Hi HFBC Family!

I just learned that by blog is being featured in this weeks E-Newsletter! Wow, what a blessing that so many will get to learn of God's work down here this way. Thanks to friends whom I love that are dropping by here for the latest...and to those of you that I don't (yet) know...for your support!

Please note that I do not have internet at home and pay by the minute in often noisy venues, so the quality of writing may not be the best. Please excuse and enjoy!!

"Now I Live to Bring Him Praise"

Last night I was invited to sing "None But Jesus" in English during the youth's band rehearsal. The music was so loud that I could not hear myself and just knew I was singing off key. Indeed, I found out that I had been. You know? That's very humbling, but I am thankful for every opportunity I get to be humbled. Next time I sing here it may be the same situation, but I will remind myself to worship instead of worry about my pitch, so at least God will be praised regardless of how it sounds. From years of singing solos I have discovered a unique occurance. When my heart is focused on worship, God annoints the song and touches hearts. When I am thinking about my own nerves, or wanting to sound good it usually flops. I'm so thankful for this because God will not allow me to sing for my own glory, but only His! Hallelujah!

"Cheeseboogie"

Regina, the hostess of last night's small group.


The land that Patti & Georgia's church is about
to build a bigger sanctuary on.

I've been in Rio with Patti (formerly of HFBC) and Georgia since Monday. I will be here for 2 weeks total. I have been to 3 small groups, youth band rehearsal and Bible Study, morning prayer meeting at the church, errands around downtown to work out document details related to the new sanctuary they are building, and a fine arts museum.

I am enjoying the fellowship of both of these sisters in Christ and all of their wonderful church members and friends! I am starting to understand Portuguese much better and can generally follow along in small group discussions. The dialect of people here in Rio is much different from that of Salvador, so I am thankful to be exposed to both. Georgia has begun to speak to me in Portuguese and then translating for herself in English while we are out on errands. Last night I got a silly bug at the cash register of McDonalds and just could not stop laughing histerically long enough to say I would like a "cheeseboogie". I was kinda embarrassed but made everyone around me laugh too. Did I mention we had dinner at 11pm last night? Our schedule often ends around midnight so dinner can often be very late.

Yesterday Georgia told me all of the details of how they surveyed the neighborhood to find unbelievers 10 years ago. Patti and Georgia drew the roads and marked the houses where unbelievers lived and then returned time and again to those who welcomed them. The first meetings, in 1998, began on a plastic tarp in a street where they invited people on a loud speaker (they use these for everything around here).

As I meet their friends and church members, Georgia often tells me the persons testimony too. Most are new believers and have had extreme life transformation since meeting Jesus Christ! These gals spend all of their time discipling people, and God is showing me the bundles of eternal fruit that are produced by His Spirit through lives that are not spent on self.

I look back over my last year or two, and though I did many good things, I am so sad about how much time I spent on myself "having fun" when there is truely no greater fun than denying yourself on behalf of others' souls. I keenly remember the new believers, unbelievers, and desperate believers I could have easily made time to impact with the truth of God's word...but instead I had "fun"(and it was only fun for a moment and then over). I'm not feeling guilty, just letting myself be changed! Praise be to God! I also keenly remember those of my friends who were not at everything because they were recharging or ministering somewhere else. I am so thankful for their example and commitment even though often left out of inside jokes.

Quilombos/Conversations Everywhere I Go

I have not gone to a Quilombo yet (besides the 3 in the Amazon region) because I was sick and am now on my way to Rio. The Jefferson´s took a short trip with 2 men from Virginia that I could not go on. We have prayed together for them, and my heart flutters with excitement when I get reports each night from the interior (by cell phone!). I have started some Excel spreadsheet templates that will aid in the organization of future trips and tracking of new found villages and their needs.

