Hello friends!
(be
sure to look at the new pictures – they are in order with the latest pictures first
- 9 “pages” with captions. I will post the pictures after I post this...)
Wow, what a ride these past months have been. I finally received all the necessary
paperwork for my new passport and flew down to Houston, TX from Little Rock, AR
on September 22 for the appointment at the Brazilian Consulate. I received the new visa status (Missionary)
and went back to the airport to catch a flight to Little Rock. I had several interesting visits with an
Ethiopian Uber driver, and with man from India who was traveling to
Brazil. I then left for Brazil the next
day Saturday, Sept 23rd. It
was an emotional good bye with the Duggins and Jose/Leoni who graciously let me
crash at their place and it was an emotional “homecoming” with Nayara and the
Pastor and his wife at the Manaus airport.
I loved seeing everyone at church the next day and Nayara had a special
gathering of friends to welcome me back on Monday. Nayara also did some special decorating in my
room and even purchased a desk for me as well as some shelves with pictures of
friends and family. You talk about a
wonderful homecoming gift!
We jumped back into work mode quickly and have not stopped
since! Let me give you some of the
highlights.
We are having 3 night classes that include 1 true beginner
class and 2 continued classes from last semester which totals about 30
students. These classes are being held at the Mission House at the church. We have added two young men to be at the gate
to greet students and to help with security.
Our street in front of the church is quite active so these guys add to
our peace of mind. We did not have a
problem last semester but felt this was a good move and we are able to bless
these guys financially. Both are taking
the English class on different nights.
We are going to one of the Public Schools, José Mota, on
Tuesdays for classes for the teachers and on Thursdays for classes with students. This has been very exciting. We have been able to meet some of the staff,
pray with them, talk with them and get to know them.
In our time on Tuesday, we have English, History, Chemical
and Portuguese teachers. We have 6
teachers. It has been a great time
working with them teaching English. We
have even had times of wonderful sharing and prayer with them. We are providing a “safe place” for them to
talk and express themselves. They are
quick and motivated learners. Please
keep them in your prayers – God knows their names.
The work with the students on Thursdays is going well. We initially had a tremendous number of
students who indicated they wanted to come to the English classes. Not all the students have followed through and
attended classes. We had some unexpected interruptions, like the
school decided they needed to paint the classrooms as well as some
holidays. So, we are finally getting in
a groove. This week we are offering a
make up day and will know for certain just how many students we have. We have 3 new classes and 1 class that
includes students from last semester. Fortunately,
the school is taking care of most of the printing of the material which has
been a tremendous help. This week we are
planning for 90 students. During these
classes we have a lot of fun, laugh and learn together. Many of these students have challenging life
circumstances and we are embracing the time to get to know them, develop a
relationship with them and help them succeed in learning English.
This past week we were blessed to be invited by the
director of the Public School to join the other teachers for a city-wide event
to honor teachers in Manacapuru. It was
a time of eating, singing, some danced and games. It was a great time to continue to bond with
the other teachers.
One big change this semester is we are not going to the
community of Bela Vista. We hope to
return in February, but we will have to see what exactly the students want to
do. Communication is always a challenge
due to cell service and internet issues.
We continue to pray for them and look forward to seeing them again soon.
With our Friday schedule opening due to not going to Bela
Vista, we have had the opportunity to do some one on one work with a Columbian
woman. She is newly married, and she and
her husband are missionaries and they come to the Tuesday night class. She does not know Portuguese so Nayara is
working with her on her Portuguese. It
has been awesome to get to know them and to hear their “story” and their heart
as they share the Gospel here in Brazil.
One thing that they do to earn money is cook things and sell them. The other day they brought us a “tamal”. It had all kinds of meat and things inside
all wrapped in banana leaves. It was
good!
Thank you so much for your faithful financial and prayer
support. God is working, and it is such
a blessing to serve here. Because of
you, we can do little things such as purchase headphones with chips to help a
few students who do not have a cell phone or internet service, so they can hear
the audios we make. One of those
students who will use a headset is our Columbian sister as well as a young man
who is 16 yrs. old, supports his mother and sister and goes to school full
time. He desires to be a Police Officer but
is struggling in English which is required for him to do well on his entrance
exam. He has worked so hard and this
headset will help him tremendously. The
two young men who help us watching the front gate have had some health issues
and are a little behind in their English studies, so these chips will help a
lot. YOU are blessing Columbian
missionaries, university students, high school students, teachers, mothers,
fathers, and people who work in this city in retail and as a truck driver!
