The End of the Journey

I am sitting in a hotel in Dallas as I write this. We left Brazil yesterday. The last six weeks have been absolutley amazing. There just are not words that are adequate to describe it. I fell in love with Brazil. Everyone we met was wonderful. The Lord did some amazing work through us. There are now about 7 or 8 people doing Bible studies with the missionaries because of LST. We got really close with so many people. It was so hard to leave them. About 20 people came to the airport to say goodbye. And 7 or 8 stayed until we went through security and they could no longer see us. As I walked to our gate, I turned around and saw them standing there waving to us, most of them in tears. I miss them already. That was the hardest goodbye I've ever had to say. Leaving was definitely the hardest part of this trip.

I just want to thank each of you for your support, whether financially or prayer. None of this would have been possible without you. I will be grateful to you forever. This experience has changed my life. And I pray that you will someday have one just like it.

My prayer now is that the Lord will send me back to Natal, Brazil someday soon.

God bless each of you.

It's not all my fault...

Today is a glorious day! Sarah, the reader you know all about by now, came this morning. We read Lesson 15 (from Luke 11:1-13) about continuing to ask, look, and knock. We talked about things that people look for in today's world. Our conversation went something like this:

Me: What are you looking for?
Sarah: I am looking for knowledge, God, and love.
Me: I think that if you find God, you'll find knowledge and love.
Sarah: Really? Yes.
Me: How will you find God?
Sarah: I pray, read the Bible, come to this church. And it's all your fault.
Me: How is it my fault?
Sarah: We spend all the morning reading God's Word, talking about the love of God and God's power that changed your life. I didn't read my Bible. Now I read it every night. It's your fault.

Actually, I don't believe that I did very much. I am just the life and the mouth God used to speak to her. She wants to start studying the Bible with someone from the church. Tonight I am going to introduce her to the missionaries so they can talk about a Bible study. God is amazing!

As Paul quotes Jesus in 2 Corinthians, "My power is made perfect in weakness." How true that is! To think that God used my past (and probably present) weaknesses to speak to her heart and draw her closer to Him...I stand amazed and in awe of Him who sent me here.

The Lord is working

Another week has come and gone. We are now into our fifth week here. It has been amazing. We've gotten pretty close to some of our readers and to each other's readers. We had about 7 readers at our English Bible study yesterday. About 5 of them stayed for worship. One of my readers, the girl I've posted about, was there. She said she really liked it and would like to go next Sunday too. Several of the readers have been asking us, the missionaries, and other church members questions about Christianity, the Bible, etc. They seem pretty interested. We are so amazed by the way God is working here!

Here is a link for some more pictures:
http://atu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2030585&l=6b0e8&id=73101414

I told myself I wasn't going to post again for the third day in row, but I had an amazing conversation with someone this morning, so I just had to tell you about it.

I was reading with the same girl I posted about earlier. We were on Lesson 11 (the one about the parable of the seeds). We were talking about what kind of soil we are. She said that she wasn't quite the good soil. I asked her how she could become the good soil. She said that she needed to follow God's teaching. We then got into a discussion of how to do that. Then she said, "Since reading this with you, I have tried to follow God teachings. You teach me to follow Jesus." I was blown away. I give thanks to the Almighty Father for working through me to change her. And He has changed her heart and her life. Even her mom has noticed. I praise God for His work!

Feliz Dia de dos Namorados!

Today is Valentine's Day in Brazil. They call it Dia de dos Namorados. Who would have thought I'd celebrate V-day twice in one year? Well, I just thought I'd celebrate by telling ya'll I love you and I am so very thankful for each of you. You have blessed my life in ways that you may never know. I pray all of God's blessings on you!

Eu quero muito mais

Okay, I've said this before, but it's just so true that I have to say it again. God is great! Yesterday, four of our readers came to our English devotional and two (one of mine and one of Anna's) stayed for Bible class and worship. The guys said that they both asked a lot of questions in the men's Bible class. How great is that?! We can really see God working in our readers. What a blessing it is that God has allowed me to be a part of His work here. I am only worthy of this because of Christ.

I learned part of a song in Portuguese! I think it speaks what my heart feels right now and always. It goes like this (the spelling may be a little off, but it'll be close enough):

Eu quero mais, muito mais
do teu amor, voce e todo pra mim, Senhor
Eu quero mais, muito mias
do teu poder.

In English:

I want more, so much more
of Your love, you are everything to me Lord
I want more, so much more
of Your power

May the Lord bless you as much, no, more, than He has blessed me! Adeus from Brazil...

Oh Brazil.......

After today, I have only three things to say:

1. Snorkeling is my new favorite hobby.
2. Brazilians are WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL!
3. I wish I knew Portuguese.

Okay, 4 things:

4. We serve an AMAZING God! There just are not enough words to describe how awesome He really, truly is. I stand speechless and in awe of Him.

