Blessings

Today I received several blessings. Yesterday I found out that instead of having an all-day choreography practice today, we have the day off! It was great to sleep in and relax. Then this afternoon I was blessed to be able to go to one of the missionaries' house to use her washing machine! I didn't appreciate such a commodity until I had to start washing all my clothing by hand. To think, all you have to do is throw the clothing in, put some soap in, push a few buttons and wait for it to be done, clean, and nearly dry! :) After washing clothing by hand, trying to wring it out the best I could, and hang it out, I have a new appreciation for the washing machine (and I've only been washing clothing by hand for six weeks, many people here do it all the time). Not only did I get to use her washing machine, I was blessed through spending the afternoon hanging out and talking with Laura. It was a good time. Thank you Jesus for the blessings you've given me today!

More of the great tropical nature

I don't want to overwhelm the blog with pictures of nature, because I do more than take pictures of nature, but on the other hand, there are some pretty cool things here! Yesterday morning I saw monkeys in the trees during my quiet time with Jesus.

Two nights ago when I was going to my room this large frog was making its way across the porch. I followed it and Gabi took this picture for me. I wouldn't want to be on the right side of this frog....not so much because the frog could hop over to me, but more because of the huge hairy spider that was a few feet away from it.

This is just cool; HUGE banana leaves

King's Kids Seminar

This past weekend was a full schedule of learning choreography, and gaining some new ideas and activities to do with children. It was a full and tiring weekend as we learned choreography for 6 songs. It was a bit more difficult for this American to enjoy and learn the steps. But the Latinos seemed to love it, and have so much energy for it! :)

This is a picture of where we practiced the songs.

 

relaxing for a few minutes

Gabi and I wearing our crowns that we made, and then eventually gave to the children on Sunday.

The following clip is not of any of the songs we practiced, but was actually during one of our breaks, but the Latinos started doing choreography to a song that was playing. I added it to give a taste of what kind of choreography we learned.

The culmination of the weekend was an event with children from the neighborhood who came and we sang songs, talked about the plan of salvation, taught them choreography to one song, performed a song for them, prayed for them, and gave out cotton candy!

Week 4 and Random Sites

This week our topic was relationships. We talked about various kinds of relationships, barriers in relationships, how to approach relationships, how to approach dating, and more! It was a good week.

On Thursday we did something new for me (then again, I've been alot of new things). A group of about 40 people from the base, schools, and ministries when into the center of Recife to join many other groups of people in a peaceful demonstration against the exploitation of children and youth. It was a great experience to walk the streets with so many other people and make known the great injustice that is being done, and hopefully our signs and actions have made a difference! We carried signs with facts about trafficking, the national number to call to report exploitation etc, and there were also a percussion band and lost of whistles! :) We took over part of the street as we walked and my perception is that it was some main roads that we walked, and many people who saw what we were doing.

Finally, a few more pictures from life here in Brazil!

 The main house

Some of my classmates

 

Some animals I've spotted.... 

This is a BIG spider, right behind my house! It was in the laundry room, so now I do a spider check before I wash clothing, just in case....

This frog is a beautiful green, I spotted it also right outside my house...

I don't think I've every seen such a huge snail! 

This is a frog that we spotted in the bathroom, and it wasn't the first one, and probably won't be the last. :)

Have a great weekend!

Not your normal Friday night

...that is, if you have a house, shower, and a comfortable bed. But for the children, and adults who live on the streets of Recife, it was a normal Friday night.

    Last Friday night was my first time going with the street team for ministry into the center of the city of Recife. We didn't take cameras, so instead I'll try a feeble attempt to paint a mental picture of what I encountered that night.

    There were nine of us, all sporting the "Search and Rescue" JOCUM (YWAM) urban missions t-shirts. When we got out of the van we saw some people that the staff know, a little 3 year old girl, her mom, and another lady-who had her bottle of glue close to her nose. After talking with them a bit we headed down the street to their home. When I say home I mean a dirty mattress laying up against a closed up shop. We spent some time there, sitting on the street with them and painting nails, playing dominoes, and painting with the little girl. After awhile we got up, said our good-byes, and headed off down the street to another area of town. After walking a few blocks we arrived at a bustling park area. There were alot of people sitting around, despite the late hour, and we quickly found three children who were selling candy. Our team split up into two groups and one group went with some older youth and I went with some others to sit down and spend some time with the three children that we met. We sat on the bench and they colored pictures that we brought along with us. They were intrigued by English so we practiced a few words in English, and in our broken Portuguese, or rather "portenol" (a mix of Spanish and Portuguese...what I usually end up speaking) talked with them about their life, and spoke words of life into their lives. It turns out that these particular children don't actually live on the streets, but I believe they spend much of their time on the streets. After awhile it was time to go, so we packed up, said good-bye to these precious children and headed back to the area where our van was parked. On our way back to the van I saw a scene that was very impactful to me. As one of the leaders stopped to say hi to someone he knew, right in front of me was a lady with two small children, very small children, laying down on the street, with a blanket covering them...under the porch of a business.

     I've read about children living on the streets, I've heard statistics, I've prayed for these children. But to actually walk the streets and see these little children literally living on the street left a deep impression on my heart. The dirty, busy, streets are what they are learning to know as home. I left that place and returned to the base where I could take a shower and sleep under a roof. But it was with a heavy heart that I did so, thinking about what I'd seen that night, and praying for these children.

    In light of Friday night I feel there is not much more to say for this post. School is going well, I'm learning and growing, and learning through living in community. God is good. I'll try to update more frequently!

First Week

Last Sunday evening we started off the DTS with a special dinner and time to get to know each other. This picture is of the DTS and staff. There are 12 students. We are expecting 3 more who need their visas.

 This is a picture of the girls. (One of them is missing because she came Monday.)

 

This week's topic was about the fear of the Lord and hearing the voice of the Lord, taught by the leader of the base. During the week hearing the voice of the Lord became a very practical part of the class as we had times of worship and giving/receiving of words from the Lord to students and staff. It was an intense and good start of the DTS! 

On Saturday a group on outreach from Montana, some staff, boys from Hope House, and the DTS went to a beach for the day.

Bem-vindo a Brasil

Here are a few first glimpses of Recife, Brazil.

(You can see the ocean in the background.)

I am actually living right outside of Recife...but i can see the city from the base. 

Class starts this evening.