Remedy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

I have been blessed..

well, hi! = )
wow, another really good week! Monday we stayed in town after school for a while so Patrick and i got to miss our time with the tutor..whoops, did i say got to? i mean had to... ; D We got back home in time for basketball with the girls, then spent the rest of the night doing a little homework and hanging out.
Tuesday, playground time went well (i tell you, i've become a master at pushing kids on swings!) and at night time, instead of the bible study, we had the service that is usually on Wednesday nights. There was a conference at Igreja Batista Central for pastors and church leaders from Wed.-Fri. night, so the schedule at Grupo CEO was a little different this week.
Wednesday was Amanda's 13th birthday (happy birthday, Amanda!), so after school we went out to eat with erika's family and had some pasta that deserves a parade! yeah, it was that good. Then we had cake, came home, and spent the night as a family watching Eragon and I Am Legend. (no service at Grupo CEO beacause of the conference.)
Thursday was a national holiday which meant NO SCHOOL! People from the IBC conference were invited to come and observe Grupo CEO that night during Children's Worship to get an idea of how to start their own social projects like this one in other parts of Brasil, so we went all out! Instead of spliting ut the little kids and the pre-teens, we joined them both together WITH the teens there too! it was packed! We spent about an hour dancing to the worship songs with the kids until the conference people finally arrived. Then Gessica and Jamile gave a short lesson on David and we passed out the snacks. Usually, that's when everyone leaves, but since our visitors missed out on most of the dancing, we danced to a few more songs with them. (now i have a better idea of how out of place we americans look when we come down on our missions trips and try to learn the motions to these crazy songs! haha) After all of the visitors and little ones left, it was time for the teen meeting. Two of the guys who were supposed to give the devos didnt show up, but Evair and Jamile did a good job. Then i had the teens play a game where you have to link arms with a person and stand up together with one supporting the other, then sit down and call another person and do the same thing until you have everyone trying to stand up at once! It was pretty funny to watch. After that Erika lead this sort of ice breaker thing that really got the teens thinking about their future and their dreams. She would begin a phrase like "i could never see myself doing.." or "i have always wanted to.." and each one of us would finish the scentence for ourselves. It was a good opportunity for everyone to share their ambitions and passions and also learn about others. There was a real feeling of community and family, which is exactly what we want! Oh, and for the phrase "i want my profession to be.." there were several kids who said they want to be lawyers and doctors, and Evair said that he wants to become a missionary to Africa! Isnt that amazing!? These teens have a desire to be more. to grow. Please, dont give up on praying for them!!
Friday we returned to school and, since my Geography teacher couldnt make it, we had THREE full classes of math! ugh! Apart from that, school was good, and i came home and caught a nap because there was no playground time. However, while i was napping, Erika came in and said that Pastor Eudes brother was allowing us to use his bus to take the teens to the final night of the conference at IBC, so Patrick and i walked all around the neighborhood to let everyone know. We left around 630 with a pretty good amount of teens and had a good time fellowshiping and worshiping at the conference. The presentation was on how The Church (as a body of belivers, not just IBC)has progressed since Jesus time and the phases (both strong and weak) that we have gone through. The image they kept using was one runner passing the baton to another in a relay race, and they ended stating that the baton is in our hands now. WE are the church, and its our turn to do what we can to make God famous and glorified! Amen? It was a good night and we all had a fun time together.
Yesterday, we called the teens over to play basketball, and let me tell you, game by game it started to look less and less like basketball! haha. Im pretty sure if there were reffs, not only would we all have fouled out, but probably half of us would have been ejected from the building. haha. we played for almost 2 hours though and had a lot of fun. I love these teens!!
As i was sitting on the sidelines watching the other teams play, i had to just stop and take a second to realize that im really this blessed. Im really here having the chance to not just minister to, but build relationships with these teens. Friendships that are worth so much more than anything i could have hoped for. God really loves me.. yes, i know that even if everything was going terribly wrong down here, it wouldnt mean that He loves me any less, but He's chosen to show His love in this way: i get to watch these teens take steps towards Him and His plan for them, and i even get to help them along the way! Thank You, LORD, for this blessing!
Well, tonight is the second sunday in our series on Family, and im excited to see what God has for us to learn!
This week is the 3rd to last of my brasilian highschool career, and its also the week that Rob Lauter and i get to start serving together when he arrives on Thursday! Please pray for smooth travel for him, and keep praying for Bill as he gets through these last few weeks at work before coming home. And dont forget to thank God for all the ways He's shown you He loves you this week!
Until Next Time,
Jo

