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Our annual Beach Project has come to a close. Another “Prosa na Praia 2019” is in the books!
It was a good one. So many people we hoped would come did, and so many others, also. We were hoping for 60, we had over 70! Young students, learning to not only walk in their faith, but to lead, also. Staff growing in capacity and leadership. And so many other students at the crossroads of belief.
The hustle and bustle is now over, but the work continues. Please labor in prayer with us for these students. January is summer break in Brazil, but we will continue to track and connect with students.
Summer Project
PNP2017 Recap
in Project
Recap video of the PNP with English subtitles
For the last four years, we have organized a week-long beach project with students called Prosa na Praia (PNP). Full of fun, deep conversation and discussion groups, we try to create the same atmosphere of our monthly coffeehouse discussion event called Café com Prosa. We combine the beach, summer vacation, discussion and profoundly relevant issues into a package and add lots of fun!
Our Theme: Skepticism
University students are part of the “generation of skeptics”. But, what is skepticism? In general, skepticism is characterized by a posture that doubts or is untrusting of accepted concepts. Yet, one wonders, is it possible to be absolutely skeptical? The obvious answer is NO! It is not possible to be completely untrusting. The most skeptical person will trust in, at the very least, his or her own skepticism. Therefore, if on one side we have the skeptical generation, and, on the other, the fact that everyone trusts in something, we raise this question: “Skeptics, in what do you trust?” This was our theme for our last Café com Prosa discussion groups of 2016. During those discussion groups, we asked the “If everyone trusts in something, why not trust in God?”
Jesus in the Age of Skepticism
We decided to have a PNP theme that would continue with the same idea as “Skeptics”. Our aim was to present the same idea, yet through the perspective of Jesus himself. How would Jesus answer the above question? Would Jesus say that God is trustworthy?
In stark contrast to our skepticism, Jesus was a man of great convictions. He strongly affirmed absolutes concerning God, human beings and the origin of so much skepticism - sin. While we have doubts, Jesus has assurance. While we have a hard time trusting, Jesus trusted unwaveringly. Given these considerations, we asked the PNP participants to consider “Jesus in the age of skepticism”. Our aim for PNP 2017 was to survey the gospel by observing Jesus’ convictions about these four points: 1) God’s character, 2) Man’s problem, 3) God’s solution and 4) Man’s response.
It was a challenge unpackaging the gospel to students who were in such different points of their consideration of Jesus. Of those on the PNP, there were Christians, non-Christians open to talking about Jesus, non-Christians closed-off to the idea of Jesus and those who had never shared their opinions about spirituality with us. However, we were extremely encouraged to see the power of God before our own eyes: many left the PNP stating a desire to have a relationship with God.
Fun!
Beyond the amazing and deep conversations that took place, the PNP sought to deepen our community through shared experiences. To achieve that, we had many informal moments at the beach, pool, sports and especially through dividing up into teams and facing off in a multi-faceted competition. It was fun way to create intentional contact and camaraderie to get to know everyone even more. It became one of the most talked about memories of the PNP.
Equipping Leaders
One of the most exciting objectives of this year’s PNP brought was an opportunity for young Christians to lead and learn through being room leaders. Our aim was for them to be intentional with their time with others in their room and to lead the discussion groups. The hope was that this new experience would fuel in them a desire to multiply their lives. Our evaluation and the feedback we received was very positive. This was an important step in seeing God provide momentum toward laborers being raised up for His harvest field.
Partnership with the Local Church
This year we invited some young professionals from our local church to the PNP. Having them with us provided the students from the campus the opportunity to see and hear from other people in different phases of life. Also, it provided quality contact with the Body of Christ. Unexpected benefits of having church members with us were the support they provided by serving, prayer throughout the PNP and, also, via encouragement they gave us by being reminded of what God is doing through Campus Outreach.
Testimonies:
Below are two short testimonies of PNP participants.
PEDRO: a non-Christian student who has participated in our events and been involved in an investigative Bible-study. Pedro has been attending our church since returning to BH from the PNP.
Through the PNP I had an opportunity to delve even deeper into my thoughts about Christianity and Jesus, and I still felt amazingly comfortable to share my ideas and doubts about it all. I believe that opportunities like these, in an environment where everyone is relaxed, should be valued because through such experiênces we can build friendships, new understandings and grow personally and spiritually.
CRISTINA: a local church member that only recently came to have personal contact with our ministry.
Participating in the PNP was an encouraging experience because it showed me a beautiful vision of the infinite love of Christ. Being there brought me an immense gratitude for the staff that live a calling to this love. I only recently joined our church, so I had never seen up-close the work of Campus Outreach. So, after seeing a glimpse of their lives, I see how what they do is only possible by being full of the Spirit and compelled by the love of God! It was obvious that they needed to depend on God in many moments, especially in their weaknesses. To wrap it all up, it was an amazing experience in which I could experience the love of Jesus and see an example how we can glorify God in our own lives.
