why, hello. = )
Another nice, and much needed relaxing day today as a family. My blessed body clock felt the need to wake me up around 6:30 this morning, so i woke up, had some devo time, and worked on a few letters im writting to some of the girls for when i leave. (i cant believe i only have 12 more days here..)
Around 10 we all headed to the beach and chilled for a while with our toes in the sand, then hung out in town for the rest of the day. Like i said, the day was relaxing, and pretty much uninteresting to you readers, but it was a special day that we got to spend together.
As i sat on the beach, the song "The Remedy" by David Crowder Band kept running through my head. (its the song that's in the backround of the baptism video, for those of you who watched it.) As i thought about the words to that song, i got excited. It starts off like this: "Here we are, here we are, the broken and used, mistreated, abused, here we are."
now, you're prolly wondering, why in the world would i get excited about such hopeless lyrics like those? Well, its not that part that gets me so excited, but the next part "Here You are, here You are, the Beautiful One who came like a Son, here You are." Thank the LORD for the truth of these words! cuz we all know that that those first couple lines are true. We've been hurt, we've been broken, and we've fallen from Grace. But the Beautiful One didnt leave us that way!!
The song goes on to say:
"So we lift up our voices
We open our hands
To cling to the love
That we can't comprehend
Oh, lift up your voices
And lift up your heads
To sing of the love
That has freed us from sin
He is the one
Who has saved us
He is the one
Who embraced us
He is the one who has come
And is coming again
He's the remedy
He's the remedy"
How incredible is that!?!? HE is the only one responsible for saving us from sin, HE is the only one whose embrace can truly bring restoration, HE came for us and He's coming back!! HE is our one and only Healer, the only hope to keep us from the despair we could be living, our REMEDY! Thank You, Jesus!!
That's not even the whole song, theres more to it that i could expound on and get even more excited about, but i ask that you go listen to it for yourself. The point of me writing all this, (aside from the fact that i could keep inside what an amazing God our God is!), is to ask for prayer. we have so many great things planned to teach these teens on this retreat, but all of it will mean nothing if they dont realize this one thing: HE IS THEIR REMEDY! Its my prayer that over the last few days i have here, if it be God's Will, He will use me and the rest of the Lakewood team to make real to these teens how real our God is and how incredibly, incredibly much He has done in their lives! How far He has brought them, how in love with them He is, and the wonderful, wonderful purposes He specificaly has for each one of them!! Please, make this your prayer as well! I know how peaceful and awestruck i feel every time i think about my Remedy. It fills me with joy and desire to make God famous and shout out His Love to everyone else, and that's what i want for these teens. I want to see them praising God, not because of some feeling or spiritual high, but because of the knowledge they have of the fact that He was, is, and forever will be their one and only Remedy.
Your Kingdome come, Your will be done, Father!! In Jesus name! AMEN!
Until Next Time,
Jo
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
Time-Out
Hey guys! its been a while, hasnt it? This week has been so busy as last thursday Rob and I joined Copperfield Church in their ministry to the pre-teens and adults of the community. We has so many awesome things happen from baptisms to celebrating the one year anniversary of Grupo CEO's church, to people surrendering their lives to Christ, to a great time of fellowship and worship with the people of VQ! And all along the way, we made new friendships and were wittnesses to how much greatness God has planned for this community!!! Rob and i got on our knees and prayed for a lot of rather specific things going into this week, and with humility and praise i can tell you that God answered them right before our very eyes! We called on Him and His Will reigned throughout this entire week! Glory to our living God!
Thanks to all you guys who sent me birthday wishes. They had a nice little surprise party for me and Jamile, Gessica, Lais, and Cleonicia all choreographed a dance to a song about friendship and preformed it for me at the party. My purpose coming down here was to glorify God and bless His people here, but its incredible how greatly i've been blessed by knowing them.
If i took the time to tell you everything that happened these past 8 days, we'd both be sitting here for a while. Instead, im gonna take the easy way out and send you here: http://copperfieldchurchbrazilmission10.shutterfly.com/
Thats a link to several videos, a bunch of pictures, and a few summaries of what went on down here this week. John, one of the members of copperfields team, brought his camera and videod a ton of stuff that we were involved in and spent a lot of time putting all the clips together into videos. So, if you wanna catch a glimpse into what last week was all about, i suggest you check that out.
This weekend we get to slow down just a little bit, and prepare for the Lakewood team thats arriving on Monday to lead a 5 day teen retreat and do some work in VQ!! im so, so, so excited for this reatreat! God has so far provided for 22 teens from the community to be able to go, and my prayer is that their hearts are ready to accept the powerful message we've prepared for them!
All of us in the Moore family are pretty worn out from last week, so pray for our physical strenght and that no matter how tired our bodies get, our spirits stay strong and joyful! Satan is NOT happy with what has been happening and is about to happen in this community, and hes gonna jump at any opportunity he can to make this week take a turn for the worse, but we belong to an almighty King. We are His people, and He knows the plans He has for us. Plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to be our never ending hope and lead us into our life fulfilling future! Get it Jesus!
Until Next Time,
Jo
Thanks to all you guys who sent me birthday wishes. They had a nice little surprise party for me and Jamile, Gessica, Lais, and Cleonicia all choreographed a dance to a song about friendship and preformed it for me at the party. My purpose coming down here was to glorify God and bless His people here, but its incredible how greatly i've been blessed by knowing them.
If i took the time to tell you everything that happened these past 8 days, we'd both be sitting here for a while. Instead, im gonna take the easy way out and send you here: http://copperfieldchurchbrazilmission10.shutterfly.com/
Thats a link to several videos, a bunch of pictures, and a few summaries of what went on down here this week. John, one of the members of copperfields team, brought his camera and videod a ton of stuff that we were involved in and spent a lot of time putting all the clips together into videos. So, if you wanna catch a glimpse into what last week was all about, i suggest you check that out.
This weekend we get to slow down just a little bit, and prepare for the Lakewood team thats arriving on Monday to lead a 5 day teen retreat and do some work in VQ!! im so, so, so excited for this reatreat! God has so far provided for 22 teens from the community to be able to go, and my prayer is that their hearts are ready to accept the powerful message we've prepared for them!
All of us in the Moore family are pretty worn out from last week, so pray for our physical strenght and that no matter how tired our bodies get, our spirits stay strong and joyful! Satan is NOT happy with what has been happening and is about to happen in this community, and hes gonna jump at any opportunity he can to make this week take a turn for the worse, but we belong to an almighty King. We are His people, and He knows the plans He has for us. Plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to be our never ending hope and lead us into our life fulfilling future! Get it Jesus!
Until Next Time,
Jo
Thursday, July 1, 2010
So Little Time
Hello. = ) i meant to post this yesterday, but ran out of time. Here's what i had written down about tuesday and wednesday:
Well, Robert and i have both been on missions trips before, but the past two days we've learned all about the other side of a missions trip: the preparation!