4/6

hello again. how are you? i gotta say, my week was pretty good one!
Monday at basketball we had the biggest group of people show up as of yet. i think there were 7 of us which made for an interesting game of 3 on 4. haha. Tuesday i spent the whole time on the playground pushing kids on swiings as usual. we had a good bible study lead by Pastor's wife that was filled with scripture, and afterwards the girls sold pastels for the retreat fundraiser. There was a "worship team" practice after that for the ladies who sing in front of the church at the services, so some of the girls and i hung out it the back and i tried to actually get some pictures of them (cuz ive been kind of bad at that the past 4 months..) but taking pictures with them is like pulling teeth! they tell me to delet like every picture i take cuz they find something they dont like about it! ive started to take a paparazzi style aproach and just snap pictures when they least expect it.. it seems to be working. hehe..
Wednesday we stayed in town after school becaus amanda and douglas had dentist appointments, so we didnt make it back to Grupo CEO for the study, but we had fun hanging out. Douglas, Amanda, and i watched some french movie called Surviving With Wolves that i would not recomend even to my worst enemies...strange movie (i would like to point out that this is not the first movie that ERIKA picked out that has been....less than enjoyable. ;D dont worry erika, i still love you!)
Thursday was, as usual, a fun day with the little ones at Children's Worship. I really should do a better job at getting some pictures of them too. They're soo cute!! Friday was just a good day in every aspect. 1) it was friday, i mean, who doesnt like fridays? 2) We ate lunch at McDonalds. yum! 3) playground time was fun which lead into a good Childrens Worship with the Pre-Teens (thiago pretty much owned me this week in our dance off..) 4) we watched The Triumph at the teen meeting which really got them thinking about how much they can accomplish if they work as a family in community (thats right brian, community) and dont give up. 5) the Devos after the movie were filled with the Holy Spirit, and everyone was connected and paying attention. I gave my devo on Life and how we're living it right now, its not something that starts "when we're older" its today, and we only get one chance to live the plan God has for us. I sort of left it at the end with the idea from that switchfoot song "This is your life, are you who you wanna be?" Patrick translated the last half of the devo for me cuz i really wanted the kids to understand. (by the way, he's getting better at that every time he does it! thanks Patrick!)6) the last real highlight of the night was at the end when we joined to pray. Erika asked for volunteers to pray, which, im pretty sure ive mentioned before, can be a futile question with the teens, but to my surprise and to the glory of God, you know who raised their hand? Barbara. Now, i dont know how much i've mentioned her in my blog, but normally, barbara isnt one to volunteer to pray. Not only that, most times if you ask her to pray, she wont do it. You can stand there waiting with your head bowed and eyes closed, but she wont. It was a different story on friday though. She volunteered and prayed a prayer from the heart, and i was so blessed! After the meeting she was a little teary-eyed and talked privately with the pastor's wife for a little while, and when i saw her after that i told her i was really proud of her and she smiled and said thanks.
God is good. He is just SO GOOD! and you know what else ive realized? He IS going to be victorious. He WILL conquer the Deciever who whispers all kinds of lies in these kids ears every day. This battle is His. These children are His. He had already declared that He will deliver them. Now all we need to do is be willing to seek His will to make that happen. I dont know exactly when, and i dont know how He's going to do it, but God WILL be glorified in the lives of these kids, and just to be a part of it is an honor and blessing i never could have imagined!
So that was friday. haha. Saturday we spent all day at home relaxing. oh, and i made lunch! (dont worry, everyone is still alive!) today has been pretty slow too. But today before lunch, Amanda and i went to a ladies house in the neighborhood whos daughter has microcephaly. We spent a long time talking with her about her daughter and life in brasil, and how tourists pay way too much money for things at the market. haha. She's a nice lady with a beautiful family. oh, and i almost forgot! earlier that morning, while setting the church up for the service tonight, Patrick and i were almost converted to Jehova's Wittnesses! ok, so we werent even close to being converted, but there were JW's walking around the whole community this morning in their ties and dress-pants spread their "truth" around to anyone who would listen.
Tonight, we're going to start a series at church all about FAMILY wich is a a topic that a lot of people in the church have really wanted to study. Pray that God brings people with hearts ready to accept His Word!
God is just awesome! theres so much i could thank Him for! He brought me through my tests better than i even expected, He has given more and more ease with the language as i need it, and He's changing hearts right before my eyes, including mine! I love you LORD!
And you know something else? He's doing just as much in you're life, you just need to open your eyes and take a look around and you'll see. = ) thanks for reading. God Bless!
Until Next Time,
Jo

2 for 1

hello. = ) first off i would like to say that whoever takes the time to read this ginormous blog deserves a parade. you're a trooper. ; D
goodness, im two weeks behind again, aren't I? well let's see what i can remember from 2 weeks ago. Monday we had girls basketball as usual, although i think im gonna have to stop calling it basketball. What we play looks more like the distant cousin of basketball, soccer, and football.. sometimes even a little UFC! ok, maybe not that last one, but either way we have a lot of fun! Pastor's wife lead the service on Tuesday about being athletes for Christ. One of her illustrations (unbeknownced to me prior to her calling me up to the front) was to have Joyce and me pretend to box. I dont know exactly what her point with that one was, but the whole message was one about how Christ has already won the fight against Evil, and if we are on His "team", we are champions over the world as well. Amen? Wednesday service was good as well, followed by a fun Children's Worship time on Thursday with the little kids and Friday with the Pre-teens. (im pretty sure we served them hot dogs for their snack.. im also pretty sure that, afterwards, the floor inside the Grupo CEO building looked like it rained pieces of hot dog. lol) The teen meeting was a blessing again, especialy because of one of the guys who gave a devotional. Evair had asked me earlier in the week to give him an idea of what to talk about for his devo and i told him that it should come from his heart and he should pick something that maybe he has struggled with and go off of that. So at the meeting that night, he read a verse in Proverbs and started to talk a little bit about wisdom and also forgivness. Then, mid-scentence, he stopped and put his head in his hands, choking back tears. He tried to keep going, ended up just keeping his head down, whiping away those few tears he couldnt keep from falling. we paused for a little while and Thiago prayed for him, then the next person continued with their devo. I didnt know it at the time, but it turns out that, either before the meeting or earlier that week, im not sure, Evair had gotten into some sort of fight with Fabrissio about his guitar. I guess the argument got pretty heated, and as Evair was preaching on forgiveness, the Holy Spirit tugged at his heart, telling him he needed to set things right with Fabrissio. To God's glory, everthings good between the two guys now, and it was so beautiful to see how sensetive Evair was to God's voice. (is it weird to describe that as beautiful? maybe, but thats what it was) He's a good guy and, just like the rest of these teens, FULL of potential to make God famouse!
Saturday we spent the afternoon at the mall. Patrick, Douglas, and I saw Iron Man 2 while Amanda and Erika had some mother-daughter time. Sunday was a day of relaxing and getting ready for a week of mid-quarter tests. Thus ended a pretty good week!
Now this past week, every day was pretty bipolar. "Jordan, you're saying your days were bipolar?" allow me to explain. So, i get up in the morning and go to school, trying (usually in vain) to get some sleep on the way. Then we have the first 3 classes as normal (which means homework as usual on top of studying for the tests. blah.) Then the time arrives to take the lovely little assesments so we give it our best shot, hoping we studied the right stuff, and turn the test in, thankful that its over! Then we go home, (depending on what day it is, patrick and i study for 2 hours with the tutor). then, finally, the time arrives to go do the ministry activities and all thoughts of school fly away and i get to interact with all the kids and teens who i love so much! haha. All of the services and studies this week were just really great times that i could see God working and moving in even the smallest way, and there were a lot of times this week that i just stopped for a moment to think about how God has brought me so far, how incredibly much He's blessed me to be able to spend every day with the people here. I told myself, "Jordan, when you were down here in 2007, you never dreamed that in 3 years you would get to spend 180 days in a row with these persons!" Thank you, Jesus!!
Monday, Patrick and i had a movie we had to watch for a paper we had to write, so it became a movie night for us and the pre-teens who normally have Cycling on mondays. it was a good movie, with some pretty good company. = ) Tuesday and Wednesday were, as i said, bipolar, with tough tests in the morning and good times at Grupo CEO in the afternoon. Thursday's Childrens Worship was a lot of fun, and on Friday with the pre-teens, Thiago and i had a bit of a dance off during one of the songs. Hes pretty light on his feet, he is, but had a little trouble copying me when i did the worm (the only thing that i can do dance-wise thats semi-impressive. lol) Both Children's Worship services were especially good this week! I didnt give a devotional at the teen meeting this week because i was spending a lot of time studying for tests and doing homework, but one of the people who did give them did a good job. Josefa actually gave her devo this week and, considering she gets embarrassed to death when she talks in front of groups of people, i was really proud of her stepping up and sharing. Alane was super nervouse too, which surprised me because she has already lead a devo once before. Both them and Thiago and Patrick shared from the heart so needless to say, i was blessed. Since i didnt share anything this week, Pator Eudes lead a discussion with the kids about purity and "friends with benefits" kind of stuff, which is common here. Everyone seemed to stay engaged and a few people gave their oppinions. All the teens agreed that its not alright to be physically involved with anyone, but easier said than done, right? Pray that the Holy Spirit uses the Word that was taught to mold the hearts of these teens!
Saturday, Erika went to VQ with Pastor and his wife so their daughters Gessica and Amanda spent the day at our house hanging out. It was a great way to spend the day! Today i spent a lot of time planning my devo for friday, writing this monster of a post, and planning the lessons for the teen meetings that Rob Lauter and I are going to be leading once he gets here in 18 more days!!
i had some of good chances this week to talk with a few different girls about stuff in their lives and point them towards scripture so that it's not me who is helping them with tough times, it's our God, cuz He'll always be there and isnt leaving to go back to His home country 2 months... Im going to miss everyone a lot.. a lot, a lot.. theres a quote that says, "How lucky I am to have known someone that was so hard to say goodbye to." I really like this quote, but i would change 2 things, because for me, its not just a someone, its a lot of persons (no, not people, persons), and im not lucky, im blessed.
Thanks for reading, thanks for remembering, thanks for praying. = )
Until Next Time,
Jo

