Hello to all, Live from Brasil!!
Today felt really long. We had more little kids in the morning and i taught them about Noah and the Ark and how God was in control of every detail. Then we had a lot of time afterwards so we played Pato, Pato, Ganso with them. Well, really we only played with two of them cuz the rest werent really wanting to participate. it was still fun though. We did the normal dancing and singing with the pre-teens (although we had a little speaker trouble...son..son.. that was just for you Brian. ; D). Before we had the lesson we played ship captain, you know, the game where you have to run wherever the "captain" tells you? It was a lot of fun! We tied that in to the lesson by saying that it's not always easy to listen to instructions, but when we listen to God, He can use us in big ways, just like He did Noah.
The lesson went well and then of course we went over to the basketball court and played knockout for the rest of the time. When they left, we had a little free time before lunch and then (thank the Lord!) we an hour of naptime before the teen session. The teens listened and responded well to the lesson, but then it came time to pray and they all got dead quiet. We asked for volutneers, but nobody raised their hand. We reminded them that prayer is just talking to God and it wasnt something to be embarrased about, but still nothing. Then Carlyn made the executive decision that everyone in the group was gonna pray at least one scentence. When they heard that, Mariana put her head down and mumbled something in Portuguese about how she didnt want to, so i pulled out my sarcasm. I stood up an said "what, you mean we have to talk to God!? Ugghh!" Elo translated it and i pointed right at Mariana and she knew that she needed to change her attitude. Everyone at the table ended up praying except for two girls who had never come before and Joice. For some reason, we couldnt get her to pray. We're gonna do that same thing every day until we get volunteers. We'll see how long that takes..
From there we went to the court and played basketball, but most of the girls didnt wanna play. So we inflated the one volleyball we have and they played on the newly remodeled court. We kept with the same scheduel as yesterday and went to soccer/playground time, but this time i stayed 95% sand-free! I played volleyball in the sand and watched Kelli go down the slide about 15 times! Whenever i looked away i would here her little voice yelling "Jo! Jo!" and she would wave and then slide down the slide again. I'll admit, it was pretty cute!
I got a shower in before dinner and then we headed over to the Tuesday night worship service. (its basicaly a mini church service) The pastor that looks like Dad preached from Ephesians and i can see that he's gonna be a really good fit at the curch.
After the service we spent like an hour outside giving several hugs and taking some pictures. Ne Ne and Fatima were asking me if i could take them with me when i go back to the States. We decided that if they can sneak past security, i'll stuff them in my suticase and bring them home.
We finaly got home around 9 and have just been hanging out since then.
I have a special prayer request for you guys to cover this week. Erika is having surgery tomorrow, and for any of you who know her, she isnt gonna take the whole bedrest recovery time too well. Please pray that the surgery goes well, God give her patience in her recovery, and also, a speedy recovery. Well, i have to two long days of journaling to do, so farewell for now. I love you guys!
Until next time,
Jo
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Busy Start to a Busy Week
Hello to all, Live from Brasil!!
Im not gonna do a whole blog about yesterday cuz not too much happened. Laisa left which was sad, we went to IBC, we chilled in the afternoon, and at night we went to the Grupo CEO church. The church welcomed its new pastor and his family. (he actually looks a lot like you, Dad. its kinda creepy..) It was a good relaxing day to lead in to our busy week.
Today was the first day of our new schedual. (little kids from 8-930, then pre-teens until 1130, and teens from 2-4). We waited for the kids outside the Grupo CEO listening to the Children's Worship Hour music and dancing along. At one point, Bill decided that it would be fun to take one of my arms in one hand, and one of my legs in another and swing me around in circles! (yeah, you know like you do with 4 year olds? This man is strong!) Lucas was the first to show up around 830 so we got a bunch of balls out (the kind you find in ball pits at chuck E. cheeses) and played around with him for a while. When it was time to start the lesson we had three kids. The plan was to have them find stories in the Bible that show how God is in control (the Shadow question this week is "Who is in control of your Shadow?"). It didnt quite work out that way though, the kids told us that they didnt know any Bible stories, so we tried to give them the example of Creation, but they didnt know anything about it. We improvised and turned it into a lesson on the 7 days of Creation and they all got to pick a day and draw a picture about it. The whole thing reminded me of how we take our Sunday school stories and Bible lessons for granted most of the time. We disregard the stories because of our familiarization, but these kids see them for the amazing stories of God's power that they are!
When the lesson was over, the pre-teens started to arrive, (well, really they started to get there way before that, but that's another story) so we danced and sang for a while. We started out the pre-teen lesson with an illustrative game. We had four people in the middle and each had a partner. They had to close their eyes and try to find the balls in the middle of the circle while only listening to their partner who was "in control" of where they went. For the teaching time, we broke them into groups and had them find 3 different stories in the Bible that showed God's control, and this time it went as planned. All the kids participated really well and got introduced to different stories in the Bible.
After the lesson we had a snack, and then had sports (guess what we played..??). Then, once their hour of basketball was up, we prayed and said goodbye for the afternoon. I sat in the kitchen watching Sula and Amanda cook lunch/try and take each other down for a while and then it was time to eat.
Lunch was great, and i even got a nap in for an hour before it was time to get ready for the teens. 10 of them showed up and we sat at the big stone table talking about the lessons from last week that they didnt get to hear cuz they had school (Separation from God). We played a fun game with them about separation where you had to make a line with your team and try and hold a ball inbetween you and the person in front of you and walk a certain distance. It was pretty entertaining and took them a while, but eventually James, Douglas, Renan, and Alane came out on top!
We spent the entire hour of sports playing knockout (James has become my rival!) and got some pretty good videos and pictures that i'll be able to show you when i get back. Then it was time for playground time/soccer.
We started out watching the guys and Mariana (apparently the only girl brave enough to play with the guys!), and then headed over to the playground...BIG mistake! Sure, it started out as any regular playground time: i pushed Kelli on the swing as well as another boy, and got a bunch of hugs from little kids. But then i went over to where Douglas and Benjamin and Alane were sitting and they wanted me to sit in the sand with them. I wasnt really feeling it so i just stayed standing until they decided to make me sit. So i thought to myself, ok, im a little sandy, no big deal.
Then i went over to where Sula was sitting. She grinned at me and stood up and started coming my way i knew that could only mean one thing. But i wasnt too worried at that point, i can take Sula most of the time, but then she called for Douglas and Alane and Benjamin and long story short: i was no longer "a little sandy". And i didnt get taken down just once, but several, several times and eventually ended up getting burried in the sand completely. Needless to say i wasnt the giddiest person at that point, but i got my revenge and later Sula, Alane, and I all had to go rinse our faces, ears, and mouths! (dont worry, we have pictures/videos of that too)
Immediately after getting in the house i gathered my stuff and took a much needed shower. Then it was dinner time and we got a chance to talk with our new translator who just got here tonight. Not too much has been going on since then and im thinking that, after i go over the lesson im teaching tomorrow, im gonna be able to get to bed at a decent time!
Thanks to all you guys who have been faithfully reading my blog! i really appreciate your comments and prayers. Keep praying this week for the hearts of the teens with this being our first full week with them. Some of them have the attitude of "im too cool for this" and i pray that it doesnt get in the way of what God wants them to learn this summer! I'll talk at you all tomorrow!
Until next time,
Jo
Im not gonna do a whole blog about yesterday cuz not too much happened. Laisa left which was sad, we went to IBC, we chilled in the afternoon, and at night we went to the Grupo CEO church. The church welcomed its new pastor and his family. (he actually looks a lot like you, Dad. its kinda creepy..) It was a good relaxing day to lead in to our busy week.
