...was quite an interesting day.
This morning we went to a city about 45 minutes from Campinas and gave two school meetings. The students (all highschoolers) responded well. Brandon has been a bit hit with the ladies down here. Considering he is several inches taller than me, the girls don't seem to care that he's 15. That made for some interesting situations at the school this afternoon and evening when the team went back for more meetings.
Unfortunately, I got sick right after lunch and ended up staying in the hotel for the afternoon to rest. Pastor Antonio's daughter, Rebeca, stayed with me and we hung out for several hours. I seem to be making a habit of trading in one illness for another- my stomach feels a good bit better now, but for the past several hours I have had the worst headache of my life. Thankfully this is an isolated incodent and no one else is sick. Everyone else was able to go and do "Redeemer" and give sketchboard messages, etc. I hear the students again responded very well. They were some heavy meetings spiritually with some good conversations after with some students.
Lizzy and Christine are working on learning the "God/man" sketchboard to do in the plazas in Rio, which would be awesome. I haven't done the "Joe" message in years, but I think I might do that too.
Aside from my stomach and head issues, everything has been really awesome. The team is communicating well and we really enjoy being with each other. Tonight Camila planned a special surprise party for us to get a taste of Brasil. We saw sides of each other we had never before experienced... Lots of laughing, dancing, eating... It was a good time. :)
Tomorrow after lunch we will set off on the 8 hour bus ride to Rio de Janeiro. I'm not excited about the drive (Please pray my stomach holds up and doesn't give me any more problems), but I am very excited to be there again and watch the team (except Mr. Mike who has been before) experience it for the first time.
Thank you for reading this and keeping up with us, and especially for praying hard for what God is doing here. We miss you all back home and will see you in about about 5 days!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
Super Quick Update
All are healthy and safe. We're doing really well.
Had an awesome day of meetings in 2 different schools and 2 different youth detention centers today. Had never done YDC meetings on OAC trips before today... It was fantastic! Had some really awesome conversations with a few inmates after. God is good and is doing cool stuff. Been awesome to watch our team work together and build into each other. Just as amazing to see each other begin to experience freedom in new areas of their lives because of the gospel. So beautiful.
More to come later! Thank you so much for praying!
Had an awesome day of meetings in 2 different schools and 2 different youth detention centers today. Had never done YDC meetings on OAC trips before today... It was fantastic! Had some really awesome conversations with a few inmates after. God is good and is doing cool stuff. Been awesome to watch our team work together and build into each other. Just as amazing to see each other begin to experience freedom in new areas of their lives because of the gospel. So beautiful.
More to come later! Thank you so much for praying!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Pictures!
Bruno preparing his sketchboard to present to college students going to class at night. Great crowd. This is where the girl come forward to Bruno afterward in tears saying she had been told earlier that day she needed God. God showed himself to her in a really cool way that day!
Mariana helping Daddy load the truck after the meeting
Mariana helping Daddy load the truck after the meeting
Gorgeous sunset ouside the biggest mall in Latin America (in Campinas)
Mariana being cute.
Showing an awesome movie to the kids in a school we worked at several days this week. The film is a digital animation, 40 minutes long, and very true to the biblical account in John. It starts with creation and the fall, then shows Jesus' life through his death, resurrection, and ascention. It's perfect for the kids, and we follow it with a sketchboard or Chemical Cross to further explain what they saw and invite them to respond.
Bruno presenting his sketchboard message at his church's missions Sunday. He was planning to just explain their methods of evangelism, but as he began the preacher said, "No, Bruno, preach! Give them the real thing and give an invitation afterward!" Bruno was a little hesitant, as he was doing this in a service at his home church, but he did as the pastor told him to do... And several people accepted Christ for this first time that night!
Mariana being cute.
Showing an awesome movie to the kids in a school we worked at several days this week. The film is a digital animation, 40 minutes long, and very true to the biblical account in John. It starts with creation and the fall, then shows Jesus' life through his death, resurrection, and ascention. It's perfect for the kids, and we follow it with a sketchboard or Chemical Cross to further explain what they saw and invite them to respond.
My dear friend, Gisele. She now attends a church I worked with here last year. She is an amazing woman of God. She and I have had some awesome talks (and she is extremely gracious with my Portuguese).
A school we've been working at for the past 2 days. The faculty here has been awesome in opening doors for us and even recommending us to other schools in the city. The kids here were absolutely shocked to meet a person from the U.S. Literally, several would walk up to me and just stare, waiting for me to do something really weird and foreign, I guess. I attempted to tell them that I was exactly the same as them, just speak English instead of Portuguese. ...They proceeded to ask me for my autograph and ask me if I know Madonna.
