Passenger Van

In the time leading up to our trip to Sao Paulo, I have learned much about Roberto Penna and his work at Seeds of Hope Brazil.  I am looking forward to meeting him, the people at the Tech School and the children of the orphanages.  We are preparing various materials and supplies to carry with us.

One major need for the efforts of Seeds of Hope, Brazil is a transportation vehicle.  Presently Roberto and the staff use their own vehicles to bring the children from the orphanages to the Tech School.  This is not an easy task and takes away from the time that staff members have to teach the children.  A fifteen passenger bus would do wonders for the schools effort.  It would provide a means to bring children to the school in a timely and safe method.  It would also provide exposure for the school's efforts as well as additional legitimacy as an educational facility within the community.

Here is how Roberto describes the need:

We are in need of a van due to the fact that the community that we work with is 25 minutes away and we have to transport 45 kids and our small car only can transport 3 kids at the time, so we have to do many trips to make it a happening.
Not to count that the orphanage is about 1:40 minutes from the school and we are only able to have the older kids (4) come to the trade school because we pay for them to come by public transportation and the younger ones can not have permission to travel by public transportation.
By having a van, we would be able to save gas money due to multiple trips that we have to due now, have more kids from the orphanage and from the community receiving training on regular basis, be able to take the kids to church, on field trips, camping, etc..
It would make our ministry and lives more productive.
I think that God would receive glory just for the fact the kids would see Him providing a way for them to go to church on Sundays and the opportunity to receive professional training skills.

The problem is one of money.  We all know that feeling, our needs or desires outweigh our ability.  However, we know that in the practice of our faith in God, there is nothing that outweighs His ability.  It is with that faith that I plan to campaign to seek the funding needed for the purchase of a bus to meet the need of Seeds of Hope.  Yes, a seemingly big task.  In Henry Blackaby's book "Experiencing God" he mentions that Christians so often limit themselves in developing visions based on their own human ability instead of God's mighty ability.

The tremendous success of Seeds of Hope, Brazil is a testimony of God's ability and what can happen when one has a vision beyond their own ability.

Here are a couple of examples of the type passenger vans available in Sao Paulo.  You can visit the Mercedes, Ducato, or Renault websites to see more details.

I have to admit, my first thought of a 15 passenger van was the Ford E-250 elongated passenger van we piled into for high school travel.  But that is thinking is United States terms.  We have to think in Brazilian terms.  These are the vehicles available in the Brazilian marketplace that can handle the task of safely and efficiently transporting children.

As I find out more information, I will make additional postings.  I hope to provide more details on how to get the funding to Brazil in order for Seeds of Hope to secure the van.  This is not the same as making a local purchase and packing in our luggage.