Named a Donkey Independence!

To you Americans, Happy 4th, I don't expect us to shoot any fireworks off down here, so if you get a chance light one for me!!

This weekend (which isn't over) has been packed full!!

Friday, around 13:00, 8 of us (Jordan, Bill, Donna Mocinha, Alane, Pastor Eudes, Peris, Aristones and I) left to head to VQ. (of course after a morning full of kids and preteens - so Jo and I were already tired!) Even before we left we had some fun with Sula~we were looking for 2 liter bottles to fill up with "good" water. We asked Sula where to find them and she pulled one from behind the trunk that Jordan has been using for her clothes! We were shocked, but at the same time, that's Sula for you! She got the others one from outside somewhere - don't worry they were washed before we used them!



But we loaded up the cars and were on our way, backpacks full and food & water packed! Getting there seemed a lot longer in the car this time, maybe because we didn't have a cake stop with Sula's soap opera, but it wasn't bad.

Once we made it to the "parking lot" (the house where we keep the cars), we were pretty ready to get down the road! The walk seemed a lot short this time, maybe because we knew what to expect, or there were less of us, or because it was with a new group of people that have never gone. Bill took his bike again, so for a while, Jordan and I were the only English speaking people on the road, so communication was entertaining too! We gave Bill some good laughs when he came back for backpacks (the picture says it all, but I don't have it yet).



Once we made it to the house, Bill was no where to be found. Come to find out, from Donna Mocinha (although it was in Portuguese, so we were guessing a little bit) that he went to pray with one of the ladies at the end of the road. But he showed up later, unharmed from riding in the dark without a lamp, to let us know that more people were coming.



Jordan and I were hungry, while waiting for Bill...and Jordan and I didn't want to be rude and eat in front of them! So we grabbed some crackers and headed to an empty patch of grass near the horse. We were trying to watch the stars, but at the same time sneak a snack! All of a sudden, while trying not to draw attention to ourselves, the horse had to pee! It cracked me up...of course it would do something when we don't want any attention...



After our eventful snack...we were doing our best to take turns teaching Alane words in English and her teaching us words in Portuguese. It became pretty entertaining, especially since there were limited things to point out and name. Alane had one of the little boys run over and touch a chair so that we knew what she was talking about! But we had fun!

Once Bill was back we had some children's worship time! We first started off playing the name game! Bill ended up making us say all of the names in the end, which was difficult because this was the first time we really met these kids and some had some difficult names! Alane then gave the kids a Bible verse to memorize and they were able to repeat it a lot better than Jordan and I, although Jordan did it a lot better than I! I could say it in English! Psalm 119:11!!! Its a good one!

Afterward we sang and danced to a BUNCH of songs! At one point I had Alane laughing really hard because I was doing one of the dance move wrong...Jordan plans to teach it to me later! After the songs we headed inside to play with some balloons and to give the kids candy!! We had a balloon race...who ever could blow up the balloon and make it pop, while blowing it up, got a piece of candy, well of course everyone got a piece, it just took longer for other. The three of us (AJC) tried after the kids and Alane kept knocking ours out of our mouths! Jordan won! Alane and I tied! We got candy too!

After sugaring up the kids, we danced the Electric Slide to "Forever" by Chris Tomlin. That was fun! The kids were LOST!!! Alane had it down really well, more than we thought she would...she was even the one that wanted us to do it! It was FUN! And Alane had us dance the Cotton Eyed Joe dance moves to another song! That was fun, but tiring too - the kids didn't join in on this one...we were just watched!

Pastor Eudes gave a short sermon on Nicodemus and what it means to be born again. Three people accepted Christ: Lucas, Donna Fatima, Jocelane ! It was an awesome experience to be a part of!

It was also Alane's birthday, so we had a cake for her! This was really neat too! The cake was cut, and Alane served it to everyone! When she got to us, she stuffed it in our mouths, which we didn't expect! But then we got her back! She actually wasn't sure if she wanted to come because it was her birthday, but I'm pretty sure it will be a birthday she will never forget!