Tuesday we woke up around 7:30 and Patrick, Douglas, Robert, Erika, Aurenice (one of the ladys that is helping take care of the campus while the americans are here), and i all started moving everything out of the dorm to be washed and dusted, and when i say everything, i mean every single thing in there except the bedframes which are bolted to the floor. (but dont worry, we got to clean those too!) (wow, i just had a random flash of what my english teacher Mrs. B would say if she saw my lack of grammatical integrity in all my posts...i shuddered) It took us most of the morning to get everything all nice and shiny inside the dorm, and then we took a break for lunch. I managed to get a 30 minute nap in after that, and then it was time to move the furniture and mattresses back in the dorm, and give the whole porch a scrub down. Now the dorm is spick and span and just about ready for Copperfield Church to arrive tomorrow morning. Only thing left to do is hang the hammocks. = )
Later Robert and i rode with Erika to Evair's house and gave the people that were working some juice and crackers. They've been working hard out in that heat! When we got back home and i realized there was no more work to be done for the day, i shot around for a while. Sadly, i only made 2 out of 10 freethrows..(sorry, Coach), which resulted in a lot of down and backs, sit-ups, and push-ups for me. not cool. At 4 we had playground time and the boys went to soccer. Then in between that and the Bible Study Rob and i took some time to go over our notes.
The study went really well. we talked about Idolatry and how it doesnt have to be a material thing, but it is anything that recieves more of your Time, Talent, or Treasures than God. (getting the Word into our words. Thanks for your wisdom, Coach Kruse!) At the end, we had everyone write down an idol that they had in their life, and they had an option to crumple it up and toss it away into a basket to simbolize that they were repenting from that in their life. While they were doing that, Erika said if we wanted to, we could have them burned, so we got a pot and some matches and torched them right in the middle of the church. We sang a song called "Com Teu Fogo" which talks about how God burns away the sin in our life with His fire. it was a great service by and for the glory of God!
When the study was over, we met with the teens about the retreat and told them how great the place we're going is. Its looking like about all of the teens want to go, but money is going to be a bit of a problem, and parents' permission is another big one. Pray that by God's power and will, everyone who He wants on that retreat ends up on that bus with us on July 12th! After the meeting we stayed outside for a bit while some of the girls practiced their choreography for a dance they're doing sunday. i had a good talk with Josefa for a while, and then when the practice was over we went inside. Amanda, Patrick, Robert, and i all had pizza together for dinner and sat around and talked, and before we knew it, it was 11, aka time to get to bed!
Today Erika woke Robert and i up at 5 and we went with her and Billiam to the fruit and vegetable market, and it was sweet, one of the reasons being that it simply smelled awesome there! We bought an insane amount of food (i think we bought like 50 lemons..) and got home around 8 with just enough time for us to get the truck unloaded before Bill and Erika left with Douglas and Amanda to take care of some stuff in the city. Pastor called Patrick and Robert to help down at Evair's which left me to do some lesson planning, Bible reading, and have a great time of prayer with God!
Rob and Patrick got back around lunch time, and after that we spent the afternoon planning lessons, playing guitar, shooting, and just hanging out. (i made 8 for 10 today, by the way. ; D)
I dont really have time to finish today, and since the Copperfield team arrived this morning, we're going to be super busy, so im not sure when the next blog will be. But God has some awesome things planned, so keep praying everyone up! thanks!
Until Next Time,
Jo
Well, Robert and i have both been on missions trips before, but the past two days we've learned all about the other side of a missions trip: the preparation!
Tuesday we woke up around 7:30 and Patrick, Douglas, Robert, Erika, Aurenice (one of the ladys that is helping take care of the campus while the americans are here), and i all started moving everything out of the dorm to be washed and dusted, and when i say everything, i mean every single thing in there except the bedframes which are bolted to the floor. (but dont worry, we got to clean those too!) (wow, i just had a random flash of what my english teacher Mrs. B would say if she saw my lack of grammatical integrity in all my posts...i shuddered) It took us most of the morning to get everything all nice and shiny inside the dorm, and then we took a break for lunch. I managed to get a 30 minute nap in after that, and then it was time to move the furniture and mattresses back in the dorm, and give the whole porch a scrub down. Now the dorm is spick and span and just about ready for Copperfield Church to arrive tomorrow morning. Only thing left to do is hang the hammocks. = )
Later Robert and i rode with Erika to Evair's house and gave the people that were working some juice and crackers. They've been working hard out in that heat! When we got back home and i realized there was no more work to be done for the day, i shot around for a while. Sadly, i only made 2 out of 10 freethrows..(sorry, Coach), which resulted in a lot of down and backs, sit-ups, and push-ups for me. not cool. At 4 we had playground time and the boys went to soccer. Then in between that and the Bible Study Rob and i took some time to go over our notes.
The study went really well. we talked about Idolatry and how it doesnt have to be a material thing, but it is anything that recieves more of your Time, Talent, or Treasures than God. (getting the Word into our words. Thanks for your wisdom, Coach Kruse!) At the end, we had everyone write down an idol that they had in their life, and they had an option to crumple it up and toss it away into a basket to simbolize that they were repenting from that in their life. While they were doing that, Erika said if we wanted to, we could have them burned, so we got a pot and some matches and torched them right in the middle of the church. We sang a song called "Com Teu Fogo" which talks about how God burns away the sin in our life with His fire. it was a great service by and for the glory of God!
When the study was over, we met with the teens about the retreat and told them how great the place we're going is. Its looking like about all of the teens want to go, but money is going to be a bit of a problem, and parents' permission is another big one. Pray that by God's power and will, everyone who He wants on that retreat ends up on that bus with us on July 12th! After the meeting we stayed outside for a bit while some of the girls practiced their choreography for a dance they're doing sunday. i had a good talk with Josefa for a while, and then when the practice was over we went inside. Amanda, Patrick, Robert, and i all had pizza together for dinner and sat around and talked, and before we knew it, it was 11, aka time to get to bed!
Today Erika woke Robert and i up at 5 and we went with her and Billiam to the fruit and vegetable market, and it was sweet, one of the reasons being that it simply smelled awesome there! We bought an insane amount of food (i think we bought like 50 lemons..) and got home around 8 with just enough time for us to get the truck unloaded before Bill and Erika left with Douglas and Amanda to take care of some stuff in the city. Pastor called Patrick and Robert to help down at Evair's which left me to do some lesson planning, Bible reading, and have a great time of prayer with God!
Rob and Patrick got back around lunch time, and after that we spent the afternoon planning lessons, playing guitar, shooting, and just hanging out. (i made 8 for 10 today, by the way. ; D)
I dont really have time to finish today, and since the Copperfield team arrived this morning, we're going to be super busy, so im not sure when the next blog will be. But God has some awesome things planned, so keep praying everyone up! thanks!
Until Next Time,
Jo
Monday, June 28, 2010
Waaka-Waaka!
Hey everyone!
Well, today was a pretty great first monday of summer! we woke up around 730 and had breakfast, then headed to Evair's house (or lack there of) to start the construction. The group was Fabricio, Thiago, Evair, Patrick, Douglas, Robert, Pastor Eudes, some other guy whose name i didnt catch, Leninha (shes pretty much the only girl that has class in the afternoon and doesnt work in the morning), and me. There wasnt a whole lot of help us teens could do considering we're not real great brick layers, so we spent most of the time either asking Pastor to give us a job to do, or trying to put up with the crazy drunk lady that showed up 10 minutes after we did. She's rather well-known in the community for being, well, the crazy drunk lady, and was under the impression that Rob was from Chili, Douglas was Italian, Fabricio was a mute Frenchman, and Thiago was from Africa. Now, some of that may be due to the fact that Rob and Thiago were pretending to speak in "zulu" (their own special language consisting of gibberish nonsense and speratic clicking noises)... they even taught the lady how to say good morning in zulu: "Waaka-Waaka". haha. It was a good morning, although we didnt get to serve as much as we would've liked to, but hopefully tomorrow there will be something for us to do!