Today was the first day of our new schedual. (little kids from 8-930, then pre-teens until 1130, and teens from 2-4). We waited for the kids outside the Grupo CEO listening to the Children's Worship Hour music and dancing along. At one point, Bill decided that it would be fun to take one of my arms in one hand, and one of my legs in another and swing me around in circles! (yeah, you know like you do with 4 year olds? This man is strong!) Lucas was the first to show up around 830 so we got a bunch of balls out (the kind you find in ball pits at chuck E. cheeses) and played around with him for a while. When it was time to start the lesson we had three kids. The plan was to have them find stories in the Bible that show how God is in control (the Shadow question this week is "Who is in control of your Shadow?"). It didnt quite work out that way though, the kids told us that they didnt know any Bible stories, so we tried to give them the example of Creation, but they didnt know anything about it. We improvised and turned it into a lesson on the 7 days of Creation and they all got to pick a day and draw a picture about it. The whole thing reminded me of how we take our Sunday school stories and Bible lessons for granted most of the time. We disregard the stories because of our familiarization, but these kids see them for the amazing stories of God's power that they are!
When the lesson was over, the pre-teens started to arrive, (well, really they started to get there way before that, but that's another story) so we danced and sang for a while. We started out the pre-teen lesson with an illustrative game. We had four people in the middle and each had a partner. They had to close their eyes and try to find the balls in the middle of the circle while only listening to their partner who was "in control" of where they went. For the teaching time, we broke them into groups and had them find 3 different stories in the Bible that showed God's control, and this time it went as planned. All the kids participated really well and got introduced to different stories in the Bible.
After the lesson we had a snack, and then had sports (guess what we played..??). Then, once their hour of basketball was up, we prayed and said goodbye for the afternoon. I sat in the kitchen watching Sula and Amanda cook lunch/try and take each other down for a while and then it was time to eat.
Lunch was great, and i even got a nap in for an hour before it was time to get ready for the teens. 10 of them showed up and we sat at the big stone table talking about the lessons from last week that they didnt get to hear cuz they had school (Separation from God). We played a fun game with them about separation where you had to make a line with your team and try and hold a ball inbetween you and the person in front of you and walk a certain distance. It was pretty entertaining and took them a while, but eventually James, Douglas, Renan, and Alane came out on top!
We spent the entire hour of sports playing knockout (James has become my rival!) and got some pretty good videos and pictures that i'll be able to show you when i get back. Then it was time for playground time/soccer.
We started out watching the guys and Mariana (apparently the only girl brave enough to play with the guys!), and then headed over to the playground...BIG mistake! Sure, it started out as any regular playground time: i pushed Kelli on the swing as well as another boy, and got a bunch of hugs from little kids. But then i went over to where Douglas and Benjamin and Alane were sitting and they wanted me to sit in the sand with them. I wasnt really feeling it so i just stayed standing until they decided to make me sit. So i thought to myself, ok, im a little sandy, no big deal.
Then i went over to where Sula was sitting. She grinned at me and stood up and started coming my way i knew that could only mean one thing. But i wasnt too worried at that point, i can take Sula most of the time, but then she called for Douglas and Alane and Benjamin and long story short: i was no longer "a little sandy". And i didnt get taken down just once, but several, several times and eventually ended up getting burried in the sand completely. Needless to say i wasnt the giddiest person at that point, but i got my revenge and later Sula, Alane, and I all had to go rinse our faces, ears, and mouths! (dont worry, we have pictures/videos of that too)
Immediately after getting in the house i gathered my stuff and took a much needed shower. Then it was dinner time and we got a chance to talk with our new translator who just got here tonight. Not too much has been going on since then and im thinking that, after i go over the lesson im teaching tomorrow, im gonna be able to get to bed at a decent time!
Thanks to all you guys who have been faithfully reading my blog! i really appreciate your comments and prayers. Keep praying this week for the hearts of the teens with this being our first full week with them. Some of them have the attitude of "im too cool for this" and i pray that it doesnt get in the way of what God wants them to learn this summer! I'll talk at you all tomorrow!
Until next time,
Jo
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Fast Morning, Slow Day, and a Little Bit of Tequila
Hello to all, Live from Brasil!!
We got to sleep in a little today! I got up around 7 and did some devos and soon Carlyn joined me in the living room. We all migrated to the kitchen when Erika woke up cuz we knew that meant that breakfast was coming up. Eventually it was the 3 of us and Bill all at the table enjoying some homemade, ham and cheese breakfast melts and a papia smoothie! Because we dont meet with the pre-teens on saturdays, Bill told us that the day was ours to do whatever. So we talked for a while and then one of the teen girls from the community called on the intercom wanting to have a girls soccer time and that sounded good to us! We made our way out to the field, knowing that we were about to be whooped by brasilians in their element that is soccer. It wasnt as bad as i thought it would be though! i managed to not loose the tip of my toenail until about halfway through and, even though my team was down most of the game, we rallied and i think ended up losing by only one goal! haha.
Within about an hour the heat got the best of me and i sat out on the side listening to music and "talking" with Alane, Lania, Joice, Laisa, and the other Americanas. We hung out for prolly another hour until it was time to go home for lunch, so we said goodbye and went and ate. (this time we had chicken with our rice instead of beans!!) After that the Americans, Laisa, and Erika all sat down at the table and began planning the three day pre-teen retreat that we'll be holding on the 16th 17th and 18th (i think). Its looking like it will be a busy weekend, but the kids are gonna have a ton of fun! I fully intended on getting online to blog after that, but once i laid down on the bed, i was out for the next few hours!
I woke up around 430 and finaly did go out and blog a little, and then Erika wanted to finish some planning for the retreat. We met for an hour or so and finished up the schedual, next comes the hard stuff: lesson planning and scavanger hunt making!
We wrapped that up around 6 due to the growling of our stomachs and hopped in the car to this small "restaurant" that a lady runs from her home. I tried a Brasilian Pastel which was delicious, ecspecially when you wash it down with and ice cold coke! Our entertainment for the evening was definately the owner's husband who showed up completely hammered! He's an older guy and told us how he has such a good heart and has always wanted to learn new languages and has always had good intentions to do great things (typical drunk talk if you ask me). It was hilarious though! We have officially nicknamed him "Tequila". And i got a picture with him that you'll all want to see!
When we were done eating, we piled back in the cars and headed home. It's been a much needed, relaxing day to prepare us for the next two very busy weeks! I miss you all and i cant wait to see you and tell you face to face what God has done! (well, actually i can, cuz in order to do that im gonna have to leave here..but you get the picture.) love you guys! = D
Until next time,
Jo
We got to sleep in a little today! I got up around 7 and did some devos and soon Carlyn joined me in the living room. We all migrated to the kitchen when Erika woke up cuz we knew that meant that breakfast was coming up. Eventually it was the 3 of us and Bill all at the table enjoying some homemade, ham and cheese breakfast melts and a papia smoothie! Because we dont meet with the pre-teens on saturdays, Bill told us that the day was ours to do whatever. So we talked for a while and then one of the teen girls from the community called on the intercom wanting to have a girls soccer time and that sounded good to us! We made our way out to the field, knowing that we were about to be whooped by brasilians in their element that is soccer. It wasnt as bad as i thought it would be though! i managed to not loose the tip of my toenail until about halfway through and, even though my team was down most of the game, we rallied and i think ended up losing by only one goal! haha.
Within about an hour the heat got the best of me and i sat out on the side listening to music and "talking" with Alane, Lania, Joice, Laisa, and the other Americanas. We hung out for prolly another hour until it was time to go home for lunch, so we said goodbye and went and ate. (this time we had chicken with our rice instead of beans!!) After that the Americans, Laisa, and Erika all sat down at the table and began planning the three day pre-teen retreat that we'll be holding on the 16th 17th and 18th (i think). Its looking like it will be a busy weekend, but the kids are gonna have a ton of fun! I fully intended on getting online to blog after that, but once i laid down on the bed, i was out for the next few hours!