It was 22:30 by the time we headed to bed! Alane was begging us to go to the river that night, but we decided it would be best to go in the morning! As we were setting up the hammocks, Bill was having some trouble because Erika wasn't there to tie a knot in his hammock. We told him to ask Alane, but he was pretty she didn't know! But as soon as he said that, she was showing that she was able to do it, I think she ended up fixing everyone's hammocks!



Bill woke us up at 5:25!! To go take a bath in the river, although we had to wait until the gentlemen made their way back! It was refreshing, although Alane was SHIVERING the whole time. Jordan delayed getting in the water, but Alane wasn't having it! She actually took me down in the water...but I wasn't complaining - I thought it felt good!



We got out, headed to the house, changed clothes, hung our wet clothes on the fence and then ate some breakfast! Bread and corn meal stuff that you can put sugar and milk on...it was interesting!

We left on our trek to the "coffee house" around 7ish, later than we wanted, but not as late as we could have been! The trek (again) seemed a lot shorter than before...I think it helps when you have landmarks throughout the journey. And with those memories that help you get down the road! When we reached the first gate we knew we didn't have much more to go. Then there was the pond you can swim in, although there is A LOT of greenery in there right now. And then the Mini-Amazon River!



We reached the coffee house and Margarita had coffee ready to go! Jordan and I each ended up with 2 cups of AMAZING coffee in us...Bill had 3 1/2. That was A BUNCH of straight from the cow milk!



Margarita is an awesome hostess. She is so sweet and has a heart-warming and -breaking testimony. She mentioned today that "We are poor, but anything you need here is yours." WOW!!! This is the lady whose daughter drowned not too long ago, and she now has peace with God, knowing that her daughter is in Heaven and that through her daughters death, more have come to know Christ! I wish everyone could meet this amazing woman!



While enjoying our coffee, those sitting around us decided that to mess with Alane about riding their donkey...I've now learned not to dare that girl! She walked up to the donkey and got on! Then Thiago got it walking and she got to screaming as it took its steps! The little boy pulled out the rope and started hitting its side. That got the little guy going! She nearly fell off, but Thiago caught her!



Then it was Jordan's turn! Jordan made sure the little boy with the rope was far from her, but didn't expect Aristones to go up behind the donkey get him going, or get the rope thrown to him from the boy. Well, the donkey definitely got going and ended up knocking Jordan to the ground, Thiago was unable to catch her.






Then it was my turn. Now I have a bad record with Donkeys, and this poor guy had already had enough...he didn't need me. And come to find out he didn't even have a name! So we named him Independence...Don't know if that will stick, but its been decided! Well, I did get on the donkey, and Jordan had the rope...which we are on the same team so we back each other up, although she was swinging it around suspiciously...I was fine not having the donkey go anywhere and I can now say that I have ridden a donkey!

After the donkey ride, The Chaplain (Jo) told us the story of Noah, and how much faith and obedience this man had! And if we would just allow God to work in our lives as Noah did, He would use us for great things as well! Bill later said that he had never looked at that story in that way and Aristones left like Jo had box seats watching what was happening! Jordan has an awesome way of putting Bible events in a new light to help us better understand all that God does! Its been an awesome experience serving along side her this summer!



After the lesson, Thiago mentioned that he wanted to accept Christ as His Savior. Bill had Jordan pray a sinners prayer, Bill translated it, and then Thiago repeated it! It was such a neat experience! Thiago is Lucas's brother! So now this mother has two more sons who have accepted Jesus! This was an AWESOME weekend (and I'm not done!).

(Lucas is in the orange hat, Thiago is in the blue hat)


Jordan's Brasilian dad led us in some worship songs before we left!



Margarita also gives AWESOME hugs!!!

Then it was on to the "Dairy House." The couple at this house makes fresh cheese, yogurt, milk, etc... And its ALL good! Today I only ate some cheese and crackers, but Jordan, Alane, Aristones and I were able to watch Edison (the man of the house) make some rounds (if that's what you call it) of cheese. I also got to eat some VERY FRESH cheese...it was good, but weird, I kinda felt like I was chewing on a balloon without the rubber taste...it even made squeaking sounds as we chewed!