As we walked back home, i talked with Leninha about how she hasnt been going to school but once or twice a week for a majority of the semester. She only has until thursday, and then she'll be on summer break, but she insists that, for her, summer vacation has already started so she's not going to go to class. Now, get this, this girl really wants to be a lawyer when she gets older. How does she expect to be able to do that if she doesnt study?? I've asked her that several times and she just says "i know, i know" and keeps doing what shes doing. We've talked about how its a commitment issue and she says she isnt obligated to go and only goes when she feels like it. I just pray that she sees how much potential she has and how many great things God can use her for if she just gets out of her own way! She says she wants to give up school all together, but she only has one more year left and she's completed highschool! please pray for her, that she would see how much a blessing she has to have the opportunity to study, and how important it is for her future and for her testimony as a representation of Christ.
After we got home and ate lunch, we went to check out the place where we'll be holding the teen retreat with the Lakewood Park missions team, and oh my goodness, this place is GREAT! its right on the beach, i mean like 50 feet from the ocean, and there is plenty of room for everyone to sleep and lots of space for games and room for the lesson times, and of course, seeing as we're in Brasil, it little tiny soccer field! And we have it all to ourselves for 5 whole days! 5 days of community and learning and fellowship and building relationships and watching God explode in the hearts and lives of the future of this community! and it couldnt be in a more beautiful spot! Praise the LORD!
From there we hurried over to Erika's parents house to watch the Brasil v.s. Chili game (and drove through the second most dangerous slum in all of Brasil on the way). We had a fun time watching Brasil actually play a solid game and win 3-0! And you can bet that at every one of those 3 goals, there was plenty of screaming, jumping around, and Erika hitting people in the head with whatever was within her reach, which most of the time happened to be an empty 2 litre bottle of Guarana.
After the game, we stopped by the ice cream store to get some ingredients for Billiam to make one of his top notch milkshakes later on tonight. For now, Robert and i have some planning to do for our lessons for tomorrow and Friday night. Keep us in your prayers! We're both feeling like our time here is so short, but there is so much work to be done! Pray that we seek after not our own desires of how to serve, but the ways God has brought us here to bring glory to Him!
Until Next Time,
Jo
Well, today was a pretty great first monday of summer! we woke up around 730 and had breakfast, then headed to Evair's house (or lack there of) to start the construction. The group was Fabricio, Thiago, Evair, Patrick, Douglas, Robert, Pastor Eudes, some other guy whose name i didnt catch, Leninha (shes pretty much the only girl that has class in the afternoon and doesnt work in the morning), and me. There wasnt a whole lot of help us teens could do considering we're not real great brick layers, so we spent most of the time either asking Pastor to give us a job to do, or trying to put up with the crazy drunk lady that showed up 10 minutes after we did. She's rather well-known in the community for being, well, the crazy drunk lady, and was under the impression that Rob was from Chili, Douglas was Italian, Fabricio was a mute Frenchman, and Thiago was from Africa. Now, some of that may be due to the fact that Rob and Thiago were pretending to speak in "zulu" (their own special language consisting of gibberish nonsense and speratic clicking noises)... they even taught the lady how to say good morning in zulu: "Waaka-Waaka". haha. It was a good morning, although we didnt get to serve as much as we would've liked to, but hopefully tomorrow there will be something for us to do!
As we walked back home, i talked with Leninha about how she hasnt been going to school but once or twice a week for a majority of the semester. She only has until thursday, and then she'll be on summer break, but she insists that, for her, summer vacation has already started so she's not going to go to class. Now, get this, this girl really wants to be a lawyer when she gets older. How does she expect to be able to do that if she doesnt study?? I've asked her that several times and she just says "i know, i know" and keeps doing what shes doing. We've talked about how its a commitment issue and she says she isnt obligated to go and only goes when she feels like it. I just pray that she sees how much potential she has and how many great things God can use her for if she just gets out of her own way! She says she wants to give up school all together, but she only has one more year left and she's completed highschool! please pray for her, that she would see how much a blessing she has to have the opportunity to study, and how important it is for her future and for her testimony as a representation of Christ.
After we got home and ate lunch, we went to check out the place where we'll be holding the teen retreat with the Lakewood Park missions team, and oh my goodness, this place is GREAT! its right on the beach, i mean like 50 feet from the ocean, and there is plenty of room for everyone to sleep and lots of space for games and room for the lesson times, and of course, seeing as we're in Brasil, it little tiny soccer field! And we have it all to ourselves for 5 whole days! 5 days of community and learning and fellowship and building relationships and watching God explode in the hearts and lives of the future of this community! and it couldnt be in a more beautiful spot! Praise the LORD!
From there we hurried over to Erika's parents house to watch the Brasil v.s. Chili game (and drove through the second most dangerous slum in all of Brasil on the way). We had a fun time watching Brasil actually play a solid game and win 3-0! And you can bet that at every one of those 3 goals, there was plenty of screaming, jumping around, and Erika hitting people in the head with whatever was within her reach, which most of the time happened to be an empty 2 litre bottle of Guarana.
After the game, we stopped by the ice cream store to get some ingredients for Billiam to make one of his top notch milkshakes later on tonight. For now, Robert and i have some planning to do for our lessons for tomorrow and Friday night. Keep us in your prayers! We're both feeling like our time here is so short, but there is so much work to be done! Pray that we seek after not our own desires of how to serve, but the ways God has brought us here to bring glory to Him!
Until Next Time,
Jo
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Schooooools Out for Summer!!!
well, everyone, in case you didnt catch on from the title, i am officially done with my junior year of school!! its been one of the hardest things ive had to do so far in my life, but an incredible growing experience for me and i give my God all the credit and glory for my success!
This week was a long one filled with all of the final tests and whatnot. Monday i got math and sociology over with, then came home to study Biology and History with the tutor. When it was time for girls basketball, we started off hearing a devotional from Manhia about how the Enemy wants nothing more than to see us fall away from God. It was kind of an introduction to next week when she'll talk more about the attacks the devil uses and how we can fight back. Very important stuff for all of us as Christians to be aware of. The rest of the night Rob and i prepared our study for Tuesday then followed it up with some worship and prayer. fabulouse way to end the night, if you ask me.
