Leaving Belo Horizonte tonight!

It is hard for me to believe how fast the time has flown by here in BH.  All of the girls have left for the weekend - holiday and youth conference.  This has given me a time to reflect and thank God for all that He has done on this trip, both in Manacapuru and here in BH.

precious ones in Manacapuru

The time in Manacapuru was great with lots of conversation about the direction of the work there through Agata Church and ARS.  It is exciting to see the Mission House constructed!  My heart is filled with joy as I think about the many people who contributed to all three of the projects.  Please allow me to say once again, thank you for each of you who have contributed.  I know that God has great things to do in and through these precious believers in Manacapuru.  I am also praying about my part in that plan.

My time in BH has been filled with laughter and learning!  I don't think I have laughed as much as I

Nayara, Pri, Sabrina

have these past 4 weeks than I have in years.  My roommates - no let me rephrase - my precious sisters in Christ, were simply awesome. They not only opened their apartment to me, but they opened their hearts.  They took care of me like family.  I will be honest, tears have been shed about leaving today.  But I know, this time with them has been a gift from God and I will cherish the memories forever.  I pray that one day our paths will cross again and we can once again enjoy and laugh together.  We are going to be doing some English lessons via Skype so that will be a great blessing to all of us!  These ladies are graduating in December, and I am excited to see where the Lord directs them in life and ministry.  I would ask that you pray for Priscilla, Sabrina and Nayara, they are women who love God and want Him known to everyone they meet.

Dr Raíssa and spouse Geraldo 

God used Nayara to get me in contact with a precious Doctor, Raíssa, who is a powerful believer in Jesus.  She was so attentive in her care of me.  I will be forever grateful for her incredible care, wisdom and guidance.  Nayara and I were invited over to their home last Sunday for lunch and time with her and her husband and family.  Once again, the hospitality of Brazilian believers was demonstrated.  She also got in my face about my weight!  She said "We need you healthy for the work of God!"  Well, what can you say in response to that except, yes you are right!  Thank you Father for guiding Nayara to Raíssa!

Rita

I am also grateful to the all the staff at the English School for welcoming me and allowing me to learn from them.  Rita, has been tremendous and I know she will be a wonderful resource in the future.  All of the teachers have been so helpful and I loved being with their students.  They were interested in the possible work in Manacapuru, but they also cared about ME and prayed for me during my sickness with dengue.  I knew then and I know now that if I need anything, all I have to do is contact them.

God has proven Himself truly to be my Father and has taken good care of me here.  I have been blessed beyond measure by His goodness extended through all of these people.  My life will not be the same!  My faith has been encouraged and strengthened during this month.

Now, I close this chapter, and further prepare for the next one.  I will arrive home tomorrow and then I will leave for Denmark on Tuesday.  I know that God has ordered this time so my heart is at peace. The specific things to pray about:

• health - that my strength would be renewed and sustained
• hearing heart - that I would clearly hear God's voice as I minister in the next 6 weeks
• peace for my family - the world events can seem scary but I am trusting the Lord 
• anointing - His presence and power during the times of ministry, teaching, and preaching

I will be staying with a dear sister in the Lord, who is from Brazil, who is married to a wonderful man and they have two children.  I look forward to continuing my Portuguese training!  Not sure how much Danish I will pick up but I will try!

Thank you for your continued support in prayer and through your financial gifts.  This time and opportunity would not be possible without you.  Hey, you have been in Brazil over a month and now you are going to Denmark for six weeks!  Bless you!

Until next time in Denmark!

Third week came and went and I'm still here :-)

Last week was so full of let me try to get you caught up.

Nayara leading worship

The time in Joao Malavade was wonderful.  This city is Nayara's (one of my roommates) home town and it is where she ministers to youth every week.  She is a student at the Baptist College and she is a RN.  When we arrived on Saturday, she had a discipleship group with young ladies, then a rehearsal with a music team, then we were to have pizza with a core group of leaders.  Well, the youth gave her a surprise birthday party and it was a blessing to see them love and appreciate her.  On Sunday, I
shared in the service about ARS and our projects in the Amazon.  It was a great time.  We ate lunch with the Pastor's family then back to Belo.  On our way home, Nayara took me to where Pr Jose and Leoni are staying (a long way from my apartment).  I so appreciate her taking me there to hug their necks and to talk about ARS details.

