Greetings from Brazil! It sure has been a long time since I've written one of these things! I apologize for the laziness. I sure have been busy though! I'll try to let you in on as much as I can! This has sure been an adventure so far! Many, many ups and downs. As a Christian in America, most of us never really think about not being able to communicate and what that does to your spiritual health. It can get really tough! I have made a huge attempt to listen to at least one sermon a day from a solid pastor. Usually I listen to one while I run and then another for my devotions. It has really helped my Bible study. Listening to Paul Washer, Mark Driscoll and John Piper have ignited my heart with a thirst for the Bible unlike any other time in my life. I had to make the choice to either wallow in despare because there is limited chance to learn spripture and thus losng my grip on my joy for God, or wash myself in sound teaching and Biblical truth. It still has been a struggle though. Busyness can deter anyone from drinking living water. Meditating on maybe just one Biblical truth or a Bible verse throughout the day has helped me so much.
I'll let you in on a few of the hightlights of the past month.
I went to the park in nearby Porto Alegre to play some basketball. I didn't know what to expect but was surprised by a couple of fellows that spoke English! We eventually got a game of 5-on-5 going. It was really fun to play ball again. One of the guys I met is not a Christian for sure and I really hope to share the gospel with him next time I see him Lord-willing!
I had the pleasure of meeting some church member's son one evening at their house named Samuel. He speaks fluent English and was really excited to talk with me supposedly. We hit it off pretty much from the start. The day after he took me to my first pro soccer game! We went to watch Internacional. There are two pro teams in Porto Alegre. The rivalry is much like Cubs-White Sox or Auburn-Alabama in football. One team is Internacional and the other is Gremio. And everyone in the surrounding cities is a die-hard fan of one of them. I am still not sure which team I like. Many people have tried bribing me in a certain direction but neither has succeeded yet. Either way, it was really fun to spend time with Samuel and watch a pretty exciting game (4 goals in the first 15 minutes!)
Basketball coaching is going really well. I have been blessed with a helper named Gabriel who translates and helps a lot with coaching. Hopefully he will take over full coaching responsibilities when I leave. Three weeks ago I had the opportunity to share the gospel with them. I wrote it out, had it translated, and then Gabriel read it to the team. I pray that seeds were planted. There were about 20 kids there. Just this last Saturday, we had our first official game. We didn't have anyone to play this time so we played against ourselves. It was still really fun. I reffed and coached at the same time while Tom ran the scoreboard. After the game, we had the team over to his house for a soccer game. Including the church kids, 30 people showed up. After the game, I was able to share my testimony to all of them. Again, I pray that seeds were planted or watered. This nation needs Godly men and women. I have been told that 80% of married men cheat on their wives. And the wives tolerate it. It has turned into part of the culture. Blows me away!
I recently started teaching English to a man named Junior. Yes, that's his real name! He is studying to be a flight attendent and would like to be a more desirable applicant when he starts applying for jobs. He is a Christian guy and we have had some good conversation on what we believe. We can't go too in depth because of the limitations on communication but nevertheless they have been encouraging! We study three days a week for an hour and a half each time. He is steadily getting better and better. I can't wait to see how much he has improved by the time I leave!
Many of you know I like to run for exercise. Recently I had been discouraged on the lack of evangelism I was doing. So I brainstormed a bit and had an idea. While on my runs, I could pass out gospel tracts to the numerous people I see on the road or at bus stops. I usually try to pass out around 20 before I stop running. Sometimes the miles really rack up! Please pray for those people that recieve them and for me to stay fired up to run!
This Sunday Lord-willing I will be singing a special number at church. How Deep the Father's Love. I am taking a big step of faith by doing this! I haven't performed any song in front of anything but my steering wheel so I suppose I'll be nervous! Please pray for that!
One last thing! I was approached my Tom's son Shane about going on a missions trip to the slums of Argentina in 3 weeks to teach basketball and help share Christ with the neighboring Argentinians for a week. I immediatly said that I was on board for the trip. But there was a catch. It costs about $90.00 for me to go along to cover expenses. Please pray that I can raise the money. If it isn't in God's plan, I'm alright. I can still fill my time with other things. But boy! That would be a great experience!
That is all for tonight! I'll try to keep up with this a little better! It has been tough with the amount of time in the day!
A couple more prayer requests:
-Please pray for my girlfriend Becky. She has been nothing but supportive, understanding and patient with me throughout these first few months. It gets tough sometimes for her though. Pray that she, as Hebrews 12:1-2 says, "...let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith..."
-Pray for my family also. They are such a great encouragement to me with how faithful they are to the Lord and to me.
PS Sorry about any words that aren't spelled correctly. The spell check won't work for me!
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| Laurissa, Andressa, Ezeikial and I about to eat the biggest hotdog ever! There are 3 hotdogs and 3 fried eggs in each of those buns. Never has my stomach hurt so bad! Delicious! |
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| Part of my basketball team after our game. |
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| The big group that showed up to play soccer at Tom's house after our basketball game! (This is the group that I shared my testimony to.) |
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| You can see Ezekiel and Andressa on the right. The others are Ezekials's parents and grandparents. Great family! |
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| My first ride on a horse comes in Brazil! |
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| I'm dressed up in native Brazilian gear about to take a bite out of a sugarcane. |
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| Eziekial's extended family. I took a day and hung out with them. |
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| I float in the parade in Gravatai. It was the states independence day last Tuesday. The state independence day is much bigger for them then the national independence day. |
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| Tom's son Shane (right) and his son Gabriel (left) playing Xbox Kinect at Gabriel's birthday party. |