Tuesday after the tests, Patrick, Douglas, Amanda, and i walked to McDonalds for lunch and waited for Bill and Erika to pick us up. Since it was test week, we studied with the tutor again so we'd be ready for Chemistry and Geography. At 4 i went out to the playground and, as usual, pushed the little kids on the swing for about an hour straight. When i finally thought my arms were going to fall of, playground time was over and I went and got ready for the Bible Study. Our topic was "Rebelling Against Religion" and we talked about how being a Believer is not about rules like a religion is, but is a relationship based on Grace. Our main points were "What is our Role in the Relationship?" (praise giver) and "What is God's Role in the Relationship?" (praise worthy) It went really well and the Holy Spirit gave us the words to say so that peoples hearts could be touched. At the end, we gave another opportunity for anyone who wanted to rebel against the things of the world to sing the paper as a symbol of their commitment, and, praise God, we're up to 27 signatures! Get it, Jesus! After the service ended, instead of spending 10 minutes talking, then having to go inside the campus, we stayed for quite a while, which was certainly a God thing, because he laid something on my heart to share with one of the teen girls. I opened up to Luke 18:35-43 and had her read the story of the blind man on the side of the road who was healed by Jesus on the road to Jerico. I suggest you go grab a Bible and read it if you want to understand where im going with this.... that's right, go on, open up that Bible. And if you dont have one, you obviously have access to the internet, so look it up! come on, no excuses, people!
ok, so after she read the story, i asked her if she thought it had any similarities to her life. She thought for a second and then i began to take the story step by step. the man cried out for Jesus, he new he needed Jesus to be healed, just like this girl is a Christian, and knew she needed Jesus to be saved. But some people didnt like that this man was calling out for Jesus. They tried to quiet him and make him stop. The girl i was talking to has people in her life that are holding her back from living for God, and the most infuential one of those people is her own mom, so that part of the story hits rather close to home for her. Then comes the turning point in the passage: the man doesnt let those people keep him quiet. instead, he shouts even louder for the Son of David to have mercy on him! And thats when i told the girl that there's a decision she needs to make. She needs to decide whether she is going to let those people in her life stop her from chasing after God's will for her life, or if she is going to keep trying harder and harder to live every day for him and, in her own way, tell Jesus, "I want to see!" Please pray for not only this girl, but for many of the teens and preteens in this community who have so many voices telling them to give up trying to live for God. Because, if they keep pressing on toward Him, so many glorious things will be done with their lives!
Wednesday after having lunch at Erika's parents house and watching USA get it done in the 91st minute of the World Cup game, we went home for our last study session with the tutor. I'm going to miss Gleydson. He's a really nice guy and has been an incredibly great help to me with my schoolwork. (oh, by the way, he and his wife are expecting a baby girl sometime in the next month! pray for a good delivery and healthy baby!) After studying Physics, we watched some more of the World Cup and played basketball a little before it was time for the service. We went outside the campus at around 630 as usual and waited for the service at 7, but we had a problem with the sound system, so i spent a while talking with the teens until everything was set up for the service. We didnt spend a lot of time outside afterwards because of our last day of tests in the morning, so we went home and ate dinner and got to bed at a decent time.
Thurdsay morning, i couldnt believe the day had already arrived, my last day of school in Brasil! After i turned in my Physics tests and English test, i felt such an awesome feeling of accomplishment, and all that is due to the love God has shown me by helping me through every step of this journey. I talked with my friends and took a couple pictures and after about an hour of that, i said goodbye to Colegio Batista for the last time! When we got home, we started our first session of unloading groceries for the missions team from texas that will be arriving next week. Let me tell you, its insane the amount of food it takes to feed 20 people for a week! While Bill and Erika went out for another grocery run, Amanda, Gessica, and i helped Maninha with the Senior Ladies pool time, and what a time it was! these ladies are pretty much the coolest and they crack me up! After spending an hour doing water aerobics, Bill and Erika got back and we unloaded 90 bottles of soda fom the back of the truck! At 5 it was time to get ready for childrens worship, so we took the snack and juice over to the Grupo CEO building and i sat outside talking to Joyce for a while until the little kids got there. I really dont know where these little ones get so much energy! i mean, after all the dancing and jumping around we do for an hour, im beat, but to them its nothing! when it was over, we went home and ate dinner and then Rob and the boys went with Bill to the men's bible study while i put the finishing touches on Rob and I's teen study for friday night. Once they got back, we closed the night with a fantastic chocolate peanutbutter smoothie made by none other than Billiam Moore himself, and then Robert and i sang some much deserved praises to our God and got on our knees to thank Him for His faithfulness and ask for His continued guidance. Im telling you, great way to end the night!
Friday morning came at about 711 with watermellon for breakfast followed by me crashing the guys devo time with Rob. He wrapped up his 3 part study on James that he had been leading that week and then we went to the court to play basketball. The guys stayed until 9, then about an hour later Erika's family showed up to watch the Brasil v.s. Portugal game. I could try to describe to you the crazyness that that game entailed and the animated screams that you would not normally expect from a little thing like Erika, but no matter how i tried, i would fall short of giving you a good picture of the festivites of the game... good thing i took some videos. ; D After a dissappointing 0-0 score, i took a nap and woke up a little before it was time to go to the playground. From there we had the Children's Worship with the preteens (only about 12 kids came, which is a shame compared to the groups of 30 we used to have coming). The teen meeting, however, was a group of about 20. After Alane, Renan, Douglas, and Ingrid gave their devo's, Robert and i spoke about Rebelling Against Religion: The Importance of the Cross. We covered a lot of information and truth, but it seemed like a majority of the teens were with us the whole time. Overall, it was a great first day of summer!
Saturday was my official goodbye day as a family, since after the missons teams arrive, we're gonna be going nonstop until i leave. We went to the beach and had those ginormouse shrimp i told you about last time and rode 4-wheelers and watched the USA fall short in overtime, then finished the day off at "Tequila's" for probably my last time in a while. It was a great day and im so glad i got to spend that time with Bill and Erika and the kids as a family. It really meant a lot to me. Thank you so much for an awesome day, Billiam and Erikaaaa! love you guys!
Sunday we spent doing what we normally do. I played basketball, planned a couple lessons with Robert, and hung out until nightime when it was time for church. Pastor gave the second to last sermon in the family series, and the teens put on a skit. Oh, and guess who got to go up in front of the church and sing a song he doesnt know it portuguese....Robert Lauter, thats who! haha. yep, Pastor called him up there, microphone and all, and he did his best to sing! way to be rob, way to be.
Well, its been a great week, and now that im finally done with school, hopefully i'll be able to update you more often on whats going on down here. This week is gonna start getting really busy as the team from Copperfield Church in Texas arrives on thrusday to work with the Preteens and adults in the community. Pray 'em up! Thanks for reading, thanks for not forgetting about me and this community and the great things God has planned for these people! God bless!
Until Next Time,
Jo
This week was a long one filled with all of the final tests and whatnot. Monday i got math and sociology over with, then came home to study Biology and History with the tutor. When it was time for girls basketball, we started off hearing a devotional from Manhia about how the Enemy wants nothing more than to see us fall away from God. It was kind of an introduction to next week when she'll talk more about the attacks the devil uses and how we can fight back. Very important stuff for all of us as Christians to be aware of. The rest of the night Rob and i prepared our study for Tuesday then followed it up with some worship and prayer. fabulouse way to end the night, if you ask me.