What a week!

Whew....it's been a very tiring, but very wonderful week. I have had some great conversations about the Bible, Christianity, and Jesus. I posted about one of those conversations. I also have two readers who are agnostic. One believes all religions are good and the other believes in evolution. We've had some interesting conversations. Please pray that the Lord will give me words to say to them and that He will touch their hearts and lives so that they will believe in Him and Jesus as Creator and Savior of the World.

Our 2nd party on Wednesday went really, really well. The theme was Christmas. We decorated cookies, made Christmas cards, made snowflakes (none of them have seen snow!), played card games, and listened to Christmas music. Cyndi made banana bread and fudge, which everyone loved. Someone even asked her for the fudge recipe. At first we didn't think many people were going to come, but keeping with Brazilian culture, most people showed up at least 30 minutes late. But then it took a while to get everyone to leave! The church members have been great. They talk with our readers and are establishing some good relationships. Everyone loved our party, and we got another 9.9.

One of my readers goes to the woman's Bible class at the church here and is studying the Bible with Marta, one of the missionaries. I think they started before we got here and they wanted her (the reader) to study English with one of us to keep in contact with her. It's amazing how God works and how He uses people for the littlest things to do His work and plant seeds of belief.

We are enjoying our day off. We worked very hard this week. But it is so worth it. Now we're relaxing, building up our strength for next week. And we're going to take a boat ride and go snorkeling! Woo hoo! I hope you are all having a great summer. May the Lord bless you in all you do and may all you do be for His glory. Until next time...Deus te abençoa!

Change is good!

I had one of the most amazing conversations today with a reader that I've ever had on an LST project. We were talking about how John the Baptist wanted to encourage people to change by telling them the Good News. I asked her how she has changed over the course of her life. She answered, then asked me the same thing. God opened the door wide for me to tell her why I decided to give my life to Christ and become His disciple. I shared with her what my life, feeling, and thoughts were before I became a Christian and how I have changed for the better since then. It turns out that we have had a lot of the same experiences, thoughts, and feelings. She was shocked to hear parts of my story, and I was shocked to hear some of hers. We were both shocked that we had so much in common. She told me that she thought that God had put me in her life to help her with some of those things. I am so amazed at how God works! He can use our weaknesses for His good and touch someone's heart with our lives in order to bring them closer to Him. It's breath-taking! I can see Him working so much in the lives of my readers as well as the others' readers. I cannot wait to see what God will do next!

I'll leave you with something my reader, my friend, said today (and this is pretty much a direct quote): "If we want to change the world, first we have to change ourselves." The best way to do this is through the cross of Jesus Christ.

Pictures

This is a picture of us eating at the missionaries house. We are with the missionaries' daughter Andressa and our Brazilian friend and guide Bob. They are wonderful!!!!

Here is a link to my pictures on Facebook. There are several on there I took here, and I plan on adding more as time allows. Have a wonderful day/night!!! God bless!

http://atu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2029939&l=2a726&id=73101414

Party Time!

Hello from Brazil!

Thank you so much for praying for our party!!! We had the first one last night. The parties (or social events) give the church members a chance to meet our readers. We also get to meet each other's readers. The theme for this one was Arkansas. We did a skit about the different people you would meet in AR. I was a farmer. Everyone loved my "farmer's hat." We taught them to play 4 square and Wooo Pig Souiee. It was so fun to watch Brazilians calling the Hogs. :) We also had a cakewalk where they won Little Debbie cakes that Cyndi brought from AR. They loved the Little Debbies! Bryan ran the football toss, which was a big hit. He had a long line of people waiting to try to get the football in the bucket. It was great. I just talked to different people, mostly about AR and the USA. They had all sorts of questions about our state. They were surprized to find out that it is not on of the richers states.

In all, there were about 60 people at the party, about 30-35 of which were readers. Most of them brought a friend or family member with them. Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun. The church members said it was a huge success and gave us a 9.9. They didn't give us the full 10 because they didn't want us to get a big head about it. ;) Two of our readers attended the women's Bible class the church had right before the party, and the missionaries were able to talk with several readers. The only problem with this party is that we have a lot to live up to the next few weeks!

Everything is going really well here. My readers are great! I have had some really good discussions about the Bible, God, Jesus, and faith. Many of them seem interested in knowing what I believe and why I believe it. I'm really excited to see what God is going to do in the next few weeks! I really love this church and the people I have met. Brazilians are so open and friendly. One of my readers baked me a cake and gave me a book in Portuguese. How sweet was that?! Now I have to learn Portuguese so I can read the book!

I have a full afternoon and night of reading sessions. Please continue to pray for us here. Hope all is going well back in Arkansas! God bless!!

Pot of Beans!

