All GREAT things must come to an end - Loving our last day of Camp...

We have been blessed again this year to have campers attend camp who live in a community called Bella Vista. To help us better understand some of the challenges they face, we drove through their community after camp. It was an eye-opening experience for many of us. The living conditions are much different from anything many of our team members had ever seen. There is no indoor plumbing, no heat or air condition, very simple constructed houses, no glass in the windows, no grass in the yards – just dirt yards and dirt roads. The community suffers from high crime rates and alcohol and drug abuse.

Despite these challenges, the children show up at camp everyday (early) with smiles on their faces ready to have fun and learn about Jesus.  They have certainly taught us more than we could have every taught them in 4 short days.  Their hugs, smiles, laughter, and kisses (sometimes) have showed us that true happiness truly is not found in the possessions we have – but in a true relationship with Jesus Christ.

Tonight we are excited to celebrate with the campers and their families at the evening worship celebration. Please pray that the message of Christ will penetrate the hearts of moms and dads as they hear the good news of Jesus Christ. 

Thanks for your continued prayers for our team as we wrap up our mission here this week but please continue to pray for this awesome church as they follow-up with campers and their families – that is where the real work and battle will take place.

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Ice Cream is Good No Matter Where You Are...

            

Oi from Brazil! We are having so much fun here and can’t believe it is already Wednesday! The afternoon session of camp yesterday (Tuesday) was so much fun. The kids were crazy excited about everything we did and had a great time. The Brazilian volunteers are doing an incredible job of leading all the activities at camp. The kids love them and really listen to what they have to say. We are praying that the relationships they are building with these kids will continue in the days and years to come.

           

After camp last night we had a surprise stop at a local store where we got to try all different kinds of Brazilian ice cream and popsicles. The store just happened to be across the street from a playground, so of course we all had to climb the jungle gym, slide down the slide and play on the seesaw. Everyone knows camp counselors are just a bunch of big kids J

            

After ice cream we headed back down the bumpy dirt roads to Agua Viva where Brent presented Mark with his very own massive bowl full of pao de queijo. We think Mark has found his new favorite food. As I type this, he has currently eaten 28 pieces of pao de queijo! KT believes Mark may now be suffering from “pao de chitis”, a condition that affects all aspects of your life after consuming large amount of cheese bread.

            

Camp this morning went by so quickly, and the kids were more excited than ever. During the Roundup, there was a smile on every face, and kids were jumping and dancing everywhere! In Crafts, the kids got to color and design their own guitars. It was water day in Recreation, so they played Balloon Toss and Drip, Drip, Drop. In Man Land the meninos played tag games, and in Girl World the meninas made button bracelets.

            

Today is the day at camp when the gospel is presented to the kids. Please pray with us as we expect God to work in the lives of these kids and their families. Tomorrow night we will have a service where the parents are invited to come and see what we have been doing at camp. Pray that the families will be excited to come, that God would speak to them and that they would become involved in this church.

Ate lago!

-Haley

Caleb- loves being called “Chio Calebey”

Marney- When life gives you limes, make lemonade.

Haley- thinks the sky has to be more beautiful in Brazil than anywhere else in the world. Shout out to Mrs. Kitty and the Lincoln Monkeys!

Will- Happy birthday Daniel!

Born- ate “street food” for the first time ever and it was probably the best thing he has ever eaten. Alison, the cups are still a tease J

Kayla- thinks Brazilian mango ice cream is fantastic and loves doing the Cupid Shuffle with the meninas and meninos. ILY!

Ashlyn- “Let the glory of Your name be the passion of the church.”

KT- believes Mark ate so much pao de queijo because he misses McCall. Camp is going great!

Norma- The kids are so precious, even the one who bit KT in the stomach and played with his belly button

Brent- Oi Angela e Michael. Eu amo tanto de você e sinto saudades. O Programa de WinShape está indo muito bem - você gostaria de estar aqui! Deixe-me saber se você precisa de alguma coisa do Brasil

Kari- is enjoying the Brazilian food very much!

Mark- must be sweating pao de queijo because a kid chewed on his knuckle.

LB- Has a new favorite phrase…“Se esta na chuva, e para se molhar.” or “When it rains, get wet.”

Katie- is amazed at the differences but even more amazed by the similarities. Mardi Gras beads are everywhere!

Keenan- loves how God uses little things to remind him how great God is.

Nicole- enjoyed playing guitars with the kids in Art today!

Juliana- had a great birthday yesterday and is having an even greater birthday today!

Danielle- 1 John 4:4

Stephanie- enjoyed learning how to samba yesterday and loved taking pictures of the meninos and meninas today! Shout out to the family…love you guys!

Megan- It’s Wacky Wild Wednesday! Loves watching the campers try to do the Roundup J (CHIPPEWWWWWWWWAAAAAAA) James 1:27

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And it goes on and on and on...

