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.