powell...party of five

catching our breath

2012-02-11T16:25:00.019-04:00

Okay...I really apologize for my lack of communication on here. Time has once again gotten away from me. The fact that it is already February makes my head spin.

As most of you already know, we spent several weeks in the states over Christmas. We had an amazing time catching up with friends and family. Days filled with kissing my nieces' cheeks a million times, laughing hysterically with old friends and EATING at just about every restaurant we had missed for two years made the 3 1/2 weeks FLY by.

These beauties are my "growing way too fast" nieces, Ana and Micah. Micah (below) was a tiny baby when we left two years ago. It didn't take me long to have her cuddled in my arms. I'm so thankful that the time and distance that kept us apart was completely forgotten.

We were blessed to have such quality time with all our family. Mike's brother and sister-in-law graciously allowed us to borrow their suv while we were stateside. This allowed us to get up to Central Kentucky to visit all our old friends.

We stayed at several different friends' houses.

Thanks to the Millers and the Staffords for putting us up during our time in Lexington.

We rushed and rushed to see and visit with as many people as possible. I think at last count, we ate with 18 separate families during our time there, not counting the New Year's Eve party with lots of our CPC family.

We enjoyed Bd's with this special couple.

We've known Ranjit for a very long time and were so excited to meet his new wife, Rakea.

These ladies (my very best friends in the whole universe) stole me away for about 24 hours. We even got a hotel room so we could stay up all night catching up, dancing like 12 year olds and soaking up every moment possible before I had to take off again. Man oh man, I really love these girls.

All the kids were reunited again as well. It was as if they hadn't skipped a beat. They were a bit taller this go around and a few had deeper voices but that's not to say they didn't run around the house playing just like they used to!
I loved it.

We got back to Brazil on the 12th of January and have been going full force again
with school and trips to the interior.

Mike is working with several guys to start a water project.
They will be working to get clean water to those that are living without it.

This is where we sleep (in hanging hammocks)

when we spend time in Q. Santa Maria

This is how we bathe as there is no running water currently.

Grandma...as you can tell, they love all the caps you sent down with us.

The kids are beginning to trust us as we call them by name and continue making relationships with each of them. They love playing soccer with our boys.
JohnMark, Jackson, and Jayden are teaching them American baseball too.

I love this picture below. A Brazilian friend had really wanted some fresh milk and by FRESH, I mean right from the cow. He really likes it with manioc flour to where it's almost the consistency of oatmeal. This man is checking the manioc flour for bugs.
He wanted to make sure it was just perfect before he served it.

Several small groups gather together to hear Mike share stories from the Bible.

These men are digging a well paid for by the government. Not all Q's have this luxury.

I'm going to sum it up there for now. We travel this weekend (all five of us) back to our friends in QSM. It will be Carnival so we thought getting out of the city would be wonderful.

fyi...I HATE Carnival.

I know you're not supposed to say it but it's dreadful. LOUD music all hours of the day and night and LOUDER people yelling and screaming from the streets. The best thing I can compare the longevity to is how Christmas is celebrated in the states. You know how all the Santa decorations start coming out after Halloween now. Well, Carnival used to be a weekend event but now it starts around the new year and continues on forever. Clearly, one of these festivities is to celebrate the birth of Jesus and the other to celebrate the desires of the flesh.
Hmmm....

We've been playing music loudly in our house to overcome the blasting bass coming from outside. I've even had to use earplugs to sleep.

So all that to say,
dear Carnival, please go away.

Merry CHRISTMAS from our family to yours

2011-12-25T01:00:00.001-04:00

because YOU gave

2011-12-18T06:26:00.001-04:00

I hope you know...

2011-12-16T02:22:00.004-04:00

I'd do it all again!!!

Happy 16th Baby!!

Baseball/Beisebol

2011-12-11T08:25:00.005-04:00

Then

Now

jungle fun

2011-12-05T14:46:00.006-04:00

Jackson, Jayden and I (Mike) recently visited quilombo Santa Maria. JohnMark had been sick so Rebecca stayed back with him. This is the same place where I helped to build the health clinic back in June. The purpose of our trip was to continue building relationships and to encourage the 12 local believers there. We traveled about 3 1/2 hours into the interior with a local missionary (Markinho) and his son (Marcos). Markinho has been working to reach them for about seven years now. We hope this village will be a central point in reaching many other surrounding quilombos for Christ!

We stopped by a local market on the way to pick-up some freshly butchered beef for dinner. Jayden thought it was interesting that the meat wasn't in the refrigerator!

The boys were also impressed with the fresh chicken hanging nearby!

This is the market next to the meat store.

The fish being cleaned for lunch.

Later that afternoon some local boys took us out to fish for piranha.

Jackson shared with Neto (our 12 year old guide) about Jesus along the way.

Our small canoe was about two inches from the water surface and taking on water.
Jackson thought it'd be a good idea to start bailing!

This is Neto. Please pray for him to understand his need for Christ.

Jackson's first piranha.

Jayden's first piranha.

Jayden fishing next to his new friends.

I caught this fish without a pole using only a spool of line, hook, weight, and bobber.

This is a common way of fishing in the interior.

Jackson and Jayden fishing off the back of the canoe.

Jackson, Jayden and Marcos playing with some local boys. They were just returning from a short jungle trip. Marcos called Jayden Moses because he carried around this big stick everywhere. Jayden said that he hid it so that he could play with it next time too.

A little girl was riding her bike and lost control when a chicken ran out in front of her. Her big toe got was caught in the spokes and cut to the bone removing most of the skin! Her father was working and her mother had recently abandoned her and her nine brothers and sisters. I was the only one in the village with a vehicle. So, me and a neighbor took her to a nearby community for help (the local heath clinic is not ready yet). This was an experience that I will never forget!

Jackson and Jayden with Pedro, the village leader. Pray for Pedro. He believes in God but doesn't enjoy a personal saving relationship with Jesus. He is a great friend and person of peace.

This is the whole group with Pedro.

an open door

2011-11-26T17:41:00.007-04:00

We spent the day with Valdilene and Maria Zilinha. We were able to story with them and enjoy a couple of hours in their home. We also met Valdilene's mother and father. They were so welcoming and we feel that through this family we will be able to have many contacts to the rest of their community. Her husband takes a bike each day into a nearby town and works as a youth counselor. They have 3 other children as well and we ask that you join us in praying for all of them and the opportunity to continue taking the Gospel into their Quilombo.

Below are several photos of the homes that the Quilombola people live in. The floors are typically dirt as well but they keep their homes very clean.

The HUGE beehives that are on almost every tree.
I HATE BEES

The bridge that thankfully withstood our BIG TRUCK

The fruit hanging off this tree is called Jaca or, in English, Jack Fruit. They are in season right now and you see them everywhere in the interior. We are not big fans of the taste but supposedly this is the largest fruit to grow on trees in the world.

We ARE huge fans of bananas and coconut water so when offered these treats
we never pass them up. I think I'll be making banana bread for awhile.

Jayden's Blog Updates

2011-11-25T09:03:00.001-04:00

Click here to see what's been going on in Jayden's world.

new friends and pumpkin pie

2011-11-24T23:09:00.006-04:00

Today we celebrated Thanksgiving with the Nichols' Family, the Konings, the Gills and David Henson. We were once again reminded of God's sufficiency as he gave us great people to fill in the void left while being away from family in the states. The food was as American as it gets with pumpkin pies, sweet potato casserole, dressing, corn pudding and all the typical Thanksgiving treats!!! The boys swam with friends and wrote on their table all that they were thankful for. Each family shared some of our holiday family traditions. It was a spectacular day and we have made some amazing new friends. Here are some photos from the day. I seem to have one of everyone except myself and Julie, the wonderful hostess. Oh well...maybe next time!

The Nichols' Family (our hosts) made a pinata from scratch and the kids all took a whack. The boys have decided this is a great new tradition.

Jesse getting ready for her turn

the Konings sharing what they are most thankful for

David and Mike

The Gills

Pumpkin pie

pumpkin muffins with cream cheese icing

life among the Maranhense

2011-11-23T08:21:00.010-04:00

I'm embarrassed at how long it has been since I've blogged! I'm going to try and catch everyone up with what all that has been going on in our lives since we arrived in São Luís. Homeschooling along with learning how to live in a new city has kept me swamped. I went through a rough patch with my health as well but I'm doing so much better now. I thank you for your prayers as my energy has returned and I'm feeling like my old self again.

I drink one of these almost every day now. It took awhile to love them but I'm there now. I'm REALLY there...maybe even kinda addicted but hey they are so good for my belly.

São Luís (Saint Louis) is an island in the São Marcos bay and it's as wonderful as it sounds. We have amazing breezes to keep us cool and there are days you'd never know we're living at the equator. We are in the dry season now so the rain isn't making life too difficult. This means our clothes can dry very quickly which always make me enormously HAPPY! (It's the small things, right!) The dry season will end around January when mold and mildew become our adversaries.

I recently put several photos of the historic part of São Luís on facebook. I'll share some of them again on here. This area is only a few miles from our home and is absolutely beautiful. All the original buildings are still there from when the city was settled back in 1615 by the French. The old buildings make for some great photo ops.

The area we live in looks quite different from the rest of the city. Every time we get further and further from our home we are astonished at the poverty all around us. We've seen poverty but just not to the extent we're seeing it here. In the short walk (less than a block) from our apartment to the beach, we will usually come upon 3-4 homeless people.

an example of the homeless living on the sidewalks next to our apartment

One area is truly remarkable where a type of shanty town has built up over the actual water. It's amazing to see the tiny wooden shacks balancing on stilts. I'll get a picture of this soon for you to see.

Beside us, the rocky beach is home to several folks that hang their hammocks next to the stone wall that lies between the sand and the road. Here, almost everyday we see signs of the many idols linked to the practice of umbanda and candomble. We see beautiful red roses (the BIG DARK red ones that cost a fortune in the states) thrown out into the ocean and trampled by the waves on the sand. They do this as an offering to the goddess of the sea. The other day we came upon a small black statue of a little boy with candles all around him. I still need to research the significance of this particular idol and what it symbolizes.

Needless to say, we are seeing up close and personal many hindrances to the Gospel. The scariest part is how most people will combine these practices with Catholicism or even any version of Christianity they've heard of. They want to make sure they cover all their bases, so to speak. We know that Jesus is the Way, Truth and Life and yet having them understand that Christ cannot be put on the shelf with these idols is quite difficult.

Mike is traveling today to work with some young believers that are working with Q's. His desire is to train them on how to share with the illiterate through the "storying" method. In these instances, we have to deliver the Word of God to people through short Bible stories, one at a time. What a challenge and yet great responsibility! Pray we overcome all the obstacles in our way and tell the stories from the Bible accurately in another language. At this point, Mike is memorizing the stories in Portuguese. He's doing great but pray that God would continue giving us the words that we need. Our language always seems to be the biggest hurdle in life here.

my kitchen

Tomorrow we will celebrate Thanksgiving with 2 other American families that live here along with a new friend (David) that is working with an international company doing a project. We will also be with other missionaries from The Netherlands. They are getting to enjoy Turkey Day for the 2nd time. We look forward to all the "fixins" and the belly ache that we know will follow. Our bodies have adjusted to a diet of fresh fruits, beans, rice, and all things NOT-PROCESSED. On days like Thanksgiving we are reminded how heavy our American diets were! I kinda can't wait!! he

On Saturday we will go into the interior and meet some new Q's and if I remember my camera I will post some photos on here.

Last bit of news...we are going to Kentucky for Christmas. We leave in 3 weeks and we are counting down the minutes...literally!!! We should have a little furry creature, we have not seen in 2 years, waiting on us at the airport! I get teary-eyed just thinking about it!!!

Thanks for reading this overly long post and continuing to pray for us even when we're bad at communicating our needs to you! I hope you all have a blessed Thanksgiving.

angelica

2011-10-21T12:36:00.001-03:00

A few weeks ago we spent the day with some Brazilian friends. They feel called to reach the same people group that we are working with. He and Mike are sharing lots of information and have taken several trips together to the interior. He is a great resource for us and we are so blessed to work alongside them.

They also have one of the sweetest little girls on the planet. Her name is Angelica and I thoroughly enjoyed having her in our home for the day. She was absolutely precious. Here are some of the photos we took that day of her and her mommy.

paved, gravel, dirt, sand, and moon-cratered

2011-10-15T02:23:00.008-03:00

We've been here in Sao Luis now for about a week and what a week it's been. I can finally say all boxes are unpacked. NOT that everything is exactly where I want it but we have pulled off an extraordinary amount of tasks in one week along with beginning a new school year with the kids. We were crazy enough to start things up on Monday in order to keep them from getting behind. Our boxes and furniture arrived on Friday which was just a few hours after we had gotten here, thanks to our little set back.

I won't go into much detail about the 34 hour trip that was supposed to take only 12 hours. I'll only skim over the highlights. Granted, several of those hours involved us passed out in a hotel room weary and stubbornly giving in to the realization of exhaustion. Or, at least some of us were with the comforts of a mattress and a/c window unit. Mike's night went down a bit different as he was reclined in the driver's seat of our extended cab truck. He got a few hours of sleep outside in order to keep a watchful eye on all of our belongings.

Maybe I should back up just a bit. On DAY ONE of our travels things started beautifully. We had made some great time on the roads, stopped and had a bite to eat for lunch, and all three of our "growing bigger by the minute" boys were sharing their tight space in the backseat of our truck nicely. (Kudos to the boys really quick...cause they were pretty much perfect the whole trip with only a few moments of chaos.) I guess kids know when they better hold it all together.

Anyway...Mike's idea was to ENTER in each city on the GPS as we passed through the prior city in order to not have any funny things happen with our little mapping device. The night before we had left, the neighbors that lived above us had come to say goodbye and the older gentleman had shared with Mike about all the state roads versus the federal roads. State roads, typically, are in much better shape than the federal roads because of the funding. SO he and Mike talked over the best route to get about halfway to Maranhao.

I guess that's where the problems started, about half-way there. We were in a small town and Mike decided to stop putting in the "next" city into the GPS and instead skip ahead a couple of cities because, afterall, what would it hurt.

Extremely LONG story short...in one of the cities Raquel, as Mike likes (liked) to fondly call the Portuguese voice in our GPS, took us down a road we really had no business being on. It went from pavement to stone to gravel to dirt and finally to sand. After seeing some gentlemen looking rather concerned about us being in their "parts" of the world, we turned the truck around and unfortunately had to drive past these said men again in order to leave this miserable town. On the way back past the men, they decided to line both sides of the roads with guns in hand and stare us down. What did we do? What any good gringo does. We smiled really big, waved, acted completely oblivious, and Mike pushed the pedal a tad bit harder.