Bruno doing Chemical Cross at that same school. The kids absolutely love it.
Listening intently to Bruno.
Thanks for keeping up with me on here! Please pray for the team from RCC as they leave tomorrow (Friday) night to arrive here Saturday morning. Also, specifically pray that there are no complecations with the last 2 of the team picking up their VISAs tomorrow morning from the embassy.
Many blessings and much love from down south!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
a few pictures
It's been a very busy week! Late nights and early mornings and lots and lots of school meetings... It's tiring, but it's definitely all worth it!
Here are a few pictures from my first week here:
Mariana hanging out in my room (which is actually her room that she's loaning me for a few weeks)
The fam hanging out at the park
My cutie "sobrinha" ("neice" ...here young kids refer to their parents' friends and their teachers as "aunt and uncle"... so my name for her is often "sobrinha")
This funky looking dude was just hanging out at the park. No idea what it is. Wasn't really anxious to get closer to him either. :)
Fun with Daddy in the mall... Though I'm pretty sure he was having more fun than she was :)
That's it for now... Having some trouble uploading pics to the computer, but hopefully will be able to soon!
Thanks for all your prayers!!
Here are a few pictures from my first week here:
Mariana hanging out in my room (which is actually her room that she's loaning me for a few weeks)
The fam hanging out at the park
My cutie "sobrinha" ("neice" ...here young kids refer to their parents' friends and their teachers as "aunt and uncle"... so my name for her is often "sobrinha")
This funky looking dude was just hanging out at the park. No idea what it is. Wasn't really anxious to get closer to him either. :)
Fun with Daddy in the mall... Though I'm pretty sure he was having more fun than she was :)
That's it for now... Having some trouble uploading pics to the computer, but hopefully will be able to soon!
Thanks for all your prayers!!
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Quick Update
Been much better stomach-wise... I haven't had any more problems there. Now dealing with a head cold- bad nose and throat stuff.
Yesterday Bruno and I set off for some school meetings early in the morning. We picked up Pastor Antonio (awesome guy- pastor of a great church, and has been really helpful to Bruno and Camila) and met his daughter (Rebeca) and another guy from his church (Jefferson). It was fun to let those two try out their English on me. ...It also made them gracious with my broken Portuguese. :) We had some good meetings in a school that morning (I did the "Heaven"sketchboard message twice), then went home for lunch and to pick up Camila and Mari. Went back yesterday afternoon and gave several more meetings. I did "Heaven" once more, and Bruno did "Joe" or Chemical Cross the other times for the older kids. Good audiences, great responses.
This morning I opted out of the early morening trip with Bruno. My throat was really swollen and my nose really clogged, so I stayed home and slept a bit more. Bruno came home at lunch time and said he had some great meetings that morning, and the teacher of one of the classes decided to accept Christ, along with a bunch of her students. Awesome. We hung out a rested up this afternoon, then went back to that same school tonight around 7. They gave us the huge room where all the students could fit at the same time (probably close to 400 students), and Bruno did an awesome "Joe" message for them there. One girl came up to him at the end with tears streaming down her face- She said one of her friends earlier that afternoon told her "You really need to find God. He is the ONLY source of true life, and he would never leave you." I have no idea what her other circumstances are/have been, but she almost didn't go to school tonight. She decided at the last second to go, and was so completely full of joy that Bruno had explained the gospel so clearly. She finally understood. Ah, so much good stuff.
Anyway, it's 12;30 here and I'm getting up at 7 to do more meetings tomorrow. There are lots of young kids meetings tomorrow, so please pray my voice holds up and my nose doesn't explode. Much appreciated. :)
Love to you guys back home! Thanks so much for your prayers!!
Yesterday Bruno and I set off for some school meetings early in the morning. We picked up Pastor Antonio (awesome guy- pastor of a great church, and has been really helpful to Bruno and Camila) and met his daughter (Rebeca) and another guy from his church (Jefferson). It was fun to let those two try out their English on me. ...It also made them gracious with my broken Portuguese. :) We had some good meetings in a school that morning (I did the "Heaven"sketchboard message twice), then went home for lunch and to pick up Camila and Mari. Went back yesterday afternoon and gave several more meetings. I did "Heaven" once more, and Bruno did "Joe" or Chemical Cross the other times for the older kids. Good audiences, great responses.
