God is still touching people!

Wow! Ok I admite, its been way too long since the last time I wrote on my blog. All of you who has sent me messages are right. I am sorry. I'll try to do better.

I am so excited about sharing with you about our most recent ministry trip. I want to give God glory, with out braggin about "our" ministry. I am so tired of reading things that share the glory with our loved Powerful God. To Him belongs ALL glory!!!

Well, we took our hole family to the Central Area of Brazil. To a State called Tocantins. I know some of you remmember me sharing about Tocantins before. This is the State where I lived before moving to the USA many years ago. I was part of the creation of Tocantins. And in the midst of Stabelishing the Goverment there, we also planted churchs in the area which contributed to make that State one of the most evangelized places in Brazil.

We were invited to speak at a Conference called "Spiritual Impact". We ministered for 10 days. The weather was super hot and the schedulle very full. We came back exausted, but SO happy with all that God did in the lives of people in that hot, hot place. :)


Our first night there, Garo had planned a worship practice. While he was rehersing with the church band, I went to another room into a prayer meeting. Few minutes later, I felt the Lord wanted to Baptize people in the Holy Spirit. I made an altar call, even though I was not schedule to speak that night, for people to receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, and God was faithfull. It was so great to hear the sounds of tongues being spoken with tears comind down faces. He is still doing it people!

On Sunday morning at the end of the Service, Garo invited people to receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and Healing. And it was like haven. What a beautiful sound!!! People all over the altar on their knees, speaking in havenly tongues, being encouraged and touched by Lord. Can't really describe that moment. He is still doing it people. Let's join Him!

One last thing I would like to share is about a woman, who we met few hours before we left Tocantins. Let's call her "Carmen". She met us at our hotel, It was our last night in Tocantins, and we were having dinner with a friend at 11:00pm. We were super tired and our kids were beyond tired. But her story touched our lives. She told us, her husband had left her ten months ago for no reason. He just told her, he was tired of her and he wanted to be free. This had left her devasted. She went into a great depression. Two months ago, her only son, who is 15yrs old, also left her, and went to live with his father. That only pushed her even deeper into depression and an imense feeling of rejection.

She told us, she couldn't even remmenber the last time she smiled. She had lost the reason to live. On that weekend, she was at her house, and she heard a voice telling her to kill herself. She thought there was nonthing left. A day later, she went to the Service. She told us, that Garo was leading worship, and he stoped and said that God was healing someone's heart that night. She felt the word was for her. She prayed and asked God, if that word was truly from Him to her, for Him to cause Garo to open the altars right at the moment. Well, God is a great God, and if He has to interopt the "expected" order of the service to touch one person, He will.

At that moment, Garo explained to the people that he felt very strong, that someone needed to come to front right than to be set free from depression, and that God wanted to touch someone at that moment. That woman and many others came to the front, got her heart healed and it was almost a week long now, she was hopefull and no longer depressed. She told us. "Now I can laugh and dream, and I've been telling everyone what the Lord did for me. People look at me now and ask what is diferent about me now? The Lord healed me from depression and dispair." Halleluia!!!

He is still doing it people. He is still touching people!!! I am so glad, we don't have to wait til the end of a Service to minister over someone.

We had a fantastic trip. Got to see many friends, visit with the Governor, eat good food and see God's power!

I would have SO MUCH more to share, after all, we ministered in 10 Services and had many, many personal meetings praying for people, but it would take way too long.

Thanks to ALL of you who supports our ministry in prayer and finnacially, we truly appreciate you and one day in haven, we will have eternity to meet all the people that we touched together. Thank you!

Going Back Home!

Hello Friends!!!

It's been such a long time since I last wrote on my blog. I am so sorry, for all of you that are asking for more up dates. I've been super busy, and on top of that my internet is not yet very reliable. But, I am glad I can communicate with you and share a little bit of what is happening on the South side of the globe.

We are all doing good. Making new friends little by little. It is hard to leave a life of long time friendships and start from zero, but things are moving.

I would like to share about a family that I met this past Monday (12/06). I don't really know their last name, let's call them "Silva".

