Brasil Part II!
Ok people I'm not in so much of a rush and have less to cover this time so I should do way better. :) Yesterday we had a fun day and went to the beach. It is this really beautiful one that we will go to when we come here in March called Ipojuca. The water was sooo clear, you could see your feet through it. We took the little boy they adopted with us. He is so cute and had the best time at the beach. The beaches have a lot of vendors that just walk right up to you in your chair and try to sell you stuff. You have to tell them no thank you a million times to get them to leave you alone. Back to that whole customer service thing I mentioned before. :) ha.
When we got back from the beach we went to another buffet type place in Boa Viagem which is a nicer area of Recife. They bring the meat around to the table and if you want it, they cut you off a slice. That was different but there was this one type of meat that was amazing, really really good. I ate so much of it and Kev's that was leftover and Rich's that was leftover. It was pretty sad but I could put that stuff away. Then we drove down through town along the beach. It's weird to be in one area of Recife that is so nice and then be in another area just a ways down that is so dramatically different.
Today, we woke up to no electricity because of some car accident. So that meant a cold shower, not just a lukewarm one. After that we went to Hiber, which is kinda like Wal-mart.
This afternoon we had an appointment to meet up with Pastor Altair and his wife Viviane at the seminary. Rich is training his leadership to hopefully start new churches and we planned on talking to him about possibly ministering alongside him in his town called Pombos (that means pigeon). It is located in the agreste (that is the "fertile farm land" in the hills outside of Recife). Altair and his wife commute between Recife where her job is (good jobs are few and far between as i have mentioned before) and her husband travels to his church in Pombos and stays there for about 4 days a week or more to serve at the church. This man has an exciting vision for his town. As we drove through he pointed out different areas and different ages or people and mentioned the ideas he had to start ministering to these people. He also wants to start other churches and Rich is helping him to do that. They have already started several other house churches and want to start 22 more. How exciting is that? On the down side, the two main problems in the town are prostitution and homosexuality. He said the girls start as early as 9 or 10 years old, that's younger than ANYBODY in Fusion. Let me tell you, it is sad to drive through a town and wonder everytime you see a little girl how old she might be and what might be in store for her or what she has already experienced. It broke my heart. Viviane, the pastor's wife, is so sweet but one thing you will experience as I did tonight is how frustrating it is when you soooo badly want to communicate with someone and you can't. We tried on our own for a while but then we had to drag Rich in to translate. Oh, this is random but one thing I've never seen before is a bathroom that combines the toilet and the shower, no divider, a drain in the middle and the room itself is as big as a closet. Rich said that was very common. The church has about 15 girls that make up a dance team and they performed for us. They did a great job and I got some pictures. They are excited about the possibility of you all coming next year. Oh and another weird thing, right beside the hospitals they have places that sell coffins. I didn't take a picture of one but I'll try if I see it again. The coffins are just leaning against the wall in the stores and they sell them right beside the hospitals, I guess for easy access. But, I think you have to bury people within 48 hours around here anyway soooo...
Once again it was very interesting and sad at the same time. Even the best houses aren't what you would expect and you can imagine what that means about the houses that aren't that great. We gave out more pencils (start collecting pencils to bring with us next year or just buying packs of them, there will never be enough) and took another million pictures. Ohhh, funny story...I have a million pictures of kids and I saw this older lady and man and asked Rich to see if they would let me take their picture. Altair went with me and explained to the older lady the deal. She was cooperative and took the picture. Then we went down the road to take the picture of the older man and here comes this little old lady, RUNNING (well as fast as old ladies go), to get in the picture with him. It was so funny. I've seen the little kids do that but not adults and especially not grandmas. I really laughed hard.
Ohhh, ok this is getting to be seriously long. Awww just like my stories. :) haha, ok, well, I miss you guys and hope this stuff gives you a good idea of what is going on here and what you are going to be getting yourself into. The opportunities are staggering. There is so much to do and not enough, time, money or people to do it. That is the coolest thing. Rich's goal is not to do everything himself but to train the brazilians to reach each other. It is very exciting and cool we can take part in that goal. It also sounds very familiar to what we are trying to accomplish in our own church and in Fusion. I know you will love it. Kev and I do and can't wait to come back and share everything with you and bring you guys back here. We love you and miss you!