Feliz Dia das Mães!!

Hey everyone, and a special hello to all you moms out there! Love you, Mom!
Well, in case you didnt notice, i kind of slacked off last week, so this blog is gonna cover two weeks of God's awesome work in NE Brasil! Let's see if i can remember everything...
Well,the weeks are kind of running together, but i can give you a pretty good overview of what happened. The teens have spent the last two weeks selling food on tuesdays and wednesdays to raise money for their retreat in July. The boys team sold pizza, hamburgers, and coke, and the girls sold mousse, cake, and chicken pie. (the guys may, or may not be the ones with the most money at this point, and they may, or may not be making sure that all the girls know it!) The girls have had some problems with communication and organization. There was actually a point where a lot of them wanted to just quit raising money, so that sparked some..creative discussion, but im happy to tell you that the Enemy didnt succeed in tripping them up, and the girls are gonna persevere!
For my devotional last week, i asked Patrick to translate for me instead of me doing it in portuguese. and before you make your assumptions, no this was not just because i was feeling lazy and didnt want to try to give the study in portuguese! Patrick is gonna be doing a lot of translating this summer when Rob Lauter and I work with the teens, and when the other missions teams come down in July, so he needs his practice! He was also an illustration of sorts for my lesson. He doesnt like to translate, just like some people dont like public speaking, its just not his thing, but he did it anyways cuz he decided it didnt matter if his friends made fun of him a little bit, because what God thinks of His relationship with God is more important to him that what others think of his relationship with God! amen? Also, i was really blessed this week at the teen meeting cuz I got to see how God is changing their hearts. See, two of the guys that are newer to the group were supposed to give devotionals, but they didnt show up, so Pastor Eudes asked for volunteers to just share something that was on their heart, even though they didnt prepare anything. Now, im pretty sure if he would have asked that question a few months ago, there prolly wouldnt have been any takers, but, I'll admit, to my surprise, Renan, Douglas, and Joyce all three shared something from the Word! Isnt that cool?! it makes me wonder how many of me and my friends would have been willing to step up in that sittuation...
Well, im happy to say that God still hasnt stopped helping me learn the language! (as if i ever had reason to doubt, right?) But as i learn and understand more portuguese, the material we cover in my classes at school gets harder. (dont you just love irony?)Our midquater tests start a week from monday, so keep prayin up Patrick, Douglas, Amanda, and me! In other school news, Brenda, the girl i mentioned last post, ended up not going to the school bible study last week, but she did come this week! I feel like God is really preparing her heart to her His Truth, so please pray that im sensetive to the opportunities He opens up!
As far as the pre-teens go, they've had stronger times. There are still a bunch of them that regularly come to service and Worship on Fridays, but, from what i can tell in the moment at least, they dont have quite the same hunger that they've had before. Keep them in your prayers. They're a great group of kids that have amazing potential for Christ! Oh, and speaking of Childrens Worship, do any of you who read my blog last summer remember a girl named Sula? well i got pretty close with her the last two times i was here, but had only seen her twice in the past 3 months. That is, until thursday. She came with her 3-month-old baby girl, Riana, to Childrens Worship and we got to talk a little bit. (Riana was wearing TINY little knitted flip-flops. SO cute!) Sula told me she would be at church on that sunday, but for some reason she didnt come. i shouldnt have been too surprised, because she had been known to do that before, but thats the thing about inconsistency, you never get used to it. I still love her to death though, and i hope you join me in prayin for God's Grace and Truth to explode in her life, as well as the lives of everyone in this young church!
The past 2 weekends have been awesome times to just relax from the past week and prepare for the next. This weekend Erika's family came over and we hung out in the pool for a while on this beautiful, Brasilian Mother's Day!
You know, i dont think i'll ever really understand why God chose me, why He loved me enough to save me from what i could have been and give me such a clear understanding of how to serve and praise Him. But i dont have to understand it. What i know is that He did save me, He does love me with a Love greater than any that i can even imagine, and i love Him! And every day that i discover something new about His Love, the more passionate i am to share it with everyone else so they can experience this sense of peace and purpose for themselves!
My time here maybe be half-way over, but God is just getting started. So please, dont stop praying, and dont stop believing in what He has planned for my life, for your life, and for the lives of the people you and i encounter every single day!