During my time in Joao Malavade, I began to get a sore throat and headache and really thought nothing of it.  Well as the week afterwards progressed, I found out that it was something.  I had dengue.  I am so glad that Nayara was there and she made calls and off we went on Thursday to see a doctor who is the head doctor at a clinic.  God truly has had me covered in so many ways.  This doctor is not only a good physician, but she is also a precious believer in Jesus and believes in prayer! She was quick to monitor me and make some adjustments with my meds. (Dengue and blood thinner is not a good combination I found out).  She has been monitoring me daily.  On Friday, the headache went into hyper drive and she admitted me for IV fluids.  I stayed only overnight but it helped a lot. Once again, fortunately Nayara stayed with me the whole time, God bless her.  I was a little uneasy being in a different country in the hospital, but God's peace was there.  As of this moment, my numbers have turned around and I am on the mend and the dengue is dead.  I have one more visit and blood work tomorrow with the doctor and hopefully we will have all green lights to go home and get ready for Denmark.

I am using the time this week to rest - it did wipe me out along with getting ready with my teaching and sermons for Denmark. The additional time with my friend Dayse as well as the girls in the apartment has been precious to me.  We have had so much fun teaching each other Portuguese and English.  They are super and yes, I will cry when I have to leave.  We will be doing some English over skype but it won't be the same.  They have been gifts from God to me and I so appreciate all they have done to make this trip awesome.

Marcia

Jerusa

I am going to be ending my observation of English classes this week with several classes.  I will also be having some time with the administrator.  I have posted here just a few of the wonderful teachers at EBI who pour themselves into their students every day.  Their enthusiasm and commitment to teaching English has been a joy for me to experience.  I know that if in the future I would have any questions, I could call them and they would help in anyway possible.

Cecilia

Henrique

My flight home is scheduled for Friday, arriving home on Saturday.  If time allows I will post again any final thoughts about this trip.  This I will say over and over, thank you for your prayers and support.  I have felt your love and partnership.

I know that God ordered this time in Brazil and I am excited to see the next steps.

I want to close with some pictures of the Mission House in Manacapuru.  The work is progressing and we are excited.  I love this church and their heart for their community.  God is at work in the Amazon and in Manacapuru specifically.

Second Week coming to an end...

The time at the Language Institute continues to be awesome and very productive.  I am getting to know the kids and they are now asking for me by name!  That warms this heart!  Rita, the administrator, has been incredibly gracious with her time.  We probably have spent close to 7 hours talking!  I have posed many questions to her and she is so open and so supportive of what we are looking into doing in Manacapuru.  The teachers, what can I say, they are great.  They have welcomed me to the school and into their classrooms with open arms.  They want to help in anyway possible and they too are very supportive.  I am going to try to get pictures of the teachers next week so you can see their faces.  I do not feel comfortable taking pictures of the kids, so sorry about that.  I have learned a tremendous amount by listening to the teachers, observing, looking at curriculum.  My brain is about to explode.  So far I have been in 33 classes!

Teacher workshop

Today, I had the chance to attend a workshop with some of the teachers.  A woman from Maine came and talked to the team.  I don't have the space to contain all I received from her.  WOW!  It was powerful and I was pumped in every way!  It was so practical and this woman encouraged me in every area.

This weekend I have the opportunity to go with one of my roommates, Nayara, to her church in a town about 2-3 hrs from BH.  She asked me come and to share with the church about the ARS

Roommates

Projects.  I am honored and excited about this chance to share with this church.  I am also blessed by getting to spend time with this precious sister in the Lord.  She has a beautiful spirit, soul and voice. We have had so much fun with all the girls in the apartment as we expand our knowledge of English and Portuguese!  I don't think I have laughed so much in years.  We are already planning English lessons via Skype! Not sure  how that is going to work while I am in Denmark but we will see.These ladies are precious and love the Lord with  hearts!

our apartment

Our apartment is fairly near the school.  We are on the 16th floor with a beautiful view of the city!The hills are a challenge on the knees.  I have described the hills like this:  its like San Francisco hills on steroids! :-)

Ludmilla

I got to go with Ludmilla last Friday where she was asked to do a story telling drama for a ladies meeting.  She was incredible and made the Bible story alive.