When we got back from the beach we went to another buffet type place in Boa Viagem which is a nicer area of Recife. They bring the meat around to the table and if you want it, they cut you off a slice. That was different but there was this one type of meat that was amazing, really really good. I ate so much of it and Kev's that was leftover and Rich's that was leftover. It was pretty sad but I could put that stuff away. Then we drove down through town along the beach. It's weird to be in one area of Recife that is so nice and then be in another area just a ways down that is so dramatically different.
Today, we woke up to no electricity because of some car accident. So that meant a cold shower, not just a lukewarm one. After that we went to Hiber, which is kinda like Wal-mart.
This afternoon we had an appointment to meet up with Pastor Altair and his wife Viviane at the seminary. Rich is training his leadership to hopefully start new churches and we planned on talking to him about possibly ministering alongside him in his town called Pombos (that means pigeon). It is located in the agreste (that is the "fertile farm land" in the hills outside of Recife). Altair and his wife commute between Recife where her job is (good jobs are few and far between as i have mentioned before) and her husband travels to his church in Pombos and stays there for about 4 days a week or more to serve at the church. This man has an exciting vision for his town. As we drove through he pointed out different areas and different ages or people and mentioned the ideas he had to start ministering to these people. He also wants to start other churches and Rich is helping him to do that. They have already started several other house churches and want to start 22 more. How exciting is that? On the down side, the two main problems in the town are prostitution and homosexuality. He said the girls start as early as 9 or 10 years old, that's younger than ANYBODY in Fusion. Let me tell you, it is sad to drive through a town and wonder everytime you see a little girl how old she might be and what might be in store for her or what she has already experienced. It broke my heart. Viviane, the pastor's wife, is so sweet but one thing you will experience as I did tonight is how frustrating it is when you soooo badly want to communicate with someone and you can't. We tried on our own for a while but then we had to drag Rich in to translate. Oh, this is random but one thing I've never seen before is a bathroom that combines the toilet and the shower, no divider, a drain in the middle and the room itself is as big as a closet. Rich said that was very common. The church has about 15 girls that make up a dance team and they performed for us. They did a great job and I got some pictures. They are excited about the possibility of you all coming next year. Oh and another weird thing, right beside the hospitals they have places that sell coffins. I didn't take a picture of one but I'll try if I see it again. The coffins are just leaning against the wall in the stores and they sell them right beside the hospitals, I guess for easy access. But, I think you have to bury people within 48 hours around here anyway soooo...
Once again it was very interesting and sad at the same time. Even the best houses aren't what you would expect and you can imagine what that means about the houses that aren't that great. We gave out more pencils (start collecting pencils to bring with us next year or just buying packs of them, there will never be enough) and took another million pictures. Ohhh, funny story...I have a million pictures of kids and I saw this older lady and man and asked Rich to see if they would let me take their picture. Altair went with me and explained to the older lady the deal. She was cooperative and took the picture. Then we went down the road to take the picture of the older man and here comes this little old lady, RUNNING (well as fast as old ladies go), to get in the picture with him. It was so funny. I've seen the little kids do that but not adults and especially not grandmas. I really laughed hard.
Ohhh, ok this is getting to be seriously long. Awww just like my stories. :) haha, ok, well, I miss you guys and hope this stuff gives you a good idea of what is going on here and what you are going to be getting yourself into. The opportunities are staggering. There is so much to do and not enough, time, money or people to do it. That is the coolest thing. Rich's goal is not to do everything himself but to train the brazilians to reach each other. It is very exciting and cool we can take part in that goal. It also sounds very familiar to what we are trying to accomplish in our own church and in Fusion. I know you will love it. Kev and I do and can't wait to come back and share everything with you and bring you guys back here. We love you and miss you!