Update 7
The team is now in Natal and spending
our final days here in ministry and relaxation before
we flight out early Saturday morning. God has been
so good to us on this trip and He continues to bless
us daily. this morning we had the great opportunity
to visit a local private school of about 300 students.
We sang and shared our testimonies and the english
speaking students loved trying out their language
skills on us. We then spent the rest of the day on
the sand dunes in Dune Buggies! What a blast. The
team is blown away by all that we have done while
here and are really enjoying our down time here. We
have on more day here in Natal which we will spend
at the local mall buying all of our gifts to bring
home and finishing up here on the beach. Several members
of the team chose to be baptised today in the ocean
also. it was such a wonderful experience and we were
sure to catch it on film for all of you back home.
Please pray for our safe travel as we finish up this
amazing trip. I will try my best to text you with
flight updates as we head home.
Amazed,
Matt
Update 6
Hello all,
Our team just arrived back in Carnubas after visiting
an unreached people group a few hours north of us.
We witnessed such extreem poverty and were able to
hand out candies to the children. The chief of the
small town of only a couple hundred has 23 children
by the same woman he has been married to since she
was eleven! Pretty different experience. The team
was awesome as usual and the chief gave us a gift
before we left of a live chicken and a bag of corn.
These experiences are changing us all for the better
and we are daily growing closer in our relationships
with eachother. Tomorrow we head out for Natal and
will be visiting Lilly ofthe Valley orphanage. Please
pray for safe travel as we drive four hous east back
to Natal. We will spend tomorrow at the orphanage
and then Thursday at a local school sharing Christ
in the classrooms. So far we have seen close to seventy
accept Christ and several hundred have heard the message
of Jesus from our very mouths. The team is actively
sharing their stories and faith journey with many
people each day. We are so thankful God has sent us
here for this ministry. Please continue to pray for
us over the next few days and we will be in touch
as we can. Everyone is safe and healthy. My biggest
challenge I think will be forcing them to leave Brazil
as everyone has fallen in love with these people and
this town.
With Joy,
Matt
Update 5
Hi everyone, SportReach days have gone
really well. Its been super exciting for me to see
our youth sharing the Gospel and the little Brazilian
kids here get to hear it:) We`ve had over 40 kids
pray to accept Christ!!!!!!!!!! The church dedication
was last night. The pastor shared with us that 3 other
churches promised to come build a church for them,
but we were the ones who followed through on the promise;
praise God!! We`re at the half way point so after
today we start doing outreach in other villages. Thank
you all so very much for your prayers!!
-Bethany
We are happy to be writing you! The first day of Sport
Reach was amazing. We are both in the Volleyball Group.
Its SO amazing to see how good at Volleyball all the
kids are. They were teaching us! We think there was
even a pro right in our midst. /this whole mission
trip has been changing us drastically and showing
us that God has a HUGE plan fo this Town. The church
detication was amazing too. They loaded up all of
the equipment on the bed of a truck, mics, instruments,
whatev.. the essentials to hear Gods voice. We switched
back and forth between Brasillian speakers and American
missionaries. They thanked us time and time again
and it was awesome to just redirect those thanks to
God. We decided that the only thing we should be thanked
for is for being obedient. We had a little sing along
song time, sang light the fire, every move i make
and i (Kelli) sang a song with Marconi!!! In Portugese!
It was so cool. What an honor. Its amazning to see
all of the love and hope that these people have. Normally
in america we can only find small glimpses of wholesome
love but here, every person radiates it. We have made
a lot of friends with the younger kids through Sport
Reach and Construction but the lasting relationsips
that we will have with the teenagers and youngins,
especially the ones who accepted Christ will last
for eternity. I am so happy that we came on this trip!
We are only half way done and it has been such an
adventure. I hope we never forget it. Ever. We love
Brasil and the only thing that makes us want to come
home is our familys and friends. So you guys should
just come here (smile face). We cannot wait to share
more about what God is doing inside our hearts. Its
something we can look forward to about coming home.