This morning I opted out of the early morening trip with Bruno. My throat was really swollen and my nose really clogged, so I stayed home and slept a bit more. Bruno came home at lunch time and said he had some great meetings that morning, and the teacher of one of the classes decided to accept Christ, along with a bunch of her students. Awesome. We hung out a rested up this afternoon, then went back to that same school tonight around 7. They gave us the huge room where all the students could fit at the same time (probably close to 400 students), and Bruno did an awesome "Joe" message for them there. One girl came up to him at the end with tears streaming down her face- She said one of her friends earlier that afternoon told her "You really need to find God. He is the ONLY source of true life, and he would never leave you." I have no idea what her other circumstances are/have been, but she almost didn't go to school tonight. She decided at the last second to go, and was so completely full of joy that Bruno had explained the gospel so clearly. She finally understood. Ah, so much good stuff.
Anyway, it's 12;30 here and I'm getting up at 7 to do more meetings tomorrow. There are lots of young kids meetings tomorrow, so please pray my voice holds up and my nose doesn't explode. Much appreciated. :)
Love to you guys back home! Thanks so much for your prayers!!
Monday, May 25, 2009
Hab. 1:5
Past few days have been mostly good... My bags arrived soon after my last update, which I was very glad for. The poor guy delivering the baggage was on his way to drop off a wedding dress... a day late. (I prayed for the healing of his bruises he was about to receive.) Yesterday (Sunday) we hung out, walked around a park (it would be called a zoo in the states... all kinds of crazy animals running around- pics to come), then went to an open-air market to scout out places to go shopping with the team when they come.
After that we grabbed lunch, which was appaently the worst decision I've made since I got here. I ate all stuff I have eaten before, but I ended up getting really sick last night... All night. I'm a lot better now, though still a bit dehydrated and dizzy. So far I've kept down half a banana and a cup of juice. (Enough info on the sickness? I'll stop there :). )
Aside from that, I'm really glad to be here. It's so good to be with Bruno and Camila again. A bit strange to be a few countries east of Joel, but WAY far from David. Looking forward to being with my whole family again, hopefully sometime in the near future. :)
After that we grabbed lunch, which was appaently the worst decision I've made since I got here. I ate all stuff I have eaten before, but I ended up getting really sick last night... All night. I'm a lot better now, though still a bit dehydrated and dizzy. So far I've kept down half a banana and a cup of juice. (Enough info on the sickness? I'll stop there :). )
Aside from that, I'm really glad to be here. It's so good to be with Bruno and Camila again. A bit strange to be a few countries east of Joel, but WAY far from David. Looking forward to being with my whole family again, hopefully sometime in the near future. :)
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Hello from Brasil!
Hey everyone!
Just a quick note to say that I made it and all is well down here so far. My luggage hasn't arrived yet, but hopefully it will by tonight.
Today Bruno is out doing meetings while Camila and I are here in the apartment cooking and taking care of Mariana. We were told that my luggage would arrive this morning, so we stayed to receive it, but when we called to check on it this morning, they said tonight at the earliest. Hopefully that won't keep us all at home for much longer. I think Bruno and I will be giving some meetings together over the next few weeks. He is teaching me the "Chemical Cross" presentation so I can do more than just the "Heaven" sketchboard. My Portuguese is still pretty rough, so we'll see how all these meetings turn out. :)
Quick update on the VISA situation for the team- I am told that the consulate has agreed to an appointment to reveive the applications on June 4th and will have them completed on June 5th before the team has to fly out. Praise the Lord! I am very excited to have my WHOLE team joining me in a few weeks. :)
On another note, in talking to Bruno and Camila I have come to find out that they both have one more year of seminary to complete their degrees, but can't afford to pay for it. And they only have a small window of time to complete their degrees before the government will make them start over (which would be 4 more years each) to recognize their degree as official and legal to use to share the gospel (their "career"in the govt's eyes). It would cost about US$300 total per month for a year to put them both through their last classes. I would SO like to figure out how we can help them move on through this process. Any good ideas?
Anywho, that's all from me for right now. Thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement! I am so grateful to know that my church and friends back home are having a big hand in the ministry here by praying.
Love you guys!
Just a quick note to say that I made it and all is well down here so far. My luggage hasn't arrived yet, but hopefully it will by tonight.
