In 2015 I was out running at the break of dawn, far from traffic or people, when a motorbike drove up and stopped in front of me. A couple jumped off the bike, and the man started violently beating his wife. Long story short, I started a Discovery Group with them and we quickly became friends. When I first met them they had a two-month-old baby girl, Ana Yssis. Tiago had a very nice side to him but he didn’t know how to work through frustrations well, and he had developed some bad habits, like armed robbery. In spite of this I heard that he was the most beloved and youngest son in his family. Tiago was shot and killed about a month ago, leaving behind three children and two broken relationships.

Tiago’s sister-in-law and family attended the first couple of Discovery Groups with Tiago, but then they quit. When I asked them why Geice told me it was because Tiago was involved in bad stuff and if the police came she did not want to be in the room.

Last night Geice, Fabio, and I went together to a Baptist Church that has helped over 100 couples get married this year. I signed as the testimony to their marriage. This has been a process of many months. In our conversations Geice told me that she had opened a bible and started reading, and it was the same text as that first Discovery Group. She remembered the story and the Discovery Group atmosphere over two years later “where you can just say whatever you want, because I’m not good at keeping my mouth shut”. Sometimes seeds lie dormant for a long time. Please pray with me that God will bless Geice and Fabio and their family like never before, and that they will start Discovery Groups with their friends.

Baby John. Fabio and Geice have four daughters between the two of them. All daughters. The first three ultrasounds all indicated they were having another daughter. And out came John.

Hannah, in the background, has a super sweet spirit. May God bless her and protect her, and fulfill His plans for her.

Ana Yssis is Geice and Fabio’s beloved niece, one of the children that Tiago left behind. She was two months old when I first met them. There are so many unfair things in this world, so I am praying for an unfair amount of blessings to protect and raise up Ana Yssis. We know that God specializes in this sort of thing.

A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. Psalm 68:5

Bárbara, Fabio, Geice, João, Mabely, and Hannah. They are a lively crew with rarely a quiet moment, unless they are all sleeping.

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