Brazil July 2012--LAST DAY!

Well, it has arrived. The last day...I think it surprised all of us a bit, it's crazy how quick the time passed.  Right now, we have made it back to the States, and are sitting in the Memphis airport...waiting out another 8 hour layover. Fun times! 

The trip back has been thankfully uneventful.  We spent yesterday, Monday traveling around Mogi & Sao Paolo doing a bit of souvinor shopping and enjoying time with Pastor Leandro & Pastor Denis.  We boarded last night at 10:55 pm, and hit Miami this morning then Memphis this afternoon.  We will board for Columbia around 8:00 pm!

Thanks for the prayers, pictures more updates on the happenings in Brazil coming soon.

Brazil July 2012--Day 12

Day 12....

Last night Conrad & I received quite possibly the best Anniversary surprise ever!! Thanks to Julie & a couple of our teammates, they through together a very romantic, candlelit dinner for us! :-) They banned us from the dining hall for a while, and when we were allowed back all the campers were lined up clapping & creating a tunnel for us to walk through.  When we got inside, there was a small table in the corner, complete with a candle, candy, roses & gifts!! with the view overlooking the city below.  Before dinner for the whole camp, they gave us a few minutes to enjoy the music and scenery and dance a bit before everyone else came in to join us.  (Somehow they even had some of my favorite music playing, Ella Fitzgerald!) Even after the campers joined us, they still left our side of the room lit only by candlelight.  Ben & Josh were very gracious and served us dinner while we just sat! They even had a couple of the campers come serenade us with guitar & an English song. How very sweet & thoughtful of Julie to do this for us!! We were very surprised and blessed!! Thank you Julie!

Other festivities of the night included worship late into the night, & a very long game of Capture the Flag.  Most of us got approximately 3-4 hours of sleep, being wakened several times by our lovely campers enjoying a late night! (I think I can finally admit I might be too old for this many late nights!) 

Apparently it is an Abecar tradition for the boy campers to serenade the girls late at night, then the girls to return the favor a while later....I didn't realize this tradition until about 2:00 am when the girls were singing outside my window! :-) 

This morning was an American Breakfast for our campers.  Our team pitched in and made Pancakes with Home-made Vanilla Syrup (there isn't a single bottle of Maple Flavoring here, and IF you can find Maple Syrup, it's $10.00 a bottle.)  scrambled eggs, and home-style potatoes.  This was an interesting process for us...from figuring out how to start the burners, to recomputing the measurements into Kilos / ml...it took us a few minutes to get our rhythm, but when we did we cranked out 7 dozen scrambled eggs, 40 large potatoes diced up & pan-fried, and around 400 pancakes!

Pancakes are very few and far between here. Brazilians who have visited the US might have had or might make pancakes at their homes, but otherwise most have never had pancakes! It was fun to watch their expressions! We received many compliments...hopefully they really did enjoy them!

Following breakfast was a time of chapel & worship, a last English Conversation group, and right now the campers are enjoying more American Game Time.  Some of our games have been a bit difficult to explain, but nonetheless they seem to enjoy them anyways!

The campers are expected to leave after lunch time, around 3:00 pm. Our Team will be going to Suzano (a neighboring city) tonight to hear Conrad preach. 

I think it is finally hitting most of our group that today is our last full day in Mogi. :-(  It has been a very full couple of weeks of ministry & traveling, and with the exception of desperately wanting to see my kiddos, I think we are all a bit bummed that we will be leaving tomorrow.  There are some wonderful people here doing ministry, wonderful people to minister to, and many things to be accomplished here. We are very blessed & happy to have been a part of Camp Abecar & the life of Julie & Leandro for a little bit.

Hopefully more tomorrow before we board the plane, but just in case I cannot get online, please pray for our campers...that some of the truths in the Bible passages we've used in the English Conversation clubs would pierce their hearts, that Ryan makes it home safely today, and that the rest of our group will have safe travels tomorrow as we head home, and for Josh & Ben as they enter into their final week here in Brazil....that they would finish strong and also have safe travels home.

