia murmured swallowing the succulent bite of tangerine.

As they ate they melted into several groups and talked among themselves. "No, I'm used to this kind of thing. A friend and I lead a Bible study at our school during lunch break," one kid with blond hair and hazel eyes said to Pastor Rod, Mrs. Olsen and a few of the kids. Lydia's ears perked up. "So yes, I've seen quite a bit. The Holy Spirit really shows up during our Bible study time."

"How old are you, Savoy?" Pastor Rod asked after swallowing a bite of his sandwich.

"Fourteen," he answered.

"Wow, you sound mature for your age," Mrs. Olsen said with a smile.

"Thank-you," Savoy returned the smile.

Lydia listened as he talked on for half an hour. He had a lot of cool stories to tell. He was passionate in his relationship with Christ and deeply compassionate for those who hadn't yet accepted Christ as their Savior.

"Everyone, we need to be finishing up and heading downstairs. I'm going to be preaching tonight so could you all give a corporate prayer for me before we go?" Allie coughed. "Especially that my voice doesn't give out on me."

Everyone surrounded her and began to pray. They prayed for fifteen minutes, asking the Lord to bless her speaking, for unity between her and Elana, who was going to translate, and that God would make Allie's voice strong and sure. They then prayed for Elana separately; that God would bless her translation, and that her mind would be clear to understand Allie.

Elena was a beautiful young woman in her mid-twenties. She had come as Izabel's friend, the Brazilian who was one of the preachers for the attack force team, and was serving as translator. She was as white as Lydia with chocolate brown eyes, and long, flowing hair that was the same color. She was tall and skinny.

"Now I need at least three people to stay up here to intercede," Allie said once they were done praying.

"I will," Abram, Natalia's brother offered. Then there was silence for several minutes. Lydia wanted to, but she felt weird being the only girl to offer, and especially if there was going to be only one boy in the room.

"What are we deciding on now?" Natalia asked coming out of the bathroom that was adjoined to the little classroom they were having supper in.

"I need volunteers to stay up here and intercede. So far only Abram has offered," Allie explained.

"Oh I can do that," Natalia volunteered.

"I can too," Lydia finally spoke up, grateful that there would be another girl.

"Great! All right the rest of us better get downstairs. It sounds like they are starting worship," Allie said gathering up her stuff.

For an hour and a half Lydia, Natalia, and Abram prayed up in that little classroom. As she prayed and talked with Natalia and Abram, Lydia looked around at her surroundings. The room was in a desperate need of a new coat of paint. The wood floor was scuffed with only a rug thrown to the side, and the only furniture was a table pushed into one corner and two chairs. She smiled at the cute, little Styrofoam cartoon bugs that hung on the walls. They were the only evidence that the room was used for children. The room, like the rest of the church, spoke of its location.

After an hour and a half Pastor Tiago came into the room and beckoned them to come out. "It's time to go down?" Abram asked pointing his finger at the floor. Pastor Tiago nodded his head and turned around to lead the way. They passed another room and down the narrow steps.

Lydia, Natalia, and Abram went up the middle aisle and up onto the stage with the rest of the team as the people began to come up to the front. One lady who was about in her fifties came up to Lydia. Lydia looked to Izabel. "Can you translate?" she asked. Izabel shook her head.

The older lady who had come up to Lydia began to speak in Portuguese to Izabel, as though expecting her to explain. Izabel looked at Lydia. "She has...heaviness...here." Izabel put her hand on the lady's chest.

"Depression?" Lydia guessed.

"Yes, and pain...through...body." Izabel said in very broken English, using her hand to indicate the lady's whole body.

"Vem, Senhor. Vem com seu poder." Lydia began to pray. For the first few minutes she prayed about the lady's depression, asking the Lord to take it away. "Is she still feeling the depression?"

Izabel asked. "No...it...lifted."

"Praise the Lord! Lord, we ask that You would come again and take away the pain." Lydia continued to lift the lady up in prayer. Izabel slipped away to look for someone else to pray for. Lydia could tell she wasn't comfortable with the translator position she had been pushed into.

"Esta melhor?" Lydia asked after a few minutes. The lady tested her legs. Her tan face screwed up in a look of extreme pain.

"Qual e seu nome?" Lydia asked remembering she didn't know the lady's name. Many times she would forget to ask. She didn't know why. Maybe it was being unfamiliar to being thrown into a large group of people, who she couldn't even speak to, on top of having to pray for them and interviewing them on their problems. A lot of the time she would forget most of the interview questions she had to ask: what is your name, do you know what caused it, etc.