Tuesday after the tests, Patrick, Douglas, Amanda, and i walked to McDonalds for lunch and waited for Bill and Erika to pick us up. Since it was test week, we studied with the tutor again so we'd be ready for Chemistry and Geography. At 4 i went out to the playground and, as usual, pushed the little kids on the swing for about an hour straight. When i finally thought my arms were going to fall of, playground time was over and I went and got ready for the Bible Study. Our topic was "Rebelling Against Religion" and we talked about how being a Believer is not about rules like a religion is, but is a relationship based on Grace. Our main points were "What is our Role in the Relationship?" (praise giver) and "What is God's Role in the Relationship?" (praise worthy) It went really well and the Holy Spirit gave us the words to say so that peoples hearts could be touched. At the end, we gave another opportunity for anyone who wanted to rebel against the things of the world to sing the paper as a symbol of their commitment, and, praise God, we're up to 27 signatures! Get it, Jesus! After the service ended, instead of spending 10 minutes talking, then having to go inside the campus, we stayed for quite a while, which was certainly a God thing, because he laid something on my heart to share with one of the teen girls. I opened up to Luke 18:35-43 and had her read the story of the blind man on the side of the road who was healed by Jesus on the road to Jerico. I suggest you go grab a Bible and read it if you want to understand where im going with this.... that's right, go on, open up that Bible. And if you dont have one, you obviously have access to the internet, so look it up! come on, no excuses, people!
ok, so after she read the story, i asked her if she thought it had any similarities to her life. She thought for a second and then i began to take the story step by step. the man cried out for Jesus, he new he needed Jesus to be healed, just like this girl is a Christian, and knew she needed Jesus to be saved. But some people didnt like that this man was calling out for Jesus. They tried to quiet him and make him stop. The girl i was talking to has people in her life that are holding her back from living for God, and the most infuential one of those people is her own mom, so that part of the story hits rather close to home for her. Then comes the turning point in the passage: the man doesnt let those people keep him quiet. instead, he shouts even louder for the Son of David to have mercy on him! And thats when i told the girl that there's a decision she needs to make. She needs to decide whether she is going to let those people in her life stop her from chasing after God's will for her life, or if she is going to keep trying harder and harder to live every day for him and, in her own way, tell Jesus, "I want to see!" Please pray for not only this girl, but for many of the teens and preteens in this community who have so many voices telling them to give up trying to live for God. Because, if they keep pressing on toward Him, so many glorious things will be done with their lives!
Wednesday after having lunch at Erika's parents house and watching USA get it done in the 91st minute of the World Cup game, we went home for our last study session with the tutor. I'm going to miss Gleydson. He's a really nice guy and has been an incredibly great help to me with my schoolwork. (oh, by the way, he and his wife are expecting a baby girl sometime in the next month! pray for a good delivery and healthy baby!) After studying Physics, we watched some more of the World Cup and played basketball a little before it was time for the service. We went outside the campus at around 630 as usual and waited for the service at 7, but we had a problem with the sound system, so i spent a while talking with the teens until everything was set up for the service. We didnt spend a lot of time outside afterwards because of our last day of tests in the morning, so we went home and ate dinner and got to bed at a decent time.
Thurdsay morning, i couldnt believe the day had already arrived, my last day of school in Brasil! After i turned in my Physics tests and English test, i felt such an awesome feeling of accomplishment, and all that is due to the love God has shown me by helping me through every step of this journey. I talked with my friends and took a couple pictures and after about an hour of that, i said goodbye to Colegio Batista for the last time! When we got home, we started our first session of unloading groceries for the missions team from texas that will be arriving next week. Let me tell you, its insane the amount of food it takes to feed 20 people for a week! While Bill and Erika went out for another grocery run, Amanda, Gessica, and i helped Maninha with the Senior Ladies pool time, and what a time it was! these ladies are pretty much the coolest and they crack me up! After spending an hour doing water aerobics, Bill and Erika got back and we unloaded 90 bottles of soda fom the back of the truck! At 5 it was time to get ready for childrens worship, so we took the snack and juice over to the Grupo CEO building and i sat outside talking to Joyce for a while until the little kids got there. I really dont know where these little ones get so much energy! i mean, after all the dancing and jumping around we do for an hour, im beat, but to them its nothing! when it was over, we went home and ate dinner and then Rob and the boys went with Bill to the men's bible study while i put the finishing touches on Rob and I's teen study for friday night. Once they got back, we closed the night with a fantastic chocolate peanutbutter smoothie made by none other than Billiam Moore himself, and then Robert and i sang some much deserved praises to our God and got on our knees to thank Him for His faithfulness and ask for His continued guidance. Im telling you, great way to end the night!
Friday morning came at about 711 with watermellon for breakfast followed by me crashing the guys devo time with Rob. He wrapped up his 3 part study on James that he had been leading that week and then we went to the court to play basketball. The guys stayed until 9, then about an hour later Erika's family showed up to watch the Brasil v.s. Portugal game. I could try to describe to you the crazyness that that game entailed and the animated screams that you would not normally expect from a little thing like Erika, but no matter how i tried, i would fall short of giving you a good picture of the festivites of the game... good thing i took some videos. ; D After a dissappointing 0-0 score, i took a nap and woke up a little before it was time to go to the playground. From there we had the Children's Worship with the preteens (only about 12 kids came, which is a shame compared to the groups of 30 we used to have coming). The teen meeting, however, was a group of about 20. After Alane, Renan, Douglas, and Ingrid gave their devo's, Robert and i spoke about Rebelling Against Religion: The Importance of the Cross. We covered a lot of information and truth, but it seemed like a majority of the teens were with us the whole time. Overall, it was a great first day of summer!
Saturday was my official goodbye day as a family, since after the missons teams arrive, we're gonna be going nonstop until i leave. We went to the beach and had those ginormouse shrimp i told you about last time and rode 4-wheelers and watched the USA fall short in overtime, then finished the day off at "Tequila's" for probably my last time in a while. It was a great day and im so glad i got to spend that time with Bill and Erika and the kids as a family. It really meant a lot to me. Thank you so much for an awesome day, Billiam and Erikaaaa! love you guys!
Sunday we spent doing what we normally do. I played basketball, planned a couple lessons with Robert, and hung out until nightime when it was time for church. Pastor gave the second to last sermon in the family series, and the teens put on a skit. Oh, and guess who got to go up in front of the church and sing a song he doesnt know it portuguese....Robert Lauter, thats who! haha. yep, Pastor called him up there, microphone and all, and he did his best to sing! way to be rob, way to be.
Well, its been a great week, and now that im finally done with school, hopefully i'll be able to update you more often on whats going on down here. This week is gonna start getting really busy as the team from Copperfield Church in Texas arrives on thrusday to work with the Preteens and adults in the community. Pray 'em up! Thanks for reading, thanks for not forgetting about me and this community and the great things God has planned for these people! God bless!
Until Next Time,
Jo
Monday, June 21, 2010
Gooooll!!
hellooo. = )
well, this week was a pretty busy one, especially the later half of it, which means this is gonna be a long post. Let's see here...
Monday marked the first day of the last week of regular classes before we start final testing for the semester! We didnt have any homework for the week, which meant our time with the tutor was spent doing some hard core studying for the tests. The girls actually came to play this week! one of the games we played Joyce, Josefa, Fatinha, and me against Gessica, Cleonicia, Lais, Jamile, and Leninha. Yep, 4 on 5! haha. it was a fun game though and lasted for like 20 minutes! Who won, do you ask? Well, i dont mean to brag, but we four got it done! ; D Robert and i finished off the night with a sweet acoustic worship session and hit our knees for some always needed prayer. He's such an encouragement, iron sharpens iron, and i love serving with him!