Camp yesterday afternoon was just as good as camp in the morning.  After a two-hour break the campers began to show up.  We played soccer (fuitball) and four-square with them.  Communicating has been very easy.  The campers love to teach us words in Portuguese and we in turn teach them the English word.  Our Brazilian volunteers are doing a fantastic job teaching the campers in oficinas and small group time. There has been a lot of campers return from last year.  Marcos came last year and wore his Demais shirt.  He was called onto stage and recited the memory verse from last summer.  It was an incredible moment to see that the children remember what they learned.

After camp we drove back to Aqua Viva and ate an amazing dinner.  Dona Gon Gon was back to cook for us.  We were all extremely tired and went to bed early to get ready for the next day.

Breakfast was a great surprise.  When we woke up Dona Gon Gon had prepared her special pão de queijo, a cheesy bread Brazilians eat for breakfast and a morning snack.  It has been the best food I have had here, and that is saying something.

This morning we had twice as many campers as yesterday come.  It was great to see the old and new faces.  The Bible story today is about Jesus healing the blind man and the campers learned that God has an adventure for them.  In Man Land we made kool aid icees, rec played every kind of tag game you can think of, arts and crafts tie-died bandanas, and Girl World was filled with bubbles.

We now have a break for lunch while we wait for the second group of campers. I am sure this afternoon will be incredible just like the morning.

Born – Woke up to a pink sky after sleeping in a hammock last night.

Keenan – With all of Janie Byrd dancing, doing the round up, and helping with rec I think I’ve developed a new workout routine that I call C.A.M.P90X

Will – Pão de queijo!

Mark is being rocked by Brazilian people and culture and fattened by its foods.

Nicole has yellow hands for tie-dyeing today with children.

Katie – Bernie (Bruno) made a lot of friends today.

Megan is teaching English.

Kari loves being called Tia by the little ninas.

Mauricio – Peace up.  A town down.

Norma and Ken busted a move.

Juliana could round up all day long.

Danielle is jealous of Neil and Grabirel’s dance moves and hey Ruby.

Stephanie – round up is my new favorite dance and I like playing bubbles with the meninas.

LB – I like dancing.  Dancing’s my favorite.

Caleb – Will misses Katie.  It’s obvious.

Brent – Grateful for my time with Maurice G. yesterday.  Feels like I know him on a much deeper level.

Ashlyn – Kayla just got laughed at for saying butt in Portuguese.

Kayla loves being called tia! Currently being taught how to somba.

KT – Will is very grumpy today.  I think it might have something to do with Katie.  Please pray for him.

Haley is jealous that Caleb serenaded Will instead of her but understands because Will really misses Katie.

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“Yellow, Yellow, Amarello..."

Chime dois started the day bright and early this morning, ready for camp. We of course began our day with a declicioso breakfast, which included a new drink made of avocados. We packed up and loaded the bus ready for the bumpy, rollercoaster ride to Sao Sebastio.

We got to the church and prepared to meet the wonderful children coming to camp today. As the children came this morning we greeted them with nametags bracelets of the color of their teams. We enjoyed bonding over four square, Brazilian hand/foot games, and some futbol before starting grande grupo. Our friends Elena, Marnie, Mauricio, and Niel did a fabulous job getting the campers excited for the bible story and lesson for the day: “

As we lined up to head to oficinas cheers for our teams echoed in the church: “Azul e cor to seu, azul e cor to mar, azul e cor du chime que vai a ganar”, “Yellow, Yellow, Amarello”, “Un avion escrita que verde e campeon!”. We were excited to see the children getting into the spirit of camp. During oficinas our Brazilian teammates did a fantastico job!!! Jaiane got the campers creative minds going for arts and crafts, Andrea made Octopus and Hot Dog tag the funnest games around,  SuSu made the meninas feel beautiful as the made their headbands, and Niel had the boys making popcorn with a parachute.  We are so blessed to be working with such wonderful friends.

The children were excited to end the day with one final round up before heading to school. Their rock and roll silly bands made their way to their arms quickly, and they were so excited to see the different shapes. We are so excited to see them again in the morning!

Well, the children are beginning to arrive for the afternoon camp, so we better get up and ready for another fun camp session!

A te lago,

Nicole Riley

LB- enjoyed delivering presents to two children from last year. Valeria and Pedro say hi Jessica and Jon.

Kayla- another beautiful day in Brazil! She is enjoying giving her silly bands to the meninos and meninas. And to her family “te quiero mucho!”

Ashlyn- is excited about doing her secret handshake with Carlos again in the morning!

Born- drank the wrong water today.

Haley- didn’t realize how much she missed doing the round up!

Danielle- is in love with Marnie’s Brazilian sky.

Stephanie- Chime Verde, Chime Verde! She also liked making headbands with the meninas.

Megan- really liked hearing John Bieber’s performance last night (Marnie). THE CAMPERS ARE HERE!

