15 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh, my lord, what shall we do?" the servant asked.
16 "Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."
17 And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
2 Kings 6:15-17

Ever since I got back from traveling, God greatly reassured and encouraged me. He lifted me up as I headed back to Hope Mountain. A lot of changes were made. I took more initiative to be a leader in the house. For example, I would wake Bella and Corenne up at 8:30am. We would have breakfast together and I would lead a devotional. We would pray and start the day. This happened three times a week because the other two days, Bella and Corenne were downtown. The downtown area is an hour away from Hope Mountain. Bella trains personally with her gymnastics coach in the morning, then she has her gymnastics group class late at night. So in between the day, they may go to their doctor’s appointments and continue with homeschooling at a coffee shop, perhaps. Corenne has taken the initiative of being Bella’s main teacher. So I kind of oversee and support them. I’m a lot more involved with the new church that Hope Mountain started in partnership with the Attitude Baptist Church that is located in the downtown area. The purpose of this church is that the graduates from Hope Mountain have a place where they feel like they belong. I’ve been helping out a lot at this new church because it’s very different starting a church. It needs organization. It needs structure. It needs leadership. I’ve been helping any way that I can. I’ve been helping with Corenne and Bella as they are Sunday school teachers. I’ve been helping with the multimedia team for the lyrics of the worship songs and the PowerPoint of the pastor. This last time, I was blessed to be able to lead worship for the first time!!! It wasn’t supposed to be me. But it was a last minute change. I struggled a lot in practice because there weren’t many songs I could sing well in Portuguese. So out of the six songs that were originally planned, I could only sing two. And then we added another easy one. I only led three songs. I praise God for the experiences I’ve had with my home church, House of Praise. I felt comfortable leading worship even though I wasn’t confident enough singing in Portuguese. God is faithful and so gracious. Many people came up to me to encourage and compliment me on leading worship, and all I could say was, “Praise the Lord!!!” It was interesting because when I was leading worship, I mentioned Moses seeing God’s glory. When I said it, my mind had the thought that it would be totally amazing if the pastor would share about Moses, too. And he did!!! He shared how God led the Israelites with pillars of fire and wind. And also how Moses wanted the LORD to go with him and He did. And I didn’t know I needed this sermon so much. Because later on, in the following week, I had to stay in the hospital from 7am to 7pm with a 15 year old girl who has depression and wants to commit suicide. And when I was there, I never stopped praying. I talked to God all the time. I asked Him to be with me and He was. It wasn’t pleasant seeing all these teenagers in the psychiatric ward. These kids were all very nice kids but they were experiencing trouble in their mind, just like any other patient at the hospital. It was sad, but honestly, I had a really good time. It was all because of the Holy Spirit who was with me. Let’s continue to keep this girl in our prayers as she goes through this process so that God can really heal her heart.

Here are my prayer requests:

Bella’s school work in these particular subjects: History, English, Science, and Seminar (this is where she learns about the Bible, but it tends to be very difficult for her).
Our new church to improve weekly with good communication and unity.
The 15 year old girl who’s in the psychiatric ward in the children’s hospital.
For my mind to only keep what is positive, good, and true (Phil. 4:8).
To continue to be a light and not grow weary.
To consistently abide in Christ and have devotional with Corenne and Bella.

First time leading worship and singing at church in Brazil!!! This was a major breakthrough in living here. This was one of things I really wanted to be involved in being here in Brazil.