Tuesday after we got home from school and ate lunch, Robert, Erika, and i rode bikes to Pastor Eudes house. Erika, Manhia, and Pastor had their meeting about the church while Robert and i watched the World Cup pregame. (we may or may not have also seen part of Justin Beiber's "Baby" music video...) Once the meeting was over, we hurried home and planted ourselves on the couch to watch the Brasil V.S. North Korea game, and let me tell you, you havent watched Brasil play until you've watched Brasil play with Erika Moore! She gets rather...enthusiastic. For example, whenever Brasil scores a goal, Erika jumps up and down, screams, blows a whistle, (occaisionally slaps Rob in the face with a pillow), and throws out chocolate for everyone! Unfortunately, Brasil played shamefully and only scored two goals against possibly the worst team in the World Cup, but we had a good time reguardless. After the game, we had a couple hours to relax and Rob and i went over our notes for the Bible Study we were to lead that night. Then the time to head over to the church came, so we spent some time outside talking with the teens and whatnot. The service started with a couple worship songs and then Rob and I, with the help of Erika as our translator, had the floor. We introduced to everyone the theme we'll be working with for all of our lessons: The Rebel. (we came up with this idea from the devotions that Tina Gerke wrote and gave to me before i came down here. Great, God-inspired Truth!) Tuesdays lesson was mostly and introduction to the theme and we talked about what a ture, Biblical Rebel is and gave some examples from the Bible like Daniel, Rack, Shack, and Benny (i dont know how to spell their names, but you know, the firey furnace guys?), and then the greatest example of a Rebel that ever lived: Jesus Christ! After 20-30 minutes of talking about how and what to rebel from and learning that God has called us all to be Rebels for His glory (Rom. 12:2), we had the kids make a list of different things we can all rebel from daily. Then we gave them the opportunity to sign that paper and make a commitment to rebel against the things of this world and, glory to God, we had 13 people sign their name and commit! Now, of course, it will still be a struggle for every single one of those people to rebel, i struggle every day! But, it was a blessing to see how God is changing lives and shaping hearts!
Wednesday, on the way home from school, Erika was so excited that her "BFA" (Best Friend Always, aka Bill) was getting home that night. Soooo, Patrick and i managed to convince her that, since she would be picking Billiam up from the airport at 9 at night, they should just have a night to themselves and stay in the city and not bother to come back right away in the morning to take us to school! haha. we're smooth like that! We spent the afternoon just hanging out and rob and i played "H-O-R-S-E" with different portuguese words. Im not to proud to admit that i havent beaten him in a single game as of yet.. = ( At nightime we had our normal service and then time to hang out afterwards, and then we spent the rest of the night playing FIFA Street (soccer) on PlayStation. (well, i was watching, the boys were playing. im worthless when it comes to those kind of video games.)
Thursday morning greeted me around 740. I got ready and ate breakfast, then Patrick, Douglas, Robert, and i went over to the prayer meeting at the church. Before it started, Manhia pulled me aside and told me about something discouraging that was going on with a couple of the teen girls. Its a long story, but i just ask that you pray for God to use His power to overcome the different tools that Satan is trying to use to cause these teens to stumble, and i'll praying along with you, cuz honestly, its making me sick. But God's Love is strong, and He is always good, and that's what was on my mind during that prayer meeting. Afterwards, the teen guys that were at the meeting came in to hang out and have their time of fellowship that they have every day with rob. (im not sure if ive mentioned it, and sorry if i havent, but every morning for a few hours Robert meets with the teen guys. They spend time playing sports, guitar, and Rob also leads a short devo.) I got to join them, since we didnt have school ; D, so we played basketball and i watched them play soccer for a while until 1030 rolled around and it was time for them to leave. Bill and Erika got home around lunch time so we all got to eat as one big family. Welcome home, Billiam! We hung out the rest of the day doing...well i dont really remember what we were doing, but we had a good day, then before we knew it it was time for Children's Worship. As was expected, we had a fun time dancing and playing with the little kids, then spent the night with another round of FIFA Street, and concluding with another time of praise and worship and prayer.
Friday, oh how i love fridays, instead of meeting with the guys, Rob rode with us to town and got to see where ive been spending way too much of my time the past 6 months, aka my school. (im just kidding, school has been more of a ministry opportunity than i expected.) After school we went out to eat and watched the USA v.s. Slovania game, woot woot! We hung out for a while and then Rob and i went over our lesson notes with Douglas so he would know what we were talking about when he translated for the teen meeting that night. At 4 we went to soccer and playground and then right to Children's Worship for the preteens. When it was time for the teen meeting, the teens gave their devos and Rob and i kicked our lesson off with a game of Simon Says. The lesson was on submitting to authority, get how the game ties in? Everyone seemed to be paying attention the whole time and several of them took notes in the journals we gave them which was encouraging! All and all, it was a great night, and as usual, one of the verymost highlights of my week!
Saturday, although we didnt have to go to the Vestibular Simulado, we still had to get up and get things around the campus ready for the party we were hosting for some volunteers from IBC. They arrived around 9:00 and Elo, one of the translators from last year, came with her family. Rob and i spent most of the afteroon talking with her and also playing a little 2 on 4 basketball against Thiago, Evair, Douglas, and Pastor Eudes. Dont worry, the americanos represented and won 10-2! Once the party was over an we cleaned everything up, we had to clean ourselves up and get ready for the wedding! Everyone who went looked really great, and the ceremony was pretty much the same as an american wedding, with the sweetest bridal march of prolly any wedding ive ever been to! We hung around for part of the reception afterwards and then headed home to the 13th birthday party of Lais, one of the preteens. We were all pretty tired after that, and i went to bed not too long after we got home.
Sunday was a family day. We slept in and Rob and i played basketball before it got too hot out. (In addition to our basketball workout, we also played "B-A-K-E-D B-E-A-N-S". all you readers out there who go to highschool HangOut can appreciate that! haha!) We had a cookout for lunch and watched the game on a small tv outside and then swam for a little while before we settled in to watch Brasil play once again! This game was even better than the first, and on more that a few occasions Rob found himself appologizing to Erika for saying any comment that could even slightly be taken as a comment in favor of any team other than Brasil! haha. After the victory, we had a little bit of down time and then went out on the street to talk and hang out before the church service started. Pastor talked about the relationship between teens and parents and added in the fact that, although children are to honor their parents, that if your parents are telling you to do something that is contrary to God's Word, we are to obey God, and that is huge with some of the teens here.
I loved this week, i love my life, i love that God has placed me here to be a testimony and ambassador and wittness of His power in every single moment! This next week is going to be tough because it's the last week of testing of my Brasilian highschool career, but im His, and im going to try my best and keep striving to make Him famous!
Please, dont stop praying for God to move! Keep crying out for His will to be done, there are some GREAT things that He is preparing for His people! Amen?!
Until Next Time,
Jo
well, this week was a pretty busy one, especially the later half of it, which means this is gonna be a long post. Let's see here...
Monday marked the first day of the last week of regular classes before we start final testing for the semester! We didnt have any homework for the week, which meant our time with the tutor was spent doing some hard core studying for the tests. The girls actually came to play this week! one of the games we played Joyce, Josefa, Fatinha, and me against Gessica, Cleonicia, Lais, Jamile, and Leninha. Yep, 4 on 5! haha. it was a fun game though and lasted for like 20 minutes! Who won, do you ask? Well, i dont mean to brag, but we four got it done! ; D Robert and i finished off the night with a sweet acoustic worship session and hit our knees for some always needed prayer. He's such an encouragement, iron sharpens iron, and i love serving with him!