"Catalina," the lady answered.

Lydia continued to speak to the Lord on Catalina's behalf. Once or twice Lydia asked if she was feeling any better and every time she got that look of excruciating pain. Finally Elena came up. "Can you ask her how long she has been in pain?" Lydia asked, beginning to wonder what was going on.

"Five weeks," Elena answered.

Lydia continued to pray but could see nothing was happening as Catalina persisted through the pain of moving her legs and arms with a lot of difficulty.

Lydia had learned in the training sessions that sometimes physical problems were cause by emotional or spiritual things. "Something is dreadfully wrong," Lydia thought, looking up at Catalina as she knelt in front of her. She sensed it was something more than a terrible accident.

"Does she know what caused this pain?" Lydia asked Elena.

Elena asked Catalina and then looked at Lydia as though she either didn't understand the question or the answer. Lydia tried to reword the question thinking that would help her understand. It didn't. She tilted her head and looked more confused. She got a very thoughtful look on for several seconds before standing up and walking off.

Lydia sighed in frustration. She should of been asking the Lord how to handle the situation, but she didn't even think about it at the moment.

She stood up, her legs harassing her for keeping them in the hunched position for so long. "Ohhh," she moaned under her breath. She placed her hand on Catalina's arm.

"Mais uncao para a cura. Mais uncao para a cura. Mais Senhor."

Several minutes passed before Elena returned. "Her father is a witch," she explained.

"Oh Lord! I know You are stronger, but I don't want to do this alone. Especially on my first time!" Lydia cried out. It was rather ridiculous, because she wasn't alone. Still she wanted a person there with her. What she didn't realize was the prayer was evoked from a lack of knowing what to do. This was probably more her problem than anything else. She wasn't really afraid. All that hindered her was the nervousness that came with not knowing how to go about this situation.

She looked around the crowded front. She saw Mrs. Olsen a few feet away praying for a young boy. "Mrs. Olsen, I need your help when you are finished," she called over to her pastor's wife.

Once Mrs. Olsen was finished praying for the boy she came over to Lydia. "Yeah?" she asked.

"Catalina has extreme pain in her whole body. Her father is a witch," Lydia explained.

"Oh," Mrs. Olsen murmured in understanding and took over. "Lord we ask that You would break these chains off of Catalina. Break the power that has been binding her for so long." Mrs. Olsen started pulling at Catalina's clothes, symbolically breaking the chains that bound Catalina.

They prayed for her for five minutes. As they prayed Lydia got a picture of chains and heard the word broken. So once Mrs. Olsen had stopped for a second she gave it. Mrs. Olsen nodded her head in agreement as Elena relayed the message to Catalina.

"How are you feeling?" Mrs. Olsen asked.

"She is feeling much better," Elena said.

"Praise the Lord!!" Mrs. Olsen and Lydia chorused.

Catalina smiled at the two of them and walked off. Lydia watched her as she walked down the aisle and started talking to some of the other Brazilian women. Lydia was glad for her. It had been obvious by the look on her face when they had finished praying for her that she did feel better. Lydia smiled to herself, inwardly thanking the Lord. Afterwards she went to look for someone else to pray for. There was no one else at the moment. She headed over to pray with Natalia for a little girl.

----------------

Allie turned around to find a young lady who was in her twenties. "Hello, I have someone for you to pray for," the lady said.

"All right. I'm Allie." Allie extended her hand to the woman.

"I'm Victoria," The lady said, pulling Allie into a hug.

Victoria led her to a young boy about ten who was sitting in a chair and it was obvious that his right eye was blind. It was glazed over and staring off into space. Allie could feel the anointing was heavy in this spot. The Lord is going to heal this boy!

"Qual e seu nome?" Allie asked the boy kneeling in front of his chair.

"Emilio," the boy answered his left eye focusing on her.

"How long has his eye been like that?" Allie looked up at Victoria.

"It has been six years," Victoria answered.

"Does he know how it happened?"

"No, I've prayed for him four times already and nothing has happened." Victoria knelt down beside Allie.

Allie sensed that that wasn't right. She could tell he knew. She looked Emilio straight in the eye until she had gotten his attention. His eyes confirmed what the Holy Spirit had already told her. He knew what it was. "Will you just ask him, please."

Victoria raised her eyebrow as though she really didn't think this was all worth it. "He doesn't know what caused it."

