House Call

As you may have read in the past, one of the ministries of our church family is helping a youth recovery center outside Porto Alegre in the town of Alvorada. We call this place the "Chácara". It can house up to 24 young men. Most of the guys out at the Chácara are trying to leave an addiction to drugs or alcohol or both. Matt Rehbein; Paulo Renato; and our sister in Christ, Irotilde go out to the Chácara every Wednesday to encourage and counsel the young men. They listen to their stories and try to help them through their struggles.

There have been a lot of successes over the last year. Many are staying for the duration of the 9 month program. Lately, we have seen more young men than we normally see overcome their past struggles. Some of the men have gone on to find jobs and have become the supporting husbands and fathers that their families needed.

Unfortunately, not all of the stories are good. There are guys who leave the Chácara prematurely and find themselves back in the mess that they were trying so desperately to get out of. One of these guys is Adão Claudio (Adam Claude). He left the Chácara after only being there for 4 months. He left for the wrong reasons and ended up regretting it. Before he knew it he was using drugs again.

Paulo Renato often gives the guys who have left the Chácara a call to see how they are doing. When he called Adão Claudio's house last week he found out some very disconcerting news. Adão Claudio's wife had just kicked him out of the house because he was using crack. His addiction to crack was still too much for him to handle and it was hurting his wife and 4 kids.

Paulo Renato, Kevin and I tried to set up a visit with him until we were finally able to make it happen yesterday. Paulo Renato spoke with Adão Claudio's wife again and found out that he was back at home. He didn't want to see us initially, but finally he agreed to the visit. Once we made it out to his house it was apparent that he had been struggling. He was much thinner than the last time I saw him and looked nervous. I think that he mainly felt ashamed because he knew that he messed up.

We spent between and hour and an hour and a half visiting with him and encouraging him. Paulo Renato invited him and his wife to the C.A.S.A. for visits and encouragement and Kevin offered the support of the house church that meets in his home. Adão Claudio is a good man who knows and loves God, but has allowed Satan to have a stronghold. After we prayed for him he embraced each one of us. You could feel the love and gratitude in the hugs he gave. It is possible that he will end up going back to the Chácara. I think he is open to that possibility, but he must humble himself first. He can and will overcome this difficult time with the support of the Lord and His family.

Adão Claudio during the "Every Man's Battle" study that Paulo Renato and I conducted at the Chácara earlier this year.

We care deeply for Adão Claudio and the other men of the Chácara. Different ideas of how we can better support these men are being mulled over and discussed. One idea is to start a house church for the men and their families once they no longer are at the Chácara. There are many possibilities. We ask you to join us in praying for wisdom and discernment to better know how to support Adão Claudio and men like him.