Fatima (the lady of the house) had accepted Christ the night before and Edison prayed to accept Christ in the kitchen as we all held hands. Jordan said that Fatima held her hand REALLY tight!

While we were enjoying the new believer in Christ's first moments, we noticed the horse outside the window. Bill wouldn't get on the donkey, so we tried to tell Alane that Bill should get on that horse, but instead she thought we were telling her that in English, the horse is Bill! We had a good laugh! Fatima also gives some awesome hugs! I'm pretty sure I hugged her 5 times! She has a servants heart as well! I didn't want to leave the house, but it was time to go! But we didn't leave without buying some cheese from them!!!! (YUMMM!!)

On the way back to Marcos' house (where we spend the night) we continued to name other objects (besides Bill), Bill! It helped break up the length of the trip! We also taught Alane a few phrases that hopefully she'll use later on: Howdy Y'all and Don't Worry About It!! It was fun! We stopped at one other house just to say "oi" and to pray with them along the way back!

Once we were able to see the house, Alane was real excited! I don't think she expected to walk so much! But we made a deal to scream "GLORIA A DEUS" on three. We shocked those in the front of the pack! It was fun!



Once we got back to the house, we ate lunch (with some AWESOME potatoes - the best ever - sorry mom)!!! Packed up our clothes and headed out! We walked most of the way back, but then some of the guys from the community gave us a ride by motorcycle back to the "parking lot." So I am still unable to say that I walked the whole way in VQ...these people are just too nice! But I also appreciated it!

The ride home was uneventful, although we tried to sleep and Bill was enjoying waking us up while dodging holes (although the holes have gotten better).

We are now back. Erika is doing well, she is getting tired of being in her room, but the fact that she is staying down where she is suppose to be is good to see. We ate dinner (hotdogs!) and now we are getting ready to head to bed! We have an early morning...

Oh...and I have no clean lay around the house clothes (t-shirts, shorts) and the water was turned off, but I'm hoping to get them washed tomorrow!

Renan kept us entertained as he walked by our room dancing and singing...I finally got it on video! He has begged me to delete it...but that WON'T happen!




Check back for more pictures (once I get them from Bill and Jordan)...I'm really going to bed now...I just kept thinking of things that happened once we got home...

Esther and Children's Worship!

ERIKA is HOME!! Please continue praying for her!

This morning went well! The little kids were really cute! We told the story of Esther today! We had 4 of the kids wearing names tags for the main people in the story! Vitoria knew the story REALLY well! She could have told it by herself, she has seen the movie of Esther. We ended up working on "Every Move I Make" with the little kids, hopefully to show it to the church some day. Pastor Eudes wife also had a song for the kids to practice, but we were unable to get it to work on the CD player. (They came back later to work on it)

The preteens were there early as usual, I had to yell at them at one point because they were getting too loud for the little kids to hear and it didn't help that it was raining too.

Instead of just telling the preteens the story of Esther, we tried to have them act it out! We gave them A LOT of time, but some of the groups ended up saying they didn't even read it! We were confused, how did they waste all that time?!?!?! Two groups actually did act their parts out, but Jordan, Elo, Laura and I ended up telling most of the story! And had to summarize it in the end because they were getting confused. But the kids were able to answer the questions we had. God's control was seen throughout the situation, even though the Bible didn't say "God controlled this..." or "God did this..." God controls both the big and the little things in our lives, sometimes when we don't even realize it!

After the lesson, we had our snack and ended up playing Duck, Duck, Goose! We only had 30 minutes left and because of the rain, we didn't want to chance anyone getting hurt on the court! These kids enjoyed it...although this game can get pretty dangerous too!

After preteens we ate some beans, rice and sausage. And then took some much needed naps! I didn't plan on napping, but it felt REALLY good!

With the teens we talked about God's control with Noah and the Ark and the time Jesus was on the boat with His disciples when the storm occurred. I think that most of them can see God's control in the stories, but are afraid to admit if God really has control of their lives. But Jordan asked them some awesome questions that hopefully will get them thinking!

