A Visit from Andy and Rosie




Sunday 8th July was a great day for us at St. John's as our Mission Partners, Andy and Rosie, joined us for the day.  It is three years since they were last here with us so it was good to see them again and to catch up on their news.






Andy and Rosie joined us at both the 10.30 a.m. service .....














..... and at 4U2@6 and Andy spoke to us on both occasions. 



He reminded us that last time they were over here they were working with street children in Olinda, a town in the North East of Brazil.  At that time they were working at Our Father's House which is for boys. 

Andy told the congregation that their role will be changing when they go back to Olinda.  They will still be  CMS Mission Partners and worshipping at Living Waters Anglican Church in Olinda but they will now be trying to do something for girls.  At the present time Andy said there were a number of organisations working with boys and their families but NONE working with girls.
Andy shared some shocking statistics with us such as that it is estimated that over 200,000 children in Brazil are visibly trapped in prostitution!  He also said that there will be many more "invisible" children in these dire straits.  He added that the average age of a first sexual encounter for these girls is 10 years old and the average age of a first pregnancy is 13!  [This of course implies that, out of hundreds of thousands of girls, there will be many victims much younger than this]  Shockingly Andy told us of individuals girls that he knew whose family circumstances were so desperate the the children's mothers were acting as their pimps.
So, the answer to the question "What's Next" for Andy and Rosie is that they are embarking on a very ambitious project to set up a series of "Safe Houses" for girls across Brazil.  Andy explained that there were many legal hazards and complications in doing such a thing so they are setting up a new charity, ReVive International, which will work within the auspices of CMS, to work with vulnerable and at risk girls"..

This is a massive undertaking and Andy asked for our help.  In the face of such overwhelming odds you may wonder how you could help.  However, Andy suggests three possible avenues:
1.) Prayer - we can all pray for Andy, Rosie their soon to be born daughter, Sophia; we can pray for all the families and children trapped in poverty and being exploited in Brazil; we can pray for the construction of and work of ReVive.
2.) We can support ReVive financially as they will have to raise their own funds!  If you can help, or want to run a fundraiser for ReVive I'm sure Joyce will be able to tell you the most efficient way to give.
3.) Go out there to help!  [This may not be for all of us but if you hear of anybody who wants to do that you could support them in every way you can]


To find out more about Andy and Rose and Revive you can go to http://www.revive-international.org/ and/or their blog at http://andyandrose.posterous.com/ .










Following 4U2@6 Andy and Rosie joined us for our annual barbecue.  The weather was at least dry if not very warm.







A big "Thank you" to Dave and Gordon (who stepped in at the last moment) for slaving over the grills.  [We hope you are feeling better now, Andy!]