Brazil July 2012--Day 11

Or should we just title this GIANT spiders, silly bugs & porcupines!?? Probably more indicative of things here lately!  Mallory found a giant spider, no really! It was GIANT! (and I have the picture to prove it) in our room, causing much panic & lack of sleep that night.  Mallory also had a run-in with a porcupine on the front porch of our dwelling...thankfully quills stayed intact and no one was hurt.  Then the silly bugs....bites everywhere, and random crawly things showing up uninvited!

Well, Day 11 has brought quite eventful things here in Mogi, starting with the 11th Anniversary for Conrad & I!  We have spent all but 1 anniversary either on a Missions trip or on a Youth related trip...and I must admit, I guess I don't mind too much when the Missions trip carries us to a foreign field....I mean, when else am I going to be on top of a mountain  for our anniversary!?

Day 11 also brings us to the first full day of the English Camp.  Last night went pretty much as planned and blogged about earlier.  Young people (13-30) began showing up around 8:00 pm and trickled in all evening.  We began the camp with activities to get to know each other, a dinner consisting of Beef Stew, and more games well into the late night.  Most of our team crawled into bed around 2:00am, though some were still up with the young people. 

Today started with breakfast, followed by worship, activities, and the 1st English conversation group.  We split into teams and accepted only English in the groups, as we shared a passage from John and then discussed the passage in depth.  The group I was in seemed to go very well, and was well received by the group as well.  The other group leaders shared similar thoughts.

We've enjoyed  a bit of free time over the afternoon, and are getting ready to start another English conversation group here in a minute.  Please pray for these groups!  It is a great opportunity to share our faith & open the door for a discussion about Christ.  After the groups meet, there will be more worship, games & activities, a bonfire with worship and a late-night Capture the Flag game. Considering that the last time I (Debi) played a game of Capture the Flag in the dark I broke my jaw...I think I'll pass on that activity!  But I'm sure the rest of our group will enjoy it!

So far, the young people here have enjoyed games that we play at home such as Can-Can, 'I like people', Human Knot and many more.  They've also enjoyed teaching us some games in Portuguese, and assessing our soccer skills!

Today, please pray for the English Conversation groups, hearts to be opened, and safe travels for Ryan as he headed to the airport to fly back home.

Stay tuned for more tomorrow!  

Brazil July 2012--Day 10

I thought I'd get the blog out early today, since the day is gearing up to be a really long day.  This weekend is the English camp, where 50+ people, ranging in age from 13-30 will attend and stay Friday night through Sunday morning, and we are spending the morning in preparation for the upcoming weekend.

Our job this weekend is to use English as the base for starting conversations with these people.  Most of the attendees will not be believers, so this is a prime opportunity to use verses & Bible Studies to draw them into a discussion about the Lord.  We will fill in time over the weekend with Worship, Devotionals, Games and other activities, to further the English conversations.

Please continue to pray for those of us on the team who are sick, most everyone is feeling quite a bit better, but still lacking a bit of sleep. Please also pray for the English camps, that there would be opportunities to talk in English, to share the love of Christ with them just in how we relate with others, and for energy & endurance for our team as the weekend starts at 8:00 pm tonight and continues non-stop through Sunday morning at brunch. Also, today is Ryan's last full day with us.  Please pray for him as he flies out Saturday night to return to work on Monday.

Brazil July 2012--Day 9

Brazil July 2012--Day 8

After getting to sleep in a bit, Day 8 was a 'sight-seeing' day for us…with a twist! We were dropped off in the middle of downtown Mogi and told "have a great day, we'll be back later!"   We did have Josh & Ben with us, but still, none of us are even close to being fluent in Portuguese!  We enjoyed walking around downtown, seeing the main Cathedral and the open market.  I particularly love the open market for the massive amounts of cheap dried fruit, an enormous selection of fresh fruit and fresh fruit juices everywhere! 

We walked around and souvenir shopped for most of the day, then rested for a bit in the afternoon before going to a Small Group Bible Study….half of us to the church in Mogi where Conrad taught, and the other half to the church in Suzano.  It was a good lesson in evangelism…and living the kind of life that would exemplify to others our life in Christ.

