Rio Recap, 2021: The Kids of Voando Alto in Saquarema

Rio Recap, 2021: The Kids of Voando Alto

This is Post No. 1 from our series Rio Recap, 2021.

Posted on July 26, 2021 by J. Boe Ellis

SAQUAREMA, RIO DE JANEIRO — We had traveled 24 hours, and 5,000 miles from Tampa to Atlanta to Sao Paulo to Rio wondering about these kids, all 160 of them. We knew they were Brazilian, Portuguese-speaking elementary-school and middle-school kids from low-income, often single-parent homes. And, that was about it.

We knew that our partners in Saquarema had started Voando Alto some 20 years earlier as a haven, a Gospel-centered place where kids just like these could come. And they came. Today, Pastor Hilario Polanco with his wife Valquiria and their team of staff and volunteers are serving dozens of families and widening and deepening their impact in the neighborhood.

With before-school / after-school, and winter break programs they are really getting to know the kids over months and years; they are uncovering needs and meeting them.

That’s where our short-term team from Tampa, FL comes in. We had talked with Pastor Hilario months earlier about doing a three-day camp, like a sports and games themed backyard Bible club. He loved the idea and shared it with the kids.

So, they knew were coming. And we knew that they knew. Their excitement was as big as the Rio sky was blue that day.

It was Day No. 1 of our seven-day itinerary which began here Tuesday, July 5, 2021 in Saquarema, about a two-hour drive east of Rio City, and still in the State of Rio de Janeiro. As with any trip, one of our top priorities is to encourage and invest in our long-term partner’s ministries, to do everything we can to build them up and hopefully push them further down the proverbial tracks than they would go if we had decided to just stay home.

For Voando Alto, having 160 kids meant doing a kids camp. So, a kids camp we would do, as the first wave of 40 kids arrived right on time, 9:00 a.m. (that’s 9:00 a.m. British time, as opposed to 9:00 a.m. Brazilian time).

Three more waves of 40 would come throughout the day, spending a little more than an hour on the property with us, participating in our activities and getting a snack and a drink before they leave — a snack that according to Pastor Hilario might be for many the only meal they would have until evening.

Through the gate and down the walkway they would check in with the volunteers and get their hand sanitizer. It was a lot like any other day, except today they would get new T-shirts – “Obrigado Jesus,” which translates “Thank You Jesus”  was our theme. Ephesians 2:4-5 specifically, “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”

They were directed by our team up the ramp and into the upstairs worship center, where we sang songs, played games, and shared the Gospel. We got to know the kids, and they got to know us, seven people from the U.S. and four from Rio City, some a little more mature in years, and some pretty young, but all wearing our bright yellow shirts. Obrigado Jesus.

The kids weren’t sure what to make of all the commotion at first, but with each passing minute and each passing day, they began to open up to us, and to the Word of God.

Our ministry with them was to show them how to have fun together, learning new games, and then coming back together at the end to learn the stories from the Bible, creation (Genesis 1), the fall (Genesis 3), and new life (Eph 2:4-5 and John 3:16). We had a lot of fun. Our team saw a lot of positive responses from the kids, many of whom we learned come from some pretty messed up situations.

And then, almost as fast as we arrived, we were gone, but not before each kid received his or her own playground ball signed by one of our team members with a Bible verse. I wrote João 3:16 on all of mine.

We prayed, and hugged the staff and volunteers and headed out for Rio. I was especially encouraged as we were driving away to see a couple of our kids in the blue T-shirts riding their bikes down the road about a quarter mile outside of town. I rolled down the window and shouted”Obrigado Jesus.” They smiled with a pair of huge smiles and waved crazily goodbye to us. I shared later with the team how I thought that was a gift from God especially for me. I received it with a sigh.

I wondered about the impact our team had made, and how it might continue for that little village on the outskirts of Saquarema. Maybe more, I reflected on the impact we made on our partners and their staff and volunteers. It is a ministry of encouragement through our presence. Just showing up.

Our second night there, we invited the staff and volunteers over for fellowship and a barbecue at our Air BnB house. Pastor Hilario said that was the first time any team had come and done something like that for them. Wow. In 20 years, I thought. Our presence matters. It makes a huge difference not just inside the ministry but in the surrounding community. It is not every day that a team of 12+ people in bright yellow shirts shows up in the neighborhood with this message of hope. Obrigado Jesus.

It is not every day, but more and more, it is happening. Voando Alto is supported also by our primary Brazil partner, Pastor Joe Souza and Celebration Church in Boston. That church family recently raised enough cash for Voando Alto to be able to purchase the land right behind the ministry’s current facilities, where  Pastor Hilario envisions building a career center and a gym for kids who will age-out of the children’s ministry.

Great Commission Partnerships wants to help with this vision. In addition to leading churches and teams to serve the kids with annual camps, we want to help supporters in the U.S. invest prayerfully and financially in the ministry and in the new building campaign.

Please contact Boe Ellis directly to talk more about these opportunities to serve Voando Alto and these kids. Use the button below to give directly to our Brazil work.

We are talking about generational impact. While not all of us will be called to help these kids, one thing is for sure, GCPN has been called to help these kids. Will you join us in prayer, through giving, going, and for some maybe even moving your life to Rio to love these kids, to love Brazil with the Gospel?

They are just kids after all, very much like kids anywhere else in the world. They want to know that they are safe, that they are loved, and that they have opportunity, all of which are found foremost in Jesus.

His message is the message of real life and real hope. His message is the message we shared over three days. For Pastor Hilario and his staff and volunteers, they do it all the time, 24/7 365, helping families with food, medicine, doctor and dental care, and most of all with love. You can see it in their eyes.

Please spend some time looking at the images below, the faces of a bunch of the kids that we had the privilege of meeting. Please join us in praying for them. Click on the first image to open in a lightbox, and click the arrow right to scroll.