After finally getting on the road that RAQUEL wanted us to be on, A STATE ROAD, we drove one hour going about 10 mph. The road had potholes so large that a Volkswagon could have literally been swallowed up. Literally, in all Mike's trips to the interior...he'd never seen a road this bad. Everyone in the car began missing the dirt paths we had been on only hours before. We all kept our cool and just prayed we would eventually come out to a better surface but after an hour and the sun setting and everything looking pretty glim, Raquel (GPS) decided to go haywire. We appeared to be completely on the wrong side of the city that we were trying to leave. It ended up being just a glitch in the GPS (probably a GOD glitch)because we were on the "right" road but we decided the "right" road for us would be one in which we could go over 20 mph. SO, we turned the truck around, backtracked the hour, drove about 3 hours south, out of the way but on GREAT roads, and found a place to crash.

The next morning which is where you see us on the train bridge in the video, everything went so much better. Literally PERFECT day with PERFECT roads. I took lots of photos of those beautiful roads so you could see them. Our new motto will always be GO OUT OF THE WAY AND DRIVE EXTRA MILES FOR THE GOOD ROADS. I love smooth roads. I will never take the road department in the USA for granted ever again, EVER. EVER.

So we're here. We love it...potholes in the road and all! It is beautiful in every way and we feel God's presence around us completely. It feels so good to be HOME, or at least what will serve as our home for this next season of our life. We celebrated Jayden's 9th birthday last Wednesday and the boys are all adjusting so wonderfully. Keep praying. I beg you. We have seen what prayer can do and we know and feel when you are all interceding on our behalf.

Enjoy the video. Make sure you watch the last few seconds so you can get a taste of what Raquel considers a perfectly good ROUTE. ha

quick note

2011-10-12T17:18:00.004-03:00

We're all well and celebrating Jayden's 9th birthday today. Our boxes arrived and we are getting settled. We are still waiting on internet. I promise to update everyone as soon as I can get on here for more than a couple of seconds at a time.

São Luís Bound...FINALLY

2011-10-04T20:55:00.011-03:00

We're all packed up and ready to head out BRIGHT and EARLY tomorrow morning. The movers put the last box on the truck around 5:00. It felt great to be DONE with things on this side. This being our 8th move in 3 years, 2nd time THIS year...I really am beginning to feel like an old pro at this transitioning thing...REALLY I AM. (she's lying. she hates to move)

We need to hit the road by 5:00 a.m. in order to get every second of sunlight possible. Interior Brazilian roads aren't very fun in the dark. Praying the truck gets us there safely and our furniture arrives shortly thereafter...we're hoping for Friday. That would be miraculous!

Also today...
I caught Jackson and Jayden sweeping their newly emptied bedroom and snapped some photos. I couldn't, for the life of me, understand why they were so concerned with getting the floor cleaned NOW. I planned on sweeping all the scraps from the boxes up later but was tickled to see them tackling this one chore for me.

And then I came back and saw this.
OF COURSE~

We're all sleeping in hammocks tonight, as our beds are gone. This is what is going on in the other room as I type this around 9:30 our time. Everyone should be fast asleep but instead folks are enjoying their last night in Fortaleza with a movie.
I'm not waiting up with them tonight. Mom's tired and headed to bed (or should I say hammock?!?)
These two tired grown-ups are DONE!

And for the sake of keeping it real...

all I did was add water

2011-09-19T21:22:00.002-03:00

I'm feeling so incredibly domestic tonight. I made corn tortillas from scratch.

We were blessed with this beautiful bag of MASA HARINA on Saturday when the team arrived. My mom had sent us a tortilla press but we had been waiting for the right flour to use with it. I have to say, they were just like the ones we used to buy way back when at Kroger. We've been craving them since we arrived here in Brazil. The smell was DELIGHTFUL!

I hear over and over again how folks think the food here in Brazil would resemble Mexican food. Please know this is not the case. No tamales or tacos ANYWHERE! Brazilians eat corn in several things such as sweet cakes, polenta...which is a fried corn mush, corn pudding and other corn based dishes. They even celebrate a holiday in June called Festivas Juninas in which everyone makes all these dishes but none of it is truly conducive to what we would consider Mexican food. I guess I shouldn't be surprised since I don't live in MEXICO. Ha!

Now if I could only learn to enjoy eating manioc and tapioca (two hugely popular staples) I'd be happy as a lark.

I guess we have learned how to outsmart the system, at least until our bag of Masa Harina disappears! One thing that's for sure...our bellies are in bliss tonight after gorging ourselves on REAL TACOS.

Side note to those of you that love me and will ask to send me Masa Harina:
3 things

You are awesome to have the thought run through your head.
It would probably arrive with critters inside.
We'll be bringing some back with us in January. :)

LoWdOwN on the guys

2011-09-17T16:35:00.010-03:00

I called my mom today and as I was sharing a story about life in our house, I found myself calling our dwelling place a frat house. It seemed a fitting title for this home since I live here with 4 guys. As these young men grow and get bigger and louder, at times I find myself feeling like an outsider. It's funny because the opposite is true for Michael. He seems to have an almost permanent grin of pride plastered on his face as they tell their weird jokes and continually find ways to make noises with their bodies that are completely unpleasant. Eww. Such a camaraderie they have at times. sigh.

To totally change the subject...

This week Mike will be joining another team from the states to work in a community about 2 hours from here. They asked him to bring one of our boys with him so Jackson will be joining him this time. He is SO excited. He worked ahead in his school work and got his teacher's permission. ha

They are meeting the team at the airport today and will head out on Monday morning to join up with them. Pray that all goes well for all involved as they work really hard this week in the town of Cascavel. On Friday, JohnMark, Jayden and I are hoping to be able to join up with everyone for a short time. I'll try to keep you posted and will ask Mike to get some photos for me so we can post them on here.

I'm about 2 weeks out on the move and trying to tie up all the loose ends here in the house and with the boys school year. So far...so good.

JohnMark is doing really well and will begin 8th grade as soon as we get to Sao Luis. He is enrolled in an online school with many other kids that live overseas. He's been given the opportunity to co-lead a Bible Study amongst the kids online. He's writing it and setting it all up. I am so proud of all the hard work he's been putting into it. Kids from all over the world will be connecting via skype to study God's Word together! How cool is that!!!

All of Jayden's blonde hair has reappeared, thanks to this strong Fortaleza sun! He turns heads everywhere we go. He is growing tall and eating us out of the house. WAIT...all three of them are doing that. Seriously, our grocery bill is frightening. I can go buy 20-30 tangerines in the morning and attempt to go into the kitchen to partake of "said" tangerines that same afternoon and ALL, I repeat ALL tangerines ARE GONE!!!! FOR REAL! I haven't resorted to hiding food for myself yet but I won't say it will never happen. (I'm recalling life with Matt Lovelace right now....hmmmm.)

Anyhow, the boys are healthy and geared up to move again! They are beyond excited about our Christmas plans. We have tickets to a beautiful destination on December 13 and we foresee some pretty special time with some pretty special people. Granted...the time there will be short BUT we plan on enjoying every single second!

In the photo below the boys are holding some of the goodies that came in with the team!
THANK you so much Ronnie and Carl! The boys will feast on s'mores very soon!

next leg of the journey

2011-09-06T18:24:00.007-03:00

So many of you have emailed, called or facebooked (not sure if that can be used as a verb or not) recently to inquire on our whereabouts and happenings. I apologize profusely for my absence on here and with our correspondence to all our prayer partners. I'd love to tell you that we've been swamped with ministry opportunities and that has kept me unable to find the needed time to sit down on here and share my heart.

But yeah...that's not really the truth.

Granted things have been busy and slightly different for us. We're moving again in a few weeks. We've been doing home school non-stop. We are living life in a foreign country eating beans and rice every single day for lunch. We constantly search for opportunities to expand our really "crappy" language skills because apparently even after almost two years in another country, one can get by on extremely POOR Portuguese. I know this well. On top of all this "feel goodness" the mosquitoes are out and about in droves.

We do still laugh at ourselves and continually wake up each morning knowing that we are called to do exactly what we are doing. We consistently ask God to make us small so that we in turn can make HIM known in large ways. He complies with this regularly! ha

Truth is, some days are really hard and trying to be tough can be exhausting! I am learning, thanks to some really smart friends, how to give myself a break and realize how far we've come. We have come a long way! WE HAVE! We aren't living amongst our people just yet. We aren't speaking like the Brazilians just yet and we aren't all the things I strive to be. My guess is you aren't either. Living on a different continent doesn't make that happen faster. Well, maybe it does a little because my growing pains have been on steroids lately!

I was hoping to understand better the "whys" of our time here in this city by now and praying God would show us some profound reason for bringing us here for such a short time. Unfortunately, I can't say I know exactly why we had to come and stay here for this period. It was a time where I felt God removed almost all friendships from our lives. We struggled making anything other than superficial relationships with people because of our small amount of time here and even the few people we did meet, God seemed to keep at an arms distance away.

Simply put, life was peculiarly strange and lonely here. I have learned that sometimes God puts us in situations we don't understand. He removes distractions from our lives so that we draw nearer to Him learning how to sustain only on HIM.

We leave this city on the 3rd of October. We will then be where we are "supposed" to be...at least for now. Until He says, "Go" again. That's how this life of ours looks for now. Just keep moving with HIM, trusting Him as He carries us. We do look forward to the people and friendships that are waiting for us in São Luis. We already have several contacts there and it's exciting to know that God is preparing the way for us.

We do ask that you begin to pray for the spiritual attacks that are and will begin to come our way. We are heading into a battle zone and the enemy does not like it. I will try to begin and post some more information regarding our people and the things we will encounter with them. I will start with this video focusing on an African/Brazilian religion called Umbanda. It is a mixture of spiritism and catholicism.

Beach Football in Fortaleza

2011-08-25T09:52:00.006-03:00

haPPy 11th Jackson

2011-08-06T18:45:00.000-03:00

South Brazil

2011-08-03T19:22:00.008-03:00

Mission Meeting

Atibaia, Sao Paulo

The photo above is of the group that lived and trained with us in Richmond back in 2009. We also went through language school together.

Jayden doing some praisin' with fellow MK's

Jayden with Bianca. She came down with the team from Florida that worked with our children all week. They were amazing and gave our kiddos lots of love while we had all our meetings.

JohnMark got lots of great time with the youth this year.
We didn't see him much.

The following week we met up with a group from our home church in Lexington, Ky. They worked in Jacarei with children at the Haven of Hope Children's Home and did several projects throughout the city. It was great to get to spend time with the ones we knew well and meet many folks for the very first time.

Photos by: Joan Callaham, Serah Thomas, Lisa Morrison, Angela Templeton & me

Houston Team

2011-07-22T22:45:00.007-03:00

Thank you for your prayers last week. The thirteen member team from Friendship Community Bible Church in Houston did a wonderful job. Sunday we visited a small village. There are four new Christians there (including the community leader). The village was waiting for us to arrive and greeted us with warmness. We sang, played games, and shared Bible stories.

Monday we traveled five hours to quilombo Santa Maria (where we built the medical clinic with the last team). They worked there until Wednesday. Each day we visited people in homes to pray and tell Bible stories. In the afternoon we played soccer and told more stories to children. A few members of the team stayed the night in the village with me. They got up early and went fishing for Piranha. The team ate lunch at the house of the village leader which included the morning catch. The team also brought pillow case dresses for all the little girls of the village. The last day, the team passed out dental supplies and hygiene products. They also brought two large sacks full of medical supplies. This was such a blessing because they will be used to help stock the new clinic.

Thursday morning we made our way up to quilombo Miranda outside of the city Rosario. This was a large community of about 150 families. We visited in homes to pray and share the Gospel. That night I preached to a large crowd that gathered in the park. The next morning a young lady on our team lead a dance clinic for all the girls in the community. We passed out dental supplies and parted ways at lunch.

After lunch we visited a nearby quilombo called Nambuaçú de Baixo and visited more families. While the team was making visits, I had a long conversation with pastor Arilton. He is a young man (23) that is working hard to reach Maranhao with the Gospel. He has already finished seminary (started at 17) and has a vision to reach quilombos for Jesus. Friday night we lead a service at his church in a neighboring quilombo.

Thanks again for all your prayers. God is working and people are hearing the Good News...some for the very first time. We will travel this week to the southern part of Brazil for our annual "company" meeting. Afterward, we will meet up with some pretty special people in Jacarei. We look forward to sharing about our travels when we return.

Santa Maria Trip

2011-07-07T12:24:00.005-03:00

The team from SC (Carl, Ronnie, Glenn and Jody) along with some local men of the community were able to install the roof and finish most of the medical clinic in Quilombo Santa Maria outside of Victoria, Maranhão. The local men will finish all the work next week. This has opened many doors for future ministry.

Sunday morning I was able to encourage a new congregation of believers (12 people). Then Sunday night most of the village (about 120) came to hear our message. We sang, shared personal testimonies and then I preached. It was a great night in the Lord. Tuesday night the team held another service in the local Catholic church building that’s never used while me and another missionary from the Netherlands shared at a church about 30 minutes away. Every morning one of the team members shared a devotion with the local workers. On the last day one of the men stepped forward in our circle to surrender his life to Christ! Of course it was the one that we would have least expected to do so. Isn’t that the way God works!

Wednesday the local leaders of Santa Maria took me to visit nine other Quilombo communities by boat. We left at 8 AM and returned late that night. They introduced me to all of the other village leaders and I was able to understand many of their community needs. They were all very grateful for our work and welcomed me to visit often in the future. This was an indescribable experience for me! Two village leaders even traveled four hours to see our work and pay me a visit on Friday morning.

There will be another team arriving from Houston on Saturday, July 9th. Their primary focus will be children’s ministry and Evangelism. We will visit several Quilombo communities around São Luis. On July 12th we will return to Santa Maria once again for two days. Plus we will take the boat-taxi to minister in some of the surrounding villages on July 14th. Please continue to pray for Quilombo Santa Maria and the surrounding villages. In addition, please begin to pray for this upcoming trip.

Mike

praia+melancia=miséria

2011-06-28T20:54:00.007-03:00

Mike is traveling with a team this week to the interior of Maranhao. Many of you have been praying for him so I wanted to update you on the little I've heard. He has been able to call us a couple of times and report in. The team is building a medical clinic and they've been getting a lot accomplished. Mike will be traveling with a national tomorrow on the river by canoe in order to get to 8 of the people groups that we will be working with. He is really excited to get to know and start a friendship with folks we thought we would have to wait another year to meet.