Please Pray For:
* God to open the spiritual yes of students who heard the gospel at the PNP
* New Bible studies to help these students to repent and believe in Jesus.
* Wisdom and perseverance for our team as we lead these students.
Summer Project 2017: #pnp2017
Our annual Summer Project (in Portuguese: Prosa na Praia) for 2017 is almost here! Our team will spend January 24-31 with a group of students and recent graduates. We are returning to Cabo Frio beach in the state of Rio de Janeiro for the third year.
For this year's edition we made a decision to invest in a better option for housing to facilitate a project that is attractive to students and, also, provides an environment conducive to building community and a shared experience for the students who will attend. Since most Brazilian universities do not have campus housing, time with students is always a challenge, and our Summer Project allows for us to create a unique experience that we rarely get throughout the year with students. Our project is 8 days and involves talks, discussion groups, bible studies and a leadership training option for room leaders. Our project has a more evangelistic scope, continuing with relationships built over the previous year, or even years! For that reason the “greenhouse” effect of relationships and gospel conversations makes this project a great tool for our ministry.
As a team, we made the decision to cover the ensuing deficit that we knew would be incurred with available funds and staff participation. However, an added challenge to the 2017 Project began in October of 2016. Our main campus focus, UFMG, had classes suspended because of a student occupation in protest of a change in Legislation to the Ministry of Education, that was followed by a professor strike. Both these events have severely limited our recruitment for lack of contact with students on campus, and we do not expect to reach the contractual minimum of spots at the hotel.
I ask for prayer for our Summer Project for the following requests:
- For this project to facilitate a momentum for 2017 as we have been tracking with a number of students who are investigating Jesus.
- For young and new Christians to grow in their knowledge and relationship with God.
- For the financial challenges to be minimized by participation from students, graduates and others who are considering joining us.
If anyone would like to consider making a donation specifically to the Project or to help a student attend the Project, please follow this LINK to donate online through the Campus Outreach giving site, with the Brazilian Summer Project already selected.
PNP 2016 - Summer Project Recap
in Project
We love because God loved us first. (1 John 4:19)
Where is the the love? We used this question during the semester to challenge students and their thoughts about God. Everybody longs for love. Everybody arrives at the same conclusion when considering the the problems in the world: “the answer is love.” So...where is this love that we long for but cannot begin to actually put into practice?
After numerous discussion groups we presented an idea; how could discuss love and not hear Jesus’ opinion on the matter? After all, is there another historical character that addressed love in such a brazen manner other than Jesus? And surely, if asked to answer our question, he would certainly say, “love is in God.” He is the source. He loves first. No one can love without first being loved by Him.
Prosa na Praia - Summer Project:
Jesus’ viewpoint concerning love was the focus of our discussion time during our annual summer project, called Prosa na Praia (Discussion at the Beach). We had the amazing opportunity to spend a week with 40 students we have been investing in by living in the same house and sharing quality experiences. The beach, sports, games, food, talent show, sunrises and sunsets among many others! All together our week was full, fun and helped us create a sense of real community.
Beyond the fun and games, we had a daily time to go deeper into our discussion about “love is in God” thru Bible studies, talks and facilitated discussion groups and lots of informal ones! By the grace of God, we could truly see the Spirit moving in that place! Many students asking honest questions, new people interested in studying the Bible and investigating more about Jesus, young Christians growing in maturity and, overall, the gospel making sense like never before for so many. We are extremely humbled by what God is doing among us!
I got to help with the graphics for both the 2015 Coffee-shop discussion group image and project images. Go to the Media page to some of them.
Site • Instagram • Facebook
Instagram: @cafecomprosabh
hashtag #pnp2016 on Instagram or Facebook
www.cafecomprosa.org
Project Fortaleza 2014
in Project
A group of 18 staff and students from our Belo Horizonte ministry ventured to Fortaleza, Brazil in January to work side-by-side with a Christian orphanage and, also, to use this time as a training project for the students.
Alan Andrioni, our UFMG campus director, led the project and has sent us numerous messages about how well it has gone. All the components - from working with the orphanage, to Bible study with the students and even building vision for a hurting world by participating in a campaign to grow awareness of child sex tourism in Brazil - have really been encouraging to our staff.
The team is finishing up already and heading home. We thank God for this opportunity and for what He will do through it in our student's lives.
We are trying to raise a small amount, $1500 to help off-set the student's costs. Would you consider giving above and beyond to this project? If so, you can send any checks made to Campus Outreach, and 1599 Brazilian Summer Project on the memo line to:
Campus Outreach
PO Box 43737
Birmingham, AL 35243