On Thursday, we had our first reading sessions. Mine went great! I love my readers already! I have had 8 sessions so far with 7 tomorrow. Most of my readers do not have religious beliefs, although they say they do believe in God. One guy is agnostic. So I am thankful that I have the opportunity to introduce them to Jesus. I am so excited to see what God is going to do in their lives these next 5 weeks! I have a lot in common with several of my readers. Most are students at local universities.

We have had a great weekend! Friday and Saturday are our days off. Friday we exchanged money and went grocery shopping. Everything is, of course, in Portuguese, so we had a fun time trying to find what we needed. We only did so thanks to Bob, our Brazilian friend and guide and our Christian brother. He has been such a blessing! Friday night we were invited to a surprise birthday party for one of the church members. Bob taught us to say Para Bens (i have no idea if that's how you spell it), which is Happy Birthday in Portuguese. To us this sounds like pot of beans, so that's what Brian kept saying. Pot of Beans!

Saturday we went to the beach with Bob. I learned that it is vital to wear sunscreen and reapply it every hour. I did not reapply it however, so I have a pretty sunburn on my legs. Other than that the beach was great. We tried "surfing" but it didn't work out too well. Haha.

Last night we joined the church members for an evangelistic event they had here at their church called Amor Incondicional (Uncondicional Love). They called everyone they knew and invited our readers. They had several non-Christians here. It was really cool to hear them sing in Portuguese. They sang their version of Prince of Peace, which is pretty different from ours. They do not sing parts, so they sing all of the parts all together, which completly throws me off. I did attempt some of the songs in portguese, but not very well. A guy from the church in Forteleza, a city about 2 hours away, came to speak. He talked about the story of the prodigal son in Luke, but I'm not sure what all he actually said. I didn't understand any of it. It was really cool just to be there with them.

The church members here are absolutely wonderful! Half of the church is about my age, give or take a few years. Many of them became Christians through LST, which is an encouragement to me. They have been so helpful to us, especially Bob. He takes us everywhere and spends each day with us. He is our guide and interpretor since he speaks English and Portuguese. He also speaks some Spanish. The missionaries are great! We have been so blessed with wonderful people and a wonderful church to be part of. The body of Christ here is really living out the mission and message of Jesus. I am humbled, honored, and grateful to part of that.

I am estatic about worship tonight. Every Sunday afternoon, we have a devotional here at the church building in English. Brian and Craig are going to sing some English praise songs and give a short devo. Then we will have Bible class and worship in Portuguese. I'm so excited!!!!

I'll post again in a few days. Please pray for our reading sessions this week. I know God has great plans and is going to work powerfully! I just pray that we can be an effective channel for Him to do that. I love you all! Until next time....

Adeus from Natal

A Great Night

Tonight was our information meeting. We signed up a total of 57 readers. I have 10 right now. We still have a long list of people to call who couldn't come tonight. The readers are great! They are all so friendly. Several people have already volunteered to take us around the city, to the beach, to a theater, and to cook for us. And we haven't even started reading yet! The people from the church are wonderful. I am so excited to start reading and to see the Lord work! I can't wait to see what He is going to do here this summer!

Boa Noite (Good night) from Natal

Finally in Brazil

Well, about 30 hours after we left Little Rock, we arrived in Natal. We are all safe and sound. Our flights went really well. The Brazilian airlines are wonderful, better than ours in my opinion. The missionaries and church members we have met so far are great. They are so nice and helpful. And our rooms are great too. I´m sharing a room with Anna and Cyndi and the guys are sharing a room. We have hammocks in our rooms.

Marisa, one of the missionaries, said that we have 70 readers so far and others keep calling. That is about 14 readers each right now. We are so excited to meet them tomorrow! Right now we are going to eat, then going to pack and shower and hit the sack. It has been quite the journey getting here.

The Lord has provided for us. He has set all of this up, and I am amazed! I can already see Him working. Thanks for your prayers! I love you all! God bless!

Adues from Natal

Hello all!

Welcome to my blog! In 31 hours I will begin yet another great adventure for the Lord. This time He has sent me to Natal, Brazil, a city in the Northeast of the largest country in South America. It is right on the Atlantic Ocean. I am working with a ministry called Let's Start Talking. Our team is from the Church of Christ Student Center at Arkansas Tech University. We are five people with a desire to serve God and tell others about His unending love and amazing grace. We will spend six weeks in Natal giving English conversation lessons using the book of Luke from the Bible.

This is my third summer to do this, and I love it! I have traveled to Tijuana and Mexico City, Mexico, and Lima, Peru, with this ministry. And I hope to continue doing this work for as long as the Lord allows. I am really looking forward to seeing how God works this summer and how He uses us to accomplish His will! I know He has already been working in my life, the lives of my teammates, and the lives of those who we will soon meet in Brazil.

I hope you enjoy reading my posts, and I would appreciate your prayers for a safe flight. Welcome to this exciting adventure!

Grace and peace be with you all
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17