I woke up around 430 and finaly did go out and blog a little, and then Erika wanted to finish some planning for the retreat. We met for an hour or so and finished up the schedual, next comes the hard stuff: lesson planning and scavanger hunt making!
We wrapped that up around 6 due to the growling of our stomachs and hopped in the car to this small "restaurant" that a lady runs from her home. I tried a Brasilian Pastel which was delicious, ecspecially when you wash it down with and ice cold coke! Our entertainment for the evening was definately the owner's husband who showed up completely hammered! He's an older guy and told us how he has such a good heart and has always wanted to learn new languages and has always had good intentions to do great things (typical drunk talk if you ask me). It was hilarious though! We have officially nicknamed him "Tequila". And i got a picture with him that you'll all want to see!
When we were done eating, we piled back in the cars and headed home. It's been a much needed, relaxing day to prepare us for the next two very busy weeks! I miss you all and i cant wait to see you and tell you face to face what God has done! (well, actually i can, cuz in order to do that im gonna have to leave here..but you get the picture.) love you guys! = D
Until next time,
Jo
Movie Night
6/26/09
Hello to all, Live from Brasil!!
It was another great day for us here in NE Brasil! The morning went as usuall. We woke up, ate breakfast, went to the Grupo CEO building for the lesson, and got attacked by the kids! During the hanging out time beforehand i put on our basketball team's warm-up music and the kids loved it! they started breakdancing and got into it. (thanks for the cd Coach!) The lesson was about forgiveness so we read the story about the servant who was in debt and was forgiven, but didnt forgive his friend's debt against him. We challenged the kids to think of someone who they needed to forgive and go and reconcile with them by Monday. One of the boys named Tiago said that he didnt know if he could forgive this person, so pray for us as we try and help him understand the importance and significance of forgiveness.
After the lesson, we were finally able to get back on the court! We broke it up with boys at one basket and girls at another and that seemed to work better cuz it kept more people involved.
When the pre-teens had to leave, a few teen guys stayed and played their version of a game of 4 on 4. It was quite.. something. Then it was time for James and his little sister Valesca (the ones who had been staying with us since their mom died last week) to leave and go back home to their grandmother's house. We said our goodbyes knowing that James would be around cuz he has a bike, but Valesca has no way of getting to Grupo CEO from their house. Im gonna miss them being here. It is going to be more quiet around here too cuz Valesca was always in our room reading different childrens books. She is so cute! Please keep praying for their peace and guidance as a family and as believers.
When Bill and Erika returned from taking them home, we had lunch (guess what we ate..?) and then had some down time. I blogged and then tried to catch a nap, but soon Sula came in our room yelling, "Let's go!". That meant that the second group of pre-teens had just showed up.
We all went outside to the court and had our lesson by the dorms. That group seemed to understand and accept the forgivness idea a little better. Then it was time to ball it up! We broke them into teams and watched Etulo dominate the game. (he's by far the strongest and fastest, and also the sweatiest! im talkin, you-brush-past-him-a-your-whole-arm-looks-like-you-just-got-out-of-the-pool sweaty!) After his team won, we all were pretty tired, so we sat around telling different jokes throught Laisa's translation. She insisted that some of the ones we thought were lame were way more funny in Portuguese...a likely excuse for someone who just stinks at telling jokes! Just kidding, she's cool.
When it was time for the kids to leave, we all went back inside and chilled for a while wondering why Bill and Erika (who had left to take Bill Moore Senior to the airport right after lunch) werent back yet. 530 rolled around and still no sign of them, and, knowing that there was supposed to be both an teen and a pre-teen meeting at 6 we started to get pretty curious. We decided to walk over to the gate to see what was going on. The kids were outside waiting, probably just as confused as we were (it was about 550 at that point) so we decided to go back inside and call Bill. But, just as we turned and headed for the house, the gate opened and Erika pulled in behind us. Why did we ever doubt?! haha.
There were about 40 pre-teens and 25 teens at the meetings. Laura, Carlyn, and I went to the teen meeting that was lead by a young guy from IBC (a local supporting church). We turned out the lights and watched Yes Man (which i thought was an... interesting choice) in Portuguese with engilsh subtitles. Well, i guess some people watched it. The people around me were to busy shoving popcorn in my face and trying to throw it in my mouth. It was a lot of fun, actually!
When the movie was over, the IBC guy talked to the teens about Matthew and went chapter by chapter talking about... well im not exactly sure what he was talking about cuz i wasnt sitting next to Laisa, but whatever it was he used a lot of scripture and kept the teens attention!
Afterwards we hung out for a while playing the slapping game, kicking around the soccer ball, talking, etc. which was good cuz we havent gotten to spend a whole lot of time with the teens. Oh, and the girl Joice who I've mentioned before, i took her down 5 times last night and she only got me once! And before you say, "oh, my goodness, Jordan, what are you doing to those sweet little kids?!" let me tell you that Joice isn't one of "those kids". She's tough and likes to see if she's tougher than you are. So i just keep having to show her that, even though im the little Christian, Americana, she still cant take me. And plus, she started it...
We stayed out there with the teens until about 1030 and then came in and ate dinner. Then, after our long day, we finaly got to get some sleep.
We've been able to build great relationships with these kids, and now we're gonna have the opportunity to really influence their lives and their view of Christ. Please pray that we're sensetive to the Holy Spirit so that each one of these kids hear exactly what they need to hear. I am so happy to have this chance to serve my King in the way that He has designed me to! Thank you for your support and prayers!
Until next time,
Jo
Hello to all, Live from Brasil!!
It was another great day for us here in NE Brasil! The morning went as usuall. We woke up, ate breakfast, went to the Grupo CEO building for the lesson, and got attacked by the kids! During the hanging out time beforehand i put on our basketball team's warm-up music and the kids loved it! they started breakdancing and got into it. (thanks for the cd Coach!) The lesson was about forgiveness so we read the story about the servant who was in debt and was forgiven, but didnt forgive his friend's debt against him. We challenged the kids to think of someone who they needed to forgive and go and reconcile with them by Monday. One of the boys named Tiago said that he didnt know if he could forgive this person, so pray for us as we try and help him understand the importance and significance of forgiveness.
After the lesson, we were finally able to get back on the court! We broke it up with boys at one basket and girls at another and that seemed to work better cuz it kept more people involved.
When the pre-teens had to leave, a few teen guys stayed and played their version of a game of 4 on 4. It was quite.. something. Then it was time for James and his little sister Valesca (the ones who had been staying with us since their mom died last week) to leave and go back home to their grandmother's house. We said our goodbyes knowing that James would be around cuz he has a bike, but Valesca has no way of getting to Grupo CEO from their house. Im gonna miss them being here. It is going to be more quiet around here too cuz Valesca was always in our room reading different childrens books. She is so cute! Please keep praying for their peace and guidance as a family and as believers.
When Bill and Erika returned from taking them home, we had lunch (guess what we ate..?) and then had some down time. I blogged and then tried to catch a nap, but soon Sula came in our room yelling, "Let's go!". That meant that the second group of pre-teens had just showed up.
We all went outside to the court and had our lesson by the dorms. That group seemed to understand and accept the forgivness idea a little better. Then it was time to ball it up! We broke them into teams and watched Etulo dominate the game. (he's by far the strongest and fastest, and also the sweatiest! im talkin, you-brush-past-him-a-your-whole-arm-looks-like-you-just-got-out-of-the-pool sweaty!) After his team won, we all were pretty tired, so we sat around telling different jokes throught Laisa's translation. She insisted that some of the ones we thought were lame were way more funny in Portuguese...a likely excuse for someone who just stinks at telling jokes! Just kidding, she's cool.
