Back in the US

After over a total of 12 hours of traveling, the I360 team and myself have arrived safely back in the US! First of all, thank you for all your prayers and support in that area. The Lord did mighty work in Brazil, and He deserves all the glory. If it was not for Him, we would be nothing! I wish I would've had more options to post on my blog while in Brazil, but now that I'm back in the states, I have lots of time to update my blog. I'm going to pick up where I left off at the last post and write about everything up until the end! Pictures will be coming in a separate post as soon as I get them all organized!

So, as I look back on my previous blog entry, it looks like I left off around mid-January. I see I have a lot of catching up to do. From Wednesday, January 14th until Sunday, January 19th, we were at Palavra da Vida camp in Porto Alegre participating in the staff training with the Brazilian staff and counselors. Monday and Tuesday we headed to a local Baptist church during the day to do some painting on the interior of their church as well as some home visits with the pastor's wife. Tuesday night we put on a service for the Brazilian's living in that area. This service consisted of worship, in English and Portuguese, as well as a message, testimonies, and some wordless skits. After each day, we would commute back to the camp.

From Wednesday, January 21st to Sunday, January 25th, we went into the city of Porto Alegre to work with another church, this one was Lutheran. These days were filled with street evangelism as well as talking to those outside their homes about an evangelism night that our team was doing that Saturday. Us I360 students were completely responsible for the entire night. Again, this night consisted of music in both languages, a message, testimonies, and wordless skits. The unique thing about this night was that our team was able to learn and perform the skit to the Lifehouse song "Everything." We were able to perform this drama two other times during our time in Brazil, once for the camp and again at another evangelistic service. The Lord worked through this drama in incredible ways, ways that we could never have seen! Even in the little ways like allowing us to learn it in a matter of hours and also in providing props and costumes that added to the effect. As well as putting together the evangelistic service for Saturday, we were also responsible for doing their church service on Sunday, the next day. It looked very similar to the evangelistic night, and I was amazed that they had such trust in allowing a group of young adults to give their Sunday service. I gave my testimony that Sunday morning. That was the first time I gave my full testimony in Brazil, but it certainly would not be the last.

After the 5 days of working with this church, we headed back to Palavra da Vida Sunday night. Monday the 25th was a time for us to sleep-in and recuperate and also help the counselors clean the camp and get it ready for the teen campers that arrive the next day. Here's where the fun starts. We worked alongside the staff, counselors, and campers for the rest of the week. We stayed in the cabins with them, ate with them, attended sessions with them, and also did various activities throughout the day with them. The majority of those activities were sports related, more specifically futbol (US soccer). The Brazilians are amazing at soccer. I didn't meet a single on that wasn't. And I have to say that I'm proud to have played right beside them, and they actually kept asking me to play, even though I felt I was terrible. I did get some good plays in, mostly in defense. My eye-foot coordination is not up to par! And I've never played soccer before. There was one day when we played Brazilians vs. Americans. There were about 5 of us Americans and 2 Brazilians on one team as we played a few games against 7 Brazilians. We won only one game, but we did have a little help from the "experts."

One of the main reasons for us being at the camp that week was to be the speakers for their morning sessions. 6 of us I360 students were able to give a 30-50 minute talk, plus we all were able to share our testimony. I didn't know we were going to having this many speaking opportunities, but I enjoyed it! Through these speaking times, I felt the Lord confirming to me that I am to be a teacher! I was the first one to speak on Wednesday morning. I was able to incorporate a lot of my personal story as well as the Word to speak about running, one of my favorite topics! I compared running/athletic activities to the Christian walk (the compete talk is posted also). The focus was on not just saying that you're a Christian but really living it out in order that others may be won to the Lord. Kind of like "walk the walk."

The other talks were really great too! Everyone who spoke was able to talk about something that was in close to their heart. Katlynne spoke Thursday morning about honoring your parents. Friday morning, Mark spoke to the guys about the heart of a man, and Corinne spoke to the girls about true beauty. Tiffany and Josh split the Saturday morning message that was about being a generation that seeks the Lord and what the characteristics of that generation look like. One of my favorite aspects of the camp was the worship during each session. The lyrics were all in Portuguese of course, but most of the of the songs were all songs that we new in English too. So the praises that were lifted to the Lord were in multiple tongues. I'm so thankful we serve a God not limited by language.

Sunday morning, February 1st, we left the camp and headed to the airport to fly to Sao Paulo. The other team took a bus from Bauru and met us at a hotel later that afternoon in downtown. We had dinner together and then went to the church where our interpreters for the ministry in Aracaiba that week were from. The next night, after sleeping in and regaining our strength and energy, we left around mid-night to drive the 6 hour drive through the night to the very poor area in Brazil. Even though we arrived in Aracaiba at 6 in the morning, we were quickly out in the streets doing home visits and evangelism. The same thing was done the next day in a poorer town about an hour away. Both nights a service was put on by us, as well as a program for the children earlier in the afternoon.

During the 4 different times that we went out to do home visits, I learned that I had to rely on God to give me words to speak and the strength I needed. Tuesday morning, Katlynne and I were able to pray for a woman who was suffering from depression and compulsive overeating. Both of us were able to share portions of our testimonies because they were so like hers. That afternoon, we had the special privilege of praying with a woman to receive Christ. Our interpreter did most of the sharing, but Alex was able to give his testimony. The joy on her face after receiving Christ was precious. She couldn't stop smiling!

Wednesday morning, the weather that was once beautiful and sunny, turned to cold and rainy. I had to fight against and attitude of complaining. We found ponchos and went anyways! It cleared up around mid-morning, but what happened that afternoon made getting wet all worth while! The last house Mark, Katlynne, our interpreters and I went to was the home of an 18 year old boy. He could go to work on the farm that morning because of the rain, and his bike broke so he just had to stay home, that's the Lord working! If I'm honest, I have to say that I was very worn out by this time. I felt emotionally and mentally tired and very spiritually dry. I told my team that I would be praying, but I didn't know if I had anything to give in the area of talking. However, I soon learned that God uses my weakness to manifest his strength. The boy was Catholic, and he had attended church all his life, even played guitar on Sunday mornings. Mark started right in on sharing the gospel with him and after about 15 minutes or so, I felt very impressed to share the Ephesians 8 verse that says we're saved by grace and not works. I had him read this verse out loud and after he read it I asked him if he had ever read this verse; his answer was no. He had never been presented the clear gospel before either. After talking with him for about an hour, he said he wanted to receive Christ. Here's the cool part, I don't remember much of what I shared, but I do know that it wasn't me talking. It was completely the Lord using me. It was ALL God speaking! I learned a big lesson that day in relying on God.

We headed back to Sao Paulo the afternoon of the 5th, after spending that morning hiking through the "jungle" to see a very beautiful waterfall. That night was spent at a hotel and our flight left at 11pm the night of the 6th. We arrived in Atlanta around 5:30am the next morning and were met by the I360 staff and Chick-fil-A sandwiches for breakfast!

If I could summarized my 4-week experience in Brazil, I would say that it was complete reliance on God. In was tested in many aspects, but I would trade those experiences and lessons that I learned for anything! I enjoyed being totally submersed in a different culture for a month, but I am glad to be back home. Thank you to everyone who supported me financially and in constant prayer. Thank you for allowing God to use you in that way.