Brazil 2013...PayDays and Pancakes!

Praise the Lord for warmth today!! We woke up to slightly warmer temps and by the afternoon were able to shed a few layers!! The sun came out and dried up all the rain, and the itsy bitsy spider…. :-)

Friday found our team enjoying sleeping in a bit before beginning prep work for the weekend English camp.  This years camp is considerably smaller than last year, topping out at around 30 campers.  At first the drop in numbers was disappointing, but there have been several benefits to having smaller numbers.  First, the ability to connect with more campers on a personal level has been awesome!  Many of the campers actually speak English very well, or at least understand quite a bit of English but are intimidated and sometime embarrassed.  Having a smaller group eases a bit of this embarrassment.  We are loving having the ability to have more one-on-one conversations with them.

We have shared more of the dramas, music, and Bible lessons this weekend, in addition to leading English conversation groups.  This has been my personal favorite of the weekend, as it has been for several other team members as well!  Conversation groups go a bit like this….we take a simple, well-known Bible story (one of today's was the Parable of the Prodigal Son) and read the passage in English, making sure the campers understand all the words in English.  Then we break down the passage using well  thought out questions, aimed at making sure the campers understand the passage as well as encouraging them to dig deeper into God's Word.  These have gone amazingly well this week.  The campers have been very engaged, and have seemed to enjoy if not at least appreciate going deeper in God's Word. 

Friday nights activities included Dinner, lots of games and activities, of which the highlight was the 'Telephone' game.  If you are not familiar with the Telephone game, you should be! It's quite funny to watch people's reactions at the game progresses.  The basic idea is that everyone sits in a circle, and the first person begins the game with a simple sentence.  Last night we used several, ending with "I like Pay Days."  In the U.S. this sentence wouldn't be a big deal, however in Brazil the word Peidar means 'to fart.'  You can now see why this game would be funny!  We ended the game with passing out PayDay candy bars we brought.

The part of English camp that the campers have come to expect and appreciate is the American Food part of the weekend.  We kicked off Saturday morning with Pancakes, Homemade Maple Syrup, Scrambled Eggs mixed with cheese and bacon chunks, orange juice, and American-style coffee.  We've mentioned before on the blog that the typical Brazilian coffee you find here is super, super SUPER sweet, very strong and served without milk in tiny cups.  The heavy coffee drinkers on our team were thrilled to have a traditional (well, as traditional as an improvised cup can be) of American brewed coffee, WITH milk.

Today's 'American Activities' included teaching the campers to play Baseball.  Some Brazilians do actually play baseball, but as Leandro described to me, only a few do, and when they do it is expensive both to play and to purchase the equipment, so it is not a game that kids grow up knowing how to play. It was a blast to watch them try for the first time to hit the ball with a bat and just get a grasp on the rules and strategy of the game!  We played for well over an hour, and they would have played longer had the time permitted.  Both girls and guys enjoyed participating in this game.  (BTW, we thought teaching the game using a whiffle bat and plastic ball would probably be more safe & fun….although explaining in Portuguese what a 'whiffle ball is was challenging!!)

Following a traditional Brazilian meal, Fejoada (FAYJ-WA-DA), which is black beans with chunks of pig….parts?,  rice, steamed collard greens, and a vinegrette served only with Fejoada.  Today's Fejoada was the 'clean' version they say, because they did not include the hair, the ears, nose or other weird random parts of a pig…for which we were VERY grateful!! Typical Fejoada that you would purchase in a restaurant would include this.

The heavy Brazilian lunch provided enough stamina for the campers and staff to do another hike up the mountain, muddying several but injuring none! The hike consumed a few hours of the afternoon, spilling into dinner time, which was another American meal, of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, hotdogs, Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches, Coke and Homemade Apple Crisp for dessert! Let’s just say the plates were licked clean, as were the serving dishes!! The Apple Crisp was a sweet taste of home!  (and was again served with American coffee)

Currently the campers are beginning a game of Glow-stick tag, and Glow-stick Capture the Flag.  Tomorrow will end the English Camp, after another time of worship, testimonies, skits and conversation groups.  This weekend is one of the main 'ministry' things we do while we are here in Brazil.  It can be very effective in cultivating new relationships, and a great introduction into the church in Mogi for many of these campers. 

Prayer Request:

Please continue to pray for the health of our team, with the crazy cold weather, rain and now the occasional spike of warm weather, several of us are starting to feel it.

Continued ability of our team to communicate with the campers and Brazilian Staff.

That the campers would continue to be spiritually stimulated and their desire for a deeper relationship with God would be stirred.