When it was time for the kids to leave, we all went back inside and chilled for a while wondering why Bill and Erika (who had left to take Bill Moore Senior to the airport right after lunch) werent back yet. 530 rolled around and still no sign of them, and, knowing that there was supposed to be both an teen and a pre-teen meeting at 6 we started to get pretty curious. We decided to walk over to the gate to see what was going on. The kids were outside waiting, probably just as confused as we were (it was about 550 at that point) so we decided to go back inside and call Bill. But, just as we turned and headed for the house, the gate opened and Erika pulled in behind us. Why did we ever doubt?! haha.
There were about 40 pre-teens and 25 teens at the meetings. Laura, Carlyn, and I went to the teen meeting that was lead by a young guy from IBC (a local supporting church). We turned out the lights and watched Yes Man (which i thought was an... interesting choice) in Portuguese with engilsh subtitles. Well, i guess some people watched it. The people around me were to busy shoving popcorn in my face and trying to throw it in my mouth. It was a lot of fun, actually!
When the movie was over, the IBC guy talked to the teens about Matthew and went chapter by chapter talking about... well im not exactly sure what he was talking about cuz i wasnt sitting next to Laisa, but whatever it was he used a lot of scripture and kept the teens attention!
Afterwards we hung out for a while playing the slapping game, kicking around the soccer ball, talking, etc. which was good cuz we havent gotten to spend a whole lot of time with the teens. Oh, and the girl Joice who I've mentioned before, i took her down 5 times last night and she only got me once! And before you say, "oh, my goodness, Jordan, what are you doing to those sweet little kids?!" let me tell you that Joice isn't one of "those kids". She's tough and likes to see if she's tougher than you are. So i just keep having to show her that, even though im the little Christian, Americana, she still cant take me. And plus, she started it...
We stayed out there with the teens until about 1030 and then came in and ate dinner. Then, after our long day, we finaly got to get some sleep.
We've been able to build great relationships with these kids, and now we're gonna have the opportunity to really influence their lives and their view of Christ. Please pray that we're sensetive to the Holy Spirit so that each one of these kids hear exactly what they need to hear. I am so happy to have this chance to serve my King in the way that He has designed me to! Thank you for your support and prayers!
Until next time,
Jo
Friday, June 26, 2009
Pato, Pato, Ganso!
6/25/09
Hello to all, Live from Brasil!!
Today started out a little differently. I woke up at 6 before the others and did my devos and the whole time i heard this weird music playing over and over again. Soon Carlyn got up and we determined that it was coming from Bills phone, which he had left in the living room over night. So we just sat around for about thirty minutes wondering why no one was around and trying to figure out how to open the gate that gets locked over the door every night. Eventually, Bill emerged from his room, grabbed his phone off the table and said "oh, it's time to get up." we laughed at him and made our way to the kitchen (after seeing how Erika gets the gate unlocked) and had some awesome bread and eggs for breakfast! (more guava jelly!) We didnt head over to the Grupo CEO building until about 815 (we're supposed to be there at 730) and started dancing. We tried doing Cotton-Eyed Joe, but the kids said it was too hard. The lesson was about God's forgiveness and Salvation and the kids were a little less talkative than usual. At least they heard what was said though.
Because of our late start, we didnt have much time for games, and we were inside again due to the rain. So we had to improvise and ended up played Duck, Duck, Goose! We added a little twist to it too. If you were it three times in a row, you had to get in the middle and do a little "snake dance" for everyone. It was pretty entertaining and the kids really liked it. We did have a couple whipe outs too!
When it was time for them all to go to school, Joice, Lania, Laiza and i were talking and we found out that Joice and Lania only go to school like once a week! And Joice wants to be a lawyer! We tried to explain to them that they wont get anywhere if they dont go to school, and that God has provided this great opportunity for them, but they arent taking advantage of it. I told them that if i didnt go to school, i wouldnt have been able to be there with them and they thought about that for a second. Laiza and I got them to pinky promise that they would go, but werent really sure if they would or not.
Eventually we made our way back to the house and i brushed up on some of my Portuguese verbs with my "Portuguese for Dummies" book. Then i journaled until Erika came up and asked if we wanted to go on a house visit with her and, of course, we said yes!
The five of us and another lady from the community walked a short ways do this elderly lady's house who was very sick. We stood in the doorway while erika and the other women gathered around the lady's hammock. She was too weak to even really speak or sit up. We stayed there for about half an hour then headed home.
We all hung out in Douglas and Patrick's room with James watching the Brasil V.S. South Africa game when Sula came and stood in the doorway. The two of us had a mini throwdown earlier, and Douglas and i had been at each other all day, so i sat where i could keep an eye on them both. Then Sula looked at Douglas and i heard her say "bora!" which means "let's go!" and they both came at me! The "fight" started in their room, moved into the kitchen, then outside in front of the dorms, behind the house, and beside the dorm. At some point James joined in on the fun and it was a 3 on 1 brawl! Inevitably, i ended up on the ground with Sula at my feet, and Douglas sitting on top of me (i really dont know what James was doing at that point). If you ask them, they'll tell you they won, but, thanks to Carlyn, we have it all on video, so you can be the judge of that.
We went straight from the yard to Children's Worship Hour which was a blast of course! We were standing outside for a little while when Lania walked up in her school uniform! And Joice soon followed with the same great news! Mission accomplished!
We changed it up a little at the end of the hour with our line dancing and American songs then they pulled out some breakdancing moves! we all gathered in a circle around the dancers and they're not too bad! At one point they all started chanting my name to get me to go in the middle and do something, and, as you all know, I cant breakdance!! The only thing i know how to do is the worm, so i pulled that out and they thought it was pretty cool. Then they got Laiza in there and she did a little jig and got right out of there! Then they wanted me back in there then so i did that little thing Eduardo taught me and i was done for the night. Finaly, after a ton of hugs, we went inside and left the kids on the other side of the gate.
Dinner was great (Erika's awesome potato lasagna!) and then Erika was like, "hey, you're all women. Let's go to the woman's Bible Study!" So we gladly relinquished our dish washing duties and were out the door. The woman's house was about a seven minute walk away. She was another very sick and elderly lady who couldnt get out of her chair and spoke in a barely audible voice.
We prayed to get started and then one of the woman read from Isaiah 50. She told the old woman that, if she had true faith, God could heal her from her sickness if He wanted to and that that He is powerful enough to completely take her pain away. Then the woman prayed again and started crying, pleading to God to take away her friend's sickness. It was a really moving experience. Brought tears to my eyes.. Laiza told us that the old woman said she had a dream that she had to say goodbye to all her loved ones and that she wanted her sister (who she has recently gotten into a big fight with) to be there with her. So the women are going to try and bring her sister to her house tomorrow.
When we left i started looking at the beautiful sky and stars that stretched like an umbrella over her tiny little house. It was like God was reminding me of how much He has blessed me. Like he was saying "That woman that you just met seems simple and insignificant now because she has so little, but i used her. I have given you so much more and have put so many opportunities before you to serve Me, so dont you dare hold back. I want to use you, so keep listening, and let Me." God is so GREAT! Amen?
We walked back to the house and hung out for a little while, listened to some of Laiza's lame chicken jokes and then it was time to get some sleep so tomorrow morning would come as quickly as possible! It was another fabulouse day in our Brasilian paradise.. = )
Until next time,
Jo
Hello to all, Live from Brasil!!
Today started out a little differently. I woke up at 6 before the others and did my devos and the whole time i heard this weird music playing over and over again. Soon Carlyn got up and we determined that it was coming from Bills phone, which he had left in the living room over night. So we just sat around for about thirty minutes wondering why no one was around and trying to figure out how to open the gate that gets locked over the door every night. Eventually, Bill emerged from his room, grabbed his phone off the table and said "oh, it's time to get up." we laughed at him and made our way to the kitchen (after seeing how Erika gets the gate unlocked) and had some awesome bread and eggs for breakfast! (more guava jelly!) We didnt head over to the Grupo CEO building until about 815 (we're supposed to be there at 730) and started dancing. We tried doing Cotton-Eyed Joe, but the kids said it was too hard. The lesson was about God's forgiveness and Salvation and the kids were a little less talkative than usual. At least they heard what was said though.
