Have a very

blessed Christmas

Somehow we are already in December and sending our last newsletter of the year! We have had some amazing things happen this year, of which you can read a few of them down below. God has provided for Shores of Grace and Betania in supernatural ways! Read this newsletter to see how He has opened doors and continued reaching people during a difficult year for the world. He reigns over all! After you've read this newsletter and you feel you'd like to give a gift for the work He's doing through Shores of Grace in Brazil, Philadelphia and soon, in Columbia, scroll back up here and click "Donate" to give a year-end gift to help us go through other doors He opens.

Give a Gift

Thank you to those of you who have already given a year-end gift! If you missed Nic and Rachael's enthusiastic report on other aspects of the ministry, be sure to watch it below:

This month, we had the honor of having our first baptism of one of the women we disciple with our Amor do Pai team! What an incredible blessing it has been to be a part of this woman’s journey. She shows us it is possible to overcome a lifetime of abuse and prostitution. When Jesus touches a heart, there is no way back. This entire year this woman has been growing in the word of the Lord. She has been learning to read by reading the bible and has overcome fears by reading and praying out loud during the discipleships. Her hunger for more of Jesus inspires all of us. Coming to the end of the year and learning about baptism, she explained the desire and to get baptized herself. We were incredibly grateful to be able to realize that desire this month and had a time of communion and the baptism on a beautiful Sunday with her and her son. For the team, this was one of the highlights of this year!

This year our communities team started organizing girls' nights on Friday night for the teenage girls of the community we work in. One of our staff members noticed that the girls were hanging out on the streets on Friday nights and started calling them to her house for some good quality time. Since we have the new base ready we started having the nights there with about 7 to 10 girls. During the time they spend together the main focus is to talk about God, identity, and good values. One of the topics this month was about the filters we put on ourselves on Instagram but also in our day to day life. About accepting ourselves the way God created us. On this specific night, various girls talked about how they were not able to see themselves this way and accept themselves. Sometimes the team uses movies to talk about these topics as well. Other activities include dance class. This can be very important to teach them how to use their body in a non-sexual way. They will learn the power and value of dancing and understanding their body and themselves in a healthy way.

Our new defense center team has officially started this year and have already taken on their first cases! First of all, we would like to introduce the name of this team. God brought a specific name to Nic's heart. A name that translates everything we do in the defense center and defines exactly who we are.

The name will be: CICAF- Integrated Center for Children, Adolescents, and Family

This name included everything we dream and do at the defense center: we are part of a multidisciplinary team to support children, adolescents, and families who have had their rights violated. The team will be working with the restoration, reconstruction, strengthening, and transformation of families and people. The team will be working out of one of our offices at the new base. Members of the team include a social worker, psychologist, and various lawyers.

The team already had their first event training children's counselors of the city where the team is located. Five years ago, all of this was just a dream which is now a reality and at the beginning of its possibilities. We are extremely grateful for such a well equipped and dedicated team. God is so good!

Hey! Hey!

If you've ever seen the movie "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" you'll probably remember the The Herdmans, "the worst kids in the history of the world" according to one review. They lie, steal, smoke cigars, swear, and hit little kids. So no one is prepared when this outlaw family invades church one Sunday and decides to take over the annual Christmas pageant.

None of the Herdmans has ever heard the Christmas story before. Their interpretation of the tale -- the Wise Men are a bunch of dirty spies and Herod needs a good beating.

Some of the children Shores of Grace meets and loves are very similar to the Herdmans. Then our staff and volunteers get to know them and can see them through God's eyes, seeing their true identity. It may take longer than just preparation for a Christmas pageant for them to realize the Truth of the Christmas story for them personally but they'll see how loved they are by God and our staff/volunteers. Will they be perfect? No, but maybe they'll run rejoicing in the streets like the Herdman children after the pageant and like one, they'll inappropriately climb up on the city's Christmas display and yell: "Hey! Hey! Unto you a Child is born!"

Help us give these children a chance to learn The Story, meet The Child and hear about Love so they can Rejoice.

Give Them a Gift Today

-The health and protection of our babies, staff, and missionaries at Vila Betania.
-For the start of the renovation phase of the new Vila Betania.
-Please continue to pray for Sheila and her family while she is preparing for surgery.
-For safe travels of all of our staff and a good time of reenergizing for the new year.

Manage your preferences | Opt out using TrueRemove™
Got this as a forward? Sign up to receive our future emails.
View this email online.

3000 Custer Road Suite 270-7024
Plano, TX | 75075 US

This email was sent to .
To continue receiving our emails, add us to your address book.