I´m amazed by the conversations that have materialized at the most unexpected times and places. My first night in Salvador, before I´d even seen my apartment, we stopped by an internet cafe and while I waited for the Jefferson´s to contact their girls in the States some young teens and a little boy approached me for "conversation". I had the grandest time trying to communicate with them, and just sharing Christ´s love in deed. We exchanged email address´and I gave them each a track in Portuguese...and this is how it goes quite often these days.
God brings the people. God provides the love. God redeems through Jesus Christ...may this message go forth through me! This week I have been having honest conversations with the Lord about how inadequate I feel, and how rusty on sharing the gospel I had become this last year or so. I am asking Him to make me bold and discerning so that when really cool opportunities keep coming I will see His love for these people and His power when I am simply obedient...though sometimes scared. :-)

I Love Brazil!

Being emersed in a language is truly a wonderful way to learn it. The Jefferson´s have encouraged me to mimic everything I hear and just repeat, repeat, repeat. Everytime we are in the car I am learning Portuguese words and phrases. I have a Portuguese teacher and began lessons with her last week. My first one was 4 hours and not boring for a second. I also have a guitar teacher who is a college student and proficient in 13 instruments. He is also teaching me the culture and slang from a young, native Brazilian´s perspective. Both teachers go to my church and will likely become friends!

I go on a downhill walk every morning to exercise, pray, and observe culture in the raw. I discovered that the ocean is only 15 minutes away on foot! Never having lived near the ocean I am discovering a new and powerful love. The houses are made of concrete and would be considered condemned in the States. You would probably consider the city very worn and dirty (though it has it's nice spots too) but that is the culture and charm of this place.


Two views from my morning walks in Salvador


The people are SO warm and I love greating people with a kiss on each cheek! Our church is pretty large (about a thousand I guess) and the pastor made me stand up so he could tell everyone about me on my first Sunday there. I was greeted by many after church (the Jefferson´s are dearly loved) and loved that they tried to speak to me in English. The worship music sounded like it was from a jazz club, and that Sunday I also began learning a lot of Brazilian sign language through watching interpreters, talking to bag boys in grocery stores (most of them are deaf!), and asking a gal from church for help. Praise the Lord! I did not know that my sign language would come in handy here!

A few nights ago I sang at a very small church an hour and a half away. The congregation sang along in Portuguese as I sang Agnus Dei in English and ASL (sign language). I felt like I was in heaven ("ceu" in Portuguese) for a moment...but there it will be even more beautiful!

So Sick :-(

My flight from the Amazon region to Salvador went up and down, up and down. It really messed my body up and I had a migraine with severe motion sickness for a full week. That combined with sleepless nights due to bed bugs got me off to a less than fun start, but the Lord gave me great joy as He reminded me to praise Him all the way through! I must say that the week was delightful because of my fellowship with the Lord through the pain and discouragement. The Jefferson´s had to spend much of their time catering to me that week, and bought me every anti-mite wash/ointment/pill they could find. We also got some interesting home remedies from their Brazilian friends (drinking milk with salt!), and ironed my bed! I ended up going to the hospital for some professional advice and medication and started to feel better after a shot. I am so very grateful for the Jefferson´s selfless care for me. Deborah kept telling me "Girl, your body needs to adjust! Every missionary goes through this!"

Some locals told me that the bedbugs were actually a tropical mite that are microscopic and float around in the air...especially bad at 5pm each day. I scratched and scratched and scratched and took many showers a day/night just for the short relief I would get. Low and behold I discovered that it was actually allergies that cause me to feel creepy crawlies all over my body. Now on allergy medicine and using a natural saline solution in my sinus I am ok! This solution was only found after I decided to tell some people and ask for prayer for a solution! Glory to God!