We also started working on a skit with the Teens! It is based off of Matthew 7:21-23, when Jesus is talking about how not everyone who says and does things for Christ will go to Heaven, you have to have a RELATIONSHIP with Christ! He has to be Lord of your life! The teens threw out ideas of what a Christian looks like and what they do: Don't do bad things, Obey their parents, Go to Church, Read their Bible, Know the Bible Stories... and we tried our best to remind them that while these are important to further their walk with Jesus and deepen their relationship, just doing these things will not save you!

Well, our actors have their parts. A few people were ready to volunteer, while others were picked to help out! Edwardo raised his hand as fast as he could when we asked who wanted to be the last person in line who actually has the relationship with Christ and makes it into Heaven! I thought that was neat! Patrick is playing Jesus. Renan actually has two parts, we are going to let him "sneak" back in line, it was their idea and he is really wanting to be a part of the skit! So we are trying to make it theirs as much as possible without going overboard!

We did a dry run through. It was interesting. Some haven't taken it seriously yet, but I reminded them that their are some people who believe that Going to church is good enough, so this could hit some people pretty deep! I was hoping that they could make their own lines, I feel that sometimes it makes them take more ownership in their work, but they want it written out, so I will be working on that soon.

After Teens, we had a little bit of time to relax and run to the store to make more copies before Children's Worship Hour! We ended up getting to the Worship Hour late, but Sula had things in order! And Jordan and I had some good laughs in the car...Bill joined in too...the others were confused...(Jordan with her head in the door, living in trunks, getting a few coffins - but then again there is a bridge...these are some long stories...so don't worry about it!)

Things went pretty well with the kids, it isn't ever the same without Erika, but knowing her she will be out their in no time!

After Worship we ended up playing hand slapping games and other games outside the house. And then ate Pizza for dinner! YUMM!!

Jordan and I are pretty sure that we have figured out Sula's method of cleaning and putting things away! We are trying pretty hard! We wrote out our own to do list for Sula, that way to make sure she knows that we appreciate all that she does! And to give her a good laugh, we put the dishes away wrong the other day and she made fun of us!

Well, it is getting late! The Shower and then the Bed are calling my name! Hopefully we are heading to VQ tomorrow, but it also depends on how well Erika is feeling! Jordan and I are prepared either way! FLEXIBILITY is the word for the summer!!!

Playing Soccer with a Chicken Mexican and Jordan's Dad!

Praise the Lord, Erika is doing fine, she had a planned surgery today! She is doing fine! And will be coming home tomorrow or Friday!

Jordan and I began our day pretty early again, as usual...ate breakfast and got things ready for the day!

The kids weren't busting down the door this morning, probably because the parents brought the little ones over to the building instead of just letting them run the streets! The little kids seem more open to our craziness and willing to participate. It helps that the all the younger kids are out of school now, which means the older little kids are there now too (and they have more to say)!

The lesson was on Jesus controlling the wind and the waves, when all the disciples were afraid. They ended up coloring something that makes them afraid and asking God to take that fear from them and ask God to take control.

The preteens did very well with the lesson today! They have been very responsive and ready to learn with has been awesome to see! Basketball was fun with them today too! It usually is! We have a GREAT group of PreTeens!



As we were getting things ready for the teens today, we froze Jordan's hand...Don't Worry About It!


The teens did pretty well today! We talked about forgiving others today. All of them seemed to agree that they needed to forgive others like Christ has forgiven us, but we later found out that not everyone completely agreed with what was said (read on).

We then had the group split into smaller groups and we asked for examples of God's control in their life or in the Bible. None of them brought their Bibles, and used that as an excuse to just saying "He's in control of my life." We did have a few Bible stories mentioned (Moses was one.). I then brought up some other examples of God's power and found out that NONE of them knew the order of creation...so we had "volunteers" (that we chose) stand up and at out each day.



At the end of the lesson, Jordan asked "Is there anyone here that doesn't believe what we have been talking about? Anyone with doubts? Be honest." One of our girls, Ingrid, said that she can't forgive one of her friends. So the conversation began about how we don't deserves God's forgiveness, but He gave it to us. We should be giving others the same treatment that God has given us because He loves us and we should be an example of who He is. She still was not "buying" it, and there were others at the table that were ready to go. So we prayed (and had volunteers), Jordan told Ingrid they would continue their conversation later, and then we headed to the courts!

