Immersion

We are leaving Recife, Brazil to travel all night by bus to Forteleza, Brazil on the North coast.  We've had teams from First Baptist, Morehead work here.  We will have 2 more weeks of classroom training here and some outreach at night.  After these two weeks we will then travel another 12-14 hours by bus to Sao Luis which is even more West and North than Forteleza.  Here we will be for 6 weeks working with a Baptist Church.   We wont have a translator here. 

We thought our one room apartment was tough- in Sao Luis we will be living in a church for 6 weeks.  I'm not sure if we'll be sleeping on the floor or what.  But we have learned to be SO flexible.  

I always thought I was flexible before, but I've been having a little more difficulty dealing with Schedule changes, lack of communication of changes, etc.  I think it is because there is so much out of my control, that knowing what is going on is very important to my comfort here.  But, while it has taken me about 3 months, I have finally learned to love and let go!  When we have a surprise change in schedule I just grin and say, 'OK!  Why not?'.  It's amazing how long it took. 

 The Brazilians literally don't think much past the moment.  It isn't that they are unintelligent, quite the contrary, they are just so DIFFERENT, culturally.  In many ways it is better because they don't loose the 'now' thinking about the 'future'.  But the downside is that when you are used to planning,  changes in schedule mess everything up!  

You can't imagine the things that are different.  Like instead of knocking on the door when you visit, you clap outside the door.  Brazilians LOVE it when you come to visit unannounced.  They don't need an appointment.  They are happy to just fellowship.  Also, when it's your birthday, they crack an egg on your head.  And when you get a haircut, they slap the back of your head and say 'Lixo" which is 'trash'.  This may just be a child thing, though.  I haven't seen an adult do it.  They eat pizza with a knife and fork!?!  And they put ketchup and mayonnaise on their pizza.

So- there's a brief lesson on Brazilian culture.  Don't worry- there is much more!

  

This week we worked in the Hope House, which is the house for boys who passed the 2 week triage from the streets and now live on base in a special house.  It was amazing to see what a difference God has made in the lives of these boys.  They receive love, education, discipline and much more at this place.  Jon made pizza with the help of some of our fellow students Friday night.  It was a fun night and they seemed to really enjoy it.  

One of our fellow students is a past 'street boy' and came to know Jesus from a program like this.  He is one of our closest friends here on base.  You can't imagine what God has done in his life.  He has lost both of his parents and the rest of his family doesn't speak to him.  He literally has no one.  But at 21 years old he knows that he wants to minister to other children who are living on the street.  I would be honored to have him working beside me one day in a ministry here in Brazil.

We still pray for Delta.  We haven't heard anything about a judgement yet.  Pastor Marcos is still waiting to have the official 'OK' to re-open.  We don't know what he plans to do.  3 months have past and I know that his church has been doing '40 Days of Purpose' and he will be baptizing 10 people.  We look forward to getting word from him.  

I've rambled long enough.  We have a lot of packing to do.  We're downsizing more and more.  It's amazing how little a family of four can get by with.  Jon says that if it weren't for my shoes, we'd be a 'one bag family'.  No- really.  I'm taking the bare minimum.  All they where are flip flops, anyway.  Or stilettos.  I don't do stilettos, so that makes it easy.

We heard the Easter Service was AMAZING.  We're so excited about it!  We heard the unity and efficiency of each team that worked was awesome.  I want to see pictures of 50,000 eggs on that football field.

And the Intersection starts officially every Sunday.  We're SO excited about that.  Go brothers and sisters!!  We have such love and pride for that team since all are from our Sunday School family.  Take care- and God Bless!  Please pray for our safety as we travel by bus in Brazil.  Especially traveling at night.  This is so important- we need your prayers!  Thank you!

Jon, Jennifer, Alex and Nathan!