CENTRALFLORIDAEPISCOPALIAN NEWS FOR THE EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF CENTRAL FLORIDA
THE INSTITUTE FOR CHRISTIAN STUDIES
WWW.CFDIOCESE.ORG
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VOLUME 116, No. 8
OCTOBER, 2014
HISTORY OF THE GRACE EPISCOPAL CHURCH, Ocala
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São Paulo Mercy Ministry This Newsletter Marks Our First Complete Year in São Paulo By The Rev. Stephen and Mary Dass
Um Pobre
I
Mary Dass with Maicon and his family, who have been helped by the Mercy Ministry.
t was requested that we write about our daily routine so that people can get an idea of our work. The same person told me not to leave out the tedious and monotonous part of our routine. Our work follows a slow and repetitious cycle everyday. “Repetitious” does not
necessarily mean boring and pointless. We have a goal in the things we do. For an outsider, our walking around looking for the children and playing games with them may not seem like evangelism. However, it opens doors for us. This is our first step in the evangelism process.
We work in the streets from Mondays to Thursdays. The children, at this present moment, are found in three separate locations. We try to visit at least two locations on a daily basis. The time we spend in the streets is quite intense due to the open environment and pollution, not to mention the stench of paint thinner among other drugs being consumed. The environment where the children sleep is filthy as well. They do not have bathroom facilities and they sleep on filthy castaway mattresses. We also have to deal with the drug trafficking. The dealers are usually friendly and respectful to us. This is an unwritten code among the organized crime gangs. They recognize the value of religious and social work. However, this does not mean that we take things for granted. We need to be constantly aware of dangerous situations. Having said this, there has never been a situation where a missionary or a social worker was hurt in the streets while working. In order to protect ourselves from illness and stress, we limit the amount of hours we spend in the streets. We work an average of three to four hours of direct contact with the children in the streets daily. Three times a week are during the day and once a CONTINUED ON P. 28 week is at night.