Jordan and Ingrid's conversation ended up going really well. Jordan kept ready Ephesians 4:32, but she still wasn't sure about forgiving that one girl, she kept saying that the one girl was the "exception." Jordan had an awesome illustration for her! She ripped that page out of the Bible! Ingrid didn't feel that it applied to her life, so why did it need to be in the Bible? She got the point! She finally did say that she does what to ask for forgiveness from the girl and that she is going to try! Please prat for her! That was a BIG step for her!

The teens are crazy! Along with playing knockout, we ended up playing some 1on1 games on the other end of the court while waiting for the next KO game to start. I actually won a knockout round...I was completely shocked, especially since I was getting out right and left most of day.

When it was time to go, we walked the teens out to the soccer field as usual with the intentions of heading to the playground afterward. That didn't happen. Jordan, Laura, and I were pulled onto the field, against our will! Jordan and I ended up on James, Michael and Roberto's Team (poor guys). But we ended up doing pretty well, although it wasn't because of Jordan or I. Jordan (BTW she is the Chicken Mexican) did make 2 goals! And we had a bunch of "assists." We kept saying that "we didn't want the ball" but they weren't listening to us at all! Jordan and I need to teach them to say "move" or "budge," I know that I kept getting in the way! Some were complaining that James and Michael were on the same team, but with Jordan and I we tried to convince them that they were handicapped...it was pretty interesting!

Jordan's dad was playing soccer with us (well actually he is the new pastor of CEG (Grupo CEO's church), but he looks a lot like her dad!). He played goalie most of the time while on the field, but Jordan was never able to score a point when he was in the goal!


After each goal the losing team would switch out! We were out there for a LONG time! Some of the teams kept changing, but Jordan and I would only play on OUR TEAM!! They thought that was pretty funny! We got a picture of our team! We were pretty happy!

Our feet are definitely becoming Brasilian! Although we are questioning whether or not it was a good or bad idea to play so much right before going to VQ! But we know it won't get us down!

Dinner we had sandwiches and juice! Good stuff! Time for bed!

A Full Day!

Jordan and I shared a smoothie this morning, after we had our own personal smoothies! We told Bill that Amanda wouldn't want it, but he worked so hard on it so we couldn't turn it down! It was good!

Today we had our first real little kid meeting! We threw the playground balls at each other for a while, then talked about Noah and the Ark! The 6 kids that were there had no idea about Noah's story, so it was illustration time! We had a corrupt world and a boat drawn on the board! Along with 2 tick marks for every animal they could think of (I think we had 8 ticks on the board, they were shy!!).


We had some safari animals to play with too, so we played "Which animal is missing?" The kids weren't too excited with that, but its hard when you have so much time and the kids aren't talking or giving us any idea of what they like to do. We also tried playing duck, duck, goose, but only two kids would play with us! At one point Elo chose a kid to chase her and he got up crying and ran out of the Grupo CEO building! We all had a good laugh! The kid did come back and he sat in our circle and watched us play the rest of the time!


We pulled out the balls one last time to have everyone throw them around, but then it was time for a snack and to take them to the playground! It was a fun morning...

The preteens came in ready for the day! Early again! We ended up dancing for a good 30 minutes (probably more). Then played a game called "Ship Captain." The goal of the game is to be the last one standing, you get out if you are the last person to follow the captain's direction. I really think Jordan was having fun with this! The kids were running everywhere, on their backs acting like turtles, and saluting her! The kids were going crazy! The winner won a Dum-Dum!



Jordan then began the lesson on Noah! With these kids we were able to refer back to the game about how hard it was to follow Jordan's directions. Even though it can be hard sometimes, we need to follow God's instructions! It was a good lesson. We talked about all the different things God is in control over. The animals (No, Noah did not walk all over the earth dragging animals to the ark), the weather (who else can tell it when to stop and start and how much) and who lives and dies (Its a good thing He chose Noah, everyone else thought Noah was crazy!). God is in control of so much, why don't we give Him control of our lives?