It was about 10pm on this past Monday, when I was leaving the Sao Paulo (GRU) Airport. It was raining. Traffic was terrible. I had my two kids with me. Every one was REALLY tired and cranky. Never the less, I still would have to drive an hour and a half to get back home to Campinas.

As we were leaving the airport, I saw this family seating out side on the curb. It was a husband, wife and two little girls, about my kids age(five and three). They looked homeless to me. Not an uncomun seen in Brazil. You can see families like that pretty much every where here.

So, as I passed by them heading to the parking in lot. The Holy Spirit spoke to me and said : "Go back and talk to them. You have an answer to them." My first reaction was: Seriously?? It's 10pm. It's been a LONG day. We are all tired. There are thousands of people in this airport right now, can you ask someone else to do this? (not very spiritual. I know).

Well, I went back and said hi to them. They asked me for money(very typical).They told me that they needed $28.00reais (U$18.00) to pay for their bus tickets to get to a town near by to go see a cousin and try to find a job.

I hear the Holy Spirit saying: Give them the money. So, I did it. And then, I asked to pray for them. At the moment, the wife looks at her husband and starts to cry saying : "I told you, God was going to send us an anwser". At that moment I knew God had a plan.

After praying for them. The husband told me that they were from the Northeast area of Brazil and what they really would like is to go back, but tickets are very expensive. His arm was broken, so he can't get a job, and if they could go back to where they were from, at least they would be close to family and would have a place to live.

I was listen to him talking and I told him. I am sorry , I don't know what to say. Than, the Holy Spirit tells me : Give them your phone number. I said in my mind : This is crazy!!!!!This is Sao Paulo. I can't do that in Sao Paulo. It is super dangerous. But, I felt I was supost to. So, I gave them my phone number, and said that I was not promissing any thing, but he should call me the next day at noon.

I left, and the whole time driving back home all I could do was pray for them and think. I am crazy!!! I gave my phone number to a homeless family, and I don't even know why.

When I was almost getting to Campinas, I heard the Holy Spirit telling me: I want you to call Giselle tomorrow morning and she will tell you how to help this family.
The only thing was that, I had only met Giselle once at my friend Claudia's house and had no idea how to get hold of her.

The next day I facedbook Claudia and asked her for Giselle's phone number. Claudia is in the States for the Holidays, and we are four hours ahead in Brazil. Time wasn't on my side.

Meanwhile, Alex called me. I told him to call me back in the evening, because I was trying to get hold of a friend to help.

In the afternoon I got hold of Giselle. I told her what had happened the night before and asked if she could help. At first she was shoked with the whole story. I Don't really know why? Don't people give their phone numbers to homeless people and call others that they hardly know to help completely strangers all the time? Ha!

So, she told me how to get help to Mr. Alex's family. When he called me back, I was able to tell him that he was going to be able to go back HOME!! He and his family, were going to have their bus tickets paid for. He was so excited. All he could say, was that his wife kept telling him that God was going to send somebody to give them an anwser about their situation. He was in owe of God's love for him and his family.
And I was so glad to know that those little girls would have a home to live and family to love on them.

For sure they will have a Merry Christmas!

Some times we pray and ask for God to send us Divine appointments, but some times we need to be somebody else's Divine appointment.

Love you all!
Jordania

We don't have to Impress Him

Hi Everyone:

I am so sorry it's been so long since I wrote about our lives in Brazil. We have had several things happening and time just goes by so fast.

First of all, I am so happy and thankful to all of you that have read my blog and had sent me messages or emails about it. I am glad it has been a blessing to you.

Well, the las three weeks we have worked really hard on unpacking. Some times I feel like our boxes are multiplying and I can't ever get everything in place. I wish I had my friend Donna here to help me. She is the most focused and organized person I ever met. She would keep me focused on this task. Lol!