As I talked with Mike today for a few moments, I heard giggling in the background. He explained that there were local children playing next to him and as he was talking he laughed and said that one of the 3 year-olds was about six inches from his white face and looking at him quite curiously. I hate that I am not there to see all that God is doing but so thankful that He is working through each of the men on the team. I know Mike will be able to share so much more when he returns so I'll leave it at that.

Back here in the city, we are having our own adventures. I conjured up the nerve to take the boys to the beach on Saturday. I say this because it is quite an ordeal to get to the more secluded/quiet area we like to go. It's worth it once there but you have to drive through the traffic of the city in our big ol' truck and then once you make it out to "no man's land" you have to kick the truck into 4-wheel drive and trudge over the sand dunes. I was very proud of myself for even having the nerve to pull off such a feat. As I sat there and watched the kids play, I began to finally feel like I was capable of making it here for a few days without ol' Mike. The kids are all fed, safe and in one piece and here we are in this beautiful setting.

This feeling was very fleeting because only a few moments later I opened up the cooler I had packed and handed a piece of watermelon to Jayden. We sat there and enjoyed our "melancia" as they call it here. Jayden ran off, WATERMELON IN HAND, to play with JohnMark and Jackson who were a bit further down the beach. After a few minutes, I started noticing something buzzing around me. I looked up and there were, seriously, around 50-100 bees/wasps/flying insects with BIG stingers all over me. I had already put the watermelon back in the cooler so I decided to walk really SLOWLY down to the ocean and prayed they would not follow me. Unfortunately, they continued with their awful aggression towards me and whatever ill-willed thing they felt I had done. I tried not to freak out which was honestly REALLY hard not to do. I submerged myself under the water completely but every time I'd look up there would only be more and they were relentless.

THEN IT HIT ME! Jayden had walked off with the watermelon in his hand and at that point, watermelon seemed to be the only culprit! I began to lose it. I tried to stay calm and walk through the water towards the end of the beach where they were playing. I felt at least then I'd be able to yell at him to throw the watermelon down and get in the water. After finally making it to them, feeling pretty awful at that point because part of me was thinking that I was just taking all the bees to them! But I had to get to Jayden. After several moments of screaming at them they finally realized what was going on and all 3 boys got in the water a bit terrified. I honestly cannot explain in words how truly scared we all were. The bees literally were drowning in the waves next to us.

Eventually, my EXTREMELY brave 13 year-old told me he was gonna head to the car with everything because he felt like there were more on me and they weren't after him. He told the younger two boys that he would get them a beach towel and they could cover their heads and run to the car while he was grabbing everything up. He also left me a towel and told me to run for it as well. THANK GOD for JohnMark and his calmness because I was not doing a very good job of being calm. As I got out of the water, I put the towel over my head. I didn't dare look up but from the shadow on the sand, there appeared to be more than a dozen flying around. I ran, threw up, ran, threw up some more, and then jumped in the car. (Pretty sure I got sick from swallowing all the salt water!) UGh!!!

I share all this because we were in awe as we drove home. We killed the few that had made it into the car on me but none of us were feeling any burning sensations from stings. We made it home in one piece. It wasn't until about 30 HOURS later that we began to notice our marks and whelps beginning to show up and burn a bit. I've never seen anything like it. Nothing for almost a day and a half and then all of a sudden we began having painful red spots on our ears, shoulders, and backs. SO COMPLETELY STRANGE! We have found out since that many people here have died from bee swarm attacks so all four of us feel completely thankful that nothing worse happened. Our sores are getting better today and we've decided that we're gonna wait and let Mike get home before we make any more adventurous excursions!!

white plastic chairs lined up in a row

2011-06-04T00:37:00.009-03:00

On Friday night, we drove out to the little community where our friends live. They had shared with Mike about their church service they have there and really wanted us to come some time. Michael called one of the guys and informed him we would be coming and he asked for directions. Everton told Mike to call when we reached the small town and he'd talk us in "so to speak" over the cell phone since it's a really really small community.

When we got to the edge of town (the part where the road turns into sand) Mike called Everton and he literally waved us down after talking us past the first two landmarks. When we got there we were late. Getting out of the city had taken us about 45 minutes rather than the normal 15 because of traffic being extremely awful.

As we started up to this little building we noticed all these people sitting outside. At first I was thinking that they either hadn't started yet or it was already over because so many people were sitting around the building but then as I looked up ahead I realized that these were some of the people from their community hanging out. There were at least 50 people spread into different groups of tens and they were staring at us with the utmost interest.

We were hoping to slip in or stand towards the back but of course there were 5 empty white plastic chairs right on the front row waiting for us. UGGGH!!! I hate that. So much for not being rude and disrupting. Since we were on the front row and there was only a handful of people there it felt awkward not to turn around and at least try and make eye contact with the women and smile as big as possible. They seemed to like that. As a couple of guys shared, I couldn't help but be distracted a bit. Why are they set up like this? Why, when there are only a few people in this room, do they feel the need to put the chairs in a row facing forward? Why are they trying to be so formal when there are a million ants under my chair eating a dead fly?

It all goes back to what they've been taught. Someone along the way came and shared Christ with them and I am so glad they did because that is obviously the most important thing but then something else happened. Someone also told them that they needed a building. Someone clearly informed them they needed their chairs lined up just so. They would need to sing about 3 to 4 songs and then someone will need to share a message. It was kinda funny to see someone's hand prints all over this place. I guess why I'm saying this is because it didn't fit them. It didn't fit at all. It felt awkward. Out in the streets, in people's homes, in the barraca down the street, no one was sitting or acting like this. Why here? Why change the culture when we put God into the mixture? After all, is God not out in the streets, in people's homes, or in the barraca with the people.

What if instead of sitting inside this building on this beautiful night, we took these chairs outside. Remember how many people I said were right outside. Some just by chance but I guarantee others are trying to hear what's being said. Granted some probably came to see the gringos but regardless, imagine the audacity of packing those chairs outside and maybe even forming them in a circle or some other crazy shape like that where we can see each others faces. Imagine instead of the typical ORDER of service, someone shares what God did in their life that week or even crazier someone has a question. Can you even imagine! Why do we put things like the body of Christ in such a box? I just don't get it. And then, God forgive us, why do we teach others to do the same thing!

Forgive me for getting on a soapbox for a moment but where in the Bible are these things taught?!? What was interesting is that this church is struggling right now because they don't have an "official" pastor. "Official" pastor being defined as someone that has been to seminary. This causes them to not feel like they are a true church. The irony is that they are doing so much on their own. The group, made up mostly of men, is very unusual for this culture. Most churches in Brazil or Latin America have many women and children that come without the men. Instead, in this group, there are about 10 really strong Christian men that are considered leaders in the community and they want to make a difference. WOW!

Obviously, there is a lot more to learn and Mike hopes to be able to help in any way he can but please join us in praying for this small group of believers. Pray that churches will let go of the traditions and rules that are gripping them and search for TRUTH as new churches are being planted and existing churches continue to grow. My heart aches for the burden that is on each of these churches as they try to fit a mold that simply isn't necessary!!

blinded

2011-05-14T19:16:00.008-03:00

Many of you have heard Mike share about his experience meeting the friends in the car one day. After pulling over, he met one particular man, who later, introduced him to many contacts in the school where he is now working. One day while Everton (one of these guys) was in the truck, Mike was blasting a Chris Tomlin CD. He heard the word Jesus on the music and asked if it was Christian music. He loved it and Mike promised to try and get him a CD.

Well long story short....they all work in what is called a Barraca or what we would consider in the states to be the equivalent of a lil' bar on the beach. Mike had taken me and the boys there once before to introduce us to all his new friends and we had some snacks while the kids swam in the ocean. It was/is quite lovely.

Today we drove back there again, to have lunch and take a CD to Everton. Usually the only down side of being there is that there are dozens of beggars and venders that walk up and down the beach trying to either sell something to you or just look at you and beg for money. This was something that, before coming to Brazil, we knew we would have to deal with but quite honestly it's been a struggle. You really have to use discernment to know when to give and when to not build an even bigger dependency. Some of the people have become like professional beggars and they see our white faces coming a mile away. All that to say, our hearts have gotten a bit hardened to some of the needs around us at times. After about the 8th person, you stop looking up at them and try to ignore them so you can chew your food.

Today something different happened. A blind man came by with his son and immediately I knew his need was real and authentic. He and his son were in plain view to me and the boys but Mike had his back to them. I leaned over and mentioned to Mike to give him some change and I could tell quickly that Mike was not feeling it. He was giving me the "ignore them and they will go away look"! I don't say this to make you think less of Michael because he has a heart of gold and the cons are around us daily but Mike had not seen their faces. We finished eating and got in the car to go home and that was that...or so I thought.

On the way home, one of the boys asked Michael why he had ignored the blind man. He explained how he was really frustrated and how people really need to learn to work for their money instead of begging others. I leaned in to Mike and kind of agreed with the boys that I had felt there was a need. At first, like most men, ;) Mike was annoyed but he could tell we were all pretty sincere with our confrontations to him. And this is when the incredible thing happened.

Michael turned the car around. The kids and I just sat there quiet and in a bit of shock. He went to the barraca and he walked straight up to one of the young guys he knew and asked where the blind man lived. Surprisingly, the man not only knew where the blind man lived, he really wanted to take us to him. The next thing I know, other than the fact that the bar in Brazil is now playing Chris Tomlin over their speakers, Gabriele is in the car directing Mike where to turn and we are headed up a hill we'd never been. After putting the truck into 4x4 mode and almost killing about a dozen chickens and goats we made it to the lil' home where the blind man, his wife and their seven children lived.

Mike and Gabriele got out of the car and they were gone for about half an hour. I got out of the car and smiled trying to act as if I'd been there a thousand times before. Women were looking outside their windows as Jayden chased their roosters through the streets. Eventually Mike came back with a big smile on his face. He seemed different on the way home as he told me the story about the man and his family. I think we all agree it's better to open our eyes to the needs around us cause the truth is, usually we're the ones that get blessed!

we delight

2011-05-14T00:19:00.017-03:00

Here are some things God has been up to in our lives

Our home is pneumonia-free!! All coughing has ceased.
Michael is learning many new things amongst his new students out in the Quilombo. They are showing him all the funny gestures that he does and what they "REALLY" mean in the context of their culture. (He is working hard at keeping his hands still in front of the classroom in order to keep the laughter at a minimum.)
Our precious puppy, Charlie, has found a new loving owner. Only 8 hours after listing him online, a young single guy came over to our apartment and took away our sweet little bellowing baby! We miss him but hallelujah, we can leave the house again without worry of a dog screaming non-stop. We're even getting smiles from our neighbors.
The flood wall in Paducah, Kentucky (the town where Mike and I grew up) held throughout all the flooding along the Ohio River Valley. Although much farmland and many small towns nearby were completely devastated, the town we know and love was spared.
The protests on our street are OVER!!! No more yelling all morning! You can hear a pin drop first thing in the morning around our house and I LOVE IT!
The worst of the rainy season is over and the sun has been showing itself quite frequently. I am feeling a smile on my face during HUGE portions of my day, even while washing dishes. I have missed that feeling.
The bees in this beehive right outside our apartment have stayed a safe distance away from our windows.
We have a new washing machine and it is just wonDERful. I've only been caught cleaning it and wiping it down like a new car about a dozen times. Mike says I have issues.
Mike did not get bit by the bat that flew around his head as he was preaching last Sunday night. It was quite humorous watching him try and not be distracted as it buzzed his ears.
God has given us a little piece of paradise to enjoy on sunny Saturdays.

He's Alive

2011-04-24T00:42:00.008-03:00

I was mad that I was mad

2011-04-23T22:56:00.004-03:00

Okay.
Enough for now about supermarket prices, mud roads, lizards, or dead chickens laying in my sink.

I've been dealing with some real heart issues recently. I've tried to blame it on just about everything in my life that's been within pointing distance and even some things that were far away but the reality is, I've just been angry.

Our family was faced with a very serious situation that, thank the Lord, turned out okay. But nonetheless, left us all a bit shaken and skeptical on who to trust. At first, I was angry then I became sad and then back to angry again. Now that time is distancing us from the event, I've sort of become robotic with just about everything in my life.

I was still getting up in the morning, doing all the tasks that had to be done, but there was zero joy in my heart. Mike and the kids would ask if I wanted to do something or go somewhere and I really had no opinion whatsoever. I found myself diving deep into an unfamiliar depression. I was no longer spending time with God nor did I have a desire to do so.

I began turning to sin patterns that I hadn't struggled with in years. I became so surprised at how quickly my heart could go from a deep and loving relationship with God to such an empty and hollow feeling. How could things change so radically in just a few months? I began to hate just about everything occurring in my life.

I hated the way people stared at me and the kids and referred to us as the American family all the time. I hated how I had to wake up each morning to the demonstrators in the street yelling "who knows what" ABOUT "who knows what". If I'd had the courage and the right words in Portuguese, there's no telling what I could have yelled down at them. I hated the way our neighbors would never speak to us in the elevator. I hated the way our dog would scream like a dying child when we left him alone in the apartment, which most certainly was the reason the neighbors weren't smiling or speaking to us.

And to be completely frank...I'm STILL hating the fact that "like clockwork" the sun rises at 5:30 am and sets at 5:30 pm EVERY SINGLE DAY OF THE YEAR. Do you know how quickly your day goes by when every drop of sunlight is gone by 5:30. SERIOUSLY!! Welcome to life at the equator, right?!?

Mike would come home from a great day of ministry and share with me how God had used Him AND ALL I COULD THINK OF was the amount of laundry I'd had to do while he was gone. I was miserable. Is this what I signed up for? Mike is out doing all these great and wonderful things for the Lord, and my biggest accomplishment was cleaning up the dog poo or getting Jayden to understand fractions. Man...surely I could do that back in the states...right?!? Probably even better. After all, I'd have a clothes dryer and a dish washer there. My hair wouldn't look like a poodle from the humidity and our clothes in the closets wouldn't smell like mildew, right?!?

I'd try so hard to suck it up but after having a couple of good days, I'd find myself right back in my little hole. Mike and the boys had a camp to go to this weekend starting on Thursday. They were to return on Easter Sunday. Part of me was really happy that I'd have four whole days to myself and another part dreading time alone where I'd most certainly come face to face with God. Imagine, as soon as the house was quiet and there was nothing to distract me,I turned around and there He was waiting. It's funny when we think God doesn't know we're mad at Him. He knows. Trust me. He knows.