Because of our late start, we didnt have much time for games, and we were inside again due to the rain. So we had to improvise and ended up played Duck, Duck, Goose! We added a little twist to it too. If you were it three times in a row, you had to get in the middle and do a little "snake dance" for everyone. It was pretty entertaining and the kids really liked it. We did have a couple whipe outs too!
When it was time for them all to go to school, Joice, Lania, Laiza and i were talking and we found out that Joice and Lania only go to school like once a week! And Joice wants to be a lawyer! We tried to explain to them that they wont get anywhere if they dont go to school, and that God has provided this great opportunity for them, but they arent taking advantage of it. I told them that if i didnt go to school, i wouldnt have been able to be there with them and they thought about that for a second. Laiza and I got them to pinky promise that they would go, but werent really sure if they would or not.
Eventually we made our way back to the house and i brushed up on some of my Portuguese verbs with my "Portuguese for Dummies" book. Then i journaled until Erika came up and asked if we wanted to go on a house visit with her and, of course, we said yes!
The five of us and another lady from the community walked a short ways do this elderly lady's house who was very sick. We stood in the doorway while erika and the other women gathered around the lady's hammock. She was too weak to even really speak or sit up. We stayed there for about half an hour then headed home.
We all hung out in Douglas and Patrick's room with James watching the Brasil V.S. South Africa game when Sula came and stood in the doorway. The two of us had a mini throwdown earlier, and Douglas and i had been at each other all day, so i sat where i could keep an eye on them both. Then Sula looked at Douglas and i heard her say "bora!" which means "let's go!" and they both came at me! The "fight" started in their room, moved into the kitchen, then outside in front of the dorms, behind the house, and beside the dorm. At some point James joined in on the fun and it was a 3 on 1 brawl! Inevitably, i ended up on the ground with Sula at my feet, and Douglas sitting on top of me (i really dont know what James was doing at that point). If you ask them, they'll tell you they won, but, thanks to Carlyn, we have it all on video, so you can be the judge of that.
We went straight from the yard to Children's Worship Hour which was a blast of course! We were standing outside for a little while when Lania walked up in her school uniform! And Joice soon followed with the same great news! Mission accomplished!
We changed it up a little at the end of the hour with our line dancing and American songs then they pulled out some breakdancing moves! we all gathered in a circle around the dancers and they're not too bad! At one point they all started chanting my name to get me to go in the middle and do something, and, as you all know, I cant breakdance!! The only thing i know how to do is the worm, so i pulled that out and they thought it was pretty cool. Then they got Laiza in there and she did a little jig and got right out of there! Then they wanted me back in there then so i did that little thing Eduardo taught me and i was done for the night. Finaly, after a ton of hugs, we went inside and left the kids on the other side of the gate.
Dinner was great (Erika's awesome potato lasagna!) and then Erika was like, "hey, you're all women. Let's go to the woman's Bible Study!" So we gladly relinquished our dish washing duties and were out the door. The woman's house was about a seven minute walk away. She was another very sick and elderly lady who couldnt get out of her chair and spoke in a barely audible voice.
We prayed to get started and then one of the woman read from Isaiah 50. She told the old woman that, if she had true faith, God could heal her from her sickness if He wanted to and that that He is powerful enough to completely take her pain away. Then the woman prayed again and started crying, pleading to God to take away her friend's sickness. It was a really moving experience. Brought tears to my eyes.. Laiza told us that the old woman said she had a dream that she had to say goodbye to all her loved ones and that she wanted her sister (who she has recently gotten into a big fight with) to be there with her. So the women are going to try and bring her sister to her house tomorrow.
When we left i started looking at the beautiful sky and stars that stretched like an umbrella over her tiny little house. It was like God was reminding me of how much He has blessed me. Like he was saying "That woman that you just met seems simple and insignificant now because she has so little, but i used her. I have given you so much more and have put so many opportunities before you to serve Me, so dont you dare hold back. I want to use you, so keep listening, and let Me." God is so GREAT! Amen?
We walked back to the house and hung out for a little while, listened to some of Laiza's lame chicken jokes and then it was time to get some sleep so tomorrow morning would come as quickly as possible! It was another fabulouse day in our Brasilian paradise.. = )
Until next time,
Jo
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Come Again Some Other Day....
6/24/09
Hello to all, Live from Brasil!!
Another rainy day here for us in Maracanau. Teaching time was great though! It was about how we make excuses for our sins. So we started playing hangman with the kids, and the we spelled the last word very wrong. (Jesus, same in english and portuguese) I belived i spelled it JASESU or something along those lines, and, of course, the kids thought we were just arrongant Americans who dont know how to spell! They started yelling at me to change it and yelled out the right letters. Eventually i got it down to JASUS and they were all shouting "Nao A, E! E!" It couldnt have gone any better! Finally, after pretending we didnt notice it, saying thats how its supposed to be spelled, and flat out covering it up so no one could see it, Mateous grabbed the marker out of my hand and changed the letter himself! That's when we explained to them that we knew we spelled it wrong and told them that thats what we do with our sin sometimes. We cover it up, say its not that bad, and dont listen to others when they try and correct us. Then we took them over to the playground (remember, it's a giant sandbox) and had them find a place by themselves. Then they wrote a sin that they had commited in the sand, prayed to God to forgive them for it, and finally erased it from the sand, just like Christ erased it from their hearts. it was really cool.
After the lesson, we played dodgeball again, on accout of the rain, and my team actually won some games! It was great! (even though Lania nailed me in the head with the ball)
When it was time for them to go to school, we went back home, but Sula was still in the process of cleaning the house so Erika made the executive decision that everyone needed to stay out of the house until lunch. So Carlyn and Amanda (Bill's daughter) grabbed their suits and headed to the pool. I wasnt feeling the wetness so i decided against getting my suit on and took a seat by the pool. So i'm chillin' there for a while talking with James and Patrick and trying to teach them a little "double talk" when i see Bill walk out. Red alert!! So i thought to myself "i better get away from the pool!" Then I, being my intuative self, moved a good 8 to 10 yards away from the pool, under the pavilion. Im safe now, right? WRONG! Bill, seemingly nonthreatening, walked passed me to "lay his towel down" Psshha, just kidding! It one swift motion Bill wrapped his towel around me as a restraint and lifted me right out of my chair! (that man is stronger than he looks!) Long story short, i ended up in a body of water against my will for the third time this summer...
After our pool escapade, it was finally time for lunch; rice and beans instead of beans and rice this time. ; D Once lunch was over i got to take a short nap, but woke up before Carlyn and Laura, so i decided to journal in the living room/kitchen. Soon James and Sula were in there too and we did our best to have conversations accross the language barrier. it was fun though!
After that, it being Wednesday and all, we headed into the city. During the drive over there, i was asked to entertain the passengers with my Aladdin memorizations skills and they enjoyed the show! they all think im a weirdo now, but they enjoyed the show. Bill and Erika dropped us Americans off and our translator Laisa's house where we hung out for about half an hour playing "Im going on a trip.." After that, the six of us all went to the mall for some dinner at the food court. I had a fabulouse kalzone and washed it down with nothing other than a Guarana! (the best pop in all of Brasil, possibly all the world..) The ride back to Grupo CEO felt extra long with six of us in a tiny car, but we managed and eventually pulled in the garage at around 730. For some reason, all of us were dead tired. Even tired enough to skip out on late night smoothie time! Laura, Carlyn, and I were all fast asleep by 8. It was quite a day, and of course, another blessing in Brasil.