"None of us walk around with mere mortals." -C.S. Lewis

Thanks for the all of your support and love. = )
Until Next Time,
Jo

OOhhhh we're half way there...!

Hey there! First of i would like to say yes, i did just go Bon Jovi on you guys! lol but i thought it was fitting considering that today is the 3 month mark of this journey! thats right, its already half over! crazy right?
This week was a good one! Billiam left on tuesday which was sad, (we all miss you Billiam!) but it just got better from there! Wednesday was a national Brasilian holiday so we didnt have school! instead we went to the beach with a group of more than 20 teens! we swam in the ocean, raced on the dunes, played volleyball and soccer, and several of us got pretty burnt in the process! It was a lot of fun!
Thursday at Childrens worship there were a few new songs so the kids had fun with that. one of them is the portuguese version of "Im in the Lord's Army"! Dont you all remember that one from sunday school? haha. the funny thing is, the motions to the song are exactly the same, only thing different is the lyrics.
The most exciting day this week would have to be Friday! "Why is that?" do you ask? Well first off, since we didnt have school on Wednesday, the optional bible study at school was moved to Friday. So i asked one of the girls in my class who i hang out with a lot, Brenda, to come with me. (she has told me she believes in God, but i dont think shes a born again christian) She was heasitant to come at first and said no cuz she didnt have a bible or anything but i told her that was ok, so she ended up coming. The study is lead by two senior girls that are true believers. They asked me to open up in pray in english and said "We're not gonna understand anything, but God understands it all," which is so true! Their devotion was on Psalms 1 and how when God changes your life, its important that you surround yourself with friends who will help you grow. Brenda was engaged the whole time and even responded to some of the questions that were asked. After the lesson i asked if she liked it and she said she did and she wanted to go again next week! Please pray that God moves in her heart so shes open to what He has to tell her at the study on Wednesday! So then, after school was over, we went home and i had a little time to go over my devotional for the teen meeting, and i also squeezed a nap in before it was time to go to Playground. I spent the whole time pushing the little kids on the swings and talking with this boy named Fernando. hes pretty cute! Then after that we went straight to Worship for the Pre-teens and got to dance to the new songs with them and hang out. From there i went and grabbed my bible and notes and got ready for the teen meeting. The teens devotionals this week were again well thought out and from the heart! We're keepin it going next week with Itelo, Claronice (sp?), and Barbara and Roberlanhe (again, sp?) who are going to do theres together. My devotional this week was about the relationship between us and God being like a friendship. I talked about how we were His enemies, but through the reconciliation of Christ's sacrafice, we are made His friends! (John 15:14-16 and Rom. 5:10-11 were two of my references if you wanna check 'em out.) but at the end i said that if anyone there had not yet recieved that reconciliation, but wanted to become God's friend, they could do that tonight. I asked Erika to pray and she said if anyone wanted to make that decision, that they could talk to Pastor Eudes or her or Manhia or me after the service. So we moved on and started planning different ways to raise money for the retreat this summer (each teen has to pay their own way. 50 bucks!) We broke it into teams actually, boys v.s. girls! We're going to be doing stuff like selling snacks and having raffels, and in the end we'll see who raises the most money! hah! When we finally finished the meeting and got ready to pray, Pastor Eudes shared with everyone that one of the new guys who has been coming, Fabrissio, had talked with him, and he had made the decision to follow Christ and make Him his Savior!! Praise the LORD!!! God had specifically placed Fabrissio on my heart all week as i was planning my lesson, and the Holy Spirit really worked through all the Scripture that was shared that night, and by His Power we now have a new member in the Family of Christ! Hallelujah!
Thank you so much for keeping everyone on your hearts and in your prayers! This first 3 months have flown by, despite some moments of slowness, and i have a feeling these last 3 are really gonna go quickly! Thanks so much for your support! I give all of the glory of what has happened here to my God and Father! He is the Hope, the Truth, and the Reason for all that i do! Thank you, God, for using me for your glory! i love You!
Until Next Time,
Jo

Happy Birthday Erikaaa!!

