Summertime

This post is a bit overdue, but that shouldn’t be surprising given my great ability to procrastinate. January was a great month here in Natal! Besides being HOTTTTT, it was also summer vacation time (well, foreveryone who didn’t have a job). Most of my readers were traveling or otherwise taking advantage of their break from classes, so I had fewer reading sessions. I tried to spend my extra time with friends from the church. We did all sorts of fun stuff. We, of course, went to the beach, visited a nursing home, studied the books of Micah and Habbakuk (which in Portuguese sounds a lot like "have a cookie." That brings a smile to my face every time) and went hiking, among other thrilling summer activities. I had missed hiking (not that I was an avid hiker in Arkansas, but I really enjoyed it when I went), so it was a great day! We took a 1 ½ hour hike through the sand dunes and ended up at an overlook with a beautiful view of the beach. You definitely won’t find that in my home state! I really want to go back to do the 3 hour hike. I think I have a few people talked into it. We’ll see…

The sand dune forest


Don't you wish we had a view like this in Arkansas?



At Comunidade de Cristo, January was a month of prayer. John Jewell challenged us to find someone to pray with as much as we could all month long and to pray individually every day. (Well, we were supposed to pray with another person every day I think, but it didn’t always work out to get together. Thank goodness for Facebook!) We were to pick one person to pray for and to pray for the church as a whole. As a result of these prayers, 3 people gave their lives to Jesus on the last Sunday in January!!! I also enjoyed getting to know my dear, sweet prayer partner better. Since it was so beneficial and successful, we extended the month of prayer into February. Two people have already turned over their lives to Jesus! Hopefully, there will be more to report when I post again after February is over.

My next story begins back in November. I went to a nearby city for a church retreat. There, I made a friend from Recife, a city about 4 hours away from Natal. My friend, Wilson, does a lot of benevolent/social work type work with the church there. I thought it all was very interesting, so he invited me and some others from my church to visit Recife and help out with a VBS in the nearby city of Sao Lourenco da Mata. So, seven of us went. Wilson organized the whole thing, and he did a wonderful job! We had about 30 kids participate in the 2-day event. We had skits, crafts, games, and puppets during the day. At night, the church there held meetings for the youth and the parents of the kids who came to the VBS. It was a great way for the church to reach out to the neighborhood. Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun. We also had the opportunity to participate in a very special work of the Boa Vista church in Recife. Every Wednesday night, a group walks the streets around the church handing out bread and cokes to the people who live on the streets. They’ve been doing this for about 2 years (if I remember correctly). Wilson was one of the initiators. Many of the people know the church members well, know their songs, and a few have given their lives to Jesus as a result! The whole trip was put together and led by God. I know those of us from Natal were very blessed by our participation and by the people we met. Even though he probably won’t read this, a big THANK YOU to Wilson for all of his hard work!!

The kids


I love visiting God’s people in other countries and in different cities in those countries. It always amazes me to hear Him being praised in different languages and seeing the work He's doing in other places. It’s very special to know that there are people who love Him and are serving Him in every time zone all over the world. :D

The last Sunday in January was VERY special. Three people gave their lives to Jesus! The first was Ingrid, the daughter of Tania, who's been part of the church since almost the beginning. The second was Rosendo, Geraldo's son (remember Geraldo? I wrote about him in September. Go here and read the Sept 16th post for a refresher). The third was Socorro, Geraldo's wife and Rosendo's mother. That makes three members of their family who have become Christians since September. Every Sunday, they bring a truckful of friends and relatives to the worship service, so who knows who's next.

Our three new brothers and sisters in Christ
from left to right: Socorro, Rosendo, John, and Ingrid


All in all, January was a GREAT month! And February has been pretty good too. But more about that in another post…

“Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.” Deuteronomy 7:9

God amazes me.

"I believe now."

Those are three words that every one of God's workers longs to and loves to hear. Right now, no three words are more beautiful to me. I am so excited that I heard those exact words tonight from one of my readers. I cried. Really. That's how much it affected me. My heart is singing praises to the One who controls it all! Let me tell you, those three magificient words are the product of many prayers, many reading sessions, several Bible studies, and A LOT of work on the part of the Holy Spirit. God never ceases to astound me with how He works. Please continue (or start) praying for this reader.


You thrill me, Lord, with all you have done!
I sing for joy because of what you have done.
O Lord, what great works you do!
And how deep are your thoughts.
Psalm 92:4-5

All Because of Jesus

One of my best friends sent me a cd in the mail recently (thanks Charity!) that had this song on it. The first time I heard the chorus, I was amazed by the simple yet profound truth behind the words.