Until next time,
Jo
Hello to all, Live from Brasil!!
Another rainy day here for us in Maracanau. Teaching time was great though! It was about how we make excuses for our sins. So we started playing hangman with the kids, and the we spelled the last word very wrong. (Jesus, same in english and portuguese) I belived i spelled it JASESU or something along those lines, and, of course, the kids thought we were just arrongant Americans who dont know how to spell! They started yelling at me to change it and yelled out the right letters. Eventually i got it down to JASUS and they were all shouting "Nao A, E! E!" It couldnt have gone any better! Finally, after pretending we didnt notice it, saying thats how its supposed to be spelled, and flat out covering it up so no one could see it, Mateous grabbed the marker out of my hand and changed the letter himself! That's when we explained to them that we knew we spelled it wrong and told them that thats what we do with our sin sometimes. We cover it up, say its not that bad, and dont listen to others when they try and correct us. Then we took them over to the playground (remember, it's a giant sandbox) and had them find a place by themselves. Then they wrote a sin that they had commited in the sand, prayed to God to forgive them for it, and finally erased it from the sand, just like Christ erased it from their hearts. it was really cool.
After the lesson, we played dodgeball again, on accout of the rain, and my team actually won some games! It was great! (even though Lania nailed me in the head with the ball)
When it was time for them to go to school, we went back home, but Sula was still in the process of cleaning the house so Erika made the executive decision that everyone needed to stay out of the house until lunch. So Carlyn and Amanda (Bill's daughter) grabbed their suits and headed to the pool. I wasnt feeling the wetness so i decided against getting my suit on and took a seat by the pool. So i'm chillin' there for a while talking with James and Patrick and trying to teach them a little "double talk" when i see Bill walk out. Red alert!! So i thought to myself "i better get away from the pool!" Then I, being my intuative self, moved a good 8 to 10 yards away from the pool, under the pavilion. Im safe now, right? WRONG! Bill, seemingly nonthreatening, walked passed me to "lay his towel down" Psshha, just kidding! It one swift motion Bill wrapped his towel around me as a restraint and lifted me right out of my chair! (that man is stronger than he looks!) Long story short, i ended up in a body of water against my will for the third time this summer...
After our pool escapade, it was finally time for lunch; rice and beans instead of beans and rice this time. ; D Once lunch was over i got to take a short nap, but woke up before Carlyn and Laura, so i decided to journal in the living room/kitchen. Soon James and Sula were in there too and we did our best to have conversations accross the language barrier. it was fun though!
After that, it being Wednesday and all, we headed into the city. During the drive over there, i was asked to entertain the passengers with my Aladdin memorizations skills and they enjoyed the show! they all think im a weirdo now, but they enjoyed the show. Bill and Erika dropped us Americans off and our translator Laisa's house where we hung out for about half an hour playing "Im going on a trip.." After that, the six of us all went to the mall for some dinner at the food court. I had a fabulouse kalzone and washed it down with nothing other than a Guarana! (the best pop in all of Brasil, possibly all the world..) The ride back to Grupo CEO felt extra long with six of us in a tiny car, but we managed and eventually pulled in the garage at around 730. For some reason, all of us were dead tired. Even tired enough to skip out on late night smoothie time! Laura, Carlyn, and I were all fast asleep by 8. It was quite a day, and of course, another blessing in Brasil.
Until next time,
Jo
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Rain, Rain, Go Away
Hello to all, Live from Brasil!!
Today started off a little earlier for me cuz i joined Carlyn for breakfast at 6. I had toast with guava jelly! yum! We sat around and talked for a while and eventually the rest of the group trickled in (which now includes our translator, Laisa). we headed over to the Grupo CEO building around 730 where the kids were outside waiting for us in the steadily falling rain. We started off our pre-teen time with some line dancing! We helped them learn the electric slide (which was quite the task) and put a christian spin on it by playing the song "Beautiful One". That's when Bill told us that we would be preforming this line dance of ours at church on sunday. woohoo!
Because of the rain, we couldnt play basketball as intended, so we had to think of another game we could play inside. at first we tried to teach them Signs....not so much... we ended up staying inside that small building and played dodgeball (the brasilian way) with one ball, and the kids had a blast! we prolly played about 9 games! (my team lost about 7 of them..) Eduardo also taught me a sort of breakdancing move, so you all better watch out!
Soon it was time for the kids to go to school (some of them have it in the afternoon) so, after i retrieved my water bottle and camera from Joice and Fatima who thought it was a great idea to steal my stuff so I'd have to chase them around, we made our way back to the house for lunch.
That was when Sula and Thiago (now known as James to the Americans) had their showdown! I have no idea what started it all, but the two of them ended up going after each other in the kitchen, and, for the first time, i saw Sula get taken down! Of course, right after James got her off her feet, he ran away like a little girl. It was quite a sight.
Later the second group of pre-teens came and it finally stopped raining for a while! We messed around on the basketball court playing keep away and HORSE and whatnot, and eventually it was time for the kids to move from the court to the playground. "Vamos para O parkino!"
Now for those of you who dont know, let me clarify one thing: this playground is basically a swing set in a huge sandbox! so what better game to play then "let's-try-and-throw-as-much-sand-as-we-can-on-the-brasilian-looking american-without-her-catching-us!" ok, so maybe it wasnt that bad, but i did end up with an unpleasant amount of sand in my hair!
Luckily, the bible study wasnt for a couple more hours, so i had plenty of time to take a shower and hang out with James, Douglas, Patrick, and Carlyn.
Bill Moore Senior did the Bible Study and, from what i could tell from the other side of the language barrier, he did a great job. i had my camera there with me and all the kids kept coming up and doing camera gestures saying "foto, foto!" Benjamin ended up being our photographer. haha.
At that point, right when i was getting hungry, Erika announced that it was time for the Americans to leave and, after again retreiving my Bible and Camera, we went in the house for some brasilian gumbo! it was fantastic! i pulled out my bag of Twizzlers for dessert (strawberry of course, not that nasty, black junk) and it was gone in a span of 10 minutes. Good stuff, those Twizzlers... Ever since then Douglas, (aka Shelby... dont worry about it..), James, and Carlyn have been hanging out in the living room and having a great time despite, and often thanks to, the difference in cultures and languages. God is so GOOD!
He has given me the blessing of these relationships that i have been able to build, so please pray that i can use the infulence i have to further His Kingdom!
Well, hopefully it doesnt rain tomorrow so we can get back out on the court! I'll talk at you all tomorrow night!
Until next time,
Jo
Today started off a little earlier for me cuz i joined Carlyn for breakfast at 6. I had toast with guava jelly! yum! We sat around and talked for a while and eventually the rest of the group trickled in (which now includes our translator, Laisa). we headed over to the Grupo CEO building around 730 where the kids were outside waiting for us in the steadily falling rain. We started off our pre-teen time with some line dancing! We helped them learn the electric slide (which was quite the task) and put a christian spin on it by playing the song "Beautiful One". That's when Bill told us that we would be preforming this line dance of ours at church on sunday. woohoo!
Because of the rain, we couldnt play basketball as intended, so we had to think of another game we could play inside. at first we tried to teach them Signs....not so much... we ended up staying inside that small building and played dodgeball (the brasilian way) with one ball, and the kids had a blast! we prolly played about 9 games! (my team lost about 7 of them..) Eduardo also taught me a sort of breakdancing move, so you all better watch out!
Soon it was time for the kids to go to school (some of them have it in the afternoon) so, after i retrieved my water bottle and camera from Joice and Fatima who thought it was a great idea to steal my stuff so I'd have to chase them around, we made our way back to the house for lunch.
