It has been wonderful to see how God is at work through the Valentes do Leão football project, even when the fruit is not immediate. An example of this is a boy named João (not his real name).
When we met João, he had experiences that we identified as demonic: he saw strange and violent beings, and drew them. His friends were afraid and so was he.
Despite this, João always showed an interest in the things of God (although he had difficulty even pronouncing words in prayer, especially the name of Jesus). Over time, the frequency of these visions decreased until they stopped happening.
Another struggle of João is the problems of emotional control at school. We recently suggested that he ask Jesus for help when he was "nervous" and he replied that he didn't know what words to use to talk to God, or if He was going to answer. One of the trainers had the privilege of leading João in a prayer of surrender to Jesus and teaching him how he could do the same when he was alone!
"(...) it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish." (Mt. 18:14)
Keep praying for these boys!