hey there! well, in case you havent noticed from the title, today is Erika's birthday! (im pretty sure its her 29th, right erika?) Manhia organized a surprise party for her with a group of teens and pre-teens. She arrived fashionably late, haha, but we had a good time and it was cool to have a chance to show our appreciation for how much she does in this community. love you Erika! = )
Now back to the begining of this week. We've started having girls soccer on mondays so i played with Ingrid, Joyce, Lais, and Maninha. My team one, despite me, and we had fun playing. Tuesday was a regular Tuesday with school, playground, and the study which went well even though there werent that many people there, but Wednesday Billiam, Patrick, and I shook things up. Patrick had an eye appointment at 11:30, so naturally we had to skip the whole day of school and run errands with Billiam, errands that included eating icecream at Mcdonald's. =D Then after the appointment we went to Erika's parent's house for lunch and hung around a little while before taking Douglas and Amanda to their dentist appointments, then went to the mall for dinner at the food court. We didnt make it back in time for the service, but it was a good day of "family time" seeing as Billiam is leaving tomorrow for the rig.
Thurdsay was another, more relaxing day out for Billiam, Patrick, and me. Dont worry, we didnt skip school again, but afterwards we went straight to the beach (which was a longer drive than i thought it was) and road 4-wheelers on the dunes! it was soo cool! well, exept for the part that i almost drove into a river and got my 4-wheeler stuck, then Patricks died and we spent 15 min. in the middle of nowhere trying to get it to work. haha. For dinner we at the best, biggest, and most shrimp i've ever had in my life! we sat at a table right near the ocean just talking about everything from school to work to Grupo CEO to God's awesome blessings that flow through our lives! Thanks for the day out Billiam! = )
Friday we, of course, had our teen meeting and i gave my devotional. (at the begining of the day i didnt think i was ready for it, but the Holy Spirit really gave me the words to say. and you know what i ended up talking about? the Holy Spirit. God is so good.) Benjamin, Douglas, and Joyce all gave their devotionals as well. Douglas even had all his verses memorized! I really love listening to the Word through as it comes out of their mouths cuz it shows what God is doing in their hearts and lives. Next week is Patrick, Fabrissio (sp?) and Alane. Pray 'em up!
Saturday was another Vestibular Simulado test which was no fun at all, but afterwards Patrick, Douglas, and i walked to the mall (walk a long way in the hot sun to the mall might i add..) and got some ice cream. But when we had money left over, we decided we should go buy a 2 litre of coke and use our ice-cream cups to drink it! so we sat in the middle of the mall drinking coke out of plastic ice-cream cups. it was a memorable experience! haha.
Sunday was a good day of rest for us and Billiam gave a really good sermon on the different relationships God has with us: Father-children, Master-disciples, Friend-friends, Shepherd-sheep, Vine-branches. Everyone was engaged the whole time which is always encouraging!
This week is just another 7 days full of opportunities! People at school are starting to ask questions about God and the Bible, people at Grupo CEO are starting see how they can apply Gods Word to their very own lives, daily! and even though things are soo much easier than they were when i got here, i still need my Jesus to be my Rock every single day! Im starting to undertand the importance of truly "seeking Him in the morning" and how much God can do with me if i can really "cast aside my fear". Im so blessed to know Him!
thanks for reading this and i hope you'll be blessed through it! Thank you for your prayers!
Until Next Time,
Jo

Bye, Bye, Bimester!

Helooo... well, i am happy to say that Bimester Tests are over! they were harder than the first round of tests cuz they had more material, but, yet again, God gave me strength and helped me through it! thanks for all your prayers! I also went to the Bible study at school on wednesday again and so did a few guys from my class. The girls that teach it seem to really be in tune with God so hopefully people will keep on coming and get more curious about the Truth!
Oh, and just like the week was filled with tests, 8:00-11:00 on saturday was also spent doin the brasilian version of the PSAT. It was a trip, let me tell you! but it doesnt count for an actual score, we just get points for participation, and i for sure participated! Then, after the test, the whole family went to the mall for lunch and then patrick and i walked around for a while and hung out while everyone else did their thing. After that we went home and i took a lovely nap and relaxed until it was time to go to my first Brazilian Christian concert! It was raining off and on and there were a TON of people jumpin all around and knocking into each other, therefore it was awesome!! the main guy, Trazendo Arca, didnt even show up at the concert until midnight, but there were opening acts before that. there was a group of people there from Grupo CEO so it was cool to hang out with them outside of church.
Speaking of the teens and church, lets rewind to friday night. I gave another devotional on "dont sacrifice what you want most (to be like God and to please Him) for what you want in the moment (satisfaction from sin)". it went well, but the really great part about it was listening to the devotions that Ingrid, Jamile, and Evair gave. They werent just: heres a verse, heres what i think it means. They had thought it out and were explaining how to apply it to their lives and all of them backed it up with more than one Scripture reference! It was a blessing for sure. = ) thanks to all you guys for praying for them to have the courage and sensetivity to speak! Next week its gonna be Joyce, Benjamin, and Douglas so please pray them up too!
Things to pray for: the people at Grupo CEO and at school to continue to open their hearts to the Holy Spirit. I can see God their knocking, they just need to open the door! Bill is gonna be goin back to work in a couple weeks, so pray that everything here is in order for him to leave and that he has a nice time with his family before being gone for so long. The Brasil Team that is coming down this summer, that we can really get moving and planning and God prepares us all to speak His Words though us!
My Visa, i have to go ask the "people in charge" to get it renewed for another 90 days, so pray that everything goes smoothly and God goes before us with His providence.
Now, things to praise God for!: i got a 6 in Sociologia, a 6.4 in História, and a 7 in Matemática (the easier one of the two classes i have) as far as the Bimester tests go, and thats all by the Grace of God, seriously! Aslo, we've been haveing more attendence at the teen meetings which just shows how He works in people's hearts! Im picking up the language more and more which is totally His doing as well. And finally, i just wanna praise Him for showing me every single day how much He loves me and how i KNOW He is with me every single moment of the day!! Thank You Jesus!! Oh, and by the way, He loves you too! ; D
I really miss you all!! thanks so much for the prayers and for not forgeting about me or the work our God is doing down here. Love you guys!
Until Next Time,
Jo

He's Alive!