Giver of every breath I breathe
Author of all eternity
Giver of every perfect thing
To You be the glory
Maker of Heaven and of Earth
No one can comprehend Your worth
King over all the universe
To You be the glory

And I am alive because I'm alive in You

Chorus:
It's all because of Jesus I'm alive
It's all because the blood of Jesus Christ
That covers me and raised this dead man's life
It's all because of Jesus I'm alive
I'm alive, I'm alive

Giver of every breath I breathe
Author of all eternity
Giver of every perfect thing
To You be the glory
Maker of Heaven and of Earth
No one can comprehend Your worth
King over all the universe
To You be the glory

And I am alive because I'm alive in You

Chorus

Every sunrise sings Your praise
The universe cries out Your praise
I'm singing freedom all my days
Now that I'm alive

I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm alive

-All Because of Jesus by Casting Crowns

How true that is! I am alive because of Jesus. Literally, figuratively, and spiritually. Every time I stop to think about the work God is doing in the world, how the Holy Spirit is moving in my life and the lives of the people around me, and the astounding life Jesus lead and the sacrifice He made, I am left speechlessly in awe. Yahweh is amazing, my friends, in ways we'll never know or understand.

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
Isaiah 40:28

#44 is finally here!

I watched the inauguration today. In English. I was so proud to be witnessing such a historical event. I look forward to Obama implementing his economic and foreign policies. Hello 4 years of traveling and NOT hearing all about how people don't like the USA because of the government!

One of my favorite parts of the inauguration (besides the actual taking of the oaths) was during the benediction when the cute old man whose name I can't remember said, "Brown will stay around. Yellow will be mellow. Red with get ahead. White will do what’s right." That was just hilarious to me. HAHA! See? Hilarious!

I hope these new economic policies kick in by June. :)

Hello 2009!

Usually on New Year's I get together with some friends (or my mom), and we watch movies, play cards, or make videos of ourselves lip-syncing to weird songs (ok, that was only once...). Whatever my past New Years plans were, they almost always included movies and sparkling grape juice, a tradition started by my dear mother several years ago.

Well, this year was similar yet so very different. I did spend New Year's Eve with friends, and I did play cards. But that's where the similarities ended. It all started with pie confusion. I was going to make a chocolate pie for the dinner but didn't have enough pudding, so I went to the grocery store. Bad idea. I had no desire to wait in a line that wound all the way through the produce section (for those of who have never been to the Hiper on Antonio Basilio, take my word for it, that line was LONG). I left without buying anything. I ended up making a very small version of the pie, which was just as good!!

Anyway, after the pie fiasco, I went to the church to wait for the arrival of 2009. I played some cards, then we had a big dinner and watched a slideshow (without any pictures of me sleeping!). A few minutes before midnight, we went to the 3rd floor balcony so we could see the fireworks throughout the city. We prayed right before mdinight. As soon as the new year arrived, everyone hugged everyone (and I do mean EVERYONE. I think the only people I didn't hug were some of the Americans...surprising.) and said "Feliz Ano Novo!" This of course means 'Happy New Year' in Portuguese. To end the night, we went downstairs to have dessert (my chocolate pie attempt mixed with Mousse de Maracuja, yum!). Then I went home and slept. So, my New Year's was different but great! Although I did miss sparkling grape juice.

I decided several years ago not to make resolutions because I never keep them for more than a week (ok, two days). This time though I did have a hope (yes, there is a big difference between a resolution and a hope). I hoped that I could be less forgetful and have less "oops" moments (also known as "oh crap" moments). No such luck. So far, I'm just as forgetful and have already spilled plenty of liquids. At least I haven't broken anything yet...Ah but the year's still young...

Today marked exactly 6 months that I've been in Natal. What a great 6 months it's been! In honor of this grand anniversary and the new year, I'm going share with you a few of the joys I've found living here.

- Fans (the kind that keep me from sweating into nothing but a puddle)
- Reading in the hammock
- Cheek kisses
- Washing ants down the drain (you'd love it too if they tried to take over your bed, couch, toilet, food...)
- Getting all 20s from the ATM
- Learning a new Portuguese word or phrase then using it correctly in conversation
- Praying in Portuguese for the first time (well, that was more nerve-wracking than joyful but nonetheless cool)
- Playing cards at the church
- Having exact change for the bus
- Waiting less than 10 minutes for the bus
- Walking up to the bus stop just as your bus arrives
- The cute old man who delivers our water and greets me every time I walk by
- Mangoes
- Açai
- Learning to correctly cut a pineapple and a mango
- Being told I'm ready to be married for knowing how to do things like cutting a pineapple, making rice, and washing dishes (you know, the important stuff)
- Tan lines (they mean I actually have a tan)
- Habacuque, the Portuguese word for Habbakuk, pronounced like "Have a cookie" (I get way more pleasure out of that than a 23 year old missionary probably should...)
- Hearing words from the Holy Spirit come out of my mouth
- Seeing readers become followers of Jesus
- Watching God work in the lives of His people in other parts of the world
- Being loved by people in another language
- Getting comments/Facebook messages/wall posts/emails from all of YOU!

Wow. That was a lot. See why I love it here so much?

Thank you for helping to make 2008 such a wonderful year for me!! I pray that God blesses you this year ten times more than you have blessed me. May 2009 bring you lots of little joys, big joys, love, happiness, and adventures!

Christmas at 90 Degrees

Well, since 2008 is almost over, I thought I’d share with you my Brazilian Christmas experience. I have to say that I really missed a lot of the USA Christmas traditions (family and cold weather mostly). But once we began celebrating and while I was talking to people, my homesickness subsided, and I thoroughly enjoyed Christmas in Brazil.