That was when Sula and Thiago (now known as James to the Americans) had their showdown! I have no idea what started it all, but the two of them ended up going after each other in the kitchen, and, for the first time, i saw Sula get taken down! Of course, right after James got her off her feet, he ran away like a little girl. It was quite a sight.
Later the second group of pre-teens came and it finally stopped raining for a while! We messed around on the basketball court playing keep away and HORSE and whatnot, and eventually it was time for the kids to move from the court to the playground. "Vamos para O parkino!"
Now for those of you who dont know, let me clarify one thing: this playground is basically a swing set in a huge sandbox! so what better game to play then "let's-try-and-throw-as-much-sand-as-we-can-on-the-brasilian-looking american-without-her-catching-us!" ok, so maybe it wasnt that bad, but i did end up with an unpleasant amount of sand in my hair!
Luckily, the bible study wasnt for a couple more hours, so i had plenty of time to take a shower and hang out with James, Douglas, Patrick, and Carlyn.
Bill Moore Senior did the Bible Study and, from what i could tell from the other side of the language barrier, he did a great job. i had my camera there with me and all the kids kept coming up and doing camera gestures saying "foto, foto!" Benjamin ended up being our photographer. haha.
At that point, right when i was getting hungry, Erika announced that it was time for the Americans to leave and, after again retreiving my Bible and Camera, we went in the house for some brasilian gumbo! it was fantastic! i pulled out my bag of Twizzlers for dessert (strawberry of course, not that nasty, black junk) and it was gone in a span of 10 minutes. Good stuff, those Twizzlers... Ever since then Douglas, (aka Shelby... dont worry about it..), James, and Carlyn have been hanging out in the living room and having a great time despite, and often thanks to, the difference in cultures and languages. God is so GOOD!
He has given me the blessing of these relationships that i have been able to build, so please pray that i can use the infulence i have to further His Kingdom!
Well, hopefully it doesnt rain tomorrow so we can get back out on the court! I'll talk at you all tomorrow night!
Until next time,
Jo
Monday, June 22, 2009
Long Time No...Blog
Hello to all, live from Brasil!!
Hey everyone! i know its been a few days since you last heard from me, and thats cuz we've had so much to do!!
VQ was absolutely awesome! I cant even tell you all the stuff we did in the 24 hours that we were there. If you want details, you'll have to ask me when i get back. but here's a ROUGH outline:
.....leave for VQ...stop at house where sula watched her soap opra and we ate cake... leave the cars at a lady's house and start walking...sula jumps into the river/waterfall and is wet the rest of the night... bill falls off his bike and the crayons that were in his cart go everywhere...we hike the rest of the 4 miles.. we get to VQ... we do the electric slide and try to teach the brasilians... we play a new slapping game that hurts like no other!... the village kids arrive... erika gives a short lesson and we "paint" (color) with the kids... we blow up balloons and the kids go crazy!... we have worship time and play the slapping game some more... the kids leave and we eat dinner.. we set up the hammocks (ten people in one room!!)... we go to sleep to jungle sounds and critters running around on the ceiling beams....... bill wakes us up at 6 and takes us down to the river... i get in the water againts my will for the first time thanks to Sula and Fatima and get sand EVERYWHERE! (if you know what i mean..)... we go eat hotdogs for breakfast... we wait for Johana and Jeir to arrive with the food for the VQ people.. Fatima accidently slaps a little kid across the face while playing th slapping game (it was sad but also hilarious!!)... we hike 4 1/2 miles to the farthest house in the village and have the best coffee i have ever tasted.. Pastor Egnardo gives a sermon and we have acoustic worship.. we head back the way we came and Bill, Sula, and Carlyn jump in a lake... Bill stops at another house because they had yogurt for him to eat (good ol' Bill)... we get back to the house we stayed at, go down to the river, and i get taken down in the river for the second time (again, thanks to Sula)... we eat luch and pack up...we leave and get separated on the path back.. Sula, Fatima, Etulo, and i walk back together without saying a whole lot until Sula pulls out her phone and starts playing some Akon and "My Humps" (yeah, i know)... we get back to the cars and start the 2 hour ride home..... we arrive back at Grupo CEO around 7.
And thats just an outline!!! Ahhh!! lol
It was a great experience though and this has already been the best summer of my life!
Yesterday was rather sad though. when Erika woke me up in the morning, she told me that she had to go get Thiago (one of the teens i knew from the last time i was here) because his mom passed away during the night. We went to the funeral and Thiago and his little sister are staying with us for now. Please pray for peace for their family.
Today has been good though!. i played basketball for hours and learned another slapping game called Ai! basicly you slap each other as hard as you can and you cant audibly express pain in any way or you're out. it hurts!!! the lesson today was about sin and the question for the week is "what's hiding in your shadow" your shadow is just your influence on the world and your heart. the kids seem to be understanding what we have to say so keep praying for their hearts to be open!
I absolutely love it here and, even though i miss you all, i am the happiest ive been in a long time. God has seriously blessed me by letting me come down here and i hope i can bless these kids in a similar way. thank you for all your prayers. i have to give a shout out to some people so if i say your name you better be reading this: Hey Deanna, David, Toup, Abigail, Robert, Nate... hmm, who else did i say i would give a shout out to?.... All the hangout people! Oh, and Lauren Workman, i was looking at your profile picture earlier and i was wondering, how do you do that? Do what you might ask?? Look SO GOOD!!! haha love you all!
Well im sure ive left a TON of stuff out, but that gives you an idea of whats been going on recently. I know God is about to do something truly great and i cant wait to share it with you!
Until next time,
Jo
Hey everyone! i know its been a few days since you last heard from me, and thats cuz we've had so much to do!!
VQ was absolutely awesome! I cant even tell you all the stuff we did in the 24 hours that we were there. If you want details, you'll have to ask me when i get back. but here's a ROUGH outline:
.....leave for VQ...stop at house where sula watched her soap opra and we ate cake... leave the cars at a lady's house and start walking...sula jumps into the river/waterfall and is wet the rest of the night... bill falls off his bike and the crayons that were in his cart go everywhere...we hike the rest of the 4 miles.. we get to VQ... we do the electric slide and try to teach the brasilians... we play a new slapping game that hurts like no other!... the village kids arrive... erika gives a short lesson and we "paint" (color) with the kids... we blow up balloons and the kids go crazy!... we have worship time and play the slapping game some more... the kids leave and we eat dinner.. we set up the hammocks (ten people in one room!!)... we go to sleep to jungle sounds and critters running around on the ceiling beams....... bill wakes us up at 6 and takes us down to the river... i get in the water againts my will for the first time thanks to Sula and Fatima and get sand EVERYWHERE! (if you know what i mean..)... we go eat hotdogs for breakfast... we wait for Johana and Jeir to arrive with the food for the VQ people.. Fatima accidently slaps a little kid across the face while playing th slapping game (it was sad but also hilarious!!)... we hike 4 1/2 miles to the farthest house in the village and have the best coffee i have ever tasted.. Pastor Egnardo gives a sermon and we have acoustic worship.. we head back the way we came and Bill, Sula, and Carlyn jump in a lake... Bill stops at another house because they had yogurt for him to eat (good ol' Bill)... we get back to the house we stayed at, go down to the river, and i get taken down in the river for the second time (again, thanks to Sula)... we eat luch and pack up...we leave and get separated on the path back.. Sula, Fatima, Etulo, and i walk back together without saying a whole lot until Sula pulls out her phone and starts playing some Akon and "My Humps" (yeah, i know)... we get back to the cars and start the 2 hour ride home..... we arrive back at Grupo CEO around 7.
And thats just an outline!!! Ahhh!! lol
It was a great experience though and this has already been the best summer of my life!
Yesterday was rather sad though. when Erika woke me up in the morning, she told me that she had to go get Thiago (one of the teens i knew from the last time i was here) because his mom passed away during the night. We went to the funeral and Thiago and his little sister are staying with us for now. Please pray for peace for their family.
