Wow I really thought that I would be better at keeping a blog... hmmm guess I was wrong haha :) sorry....
I have been in Dourados (another city about 4 hrs away from Campo Grande) since last friday and I'm not sure exactly when I will be leaving from here hahaha Like everything else in Brasil, it is all up in the air...
On Sunday, I helped with a program for innercity kids here called "Projeto 'Adamá" - this church travels to different neighborhoods here and work with the kids on sunday afternoons. They dance, sing, teach them about the Bible, give them treats, etc. It's really cool and was a joy to help with. I've also been exploring a lot of the city and everyone is so great and friendly here. I have people arguing about where they want me to stay at haha so it's real cool...
The last few nights, I've been staying at my friend Pâmela's house and she lives in a nice apartment on the top floor with several balconys with exquisite views of the city... and this is where I have been spending my time lately haha. It's so beautiful, especially at night. I find myself alone sometimes, just sipping water from my coffee cup (haha) and staring out in to the night sky, at the city line and all the stars in the sky... And I feel torn... part of me feels like I never want to leave here and that I will never be able to recapture everything I've seen and experienced here and I'll miss everything too much... and then another part longs for home and my friends and family... haha but i guess that's normal right? ;)
5 weeks... well technically am i at 4 weeks now? i guess so haha... crazy how fast time flies when you're not looking... but yay, i'm glad to see everyone soon - i miss you all... i am especially excited about seeing my little sister and her swollen belly!!!!!!!!!!! :) i want to meet willow madelyn NOW! haha it's hard to see pictures from the internet but not be able to really watch and help her through this, my first niece... i am TERRIBLY EXCITED!!! :)
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Three Sleepless Nights... This Isn't How It's Supposed To Be...
Just for the record... if anyone feels like praying for me...
I can't sleep!! haha I've been having trouble for more than a week now sleeping and it's slowly wearing me down haha
Anyway, back to the update...
A couple of Sundays ago, I spent the day with two of my guy friends on their side of town and wow! I was promptly ushered in to life without a car, cellphone or much money. Had I known how much walking we were to do that day, I would have worn my tennis shoes instead of sandals haha When we wanted to visit someone, we just walked to their house. We also walked to this big open market in one of the streets which was pretty neat. The openness and kindness of the people here is sometimes staggering. One of the guys live in a small house with his mom. It is very poor and doesn't even really have doors (minus the front door). But when we came over, his mom offered everything that she had, whatever we might want, if she had it, she offered it. Generosity here takes on a new meaning and I pray continually for God to bless all these wonderful people who have shown me such favor. I also went shopping recently and didn't think that I had much money for clothes but the shop we went to belonged to a friend of one of the pastors here and the owner always supports all kinds of ministeries and missionaries so she gave me a GREAT deal (I got like 8 items for cheap). And all she wanted me to do was to keep her in my prayers, for blessings over her life and her shop. So I prayed with her there in the store and I wrote her name in my journal to remember. Many blessings here...
I also got to go to a samba concert. They have a program right now where pretty big bands come through and play for free in one of the parks here. And the park is so beautiful! It's very big and they set the stage up against the lake with the city skyline in the backdrop and we sat on a hill facing everything at sunset... WAAAAY cool :) and the music was great too!
This past weekend, for Easter, we went to a retreat in the mountains... Did I expect the nights to be frigid considering every day (and night) here has always been fairly hot?? NO haha I did not... Nights were spent shivering in my tent under 3 bare sheets haha but it was a lot of fun. I shared a tent with a couple of younger girls and we spent the weekend playing games with the rest of the youth. We had several services and in one of them, I gave my testimony (in very broken portuguese haha - no english speaking people there this time...) and sang "Nothing But The Blood". I've been asked to sing many times and I have but always in english. Right now I'm trying to learn the words to some of the songs I know fairly well in portuguese. :) Anyway many little things go on but too numerous to mention... or maybe to silly haha but they are important to me. God does answer prayers. I believe it and I've seen it many times. I pray continually every day that He would open and shut doors in my life and that He would guide my hands and my ways. I also try to pray before I make any decision, even the small ones :) And it's been such a blessing doing this, I can't even tell you...
