(Sam) Meninadança

Last year we got in touch with an English journalist called Matt Roper who has been working for years to combat under-age prostitution in Brazil. In July we went to a ´Brazilian dinner´ that he was running to raise awareness about the issue, and to present information about his new project/movement called Meninadança. We really liked the sound of his vision and strategy, and found that it had many similar threads to the direction we were going in. As well as a good structure and foundation for getting there! We remembered this when our Recife plans then fell through last week, and e-mailed Matt again to arrange to meet up, only to find out that in a few days time he was holding a day conference for Meninadança! And it was just ten minutes down the road from our house! 

For the few days leading up to the conference we were really excited about the possibilities, as we'd read both of Matt's books, and become more familiar with what he was doing over the last few years. We knew that he had a similar heart to ours, and couldn't wait to hear more about it. By the day of the conference we were fairly sure that we wanted to be involved in the project, and then the day simply confirmed our feelings, and gave us an even better picture of the work of Meninadanca! We came away extremely excited!!


It was awesome to see that the overall strategy is similar (yet more developed!) to our idea of working within the local poor communities where the girls come from, rather than just on the streets where the more obvious face of prostitution is found. You can read more about the charity on their website www.meninadanca.org 

We´ll include more about their vision and about the organisation in the next post, but suffice it to say – we really want to work with them! We chatted with Matt the following day (the day before he emigrated to Brazil with his wife and son!) and he seemed equally positive about us working with them, which was good news! We concluded that since he needed time to settle in and to sort out a structure for receiving a bigger team in Brazil, and since we wanted to have at least 6 months of life planned after such a long period of uncertainty (hopefully to work in our local community in London), then we would keep in touch over the next couple of months and aim to fly out in the summer!! Please pray for positive communications over the next few months!

(Sam) The Phone Call!

On Sunday 13th October we spoke at our church on Brazil plans, which was a bit classic, given the lack of certainty of how/when we were going to go! Here is the link if you want to listen - and please forgive the singing in the middle! http://www.egcc.co.uk/?p=1928


Since the difficult week before (see previous post!), we had been mulling over whether or not we really wanted to be linked with this church in Recife. If we were having so many problems with their leadership already, we wondered what it might be like a couple of years down the line, when the project really needed support and good leadership and communication? We were definitely erring on the side of closing the door on this partnership, unless there was a dramatic turnaround on their part in this next phone meeting...


The phone meeting... On Tuesday 15th October I spent three hours in the morning trying to 'let go'! of 18 months of investing in this specific partnership so that I would be ready to say no on the phone depending on how the conversation went. I called Brazil at the arranged time, but the head guy - Rubens - wasn't answering (which sadly wasn't unusual!) So I called the pastor of our church there and discovered that neither of them were at the planned phone meeting! Both had forgotten that it was a bank holiday when they arranged the date, and then had neglected to communicate this with us when they realised and cancelled the meeting. Although it sounds like one small mistake, this really was the final straw! After a year of stalling and lack of communication, and now especially after last week discovering a lack of integrity in terms of what they were communicating to us, we were not willing to wait any longer. It was very sad saying this to our pastor, since we did share a similar heart and vision but he has obviously been constrained by poor leadership above him. But we could see now that if we were to have gone, we would not just be working with him, but with the head man above him. So we had to say goodbye, and it felt very sad, and quite a bit like ending a relationship!! :(



That said, as we put the phone down we actually felt incredibly relieved! We really felt like we were escaping a partnership that would have been really hard work in the long term, and now have the possibility of working somewhere else in Brazil where it will be perhaps even more exciting and slightly easier-flowing...which in fact was what happened the very next weekend…!! See next post ;o)

(Sam) frustrations!!