Tuesday after we got home from school and ate lunch, Robert, Erika, and i rode bikes to Pastor Eudes house. Erika, Manhia, and Pastor had their meeting about the church while Robert and i watched the World Cup pregame. (we may or may not have also seen part of Justin Beiber's "Baby" music video...) Once the meeting was over, we hurried home and planted ourselves on the couch to watch the Brasil V.S. North Korea game, and let me tell you, you havent watched Brasil play until you've watched Brasil play with Erika Moore! She gets rather...enthusiastic. For example, whenever Brasil scores a goal, Erika jumps up and down, screams, blows a whistle, (occaisionally slaps Rob in the face with a pillow), and throws out chocolate for everyone! Unfortunately, Brasil played shamefully and only scored two goals against possibly the worst team in the World Cup, but we had a good time reguardless. After the game, we had a couple hours to relax and Rob and i went over our notes for the Bible Study we were to lead that night. Then the time to head over to the church came, so we spent some time outside talking with the teens and whatnot. The service started with a couple worship songs and then Rob and I, with the help of Erika as our translator, had the floor. We introduced to everyone the theme we'll be working with for all of our lessons: The Rebel. (we came up with this idea from the devotions that Tina Gerke wrote and gave to me before i came down here. Great, God-inspired Truth!) Tuesdays lesson was mostly and introduction to the theme and we talked about what a ture, Biblical Rebel is and gave some examples from the Bible like Daniel, Rack, Shack, and Benny (i dont know how to spell their names, but you know, the firey furnace guys?), and then the greatest example of a Rebel that ever lived: Jesus Christ! After 20-30 minutes of talking about how and what to rebel from and learning that God has called us all to be Rebels for His glory (Rom. 12:2), we had the kids make a list of different things we can all rebel from daily. Then we gave them the opportunity to sign that paper and make a commitment to rebel against the things of this world and, glory to God, we had 13 people sign their name and commit! Now, of course, it will still be a struggle for every single one of those people to rebel, i struggle every day! But, it was a blessing to see how God is changing lives and shaping hearts!
Wednesday, on the way home from school, Erika was so excited that her "BFA" (Best Friend Always, aka Bill) was getting home that night. Soooo, Patrick and i managed to convince her that, since she would be picking Billiam up from the airport at 9 at night, they should just have a night to themselves and stay in the city and not bother to come back right away in the morning to take us to school! haha. we're smooth like that! We spent the afternoon just hanging out and rob and i played "H-O-R-S-E" with different portuguese words. Im not to proud to admit that i havent beaten him in a single game as of yet.. = ( At nightime we had our normal service and then time to hang out afterwards, and then we spent the rest of the night playing FIFA Street (soccer) on PlayStation. (well, i was watching, the boys were playing. im worthless when it comes to those kind of video games.)
Thursday morning greeted me around 740. I got ready and ate breakfast, then Patrick, Douglas, Robert, and i went over to the prayer meeting at the church. Before it started, Manhia pulled me aside and told me about something discouraging that was going on with a couple of the teen girls. Its a long story, but i just ask that you pray for God to use His power to overcome the different tools that Satan is trying to use to cause these teens to stumble, and i'll praying along with you, cuz honestly, its making me sick. But God's Love is strong, and He is always good, and that's what was on my mind during that prayer meeting. Afterwards, the teen guys that were at the meeting came in to hang out and have their time of fellowship that they have every day with rob. (im not sure if ive mentioned it, and sorry if i havent, but every morning for a few hours Robert meets with the teen guys. They spend time playing sports, guitar, and Rob also leads a short devo.) I got to join them, since we didnt have school ; D, so we played basketball and i watched them play soccer for a while until 1030 rolled around and it was time for them to leave. Bill and Erika got home around lunch time so we all got to eat as one big family. Welcome home, Billiam! We hung out the rest of the day doing...well i dont really remember what we were doing, but we had a good day, then before we knew it it was time for Children's Worship. As was expected, we had a fun time dancing and playing with the little kids, then spent the night with another round of FIFA Street, and concluding with another time of praise and worship and prayer.
Friday, oh how i love fridays, instead of meeting with the guys, Rob rode with us to town and got to see where ive been spending way too much of my time the past 6 months, aka my school. (im just kidding, school has been more of a ministry opportunity than i expected.) After school we went out to eat and watched the USA v.s. Slovania game, woot woot! We hung out for a while and then Rob and i went over our lesson notes with Douglas so he would know what we were talking about when he translated for the teen meeting that night. At 4 we went to soccer and playground and then right to Children's Worship for the preteens. When it was time for the teen meeting, the teens gave their devos and Rob and i kicked our lesson off with a game of Simon Says. The lesson was on submitting to authority, get how the game ties in? Everyone seemed to be paying attention the whole time and several of them took notes in the journals we gave them which was encouraging! All and all, it was a great night, and as usual, one of the verymost highlights of my week!
Saturday, although we didnt have to go to the Vestibular Simulado, we still had to get up and get things around the campus ready for the party we were hosting for some volunteers from IBC. They arrived around 9:00 and Elo, one of the translators from last year, came with her family. Rob and i spent most of the afteroon talking with her and also playing a little 2 on 4 basketball against Thiago, Evair, Douglas, and Pastor Eudes. Dont worry, the americanos represented and won 10-2! Once the party was over an we cleaned everything up, we had to clean ourselves up and get ready for the wedding! Everyone who went looked really great, and the ceremony was pretty much the same as an american wedding, with the sweetest bridal march of prolly any wedding ive ever been to! We hung around for part of the reception afterwards and then headed home to the 13th birthday party of Lais, one of the preteens. We were all pretty tired after that, and i went to bed not too long after we got home.
Sunday was a family day. We slept in and Rob and i played basketball before it got too hot out. (In addition to our basketball workout, we also played "B-A-K-E-D B-E-A-N-S". all you readers out there who go to highschool HangOut can appreciate that! haha!) We had a cookout for lunch and watched the game on a small tv outside and then swam for a little while before we settled in to watch Brasil play once again! This game was even better than the first, and on more that a few occasions Rob found himself appologizing to Erika for saying any comment that could even slightly be taken as a comment in favor of any team other than Brasil! haha. After the victory, we had a little bit of down time and then went out on the street to talk and hang out before the church service started. Pastor talked about the relationship between teens and parents and added in the fact that, although children are to honor their parents, that if your parents are telling you to do something that is contrary to God's Word, we are to obey God, and that is huge with some of the teens here.
I loved this week, i love my life, i love that God has placed me here to be a testimony and ambassador and wittness of His power in every single moment! This next week is going to be tough because it's the last week of testing of my Brasilian highschool career, but im His, and im going to try my best and keep striving to make Him famous!
Please, dont stop praying for God to move! Keep crying out for His will to be done, there are some GREAT things that He is preparing for His people! Amen?!
Until Next Time,
Jo
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Chegou!!
Hey everyone!
Wow, has it really only been a week since i last blogged? seems like much longer. Monday started out the last week of homework at school!! At basketball this week we actually tried to play a little more by the rules. haha.
Tuesday we got to play basketball in gym class and my team did pretty much dominated if i may say so! Erika lead the Bible study with a lesson on being a true worshiper of God that is really applicable to the lives of all believers. Afterwards, as usual, got to talk to some of the girls about stuff in their lives and share God's promises with them. (yes, im really going into great detail, i know, but this kind of stuff is stuff you'll have to ask me about in person if you want hear about it. for now alls i can say is praise God for how He is working!)