Tomorrow is another day of rest & recuperation for our team…we have several team members who have come down with a cold of some sort…no one is out of commission yet, but certainly in need of just rest & sleep.  We will visit the Beach tomorrow ( I know, tough missions trip!) before starting a whirlwind of ministry for the weekend….English Camps, meetings and church. 

Please pray for our sick team members, for the English camps this weekend…that we can be an example & a testimony to the youth attending, and that there would be opportunities arise to share the Gospel. 

Brazil July 2012--Day 6-7

Kids Day Camp...

Well, this post will include details from Day 1 & 2 of the Kids Day Camp since the internet was down yesterday.

Day Camp for the kids began at 9:00 am and ended at 5:00 pm, making for a very long and full day both days! Day 1 had about 75 kids attend, mostly consisting of kids that normally attend the 'Making A Difference' program, and Day 2 had approximately 60 kids. 

The Making A Difference Program is a program that is run out of camp ABECAR, where Julie & Leondro are located. (And where we're staying right now)  Most of the kids who attend are what they call 'street kids', not necessarily kids that live on the streets, but kids whose parents don't care about where they're at, and hence the kids are on the streets all day. Some of the kids were kids from an orphanage, and some kids came just through the advertisements of the Day Camp.

The Day Camp is very similar to what we do for a VBS or 5 Day Club in the States, where we alternated between a Bible Lesson, learning a Memory Verse, Music, Crafts and Games, and filled out the extra time with skits performed by our team members, free time on the field (they have a full soccer field, a court soccer field, a Volleyball court, and a full Basketball court, lots of swings, and plenty of room to run around. 

Father Abraham and Making a Melody were both songs that were big hits with the kids....playing Basketball, Flag Tag & Steal the Bacon were all games that were enjoyed by all, and of course soccer! Lots and lots of soccer!

Last night Conrad joined Pastor Leondro for a seminar teaching other ministry leaders about Leadership, organized by a local Korean missionary.  Conrad really enjoyed the privilege of sharing with them.

We enjoyed dinner with a family from church tonight, an Elder and his family from San Jose.  His wife is an English teacher and his kids joined us for the Day Camps.  We are looking forward to a full nights sleep tonight!  We are all pretty exhausted, but are really enjoying our time here with Julie & Leandro and the kids.

Tomorrow we will enjoy a little bit of time off, see a bit more of Mogi, then join a Small group tomorrow evening.

Brazil July 2012--Day 5

Day 5....Sunday.  Ryan has arrived! Yay for safe & smooth travels for Ryan on the way here! Ryan joined up with the team after church services were over.

Today was  rather low-key for the team, with the exception of Conrad.  Most of the team, Conrad & Pastor Leandro left early this morning  so that Conrad could preach for the church service in Sao Jose...approximately 1 hour away.  Conrad also preached again in Mogi tonight, while Pastor Leondro translated for both.

Debi, Mallory & Josh went with Pastor Dennis (a local Pastor who works closely with Leondro here) to the church in Mogi for the morning service.  After services, everyone met up for lunch at an amazing lunch place! It was a place where they bring you fried polenta fries, and a fried root...very similar tasting to a french fry.  They also grill steak & pork and bring it to you on small skillets...and serve all the rice & beans you want.  (I realize some of you may be thinking all we do is eat...and all I can talk about is food, and while there might be a bit of truth to that :-) I just find our food excursions unique & worthy of sharing with you! :-)

The afternoon was a time of rest for us, and everyone took advantage of the time to actually take a 3-4 hour nap!  MUCH needed rest time for some of us! Following the nap, everyone pitched in a little bit and helped get sample crafts made & double check plans for the start of Day Camps tomorrow morning.

The team pretty much enjoyed the morning & evening services free of responsibilities, with the exception of performing a silent skit in the evening service.  Though none of us are professional actors, we can manage fairly well!

Following the evening service, the youth wanted to take us out for pizza, so we all piled in and headed out.  This particular pizza place had really good, American type pizza, oven-baked.  Instead of buffet-style, they bring around each pizza and you can pick which pieces you want.  So you can try any kind, and as many kinds as you want. (My personal fav was the chocolate + strawberry ice-cream pizza!