Hello, hello! this past week was a really good one! we only went to school until Wednesday and had a much appreciated 4-day weekend! on Thursday, i went with bill and erika to breakfast at McDonalds while we got the car ready for the trip to VQ and did some grocery shopping. (by the way, their Bacon, egg, and cheese McMuffins kick the pants off of ours! just sayin..) Then around 2 in the afternoon a huge group of pre-teens, teens, and a couple women from the community traveled about 3 hours to VQ (the community in the interior of brasil). It was a really good time of service and getting to just hang out with everyone. We spent a lot of the ride there singing worship songs which was really cool. the pre-teens performed their skit and it went really well. Pastor Eudes also lead the easter service and we had a worship time which somehow consisted of me leading one of the songs with Joyce and Jamile.. with a microphone! all of you who know me well should be impressed! lol During the ride there and back i had a few good conversations with some of the girls which was hopefully as much of a blessing to them as it was to me. = ) Oh, and while we were there, i got to drive Bills truck on the paths that were too rough for the bus and it was sweet!!
So then friday rolls around, we had a relaxing morning and playground time in the afternoon as usual followed by childrens worship hour. Then we had the teen meeting. Im pretty sure i told you guys last week that I was the one who was leading the study and that i was told i was giving it in portuguese... well thoughout the week i prepared what i was gonna teach, but i didnt prepare it in portuguese. I figured i could do that another time, when i have learned more. So i get to the Grupo CEO building before the study starts and Bill is there, and any of you who know Bill can prolly guess what ended up happening. I gave the study in portuguese. Yep, Bill encouraged me to take a step of faith and reminded me what an awesome testimony it would be for the teens, so, even though i really didnt want to, i did it. It was choppy and i dont know how much the teens understood, but i know that i spoke God's Truth, and the Holy Spirit will use that. And guess what! Im gonna do it again this friday! woohoo! lol
But the really encouraging part about the study was that 3 of the 4 teens who had volutneered to give a short devotional actually did and it was really cool! For three years ive come down here to teach these guys and it was so cool to be on the recieving end of their devotional. Next week Jamile, Ingrid, and Evai (idk how to spell that one. lol) are supposed to give their devotionals, so pray for them throughout the week that God will show them just what He wants them to say!
Saturday was a day that we pretty much relaxed and so was sunday for most of the day. I got my first Brazilian Ovo de Pascoa! (big chocolate egg filled with more chocolate!) The Easter service went really well and both the teens and pre-teens preformed their skits. We also had communion and both Bill and Pastor Eudes talked about the sacrifice that Jesus made for every person alive. As far as i know, no one that was there actually made a decision to surrender their life to Christ, but a seed has definitely been planted in their hearts, and His Word will not return void!
This comming week is gonna be tough because of Bimester Testing and getting back intor the routine of school after a long weekend. Pray for strength and understanding for me and Patrick, Douglas, and Amanda as they take their tests too. I titled this one "He's Alive" not just cuz its easter and thats what we're all celebrating, but because i can see Him moving in the hearts and lives of so many people here! He's so active and waiting for people to let Him take over! Keep praying for the eyes of the people here to be opened so they can see how much love and purpose God has in store for them! Thank you so much for reading and for remember me and the Brazilians! God Bless!
Until Next Time,
Jo

And Then There Were 2...

Hello! = ) Well, let's see, where did we leave off on the last post? As of thursday ive been here an official two months and they've been unlike anything ive ever experienced! This week was packed with a lot of great stuff and also had its share of not too great stuff. The school-ish part of school was fairly normal this week, but there was a lot of talk amongst those same people who were talking about christianity and whatnot last week. For a while i sat there just listening like i did last week and the same guy kept bashing Christianity and saying a lot of stuff that he thought was bad about God. He said he doesnt believe in God or the Devil and that you are born already determined whether you are good or evil. So i got Patricks attention and asked him if there is not God, where do the standards for good and evil come from and he couldnt answer me. Our conversations was cut short cuz class started. They started talking about it again afterwards, but i havent gotten another chance to talk to the same guy. This kid is really just confused and doesnt know what he belives, so please pray that God prepares both of our hearts for His will in the sittuation.
Other than that, school has been pretty normal, we're started to prepare for Bimester tests that start next week. woohoo.... ; D But hey, its another opportunity to watch God's providence work! As far as things at Grupo CEO, theres been a lot of preparation for the teen and pre-teen easter skits. Ive seen them rehearse and they're all taking it seriously which is a blessing to see! i cant wait till service on sunday! The teen service on friday was very good! Bill lead most of it and talked to the kids a little about me and the reason i am here and encouraged them that they can do the same thing i am doing if they just let God work in them! He spoke for about 2 hours and most everyone stayed engaged the whole time. By the time it was finished, we had two boys (Renan and Thiago) and two girls (Leninha and Josefa) volunteer (i use that word a bit loosely) to give a short devotion this coming friday! Please pray that they will seek God to give them courage to share and wisdom! But they're not the only ones who will be speaking on friday. Im also gonna lead the main devotion and some people (bill and erika) are under the impression that i will give said devotion in portuguese! we'll just wait and see about that..
This week was also full of opportunities for me to talk one on one with some of the girls who have been problems with their home and spiritual life, and God blessed me with the words to say to encourage them in His wisdom, but they still need prayer!
Patrick and I spent saturday at the mall with some friends from school and saw The Book of Eli. (fantastic movie with a great message when viewed from the perspective of the Truth!) We had a good time "socializing" (hehe) and hanging out with everyone. Patrick and i had some time to hang out before everyone else showed up so we just sat and talked for a while. We've spent a lot of time together between school and just hanging out, hes gettin to be like a younger (but much taller) brother. haha. Oh, and before we went to the mall, the whole family at lunch at Peixe Vivo (or something along those lines, its a fish place) and i saw our lunch get taken straight out of the water and wacked! crazy stuff! haha.
Sunday, well mostly sunday night, was a little discouraging because of some things that are going on with a couple of the kids not coming to Grupo CEO and choosing to do other things that are gonna lead them down the wrong path. But I've realized something else since the last post. Last week i was talking about how God was showing me that i can do nothing without Him, but this week it hit me that, not only can i do nothing without Him, He can do EVERYTHING without me. (if He wants to) so even though i sometimes dont have the opportunities to talk to some of these kids or the words to say to them, God's Spirit can work in amazing and heart changing ways!
well, i feel like i've written a lot, and still left plenty out, but im gonna wrap it up by echoing the words to a song by Brandon Heath and praise God because He's loving like ive never seen and i am living like i used to dream! so im gonna keep on singing my new song to Him!!
Until Next Time,
Jo

Hmm.. i really dont know what to title this one.. = )