I wasn't just sad and hurt and culture SHOCKED, I was REALLY mad. I was mad at Him for letting the situation happen that seemed to start all this downward spiral. I was mad that I was living in this city that we hadn't chosen. And ya know what? I WAS MAD THAT I WAS MAD!!
How great is that? Turns out HE knew and even though my sin became crystal clear in His presence, He wasn't mad at me. After I dealt with all the junk that had come between us I began to realize He hadn't gone anywhere. Once again He reminded me that He was waiting on me to turn around. I talked with Him about all the reasons I was hurt and mad and as usual, it all came back to the condition of my heart.

By Thursday night,

Michael brought home Jayden sick with an awful croup cough. The following morning he returned with Jackson. He ran a really high fever (103.5) the whole next day. JohnMark and Michael both came home Friday night feeling sick too SO UNFORTUNATELY MY QUIET WEEKEND DIDN'T TURN OUT TOO QUIET. But God was good to deal with me before I had to start being Super Mom again. I can pretty much guarantee that on Monday morning, life is gonna set back in and I'm going to have frustrations but Oh how I pray my heart is ready for what comes. Pray for me that I'll find the joy that comes from being filled with HIM. After all...NOTHING ELSE REALLY MATTERS!

It's Friday...BUT

2011-04-22T15:22:00.000-03:00

photos from Mike's trip to the interior

2011-04-19T11:16:00.003-03:00

Update from Mike

2011-04-07T20:39:00.003-03:00

Tuesday I went to find one of the nearby villages where I will be working. It was located about 40km away near the city of Aquiraz. On the way, I stopped and asked directions from many locals on the side of the road (Brazilian GPS). Normally this works, but I was not able to find the area I was looking for! I decided to continue to drive around and explore the region.

Here comes the God part of the story. After driving through the unpaved streets, I turned down toward the beach. There were little restaurants scattered everywhere. Some men darted in front of my car and waved me over as an invite to their place. This is normal so I thought I’d keep driving and ignore them but a small voice in my heart told me to stop. As I rolled down my window the men approached my truck (about 4-5 of them). I asked them for directions to the place I was looking for. As they began to explain they reached into my truck over me and grab my road maps. This caught me a little off-guard but as they tried to show me where it was, they called over another man. He was the leader of the group and quickly took over the conversation. He said he was friends with the president of the quilombo association. After telling them who I was and why I was there, they all began to share with me their beliefs as well. One of them began to explain that if I would return tomorrow at 10:30, they would go with me to the quilombo. He said that he’d call the president of this particular group that night and then he’d call me in the morning to confirm. He invited me in for a drink and some Brazilian conversation. What an experience for just taking a stab in the dark!

He called the following morning and we drove about thirty minutes to the quilombo. As he introduced me to the new president, she invited me to return to work there any time I wanted. She assured me that I’d be free to share the message of Christ in their school without any problems. She also let me know that she would be scheduling a meeting with the residents of the village to introduce me. Then I would be more welcomed and people would not fear me, as is common.

Jesus said that we should walk by faith and not by sight. I didn’t see this coming but God knew it would happen before I left the house. I learned a long time ago that if you want to do great things with God you have to get out of the boat or as was in my case, stop the car.

Sopa de Cebola Francesa

2011-03-28T20:29:00.008-03:00

Last week I had Community Transformation Training (CTC) in Lima, Peru. That sounds really fancy but it simply means learning how to go into unreached people groups with a purpose that will help their community. We were reminded how "to ensure that human need concerns are a vital part of (our) evangelism strategy and are woven into the DNA of our new church plants." (That was from the manual) ha
We want to train the nationals in a way that empowers them all while sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our time meeting together in training was great as well as our time in the evenings as we all got to know other m's serving in Central and South America.

AND...

we had the opportunity to partake of all the luxuries of Lima, Peru. SUCH AS...Chili's, TGI Friday's, Starbucks, and a grocery store packed full of American items. My baggage was loaded down for the return trip. I was able to bring the boys home Captain Crunch, Fruity Pebbles, Fruit Roll-Ups, Maple Syrup, York Peppermint Patties, and Oreo's just to name a few of the items. Hopefully that made up for me being the only one to get French Onion Soup from Fridays.

Last Saturday, Mike also had the privilege to make his first trip out to our people group. He came back excited and encouraged. This picture is of the oldest couple in the village. They were so kind to him and he looks forward to going back soon to visit with them.

Our family has had some trials the last few days but God is so good and faithful. He is walking through all of it with us. We appreciate all your continued prayer support and love. For those of you waiting on email replies, be patient with us. We have so much to catch up on around here.

6 reasons we don't buy imported items

2011-03-13T00:00:00.000-04:00

At the time I'm writing this post the
1 US dollar=1.66 Reais.

So, at first when I found a can of Campbell's soup on the shelf I almost fell over because I just knew it would be impossible to find it down here. I grabbed three cans without even looking at the price and then the sticker under the can grabbed my attention. Needless to say, I reversed my motion and replaced all 3 cans back onto the shelf. No worries cause I've learned how to easily make this can of stuff with fresh ingredients and it even tastes better...kinda. :)

This next picture doesn't actually tell the absurdness well. This bag of chips is the size of one stuck in a child's lunch box. The sack contains, at most, 12 chips. I'll let you figure up how much that is per chip. Unfortunately, this is it for corn chips in Northeast Brazil.

Santa brought Pringles to our kiddos this past Christmas and it was a huge treat. I found these babies on sale the other day but still had trouble justifying the purchase since it's not a holiday or anything. Easter will be here soon I suppose.

This supermarket here in Fortaleza was the first one where we were able to find marshmallows.
We opted to wait on these as well!

These, too, are almost impossible to find.
This price below belongs to the box of 8!
I know, RIGHT!!!?!

I've been gone awhile but I don't remember Johnson's keeping their merchandise behind lock and key. 18.50 for baby oil is another reason to celebrate kids out of diapers.

returning to routine

2011-03-12T11:08:00.010-04:00

We are beginning to feel more at home here. Carnival is over and the city is getting back to normal. ALSO, our ceiling fans have been installed and we are all sleeping like babies! HALLELUJAH!!

Many of you have asked to see pictures of our new apartment
so here are a few. It's really quite charming.
My favorite part is our balcony. We live on the 3rd floor surrounded by other buildings so unfortunately there's not a lot of privacy. Otherwise it would be really serene.

Our living room

This is the only part of the boy's room that I was able to take a photo of
because they are still working on finding the floor. HA For the first time ever, they are all 3 sharing a room. In order for them to have more space, Mike and I gave them the larger of the 2 bedrooms. I'll show you how I fit a queen and two twins into this room as soon as I'm not embarrassed to take a picture.

My kitchen which I am taking back from the ants.

My beautiful laundry room. We finally have my washing machine up and going and I'm so HAPPY!! I'm pretty sure we'll never see this area without clothes.
It takes a really long time to dry stuff here because of the humidity.

This is the room off of the living room where we do school every day.
So you could also call this my mental ward!

The view from our balcony and if you look way down in between the
last 2 buildings you can faintly see the ocean.

If I zoom in with my camera it comes a little clearer and
you can make out the waves. COOL, huh?!?

More photos to come of life outside the apartment soon!

what's for dinner

2011-03-02T22:47:00.006-04:00

A few weeks ago we brought home a whole chicken to put in the crock pot.

We got our money's worth!

Wow...WHAT A WEEK!

2011-03-02T07:01:00.004-04:00

We arrived here in Fortaleza exactly a week ago. Everything has been such a blur that I literally just had to go back to a calendar and figure out which day we got here.

We were greeted at the airport by two sweet smiling faces. Robert and Phyllis have lived here in this city about 25 years. They will be working with us this next year during our time here. They have much experience and hearts of gold so we look forward to hanging out with them and gleaning from their wisdom.

As we walked out of the airport, the heat and humidity hit us like a wall. We stayed at a hotel on the beach the first 3 nights which was a really big blessing. It was right on the ocean, had a pool, buffet breakfast and AIR CONDITIONING in the room!!! Unfortunately we were so swamped with everything, I was only able to take the boys down to the beach for a few hours on Thursday. When life settles down, we'll have to find a quiet spot on the beach to relax. We moved everything into our new apartment on Saturday. Even our crate we packed back in the spring of 2009 made it. Saturday felt like Christmas as we opened boxes we hadn't seen in so long.

Mike has been working his tail off trying to get so much accomplished and I know when he finally stops, HE'S gonna crash hard. Running on very little sleep, he and JohnMark flew a couple of hours away to Sao Luis Monday night. Our truck is there and they are driving it back here for us to use. It's a big 4x4 truck that we'll need to get out to our people group. The roads here in the northeast aren't quite the caliber of Sao Paulo roads so the 665 mile trip will be an adventure. The roads they are using to get back are quite primitive. They had made it about half way as of last night and were staying with a couple that lives there in Parnaiba. I talked with them last night and other than being sleep deprived it appears they have many stories to tell. As a matter of fact, while I'm typing this, they should be fishing for piranhas with some folks.

Jackson, Jayden and I have decided we are ready for them to get back. We are wanting to see a bit more of the city than walking allows. We have covered several blocks surrounding our house but it's a big city with LOTS of people and dangerous intersections. Just to get to the supermarket, we have to cross one of the busiest roads by going half-way and then stopping on a 2 foot piece of concrete as we wait for the other lanes coming from the opposite direction to clear. Picture me and an 8 year-old and a 10 year-old balancing on this strip and me trying to make sure they don't fall back into traffic speeding by a few inches from our backsides all the while trying to keep them from stepping out too hastily into the other side of traffic. It's a bit like the old video game FROGGER! Pray this country girl doesn't get herself or her kids squashed.

We are also encountering some less than friendly people out there amongst the sidewalks. Yesterday, one in particular, decided to get right up into Jackson's face and scare him to death. Not sure if he was drugged out or suffering from some demonic issues. Either way, I reminded Jackson for the umpteenth time that God doesn't give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and self control. We're definitely standing on that scripture right now.

Back here in the house lies many adventures as well. My ever growing pile of laundry that has accumulated through the move and all is still sitting pretty in the floor waiting on my washing machine to begin to function correctly. I don't know what happened to it during the move but I hate getting behind on it all...especially without a dryer. Washing it by hand would be like my most dreaded scenario but it might it come to that.

The shower in my bathroom had heat yesterday for about 6 minutes before it went out so that's another thing for Mike's to-do list when he gets back. Ice cold showers are actually kind of refreshing right now. We don't have ceiling fans yet but the one small portable one we do have is getting a work out. We carry it with us from room to room in order to move the air around. I think either we're getting more accustomed to the climate or the fan is helping because we've stopped soaking all our shirts with sweat over the last 24 hours.

Despite the bugs that are biting us or the ones that have made their way into our digestive tracks, we're surviving. Yesterday, as you can tell from this sorta negative post, was hard. But the sun is up (which is seems to do much earlier now) and I'm about to go have some coffee. God is still God and He has a purpose for us in being here. We will choose to walk in that and I will do my best to make the next post on here one that is more positive. Until then, I'll just be transparent with you and tell you life's a bit harder here. But, as we know, that's when we grow. So here we go as a family of five again, stretching and growing and learning what it means to walk with our Savior.

Keep us covered in prayer and we'll keep ya informed on what's going on. I'll try and get some pictures posted on here soon!

objects in photo are smaller than they appear

2011-02-24T08:42:00.004-04:00

Yesterday morning, I had to wake up around 3:45 am so that we would be ready for the folks picking us up and taking us to the airport at 5:00. I got up and went straight to the shower. As soon as I walked in the bathroom, I saw something move on the shower door.
Now, please understand that before we came here to Brazil, I was told we'd have lots of critters in our home. I knew it would happen but up until yesterday, we had only seen bugs and one lizard on the balcony. Life on the 11th floor was really nice and really CRITTER FREE!

All this to say that this "little guy" watched me take a shower yesterday and waited patiently for me to leave so that he could return to his meal of mosquitoes.
I didn't like it all.
I know all you veteran missionaries will probably think Rebecca is quite the "critter wimp" but I REALLY didn't like it! I think it's particularly funny that we lived in Ribeirao Preto for over a year with no occurrences like this and yet on my last morning, I was blessed with such a treat.

I asked Mike if he thought it was God's way of helping me be ready to leave this home or if God was just preparing me for what our "new norm" would be. He responded way too quickly with a laugh and the answer I wasn't looking for!!!

Can't Sleep

2011-02-06T03:20:00.003-04:00

and since I realized I haven't posted on here in FOREVER, I thought I would let you all know what's happening in our lives right now. It's 2:30 in the morning as I type so try and forgive all the typos!

We received word about 3 weeks ago that we would need to change our plans a bit. So instead of moving to the state of Maranhao, we'll be living in Fortaleza for this next year, possibly moving to SL after the year is up. We will still be working with the same people group, just in a different state. We're currently packing and getting everything in order so that we can arrive there in the next week or so.

We're leaving here confident that we are walking in His plan for us but the news hit us pretty hard at first. We had been praying and researching a totally different region. We tried to understand how God was working in this decision which felt completely wrong to us. We struggled and cried and prayed for God to fix it but God's answer has clearly been "trust Me." This answer is never an easy one especially when you think you've trusted enough or sacrificed enough. Clearly, I'll never have trusted or sacrificed enough. I can't repay what has been done for me and I certainly can't come to a place in my life where I believe I have "arrived"!

But here we are again, knowing absolutely nothing about our next steps or what our life will look like, and we're okay. This "not knowing" is a very familiar place and I'm going to try real hard not to push my way out of it. We sometimes think knowing everything and being in control of everything is the best way to live but let me just tell you that if you want to be close to God, choose the opposite. Ask God to send you stuff in life, no matter how difficult it is, that will keep you on your knees in prayer. When life is easy and things are going great, how often do we really listen to God and want to know his heart? Sure, we give him our laundry list of to-fix or to-heal but do we really sit and wait on Him to answer us.

Man, I've needed God this month. I've needed to know that it's okay that things don't go as planned. The Christian life is not defined by a "pouring out" of blessings on my life or even HOW I FEEL. It is defined by pain, suffering, and trials. Before any of you get upset by that, look at the life of Christ. What did He experience on this earth? Do I really want to believe that God has a prettier picture for me in my life than He had for His own Son? After all, that's the popular message today for the church. It just doesn't line up with scripture. Do I really want to live out the great commission in my life or am I just playing games?

So, just as I prayed over a month ago, I'll continue to pray, "God send what you need into my life to make me more like you."
Pray it with me if you will but understand trials will come. Are we really willing to go anywhere and do anything? Are we really able to say that this world has nothing to offer us in comparison with our eternity? I used to say a whole lot (you can probably even find it on old blogposts) that being in God's will is the safest place you can be. Truth is...being in God's will is going to take you OUT of safe places and put you IN harm's way and that's okay if you're really ready to let HIM be glorified through your life.