Last Tuesday was a shocker! Although the communication from the church has been minimal, up to this point it has all been positive, and to the effect that the process is easy and that it’s just a question of them being busy and trying to get the right people in the right place etc. Then suddenly on Tuesday, I got through to the guy who leads our church (Ivo) and he told us that the head guy responsible for arranging the documents (Rubens) ‘has expressed some concerns’ about being legally responsible for us…

We were so frustrated!! The lack of communication didn’t seem like a positive start to a partnership, but we’d given them the benefit of the doubt that the process was well under-way, based on the few times we had communicated. I was able to express our frustrations, and finally he agreed to arrange a meeting with Rubens which we’ll have by phone tomorrow lunch (Tuesday 14th). Crunch time.

As we tried to process this news ourselves and work out what this means, we realised the beautiful irony that we were also supposed to be speaking on Sunday at church all about Brazil...genius timing! We spoke on trust and faith, which seemed like the most relevant topic, and was certainly the most raw and genuine at this moment.

As we take a step back to look at the situation, we are still holding onto our vision of working with young people involved in prostitution in Brazil, but now starting to look at other doors that might open. It will certainly be difficult to let go of all the specific location-based plans, and of friends and networks etc., (and especially our valiant Gus) but after this conversation and after a year of waiting, we are feeling our own concerns about working under such a leadership, and are actually relieved as we look at what other options are available.

Tomorrow – 1pm – is the decision time. We are going to hear their thoughts, and express our disappointment and frustration. Hopefully they will be able to offer an apology and then, if they decide they do want to go ahead, we’ll be asking for some visible action points on their part, and also be setting a couple of deadlines.  

We’ll see what the future holds tomorrow!

The Great Delay!

Claire: 
We are still going to Brazil! The delay is to do with a Brazilian pastor, Rubens, producing (or not, as the case may be!) the three documents that we need in order to apply for our visas. About two months ago he said he'd received our  big wad of paperwork (which was a relief!); had met with all relevant parties who were united in giving us the official go-ahead; and even better, he would just need five days to fulfil his side of the bargain and produce the documents. ...Over two months later, and we've not heard a thing! We will have more news next week as we receive a call from Ivo, the leader of our church out there. We are hoping that he has been able to chivvy Rubens along a bit... we will let you know what happens!

(Claire) So how have we found this last year?

This time has been a real test of our patience, and of our faith that God has a purpose for us out in Brazil. We believe that he does and are so excited about it, whilst simultaneously being amazed at the dis-organisational abilities of this pastor! (I don't think even Sam or I could compete with him!) Our faith has been strengthened by realising that within the great delay (our fond name for it), God had a purpose all along. This unexpected year in England has given us the opportunity for invaluable training and pre-move preparation. It's given us extra time here that we didn't plan, and as a result we can definitely say that we are now massively more ready and equipped to be going out and starting a project with vulnerable young people in Recife.

(Sam) So what have we been up to?

There’s still been a lot of preparation work to do, and we’ve continued strong with our self-imposed 9 – 5 routine to help us get it done! Since we're not going out with an organisation as such, we now have some key accountability and guidance structures in place. This is so needed as it helps us make sure that we're reaching our objectives, are financially accountable, and are emotionally and spiritually well! We've also had the time to shape our long-term vision and objectives, and to share these plans with other charities, organisations and churches. We wanted to form links with other organisations that we could learn from and work with, and it has been exciting to see the beginnings of this happen.

So what does ‘preparation’ mean right now? Sam got in touch with a massive kids club in New York, and is now working almost full time to translate their material to use in Brazil. Claire has been working on our beautiful blog and now amidst networking, studying Portuguese and other on-going projects, she is getting ready to run a day’s workshop in December all about prostitution.

Even though we’re not there yet, we know that all this time is absolutely key in building solid foundations for starting work in Brazil. We hope we’ll get there soon and that we’ll be able to turn all this preparation into action!

Earlier blog entries

To read all our earlier blog entries, click on the link below:

http://www.egcc.co.uk/author/sam-claire/

This is the link to our church's website, Eltham Green Community Church. We've been writing a blog on this website since March 2010, when we were still out in Brazil!