We are also excited about those that God has raised up to
be our helpers this semester. Patricia
has been a tremendous friend to Nayara and me as well as a great helper with
the classes. Patricia is a university
graduate in geography but feels that God wants her to work at the school, José
Mota, working in the office. She also
works with the youth at the church and provides a children’s project twice a
month on Saturdays. Her heart for the
ministry is HUGE and she has basically become one of our assistants. She is with us on Tuesday and Thursday
mornings and comes to almost every class in the evening. Her English is benefiting from all this time
we spend together. We also have two
others who are helping us with the grading of homework. Our prayer has always been that God would raise
up a team who could continue the work with English in the future. God is answering that prayer.
Nayara and I also had the opportunity to go to a community
located on an island in Solimões River.
We spent Saturday and Sunday morning with the people there, playing
volleyball and games along with making personal visits to people in their
homes. We had the chance to talk and to
pray individuals. They had a special
service Saturday night along with a wedding.
We went with about 20 other people from the church. Oh, by the way, even though it is very warm
here, it gets really cold at night with all the moisture in the air, brrrrrrrr. We traveled by boat and had to climb up a
“ladder” and mud “steps” to arrive and to go down when we left. It was about the equivalent to three flights
of stairs. That is how high the river
normally gets and how low the river gets.
What an adventure!
Nayara and I also were able to help out with music and
preaching at a recent children’s outreach event at the church. It was awesome to see the children respond to
the gospel. Patricia and her team of
workers are wonderful! Many received
prayer and I am not know how many children gave their hearts to Jesus. It was
fun and a little like herding cats!!!
Okay there are just some of the highlights. On a personal note. I am doing great, feeling good, feeling
peaceful. My language is improving, and
I do want to work hard and get better with my speaking. I know this is where I am supposed to be, and
no words can fully express my heart. Is
everything easy? No. Is everything comfortable? No. Do
I miss my recliner? Yes. Will it be strange not to be in the same
state with my sister during our birthday? Yes.
Do I want to be anywhere else? No
way. Other than needing a haircut – all
is good!
As Thanksgiving approaches in the USA, my heart is full of
gratitude for many things. I am so
grateful for this opportunity to serve the Lord here in Manacapuru with Nayara
(she is a super teammate and sister in the Lord). I am grateful for your partnership with this
work. I am thankful for my friends and
family in the States and around the world.
I pray your time with family and friends are full of joy and blessings.
The plans are for Nayara and I to go to Belo Horizonte to
be with her family from Dec 18 – Jan 28.
This is their “summer break. We
are already on the schedule to speak at her home church 7 times as well as in
other churches. Her Pastor will be away
for 3 Sundays and we are honored that he trusts us to preach during that time.
Please cover us in your prayers! I know
that Nayara is looking forward to being with her family and church family. I am blessed that they have embraced me. I hope to write again before Christmas. Love to all
Until next time….
Lisa
Lisa
Ei amigos, familiares, irmãos, mantenedores e
intercessores de tantos lugares do mundo que estão orando por nós, enfim
conseguimos postar nossas novas notícias aqui, mas é porque com cerca de 130
alunos do inglês a vida virou uma correria muito boa. Enfim, estou aqui para
contar as notícias do nosso segundo semestre e agradecer por todo investimento
nesse ministério fazendo sempre menção à igreja que me enviou para trabalhar
nesse lindo projeto Segunda Igreja Batista em João Monlevade e o apoio incondicional
da Primeira Igreja Batista de Raposos.
Começamos mais 7 classes de Inglês na Escola Estadual
José Mota aqui em Manacapuru – AM. Aaahhh que presente maravilho Deus nos deu
aqui. São alunos preciosos!!! Ao todo são 8 turmas na escola: 4 para alunos e 4
para professores (estão estudando conosco professores de português, inglês,
história e química, eles são excelentes alunos). Na nossa casa temos mais 3
turmas de inglês à noite, mais dois alunos colombianos aprendendo Português às
sextas feiras, mais uma aula de reforço escolar de inglês aos sábados e um
aluno nota 10 pelo Skype aos domingos. Vejam só quantas vidas vocês estão nos
ajudando a abençoar. Pensa numa vida corrida, mas na correria mais gostosa e divertida
do mundo! Amando minha nova descoberta como professora!!! E agora mais do que
nunca dou meu total respeito e gratidão aos meus professores, eita profissão
difícil sô. Alguns dias da semana trabalhamos cerca de 18 horas sem parar. Ufa,
mas é muito gratificante ver as pessoas aprendendo esse idioma tão especial. Deus seja louvado por alguns amigos que se tornaram monitores aqui e tem nos
ajudado durante as aulas e na correção dos deveres. Deus é bom, sempre
colocando pessoas especiais perto de nós.