Stay safe guys, we love you so much. Keep on praying
for us, its helping. (another smile face) Peace
Sincerely
Ty & Kelli
P.S. we are using the same computer because we do
not have many here.. ha. and we are sibilings and
love each other. bye!
hey guys!!!!
things are great in brazil!!! everyone´s having
a great time working for God! the church dedication
was last night and lemme´ tell you, it was amazing
to see what a big thing God had brought us here to
do!! everyone was so thankful for the new building,
we could see it in thier eyes.
our team and the children here are always trying to
communicate, we´re getting closer every day
:). these kids are truly wonderful kids! I think almost
every chld at the sport reach camps have accepted
christ!! it´s special to see them make the descision
to follow God, even when (i think) it´s not
exactly acceptable to the catholic populaation here.
everyone on our team is growing more and more in Jesus!
I have seen a 100% change in EVERYONE!! I can´t
wait to see every one in another week when we are
back state side :D. I miss all of you!! but in all
honesty I~m glad you´re not here ;) well we´re
doing great things and we are all having a blast with
the kids!! but I gotta get off the CPU so I love you!!
Philip
Hello! We are all doing just fine here. We are all
compltely mezmorized by all that God has done, what
he´s doing, and what He´s going to do
Here in Carnaubas dos Dantes. The daticationfor the
church was last night and it really hit me how much
God wanted every one of us to be here, It´s
just...dumbfounding. We´re all so honored to
be here doing god´s work wherever he wants us.
So far, a good 60+ kids have exepted Christ and more
are exepting him every day!
I request that you all pray for these new christians,
that they will not fall away or be detured from christ
in any way, that God will cover them and this city
with his hand, and that Gods will be done in these
kids and Carnaubas dos Dantes! I love you all! God
is good! Halleluah!
Love, David Yarger
Hi everybody!
We are close to completing our SportReach program
and moving on to other things. SportReach has been
so incredible in the way it connects with kids. Yesterday
almost thirty kids came to Christ!
Surprisingly, the problems of bug bites and lack
of sleep have not affected the joy I feel in serving
the kids in this way. If I could, I would stay longer.
It´s amazing how a hug or piece of candy can
open up an opportunity to share Jesus. And He is doing
wonderful things here - He is, not us. We´re
just here to simply obey what He tells us.
My prayers and worries about a lack of diabetic supplies
have been answered! Thank you for your prayers.
See you soon!
Katie
Okay so i have to make this quick but one thing that
I think that all of us are learning on this trip is
how to be bold. I think that our whole lives most
of us have taken witnessing for granted... but now,
our perspective on that has changed.
If we are able to share our testimonies and share
the gospel to crowds in Brazil with a language barrier
and a Portuguese translator....... then Americas,
who DO speak english will be cake to share the gospel....
Here we are learning how to step out of our comfort
zones. and it is so amazing to see that God is doing
that... and I am slowing seeing why God has truely
placed me on this trip and it is so exciting to see
God also changing each of us in small ways that may
be going un noticed, but I am sure that alot ot thinks
will truely hit us when we get home, i cannot wait
for that moment. well i gotta go eat food that is
delicious, ... even though i have no idea what it
is!!!! Haha bye guys and we will see you in a week!
Cassidy N
Hi guys!!! holy cow we are sitting in this internet
cafe right now and it has to be at least 150 degrees
in here! ah! well everything is going good, we are
having a lot of fun. for the first few days we got
completely anhiliated by mosquitos...I think kelli
had like 43 bites...I had 21. But luckily for us,
kelli and I figured out that if you scratch off the
top of a bite and then put salt in it, the salt draws
out all the juice that makes the bite itch. The only
bad thing about this is that now we have scabs oh
no! but its way better than itching all the time.