Basketball went well! We spent a lot of time in the Grupo CEO building with singing, the game and the lesson, so we only had about 30 minutes on the court, but it was a good time!

The Teens are still being somewhat stand offish and quiet, we are hoping to break that ASAP! We talked about our excuses for sin both to ourselves (its just one time, everyone else is doing it) and to God (Its not that bad). We also talked about God's forgiveness and that what we do doesn't 'save' us from our sin, only Jesus can! I'm hoping it sunk into the teens, they still haven't been too expressive.

Trying to get them to pray is hard too! We asked for a volunteer...No one moved! So we took the time to talk about what prayer is...a conversation with God, so why are we so afraid to talk to Him when others are around? Well, we had every person at least pray a sentence...and we are probably going to continue this until we get some to volunteer. I also warned them that tomorrow we are going to start working on a skit to do for church...so we will see who shows up...everyone will have a part!

The Bible lesson went well tonight too!! At one point the pastor was asking a few questions and Jordan and I only understood a few of his questions...so to know when to raise our hands, we watched the pastor's wife! I think the pastor's wife and tonight's musician caught on to our confusion! They were smiling as we raised our hands after looking at them!

After the Bible lesson they had choir practice and I hung outside playing thumb war with some of the teens! It was interesting!

Well, its getting late and I am tired!

Prayer Requests:
~ Erika
~ VQ on Friday and Saturday (there will be 10 of us going)
~ Open hearts from the teens!
~ Strength and needed rest!
~ To Abide in Christ when things get Tough!
~ Preparation for the teams that will be coming down in July!

G'Nite

Teen Time!

We finally had our first official meeting with the Youth!

It went pretty well! We are doing multiple lessons each day for this week since they were 'unable' to meet with us last week! We talked about the definition of sin and what it means to be separated from God! We did another illustration today! This time we had two teams and they had to keep a "McD's" playground ball in between them, without touching it and walking from the gate to a random light pole! Each time they became separated from the person in front of them, the ball dropped and they had to start over. Luckily, we have Jesus that forgives us when we drop the ball in life so that we don't have to completely start over!! James and Shelby's Team actually made it to the pole (after we allowed them to put their hands on the shoulders of the person in front of them!



We had time to eat some cake and then play some basketball! These guys (10 guys and 1 girl), are very competitive, so it was fun to watch them battle it out while playing knock out! There were some surprise one on one knockout rounds, but they ended up being pretty evenly matched!




Elo showed up today! We have heard some new chick jokes...and we have heard that there are more to come...I'll let you know if we hear any funny ones...supposedly some of them are funnier in Portuguese...I don't know...



At 4, the boys went to play soccer on the field, so we went and watched them for a bit until the bugs bothered us enough to go to the playground.




At the playground, the battle of Sula, Jordan, Shelby and now others continued! Luckily there was sand to fall on this time (instead of the tile floor or harder ground, but now you had to deal with sand in the mouth!). Luckily the handycam wasn't too far away and got some good shots and movies of this crazy action!





Dinner was really good today! Bologna sandwiches, toasted and another type of sandwich with hotdogs, eggs, and other stuff! It was good, although Erika 'yelled' at us for leaving one sandwich in the bowl and not eating it all up...

While I am writing Jordan is "budgin" to "Down on Ghetto Street"...Don't Worry About It!

The Start of a Busy Week

Bill got Jordan into a spin today!! We were listening to "Loca por Jesus," spinning in circles, when Bill grabbed Jordan's wrist and ankle and starting spinning in circles while Jordan flies through the air. Sadly the Handycam was not so handy at that point, but I will be prepared next time!!! (Which I will make sure happens - sorry Jordan)

This morning was our first time to work with the younger (5-7) year olds, although some of them had been coming to the preteen time. There were only a few at first, but then a whole bunch of preteens showed up. So the little kids time was only about 6 little kids (most are still in school) and about 12 preteens…hopefully we will have our times worked out better so that our little kids don’t get over shadowed by the older ones.