Today Bruno is out doing meetings while Camila and I are here in the apartment cooking and taking care of Mariana. We were told that my luggage would arrive this morning, so we stayed to receive it, but when we called to check on it this morning, they said tonight at the earliest. Hopefully that won't keep us all at home for much longer. I think Bruno and I will be giving some meetings together over the next few weeks. He is teaching me the "Chemical Cross" presentation so I can do more than just the "Heaven" sketchboard. My Portuguese is still pretty rough, so we'll see how all these meetings turn out. :)
Quick update on the VISA situation for the team- I am told that the consulate has agreed to an appointment to reveive the applications on June 4th and will have them completed on June 5th before the team has to fly out. Praise the Lord! I am very excited to have my WHOLE team joining me in a few weeks. :)
On another note, in talking to Bruno and Camila I have come to find out that they both have one more year of seminary to complete their degrees, but can't afford to pay for it. And they only have a small window of time to complete their degrees before the government will make them start over (which would be 4 more years each) to recognize their degree as official and legal to use to share the gospel (their "career"in the govt's eyes). It would cost about US$300 total per month for a year to put them both through their last classes. I would SO like to figure out how we can help them move on through this process. Any good ideas?
Anywho, that's all from me for right now. Thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement! I am so grateful to know that my church and friends back home are having a big hand in the ministry here by praying.
Love you guys!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Urgent Request for Brasil!
Hey guys,
I leave tonight for Brasil, and the rest of my team from my church is meeting me down there in about 2 weeks. We have encountered a big issue though- 2 of our team have not been granted permission to SUBMIT their applications for their VISAs until June 3 -at the earliest- and they are supposed to fly out June 5! These applications CAN take only 1 day to process, but this is their busiest season, and they say to allow 3 WEEKS for processing in times this busy. PLEASE please please pray that the consulate will be compassionate on our situation and grant their VISAs in less than 24 hours to these two can come down with the rest of the team on the 5th.
I will post updates as I receive them.
Thank you so much!!!
Lizzy
I leave tonight for Brasil, and the rest of my team from my church is meeting me down there in about 2 weeks. We have encountered a big issue though- 2 of our team have not been granted permission to SUBMIT their applications for their VISAs until June 3 -at the earliest- and they are supposed to fly out June 5! These applications CAN take only 1 day to process, but this is their busiest season, and they say to allow 3 WEEKS for processing in times this busy. PLEASE please please pray that the consulate will be compassionate on our situation and grant their VISAs in less than 24 hours to these two can come down with the rest of the team on the 5th.
I will post updates as I receive them.
Thank you so much!!!
Lizzy
Saturday, April 4, 2009
"Happy Hippie People"
My friend Elena is a professional artist, and the paintings above are two of four she decided to paint and donate to raise money for my trip to Brazil. Two of them were sold before I even saw them. These two are left, and already I have received a few bids on them. Highest bid wins, but Elena specifically wants to be sensitive to students on a tight budget... In which case the earliest reasonable bid will win. : )
She has also made a few other wall hangings to be auctioned off. As soon as I can get a hold of my digital camera, I will post photos of those as well.
If you are interested, leave a comment or shoot me an e-mail: elizandrea@gmail.com
Thanks!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Brief 2009 Update
I am way past due for an update, but I am going to keep this one brief for now...
Plans for this summer's visit to Brasil are coming along well. The RCC team has been practicing the wordless drama "The Redeemer" and learning it very well. We are about to break out the sketchboard messages and start training with those.
As far as finances go, I am still way short of my goal, but have just sent out a bunch more support letters. (If you would like me to send you a letter, shoot me an e-mail: elizandrea@gmail.com.) A few others on my team have just hit their total and are now bringing in a little extra for the rest of the team, which is a huge blessing. God is always faithful.
I found a flight I am hoping to book that would have me arriving in São Paulo about two weeks before the team would arrive. I found a fairly good deal on it, but cannot buy the ticket (or request my VISA) until I have raised more funding. But I am hoping to leave Atlanta on May 21 and return with the team on June 14.
More to come on the Bruno and Camila Costa and OAC very soon...
Plans for this summer's visit to Brasil are coming along well. The RCC team has been practicing the wordless drama "The Redeemer" and learning it very well. We are about to break out the sketchboard messages and start training with those.
As far as finances go, I am still way short of my goal, but have just sent out a bunch more support letters. (If you would like me to send you a letter, shoot me an e-mail: elizandrea@gmail.com.) A few others on my team have just hit their total and are now bringing in a little extra for the rest of the team, which is a huge blessing. God is always faithful.
I found a flight I am hoping to book that would have me arriving in São Paulo about two weeks before the team would arrive. I found a fairly good deal on it, but cannot buy the ticket (or request my VISA) until I have raised more funding. But I am hoping to leave Atlanta on May 21 and return with the team on June 14.
More to come on the Bruno and Camila Costa and OAC very soon...
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