i have arrived!

Hello family and friends! I have made it safely and am... oh i don't know, almost a week into my trip?? Brazil is more beautiful than i can explain. It's luscious and green, full of life, blooming with beautifully colored flowers and plant life. I got to see part of the beach and drive through a mountain :) (well i didn't drive and speaking of - traffic is INSANE here!!! :/ i'm so glad i don't have to drive b/c we would have soooo gotten into an accident...) There's also a lot of poverty and the streets, houses, etc are covered in graffiti (albeit more colorful and prettier graffiti than we have in the states but still...) I spent a couple of days with Pastor Antonio's sister Wanda at the school where she works and she showed me around and there was just graffiti EVERYWHERE on the walls in the classrooms and all over the school. They are hoping to receive new money this year from the government to paint the walls but they did that a few years ago and it's back in bad shape again. It seems so hard to try to offer these kids something more, something better and they just throw it back. It breaks my hear that and think about all that Wanda (the principal) is trying to give them. I'm very grateful for my education and the blessings in my life.
Saturday night, we went to the youth service and the pastor was speaking about how Zechariah climbed the tree to see Jesus and that Jesus called him down from the tree and said He would dine with Zechariah, and how if we would only just climb the tree, if we would only reach out to Him, He would meet us. Well the pastor was mainly preaching salvation, but i gotta tell ya, it hit me pretty hard. I felt like God was speaking to me, comforting me (b/c i'd been so homesick and overwhelmed by how little portuguese i really knew), wanting to know for sure this was the right thing and it was like God was just saying "You did it nikki - you finally put your trust in Me and i brought you here - you climbed the ladder" and it was so refreshing, i can't even begin to try to explain. Then last night, we went to the main service and i was asked to come up to the front to give my testimony about what God has been doing in my life and how i came to be here in Brazil. I spoke simply about how God had been asking me for years it seems - "Are you ready?" (b/c i had constantly been praying to Him "lead me and i will follow") and i would always say yes but then he would ask "Will you come?" and i would be like "oh no i can't, i have my family here to help, and a church that i help run, and friends i can't leave, that can't be what you are asking of me" and so it went until Aarin passed away, so suddenly, so young, and i spoke about how she was the bringer of light and how at her funeral and after it seemed like God was asking me again "Are you ready?" and i said yes... and He asked again "Will you come?" and i thought of Aarin and how short life can be sometimes and the things we worry about in life that don't mean as much in the kingdom of Heaven and i said yes i will... and that is how i came to be here... And it was so neat cuz a woman in the church wanted to speak after i was done & she said how she felt God's annointing when i was speaking and how she had all these worries about her life and her family and what God was calling her to and that when i was speaking, she felt His annointing and peace and almost like confirmation over her life and how she was going to trust in Him like i had and follow Him and it was just... cool... :) it feels good to be used by the Lord in whatever way, across language barriers (i had anne translate for me) and countries :) anyway that is all for now! i hope everyone who reads this is blessed and i love and miss everyone!!