I can't sleep!! haha I've been having trouble for more than a week now sleeping and it's slowly wearing me down haha
Anyway, back to the update...
A couple of Sundays ago, I spent the day with two of my guy friends on their side of town and wow! I was promptly ushered in to life without a car, cellphone or much money. Had I known how much walking we were to do that day, I would have worn my tennis shoes instead of sandals haha When we wanted to visit someone, we just walked to their house. We also walked to this big open market in one of the streets which was pretty neat. The openness and kindness of the people here is sometimes staggering. One of the guys live in a small house with his mom. It is very poor and doesn't even really have doors (minus the front door). But when we came over, his mom offered everything that she had, whatever we might want, if she had it, she offered it. Generosity here takes on a new meaning and I pray continually for God to bless all these wonderful people who have shown me such favor. I also went shopping recently and didn't think that I had much money for clothes but the shop we went to belonged to a friend of one of the pastors here and the owner always supports all kinds of ministeries and missionaries so she gave me a GREAT deal (I got like 8 items for cheap). And all she wanted me to do was to keep her in my prayers, for blessings over her life and her shop. So I prayed with her there in the store and I wrote her name in my journal to remember. Many blessings here...
I also got to go to a samba concert. They have a program right now where pretty big bands come through and play for free in one of the parks here. And the park is so beautiful! It's very big and they set the stage up against the lake with the city skyline in the backdrop and we sat on a hill facing everything at sunset... WAAAAY cool :) and the music was great too!
This past weekend, for Easter, we went to a retreat in the mountains... Did I expect the nights to be frigid considering every day (and night) here has always been fairly hot?? NO haha I did not... Nights were spent shivering in my tent under 3 bare sheets haha but it was a lot of fun. I shared a tent with a couple of younger girls and we spent the weekend playing games with the rest of the youth. We had several services and in one of them, I gave my testimony (in very broken portuguese haha - no english speaking people there this time...) and sang "Nothing But The Blood". I've been asked to sing many times and I have but always in english. Right now I'm trying to learn the words to some of the songs I know fairly well in portuguese. :) Anyway many little things go on but too numerous to mention... or maybe to silly haha but they are important to me. God does answer prayers. I believe it and I've seen it many times. I pray continually every day that He would open and shut doors in my life and that He would guide my hands and my ways. I also try to pray before I make any decision, even the small ones :) And it's been such a blessing doing this, I can't even tell you...
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Life As I Know It
Let me just say... that it is always a joyous sight to see adults and especially older people (in their 70s no less) dancing and praising God with no inhibitions. Last night, we had a prayer vigil, i guess would be the term... It started at 10pm and went until like 1:20am, i think? I wasn't paying attention to the clock so much when I crashed haha... But yes, the first half was just worship and I always like it when you can have so many people gather in a house with no special things, just a couple of guitars (and this really cool weird sortof smaller accordian thing...) and many people that sing off key haha... And you could really see the joy on everyone's faces... Not saying that they are all perfect b/c God knows the many flaws everyone has haha... But just at this moment, they were really worshiping God and you could tell... It wasn't about anything other than love and fellowship and that to me is so... pure... And I love to see it :) And like I said, to dance with joy before the Lord... it always brings a smile to my face - it reminds me of when David was chatised by his wife for dancing, scantily clad albeit haha, in front of a large crowd of people even though he was the king... but he said it wasn't for their entertainment that he danced... he danced for the Lord :) I love that. Maybe their whole lives haven't been this way... or through everything they do, continue to be this way... but for this moment, in this place, they really took time out of their sleep schedule (the bispas are normally in bed by 10pm haha) and their lives with their families... and they worshiped the Lord their God and prayed for His will to be done. Things like this really bless my soul in a way that I can't tell you. Sometimes I guess I let myself think that the world is too bitter and things can't change. People can't change. That people don't know how to love anymore... and then God steps in :) and shows me His love. His love for His children and our love for Him. It's so simple and yet staggering. It is beauty - His love, His grace.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)