also, all praise to the good Lord because the last
two days the bites have drastically decreased and
we are alot more focused and comfortable. \the last
three days have been filled with lots of play - Sportreach
camps!!!! It was so cool to share the gospel with
the little kids using the ball of many colors, and
then lead them in prayer as a good 20 of them accepted
Christ. I made friends with a little boy named Carlos
(who I have decided would be my child if I ever had
one :D).we enjoy teaching eachother flips and handwalking
down ramps together. He is ten years old. (knnjs zkns
khjd duzm, snn). \last night we dedicated the church
we built to the people of Carnubas. It was such a
happy little time, where we all realized the bigness
of what we had accomplished - the significance of
what God used us to do. It was incredible. I dont
really know what we are doing tomorrow or over the
next few days, but thats okay. We love and miss you
all! \all is well here...so mom, dont worry:) oh and
mom, let oli sleep with you if she misses me, tell
her i miss her too!!! I LOVE YOU! (hi dad, take mom
rafting)
love love love,
Kayla
Wow. What an awesome trip. WE have been in brazil
for only seven days and god has already done so much.
i have shared my testimony twice and have helped lots
of kids accept jesus chirst. and the church we helped
build is amazing and beautiful and is a refuge and
gathering point for christ followers in this mostly
catholic town. i grown ever stronger in my relationship
with the lord each day and continue to boggle over
thought ptovoking questions ones about who i am, and
what i want to be and other questions too. i have
bonded so well with my team and it is an honor, privelege,
and blessing to know each and everyone of them. god
bless this town, the kids, the team, and everyone.
Josh
Hey, this is Alyssa!
I don~t have much time, but I just wanted to say how
amazing this past week has been. Yesterday when Matt
told us it was our seventh day in Brazil, I was shocked.
I had lost all track of time!
Last night was the church dedication. We had tons
and tons of people come to eat cake, drink Coca Cola,
and see the crazy americanos. :) A lot of us broke
down. Did you guys know that three- THREE- other churches
had told this congregation they would come and build
a church here, and they didnt? The pastor thanked
us profusely for what we had done, and it brought
tears to so many eyes.
I was given a ring from a little girl named Barbara.
We call her my little parasite- she hangs on me all
the time, holding my hand, hugging me, sittting next
to me, and the like. Well, guess what? She, as well
as FIFTY FREAKING OTHER PEOPLE accepted christ into
their lives!!! And guess what else? around the same
number of DIFFERENT people gave their lives to christ
the day before, too! Nothing can top the knowledge
that I will see these amigas and amigos of mine in
heaven!
I was also given High School Musical 2 in Portugese,
a CD of the Carnuba dos Dantas band, and some freaking
awesome aviator sunglasses. i can~t wait to show you
them all!
Something else really cool- God has shown me that
I was made for this. Missions, I mean. This is what
I need to do with the rest of my life! Maybe not in
Brazil, but somewhere. :)
Portugese food is AMAZING. Know any good Portugese
restaraunts? haha.
And we teens will probably all be taking cold showers
when we get back- that~s all we have here!
I miss you all and love you!
ALYSSA
Update 4
Hello parents and friends,
We have been in the town of Carnubas Dos Dantes now
for six days and have seen and done so much. The construction
on the church is now complete and we will be deticating
it tonight with the town mayor. Please pray for this
detication as we have invited over a thousand town
members and will be serving cake and soda to the town
members who come (wich may not sound like much but
is sure to draw a crowd). The team is doing wonderfully
and are all so excited to be here. We are now engaging
in our sports outreach to the community and have young
children waiting each morning chanting for us to begin.
Yesterday we ministered to 120 young people and after
a gospel presentation wittnessed 25 of them give their
lives to Jesus. I don't think many of our team had
ever seen anything like it before as they watched
in amazment as the power of such a simple message
captured the hearts of the children. Each night we
have been worshiping in the town squares and drawing
large crowds of close to 100 people. We worship in
English and also in Portuguese and our team gives
their testimonies. We are contiually blessed with
good health and are especially thankful that Sara
Cruz made a quick recovery of her sickeness she left
Woodland Park with. Marconi and the locals who cook
for us are treating us with such kindness and are
feeding us more than any of us would normally eat.