Tomorrow we do a Day Camp, from 9:00AM-5:00 PM.  There are over 80 kids expected for these Day Camps, ages 6-12.  We will do a program similar to a VBS or 5-Day Club, just all day long.  Keep posted tomorrow for more on that!

Brazil July 2012...Day 4

So, all the best intentions….I tried so very hard to post the Day 4 blog last night (actually on Day 4) however, bonding time with Mallory and then sleep quickly overrode my good intentions!

Day 4 was an eventful day as well.  We started at 8:00 AM with a quick breakfast, then snuck in an hour or so of study and preparation.  Next up was helping one of the churches glue and put together over 80 Wordless Book paper pencil holders….seeing some of our group doing crafts was…well let's just say that is NOT there gift! :-)

Lunch was a Brazilian favorite (at least in this part of Brazil) consisting of rice & beans with pork cooked in, topped with a corn-mealish type thing and served with collard greens. We may all be converted to rice & beans by the time we return. You'll have to be sure to ask Timothy R. his experience at this lunch.

The afternoon was watching the AWANA program at the church, then a much needed afternoon off. Some of our team enjoyed walking around the camp and seeing it in entirety, some of us just took a nap. 

The evening was particularly enjoyable for me (Debi) as we started at 6:00 PM with English Conversation clubs.  Actually, they did an impromptu Birthday Party for our group….even though none of us were actually celebrating a birthday right now!

Ben M. has been leading the beginner English conversation group, and Josh B. has been leading the advanced English conversation group.  Timothy R. & I sat in with Josh and the others sat in on Ben's group.  It was really fun to hear this group ask questions in English, be put on the spot a little bit, and to see that they even understand quite a bit of our sarcasm and jokes.

Following the English Conversation Club was the weekly Youth Night.  Sam kicked us off with a couple ice-breaker games and that was really fun to see everyone attempting to understand the game instructions in their own language. Next up was music….Ben played guitar and I ( Debi) sang along with 2 Brazilian singers.  Music is a HUGE part of life here, and the band was great! I greatly enjoyed getting to praise the Lord in song & music with this other team of fellow believers.  Conrad did a great job of speaking to the group, and we all had multiple opportunities to converse (or attempt to converse!) with the Youth afterwards while we were eating hamburgers they made.

We returned home around 10:30 PM and did group meeting and prayer then off to bed it was!

Right now, you can pray for Ryan B. the last team member, who is scheduled to arrive at 9:45 AM.  Pray for safety, that the local picking him up will have no trouble, and that he will be rested enough to jump right in when he gets here…we have plans for him! :-)

Thank you!

Brazil July 2012--Day 3

We have our luggage!!!! I realize it's pretty un-missionary (is that a word!?) of us to be so excited about this, but having clean underwear and warm sleeping clothes tonight can't help but make all of us in a better mood tomorrow, right!?

As for our day today, we had a good day here in Brazil.  Everything we encountered today was unexpected and not prepared for...but as Leandro & Julie always say, "improvisation is part of the plan."  :-)

We enjoyed a simple breakfast of fruit, bread & coffee.  I'll attach a picture of coffee later, but they serve coffee here (everywhere!) in cups smaller than bathroom cups and it's SO sweet.

After breakfast we had an orientation meeting in which we heard the incredible story of how Julie's dad started Abacar over 50 years ago, all with $200 cash and a LOT of faith.  It was very incredible and very touching to hear the passion and amazement in his voice about how God worked in his life and in the beginning stages of the camp makings. To see tears in his eyes as he talks about his wife and how God brought them together, as well as how the property was bought was incredibly moving. 
I hope to organize a video or at least pictures and a testimony so you all at home can see and hear what goes on here, and how it all started. It is quite incredible.

After the meeting, we left to go to the top of the mountain that the camp is located on.  The view was amazing, looking out over all of Mogi.  All of your kids climbed mountains...and all made it down safely!

Following the meeting we traveled an hour away to San Jose, where we visited a local Drug & Homeless Rehab Center. We spent about 30-40 minutes sharing music, a testimony & a silent drama about how we give our hearts to all these different things in life that come up (the cute boy, the photographer promising fame, the star Basketball player etc.) and how in the end everyone abuses our heart...then along comes Jesus, putting back together the broken pieces. We then traveled to Phase 2 of the Drug Rehab and presented the same selection again. Conrad was especially impressed with their raised bed vegetable gardens and the huge fruit selection they had at all times!