Keep praying for me and for my family. Pray that God will use us for His glory anywhere He so desires. Pray that our hearts are like clay in His hands and that we never jump ahead of Him again.

changes

2011-01-09T21:06:00.008-04:00

What does it usually take in your life for God to get your attention?
Is it circumstances beyond your control
that change life as you know it?

Sometimes that's just what it takes to get me on my knees in prayer and not get up until I hear from Him.

I'm THERE today!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-31T06:56:00.004-04:00

My mom and dad arrived here in Brazil on the morning of the 22nd and we loved all 194 hours with them. They were able to bring the boys Legos and Nerf guns and all their favorite candy from the states.We had a fabulous time with them! It was all bittersweet though since they felt they needed to buy a two-way ticket. ;) Yesterday afternoon, when we took them to the airport, we all decided we're getting pretty sick of goodbyes.

After my dad nodded (secretly) behind my mom's back that it was time to go. We started walking to security. Mom had already begun crying and given out enough hugs to last her for at least one more year but as we gave one last hug, dad lost it too. We watched them head through security and once on the other side, we peaked through the door and waved one more goodbye. We started to leave but when I looked down at Jayden, I realized his face was really red and had tears behind his great big fake smile. (Understand this is how my BIG BOYS act now in order not to cry) But, as he made eye contact with me, he just melted into the wall and couldn't be tough any longer. To which, I finally began sobbing and holding him. UGH!
I decided to pick him up and walk him to the car as he cried so we wouldn't be stared at. (usually that happens without the tears because we're gringos but with all of us sobbing right there in front of everyone, I figured the car would be a better place to lose it.) I think Mike offered to carry Jayden for me, but I didn't stop long enough to discuss it. We were gone.

In the car, after a few moments of hugging and encouraging, I looked Jayden in the face and promised him he would have eternity with his grandparents. (I think I was trying to remind myself of this fact too.) We also talked about how big God is and how certain that we are in the middle of HIS will for our lives. After my big pep talk, he asked what we were having for dinner so one can assume he's gonna survive this most recent bout of drama in his life.
The two big guys held it together pretty well but were quiet most of the night. I suppose they're dealing with it all in their own way. I guess we all are.

On Christmas day, we didn't have snow or the usual atmosphere, but there was a lot of love in our house and a lot of food on the table, and even a plastic soldier battle on the floor.

We were able to skype Mike's family in Kentucky and my brother's family in Georgia. We missed a lot of loved ones this year but we're so blessed with technology because we were able to catch up with everyone. After a quick thunder storm (which happens everyday right now) God gave us a quick reminder of HIS love.

We have to begin tying up all our loose ends here in Ribeirao Preto for our big move to Sao Luis this month. We have to buy a refrigerator, stove, bunk beds and a bed frame for Mike and I. All of you that sent money for us for Christmas and YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE, will be helping us to buy these essentials. I started to list your names but I realized a couple of you would kill me so I'm just going to make a blanket thank you here. All of you have blessed our socks off! I'm not kidding, as my mom shared with me what had come in, I was in shock. I also want to thank all of you that helped send school supplies for the boys, books for me and Michael, and for all that sent Christmas presents for the boys, WE THANK YOU!!

Also I'd like to ask for prayer. I'm skeptical to mention it but I am keenly aware of the power of prayer. Not sure if it's problems resurfacing, stress with another move, or just nothing at all...but some of my stomach pain is returning. Please pray that God would deal with it and get me back to normal as quick as possible.

So here we are, a year later, ready to finally head to Sao Luis. We are excited, nervous, and overwhelmed again. We have come to realize that our time here is not only about what God does with our work there in Sao Luis, but that it's also the journey that we're all on that draws us closer to HIM and I wouldn't ever want to skip one step we've had to take through this journey HE is taking us on! That being said, pray that BIG THINGS are about to happen with people that have never heard the name of Jesus and don't forget to celebrate HIS life all through the year. We aren't called to remember and celebrate Him only during Christmas...but instead, every single day of our life.

check out the happenings of the Lasiter Family

2010-12-20T09:42:00.003-04:00

provision

2010-12-19T13:47:00.008-04:00

Just a few more day til Christmas and I'm starting to get REALLY excited. Earlier this morning it was in the 90's but a storm has blown up and the temps are sitting perfectly in the 70's now!! We're listening to Christmas music continuously in our house. I've bought a few presents but nothing is wrapped yet. Things around here never move at a fast pace so I'm guessing that Christmas, too, will be pretty calm and stress-free.

I recently went back through my blog reading how far God has brought us. I saw the pictures from our old house and all the Christmas decorations that we had and for just a second, I felt sad. But it was just a second and then I kept reading about everything that God did to get us here and all I could do was smile. Every need we have had has been provided for, ABOVE AND BEYOND what we could have asked for. We have never had a day when we were hungry and couldn't eat. We've not had one night where we didn't have a bed to sleep in or a roof over our heads and to be more specific, I've never turned on my ceiling fan without it working great!! ;)
Where does all that money come from to keep missionaries on the field? Click here to find out!

My parents are arriving here on Wednesday in order to spend the holidays with us and I have to admit I feel like a little girl about it all!! We'll pick them up in Sao Paulo, which is about 4 hours away. I plan on squeezing my mom in the backseat all the way home. We were concerned about finding someone to take care of the boys while we were gone and how all 6 pieces of luggage would fit in our small little Civic, but as always, God has provided. He has provided 2 really sweet Brazilian families to watch our boys during our 8 hour trip there and back and a van for us to all fit into.

He has also provided many of you for us and your great big serving hearts. We received two packages this week filled with snacks, videos, Honey Nut Cheerios, Legos and lots of our very favorite things. So we want to send a BIG thanks to Chris and Cheryl Nichols, and the Birchell's Connect GROUP!!! You all are so special to us and we can't possibly thank you enough. I'd also like to say thanks to all of you that prayed for us during our tests this past week. Mike and I have finished "formal" language school and passed our tests at the level we needed to be able to leave. It's strange to say that because it feels like we just arrived. We've lived here now for eleven months and I remember getting off that plane like it was yesterday. I'm not saying that we don't miss our family and friends back home CAUSE WE DO!! A lot, especially this time of year, but there's a such a peace right now in our home.

Last night we had a Christmas party with our church family in Portinari. It was surreal because although I know I made mistakes in my conversation, when we were leaving, I felt like I had listened and understood and talked in another language the whole night, and truth is, I DID! God is so good. He has provided so many people here to help us learn this language. But you know what? Not only have we learned from them, I really feel that many of them have learned from us. That's the best part, feeling like through all our inadequacies, He can still use us.

What does YOUR laundry room look like?

2010-12-01T05:43:00.008-04:00

Today is Kelsie's birthday. She is living life as a wife, mother of four beautiful children, and bold witness for the Truth of the Gospel in what most of us would consider impossible living conditions!! She are her family demonstrate that with GOD, all things ARE possible.

I encourage you to read their family's blog and PRAY earnestly for all the work they're doing!! Biggest need right now seems to be running water in their house!

a wedding and time with friends

2010-11-29T08:29:00.006-04:00

We drove to Sao Jose dos Campos & Jacarei after Thanksgiving. We met Ana Clara in 2008 and now she is living in Ribeirao Preto with Rodrigo's family so we are able to see them more often. We were able to have AC and Rodrigo's family over for dinner a few weeks ago. They are helping us tremendously with language.

Anna Clara and Rodrigo were married Saturday night. It worked out perfectly because we were able to stay at Russ and Diane Dean's house. Diane was traveling but we were blessed by getting to hang out with Russ. He was so gracious to us and we enjoyed laughing together. We also had the opportunity to spend time with the McClures and our extended Brazilian family, Ewerton & Evelyn! I only wish we had more time with everyone cause it all just flew by so fast.

Anna Clara was beautiful as was the wedding!

I feel really old when I see pictures of JohnMark. He is getting so mature and handsome. Sometimes, it feels surreal to have a child THIS big!

The guys hanging out with Ewerton! He'll forever be part of our family!

Me and Elena (getting some "girl time") & Jayden with Nathanael.

We LOVE the McClures!!

with a grateful heart

2010-11-25T21:54:00.004-04:00

Today we celebrated our first Thanksgiving in Brazil. We were surrounded by great friends and AMAZING food! God has been so good to us and we have a lot to be thankful for this year.

Jim & Martha

the Whitentons

We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving parade on the internet.

and had lots of tastes from home!!

acai trees

2010-11-22T17:33:00.003-04:00

In Belem, we were surrounded by acai. If you're not familiar with these berries, do some research. It's become one of our favorite fruits here in Brazil and it tastes like a combination of blueberry and chocolate.

Belem

2010-11-12T19:40:00.007-04:00

We are traveling to north Brazil on Sunday for orality training. There, in Belem, we'll practice new techniques for sharing stories from the Bible in order to teach peoples that are unable to read and write or just prefer the storying method. Excited about seeing a NEW part of Brazil but dreading the laundry & packing that is required before and after.

Belem is considered the entrance gate to the Amazon River. It has a humid and hot (tropical) climate which unlike where we are living now is dry and HOT. It will give us a good idea of what life will be like in Sao Luis. Pray that our flights (with smaller style planes;) will be safe and that we learn all God has for us there.

Also keep JohnMark in your prayers as he's struggling right now with a bad allergic reaction to SOMETHING!?! We think it might be mangos but we're not positive. He looks really red and swollen and no amount of Benedryl seems to clear it up. ALSO, our next Language Interview (LI) is coming up mid-December. We REALLY want to do well on this so that we can begin to make arrangements for our BIG move up north!

Thanks again for all your emails of encouragement and prayer support!

halloween 2010

2010-11-07T17:32:00.002-04:00

the pumpkin...

that made these muffins YUMMY!!!

and a shot of the pumpkin cookies we make EVERY YEAR

escola do amanha

2010-10-29T16:55:00.004-03:00

The boy's school has a drama class & every year they make a movie.
You might recognize some of the actors from this year's video.

the subjunctive straw

2010-10-20T20:39:00.002-03:00

OK...normally I struggle with posting a blog once a week so I don't know what to say about all these blogposts lately! Bear with me...

This morning in my portuguese class I, quite literally, had a breakdown. Call it a culmination of MANY, MANY things all piled up together! I'm one of those (I LIKE TO THINK) tough girls that doesn't cry very often. I pride myself in being the strong one that always has the "spiritual" answers for those that are freaking out. I hate letting people see my "cry face" which involves red hives breaking out all over. Seriously, I look like a baboon when I cry! The problem with this idea is that after being bottled up, frustrations can explode and flow out in the most inopportune times.

Like today in the third and final class of my day. I knew it was coming before the class started. (the class only consisted of Me, Mike & poor poor Simone but still.) I walked outside for a minute and put my face towards the sun hoping it would "ABSORB" what was about to come pouring out but unfortunately at the first attempt to speak in class, I began heaving. I haven't cried like that in forever and unfortunately our teacher, Simone had to endure this embarrassing moment with me. She was great but I'm sure it's quite odd when all of a sudden a student covers their face and they began sobbing and shaking. Bless her heart!

So many things have been being bottled up lately. Not sure if it was something specific or the combination of everything. I thought I was doing great with all the madness but apparently with the kids going through their homesickness, trying to speak in a foreign language ALL the time, my family back home having some REALLY unfair heartbreaks that I can't do ANYTHING about AND not getting enough sleep lately due to the annoying and EVIL mosquitoes, I was at my breaking point. Who knew trying to decide which tense to use with subjunctive verbs could be the straw that broke the camel's back!

I'm better now and about to sit down to some more portuguese homework but MAN...today was CRAPPY! I'm working on getting out of this funk and find it ironic that this day followed yesterday with Matheus but that's how it works sometimes, huh!?! Those victorious mountain top moments can't last forever and if they did, we'd never grow or move! So I'll take it and learn. As glad as I am that this day is almost over, I'm guessing sweet Simone was even MORE GLAD when her uncomfortable and quite awkward class was over today! ha

O Açougueiro

2010-10-20T06:10:00.006-03:00

Last night, Michael and I had dinner with a sweet young couple. WOW...that is so weird to say cause it wasn't too long ago that WE were the YOUNG couple. (sorry...getting off subject)

Anyway, Michael met him several months ago buying a roast at the store. His name is Matheus (not to be confused with the Matheus we met by spilling a Fanta!) and he is the butcher at our local mercearia. Mike has become a connoisseur when it comes to ordering meat here. There are so many great cuts of beef in Brazil and MIKE loves to eat meat. (rambling again...sorry)

Mike and Matheus have gotten really close over the last few months. They went out one night several weeks ago and I remember Michael coming home saying the conversation was tough because he talked so fast and in slang alot. Mike seemed discouraged but yet they continued forging a friendship over the meat counter!

SO...last night they planned a dinner including his girlfriend and me. As we walked into the restaurant, it was that typical wierdness that happens when you don't know someone well but are sat in front of them for several hours with the ever present LANGUAGE difficulties. Very happy to say that we sat and talked and talked and talked for several hours. At some point, Matheus began talking about his frustrations with church. It was odd cause neither Mike or I had mentioned anything spiritual in our conversation up to that point.

He explained how one church, in particular, that his mom had attended made rules concerning tithing and gave people bad marks for not tithing. (crazy huh) It was really cool though cause we were able to go straight into how keeping our eyes on "the church" (which in his eyes was a bunch of people that made rules and acted better than everyone else) will always make us CRAZY! We talked of how many churches are made up of people that have NEVER known the Truth about Christ and don't have a relationship with HIM at all. Their lives consist of hanging out at the local club each weekend with people they know and label it a church! (I will refrain from going off on this subject right now cause this post is about Matheus)

It was really quite neat cause we were able to share how, we too, have to keep our eyes OFF of PEOPLE and ON JESUS. We talked about how God doesn't want 10% of our lives or 10% of our money but that HE want ALL our lives. (I'm not speaking hypothetically here...HE REALLY WANTS ALL OUR LIVES=100%)

Mike used several stories that we had learned in our narratives class and I just sat there with my chin on the ground as portuguese Words poured out of his mouth! (God had to have taken over his normal misconjugated verbs cause he was actually making sense) HA They both sat there and listened to EVERYTHING and shared from their hearts as well. His girlfriend was teared up through most of the conversation and it seemed she was understanding it all. We ended by encouraging him to take his doubts straight to God. We told him to talk to HIM about all these things and ask God to show himself in their lives.

Matheus explained how he was interested in what we had to say because he knew we were Christians (missionaries in fact) but he couldn't believe we hadn't invited him to "church" or that we weren't trying to "fix" his life. Mike had simply made a friend and Matheus had seen something very different in his life.