"You've said that. Even so, will you just ask him." While Victoria was talking to Emilio, Allie noticed something she hadn't earlier. It was an undercurrent of something she couldn't quite decipher, but whatever it was, it wasn't good. It seemed to emanate from Emilio. As Allie paid closer attention the realization of what it was came to her. Within a second, it was as plain as day, and she wondered why she hadn't noticed it before. He had unforgiveness in his heart.

"His brother kicked him and it caused nerve damage," Victoria finally told her.

"Did he ever forgive his brother for what he did?" Allie asked pretty sure what the answer was already.

Victoria asked Emilio. He lowered his head in shame and slowly shook it. Allie gently tilted his chin up so she could look into his eyes. Those deep, dark eyes looked at her with "caught red handed" guilt. She smiled at him with an understanding smile.

"Do you want to pray a prayer of forgiveness?" she asked this question directly at Emilio. After a second of translation he nodded his head slowly. "All right, repeat after me," Allie didn't break eye contact with Emilio. "Dear Lord, I apologize for not forgiving my brother for kicking me in the eye." Victoria translated, and then Emilio repeated the prayer with a soft, musical voice. "I was angry with him for doing this to me." Allie waited for Emilio to say the next section. "Even so, I will set that aside..." Victoria translated, but Emilio paused a second, this time, as though to process the words. Finally he said them. "...and I will choose to forgive him." Once more there was a pause before Emilio restated those words. "I will no longer hold this against him." This time he said them without giving them a second thought.

"Did you really mean all that? You've truly forgiven him; you will no longer hold a grudge?" Amy asked.

"He says, 'sure I did.'"

"Good," Allie gave him a brilliant smile, "I'm going to cover your eye to pray for it, all right?"

Emilio nodded and closed his eyes. Allie covered his bad eye with her hand, bowing her head. "Dear Lord, come and heal Emilio's eye. Give him twenty-twenty vision," Allie prayed.

She uncovered the right eye and covered his left, good eye. "All right now, how many fingers am I holding up?" She held three fingers up a foot away from Emilio's face.

"He says three," Victoria answered.

Allie looked over at her surprised, "Really?" Victoria nodded her head, acting a bit annoyed. Allie's faith faltered. She struggled to believe her ears. She prayed two more times and each time afterward Emilio correctly answered her questions.

"Praise the Lord! Thank You, Jesus!!" Allie said taking Emilio's hand in her own and shook it.

Emilio beamed at her and nodded his head. "Nice...meet...ing...you," Emilio stammered in broken English.

-------------------

Lydia gave a weary sigh wondering how much longer they had to stay. "Lord, I need Your strength," she whispered. She was tired and ready for the soft bed that awaited her at the hotel. As much as she loved ministering to people, the late nights and little sleep was starting to take its toll on her. When Allie finally said it was time to go, she was relieved.

10.

"Everybody, Pastor Tiago has something to say to us," Allie raised her voice above the others the next evening.

All eyes turned to the tall, older pastor and Alzira. "Our church has been going through a terrible struggle," Alzira translated what Pastor Tiago said. "We have faced much persecution from those around us." Pastor Tiago was about five foot eleven inches, in his fifties, and looked to be in good health for his age. "You have brought God's anointing to us and have strengthened us. I want to thank-you for that. We are truly grateful!"

Clapping and "Amens" circulated the little classroom as the Global Awakening team heard the answer to their prayers. When it quieted down Allie turned to Alzira, "Will you tell him that we have been feeling like something like that has been going on. It is encouraging to hear that confirmation."

Pastor Tiago left and Pastor Rod prayed a blessing over the meal. "I think since Izabel is preaching tonight it would be best if the rest of us just stay up here, so someone doesn't have to translate for us. That way she will be able to flow in the Spirit more easily," Allie announced as they all began to eat. The agreement was practically unanimous.

So that night those who couldn't speak Portuguese stayed up in the little classroom to intercede. Heaven broke loose in that church, July 13, 2005! God finally blessed their diligent prayers. The passionate fire of God was in Izabel's every word. Her voice carried up to the prayer warriors in that little room. There was no denying that God's Spirit was flowing in that place.

At one point, towards the end of Izabel's sermon, Lydia and Natalia went out to the small balcony that overlooked the sanctuary. The sight was truly amazing! If one didn't believe in the power of the Lord Almighty it would be impossible to believe this was the same congregation that had been in this church the first night. The first night it had seemed like they were barely entering into worship; now most of them were out of their chairs groaning, hollering, and laughing under the Holy Spirit's anointing.

