Many of the children and young people that Tim and Hannah Flatman work with are having their lives and values changed by Jesus:

It’s been an exciting few weeks at CADI (Centro de Assist?ncia e Desenvolvimento Integral – ‘Centre for Integral Assistance and Development’) in north-east Brazil. As the CADI team reaches out to the young people and children of the area, lives are being changed.

Coming to life through surfing

One of the teenagers who is part of the CADI project recently shared his testimony:

‘I accepted Jesus as my Lord before joining CADI, but I stopped attending church when my family moved house. It was a difficult time. I was addicted to video games and isolated myself from other people.

‘The Ecosurf project [a surfing project run by CADI] helped me get closer to other people my age. Now I feel that I am part of a community of surfers. I feel valued because the pastor always greets me on the street and I have many “aunts” in CADI who care about me!

‘Now I attend another church near me, and I have taken three of my friends from Ecosurf there. They also accepted Jesus and continue to attend church. I also taught three other people how to surf. I like to study and maybe in the future I will study in Europe. But I want to come back. I want to be a fireman and serve my community here.’

The Parable of the Oranges

And a real-life incident has prompted Hannah to create a new devotional series on situational ethics. In what is now being called ‘The Parable of the Oranges’, it’s a story with a punch-line that could easily fit into the Scriptures.

Following a case of trespass and petty theft of oranges (‘scrumping’, as the British would call it), the only CADI child to ‘fess up’ to the incident and apologise to the owner, was rewarded with the free gift of the stolen oranges. His accomplices went without.

Young people finding Jesus in their everyday existence, and being changed by the experience.