Pray for Matheus as he seeks God's face through all this. Pray for his girlfriend who seems to have a good understanding of all we talked about and even shared she had given her life to Christ 4 years ago. Pray that God shows Himself to Matheus in BIG ways.

Igreja em Portinari

2010-10-16T23:52:00.000-03:00

Six months ago, a new work began in a suburb of Ribeirao Preto. One of our language teachers started a Bible Study for non-believers with the hope of becoming a new church plant. Take a look at what God is doing...

our JAY-bird's 8

2010-10-12T20:57:00.009-03:00

Hard to believe but my baby was born 8 years ago today!!! We celebrated yesterday, by traveling about 3 and a half hours to enjoy Hopi Hari. Check out their website! It's a really neat park and we felt like we were in the United States. There was even an Applebees across the road so our day was PERFECT! Jayden's wish this year was to decorate his own cake! He did an awesome job but we all fell into a diabetic coma, for a bit, after partaking it! :)

Jayden opened presents from folks all over. He had several cards and emails from people who pray for us and go to churches that support us! He received gifts from lots of family that he enjoyed playing with all day as well! THANKS GUYS...we love that ya'll remember us!

He's also sporting a new punching bag with boxing gloves. Are we crazy, or what!?!

We LOVE our Porteiro

2010-10-10T20:47:00.002-03:00

The boys have been really blessed this year by having one of the kindest, most generous men to be the guard/greeter at their school!!! His name is Jilmal and we've come to love him dearly. He greets the boys every morning with the biggest grin and has remembered their names since day one.
We had the honor of meeting his family Sunday afternoon and eating dinner with them. They took us to a great restaurant and then we went to their house for a little while to have coffee. What a blessing to meet this family and be able to call them lifetime friends!

no time to waste

2010-10-09T11:01:00.004-03:00

but mom...I want to go home

2010-10-04T13:52:00.005-03:00

Last night was hard. In 15 days we'll have lived here for 9 months and for 9 months, not one member of our family has spoken the "I want to go home" phrase. Well, up until last night. Two of our three guys were feeling some major home-sickness and uttered the inevitable.

Personally, I think that it is remarkable when you consider all the changes they've endured and the amount of time we've lived here!

Rough part is...all we could do was listen and hug in between sobs. When you remind them that we'll go back to visit in 2 years, they just don't get too gung-ho excited, ya know?!? Jayden shared how he REALLY hates our apartment and repeatedly used the phrase, "I miss America!" He didn't think it was funny when we informed him that he was, in fact, STILL in America. He said he wanted his old room and his yard to play in.

So, because of our need to remind the lil' guys why we are here, my heart was reminded as well. Sometimes in order to move forward you have to let yourself mourn what was lost. For us, it wasn't just our home, cars, and STUFF...it was also the routines, habits, fast-food, and existence that we had come to know and love. Many people have shared that when we leave Brazil to visit our family back home on stateside, we'll miss this new life we've grown accustomed to and will want to return QUICKLY. I know that in my head but my mouth didn't communicate it very well to the boys last night.

I love this country with a huge chunk of my heart and I don't doubt that soon, I'll be able to say, with my WHOLE heart. I know the Quilombola people need Jesus desperately but just for today it would be really nice to eat some Mexican food and watch the boys playing with their friends in the yard.

A Thousand Tongues

2010-10-03T12:29:00.000-03:00

Christ did not come to save one country or one people group...HE shed His blood for all nations!
Set aside patriotism long enough to see and LOVE this world as HE does!!!

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ

Philippians 3:20

going solo

2010-09-25T21:48:00.004-03:00

Tonight Mike and I led our first Portuguese Bible Study without help from our language teacher! Mike has taught on other nights but the normal leader was out of town tonight and he asked us to fill in for him. After Jackson led a time of worship, I told the Bible Story and Mike then led the discussion. Jackson made music sheets for everyone and was really well prepared so he seems to have found his niche.

It was an amazing night!! We (all 5 of us) are completely aware of our inabilities and yet we are in awe of how God takes our limitations and uses them for good! At times we feel as if we don't know where the words are coming from yet God continues to speak through what feels like craziness in our heads! It was such an exciting night to see the possibilities of what is to come in our time here in RP! I can't even explain the joy I have in my heart knowing that God WOULD CHOOSE to use our lives, inadequacies and all!!

o cachorro

2010-09-19T22:19:00.003-03:00

Tonight on our way home from a church service we had gone to, we stopped at the supermarket near our house. Mike ran in to grab some drinks and things and I stayed in the car with the kids. As we were waiting for him, a young girl, about 16 and a guy the same aged walked by our car. She was really upset about something. They walked out to the busy street in front of us and stooped down to a little dog that was laying there. (I hadn't even noticed the dog before they arrived cause it was so dark outside)

While she bent down over the little dog her shoulders began heaving and she put her hands over her mouth. The guy turned around pretty upset as well and started walking back home. It was pretty obvious what had happened and I sat there for a minute not knowing what to do or say or if I should do or say anything with my broken Portuguese.

Finally, I mustered up the courage and the phrases I would need and opened the car door. I walked over to where she was crying and asked her about her dog. She told me his name and how long she'd had him between sobs. I just kept repeating SINTO MUITO...which means I am sorry this has happened to you.
It was so awful!
She and her friend or brother or whoever he was walked back down the sidewalk towards their home and I got in the car. I figured they lived in an apartment because they just left his little body there on the street.
Isn't that sad?
As I shared the situation with Mike in the car on the way home, I explained to him how I first asked her "Este foi o seu cachorro?" which meant "was this your dog?"
Mike's response surprised me. He quickly congratulated me on using the correct conjugation of the verb. I finally used "WAS" rather than "IS"!
We have really become obnoxious language students when we are celebrating our proper verb usage during another person's extreme grief, wouldn't ya say?!??

my my my

2010-09-12T23:06:00.005-03:00

What is the hardest thing about learning a new language?

Glad you asked!!! ha

It has to be understanding JOKES or when someone is being sarcastic!

They're only stating a short phrase that seems simple enough and you understand the words their saying but you have to ask them to explain 3 or 4 times so that you "very seriously" will get this important information that they are sharing. It's really uncomfortable cause you're trying to answer or respond to them but there is no answer. YOU'RE JUST SUPPOSED TO LAUGH but unfortunately you don't know that.

I always feel my forehead furrow and try so hard. Eventually they move on and shrug it off as if to give up and this is when I realize I missed the fact that they were only kidding. UGH!!

I really hate not understanding the jokes too. There is nothing worse than being in a room full of people and while everyone is listening to someone talk, the whole room bursts out in laughter. OF COURSE YOU LAUGH TOO because to not laugh would seem rude. But then some nice soul asks if you understood and you confess, "NO!" It is awful...sorta like being in middle school again and you feel clueless about everything.

Last night, the conversation at our Bible Study was moving really fast and I just could not keep up. I didn't know if I should have a serious face to go with what they were saying or a smile pasted on my completely clueless face. I had to go with the head nod but I'm not sure how long that will work.

Pray all these little things don't put me (MISS RED PETAL) in the nut house.

the good kind of tears

2010-09-01T14:32:00.007-03:00

Today has been such a blessing.
In the mail today I received a very special package that touched my heart.
You see...I have 4 of the most amazing friends in the world and they know me better than anyone! Dana B. encourages me to always go the extra mile and gives the best HUGS. Amy makes me laugh so hard I hurt and being with her just makes me happy! Melissa pushes me to have a deeper relationship with the Lord and adheres us all together. Dana F. takes care of the needs of everyone and never breaks a promise.

I wasn't sure I'd make it living on a different continent than them but I found out quickly that because of my time with them, I'm a better friend to people here. From them, I learned to be more vulnerable and real which makes it much easier to share the love of Christ.

My house smells of Praline and we'll be having our favorite chicken casserole tonight with the mushroom soup girls! Thanks for all the work you did putting this package together.
I love you!

seeing things differently

2010-08-23T08:02:00.005-03:00

One thing about living here is that it becomes increasingly hard to hear about friends and family having struggles back home. Your hugs are forced to become long distant calls and unceasing prayers. Your best friends endure surgeries but you can't take a meal over to their house. They send their firstborn off to college and YOU hope and pray that they know that you're cheering them on from far away. Your Happy Birthday wishes are only expressed by facebook or skype calls and you see your baby niece take tiny steps through tear-filled eyes from a computer camera hoping no one notices that you're all torn up!

It can be overwhelming at times but I also see things now through a different lens. So much of what and how I feel about the world will never be the same again. My eyes have been opened to things I'll never forget. My view of the world has become so much larger even though at times I realize just how small it is.

The other night while we were having a church service with local Brazilians, a small framed woman came into the yard from the street. She didn't have milk for her baby and was begging for someone to help her. As I watched the pastor's wife take care of her, I realized how different this world that I'm living in truly is.

Saturday night, I watched a new believer struggle with knowing where to turn in her Bible (she'd never opened a Bible) and light up when she began to understand the words she was reading. When you see the homeless on the street sleeping on the sidewalk in front of your apartment everyday and hear them going through the dumpsters at night...YOU CHANGE.

Although our hearts ache for those people we love back home, we are certain that we are exactly where God wants us and THAT feels really good. HE is at work in our lives and we know we haven't seen anything yet! Thanks for all your support and encouragement over the last few days. It's great to know ya'll read the newsletter and when you respond IT'S EVEN BETTER!! We love hearing from you!!

Keep praying for our work here and the work still to come in São Luís.

GuitaR mAn

2010-08-20T12:05:00.000-03:00

As requested by all the "grands" in Jackson's life, here's a couple of videos of him playing around.
Sorry for the awful quality but something is going on with my camera and we can't seem to be able to correct it!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-08-17T20:29:00.009-03:00

Tomorrow we will have our first LI (language interview). This will involve us being interviewed and recorded as we attempt to talk only in Portuguese. The teacher will then go back and listen to the recording and determine where we are in our language learning process. It's a bit overwhelming and we're both a bit nervous. Please pray for us tomorrow afternoon between 12-2. This will be when we are doing our testing!

Also...here are some photos from around town.

Leaving our garage

The streets of Ribeirao Preto

a shop selling idols and statues

downtown

Pray for the Reese Family

2010-08-15T01:32:00.004-03:00

These videos have been out for while but Mike and I finally got to meet this amazing couple a few weeks ago. My heart has been burdened for them and the people they're reaching in the favelas of Rio. Pray that God would do a mighty work in and through their ministry here in Brazil.

Happy Birthday Jack!

2010-08-06T23:19:00.000-03:00

Jackson woke up to his room covered in balloons this morning. We picked him up from school at noon and headed straight to the new Burger King that was just put in our mall here. This evening we celebrated at our favorite pizzaria again and had about 10 friends join us. He was serenaded in the happy birthday song in English and another song in Portuguese and got 2 new soccer balls. The owner even came out with a special chocolate pizza and a hug for Jackson. Afterwards all the kids went bowling. Jackson missed all his friends and family from back home but he said it was one of his best birthdays!!!

Libby Ryder

2010-08-05T08:06:00.002-03:00

Please pray for this family that needs continuous prayer. Their lives have been changed this past week but God is at work in mighty ways!! I encourage you to read their blog.

july summarized

2010-07-27T22:31:00.014-03:00

So this crazy month of JULY is A L M O S T over! It's hard to believe what all has been accomplished in these few weeks. We spent a week ministering with our church family from the states and being tremendously blessed by each of them.

I was told my crohn's disease is in "remission" (I still think God's just healing me but whatever) so that's a HUGE praise! We have a new place to call home that we love and in case you didn't see from the earlier posted pictures we have a HAMMOCK. Yes, indeed, it is the simple things that make me REALLY happy.
We experienced PROMIFE, an evangelistic camp for youth here in our city that has opened many doors for discipleship!

We were able to connect with many of the m's from Brazil. The kids got to make tons of new friends doing bible school with FBC Oveido and Mike and I have DIRECTION for where we will be living in six months!

We also had the opportunity to worship with a new body of believers here in Ribeirao that we look forward to working with soon.
Needless to say, it's been a busy month...hence the lack of earth shattering blog posts from this side of the equator. BUT I promise to make this site a priority now that things are slowing down a bit. I know how important connecting with all our friends and family back home is. Your prayer support is invaluable to us.

Once we finish language school here in this city we will be moving to Sao Luis, Maranhao. It is a very old city with a lot of history.

We will be working with the Quilombolo people. Please begin to pray for these peoples that will soon be such a huge part of our lives. Pray for fertile soil there and that we’ll be able to shine the light of Jesus to these peoples. Pray that we can persevere through our language learning so we can be effective in our work.The 3 young men are still growing and learning each new day but if they don't stop correcting my Portuguese I will be sending them home to their grandparents soon! ha They will begin school next Monday and will have some new American friends there this semester for support. Continue to pray for their hearts to embrace this nation!

I woke up singing this morning~

2010-07-27T08:58:00.002-03:00

the view from the balcony

2010-07-15T17:00:00.010-03:00

Jacarei

2010-07-04T00:21:00.008-03:00

We spent the last week in Jacarei working with a team from our home church in Lexington, Kentucky. We worked with missionaries Russ & Diane Dean and Patrick & Ann-Janel McClure at Haven of Hope Children's Home. We had an amazing time with old friends and new ones as well. We were able to witness God working in the lives of many people as they came to faith in Christ. It was wonderful to see how God used even our children to help translate for the team.

We were also completely humbled by how HE used a body of believers, CPC, to minister to our hearts in ways unimaginable. We were loved on and prayed over continuously throughout the week and all five of us have returned to our work here in Ribeirao with renewed vigor. They brought enormous amounts of supplies to us including several HUGE bags of baseball equipment for an upcoming ministry that I'll fill you in on soon, TONS of peanut butter, fishing poles, Twizzlers and Blow pops, books, and just to give you a little idea of HOW good they were to us, I had Dr. Pepper with my dinner tonight! Lots more to share but I'm exhausted and it's REALLY late here...

Flooding in Alagoas

2010-06-22T17:53:00.003-03:00

Just received this from a close friend.
These are the reports coming in from the northeast region where we WERE going to be ministering. We will be serving somewhere else now but have prayed for these peoples so long that our hearts our really burdened by these news reports.
Please pray that the people of Alagoas will recover from these floods and that God will continue to stir their hearts for their need of HIM!

Brazil

: Flooding kills 41 in northeast
By BRADLEY BROOKS (AP)

Officials scrambled Tuesday to get food and medical aid to two flood-hit Brazilian states where torrents of water ripped through towns, killing at least 41 people and driving 120,000 from their homes.

