Once upon a time there was a team far far away from home in a land known as Brazil. In this land there are many meninas and meninos who did not know the excitement they were about to face.
Yesterday afternoon we had the privilege of having 78 campers join us for Demais! Every team was packed to the max! I can’t think of any experience that tops the sound of Portuguese speaking children yelling for their team color. Not sure about the precise number for the other teams but vermelho had 32 kids. Mrs. Trudy and I (Jessica) had our hands full. First thought that popped in my head was how are we going to control so many kids? But they were so well behaved and we all had a great time! Many of the children have asked some of the team members to help them learn English. One way the campers communicate with the tias and tios (WinShape Team) is to point and use gestures. A laugh and a funny look usually follow when we repeat their language. For example, Arthur, a member of the red team, wanted to know the “ingles” word for “Deus” which is God in Portuguese. Even though the team is slowly learning common words in Portuguese, this particular experience was a reminder that we are here for one purpose and one purpose only, to share the love of Christ to children and volunteers of a different language.
Aside from camp we enjoyed a night of adventure at Agua Viva. Everything in Brazil is jumbo sized. For instance, their frogs could eat the entire team in one slurp. Mrs. Trudy showed us her quickness when the jumbo frog made a move towards her. We discovered poisonous spiders hanging from trees (don’t worry moms we stayed far away). Walking down the roads of Agua Viva are flowing red lines created by the gynormous ants. Marching through the grass kept them from hanging onto our shoes. During our extravaganzas Andre was able to find our lost keys. On a more serious note we had tons to talk about during debrief time of how God showed up and showed off on Day 2 of Demais.
This morning the teams slept in and left for the day at 6:15 AM (4:15 AM in Georgia and 3:15 in Alabama). Traffic delayed us a bit but as we stepped off the bus kids from yesterday morning greeted us with a huge smile, hugs, and a “bom dia!” Our Portuguese is growing and growing daily. Some activities of the day included Spider-tag, lemon-lime soda, decorating cookies in “Mundos de Meninas” (Girl World). Our Brazilian friends were confident in their lessons and did an amazing job!
J.D. (Dukey)- Having fun making lemonade and seeing kids with sour faces and is sweating like a man
Brandon- Thinks kids drinking lemon juice is funny on ANY continent
Josh- O cuel e tao lindo do Brazil
Speedy- enjoyed another day at camp. The Brazilian kids have as much energy as the American kids. Hi AG and Darrell!
Chris- Hopes Richard remembers cheesy bread and hopes he likes my Mohawk
Born-Does not like being in the bathroom with Edson and Chris.
Brent- Fala munto Portuguese
Haley- is following in Corley’s footsteps and has said “nao intende” every five seconds.
Julie- having fun at camp. The cupid shuffle is international. Thanks to Grandmama for keeping AG and Darrell.
Mrs. Trudy- has better reflexes than anyone on the team
Pastor John- is officially the best translator
Alison- wishes she had her digital SLR camera. My photo teacher would be so amazed.
Mae- looks like a splatter painted canvas
Angela (Ruby)- is learning to pray BIG and is excited to see how God is answering.
Melodie- her day was made after receiving a big hug from Richard and watching Misael open a special letter and thinks God’s creation is unexplainable.
Ana Jane- finally saw the southern cross. Hope you guys are having fun in PCB I LOVE YOU
Chelsea-“ you only get to run in Brazil once”
Mallory- the starts are so much brighter in Brazil
Jessica (Me)- Excited to see Team VERLMEHO and learn new words and phrases from Arthur. Shoutout to my roomie and suitemates!
It is our 4th day in Brazil! What a beautiful day at Boas Novas Ingreja Baptista.
11 comments:
Glad to hear the trip is going so good. I know that God is going to use everyone of you guys. We are praying for you. Take lots of pictures Jessica. I cannot wait to see each and everyone of them and the stories behind each one. Take care Team 2 and we miss you so much Jessica.
Love you and we are so proud of you
Mama Daddy Jake and Josh.
Make sure to enjoy the food there...coming back to the USA and eating Subway and other fast food for lunch is not as good as Donna GonGon's food. Enjoy it while you have it. Guava is the best fruit... there isn't any here either. Mom watch out for the frogs...Dad how are the Arts and Crafts going? Brent...hurry back, I need a back up on Mocha--uncontrollable at times.
We are praying for you daily and can't wait to hear the all the exciting things God is teaching you!
The Trammells
Mel:
Guaaaaaaatannnaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!
Trudy: 5+2 = haviannas
Every one: So proud and so excited for the biggest IP ever!!!
So awesome you saw the Southern Cross! Try to get a picture if you can! We're still having fun! Love you, Precious Annie Maulde.
Mom
Chris,
MOHAWK ?????????????
Miss you and I am praying for you and your team.
Love, Mom :)
Sounds to me like Haley and Corley have a lot in common. :) Blessing to all of you and the work you are doing.
Aunt Pam
So from the sound of things it appears Richard has stolen the hearts of the his second American team... that kid is good.
JD and Brandon, how did the lime soda go? It was Marney's FAVORITE day last week. I hope you made sure to add water to the soda... JC and KT forgot that part of the receipe the first time they made it. You should have seen the kid's faces.
Ruby, praying for you as you continue to lead your team. I know that you're doing an amazing job and I can't wait to hear how things went.
Trudy, I thought Marney was the one who was scared of frogs. I guess she has a friend in that too.
I shared this with my team, but this is my prayer for Team 2 as you continue in your work:
"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughtout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Eph. 3:17-21
Praying that God shows up BIG!
Jimmy
Oi Time Dois!
Hearing the sweet stories of how much the Lord is working through each of you makes my heart SORRISO GRANDE! The pointing "in ingles, in portuguese" conversations are always a hit! I had a little menina think that the English word for teeth was hilarious one day! :)
Thankful for each of you and missing Marney's big sky! Keeping shining for Jesus!
GO GURL WURLD! <3
Jess - I like shout outs. And I wore your shoes today.
Praying for all of you Team 2!
I wanted to second angela with her comment on the food. Just that sunday hit me so hard that I had to make my way to another gallo pinto country or like we said there aros con fojon. Get ready for a beautiful friday, I am praying for you.
ps did speedy tried the ashenut hot dogs?? and Mae from your blog what is going on?? miss u though. and J-Dizzle I wanted to let u know that I also enjoyed the expression on the kids face after that awesome lime juice. haha keep up the good work and you might get hire in the KC company. the infamous KT and JC lime store haha
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