Merry Christmas!

I hope you all are doing well and enjoying all the blessings that God has given you this year as we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus. I want each of you to know how important you are to me, and what a blessing it has been to rely on your faithful prayers and support over the past few years as I have been serving in Brazil.

This year was by far the best with the inaugural season of Eagles Brasil, the first Christian women’s soccer team in Brazil. If you were able to keep up with us on this blog, I hope that you were blessed by the many stories of how God showed His faithfulness to us every step of the way. Even though we went up against numerous obstacles and trials, His Word went out and it did not return empty! It seemed like everywhere we went lives were changed through the girls on the team and the witness that they were for Christ. The way they displayed His character on the field was truly remarkable, and people wanted to know why we were different, giving us opportunities to share the good news of Jesus. We were able to teach the gospel message and pray with about 15 different teams, and each time at least 4 of the players accepted Christ. As you can see, the way that God used such a young ministry that lacked so many important elements, such as financial stability, was unreal!

While the outreach of the ministry was so effective, and the fruit of lives being changed through hearing and receiving the gospel message was so evident; God was doing incredible things in the lives of each of the young ladies that had accepted the call to be a member of this unique team and ministry. Many of them joined Eagles Brasil as brand new Christians, and we had the pleasure of discipling them and feeding them the Truth every day.What a blessing to watch God fill them with His Spirit as they learned to seek Him above all else. It was truly inspirational and such an encouragement to me to see their passion and zeal for the Lord and love for the lost. Each of them has a unique and amazing testimony to the work that God accomplished in their lives through Eagles Brasil. It was an experience that has changed them deeply, one that they will carry with them for the rest of their lives.

All that said I want you to know that none of this was possible without you. Thank you for being so faithful with your prayers and financial support. Unfortunately, there is some bad news. Because we were not able to find Brazilian sponsors to invest in the team, as well as lacking important structural elements, we will not be able to continue on at this point with the ministry. We know that we serve a sovereign God and that His timing is perfect.

After much prayer, we have decided to put the team on hold until God provides the structure and the finances to sustain this project. This has been such a hard thing for us to accept after seeing all that God has done this year, and how effective soccer ministry really is, especially in a country like Brazil. Please join us in seeking God’s will and praying for Eagles Brasil to be able to continue in the future. Lord willing this unique and powerful ministry will start up again and continue to impact lives for eternity.

In Him,

Carrie Lorenz