It is also quite fun to have fresh juice every morning
(guava, mango, pineapple). Those of you who are coffee
lovers would be jealous also. Cafe con leche is some
of the best local coffee starbucks has obviousely
missed out on. The aldults on our team are also doing
very well and enjoying leading such a great team of
teens. We have all been richly blessed and are looking
forward to our next week of ministry. We will continue
to try and update you through email. This is such
a remote town and am surprised that they have an internet
cafe. So we will try and get our team to leave updates
as we are able. Keep praying for us as we press on
to minister to this town. God is able!
Trusting Him,
Matt
Update 3
I just wanted to let all the parents
know that their kids are safe and have been a pleasure
to work with. All the adult leaders have commented
on how well behaved they are and how hard the have
worked. A typical day is up at 8 am, eat breakfast,
at the jobsite by 9am. We work on the church until
12pm, walk to a local restaurant for lunch and then
rest until 2:30 and then back to the church to do
more work. We usually work until 5:30 and then head
back to the `compound´ for showers. After we
shower we head to dinner locally and then walk to
the town square to worship and hang out with the members
of the church that we are building.
Our time in the square usually draws quite a crowd.
About 9:30 we head back to the compund for nightly
devotions, small group discussions and then quiet
time, usually used for journaling our day before we
go to bed. Today, Thursday is our last day at the
church before we do the dedication on Saturday night.
Tomorrow, we begin a three day sports camp, that will
be held at the compund on a covered, indoor soccer
court. I am sure the turn out will be huge. We are
expecting over 100 kids from the local community.
Keep us in your prayers and know that your kids are
representing the Lord, their church and their families
very well. Besides lots of mosquito bites, everyone
is healthy and looking forward to each new event.
They have worked as a team and shown a lot of love
to all the kids in the community as well. It has truly
been my pleasure to be apart of this team, and to
watch your kids and my son demonstrate Christ to another
chulture.
We will be back in touch soon. God bless and thanks
for sharing them with us.
Tom Parr
I cannot believe that we are finally
in Brazil!
/the weather right now is extremely hot, and humid,
but who really cares when we are on a missions trip!
Wow alot of things have happened here already. /the
people are so freaking amazing, the kids are just
so filled with joy it is like un believable! \yesterday
we knocked down walls which was so great and then
we cleaned it all up. The church is nearly finished,
we each got to lay bricks just so that we all have
our part in it. Also today we laid a memorial brick
for Andrew Yarger... and prayed about that.
Hmmm. There are tons of spiders here and frogs! On
the first day I had an encounter with a tarantuala
which was freaking scary!!!! But dont worry, I lived.
We are planning to stay here until \monday I believe
and we are going to do some sportsreach....
Oh!!! so for the past two nights we did like worship
and singing in the town squares and that is so amazing.
last night kayla b. and michael gave their testimonies
which were translated and that was extrememly awesome
to see all of the neighbors listening.
Okay well I gotta go, love you guys and missss you!
Cassidy
hey everybody,
michael correll here and wanted to let everyone know
that all is well and hot. it is an amazing experiance
that i cant wait to share wth you all when we get
back. durig the day we go to the church and "build"
it (although most of it was done when we got here):).
most of the time each one of us is surrounded by tons
of little kids that i dont think want to be around
us because we are americans but that they see jesus
in us and desire to have that love that we are working
so hard to portray. during what we label as nap time
turns more into a tie of outreach for the kids to
me. i and as well as others devote our time of rest
to the kids to play Futbol (soccer) with the kids.
after that we head back to the church to finish up
where we left off. after that we go to one of our
three amazing meals of the day. we then are given
the time to shower which alot like a nice cold glass
of lemonade on a ht day. the water is cold but who
cares when its hot all the time. we then go to the
town square wher we do worship for the whole town.
it is so amazing to see white americans dancing and
singing along with brazilians. god has a huge part
in brazil and has sent us to show his love and it
is awsome to see god working through each of us in
what he has provided us though spiritual gift and
all.