Floodwaters toppled bridges and cut roads to dozens of cities. The Civil Defense department of Alagoas state received reports from local officials of 600 people missing in the chaos, but suggested most were not in danger.

"We think the number missing is much, much smaller," said Cpl. Edward Rocha, with the Alagoas Civil Defense.

The heavy rains started last week and within two days dumped a month's worth of water on areas of Alagoas and neighboring Pernambuco state. Some small towns were nearly destroyed by the flooding.

There was light, scattered rain on Tuesday afternoon in the flooded areas, and more isolated showers were expected throughout the week.

Officials touring the hardest-hit regions near the city of Uniao dos Palmares in Alagoas said it looked like a tsunami had hit.

"I lost everything from one hour to the next," Nelito Sousa, a 32-year-old bricklayer, told the O Jornal newspaper. "The water came quickly and knocked down house after house."

Schools in Uniao dos Palmares and other areas were being used to house the homeless, with entire families divvying up small areas of classrooms, gymnasiums and hallways. Children slept shoulder-to-shoulder on muddy mattresses.

Officials said that 29 deaths had been reported so far in Alagoas, while 12 were reported dead in Pernambuco. At least 73,000 people in Alagoas were driven from their homes; 40,000 were homeless in Pernambuco.

Officials were concerned about the spread of disease. Angela Auto, a doctor in Uniao dos Palmares, said children were beginning to come down with the flu because of cold, damp conditions.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said $56 million in aid was being released to send medicine and food to the flooded areas.

At least 200 soldiers were sent to Alagoas to help in the search for survivors and clean up. They were only able to reach the destroyed towns by boat and helicopter.

"A field hospital has already been setup. Now, we'll do a logistical survey to reduce the effects of the damage," Defense Minister Nelson Jobim said after meeting with Silva.

In May 2009, flooding in the same areas killed at least 44 people and displaced 380,000.

Associated Press writer Marco Sibaja in Brasilia contributed to this report.

FUTEBOL?! Copa do Mundo...huh?

2010-06-21T21:47:00.005-03:00

Other than buying shin guards and cheering from the sidelines for my little fellas the couple of years each of them played, soccer has never been something I've cared about. I just don't get it. I never have.
I've also never been the type of girl that embraced the WHEN IN ROME mentality. I pride myself in not swaying with every anomaly that comes my way.
BUT...
here we are living in Brazil and it just so happens that their team is REALLY outstanding.
WHAT TO DO, begin liking a new sport that never seems to score over 3 for the best team or stick to my guns and ignore the whole hoop-la.
During the first game I watched a bit and then made the overt decision to wander off to the back bedroom to insert ear buds and read! After about ten minutes I began to hear the wildest noise imaginable OVER the music playing directly into my ears.
WHAT ON EARTH!!!!
It just so happens this country LOVES their soccer and the excitement became infectious. I went back to the living room to finish watching Brazil WIN!!!
I wouldn't call myself a fan but you should all know that Sunday afternoon Brazil had their 2nd win. I'm just saying...
And yeah, I watched the WHOLE game this time. Mike recorded the celebration after the first goal from our balcony.
Take a listen...

Quick Update

2010-06-08T21:31:00.004-03:00

We've been REALLY busy lately. Life here is moving so FAST. I can't believe in 9 days we'll have been here for 5 months! School is moving right along and we're seeing progress YET we always seem to yearn for more words than we have!

In a few weeks we'll be headed east again for a quick doctors visit in Sao Paulo and then we'll head to Jacarei to work with a team (Center Point Church) from Lexington.

On the subject of my health...I'm doing great! I feel great and I have been symptom free for almost 2 months. I'm looking healthy again and eating like a normal person. I'm working on tapering off my meds and life is slowly getting back to normal. I KNOW deep down in my heart that God is healing me! I refuse to credit this to a misdiagnosis. I truly believe God took the extremely sick person that I was and is making me whole again! Continue to pray with me for the doctors to be in awe with the results they see!

We will be out of school for the entire month of July and hope to get some traveling in and possibly even another trip to Ubatuba (the beach). We will also be moving to a new apartment in the beginning of July! (That's right I said MOVING again! UGH) The apartment we're living in is no longer available for rent because the owner is getting married and wants to move into it! I personally think God knew we were getting a little too comfy in this place and thought it would be a great time for making sure we're still FLEXIBLE! ha!! Anyway...lots of happenings in JULY.

We are meeting together with a group on Saturday nights in a bairro called Portinari. The people we have met and are getting to know there are so amazing! God is working in the lives of these people in unbelievable ways. Pray with us as HE works through these lives and for Daniel B. as he leads the group.

Thank you all for continuing to follow this very sporadic and random blog. There have been days I started to write but God has had me in a quiet place lately. Imagine that, huh?!? I think sometimes in this world of blogging, facebook, email, and twitter that sometimes we are really quick to talk talk talk talk talk! We think everyone in the world really needs to know our every thought and action and we sit and listen and wait to hear the words of others and their latest thoughts.
GOOD GRIEF! I wander how we appear to God at times. We probably sound like a bunch of squawking geese! What do you think? I know God is really working on getting me to listen listen listen listen listen. I think hearing what HE has for me each day is much more valuable than any advice or thoughts of man. Know what I mean?!?

Daniel & Leticia

2010-06-04T00:12:00.005-03:00

Tonight we had dinner with some of our best friends. Daniel is one of our favorite teachers at our language school and his wife just happens to be the sweetest Brazilian on the planet!!! They made us a really great meal and we had some fun playing video games with them.

Check out all the food!!!

Daniel even helped Leticia make a strawberry torte for us!

Leticia has become one of my bestest friends here and has helped me tremendously with learning language. She doesn't speak English so our time together has been great for me!! I absolutely adore her and know that God has given her to me for so many reasons!

Mike and Daniel trying to pose in a "manly" sort of way~~
Querido John would be proud!!!

some thank you notes (powell style)

2010-05-27T14:31:00.008-03:00

A BIG THANK YOU to some girls back home that are so good to me and my family! To Amanda Long, Mary Penn, and all the other individuals in their small group...you guys are so sweet for sending these items to us!!! The best part is that we now know what people are talking about when they mention SILLY BandZ!! :) Oh and please pass our congratulations on to Brad! (one of Georgetown, Kentucky's newest and finest City Council Candidates)

The little guys in the house also want to shout out to some family members that sent some crazy amounts of sugar and board games!!!!

3 Down~17 More To Go!

2010-05-25T22:11:00.003-03:00

I wanna BE a Zacchaeus!

2010-05-19T06:55:00.002-03:00

Mike and I have been listening to these podcasts and I had to share this one with everyone.

from all of us:

2010-05-16T19:07:00.002-03:00

Happy Birthday Uncle Matt!!!

WE LOVE YOU!

popcorn

2010-05-14T22:13:00.003-03:00

There's a new chef in town!

PRAYER REQUEST

2010-05-13T10:07:00.003-03:00

I'm asking for EVERYONE to pray for some dear friends serving on the other side of the world. They are leaving their home today because they fear their son has rheumatic fever. They are unable to get his fever under control and I can tell from their email, they are very concerned.

This family has endured so much since their arrival in their new country. The wife and one of the daughters has been suffering from extreme allergies to the point of their eyes and faces being completely swollen and miserable. They've seen many specialist but have yet to get it completely under control.

For their best interest I won't list their names but I BEG of you to please pray for this OTHER dear FAMILY OF FIVE serving Christ in a very difficult region. Pray that God would heal their son and that the enemy would no longer continue to attack their health.

three unimportant pieces of information

2010-05-11T19:18:00.003-03:00

Tonight Mike needed a ziplock bag for something and we were all out. The only one I could find had a tooth in it (Tooth Fairy must have accidentally dropped it or something) but I just washed the bag out and handed it to Mike. He looked at me like I was crazy as I insisted he use it. I tried to explain to him that ziplock bags are like fine china down here. You treat them with respect and you definitely don't throw them AWAY!
Jackson corrected my portuguese grammar the other day. Apparently I have been saying "muito" when I should actually be using "mais" and looking pretty silly. He not only instructed me on how I was using it improperly but he explained why I was wrong. I graciously allowed him to correct me and now I'm speaking muito melhor.
Michael took our belts to the sapateiro (shoe maker) in our neighborhood to have extra holes cut into them today. We've both lost several inches in our waists since we arrived in Brazil and our pants were not staying up even with our belts. It only cost 50 centavos per hole so we were very proud of our thriftiness. Mike and Alberto talked for several hours and became very good friends over this simple process and now Mike can say he is friends with the butcher, the baker, and the "shoe" maker.

Just Listen

2010-05-10T22:06:00.004-03:00

persecution

2010-05-08T12:51:00.007-03:00

I looked up the word persecute on an online dictionary and this is the definition I found...

persecute: to harass or punish in a manner designed to injure, grieve, or afflict; specifically : to cause to suffer because of belief

Sounds about right, huh?!? I'm pretty sure I've never ever REALLY been persecuted for my beliefs. There have been times when I've felt angered because of the way people interacted with me or because I was treated as an annoyance when I shared my heart but that about sums up my grievances with society as a whole.

I grew up in a home where on Sunday mornings my mom put rollers in my "already" curly hair and we all packed out the station wagon for the 6 minute trek to church. I sat in a pew next to my grandmother and rummaged through her purse searching for breath spray or gum. I traced the wrinkles in her hands with my little nubby fingers as she sang the hymns. Life was good and life was EASY! We grew up in the safety of knowing that after church we could eat lunch with family and friends or down the street at the nearest buffet. I never once was concerned that we'd be taken to jail or pulled into the streets for joining together to worship the ONE who had redeemed us from everything we deserved. Know what I mean?!?

As I grew older we moved to a neighboring town where things moved at a faster pace. My family attended a very large church in order for me and my brother to have lots of great Christian friends and accessibility to great Christian resources which I am unmistakeably thankful for. Does this sound anything similar to your life? Possibly it is very familiar and possibly it doesn't ring true at all. Maybe you didn't grow up in a Christian home or don't have a relationship with THIS JESUS I'm referring to even now in which case this post really won't apply to you at all but regardless I'm guessing you too, have not suffered for the sake of Christ. It just doesn't happen in the western world today.

I recently watched a video posted on my good friend's website and was utterly sickened and angered! I spent the last few minutes of the video crying and trying to understand why and how I could be seeing WHAT I was seeing. I pray you, too, won't close your eyes to what is happening around the world to our brothers and sisters in Christ. We as believers MUST get on our knees praying for these brothers and sisters that are suffering but even more we must decide right here and now whether we are willing to GIVE our lives for what we believe. I don't mean have our lives taken...that is something completely different. I MEAN TAKE UP OUR CROSS AND FOLLOW AFTER HIM AND BE WILLING TO GO ANYWHERE AND DO ANYTHING FOR THE SAKE OF CHRIST.

I'm posting 2 videos. The first one is the response to the second. Francis Chan is discussing his thoughts about the video that I'll link at the end. I'm simply going to link the unedited film and obviously you don't have to watch it but I encourage you to at least watch the first. It will leave you feeling as if we need to come up with a new definition for the word PERSECUTION!!!

Orissa has one of the worst records for violence against Christians, due in part to the activities of a religious fundamentalist group. Many churches have been destroyed and Christian workers continue to be attacked. There is a law prohibiting conversion and, since 2000, baptism requires the permission of the government. About a year ago, Hindu radicals went on a "bloody rampage that left 50,000 Christians fleeing for their lives into the state's forests."
(GFA, 2009).

I want you to be aware that this is hard to watch but I definitely don't think we should close our eyes to the realities the people of Orissa face. ALSO NOTE THIS IS NOT FOR CHILDREN!!
LINK TO ORISSA VIDEO

T h e L o n g e s t B l o g p o s t E V E R

2010-05-05T10:32:00.025-03:00

I've taken a hiatus from my blogging. Sorta on purpose and sorta cause I haven't had access to my computer or internet. It's been good in a way but I've missed sharing our happenings with all our loved ones back home that I know are checking this site religiously looking for an update. To all of you (MOM) I apologize but I'll try to catch you up as briefly and concisely as possible.

We traveled last Monday, about five hours, to the city of Sao Paulo and its 20 million inhabitants. After about $50 in toll booths we arrived to one of the biggest cities in the world. I spent the majority of the week clinging tightly to the little GPS in my hand that served as our life support for much of the week! I don't say this in sarcasm. I say this in complete sincerity. THE GPS WAS MY BEST FRIEND and if any of you decide to vacation or travel through Sao Paulo "just because" I recommend you too getting one of these helpful "life saving devices"!

I had appointments at Einstein Hospital with two different specialists and hoped to get a second opinion on my crohn's diagnosis. I will return in June for a follow-up and hopefully a clear picture of what is happening in my body. For now...I'm stable and I'll leave the health out of this post for the most part.

We did get to meet some REALLY cool missionaries while we were in the city. We met the Marlins who helped watch our boys during my hospital stay. The Julian Family also helped by finding us a mission house to stay in and hung out with the boys as well! At dinner with their family one night we met a famous person by the name of Chris Black. He is a legend in our language school because "as the story is said" he learned the portuguese language in about 2 weeks. Rumor has it that he is soon to be making his premiere on the Brazilian version of MTV. They are interviewing him because of his EXTREME coolness! :) Check out some of his happenings HERE!
But for those of you more interested in some "brazilian nuts" aka J^3...I'll oblige you with some information and pictures as well.

After I was released from the hospital we decided to FLEE as fast as we could from the craziness of the city and go to more calm places for me to relax and wait for one more doctor's appointment the following Monday. We went three hours east to a piece of paradise known as Ubatuba.

You're not feeling sorry for us any more, ARE YOU!?! ha

This is what I did....

And this is what the boys did.....

NOTE: BIG SMILES ON ALL FACES

We stayed in a pousada called Portal da Cor on Lagoinha Beach. It is owned by a really sweet Japanese couple. They kept everything so clean and nice. We will definitely be going back when we have a chance.

We spent the evenings there eating popcorn and drinking cocoa over games of Rook!! GREAT TIMES!

Here's a video of the bidding war that took place for two people that I know will enjoy!