Kari- thinks she loves the Brazilian mountains more than the Irish hills.

Caleb- thinks even on another continent camp is awesome!

KT- it was awesome seeing the campers from last year and to hear that they were still connected to this church a year later.

Norma- Brazil still makes her hair flip out.

Katie- trying to learn her colors in Portuguese, but the kids just laugh.

Mark- is deeply grateful.

Will- all the children laugh when I speak Portuguese.

Keenan-  loved doing rec with some fun Brazilians this morning.

Nicole (me)- loved meeting the children this morning and can’t wait to learn some more fun hand games from the girls.

Larissa- likes Round up.

Marnie-  Round up Rocks!

Brent – I have a hard time speaking with a translator… Rosetta Stone… Why have I abandoned you?

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SunDay FunDay

So today we trained. After a great breakfast of Brazilian fruits and bread, we started training for the “oficinas” or workshops that would happen during camp similar to “skills” or “tracks” at other WinShape Camps. We broke out into our different oficinas to learn the activities and teach the Brazilian volunteers how to lead them.  For lunch we had pork and beef ribs, rice and beans, Brazilian slaw, and a very special desert…

Today we commemorated the birthday of a great American leader and patriot. He needs no introduction but I will give him one anyway. He was elected SGA treasurer two terms in a row at Valdosta State University without submitting his name for the running. His vocal stylings have been compared to contemporary stalwarts such as Justin Timberlake and Aaron Carter. He is tied for the most social media accounts in the state of Georgia (he is winning in Brazil). His son is already predicted to win the Presidential election of 2040 (They are planning to change the age limit just for him).  He is a one-man-band, a venture capitalist, and an accomplished ventriloquist. Everybody’s favorite intellectual… Brent Fielder. To commemorate this day Chime Dois enjoyed a delicious chocolate and coconut cake after lunch.

After lunch the Brazilian volunteers took turns leading the different oficinas. Although we couldn’t understand anything, we all had a blast. They are going to do a great job. At the end of training LB presented our volunteers with diplomas signifying their graduation from “Oficina University.” With just a few minutes left before we needed to head to church at El Shaddai, our team practiced singing “God of this City” in Portuguese so that we could sing it in front of the congregation.

Church was a great experience. It made me remember what it was like to be a kid in big church. Because I couldn’t understand the sermon I was just sitting there twiddling my thumbs and making faces at the other counselors and kids next to me. Being with the Brazilians at church made me so excited about Monday and the first day of camp.  After church we headed to Pizzarte, a Brazilian pizzeria. They brought us out tons of pizza to try, even dessert pizza like chocolate and banana.  I have figured out I love Guarana and passion fruit juice, two traditional Brazilian drinks. After another crazy drive back to Agua Viva, it’s bedtime.

One more night’s rest until camp and we all definitely need it.

Caleb

Blurbs…

Keenan – Mark Lamb hit me in the face twice…with a ball at close range.

Haley – Loves chocolate pizza. Also, me and LB just found surprise letters from a really thoughtful friend, you know who you are. Thanks for the encouragement.

Born – Thinks Kayla is going to kill him by the end of this week.

LB – Loved presenting all the Brazilian volunteers with their first ever paper plate awards, seeing familiar faces at church tonight and is glad iPod Idol has made its way back into WSCIP Nation. ILU.

Stephanie – Got “chocolate and flowers,” ate Brazilian pizza, and doesn’t know all the words to Bieber’s “Baby.”

Kayla – Definitely got hit in the face by Caleb during Rec… with a ball.  He was in no way trying to cause me physical harm. But it’s all on camera.  Ready for día 1 of camp. Familia y friends: Te quiero mucho!

Megan – Loved seeing old friends at church tonight and might never be hungry again.

Ashlyn – Can’t wait to meet John Bieber, Justin Bieber’s dad.

Danielle – Ashley, I ate the heart of palm stuff and loved it, and is now a professional Portuguese singer.

Marney – Fill up my cup…Macintosh

Kari – Snuggled in a hammock while looking at the mountains and shout out to Pastor Frank and Sherri.

Lamb – Is only sunburned on the top of his feet and is enjoying the digital peace.

Marshall – Ate 6 different pizzas, all of which he’s never had.

Nicole – Looking forward to a good night’s sleep and waking up in the morning to meet the kiddos.

Katie – It’s a small world…I met a good friend of one of my favorite professors.

Brent – Hoping next year he and Michael can both celebrate their birthdays in Brazil (his fourth Brazilian Birthday and Michael’s first)

Larissa – Is glad Brent had a birthday today because she got to eat some really good cake.

Juliana – Proud to see her protégé, Mauricio, translate for Recreation training today.

KT  - Looking forward to seeing campers from last summer.

Norma – Crafts are ready to go and I am ready for camp.

John White -  U.S. bound

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