We are all safe and sound in Brazil. Currently at Gleba-B in Campinos for Sunday night service. Sorry we did not get an update out last night, but I spent 2 hours trying to connect to internet and finally gave up about 1AM. We are having problems connecting to the internet on the property so it took coming to the city to get a connection. All is going better than expected. That first 40 hour window still amazes me in how much we get done and how busy it is.
Travels went very well, about as smooth as possible. We were actually early arriving in Brazil. Immigration went slow this trip, but customs was not a big issue. The entire process took about 75 minutes, which is slower than usual, but no where near the worse experience I have ever encountered with the process.
The weather has been awesome so far. When we landed it was overcast and high 50's. It was no longer raining so we were able to visit all areas as planned. As promised, 2 hours off the plane and the team was right in the middle of The Towers (favela community). The team split into 2 teams; with one doing the children services and the other walking the community and visiting homes. The youth team did an awesome job sharing the story of Noah through skit and craft. The evangelism team visited homes and was able to take part in a new way of sharing the gospel along with the Evange-a-cube. I will let them share the details of the visiting personally when they return home. as we walked into the first favela community I did my usual routine of following the team in and watch the faces of the first time students and listening to their comments when I get the chance to speak one on one. The comments and reactions are always the same. The reality of what is experienced here can not be explained in any words or emotions. Everyone did really well and you should all be proud of the entire team.
We had the usual lunch on the sidewalk along side the Wal-mart. Those of you that have been here have the visual image of what I am talking about, those that have not been here, the lunch at Wal-mart is worth the trip by itself. The drive home saw nothing but a bunch of people sleeping as it appears that no one slept any at all on the plane.
It was chilly last night (almost cold) which resulted in perfect sleeping conditions. Church went well this morning with a larger than normal crowd as the weather was very clear and warm outside. Plenty of soccer and playing with kids. We did the usual serving of lunch to the church family. We are now in Gleba-B. The all time favorite place of everyone from Lifepoint!!! We have plenty of hugs and gifts to share with residents here from our Lifepoint family.
I will try to share pictures after I post this, but not sure the connection is strong enough to upload. If not, I will get the pictures posted as soon as I get a chance.
Be proud of the team and your students or family members here. Every person in the group is stepping up and doing their part willingly. A very good group! I will get an update out as soon as I can and hopefully in the next day or two.
so happy for every single person on this trip! i can just imagine everyone's reaction when they stepped into the first favela. I'm praying for you all this week:) love you! and tell everyone i said hello!
Posted by: samantha scott | July 18, 2010 at 05:15 PM
I usually don't care about the blog posts because I am in Brazil with the team, but this time I've been just like a parent checking every hour for an update! Thanks for posting, Allen! :)
Posted by: jennifer mccaman | July 19, 2010 at 07:17 AM
Thanks for update. Great to see pics of the team, my "boys" Todd and Cameron. Blessings on you all.
Posted by: Carrie Graf | July 19, 2010 at 11:00 AM