assurini.

This past weekend I went on a trip to a region on the other side of the Xingu River called the Assurini. It was awesome. Such a beautiful place out in the middle of the jungle pretty much. In the mornings you could here the constant din of the howler monkeys and birds in the jungle. Which was in walking distance and you could see the dense forestry from where we were.
So these people in the region have only recently heard about Jesus' gospel. But in the community where we were staying, the people who were saved were concerned because they had no idea what to do next. How do they meet together and talk about Jesus when not everyone is a believer? What do they say in these meetings? How do they deepen their relationship? Keith Wilson and his wife Marsha are trying to guide the new believers into being independent believers so they don't have to come out once every two months to have a service. It is going well. This weekend more people decided to join us in the kingdom of God. It was a great time of fellowship, discipling, and worship.
Please pray for the ministry their in that little community. They are thirsty for Christ, but do not know where to go from there. But it is a happy thing and worth praising God for. I feel privileged to have been able to experience this trip.
Unfortunately I am not able to upload some pictures of the scenery and experience due to maintenance on the web page... figures. I will try later though.

doxology.

A poem of praise. Let everything that has breath, praise His Holy Name.

You are good to us.
Showers from above are your blessings everyday.
We are small.
You are. Big.
Yet you fit in us so well.
From the day we crawl
to the day we draw-
our last breath.
A mother's caress.
A father's correction.
We love you.
But not like you love us.
We are shallow
And you are deep.
And you keep, keep, keep.
For us its a "leap of faith,"
But for you its the ability to create.
Perfection. Its natural in every sense.
But it goes to waste
When we communicate
Our lust and hate from our wicked, twisted soul.
Your power will make us whole,
Yes one day we will be full.
Filled with your celestial mercy and eternal
conceptual existence we do not, cannot,
understand.
Yes, Lord. Your brand will set us apart.
We have a part in your kingdom.
This life in only the start.
Why you love us, Lord,
And how you ever could love us, Lord,
Remains to be a mystery.
But our shallow minds will ever be faithful
And thankful.
Wake us from our lull, oh Holy One,
All great, powerful, ever loving God we proudly serve!
All Glory, Honor, Power is Yours and forever will be-
Yours. And let every body proclaim:
Hallelujah!
Amen.

oh my.

This morning Bud woke me up at 5:30 in the A.M. He didn't surprise me, I knew it was coming. He is training for a half marathon so he wakes up and jogs pretty much everyday. So today was the toughest, because after running 3 1/2 miles we went to the gym and lifted. The rest of the week he either jogs, or just weight lifts. I have not worked out since... swimming season. And even then, we were working different muscles and did not lift weights as much and with much intensity. So I am feeling pretty good right now.

I have decided to train with him for the half marathon. It will serve as motivation for me because I have never loved running. Or getting up really early in the morning. But change is good.

And weight lifting is always a good time.  :)

family night.

Every Thursday night is family night for the Simon's.  I am so thankful they so warmingly include me as part of their family.  Tonight, we went for a short swim.  Our time was shortened because a storm was rolling in and we wanted to go to this place called "Mr. Berg."  It is the Brazilian version of a pizza and burger joint.  We all had burgers the size of our faces and I... spilled my water. Haha. (oops. My bad, Bud and Sam...) And after we were sufficiently stuffed, we had ice cream.  Just enough to satisfy our sweet tooth.

So then we came home and had a game of Fifa World Cup 2010. Well, I didn't play.  It was Daniel, Bud, and Caleb.  After a gruesome battle, Caleb's Brazil won 3-0.  Daniel was devastated.  Caleb was thrilled.  Bud... confused.  He is still learning the ropes. :)

Very good night.  I think the title should be "fun night".  But I think those terms go hand in hand.

an opened door.

Things are starting to roll here.  I told Bud that I am interested in studying English in college to perhaps be a teacher.  So this opened the door to me being able to teach English here at the school.  I had a little "interview" yesterday with a woman in the school in charge of organizing schedules and whatnot.  I will officially be helping out other teachers on Mondays and Tuesdays in the evenings to the under privileged Portuguese speakers.  Last night was the first official night and I loved it.  The people are so interested in learning English and how to speak in English.  We have many laughs because of the way they pronounce words, and because they are not the only ones learning... I am also learning to speak their language.  So I listen to every word they say very carefully and often repeat what they say so I can get the pronunciation down.  Its a fun time.  As time goes on, maybe I will have my own class... but I would like to know Portuguese a little better before that happens so I can translate for them when needed.

I'm so excited about this!  Who at 19 can say they have experience in teaching English to foreign people who speak Portuguese??  I can.  Thanks God.  Your pretty cool :)

Portuguese is so... not like English.

Hello all again!

So yeah, the title to this is implying that learning a language is tough.  I have forgotten how tedious and demanding it is.  But I am thankful for having the experience of living in Colombia when I was younger because I know some Spanish and the two languages are very similar in some areas.  And being immersed in the culture is helping out, too.  Its just really frustrating to not be able to speak to them.  I can understand a handful of words but then cant talk back.  And that is frustrating.  I am praying that God will just make it easy for me.  He is faithful.

Last night at church we sang some songs, in Portuguese of course, and I was actually able to sing along!  But not only did I sing along, I understood what I was singing.  Music is such a comfort.  I felt the presence of God and was satisfied with worshiping Him through music.

So although the language barrier exists within the people, I can still hear and understand what God is saying to me through them.  Its very cool.

Pray for me to learn Portuguese quickly and smoothly, please.

Other than my frustrations with the language, everything is going 'a-ok.' I really enjoy being here. :)