Week 1

It has now been a week since I closed the car door, left campus, and headed into an adventure for the summer. I am now here in Brazil, back in the town of Paraguai where I spent almost ten years before heading back to the US.

It has been wonderful to see that even though I have been gone for three years, there are something that never change. Want a real-life example? Well, Jared still has some trouble smiling for pictures... =)

At church this past Sunday, I couldn't believe how much some of the kids at church have grown: I seriously had to ask Melissa who some of them were they had changed so much!

This past Monday night was a special get-together with the Antioch Bible Institute students: this Saturday, the 28th, is graduation and there will be seven graduating. It was special to be able to be here for this time and celebrate with them. Not only did we have some incredibly tasty Brazilian food (my first since getting back here!), but it was also a time of hearing how God has worked in their lives during their time here at the Institute. Be praying for Segundo and Lele, Regivaldo and Jailma, Lidia, Lia, and Charliane as each of the couples and these three single girls all head into this new phase of their lives! Both of these couples are either already actively working in a ministry or will be heading into one in the near future.

It is exciting to see how each of the girls--Lidia, Lia, and Charliane--are also very much involved in serving the Lord! Lidia was telling me yesterday of the many different things she will be involved in during the summer: VBS in several different places, possibly as trip to a neighboring state to a children's class, helping with a children's retreat, and then on top of everything else, planning for her upcoming wedding! She and Charliane also left early this morning to go to Solidao, a community nearby, to teach the required class in the grade school. More and more, the doors for opportunities to teach Bible lessons in public schools are swinging open wider and wider and have been an incredible way of teaching God's Word to children in a preominantly Catholic country!

Already in the short time that I have been here, God has been showing me different areas in my own life that I need to work on...I am looking forward to how He is going to work during this summer, not only in various ministry opportunities that I will get to help with, but also in my own life and walk with Him!

To finish off my somewhat random post, here's a picture of the the first sun-set I saw after getting here to Brazil.

I will try to regularly update this blogspot throughout the summer...