Today has been good though!. i played basketball for hours and learned another slapping game called Ai! basicly you slap each other as hard as you can and you cant audibly express pain in any way or you're out. it hurts!!! the lesson today was about sin and the question for the week is "what's hiding in your shadow" your shadow is just your influence on the world and your heart. the kids seem to be understanding what we have to say so keep praying for their hearts to be open!
I absolutely love it here and, even though i miss you all, i am the happiest ive been in a long time. God has seriously blessed me by letting me come down here and i hope i can bless these kids in a similar way. thank you for all your prayers. i have to give a shout out to some people so if i say your name you better be reading this: Hey Deanna, David, Toup, Abigail, Robert, Nate... hmm, who else did i say i would give a shout out to?.... All the hangout people! Oh, and Lauren Workman, i was looking at your profile picture earlier and i was wondering, how do you do that? Do what you might ask?? Look SO GOOD!!! haha love you all!
Well im sure ive left a TON of stuff out, but that gives you an idea of whats been going on recently. I know God is about to do something truly great and i cant wait to share it with you!
Until next time,
Jo
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Day 2
Hello to all, live from Brasil!
Today has been great so far! I woke up, had an awesome breakfast, thanks to Sula, and then went over to the Grupo CEO building where the kids were singings songs and dancing before we had our teaching time. I remember the songs from two years ago, but definately not the motions! the kids helped me out though. their lesson was about spending time with God and we challenged them to spend 20 minutes a day with Him every day for a week! not an easy task, but as long as they're spending time with Him period, it will be a success. after the lesson, we took the pre-teens over to the basketball court and taught them how to play knockout and it went as easily as you might expect it to. ha ha. They caught on pretty quickly though and they love it! (thanks again to Mr. Lauter and Masterspas for donating the balls!) They must have played 7 or 8 games in the blazing heat! After the pre-teens left, the teens, Carlyn, Laura, and I all played Knockout with them which was great. Thiago was giving me a run for my money!
We're gonna eat lunch here in a few minutes and i think a pastor from an area church are gonna join us. then later in the afternoon we have playground time and childrens worship hour! Now let me tell those of you who dont know, childrens worship hour is not the quiet little peaceful, amazing grace type worship. this is intense! the kids are dancing and running around like crazy while you're trying to keep up and have pretty much no idea what the songs are even saying! its quite fun!
Welp, im gonna go do something, not sure what, but im gonna go do it. There might not be an update tomorrow cuz we're traveling to a village called...well i dont know how to spell it so i'll just call it VQ. Its a long drive and about a 4 mile hike away so keep us in your prayers!
Until next time,
Jo
Today has been great so far! I woke up, had an awesome breakfast, thanks to Sula, and then went over to the Grupo CEO building where the kids were singings songs and dancing before we had our teaching time. I remember the songs from two years ago, but definately not the motions! the kids helped me out though. their lesson was about spending time with God and we challenged them to spend 20 minutes a day with Him every day for a week! not an easy task, but as long as they're spending time with Him period, it will be a success. after the lesson, we took the pre-teens over to the basketball court and taught them how to play knockout and it went as easily as you might expect it to. ha ha. They caught on pretty quickly though and they love it! (thanks again to Mr. Lauter and Masterspas for donating the balls!) They must have played 7 or 8 games in the blazing heat! After the pre-teens left, the teens, Carlyn, Laura, and I all played Knockout with them which was great. Thiago was giving me a run for my money!
We're gonna eat lunch here in a few minutes and i think a pastor from an area church are gonna join us. then later in the afternoon we have playground time and childrens worship hour! Now let me tell those of you who dont know, childrens worship hour is not the quiet little peaceful, amazing grace type worship. this is intense! the kids are dancing and running around like crazy while you're trying to keep up and have pretty much no idea what the songs are even saying! its quite fun!
Welp, im gonna go do something, not sure what, but im gonna go do it. There might not be an update tomorrow cuz we're traveling to a village called...well i dont know how to spell it so i'll just call it VQ. Its a long drive and about a 4 mile hike away so keep us in your prayers!
Until next time,
Jo
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
I'm Here!!
Hello to all, live from Brasil!!
After two long years of waiting, I'm finally back at Grupo CEO! My flights and whatnot all went swimmingly and both my bags were waiting for me at baggage claim. Thank You Lord!
I'm all unpacked and have met Carlyn and Laura, who are great by the way! and I got to see Sula (a girl I knew from my last visit) before lunch. Those are the only people I've gotten to see so far, except Bill and his family of course. Tonight we're gonna do some planning and I'll be debriefed on all the stuff that's already been thought out. the "sports camp" will start tomorrow and i hear that the pre-teens cant wait to play basketball! Lucky me! I am so happy to be back here! Oh, and if tami is reading this, just thought I'd let you know that Mila (the dog you hated) is no longer with us, but her daughter lives on and will greet you when you get here! he he... well, im gonna go and enjoy this awesome weather, but thank you for all of your prayers and please continue to pray for the hearts of the kids we will be ministering to!
Until next time,
Jo
After two long years of waiting, I'm finally back at Grupo CEO! My flights and whatnot all went swimmingly and both my bags were waiting for me at baggage claim. Thank You Lord!
I'm all unpacked and have met Carlyn and Laura, who are great by the way! and I got to see Sula (a girl I knew from my last visit) before lunch. Those are the only people I've gotten to see so far, except Bill and his family of course. Tonight we're gonna do some planning and I'll be debriefed on all the stuff that's already been thought out. the "sports camp" will start tomorrow and i hear that the pre-teens cant wait to play basketball! Lucky me! I am so happy to be back here! Oh, and if tami is reading this, just thought I'd let you know that Mila (the dog you hated) is no longer with us, but her daughter lives on and will greet you when you get here! he he... well, im gonna go and enjoy this awesome weather, but thank you for all of your prayers and please continue to pray for the hearts of the kids we will be ministering to!
Until next time,
Jo
Friday, June 12, 2009
4 Days to Go!
Hello all!
well in case you havent noticed, this is the blog i will be using for the 5 1/2 weeks i am in brasil. thanks for tuning in! i leave just a few days and wont be back until july 24th and i'll hopefully keep you updated on what God is doing every day or so.
I spent the last hour or 2 deflating about 20 basketballs, footballs, and soccer balls for the sports camp Carlyn Walter, Laura Carter, (summer interns from Texas) and myself will be putting on for the teens and pre teens. (thanks to Mr. Lauter for donating all the equiptment!) the sports camp, craft time, and bible studies are all different ministries we will be a part of and it's quite a task so please pray for us!
I am so excited to see God work in these teens lives and i am blessed to be a part of it!! thank you all for your support and prayers. i'll miss you all and i'll see you at the end of july!....well, unless of course you go to my church..then i'll see you on sunday.. anyways, goodbye for now. = D
-Jo
well in case you havent noticed, this is the blog i will be using for the 5 1/2 weeks i am in brasil. thanks for tuning in! i leave just a few days and wont be back until july 24th and i'll hopefully keep you updated on what God is doing every day or so.
I spent the last hour or 2 deflating about 20 basketballs, footballs, and soccer balls for the sports camp Carlyn Walter, Laura Carter, (summer interns from Texas) and myself will be putting on for the teens and pre teens. (thanks to Mr. Lauter for donating all the equiptment!) the sports camp, craft time, and bible studies are all different ministries we will be a part of and it's quite a task so please pray for us!
I am so excited to see God work in these teens lives and i am blessed to be a part of it!! thank you all for your support and prayers. i'll miss you all and i'll see you at the end of july!....well, unless of course you go to my church..then i'll see you on sunday.. anyways, goodbye for now. = D
-Jo
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