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