"It looks like God broke through that barrier Allie talked about," Lydia smiled leaning against the ledge enjoying the sight.

"Mmmhhhmmm," Natalia agreed. She turned to go down the steps with the rest, Lydia following behind her.

A man with a little girl, who was two at the oldest, came up to Lydia. Lydia caught Alzira by the arm. "Can you ask him what he wants prayer for?"

"He wants you to bless his daughter," Alzira replied and then hurried off to help others. It was often that way. Unless you had someone who you really needed to keep up verbal contact with, the translator stayed only long enough to communicate the prayer need, if you were even that fortunate.

"Vem, Senhor. Vem." Lydia prayed placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. The girl retreated farther into her father's arms. Lydia couldn't blame her. This was all probably strange and frightening from a two-year-old's point of view.

Lydia alternated between praying the simple Portuguese prayers she knew and blessing the girl with wonderful things in English. With no interpreter to give her aid, she just trusted that Jesus would reveal the content of her words. When she had blessed the girl with everything she could think of she gave a friendly smile to the father and daughter and walked off pray for others.

In one corner Allie, Natalia, and Savoy were praying for a girl and the girl was thrashing around and screaming. As Lydia approached she sensed something was not right. An oppressive, evil atmosphere hung in that corner. It was a major contrast to the joyful, Holy Spirit filled air that filled the rest of the church. It was creepy how real and forbidding it felt.

"What's going on?" Lydia whispered to Natalia who was standing up but had her hand held out to the girl curled on the floor.

"The girl was sexually abused when she was a child, never forgave the man, and now is demon-possessed." Natalia explained. Allie was kneeling beside the girl's head, softly talking to her and commanding the spirit to submit when it would start to manifest. Savoy had his hand on the girl's hip.

"Savoy do you know what you are doing?" Lydia thought biting her lip uncertainly. Where that might not have been that bad of a thing if she had needed prayer for something else, sexual abuse would make that a very offensive position.

All of a sudden the girl thrashed out at him with an unearthly screech. An iron claw of fear gripped Lydia's heart. There was so much of a contrast between that scream and the scream of someone who was under the power of the Holy Spirit that there was no way to even compare it. It was like nothing Lydia had ever heard. "Sorry, Sorry," the girl pleaded now in a normal voice.

"In the name of Jesus, I command you to submit," Allie ordered the evil spirit. "Shh. It wasn't you, sweetheart. We understand that," Allie soothed, stroking the girl's black curls. "Savoy, maybe you should go." Savoy gave an understanding nod and got up to leave.

As scared as Lydia was, she reminded herself that her God was bigger and knelt down beside the girl. The girl was around nineteen and had a nasty scar above her right eye. Lydia laid a hand on the girl's shoulder and began to pray in tongues under her breath.

---------------------

Oh why wouldn't it stop and just leave her alone! She didn't even know what the "it" was, yet she was scared out of her mind! On top of that frantic fear, was an intense hatred that was eating her alive!

Every time she thought about that man in the dark alleyway, the "it" attacked her with such a ferocity that the rest of the world disappeared and that was all she could think of. "It" was alive and bent on destroying her. Oh, what she wouldn't give to be free from this monster!

"It" had control of her limbs. "It" thrashed her back and forth against the hard wooden floor. Bruises started to form on her wrists. There were scars up and down her arms from "it" forcing her to cut herself.

-------------------

Allie led the girl through deliverance and after forty-five minutes the girl was sitting up and wiping tears from her eyes. She took a deep, relieved breath and turned to give Allie a hug.

"God bless you," Allie said as the girl released her and turned to go.

-------------------

She gave a sigh of relief; she felt worlds better. She was free, totally and explicitly free! Her smile engulfed her entire face. No more of those claws around her throat! No more hatred! Most of all no more feeling constantly dirty and unworthy of love!

She jumped up and down, laughing and clapping her hands. The feeling was beyond words, and imagination! Jesus was so good to her! Now, not only was she free from that evil spirit, but she had a reason to live and to walk into each new day with her head held high.

On top of that, she was now excited about her life. God had revealed to her through the deliverance what He had planned for her-a wonderful destiny! She could hardly wait to get started!

-----------------------

"We should go in about fifteen minutes," Allie said looking at her watch.