And because I can't decide which pictures are more glorious I'll just keep adding a few more....
We then packed up and headed back to the city and then on to home. Here are a few more shots from the road trip...
For those of you that hung through this entire blog post and the entirety of my pictures~~God Bless You! We're back in Ribeirao and boy does it feel good to be home...that's right I said HOME!!! Imagine That!

a friendly little wager

2010-04-23T11:54:00.005-03:00

When Mike and I first got married, I was still in college and Mike was working on his masters. We spent a lot of nights studying together after dinner on each side of our small little table we had in our Nashville apartment. We have been and always will be VERY competitive with one another regarding just about anything...whether it be a game of scrabble or who has the best sense of direction. (Not really a competition on that one! YEAH...it's me)

Well school proved to be no different for our drive for competition with one another. We always had a bet going to see who would make a better grade on a paper or what not. One evening in particular, we were both studying quite tediously for 2 separate upcoming tests in our separate classes. We were both pretty stressed because on top of everything, my parents were coming down for a visit the next weekend. The house was a disaster and all we could focus on were our tests. We decided to WAGER the tedious job of cleaning the whole house. Whoever made the lower score on their test the following day would have the responsiblity of cleaning the entire house all by their self...no help from the other person. (I was so...GAME ON!!!)

We rushed home the following Friday to report our scores. I had made a 96% and felt fairly confident about my victory. He walked in and asked me what my grade was. When I shared with him my excellent score he lowered his head with a smile and said, "YOU WIN." I'd like to say I handled my victory with complete humbleness and helped him clean the house but nope...poor Mike cleaned the whole house all by himself! (quite willingly I might add)

The following weekend my parents came and we had a wonderful visit with them. As we were saying goodbye, I was doing my typical "first year of marriage, please don't leave me with this man, I need you" CRY when my mom whispered in my ear that I really needed to start loving my husband more. She encouraged me to pull myself together and cling to HIM. She reminded me of what an amazing guy he was and then she whispered in my ear that he had scored a 100% on his test. SERIOUSLY??!?

I'm reminding myself of this story quite often down here in language school as we are back in the classroom setting once again with each other. I'm trying REALLY hard not to feel competitive as he learns to speak this difficult language faster than I do. After all, I can READ it faster than he can! ;)

The Other Side of Town

2010-04-13T20:02:00.009-03:00

Sometimes I have trouble reconciling all the things around me. Today God presented before me a myriad of situations that have troubled me deeply.

It started this morning when Mike and I took a drive to "the other side of town". It's pretty easy to accomplish all our daily tasks and go to school and never even remember that the OTHER SIDE is even there but today God reminded me in a clear and convicting way that they are ALL still there. We drove past all the clean streets and thriving businesses and got into what you would call the shanty. The streets seem to always be your first "tell-tell" sign that you're not in familiar places. Broken glass and debris begins to cover the street. Unfortunately, my first worry is always that we'll get a flat tire right in the middle of the places that I sometimes fear the most and not be able to return back to my safety net.

As we pass children that are roaming the streets holding the hands of babies roaming the streets, I can't help but wonder what their days look like. Where do they play? Who calls for them to come back home? Who gives them their dinner? Do they even have a home or someone to feed them dinner? I'm told not to shake their hands but only hug them so they can't feel the softness of my skin. Someone with hands that soft can't possibly have a hard lot in life.

In a store on the "other side of town", I put my money on the counter to pay for my purchases. A gray-haired lady quickly came in from the street and starting talking to me. She was holding a flattened coke can with her frail little hand. She kept offering it to me and speaking in Portuguese. I had no idea what she was saying so I just kept telling her that I was sorry but that I didn't understand her. She looked so frustrated with me. Finally the lady behind the counter took out some change and gave it to the woman. Realizing how truly STUPID I was, I gave her a small amount of money for her aluminum can which she threw on the ground in frustration. I felt ridiculous. She KNEW I COULD MEET the needs that she had and yet because of my limited language skills I was useless. Truth was I didn't understand. I didn't understand what she was saying and I couldn't possibly EVER understand the hard life she has had to endure.

I look into the eyes of so many people on the streets and all I see is hopelessness. It's the same hopelessness I see in the eyes of the people in my neighborhood and in my apartment building. It's a common factor in both those that know where their next meal is coming from and from those that have no clue where they'll find their next meal. They are looking for something so much more than even food. They are looking for a Savior.

Please, please pray for us as we learn this language. We are absolutely INEFFECTIVE without it. Pray we never let people's needs go unmet and most of all pray that we can meet their most important need! Pray that we will understand these people and that our hands will not be so "soft"! Pray that we'll not fear the "OTHER SIDE OF TOWN" but that we'll see everything through the eyes of Christ!

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for
orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.
james 1:27
nlt

Grandma...

2010-04-12T18:23:00.003-03:00

We received your package!!!!!

OH YEAH...NUFF SAID!!!!

All Things Are Relative

2010-04-06T18:42:00.010-03:00

Last night was the coldest night we've had since we arrived in Brazil. I woke up and was freezing. The kids said they had trouble getting warm all night long in bed as well. During their school today we had to take the kids jackets because they were complaining that their arms and ears were cold.

We had always heard that when you live in a warm climate for a period of time, your body adjusts to the temperature. I thought that was the craziest thing I'd ever heard! I'm not sure if our blood is thinner or what but today the high was 70 and it literally felt like 30!!! What will we do in June?!?

Tomorrow

Apr 07Cloudy

Thursday

Apr 08Cloudy

Friday

Apr 09Fair

Saturday

Apr 10PM Rain

Sunday

Apr 11Partly Cloudy

Hi:	73°
Lo:	54°

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A Big Thanks to Some Folks Back Home

2010-04-05T18:16:00.004-03:00

THE SIMS SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS @ LOFBC asked a few weeks back if there was anything we needed. I sent a wish list of items and in a few short hours was informed that everything was taken care of and would be sent to Brazil. WOW!!!! I can't even explain in words how grateful we are to all of you for your servant hearts! We are in awe of not only the fact that you got EVERYTHING on the list but the fact that you got MULTIPLE items of EVERYTHING on the list! As I'm typing this blog, the boys are building their legos. They are GIDDY!! Michael thanks you for the peanut butter and I thank you wholeheartedly for the mascara!! It's so great to see all these little pieces of HOME!

~All Our Love
The Powells

e W e R T o N

2010-04-05T00:07:00.000-03:00

One of our best friends came to spend the weekend with us! We met Ewerton in Jacarei 2 years ago when we came down with CPC. We stayed in touch with him through SKYPE and feel like he is part of our family.

I made Ewerton LOTS of American food. He even got to eat his VERY 1ST cupcake!!

We love you Ewerton and are so grateful for your friendship. Thanks for all the time you invested in the boys this past weekend. They will forever consider you their "brother"!!!
They're already looking forward to their next UNO tournament!!!

baixo & voz

2010-03-29T17:56:00.011-03:00

When we moved to Brazil we were concerned with finding someone to continue teaching Jackson guitar. He had been taking lessons from one of Mike's very talented friends. Ashley GRACIOUSLY worked with Jackson for FREE which is unheard of!! He started working with Jack when he was seven and could barely get his fingers around the chords. Ashley was so patient and he gave Jackson a love for the guitar that we are truly grateful for!!

Jackson also had the opportunity to learn under Herb Chapman (Steven Curtis's dad) for a period of time. He learned SO much in his short time with Herb. Herb's last words to us were to make sure that Jackson continued his learning even while we lived out of the country. We assumed it would be impossible to match the talent that had already invested so much into Jackson. We never could imagine what God had in store for him.

Only a couple of weeks into living here in Ribeirão, we met several people that put us in contact with a man named Sergio Pimenta. He teaches drums, piano, guitar, electric guitar and bass. He took Jackson on as a new student and one of our good friends/language school instructors helps to translate right now for the two of them. We were blessed last night to watch he and his wife perform together. We found this video of them on youtube. See what you think of his bass SKILLS!!?!!!

F5

2010-03-28T10:40:00.008-03:00

Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.
ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Back home in Kentucky I have some of the most amazing friends that pray and intercede for me and for my family. I have known them since my kiddos were babies. I count it such an honor to call them friends and I'm so thankful that no distance can break our QUINTUPLE BRAIDED CORD! ;)

~~We know now that no matter how far we travel on our own separate paths...
Somehow we will always find our way back to each other.
And with that, we can get through anything.~~

Truckin' Along

2010-03-26T09:36:00.007-03:00

OK...I really have been doing everything I can to avoid blogging about my Crohns but it seems inevitable. This week has really been a tough week. I'll have a really GOOD day and then the very next day is COMPLETELY AWFUL!!!! This has been going on for some time now and I'm just worn out to be honest and I'm pretty sure my family is tired as well. Poor Mike gets to play the role of mom and dad on days when I'm down and although he's great...it's more than either of us bargained for.

I began reading through James this week and God used this verse to really speak to me:

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let the steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Through all of this we know that we are being refined just as we had asked so many months ago. We know that God will use all of this for HIS glory and that we'll look more like HIM on the other side of these trials. It doesn't make going through the valley any easier but to know HE is there with us through it gives me all the comfort in the world.

Jayden has been a sick lil' puppy this week too. He has some sort of nasal/chest cold. He coughs all night and is so hoarse when he talks. We kept him home from school on Wednesday and sent him back yesterday. I realized when we picked him up yesterday and he sneezed in the car on the way home about 10 times that we had sent him back a bit too early. Poor guy...He is still sleeping right now at 10:20 a.m. our time because he coughed all night!!! He is just exhausted.

Also, Mike sent out some prayer requests and we have been overwhelmed with, not only the response by all of you that are praying, but by the RESPONSE of God to your prayers. PRAYER is powerful guys so I plead with you all to continue praying for us. Pray for all the people serving around the world and the spiritual/physical battles they are facing. It has been a REALLY hard week but I can't imagine how hard things would be if you weren't praying for us.

Also...I had the opportunity to have dinner with my Brazilian friend that speaks only Portuguese. We (somehow) spent 2 1/2 hours conversing and enjoying one another. (Those of you that know me well are probably thinking this is not a big deal at all with my gabbing abilities...BUT when every thought has to be translated though a filter in my wee little mind first AND THEN come out my big mouth...it is much more of a challenge!!!) ;);)

Regardless, THIS is a praise not only for my language learning but for the fact that God has given me a Brazilian Christian friend that I can trust here! Letícia is a huge answer to prayers for me!

Oh and I can't forget...GO UK Wildcats!!!! Thank you CBS for streaming the games. I can't believe we're able to watch all of March Madness from Brazil!!!

my new dishwasher

2010-03-21T21:05:00.001-03:00

I promise this is not a forced child. However...I would have no problems with him having this chore. I just didn't think of it, nor did I think he was big enough. He began to plead with us after supper to help...no not help...but to do the dishes all by himself!!! We saw no reason to keep him from his wish! I'm wandering how long his newfound love for soapy water lasts!

Don't Tell.

2010-03-16T17:23:00.008-03:00

Jackson has been having a hard time with life in Brazil. Up until recently...he had done so well but lately I think he has started suffering from a bit of culture shock. He has been making comments to Mike and I like, "This just isn't what I thought it would be." and "I thought there'd be less buildings and more trees, like in the jungle!" (I like that one!) He also struggles with being tired all of the time which I sympathize with cause I'm right there with him. He gets out of bed for school and puts his clothes on then he lays back down on my bed and falls asleep.

Today was particularly hard and I was feeling it as well. All morning long he was saying that he was missing Mike and I and that we never get to spend time together. WOW!! You know the way you feel when your kids are sad and there is just nothing you can do to make it better?!? I was feeling "that kinda sad" all through class this morning. SO...after MY language school was over I just decided to go and get the little guy. We picked him up from school right in the middle of his day and decided it would be a GREAT day to SKIP!!! He went to the store with Mike and I and we had a blast.

At the store, I snuck a HUGE bag of bubble gum in the cart. He saw it when were checking out and I saw him grinning from ear to ear!!! When we got to the car, Mike started putting all the groceries in the trunk and I slid into the backseat with Jackson. (just me and HIM) We got the bag of gum and divided it out between the two of us. I think we both had like 8 pieces each. I made him promise not to tell anyone what we were about to do. I proceeded to show him how we were going to chew all 8 pieces at once and have a bit of a sugar rush. (and boy did we!!)

After we were finally able to stop laughing and breathe again through all the gum I told him to try and blow a bigger bubble than me. He confessed that he couldn't blow a bubble. I couldn't believe it. I had no idea he wasn't able to do this. I had seen Jayden (our 7 year old) do it many times so I just assumed he could as well.

We decided:

THIS WOULD GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS THE DAY JACKSON WOULD LEARN TO BLOW A BUBBLE.

I took some photos of his attempts and after about an hour he finally got it!

a tweet from the vp

2010-03-15T20:22:00.001-03:00

"Our greatest fear should not be fear of failure but a fear of succeeding in things that have no eternal impact."

gordon fort

no pictures cause it just didn't seem appropriate at the time

2010-03-12T20:55:00.003-04:00

It's been SOOOOOO hot in Ribeirao lately. I made the "remark" to Mike the other day that if we just had a rain storm, everything would cool off!
HMMM....

This afternoon we were watching sweet little Karis (the baby from the before mentioned post) for her mom and dad so they could move. I was also making dinner for some friends that were coming over tonight and trying to clean all at the same time. Then....GUESS WHAT HAPPENED!?!

We finally got our rain storm.

I was so excited to see it clouding up that I was almost giddy. I went in to get Karis up from her nap and laid her down next to Mike on the couch. I went through the house closing all the windows (A MUST BEFORE EVERY RAIN) and then back to the chores. All of a sudden it sounded like our apartment was being hit by a train. We looked outside and you couldn't see ANYTHING! It even started hailing which it never does here. I decided to make one more check through the house as Mike grabbed the baby and took her into the hall. She was SCREAMING at this point. (poor thing)

I took Karis from Michael to calm her down and went to the bedroom to get her pacifier. When I got there, I noticed rain POURING onto the floor/bed through the window. I'm not talking a little sprinkle, I'm talking BUCKETFULS of rain coming through the edges of all the windows. The floor was a pond and the bed was getting soaked. I screamed for Mike to come and bring towels. As he came in and tried to make sense of all the madness going on in our room, Karis (still really horrified at this point) and I go into the boy's room to find the exact same situation. Realizing there's not much left to do but laugh...I quietly walked back to Mike and told him to check the other rooms when he had a handle on ours. I walked back to the living room to the couch and started singing Baby Beluga to Karis. (very appropriate song for the situation, I thought)

Once things calmed down we realized the power was out! The apartment was a COMPLETE disaster and dinner was only half finished so we decided to call our sweet friends Daniel and Letícia to reschedule. Steven and Emily made it back to their only slightly traumatized baby after climbing 13 MARVELOUS flights of stairs. When the power goes out up here in the heavenlies we are sorta out of luck!!! I'm really hoping I get a do-over with Karis but it might be awhile before Steven and Emily want to entrust her to us again!

So that was my day!!! How was yours!?!
And for those of you unfamiliar with Baby Beluga...let me introduce you to the smooth sounds of Raffi!