It started the Saturday before with the young people’s Christmas party at the church. We had dinner then played two present games: amigo da onca (I have no idea how to translate that, sorry) and amigo espiritual (spiritual friend). The first one was kind of a joke. We drew names and had to buy a present that, in a nice way, made fun of the person. For example, I received a small etymological dictionary of Portuguese words, since I don’t speak the language well. Get it? Maybe you just had to be there. Anyway, it was really interesting. For the spiritual friend gift give-a-way, we bought some kind of spiritual gift (I made a cd of Christian music). At the party, we made a “web of love” as we handed out the gifts. One person started, took some string, and threw it and their gift to someone who blessed them this year or who they wanted to get to know better in the next year. In the end, we had made what looked like a web. There was also a slideshow of pictures from throughout the year. I learned an important lesson from that slideshow: where there is slideshow that I can be in, there will be a picture of me sleeping (which is sad for everyone because I am not pretty when I’m asleep. And I have tons of pictures to prove it.). I can’t escape this curse even by moving to another country!

The Monday before Christmas, I hosted an English Christmas party for a few readers and some people from the church who speak English. I made sugar cookies with homemade icing and no-bake cookies. They started out a bit rough but turned out good! Well, they were edible at least. :) Cris and I introduced them to Dirty Santa, the BEST Christmas party game EVER. It was great. They stole gifts more often than Americans do! We also watched one of my favorite Christmas movies: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, claymation version. I used to watch that movie every year when I was younger. I still love to watch it.

Us and our Dirty Santa Gifts


On Tuesday, Cris and I took Roberto, Marisa, and Andressa Signoretti (one of the missionary families) to my new favorite restaurant, Sal e Brasa. It’s a churrascaria (a restaurant specializing in meat that they bring to you at your table. Genius.) with a sushi bar and salad bar. Oh, and incredibly delicious desserts. What’s not to love? After lunch, Cris and I opened our presents. Her mom graciously sent me some gifts, which I appreciated more than words can say. I got some beautiful bracelets (from Cris), a book (yay!), some lotion, and my favorite gum, Big Red. That night we went to see Natal’s Christmas tree. It was huge, so much so that we could see the top of it from the church, several miles away (or so it seems). It wasn't an actual tree, but the shape of a tree made from lights that blinked and changed colors. It was beautiful.

Christmas Eve started off really well when the doorman beckoned me over to give me a special delivery. The box my dad sent only 2½ weeks before had arrived! (The Brazilian postal service was on the ball. Under non-Christmas circumstances, that box wouldn’t have arrived for another 2 weeks.) You'll never know how excited I was. I really enjoyed going through the box, seeing all the goodies my family sent. My favorite part was the Christmas cards. I love my family. :) That night I went to the American missionaries’ house. Christmas Eve is a bigger deal here than Christmas day, so we had a big dinner, complete with shrimp, turkey, mashed potatoes, rice, salad, a dish that I wasn't familiar with but really liked (some kind of mini dumplins in tomato sauce-ish) and cinnamon roll-like bread (yum!), all Brasilian-style and delicious. Then we played a game, opened gifts (I got a cute tank top and some cookies), and left. I spent the night at the Signoretti’s home. Since Andressa got the 3rd season of Friends, we had a Friends marathon that night.



Part of Christmas day was spent at Camurupim beach. I really liked that beach. And hanging on the beach on Christmas day was pretty cool too. It was definitely the first time I’d ever done that! Later, I was able to talk to my family on Skype. That was so great! I saw and talked to people I hadn’t seen or talked to in months. Yes, I was a very happy girl that night.

Me and my Christmas 'date' on the beach


My (first?) Christmas in Brazil was wonderful! Even though I couldn’t be with my blood family, I was with my Brazilian family. I hope all of you were able to spend Christmas with your loved ones. May the last few days of 2008 go well for you!! And I hope that 2009 starts off wonderfully and continues to get better and better. I pray all of God’s greatest blessings on you in the year to come!!!

P.S. Thank you for the comments. I enjoy every one more than you could ever know. :)

Merry Christmas!

And Feliz Natal!
(Feliz = Happy
Natal = Christmas
Feliz Natal = Happy Christmas)

And yes, Natal is also the name of the city I live in. So, I live in Christmas! Sometime before the end of the year, you'll get a more detailed post of my holiday adventures.

In case you were wondering, I will miss spending Christmas with my family back in Arkansas. But I'm also excited because I'm going to spend it with my Brasilian family. Tomorrow, I'll be spending most of the day by the pool (probably) and eating the traditional Brazilian Christmas Eve dinner with all of the missionaries, their families, and maybe some other friends. This dinner is the most important part of a Brazilian Christmas. On the 25th, we'll be going to the beach. Yes my friends, Christmas will consist of me getting a great tan. That'll be a first! :D

I pray that you all will spend Christmas with people who love you and who you love. May you be completely surrounded by and full of Christ's love, joy, and peace.

Merry Christmas!! Feliz Natal!! Feliz Navidad!!