Book about Jim Elliot

Since my apartment is owned by the International Mission Board and serves as storage for many missionaries in the area, the wall-sized bookcase in my room is FULL of missions related books that have gathered there over the years. This week I pulled a few that most interested me. I started with one called "Jim Elliot--Missionary to Ecuador" and have to make myself put it down. Most of you know that Jim was killed by the indiginous people that he had prepared something like 10 years to find, develop a written language for, and share the gospel with. Reading about all of his preparation and difficult conversations with the Lord in his journals have hit such a cord in my heart right now. I too know a deep love for a people who have not heard the gospel, and I have yet to meet. He really was a religious punk, though with a true heart to follow and serve God, until he matured after college. He struggled for 5 years with the fact that he was in love with a friend named Elisabeth but had promised God to serve in the jungles, single for his entire life. Tears stream down my face as I read of his love for her, trumped by his love for God and the genuine struggle therein. I am learning a lot about preparations for the mission field through the actions of he and his friends/teammates and am praying about some steps I may need to take. I´m praising the Lord for the timing and effect of this book!

Apology and Trip to Rio

Sorry (Desculpa)
Well friends I need to apologize for promising to blog often while stateside and then posting pretty much nothing these last 4 weeks in Brazil. I was IMing my Mom last night and just confessing that there the amount of things I want to blog about are so many that I have been intimidated and silent in blog world. But things change tonight.

I will start with today and work backwards. Dear ones the Lord is teaching me so much, and I can not say thanks enough.

Going to Rio in the Morning (Monday)
I have been alone for 4 days and will be happy to join Patti and Georgia, missionaries in Rio De Janeiro, tomorrow morning! For the first 2.5 days I SO enjoyed the freedom to spend hours exploring a grocery store, a mall, and my neighborhood...talking to strangers in English and Portuguese everywhere I went, reading and journaling...but NOW I am SO ready to join others of like mind for some fellowship on a heart level. Patti is from HFBC in Houston and Georgia is her Brazilian roommate and partner in ministry. I met Patti 4 years ago when she was speaking in Beth Moore´s Sunday School class. It is the first time I ever heard anything about Brazil and as she told us of the fruit that God was producing in Brazil I sat there with tears streaming down my face. We have emailed back and forth a lot and I have been impressed and humbled by their enthusiasm to warmly welcome me as a sister to join in their work for 2 weeks. I decided to go to Rio because the Jefferson´s needed to return to the US for 2 weeks.

The Amazon Mission Trip

Our Houston team of 13 met for 3 hours every Tuesday night for 3 months to prepare. We learned the 15 key events of the Bible in chronological story form, gathered hundreds of flip flops, first aid kits, bottles of nail polish and hygiene items, and practiced our testimonies with a Portuguese interpreter.

In Brazil we boarded a boat on which we’d call hammocks “beds” and set out down the Amazon River to three newly found villages. In each village we searched for homes and invited people to gather with us later that day. When a group formed we broke the ice with songs, games, and attempts at small talk and then spent hours with them each day laughing, telling the Bible stories as one big event from ‘God’s Book”, sharing our testimonies, singing songs in Portuguese, watching the Jesus film, and then watching God call individuals into His family forever!

I was amazed at the response of the men in the first village. After receiving Christ they followed us down the river to villages 2 and 3 to hear more. One morning, after someone had just told about Jesus’ power to heal and forgive sins, women in the crowd started asking to pray right then. We agreed and everyone with a need stepped forward for prayer (We made sure to tell them that they could pray at anytime...not just when we were there). One bright young man who’d stood out to all of us said “pray that God will clean my heart”.

Amazon Mission Trip

The HFBC trip to the Amazon was amazing! I will post more pictures and write some things very soon. My internet access is very limited and every time I come onto my blog I have to get offline. I will add some things in the next few days for sure!! Thanks for your patience and so many emails of encouragement! I have been in my home city for 4 days and I am glad to be here at last! My heart misses home and my body misses caffeine and milk, but the Jefferson's are taking great care of me. The Lord is my Father and Friend and is being totally faithful to me...as expected!! I am singing in English, Portuguese, and Sign Language at one church this Sunday, and at another on Wednesday. Please pray that the Lord will minister to His people through my voice and hands! Love you all!!!