Wednesday after school we went to the mall to do a little clothes shopping to a wedding we're going to on the 19th (one of the IBC teen leaders is getting married!) and we got to eat lunch at Pizza Hut! mmmm.. Then at night time we had a good service lead by Pastor Eudes and had some time to hang out and talk afterwards.
Now Thursday, let me tell you, Thursday was a day that i could not believe was already here! We got up early in the morning, piled in the car, and went to the airport and, after four and a half months, i got to see one of my best friends Robert Lauter!! This is his third time down here, and he's going to spend a month of his summer ministering to the teens in the community and serving our Lord, and im soo happy that i get to finaly serve here with him! Welcome back, Robert! After picking him up from the airport, we came home (..yeah, school wasnt exactly a priority that day between rob arriving and the opening ceremony of the World Cup! haha.) After Rob got all his stuff settled in, he and i played basketball for a while then after lunch the whole gang watched the World Cup opening ceremony (well, everyone except erika. She had to miss it because of the Senior ladies meeting, and she wasnt too happy about that. ; D) Once 4:00 rolled around it was time for playground and soccer. Rob came to the playground first and pushed some kids on the swing with me, thats when i realized my rolls gonna shift into an unofficial translator for him for a little while. lol I stayed on the playground while rob went to soccer until it was time for Childrens Worship, which i think is getting more and more exhausting every time we have it! After all the kids when home, we went to the house and ate dinner and Rob and i watched Patrick and Douglas play the new video game they just got while Erika went to the Women's Bible study. Or, thats what we thought. When she got back she told me she didnt make it to the meeting because, when she was on her way over to the Grupo CEO building, she found out that Matheus (Josefa and Joyce's younger brother) had fallen of his bike and gotten scrapped up pretty badly. So instead of going to the meeting, Erika went to his house to check on him. Thankfully, it wasnt bad enough that they had to take him to the hospital, but he has scrapes and cuts all over his face, elbow, and legs, with one especially bad on his knee. On Friday after school i went with Erika over to see him and she cleaned his cuts and we prayed for him. He doesnt seem like hes in too much pain, but it sure looks like it hurts! And one of the worst things is that this 13 year old boy is gonna have to stay still in a hammock until his scrapes heal, which isnt going to be easy for him! but that in itself isnt too bad, except for when you take into account that his home environment isnt the kind that you would like to be stuck in for days at a time. Pray for his body and his spirit! Later on we had a good time with soccer, playground, and Children's Worship, but instead of going to the teen meeting, we went into Fortaleza for a birthday party of one of the guys in Patrick and i's class. It was at a churrascaria where they pretty much just bring slabs of delicious meat around to all the tables until you cant eat anymore. We had a good time, but i still missed meeting with the teens.
Then of course the next day is Saturday, so we get to sleep in, right? WRONG! Patrick, Douglas, and i all had to go to school for Vestibular Simulado (PSATs) which was a rather lame start to the weekends, but afterwards we went home and watched the USA vs England game! Most of our weekend from saturday into sunday evening consisted of soccer games, video games, and playing basketball.
The Sunday night service was about parents and teenagers and everyone seemed like they were pretty engaged the whole time, which is good because the subject of family is something that needs a lot of discussion in our young church!
This was another great week and, i'll say it again, i am soo blessed! I hope you'll keep praying everyone up (especially Bill as he traveles home this week!) and praising God with me for the work He has done, is doing, and has promised to do in the hearts of this community!
Wow, has it really only been a week since i last blogged? seems like much longer. Monday started out the last week of homework at school!! At basketball this week we actually tried to play a little more by the rules. haha.
Tuesday we got to play basketball in gym class and my team did pretty much dominated if i may say so! Erika lead the Bible study with a lesson on being a true worshiper of God that is really applicable to the lives of all believers. Afterwards, as usual, got to talk to some of the girls about stuff in their lives and share God's promises with them. (yes, im really going into great detail, i know, but this kind of stuff is stuff you'll have to ask me about in person if you want hear about it. for now alls i can say is praise God for how He is working!)
Wednesday after school we went to the mall to do a little clothes shopping to a wedding we're going to on the 19th (one of the IBC teen leaders is getting married!) and we got to eat lunch at Pizza Hut! mmmm.. Then at night time we had a good service lead by Pastor Eudes and had some time to hang out and talk afterwards.
Now Thursday, let me tell you, Thursday was a day that i could not believe was already here! We got up early in the morning, piled in the car, and went to the airport and, after four and a half months, i got to see one of my best friends Robert Lauter!! This is his third time down here, and he's going to spend a month of his summer ministering to the teens in the community and serving our Lord, and im soo happy that i get to finaly serve here with him! Welcome back, Robert! After picking him up from the airport, we came home (..yeah, school wasnt exactly a priority that day between rob arriving and the opening ceremony of the World Cup! haha.) After Rob got all his stuff settled in, he and i played basketball for a while then after lunch the whole gang watched the World Cup opening ceremony (well, everyone except erika. She had to miss it because of the Senior ladies meeting, and she wasnt too happy about that. ; D) Once 4:00 rolled around it was time for playground and soccer. Rob came to the playground first and pushed some kids on the swing with me, thats when i realized my rolls gonna shift into an unofficial translator for him for a little while. lol I stayed on the playground while rob went to soccer until it was time for Childrens Worship, which i think is getting more and more exhausting every time we have it! After all the kids when home, we went to the house and ate dinner and Rob and i watched Patrick and Douglas play the new video game they just got while Erika went to the Women's Bible study. Or, thats what we thought. When she got back she told me she didnt make it to the meeting because, when she was on her way over to the Grupo CEO building, she found out that Matheus (Josefa and Joyce's younger brother) had fallen of his bike and gotten scrapped up pretty badly. So instead of going to the meeting, Erika went to his house to check on him. Thankfully, it wasnt bad enough that they had to take him to the hospital, but he has scrapes and cuts all over his face, elbow, and legs, with one especially bad on his knee. On Friday after school i went with Erika over to see him and she cleaned his cuts and we prayed for him. He doesnt seem like hes in too much pain, but it sure looks like it hurts! And one of the worst things is that this 13 year old boy is gonna have to stay still in a hammock until his scrapes heal, which isnt going to be easy for him! but that in itself isnt too bad, except for when you take into account that his home environment isnt the kind that you would like to be stuck in for days at a time. Pray for his body and his spirit! Later on we had a good time with soccer, playground, and Children's Worship, but instead of going to the teen meeting, we went into Fortaleza for a birthday party of one of the guys in Patrick and i's class. It was at a churrascaria where they pretty much just bring slabs of delicious meat around to all the tables until you cant eat anymore. We had a good time, but i still missed meeting with the teens.
Then of course the next day is Saturday, so we get to sleep in, right? WRONG! Patrick, Douglas, and i all had to go to school for Vestibular Simulado (PSATs) which was a rather lame start to the weekends, but afterwards we went home and watched the USA vs England game! Most of our weekend from saturday into sunday evening consisted of soccer games, video games, and playing basketball.
The Sunday night service was about parents and teenagers and everyone seemed like they were pretty engaged the whole time, which is good because the subject of family is something that needs a lot of discussion in our young church!
This was another great week and, i'll say it again, i am soo blessed! I hope you'll keep praying everyone up (especially Bill as he traveles home this week!) and praising God with me for the work He has done, is doing, and has promised to do in the hearts of this community!
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