Life in Brasil

Wow.....life here has been great!! At first when I left home I was scared because I didn't know what to expect....but God has definitely shown me his grace. Everything that I was worried about or uncertain about has turned out to not really be that bad. I guess its best to be prepared for the worst, then its not really that bad after all. I'm living in Belo Horizonte at the reborn house. A house for pregnant street girls. It's a pretty incredible place....i love my roommates and its really nice. A hot shower....and a nice big room....God has blessed me!

I live with Sarah (from Canada) and Debora and Amanda which are both from Brasil. I never thought coming to Brasil I would learn about Canada but Sarah is teaching me a lot. It also helps to have someone here that can speak English....and we are learning Portuguese together so that helps....its a lot of Fun! Sometimes the language barrier is hard but I continue to pray that God would break that barrier.....all the Brazilians are very patient in my learning and quick to help so that is awesome.

In the morning we go to the boys house (a YWAM house for street boys) and we have classes in the morning....like Portuguese class, relationship class, and class on the book In His Steps, and of course drama practice. So we have that in the morning then eat lunch there are then we go to the different YWAM houses to serve for the afternoon....the one I work at is the house for kids with aids. The kids are there either because their parents can't afford their medicine or their parents abandoned them.

Then we have different activities we do in the evening....we had a pod activity on Tuesday....Wednesday minister at different churches (dramas and preaching or stomp), then Thursday night we meet with all the YWAM staff and volunteers for worship and preaching....then on Friday nights we have cell groups we go to from the church we are going to (cell groups are like small groups in the states). Then on Saturday we practice our dramas to minister at churches that night and on Sunday night as well.....so we have been keeping really busy. But it has been really good! I love learning Portuguese but it is definitely challenging, but I feel like I'm learning new words everyday so God is good. :) I love the team here, they are so sweet and welcoming....I have felt like family since I have been here. God has been so faithful!! God is giving me a new and deeper love for the street children here.

One Friday night we got to go to the streets to hang out with the kids....it was a really amazing experience. We got to play American football with them and uno which they loved. Then we got to talk with them and they started to open up about early that day their friend a street boy had gotten stabbed and killed and they were really hurting. We could just see the pain in their eyes. So because of that they were opening and sharing with us and we got to pray with them....so it was good to see how God could turn something bad into Good. It was also hard to see that all the kids were getting high on paint thinner....they would do this to ease the pain of their situation. That they would rather live on the streets then deal with whatever situation they had at home. This was so hard to see because you would never see children living on the streets in South Dakota.....it broke my heart.

This is just a little of what Brasil has been like for me so far....its really been an awesome experience and God has been teaching me so much!!! Thank you to those of you who have given either through prayer or money to make this experience possible for me....your sacrifice is not being taken for granted!! May God bless you greatly for your sacrifice!!!