~~ Ciao~~
michael correll
We are finally here! After over 24 hours
of travel time, Alpha Team touched down in Natal,
Brazil right on time at 2:30AM Monday morning. For
the first night/day we stayed with Marconi resting
and exploring Natal as we got to know each other,
and at 2AM the next morning we picked up the rest
of the team (again, right on schedule - yay!) and
took the 4 hour drive out to Carnubas dos Dantes.
The morning we got there we immediately started getting
to work. We got the sleeping situation worked out
(we are staying in a town compound, sort of like a
community center), ate breakfast, and walked out the
the church building site. The workers have done a
great job of getting a LOT done. We have all had a
chance to lay bricks, demolish old walls, clean and
paint the town square in front, and perhaps most exciting,
get to know the people. The more word got around,
the more people showed. The last 2 days we´ve
probably had over 40 kids hanging out with us at one
time, ranging from 2-19 years old, as well as some
of the adults and parents. Because of the language
barrier it has been hard to communicate, but all of
the local Brazilians have been immensely patient as
we play a mix of charades and guessing to grow to
know each other. The children, especially, have been
amazingly kind with us. Inspired to pick up the English
they´ve been learning in school, they´ve
tried hard to learn to say things like `thank you´and
´name?´, as we´ve done the same
to learn portuguese (´obrigada/obrigada´
and ´nome?´). Ironically, it has been
hard to wrte this email without using short, broken
sentences and exaggerated body movements, no joke!
Everyone here is beautiful, absolutely gorgeous, and
extremely welcoming. We feel so blessed to be here
and the children have greatly enhanced our experience
- talking with us, helping us with portuguese, always
working hard with us at the job site, and following
us home every night to say goodbye until the next
day. Even Deborah, a 20 year old girl who goes to
Marconi´s youth group who has come with us to
C.d.D., has been working HARD to communicate, borrowing
my English-Portuguese to memorize phrases and has
truly become one of the sweetest, most over-the-top
patient, positive girls I´ve ever met. The food
has been great, and we´ve had the privilege
of spending the last two nights out in the town squares
worshipping, hanging out, giving the gospel, and experiencing
the culture. Brazilian worship is BEAUTIFUL - pretty
much my new favorite thing, and they have been so
welcoming in giving us the privilege of singing some
of our own worship from back home. Every day has stretched
on forever, the last 2 days have felt like weeks with
all we´ve done - and we are totally okay with
that.
Despite the excessive amount of bug bites (Kelli
is winning so far, dozens and dozens so far), the
hard times our bodies are having with all different
food, the wasp nests in the shower rooms, spiders
(in a few cases, tarantulas) in bathrooms, exhaustion,
and constant spiritual battle behind the scenes -
we´ve had an AMAZING time. I cannot even put
into words how beautiful the people are here, inside
AND out. And after only 2 days (which I´ve only
been able to cover very little of) we are SO EXCITED
for the next 2 WEEKS! Thank you all so much for the
prayer, love, and support. We can all feel you guys
behind us and we are immensely thankful for it. Thank
you thank you thank you! Or as the children here might
say: ´Muito obrigada! Eu te amo!`
-Caitlin :)
Hi, guys!!!
I´m having an amazing time here, even with all
of the bug bites, lack of sleep and hard work. Still,
it all adds up to something great!
Í´ve gotten lots of flowers from the
local kids who come to watch us work on the church.
These kids are so adorable! They´re willing
and able to help us build. I love the spirit of generosity
and friendship here. These children (who we´ve
known for three days) have already become very close
friends.. \i am happy to say that the language barrier
is no problem whatsoever!
I am doing fine with my diabetes here.My blood sugars
have been great, and yesterday I completed my first
successful set change for my pump. Please pray, though
- I just found out that I only have enough strips
for my meter to last me twelve days (five strips a
day). I used too many duour travel and on the first
day. Pray that I won´t get a low blood sugar
that would cause me to use more strips. Also, if I
do run out, pray that we will bne able to find a pharmacy
that carries the right strips.
