The other day we attended a “Festival” at the High School. It was a beauty contest/concert/carnival type shindig. It was also billed as “a 14 hour Party” that started at 4pm and would go until 6am the next day. One of the reasons for the event was to help raise money for the high school so they could purchase security cameras. They were trying to raise around R$12,000. Sounds like a good cause, right? I mean, with all the violence and the lack of adult presence in the schools (especially male) it’s definitely a great cause. Also, one of the girls that we’ve been discipling was in the beauty contest portion of the event. She had asked MJ, Maryssa and Carolyn to help her with her hair, make-up and clothes (see pictures below). So we went to show our support for her during the contest.
The event was held at the high school in the Quadra (it’s like an outdoor gymnasium) and in the parking lot adjacent to the school. When we walked into the festival the first thing I saw were HUGE racks of ribs being cooked in between dual fires. Being the BBQ aficionado that I am, I was in awe and had to stop and pay homage (see picture below). Brazilians definitely have the whole “meat thing” down for sure.
as we entered farther into the venue, we saw these elaborate bars set-up serving alcohol. That’s right... there were a couple of portable bars set-up there. They had counters, fancy lighting, and the largest assortment of liquor and beer that I’ve ever seen at an outdoor event. It was crazy. The reason I say it was crazy, is because this was at the High School! And they were serving alcohol to minors! Now I’m not saying that their whole intention was to just serve alcohol to underage people (actually the legal drinking age here is only 18 anyway). But the fact that there were very few adults there made me wonder “who were they actually targeting with the alcohol?” And there were even some of the people who had been to our church services there walking around with alcohol in their hands too. Anyway, it was dark now and I knew this probably wasn’t going to be a good place to be as the night progressed (with all the alcohol that was being consumed) and was hoping the Beauty Contest was going to start (and end) so we could head back to the camp.
The Beauty Contest went pretty good and Bruna (the girl we disciple) did a great job even though she didn’t win. We were very proud of her.
After the contest we headed home and I felt sad. Not because Bruna didn’t win or because we were going home. I felt sad because the reality of what we had just experienced was sad. Here we were at the high school and all these students (that God has sent us here to minister to) were there- openly drinking and smoking and for some reason the “lostness” of the people was even more obvious then before. To look into their eyes and to know that they were without Christ was a sobering reality. I’m not saying that just because they were drinking that they were lost either. It’s hard to explain except that it was in their eyes. The emptiness, and the sadness that was there. It made me very sad but it also made us all-the-more determined to get the Gospel to them.
And we were even sadder the next day when we heard (that after we had left) someone was shot and killed and another person was wounded because of drunken fight. And then we heard that we knew some of the people involved. The person who killed the other guy was actually in one of our services the week before this happened! Then the other night we found out that the brother one of Maryssa and Matthew’s friend’s was stabbed and killed at the party too. Very frustrating. What a waste. This may not sound like that big of a deal to you, because this kind of stuff happens all the time in the States, but there in the US we live in big cities. This is different. We live in a small village here, where everyone knows everybody and there’s not thousands of people crowding the streets everyday where you’d expect that kind of violence. This was in our quiet village where this kind of stuff doesn't happen. So, please continue to pray for us as we’re here bringing the Gospel to the people of Terra Boa and here on the mountain.
Love Ya,
Jim
PS - I'm no rocket scientist, but the thing about all the tragedy that occurred was that you could see it before it even happened.
14 hour party + Alcohol + Young People = Not Good
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