Hey Friends,
Today, I’d like to update you on a couple of things going on in Brazil at the moment.
The Yellow Fever Outbreak
First, there’s recently been an outbreak of yellow fever! Yikes. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this disease, it’s not spread by human contact or airborne. Infected mosquitos transmit yellow fever from person to person, monkey to monkey or monkey to person. It’s not always fatal, but can be quite dangerous. Since the beginning of this year, there have been hundreds of cases of yellow fever throughout certain states in Brazil, and of the cases, about 33% have died. My state especially has had a high number of outbreaks.
Crazy enough, the day before I was meant to get a vaccine, I was bit five times by two mosquitos (which I later killed).
My first thought: Seriously? I just got here. I hope those mosquitos didn’t have yellow fever.
My second thought: Wait. OH NO, Yellow Fever! In the name of Jesus, you are not going to infect me! I’ve got too much work to do.
I wish that were the end of it, but honestly, it was tough that day. I had to fight fear the whole day. I’ve never been in this situation before where the fear of death was so close. Thoughts kept coming to me like, “Watch out for symptoms. This disease is in you. You’ll probably die from it too because your immune system is weak.” But I fought them and said, “No! No! No! I will not die. This is a lie,” and I searched my bible to find the truth.
Inside, I found two incredibly encouraging scriptures: Psalm 91 and Psalm 121. I’ve read them before but never had I experienced it like this…
“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.” -Psalm 91:1-7
“The Lord watches over you— the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” – Psalm 121:5-8
Friends, I’m thankful for God and His truth. Even if it had been my time, God reminded me He is with me, and my security is in Him, not my body’s strength to fight infection, but my faith only in God. So that day, I put my body in His hands and said to Him, “Lord, have your way.”
I’m alive this week and do not have yellow fever. Praise the Lord; I still have a purpose here on earth. Plus, I was able to get vaccinated for free! 🙂
This all leads me to wonder what people are going through who do not have faith. What do you do when such a scary situation comes, and you have no anchor? I can imagine the fear because it came to me too, but the only difference was, I had a sword with me, the word of God, which can pierce lies and speak life. Where is their weapon? Where is their hope? Lord, open the eyes of the unbelievers and turn their hearts to their Savior!
Carnaval: Feast of Flesh
Second, Carnaval begins a week from today. Carnaval is a huge national holiday here in Brazil that lasts for about five days. Almost everything closes down, and people either go on vacation or join the street celebrations. All around the country (especially in major cities) the streets are packed with people, parading down the road to Brazilian funk music or samba and dancing and drinking the whole day. Carnaval comes from the Latin word carne (meat or flesh) and vale (ball or feast), in other words, “Feast of Flesh.”
It’s a holiday where anything and everything goes.
Today, I went to the store and came back to a stream of people on my street, already pre-partying for Carnaval. It’s quite unfortunate, but I happen to live on street-level in the middle of the city so you can imagine when I tell you my room was literally shaking from all the music and people. And this was only the pre-party!
Honestly, on a spiritual level, when I was walking from the store it felt like I was about to encounter a beast.
Many Christians here will go to the streets and take this opportunity to evangelize and minister to people, and it’s incredible. I heard a girl recently tell stories about people coming to know God last year. She said one young man told her, “I can’t believe it. Even during Carnaval, God is meeting me here.” There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God (Rom. 8:35), even the Feast of Flesh.
For myself, I have been praying for a couple of months for God to show me what He wants me to do during Carnaval. As beautiful as evangelism sounded to me, I wanted to be wise. It can be quite dangerous at this time because of the number of intoxicated people, and I heard it’s safer to do this kind of ministry in larger groups. Even so, if God told me to speak to the people, I would go. However, I have been still because God has not told me to do this. Instead, what I felt to do was go to a friend’s house, and we are going to pray together from her place during the days of Carnaval. So don’t worry about me, friends, but please pray with us for Brazil.
Recently, I’ve felt I’m on the front lines of battle. If you are a prayer warrior, an intercessor, a child of God, I ask you to pray for Brazil. She needs it.
Thank You So Much
I want to say a huge thank you for reading this post, though it’s different from other posts. As you know, I have shared some fun stories here, but today I felt it was necessary to give you an update on what is happening in the country. It’s a war, but God is also doing wondrous things.
Last year, during the first weeks I came to Brazil, I went to this place high on a hill that overlooked the entire city. I sat down, prayed and you know what God told me? “This city is in My hands.”
Friends, nothing is outside God’s control. Nothing is too great for Him. He is the God who holds cities, nations, and oceans in His hands. Whom shall we fear? If God is for us, who can be against us?
For your story, remember this too. God is in control. Let us put our faith in Him and only Him.
Till the next adventure,
Katya
p.s. I created a page here called “Pray” and on this page I add prayer requests and prayers answered. If you are ever wondering how to pray for Brazil and I these days, be sure to take a look at this page. 😉