We've been trying to explore the city now. We have found great little stores and bakeries that are so fun to go to. We love going to the bakeries here. The bread is so fresh and the sweets are delicious and very pretty. We got to hang out at the "Taquaral Lake", which is located in the middle of the city. It has beautiful views and it's a great place to eat hot dogs and corn.
We also went to the "central market" (Mercado Central) last Saturday, and had a lot fun shopping for meat, fruits and some amazing tea. We did have to leave early because we noticed some guys following Garo, so to be safe, we just kept moving, but that didn't stop us from having a fun time. You all would be amazed by how you buy meat here. It could be gross or it could be fun. It's just a matter of decision. We decided it was fun!

We've been working on hosting shot term missions groups this summer. I'll have more details for you soon. One thing I know for sure. It will be awesome!

We have also started working on our ministry schedule for next year, and already have Worship and Prayer/Youth & Young Adult meetings for January and February. Our hearts are so excited to see how the Lord is going to live His dream through our lives during these meetings next year. We have great anticipation, and when I read His profile, it tells me that He dreams really big! I Can't wait!

I know I have promised you pictures, and I have so many, that will make you laugh so much, but I am waiting for our internet to get connected so we will have a stronger signal. Right now, we are using our neighbor's signal and it can be very slow at times, but we are very thankful to have internet though. Soon we will have our own.

Today, I just want to leave you with the thought of how much He loves us. That He made sure that we know that no matter what, as long as we keep on reaching out to Him, He will always be near. That we don't need to try to impress Him, because He sees us and He still chooses to love us. Oh, I want to scream with the thought that the God of all things chose to love me no matter what. I keep falling in love with Him!

Have a very blessed day!

Foundation

Hello Everyone:

This morning I went to drop the kids off at school and while I was driving and praying about several diferent things, the Lord told me He wanted to talk to me about "Building A Foundation". As I looked around, I was driving through downtown Campinas and there are several tall buildings. Some are absolutely beautiful!

So, the Lord started telling me: You know Jordania, all these buildings you now see, required an unseeing work of foundation. Building a foundation is a necessary and vital work for any construction, and it is also a hard job, with not much excitement during this time. You don't see people passing around a building on its foundation and saying "wow, that looks amazing!" The wows come long after a lot work has been done.

We have a tendency to celebrate the final product, because it is exciting and it is something we can see now, and we are a generation of the NOW. What makes me think of my kids, specially my daughter Jordan.

We are working on teaching her manners and first time obedience. So, we have had good days, and not so good days with the results, however we keep on working HARD with her, but some days I think. Is she ever going to get it? How many times do I need to say the same thing for it to get through her? And then, all of the sudden, she responds in a very positive way, and that gives me hope that this hard work of foundation will produce a well mannered young lady and a kind, polite adult (I hope). So, the Lord said to me. You got it! You are talking about her adult life, something that will less for years to come.

Back to the downtown buildings, the Lord kept speaking to me and saying: See how different they are? Some can endure more than others, because its foundantion has the "ingredients" that will pass the test of time, bad weather, earthshakes and so on. Others won't be here in thirty or fifty years, because its foundation couldn't endure the test of time and history. So, what kind of building do you want to be?

God is beautiful and I am so in love with Him, I can't even describe it to you. I am greatful, that He gives us the choice to decide what kind of "building" we want to be. I am greatful that He is patient.

I would like to encourage you today, that if you feel like you have been in a "foundation" stage for a LONG time, wheather it is with your kids, work, business, ministry, relationship, health, hang in there. He is building something amazing, that will STAND for eternity, and that takes time. What is unseeing now, will make you stand tall and firm through time, and generations will be able to see how GREAT He is!

"May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by His grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strenghen you in every good deed and word." 2 Thessalonians 2:16.

Love you all!

Funny Funny

So, we got our new used couches. We were very excited about it, because it was such a great deal. Not necessary our style, but who cares. We have couches.

Our five year old son Eben set on it, and asked: " Why did they use rocks to make this couch?" Lol. We are still laughing about it, because, we were trying to convince our selves that it was not too bad, until Eben decided to call it as it is.

