Well,
as with most missions trips, things just don’t
always go as planned!! I was so excited to blog about the time spent
here in Brazil but the internet connection here at ABECAR has been down for
several months now and it doesn't look like it will be a quick fix. So, my apologies for the lack of blog
updates, but please know that I am writing daily blogs and when I have internet
access I will upload bits and pieces of them as quickly as I can!! Thank you to
those of you who have been patiently following the non-existent blog, and
hopefully, you will continue to do so!
The
trip so far has seemed much like a whirlwind, with our carefully made plans
chucked into the wind! The team of 10 left Columbia Thursday, July 18th around 6:30pm. The flights were all safe, and thankfully
uneventful. A slight 2 hour delay on departure time from Dallas to Miami was
the only hiccup in the trip down. We
'enjoyed' an 8 hour layover in Miami in which we were able to get 3 whopping
hours of sleep in some amazing donated hotel rooms before boarding our flight
from Miami to Sao Paulo, arriving around 8:00pm Friday evening at Camp
ABECAR. Praise the Lord for ease through
customs, and for finding all but one of our pieces of luggage. (The missing piece was quickly located and
delivered just 3 days later.)
At
Camp ABECAR, Friday-Sunday, the 19-21, the first of the weeks events were
kicked off with a 'Kid's English Camp.
This camp was for the younger aged school children, and they came and
stayed overnight at the camp Friday & Saturday night, leaving Sunday
afternoon. Saturday found us spending
time with the kids from the camp, joining in their activities and games, a
bonfire, and Camp ABECAR's tradition of the girl serenading the boys after
lights out, to be returned by the boys serenading the girls. Fun to watch the groups try to outdo each
other!
Sunday,
the team woke up early to fix an American Breakfast (ironically of)160+ pieces
of French Toast, homemade Maple Syrup, strawberries and grapes and yogurt.
Conrad
preached at the church in Mogi in the morning while the remainder of the group
stayed at the camp to see the kids camp through to the end when the kids left
around 1:00-2:00 pm. The team was able
to nap & get rested in the afternoon a bit before going to church in the
evening.
In
the evening, the team was split in half, with Conrad, Hannah, Michelle &
Abbie joining Pastor Leandro at the
church in Mogi to share in the Word and through drama. Shawn, Abi, Maddy &
Debi went to a church plant in Suzano with Pastor Denis, and shared through
song and interpretive dance. (well, Maddie shared in dance, the rest of us
cheered her on!)
Monday
you would have found a couple members of our team scrubbing the outdoor soccer
court, with wire brushes and a power washer to ready it to paint. The rest of
our team was painting the bathrooms of a pavilion. Though none of us were prepared for work
projects, we were happy to jump in to fill the need. In the evening a few joined Pastor Leandro in
a training workshop at the church in Mogi, to train volunteers how to engage
people in places like nursing homes and orphanages…they call this "Clown
Training."
Today,
we had the unique privilege of sharing our presentation in a local elementary /
middle school. Here in Brazil the
restrictions on sharing faith and speaking about God in public school are not
as taboo as in America, so we were able to sing songs about God, a couple of
girls shared testimonies and Conrad was able to give a short message sharing
openly the entire time about God and how we do what we do because of our
relationship with Him. Such a neat
experience for our team to be a part of!
As
I sign off for today, here are a couple things you can keep in your prayers for
our group:
- Strength and energy….we are going, going, going from around 7:00am, and not stopping til 10:00pm or later every day. We are tired!!
- Increased confidence in sharing what we've prepared, in jumping in and spending time with the kids and teens we are ministering with even though the language barrier is there
- That we would be ready and willing to jump into all the various opportunities that come our way, even if it means veering off our ready made plans! And that our attitudes would stay positive and that we would see any labor as worship.
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