God has really opened us up here to a lot of new concepts
- friendships that grow unhindered, false pretenses
and emotional masks cast aside, smiles and hugs exchanged
freely. Even though we know limited Potugese, the
kids are so patient talking to us. They know some
English, as well, and delight in speaking it to us!
A lot of the kids are from the local church, but most
are Catholic. Marconi (translator/Christian/musician
extrordinaire) says that the town is caught in idolatry.
Catholic saints are treated like ´´lesser
gods´´, and most of the people regard
the saints on the same level aa Jesus. Please pray
that our ministry and example here will allow Jesus
to touch them.
One thing we ´´enjoy´´ here
is cold showers. Oh, the water is refreshing. The
wasps´ nest in the bathroom is not. Our bug
bite problem has escalated, and some haven´t
responded well to the bites. Nothing life-threatening,
but it is a distraction. Pray that we remember the
bugspray, and that the bugs themselves leave us alone.
Also, we girls on Bravo team have a special prayer
request. We really feel as if we aren´t fully
connected to everything God wants us to feel. We are
asking God to break our hearts with the things that
break His. Please pray this for us, too.
We are all under very subtle spiritual attack, mostly
doubts and worries that distract us from what we need
to do. It is sometimes very hard to tell when the
attacks are happening. Satan uses a little bit of
truth (say, ´´you haven´t read your
Bible today´´) in order to tempt us into
a trap of twisted thoughts and ideas. Pray against
his lies! Ask God to help us distinguish between His
truth and Satan´s falsehood.
I´m sorry if this message isn´t very long,
but we´re pressed for time. Thank you all so
much for everything you´ve done, from financial
support to daily prayer. We think about you every
day!
I love every one of you and miss you! Keep praying!
Katie
AHH!! It is so beautiful here..I am
probably not leaving :D
This trip has been so amazing, when we first landed
(alpha team) we went to Marcconi´s house and
met his family and went around Natal to see everything,
which was so great! it is such a realaxed setting
here, everyone you meet is so laid-back its very welcoming
:)
Here in Carnubas dos Dantes, we have had many interesting/frightening
happenings..for example the wasps nest we found in
the shower house the girls use...and the nest we discoverd
this morning, in our room..where we sleep :P but its
okay we are all still alive and well and covered in
bug bites! we are having a contest to see who has
the most, Kelli I is definently winning with flying
colors, and bumps.
Working on the church here has been SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
much fun. Hard work, but the local kids all come out
and help with whatever we are doing. It is so great
to see so many happy and satisfied children all staring
up at you trying to communicate with you. All of the
people are so interested in all of us. They basically
flock to where ever we are going. At nights when we
go to worship and sing the town square where we go
is filled with children and adults; many of the kids
introduce you to there parents..it is a never-ending
game of charades and guestures.However, some of the
kids speak spanish pretty well so some of us can get
along pretty well with that. THANKS Mr.Tracy!!!
Our team is so thankful For Marcconi, we have no
clue what we would be able to do without him (probably
nothing) as a guide/interpurater/amazing person! God
has blessed us all so much!
love you all!
~Sarah Worscheck
Update 2
Hello Woodland Park,
Alpha and Bravo team have both landed here in Natal
with no problems. We have completed our first day of
ministry here in Carnubas dos Dantes and we are all
seeing God do amazing things in this town. Below some
of our team will give brief update as to our trip and
the rest of our team should post a comment later this
week. Please continue to pray for us as we labor and
minister together.
matt parker
Dear mom and dad,
Im doing great and having a wonderful time. The plane
ride was long but better than i thought. The food is
great and were working really hard. The church is almost
done and god is doing incredible things here. I feel
good (besides a couple of bites) and the the people
are very friendly. I´m learning so much and growing
in god every day. Hope to see you soon!!!!
Love, Brody
Hello, everyone
We are now all in brazil safe and sound, no complications,
we hade smooth comfortable flights (considering). I
have experianced so much of God here that I honestly
cant make sense out of some of it. I am constantly meeting
new locals and trying to speak the languagea little
better.