This week I also attended a service at the Baptist College during one of the weekday evening services.  It was great.  I was excited to see a ministry share that a couple of years ago we toured their facility.  This ministry reaches out to addicts.  They sang with all their hearts and it was a blessing!

Service

Next week, is my final week in BH and I can't believe it.  I will be squeezing out every opportunity to share with the teachers and glean from their experience.  My flight home is next Friday evening, arriving in Little Rock Saturday afternoon.  I plan on spending the night in Conway with the Duggins before making the trip home to Stillwater on Sunday.

Please pray that I will not miss one thing the Lord wants to teach me and use me in these final days. I must say that my heart is full and my head is spinning with all the possibilities.  I am determined to walk in His Peace and to listen to His voice and directions.  Pray for His wisdom for Pr Jose, Leoni and me as we seek Him.

Thank you so much for your prayers and continued financial support.  You are right here with me and I am so grateful for each one of you.  I will try to write again before I leave.  Bless you from Brazil!

until next time.......

First week very productive

The first week of my time in Belo Horizonte is almost finished.  Today I observe only two classes. This week has been great!  The time observing the teachers as well as the students has been very informative.  It has been a good time for me to learn about the culture here in regards to teaching style, student interactions with both peers and the teachers.  The administrator has been wonderful, initiating the time to meet with me to make sure everything is going well and that my expectations are being met.  She has given me some material to read this weekend (homework!).

Sabrina, me, Nayara, Priscila

Last night, the 3rd roommate here at the apartment arrived back to BH.  She has had some personal affairs with her family that needed her attention.  Last night, we had a time of singing, praying and a message from the Word with a woman who is a pastor's wife and a dear friend of the girls.  Plus this was the first time I could get a photo of all three.  Some of you may have already seen these pictures of Face Book since one of the girls posted them last night, or should I say early this morning!  We began around 10:30 pm and I went to bed at 1:45 am.  I must admit I missed a lot of what was being said but I heard the heart behind the message loud and clear. It was obvious the special relationship these girls had with this pastor's wife. We laughed until we

Sabrina, Priscila, Elissandra, Nayara

We laughed until we couldn't breathe.  Sabrina can tell a story like no other!  These ladies are a tremendous blessing!!

Besides the classes today, I have a treat of seeing both Ludmilla and Dayse today.  I will try to get a picture of Dayse for the next update.  Both of these ladies have had a great personal impact as well as a blessing to the work of the ministry with ARS.  Love them both.

I need to get going...until next time!

Language Institute

Language Institute

The people I have met since coming to BH have been so nice and helpful.  The work at the Institute has begun and it looks like I will be able to observe and participate in about 43 classes total. Yesterday was my first full day and it went great.  I was able to see a wide range of ages in the classes from children to adult.  The teachers have really made me feel welcome and they ask a lot of questions as well.  The institute is about a 10-15 minute walk (10 minutes down and 15 minutes up). This is a city of hills and I am not talking about hills like between Perkins road and Jardot on McElroy....I'm talking San Francisco streets on steroids!  This morning I am really feeling the burn! All of this is good for me for sure physically, emotionally and spiritually.

The roommates are great, full of laughter and neither of them speak English.  The one that does speak some English is home with a sick relative.  So.....that means its stretch time with my Portuguese!

I had the opportunity to see Dayse, another dear friend who has helped ARS tremendously in the past with translation and overall help.  She met me at the school after the classes and we went out to eat. It was wonderful to sit and talk, talk, talk.  She makes me smile and laugh when we are together.  And she makes me speak Portuguese!  She also asked about all the precious ones in the US that she loves. She sends hugs and I gave her one for each one of you!

The days are pretty routine.  In the mornings I have free which is good for the study I am doing to prepare to go to Denmark.  Classes begin for me at 11:45 am.  I choose to stay at the school in the 2 hour break in the afternoon, mainly because I can't face climbing the hills.  This has been a good opportunity for me to study and to talk with the teachers.  Classes generally are over about 8 pm. On Friday they only have one class, then the weekend is totally free.  I am looking forward to going to Lagoinha Baptist Church!  That is a favorite of mine!

I am doing laundry this morning and Nayara is fixing an early lunch for us to eat together.  So I have to run.  Thank you for your prayers, please continue.  God has me here for His reasons, and I don't want to miss a moment!

bless you.......