We order our internet, but it hasn't been connected yet, so our neighbor told us we can use his signal (very generous of him), however the signal only comes on certain times during the day. So, today Hailey and I were dying to get on the internet and we were waiting to see if we would get desperate enough to walk to our neighbor's house and ask him to call the internet company to fix the problem, because we really needed to get online. LOl. We didn't do it, but we thought about it.

Life is beatuful and no matter what, the important thing is to be where God wants us to be. So happy to be in Campinas!!!!!!!!!!

I Did Not Feel Like My Fountain Was On

Today has been a very long day. I only got few hours of sleep, because I am so determed to unpack and have my house organized. I took the kids to school (they need to be at school by 7:30 am). After driving about twenty minutes, Jordan started saying she was going to "throw up", I thought she was just saying that because she didn't want to go to school, so I said: Jordan, you are fine. Well, few minutes later, she did throw up all over her close and the car seat. At that point I was a little stressed, so I decied to drop Eben off at school, and drive about 30 min back home to take care of Jordan. Needless to say. I felt terrible for thinking she was not really sick.

We got home and after giving her a shower and taking care of her, she felt fine. I still needed to clean up the mess.

By now, my plans for the day were changing, but I still had to go to the grocery store, make phone calls to this guy to come and spray our house for the third time(very normal in Brazil), and also, call an eletrician to come fix few things around the house.

Garo was taking care of Jordan, working on his report and getting our gas conneted to our stove, all that,before he had to go to Portuguese Class. So, as you can tell, a very busy day.

When Garo left to class, I kept cleaning and unpacking boxes. Meanwhile, the guy came in to spray the house. We started talking and he started telling me how he had had all his tools stolen over the weekend,and that he was feeling very discouraged, because that is how he makes money to help support his family. I felt really bad hearing him talking and I asked if me and the kids could pray for him. All of the sudden, I forgot about all I had to do, and got so mad with the enemy for doing this to this hard-working man. After encouragin him, he said he was feeling better and had faith that God was going to turn this situation around. We are believing for a miracle for this man.

After he left, the eletrician came in, and Garo got back from Portuguese Class. So, they were talking and working together and at the end of the evening, the eletrician was having dinner with us and we were sharing about the Lord and His goodness.

I started thinking about a verse that a friend sent me this week that truly blessed me and I hope it will bless you too.

"for with You is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light." ps. 36:9

The Lord spoke to me and said : If you are always available, I will always make my fountain in you spring forth life.

I felt so honored that even though, we were not out to minister, the Lord brought two people in side of our home and showed us, once again, that if we are available to Him, our fountain will be on, even when we don't feel like it.

My encouragement to you is, be available to the Lord at ALL time, giving Him permission to come any time of the day, any where and use you. It is such an awesome feeling! At the end of the day it is ALL ABOUT HIM!

Love you all! Thanks for sharing this journey with us!

PS. We had delicious spagetti for dinner tonight.

God always takes care of us

Hello dear friends!

Well, as you all know we are getting settle into our new home in Brazil. It is a very exciting time for us, because now we can cook, watch a movie, and have all our books to read with us.

We were in need to buy a stove, because we didn't bring one from the US. We looked for stoves in several stores and the prices were a bit higher than what we could afford, so we felt we needed to wait for few days, not really knowing what we were waiting for. So, yesterday we got a call from a friend saying that she had a friend that not only was selling an used oven, but was also selling sofas and chairs. Things we were also needing.

We went to take a look on the things for sale and we were so happy that we got a stove and chairs for a really good deal. God takes care of us, even when things are not considered "that important or spiritual".

Now, for you to get the full picture. Here in Campinas there are not many used furniture stores, because things are so expensive that when people buy something they keep it until it brakes down beyond repair. So, finding furniture that is about 15years old in good condition for a good price is the closer you can get of a miracle on the furniture world.

I would like to encourage you today to wait on the Lord, even when it dosen't make much sense, and you look around and think: I should be looking for something. I should be moving around. Stop and wait because the ONE who moves at the speed of light is moving things for you.

Today we have more unpacking to do and "Thanks Giving Dinner" plans to make. Oh yeah, the Nargiz kitchen is back in business!