Tudo bem? I expect that you have an answer for me in Portuguese by now!
Anyway, I hope that all of you are doing well! Wow, I can't believe that
I am writing the fourth e-mail to yáll, meaning that I have been here in
Presidente Prudente for a full three weeks now with two more to go. I was
going out to dinner with a couple of my students this evening, and I thought
of how short two weeks sounded. Thirteen days before I go back to Sao
Paulo... It seems like time is so short, there are so many things I want to
do, people to visit and talk to, so many things that I wanted to do and
haven't had the chance to do. I remember coming into the trip and thinking
of how long a six week trip sounded, now it seems like the end is coming up
very fast!
I thank you all for your faithfulness in your prayers for me. I looked
back to my last update this evening and saw that I asked for prayer in the
language. As of now, my Portuguese is still not all that great, but it's
good enough to get where I need to go in the city, ask for what I need, and
even hold simple conversations. It is similar to Spanish (well, some of the
words), but it's amazing to me that I can get by not having known any
Portuguese four weeks ago.
This past weekend, I got to visit Foz do Iguacu. So beautiful there. It's
like Niagara Falls, only much bigger and from what I know, much more
beautiful. Just to see all that water, all that power... It was simply
awesome for me. I can't even try to begin to do it justice in words, my
pictures cannot even tell the full story. It was just a great reminder
of God's power and His beauty... It was well worth the 7.5 hour van ride
(my butt was sooo sore!). We also got to visit Ciudad del Este in Paraguay
for some shopping. I was hoping to find some Brazilian type gifts there to
bring home, but to my sad realization, practically everything there is
imported from America!
As you may have guessed, yes, last week was yet another busy one. I am
starting to notice a trend here... Classes are still going well, my
students seem to be having lots of fun. I still need prayer for relating
though, especially with my beginner class. The age and language differences
make this difficult for me. Pray also for another student in my morning
class, Rosalina. She was very enthusiastic about coming to class, but she
didn't come after Monday, our lesson on American football. I knew that the
whole class was lost in the explanation, but could she be that discouraged?
:) I found out later in the week that on Monday afternoon, she was walking
around downtown and a gate fell on her. She was in the hospital and will
not be able to really leave her house for awhile. I will probably try to
arrange visits with her to encourage her and to catch her up on what we have
been learning. In these last two weeks, I really feel the urgency to step
up my efforts to meet with people. Pray that God can use me in many ways
over the next 13 days.
Pastor Joe and Nicole stopped by last week, it was good to see them. Too
bad they could only stay for three hours! That was a bit of a bummer, but
it was good to see them. I also got the chance to make the 1.5 hour journey
out to Adamantina today to have lunch with the pastor there and another JEMS
worker, Amy Phillips. Its so strange to see other workers now. I am happy
to see them, but sometimes it's really hard to talk. I've known Amy for
some years now, but even so I just stood there kinda stunned like it was
unreal. I didn't know what to say! Perhaps it's because so much has
happened. I know that not having a partner has helped me to grow in so many
ways, yet it is so difficult. It's hard to relate. I've had to turn to
God for these needs and I also let out in my journal and many letters to my
friends who are on missions this summer. But sometimes it's really tough.
Please pray for that aspect, that God would have me be content and fill my
needs! Well, this is getting really long, I've still got to plan for
tomorrow's lesson! Take care everybody and I'll talk to you later!