Everything is good with the hard work of building the
church.I LOVE YOU ALL. God bless!
Love,David Yarger
hey everyone!
\we all arrived here safely in Brasil, and are having
loads of fun with working most all day on building
the church. \yesterday we worked all day on the church
then worshiped together in the town square where about
100 locals came and worshiped with us. We also passed
out tons of little booklets that explained the gospel
in portugese. It was so incredible to have all of
the little brasilian kids sit on our laps and ask
us what our names were about a thousand times. Kelli
I. and I had a conversation with 4 brasilian teenage
girls that were our age and enjoyed trying to communicate
using what little SAPANISH (not even portugese) we
know and sign language. \the food is perty good -
fried cheese and kous kous for breakfast this morning:)
I miss and love you all! We are having a great time.
Oh, and cassidy almost got bitten by a tarantula (not
to worry cassidy´s parents because we killed
it afterwards) also, we are getting used to the activity
of taking showers with frogs. Hope all is well! \love
you!
*h knud xnt*
-Kayla Bingham-
Over the past three days that i have
been here i have seen more freindship, love, courage,
and leadership than anyone could see in the USA in
a month. We are all having so much fun and seeing
god in more ways than imaginable. The stories that
we will tell when we get back will never be able to
be finished humanly but i am excited to be apart of
them. Marcony has been very hospitable and the poeple
that i have met are more than friendly. In fact last
night it was really hard to leave the crouds that
had gathered around us.
The flight was long and i did´nt get much sleep,
but god has provided strength and given me the power
to continue. I am certain that if only three days
brings this many eye opening experiences the two weeks
that we have will bring thousands of stories that
we can share of god´s power and mercy.
Your loving friend abrod, Ty
Hi!!
Im in Carnubas Dos Dantas! Im so excited. We have
been working really really hard on the church- and
it is almost finshed! At fisrt people were watching
us with really suspicious looks. But soon some children
started coming out. By the time the sun went down
yesterday, we were flooded with little people and
their parents. A little boy who we call David gave
me a flower and told me I was "mui Bonita"
which means really beautiful. at the time i was extremely
hot and sweaty, with no makeup on, so it was such
a confidence booster.
Last night, after supper (the food here is AMAZING!!)
we went into the village square and sang with the
churchs congregation. Marconi and his sons are really
good singers, and when they found out that I could
sing, they gave me a microphone and asked me to sing
something in english! It was so much fun.
We got here right in the middle of the moth of celebration
for the catholics. Theyve been blasting music and
dressing up and dancing- but we cant because its assosiated
with sensual Latin culture. :(
The showers had a wasps nest in them, and weve had
to apply mucho amounts of bugspray. But other than
the bugs, It~s been awesome!
Wow, there~s so much left to tell! Like we~ve been
talking about purity because one of the teenagers
noticed the girls rings... We have little children
following us everywhere... Im learning so much Portugese!...
The kids have been singing high school musical songs...
And last night a Portugese boy asked me out! I said
no of course. :)
I miss you guys so much, but I am having the time
of my LIFE. I wouldn~t pass this up for the world.
~Alyssa~
Wow! so last night, we did the most awesome music
under a full moon in the town square and I´m
pretty certain Jesus was dancing in our midst. It
was the most beautiful thing to see all the people
come out to see what was going on then join us in
singing and then stay and try to talk to us for a
long time after.
More later. Peace out.
Donna McMurtry
Update 1
Hi everyone. "Alpha team"
has arrived safe and sound in Natal as scheduled.
Our flights and connections went smoothly and we have
bonded in a way that can only happen when you've been
traveling for 35 hours together! We were a little
sleep deprived but the kids are still making up for
it....they're still sleeping, going on 9 hours now.
We plan to do a little shopping today while waiting
for "bravo team" to arrive. So far, we are
all LOVIN Brazil! Love to you all from all of us,
and we'll check in later.
Thanks,
Donna, Tom and Marconi