We started taking about God’s control today. The little kids had a difficult time giving us examples of times in the Bible where God was in control…wait let me rephrase that…They had a difficult time giving us examples of stories in the Bible! I think they were a little shy, and weren’t sure what to expect from us. So instead of pulling strings that were getting us nowhere, we told them the Creation Story! A great example of God’s control. Afterwards, each kid picked a day and drew a picture representing that day of creation. We plan on hanging them up!



The preteens group (which still had the little kids) went pretty well! We started off asking which ones enjoyed being in control (all of them) and how they felt when they weren’t in control (bad). Then we had them play a game (well 8 of them). Four stood outside the circle and had to direct their partners (who had their eyes closed) to the balls that were rolling around. Not only was this an example of not being in control, but also gave the direction givers a taste of how God feels when we don’t listen to Him, especially since He knows what is best for our lives!

We then had the kids break out into groups and find 3 examples from the Bible where God was in control! We had a much better example list this time…Daniel and the Lions Den, David and Goliath, Creation, Jesus’ Birth…




All the kids agreed that is better to have God in control in our lives, although when we disobey or do things our own way, we try to get control back. The rest of the week we will be discussing examples from the Bible and see how different people reacted and how God was in control!

Jordan, Bill, Donna Monsia, 4 others from the community and I are heading to VQ Friday morning…pray as we get ready and figure out all that God wants us to do!!

A Sunday of New

This morning we did something Laisa had never done before...eat pancakes with SYRUP! She was a little hesitant at first, but with the chocolate chips and her courage to try such a strange liquid, she realized what she had been missing. She ended up making some interesting animals in the process too!




Church was great this morning, although we had to say good bye to Laisa for now. She plans on coming back to see us on Friday to the youth group meeting!
The rest of the day was pretty relaxing, we worked on lessons, planning the preteen weekend and napped. I also put together an attendance Excel page so that Grupo CEO can more easily keep track of the adults and kids that are showing up to different events.

Church at Grupo CEO tonight went well also. The pastor who preached tonight was really able to speak their language, on a level that all ages could understand! It was neat to see. His daughter (Jessica) has an AMAZING voice as well. She sung a couple of songs tonight and it was definitely a blessing to all who heard her sing!

Tomorrow our crazy schedule beings…time to get to bed…

Planning, Soccer and Dinner with Tequila

The spoils of waking up early...only splitting the banana/papaya smoothie 4 ways!!

We didn't have anything planned for today, but we did get a lot of planning done! Our retreat for the preteens is all written down on paper (games planned out, times set, meals decided upon). Now all we have to do is figure out the lessons and put the more intricate games together (scavenger hunt, amazing race).

The girls from the community did want to play soccer, so we ended up on the field. I was tricked into playing! I was planning on just taking pictures, but that idea was vetoed pretty fast. Later I was able to get a few actions shots of the girls! I'm hoping to get the cropped and then printed to give to them at the end of them summer! I think that would be pretty neat...Hopefully it will all work out!






After soccer we all took some much needed naps and then finish our planning for the preteens. Which took a lot of work...so we went out to eat at this neat "Hole in the Wall" "Ma n Pa" shop. Jordan and I ordered two different items that way we could share and taste both of what Bill and Erika were suggesting. The Bolo (a sandwich with everything!) and the Pastel (fried pastry with meat and other stuff in it!) were really good!

We met an awesome drunk guy (who's wife was in charge of the restaurant) who was a great entertainment for us! We have nicknamed him Tequila...he was impressed by Laura's height (we told him she was a basketball player in America) and he ended up getting a picture with Jordan while kissing her on the forehead. I got a hug from him and he kept talking to me even though we told him I didn't understand anything he was saying. We also had him 'convinced' and joking around with us that Laisa is from Iraq (bill keeps calling her a terrorist, because she looks more middle eastern than Brasilian. Laisa keeps trying to convince us she is from the 'hood'...it is a never ending cycle of laughs!). We ended up getting a picture with Tequila and the lady who made our food! Once I get it from Jordan...I'll put it up here!




We have church early in the morning...well we have to get up early if we want the smoothie and then we will head to church! Good night!