hey there!
well, i am happy to say that God blessed me with another good week down here and it started off with an eye-opener. so i was sitting in class copying the notes down from the board when i heard the kids behind me start talking about Christianity and what you need to do to be saved and what the Bible says about certain things, which i thought was interesting cuz usually the conversations people have during class are rather pointless. lol so im listening to them talk and i realize that one of the guys is saying pretty skeptical things about the bible and salvation, and the other kids who claim to be Christians dont know quite enough of what the Bible says to be able to answer this guys questions. so, if you know me, you know that i was burning to say something! but since i didnt understand all of what is being said, and we were in the middle of class, i decided not to. so, feeling pretty helpless, i went back to writing my notes and could only pray that God would give me another opportunity to share His Truth with those kids. Now, where does the eye-opening part come in? well what God showed me in that situation was that the kids that i am around every day at school are just as much in need of the Truth as the kids i minister to at Grupo CEO. Its a bit different, of course, because at Grupo CEO they come to be taught God's Word and at school they just come to be taught their ABC's and 123's, but that doesnt mean that they dont have questions or a desire for something more. so God laid something on my heart: every day i am going to bring the Portuguese/English Bible that Erika let me use to school and im gonna read it during our break time before i play basketball. What i want you guys reading this to do is pray that the Holy Spirit works in the hearts of the kids who need to hear the Truth and moves them to voice any questions or doubts they have, and of course, that i can show them the answers in Scripture. Its out of my comfort zone for sure, but im pretty sure that went out the window when i stepped on the plane almost 2 months ago. haha.
as for things at Grupo CEO, i heard some upsetting news about one of the kids here. its a tough sittuation that needs a lot of prayer, and i know you guys will do just that. apart from that it has been a good week of ministry and also building relationships. Leninha and Gessica spent the night on thurdsay (we had school off on friday. woohoo!) and today Bill and Erika and us kids went to the beach in Taiba to visit Erikas parents and family. We also went out to a mexican restaurant for dinner which was very much enjoyed by me in particular! (but dont worry dad, it didnt hold a candle to Poncho's!) all in all, it was a good week that God 100% lead me through! Hes shown me once again that i can do nothing, but it is His Spirit working in me that makes a difference and changes hearts!
as for the week to come, i can't wait for more oportunities to serve and invest! and you know whats cool? every single person reading this can do the same thing! here are some overall prayer needs for the people here: choose joy, be open to His voice, realize His perfect love, abandon apathy, be aware of blessings despite hardships. Thanks so much for praying me and all of these people up! God bless!
Until Next Time,
jo

Socializing

hey guys! well, i gotta start off by praising God for carrying me through another week! As some of you know, I've been getting my scores from my tests back and by the Grace of God im not doing as badly as i thought i would! haha. technically i have not actually gotten a passing grade on any of the tests, but i havent gotten them all back yet and really, im just greatful for my 5's 4's and 2's!
ive told you before that the most important thing the school wants from me is to see me give my best and socialize with the other students so that i learn more about Brasilian culture, so ive been doing just that! after taking a break from basketball last week because of tests, ive started playing during our break time every day wich is a good way for me to intereact with people outside of my class. i also went to the mall to see a movie yesterday with Patrick and some friends from school! (if you would have told when i was down here back in 2007 that in 3 years i'd be goin to the movies on weekends with people from my Brasilian school, i would have feared for your mental health. God is the one with the plans though!!!) we had a good time, and afterwards Bill (who got to come home from his job early!, Erika, Patrick, Douglas, Amanda, and i all went to eat at Pasta ou Pizza which is pretty much THE place to be as far as pizza is concerned down here! especially their CHOCOLATE pizza! (yeah, i know, im really going without down here on the mission field.
Last week i said that i felt like God was going to open up opportunities for me to talk to some of the teens about stuff thats going on in their lives, and He did! Not only here at Grupo CEO, but also a litle bit with one of the guys from school. Im not going to go into detail on all of them, but i will ask you to keep praying for the teens and that they would realize that no matter what is happening in their lives, nothing can take away the Joy that comes with the Holy Spirit that is working in all of us who believe!
Another one of my "socializations" this week was getting involved in this short Good Samaritan skit that me and a few other teens are presenting tonight at Church. I should actually go and practice one it last time right now so thanks for reading, thanks for praying, and thank You LORD for loving me through!!
Until Next Time,
Jo

Whew!

hey everyone!
well, after a long week of tests, this weekend couldnt have come fast enough! thanks to all of you who prayed me through this week! I can tell you for a fact that God heard those prayers and gave me a better understanding of the material on my tests! that doesnt mean i passed them all with flying color though... the grading scale here is 1-10, 10 being 100 percent and i found out that i got a 2 on my Literature test! hah! but the best part is, i tied with another kid in my class and got higher than one of the girls! dont ask me how that happened, im just greatful that God is getting me through and im gonna keep giving it my best!
I had a cool opportunity this week to talk with some of the girls at my school about why i came to Brasil. They asked why i chose to study at Collegio Batista and i explained how i know Patrick and his family though missions work that i have done here in the past and i told them that i came to Brasil and i have to study because i am a teenager, but the real reason i am here is to do missions work! it wasnt an incredibly in-depth conversation considering that we were talking with no one around to translate, but im glad i had the chance to tell them why i am here and where my heart is. Praise God!
Today was a work day at the Grupo CEO building and it was really encouraging to see many of the teens and pre-teens show up to help mop, sweep, wash chairs, and organize the building. the place looks great now, with the new floor and everything. But the church buidling is nothing without The Church!
I think this week i am gonna have the opportunity to talk with a couple of the teens here about stuff that is going on in their lives, so pray that 1)i can understand what they're saying! 2) i can communicate to them what God Word says about their sittuation and 3) that im sensetive to the Holy Spirit cuz without that, anything that i say is pointless!
well, i have another long week ahead of me but its filled with opportunities! I can so joyfully say that God has been revealing His love to me and its so incredible to open my eyes and realize how ACTIVE He is! When i read His Word, He reminds me that those promises arent just for people who lived 2000 years ago, they're for me, for this very day that i am living! Hallelujah! Father, you are so worthy of all the praise that i have ever recieved or given and soo much more! Nothing compares to knowing Jesus Christ as my Savior!
Until Next Time,
jo

One Month Already?

hey guys!
well, its officially been over a month now and I can say that it has prolly been the quickest, the longest, the most challenging, and the most eye-opening month of my life! and i still have 5 more to go! (only 3 more of school though! yay!)
This week has stayed pretty busy. Bill left on sunday for his job, we are getting a new tile floor in the Grupo CEO building, i played basketball for an hour with the pre-teens on friday night, and i had a sleepover at Gessica's house (the one who had the party i danced in) and Leninha was there too. I stayed from friday to 5 on saturday and we had a really good time. i hadnt been forced to speak that much portuguese before! it was a little bit frustrating but it was good for me though. = ) I really have picked up a lot of the language in just this short month and i owe it all to the One who created languages in the first place!
Tomorrow our mid-quarter tests start at school so that means on top of regular homework, we have a test every day. It will be challenging but the school has said that as long as i try my hardest and show an interest in my classes, the tests will not weigh as heavily on my grade. What they really want to see is me interacting with the other students so thats what im gonna try and do! I've started playing 3 on 3 basketball with two of the guys in my class during our break time. Its a lot of fun even though im pretty sure im the only one who actually knows the rules!
I want to thank everyone again for all of the encouragement you give me through facebook messages, comments, and prayers! God really uses them to lift my Spirit! please pray for my sanity this week as i deal with tests and the little day-to-day surprises. I'll write again soon!
Until Next Time,
Jo

Well, hi!