We enjoyed Brazilian style hamburgers and the.best.fries.ever for dinner at Rosita, followed by our post-day Team Meeting and prayer time.

Tomorrow is going to be a very full day, setting up for Bible school, AWANA, English clubs and the weekly Youth night. Check back tomorrow for more details!

And please remember the final person of our team, Ryan B. as he flies out early tomorrow morning to join us.

Brazil July 2012--Day 2

Day 2....WE HAVE ARRIVED!! The Brazil Team has safely landed in Sao Paolo after an eventful flight schedule!  We are all very happy to be off the planes and be able to move around a little bit. 

Flight mishaps...We left Columbia airport at 6:00 AM, arrived in Memphis at 7:30 AM, and were expecting a 6 hour layover, it turned into an 8 hour layover instead!  As some of the last people to board the flight leaving Memphis going to Miami, we approached the gate only to be told we didn't have the appropriate boarding documents, there was a problem with the Visas, and that we could not get on the plane.  One attendant tried to quickly fix the problem (that apparently was TSA's problem from Columbia) but since the plane was already late arriving to Memphis, the other attendant was not happy about the delay and insisted they leave without us...after already checking 3 of us in.  So, instead of sending 3 of us through, we all stayed behind and tried to sort out the flights details. 

From being told there were no flights going to Sao Paolo til the 26th of July, to this was Columbia's problem not ours, to no body will help you....the drama just continued.  Eventually, they agreed to put all of us on a flight to Miami, but it would arrive too late to make our connection to Sao Paolo, and there were no open flights to Sao Paolo from Miami.  We figured Miami was at least one-step closer to Brazil, so we took it, and prayed for the best! After printing the tickets, we found out there was a stop in Dallas along the way.

We love Dallas!! Dallas managed to get us all on the same flight to Sao Paolo, direct flight, leaving at 7:30 PM!!  Apparently, the Lord thought we needed even more lessons in patience....after we all had boarded the plane the pilot told us there was a fuel leak and they were waiting for a part to fix it.  We hung out on the plane for 2 hours before the part was fixed and we were cleared to leave.

9:30 PM we were finally in the air!! I (Debi H.) have traveled alot, but apparently not enough internationally!  This was the largest plane I had ever seen...3 large sections, all 9 seats wide. I felt far less claustrophobic in the plane! Mallory M. & Debi H.thought the best part of the plane ride was watching the lightening out the window at night.  Tim R. thought the worst part of the trip was the long wait before finally leaving, and we all enjoyed watching the Hunger Games & playing video games on our personal mini TV's. (Yes, it's such a hard missions trip!)

Since our flights were all messed up, we arrived in Brazil with no luggage. After much persuasion by Conrad & our resident linguist, Mallory M. the airline agreed to send our luggage through.  We expect it to be delivered today!! We will be VERY grateful for that...last night the temps reached  45◦ F.  We made a quick run to the local store, similar to a Wal-mart, and bought the essentials...you know, like underwear! :-) Needless to say, we love Josh B. & Ben M. now! They outfitted us with socks & warm sweatshirts.  Julie brought over 30 blankets, and between all of us we used most of them!

After arriving in Brazil, Leadro & Pastor Denis met us at the airport. They let us have a few minutes to settle in, then took us to eat at a local Brazilian Cafeteria, with Asian influence.  We ate a buffet style meal.  After a stop at the church to look in on the VBS going on, and some of us sneaking in a quick nap, we went out to dinner at Habib's, a fast-food style Middle Eastern food place. 

Thank you for your prayers....we'll try to keep you updated daily on the ministry happenings while we're here.  Facebook & E-mail are working and Conrad & Debi are both checking regularly, so if you need to get a-hold of anyone on the team, feel free to e-mail.

 

Brazil July 2012

Day 1 of Brazil Trip 2012....

Left Columbia airport at 6:00 AM, landed safely in Memphis around 7:30 AM, and are currently 4.5 hours into our 5.5 hour layover.  Next flight will take us to Miami, arriving 4:30 PM, and leave for Brazil at 8:15 PM and arrive at our final destination, Sao Paolo at 5:30 AM tomorrow morning!!