"Ok, I just need to do something quick," Lydia said, sweeping the sanctuary with a glance trying to spot Catalina. She found her sitting toward the back of the sanctuary. Catalina had been one of those who had been blasted by the Holy Spirit, but she seemed calm now. Lydia walked over to Elana.

"Elana, I was wondering if you could help me with something?"

"That's what I'm here for. What is it you need?" Elana asked following Lydia.

"Remember Catalina? She was the one we prayed for whose father was a witch? I just want to know how she's doing now."

"You're sweet," Elana said putting a complimenting hand on Lydia's shoulder.

Catalina stood up as the two of them came up to her. She was wearing a turquoise turtleneck and jeans. She was pretty! Elana told Catalina what Lydia wanted. Catalina looked at Lydia with a huge smile and speaking in Portuguese. Elana translated Catalina's message for Lydia, "She says she is totally cured."

"Gloria a Deus!" Lydia exclaimed matching Catalina's smile. The two hugged.

"All right everybody, it's time to head for the vans?" Allie announced.

Lydia waved good-bye to Catalina as she started for the door. One thing she had learned to love about the Brazilians-they were so open and amiable. She smiled one more time before turning around.

Once again, they filed into the two vans. They waved good-bye to the people for the last time. They had come to bless this church, but they left being just as blessed as the congregation. Also, whether they knew it or not at the time, they had each learned valuable lessons.

Allie did the stats first thing. They were amazing! There had been a major improvement. The van was filled with praise to their faithful God.

Once everything quieted down Allie sat back down. "Can you two pray for me? Doing deliverance scares me a bit," Allie referred to the deliverance of that girl. "I heard of a man who was doing a deliverance once and the demon went from the person to him."

Savoy and Lydia, who were sitting on the same bench as Allie, prayed for her. Once they finished praying for her the three of them sat silently. Lydia tried to settle her own shaken spirit, seeing that deliverance had rattled her nerves too. She had never witnessed that depth of evil first-hand before. She held her hand to try to stop the trembling. Then to have Allie admit to being a bit frightened herself didn't do Lydia any good. What Lydia had seen in Allie was an amazing Christian with seemingly insurmountable faith. So for Allie to admit something like that worsened what Lydia already felt.

To make matters worse, Lydia was tired! While trying to fight the shaken feelings and unstable emotions, a wave of homesickness washed over her. The memory of her last hug with her dad at the airport came to taunt her. "Lord, I just want to be home right now!" Lydia thought feeling vulnerable and alone.

Tears began to slip down her cheeks. "Are you all right?" Savoy looked at her in the dim light offered by the street lights.

"I'm just feeling really homesick right now," Lydia explained wiping away a tear that was dangling from her chin.

"You want to switch spots so you can talk to Allie?"

"Sure, thank-you."

"Lydia is feeling homesick so we're switching spots so she can talk to you," Savoy relayed the situation to Allie as he got up so Lydia could scoot over.

"You want to lay your head in my lap?" Allie asked out of genuine sympathy. Lydia nodded and took up the offer. "If you'll take your hair band out, I'll massage your head." Lydia did so and soothing fingers began to weave their way through her hair.

Allie's beautiful voice started to flow over Lydia. Still she fought the sense of Jesus trying to embrace her. "God, I want my parents tangible arms around me." The prayer was pure ludicrous, yet it was how Lydia truly felt at the moment.

She felt like a big baby, crying on the lap of a girl only a year older than her. The feeling, though, was too overpowering at the moment for her to really do anything about it.

Finally, however, Allie's voice, the sound of a soft, whispering breeze, began to soothe Lydia's shaken nerves. At last, Lydia stopped fighting and let the Lord comfort her. His presence quieted her spirit and calmed her emotions.

"Feeling better?" Allie asked when Lydia sat up.

Lydia nodded. "Thank-you," she murmured drawing her long, brown hair back into a ponytail.

"Izabel says there are angels up over the other van gathering the others' praises. Soon they'll be coming over to our van, so we should give praises too," Elana called back from her spot up front with Izabel and the driver.

Elana and Izabel began singing a song in Portuguese. Lydia listened to the beautiful song. "That is pretty. What does it mean?" Lydia asked once the song was over.

"Uhh....I wouldn't be able to tell you without hearing it. Izabel, sing it again." So while Izabel sang in Portuguese, Elana sang in English. Lydia liked the lyrics as much as the tune. Unfortunately, one time wasn't enough to learn it. Lydia soon forgot it.