Após enfrentarmos a “novela” da troca do visto da
Lisa, graças a Deus ela conseguiu resolver e poderá ficar mais tempo no Brasil
(Deus seja louvado pela Igreja Presbiteriana Ágata e Igreja Presbiteriana de
Manaus que tanto nos ajudou nesse processo). Foram 4 meses sem ela aqui em
Manacapuru e confesso que foi bem difícil ficar aqui “sozinha”, mas Deus e seus
anjos estavam sempre aqui comigo. Ganhei uma amiga irmã nesse tempo. Deus me
enviou Patrícia de presente para cuidar de mim aqui, ela me ajudou muuuuuito e
continua me ajudando todos os dias. A Paty é líder de jovens na Igreja Presbiteriana
Ágata, igreja que tem apoiado muito nosso projeto de inglês aqui no Amazonas. Deus
me deu a graça de estar no meio de pessoas que amam a sua palavra e que querem
ver as pessoas experimentando esse amor divino.
Após esses longos 4 meses, a Lisa chegou e foi uma
festa, ufa, o coração congelava a cada notícia de atraso do visto. Graças a
Deus agora isso ficou no passado. Estamos muito felizes por trabalhar juntas
novamente. Deus seja louvado pela vida da Lisa e de cada norte americano que
tem abençoado o ministério exercido por ela aqui no Brasil.
É muito bom compartilhar com vocês que tem me
abençoado e orado por mim enquanto estou aqui no Amazonas. Deus seja louvado
por cada um de vocês. Que delícia tem sido aprender sobre as maravilhas do
Amazonas e ver o que Deus está fazendo nos corações aqui. Quando puder vá até a
nossa página de fotos e veja todas as coisas lindas que estão acontecendo.
Tivemos a oportunidade de visitar uma comunidade
chamada Fé em Deus, falamos do amor de Cristo e experimentamos das diferenças
culturais do Amazonas. Foi uma grande aventura também já que o rio agora está
baixo (quando ele seca um pouco) e para chegar nas comunidades precisamos subir
barrancos com muita lama. O que vocês acham que aconteceu quando viemos embora?
Sim, eu caí e foi muito engraçado. Kkkkkkkk...Não queira imaginar. Aqui nós
trabalhamos muito, mas nos divertimos muito também na presença de Deus.
Tenho tentado ajudar na igreja local que nos apoia
aqui (IPÁgata) cantando ou ministrando a palavra. Tem sido experiências
maravilhosas. Outra coisa que me faz vibrar de alegria é fazer as traduções
para a Lisa. Trabalho prazeroso e bem desafiador. Tenho feitos as traduções na
escola, na igreja, na comunidade, com as crianças, enfim, em todo lugar. Isso é
divertido!!! 1 ano apenas aprendendo inglês e Deus fazendo os milagres me
ajudando nas traduções. E sobre o português dela? Sim, o português dela está
melhorando, então, quando vocês a encontrarem ficaram surpresos. Falem bastante
português com ela...hahahahahha
Obrigada por todo apoio. Espero vê-los em breve. No
dia 31 de dezembro estarei na Segunda Igreja Batista em João Monlevade às 9h da
manhã para compartilhar minhas aventuras aqui no Amazonas. Espero que você
possa estar lá comigo para ouvir as mais divertidas e edificantes histórias
ocorridas na minha vida nos últimos meses. Rsrsrsr
Espero por vocês. Grande abraço,
Nayara
Nosso tempo em Minas: Planejamento
inicial
18-12 a 28: Belo Horizonte
31-12-17: Segunda Igreja Batista em João Monlevade
(9:00 horas)
5-01-18 a 10-01-18: Belo Horizonte
7-01-18: Primeira Igreja Batista em Raposos (19:30
horas)
11, 13 e 14-01-18: Segunda Igreja Batista em João
Monlevade (19:30 horas)
21-01-18: Segunda Igreja Batista em João Monlevade
(9:00 e 19:30 horas)
24 a 28-01-18: Belo Horizonte