So far the team is getting along well, and has had no conflicts or fights! :-)   Sam M. had quite a bit of fun riding the 'spongy' flat escalator/fast walkway in the airport....Debi H. took a nice long nap on the floor of the airport, and Conrad has spent most of the time catching up on emails and a little bit of work. 

Hopefully our next blog entry will be able to update you on more Missions Trip related details.  Until then, please pray for continued safety, health, and continuity and unity of the team members.  There are a couple very busy, but highly anticipated weeks coming up for our Brazil team.

Thanks for supporting your GBC 2012 Brazil Team in prayer! 

Lakota Work Team - Wednesday, 3/28

Yesterday we finished putting up all the drywall in the bathhouse but left the taping and mud for the next group coming. We finished the drywall, taping, mud, and painting of the entryway to the church and painted the whole downstairs and the (formerly dark) stairwell and patched some holes in the walls.  We cut and framed a window in the wall between the back SE room and the chapel so AV can be run from there in services.  We repaired the gate of the enclosure around the A/C unit and we cleaned up trash around the church and cleaned/mopped/tidied the place. We also inventoried and organized the food pantry. 

After we finished work about 3 PM, most of the group went to Wounded Knee, but Ben, Matt, and I went rock climbing about 15 miles away. We left this AM before 5:30--now at mile335 on I-90 in SD.  Should roll into CoMo by 9 PM. The Lord has  blessed us with every good/favorable turn possible on this trip.

Lakota Work Team - Monday evening, 3/26

Good evening from Sharps Corner.  Today went well. It was warm after 10 AM--T-shirt weather--AND we had the excitement of an early evening dust storm.

The drywall on the ceiling of the bathhouse is up and the walls have only a small bit left to put up. We will tape and mud the bathhouse tomorrow.  The downstairs of the church is almost completely painted (Ben's work mostly) and the entryway drywall is taped and mudded--second coat went on today.  We will paint it tomorrow.

Everyone is doing well, except that Dennis started feeling unwell/tired today, so we ended up bringing him back to the church early in the afternoon to rest. He was okay by dinner. The smoothness and speed with which the work has progressed is a sure blessing from God. It is reassuring and inspiring to visualize how these manual, physical tasks will turn to the spiritual benefit of the people here as they come to Christ. 

I really wish I could stay a few more days here, and I think some others feel the same. It's really not much of a discomfort staying here at the church (and we found several air matresses today that will add greatly to our comfort tonight). That's the report for today. I took photos today of the work; I will upload when I can get a stable fast connection. More news tomorrow. 

Lakota Work Team - Monday morning, 3/26

Breakfast this morning consisted of fried apples, pancakes, and sausage (are you hungry?). Yesterday we finished getting drywall on the ceiling of the bathhouse and mud and tape in the entryway of the church. Today we'll do another skim coat of mud in the entry and get all drywall up on the walls of the bathhouse. We may also paint the chapel today and do other general repairs around the church.

Lakota Work Team - Sunday, 3/25

Some went out in two vans to round up kids for children's church (35-40 kids!). The worship service was great; Ben gave such a thoughtful, moving sermon. Everyone seems to work well together. It is a very mild combination of personalities, (except for me :) )  I think everyone feels the Lord has blessed us. Conditions aren't ideal and not all the materials and tools that are necessary for the work are necessarily on hand, but the job is for us  to do it with what we have.  Everyone seems content knowing we are in the service of the Lord and the Lakota people. 

Lakota Work Team - Arrival Saturday 3/24

Ben and I (Marty) are shopping for supplies right now. The team got to Chanku Waste Ranch about 7:30 in the morning local time with no incidents along the way.  We rested for about an hour and a half and then got to work. We got a lot of drywall work already done today; in fact, it already looks like we will run out of drywall, so Ben and I are picking a few more sheets here in Rapid City after our grocery run.   We have already felt the Lord's blessings close up. We all got here feeling pretty refreshed despite the long drive.  The Spirit has invigorated us.  We are grateful for this opportunity to serve the Lord and the Lakota people!