Goodness, i havent blogged in a while, have i? We just got back from a wonderful vacation to the beach for Carnaval! it was beautiful! God really never ceases to amaze me with His creation! It was nice to have a break from school too! my classes are still pretty tough but getting easier. im slowly picking up more of the language and now i have a better understanding of how school is run down here which makes me more comfortable.
This morning we had a baptism and 10 people testified to their faith in Jesus Christ! Stuff like that is just a blessing to wittness, isnt it? Other than that, things in the community have been normal. Keep praying for the passion in the hearts of the people of the church, ESPECIALLY the teens! They are the future leaders of this community and it is so obvious how the younger kids want to look up to them and imitate them! They have soo much potential to serve!
Bill is getting ready to leave tomorrow for another 28 days at his job. Please pray for safety for him while he is away and strenght for Erika and the rest of the family.
Well, i didnt really write much for not blogging in so long, but the main thing is that, even though i still miss home a ton, im so happy to be here. Its great to wake up every morning and be so certain that you are in the will of your Father! And its that kind of peace and joy that i want to share to everyone reading this and everyone i come into contact with here!
I'll try to update you more frequently, but thats all for now!
Until Next Time,
Jordan

Into Another Week

well, i can tell you for sure that even though i get to have school in a nice, sunny, warm place, i still do not enjoy it one bit. lol the classes are hard enough in enlish so this portuguese thing is just the icing on the cake that i could do without eating. i will say my portuguese is getting better though and i can understand more when i listen to people speak. being taught thing is another story though! please keep praying for my understanding, especially of the math and chemistry!
We had a good service at grupo CEO last night! bill gave a solid message and as we sang at the end he asked for anyone who needed restoration in their life, whether it be through salvation, forgiveness, repentance, or anything like that, to come to the front as a testimony to the change they wanted to make and i praise God in saying that at least 3 women from the community did so! also, one of the teens went up to Bill afterwards and said he wanted to go up, but was embarrased because no other teen did. i hope throught the time i am here i can see God transform this community into a body of believers who is supportive of one another in things like that, and no one will feel ashamed.. apathy is also a problem here, especially with the teens! pray that God lights a fire in their hearts and can not be extinguished and that they can experience the joy that only comes with being in harmony with His will!
i'll keep you updated on the work He is doing! until then, i praise Him for what He has already done!
Until Next Time,
Jordan

I am Yours

"Who am i, that the bright morning star would choose to light the way for my ever-wandering heart? Who am i, that the voice that calmed the sea would call out through the rain and calm the storm in me? Not because of who i am, but because of what You've done, not because of what i've done, but because of Who You Are! I am a flower quickly fading; here today and gone tomorrow; a wave tossed in the ocean; a vapor in the wind. Still, YOU HEAR ME WHEN IM CALLING. LORD, YOU CATCH ME WHEN IM FALLING, AND YOU SHOWED ME WHO I AM. I AM YOURS!"

Im sure most of you have heard this song. Well last night, i was having a hard time. i was missing home, thinking about how hard school was gonna get, wondering how i was ever gonna learn enough Portuguese to get by, let alone grasp the whole language. Then this song came to mind and it was kind of like a spiritual bucket of cold water was dumped on me and a comforting reasurrance hit me: i am not in this position because of anything i can do, any way i have proven myself, or to prove that i can succeede. i am not here just to have a "good experience" or to be able to come out of it sayin, "i did it." Its not about anything that i have done or can do!
The truth is, this first few days that i've been here have been pretty self-focused. i was constantly worrying in the back of my mind about all kinds of me stuff. i thought, "how am i gonna do this?" And then i started singing that song and God's power and love exploded in my heart! The Holy Spirit reminded me that i am HIS! He WILL NOT leave me or let me fail because He is doing His work! it was such an awesome an comforting feeling that i couldnt help but praise Him! Gloria Deus! I love serving My Father who has so much love for me and never leaves me, even for a second!
I know this doesnt mean that everything will go perfectly. im gonna start to worry and the devil knows i miss home, so hes gonna try to pull me down with that. But GREATER is He that is in me than he that is in the world! He will lift me up and i will always praise Him! if you serve the same loving, powerful, and unchanging God, leave an "amen" down there in the comment box or write it on my wall on facebook so that everyone can see that we are His!!

Until Next Time,
Jo

Into the Swing of Things

Hello, hello! well today was my second day of school and i must say my favorite class is ENGLISH! it wasnt really much of the class though. the prof. spent most of the time just talking to me. lol last night was the first time i got to see most of the people i know. we had a bible study and i got to hang out and "talk" with the kids which was so great to do again! oh, and guess what i found out. im going to be in another quinceanerra type thing! what are the odds? lol the pastors daughter jessica is turning 15 and i will most likely be paired with Patrick (the son of the missionaries i am staying with) for the dance at her party on the 6th of Feb. it should be fun!.
Back to school, i havent had too much trouble so far....then again we have done nothing but take notes. i have made friends with the people patrick hangs out with. i think a group of us may be going to a movie on friday. The kids here act pretty much the same as the kids back home, although theres a little more PDA tollerated at school. lol
hmm... what else has happened.. Im not sure what else to say right now other than i miss everyone more than i thought i would! i am very happy to be here though, and as i spend more time with the kids, i am starting to recognize what work God wants done in their lives. As far as things you can pray about go, please keep praying for my understanding of the portuguese language and my sensetivity to the Holy Spirit. Also, Bill will be getting back from his business trip tonight so please pray for his safety. sorry for this blog being kind of choppy but there has been a lot to take in in only two days. i will write again soon. miss you all!

Until Next Time,
Jo