Curitiba Worship

Saturday night young adult worship service was incredible. Everyone made sure they introduced themselves, and one thing thats harder than memorizing peoples names is learning a new language at the same time, and their names as well.

David gave the message last night and the music was incredible. Not to mention we are in the downtown area and the night views from the fifth floor during worship were spectacular.

Many of them took us to a pizza place similar to cici's pizza, but the servers bring the pizza to you. After telling stories and learning more language, we retired for the night and rose early for this mornings worship traditional service, followed by Sunday School, and then a BBQ for the young adults at the house we rested at Saturday. We ate, shared stories, made connections, played just dance with xbox 360 kinect and had an awesome time. We then headed back to the church for the night service followed by tea reception, and nachos for dinner back at the house again.

The day went by quickly, and another short sleeping rest before we start Monday's project.

Its raining here since Saturday afternoon, and colder to 8 degrees c. (46 deg F) But our spirits are alive and warm!

Everyone is still alive.

Praise the Lord for this fulfilling Sunday!

Worship, worship, more worship!

From Kristin... I really should be in bed, since it is 12:37 am, but I cannot help but write a post to mention our current life here in Brazil. We are in Curitiba, being hosted by the young adults of Central Methodist Church (thats right, Central Methodist.) I am staying with a young couple, Larissa and Jocemar, who have been so gracious to share their apartment with me and look after everything I could possibly need or want. You have not experienced real Christian hospitality if you have not been in a country like this. Everyone goes out of their way to give us the best experience possible, the best food, the best living arrangement, the best church experience.
I think in the last 24 hours, we have spent at least 7-8 in church, either in worship or Sunday School. We attended 3 worship services, all of which are different, and all of which are VERY different than many of our churches at home. The young people go to the Saturday night service, where there is a fantastic praise band. The older people attend on Sunday morning, which is the most "traditional" service. They actually did play an organ once, but the same praise band led most of the music, though it was not quite as rocking as the night before. There are no hymnals here, everything is projected, in every church we have attended, even the smallest. Tonight, the worship service was a completely different crowd than the other two, and the people described it to us as "more pentecostal."
In between all of the worship services, we spent good quality time with the young adults of the church. There is a wonderful group of young adults, and many of them spent the entire day with us. One of the young women offered to have a "churrasco" which is traditional Brazilian barbecue so the entire group of young people came over to her house after the morning services. We spent the entire day at her house, playing xbox dance games, eating, and talking. Then after the evening service, we went BACK to her house for dinner (nachos!) and we just got in at midnight.
We are having such a wonderful experience that it is hard to tear ourselves away for rest. We dont want to miss even one minute! Spending time with these young adults who are leaders in their church, who are passionate about their faith and are excited to share their lives with us...this feels like the kingdom of God.

International Patience

If you have not figured out, we cannot explain our schedule!!!
Check this out: Thursday we traveled to Curtibia. Friday we spent the day at a Methodist Drug Rehabilitation "camp" with 6 hours travel north of the city. Saturday we left our host families and start the 3rd part of our week by completing a scavenger hunt, with Brazil young adults, with a language barrier and clues written in portiguise...oh yea, it was timed!
Are you asking where the 3 came from? OK, we are too.
HAHA... Our mottow is one hour, one day at a time!

Brazil is extremely flexible and plans are changing as we adjust to an unexpected and unknown itinerary. But other people we meet are full of gracefulness, hospitality, and open hearts. We are eternally grateful.

Our current schedule is Youth service tonight, service in the morning, followed by a BBQ at a host house, relaxing in the botanical gardens for the afternoon, and then young adult service Sunday night.
Monday we will be working with children in the morning and afternoon, and that is subject to change. For those returning, they leave Wednesday afternoon...plans TBD.

Thank you for your prayers, they are needed and useful! We love you all!
Have to prepare for youth service and shuffle luggage...

Week Ones End

Can you believe we left a week ago?

We cannot! We don't even know what day it is, or status of current events, but the kids try and tell us! Like US Women's Soccer?...

Tuesday's prayer service ended our day followed by our devotions.

Wednesday we were in Poton, a smaller fishing village to the south, next to the brand new port of Itapoa. The day went by faster I think because we did not wind up the kids before like at the project across town at Samambaial. This is the first time we had visited this project with kids. We saw the fish leather project on Monday, but not the children.

We played football and volleyball in the morning, followed by singing, story time of Jacobs Dream, and ladders to remind the kids who is close in Their lives.

We visited the fish leather project and bought items from the ladies for thier very first sale. They even had taken special orders...and we bought those items as well!

We then walked up the street a kilometer to a new lunch buffet and ate, again! We returned to the project and sat on the bay shore until the kids returned at 1:30. The afternoon we recapped what happened in the mornings And then told the lost sheep story. The older kids made the knot bracelets to bring back to the US and we gave them a bracelet made by the kids in some of our home churches.

We cleaned up the community center and said our "see you soon" to the kids and helpers, and Jezellea took us to the groves on the beach and we had a information session. This is diminishing and it was nice to see a little groves and habitat of ocean shore in SC, Brazil.

We headed home changed for devotions at the Samambaial project and went to dinner at a house on the ocean. With doors and windows open, you can feel the breeze, hear the waves and the food and fellowship was nothing less than perfect. Emotions have changed because we are parting soon...

We went to the Project for devotions and testimonies lead by Matt and Charlie, singing, special prayers and departing/thank you presentations.

There is so much love it hurts!

We then went to Sara and Juniors house for a cooking lesson of fried banana and ice cream! We played wii and shared fellowship and returned for a short nap before we have to start packing and cleaning in the morning...

We got 5-6 hours of sleep and are aching from restlessness and everything we are accomplishing.

Can we please extend our stay?

Will post this ASAP In Curtibia

CG

Week 2, day 1.

Curtiba is different from Itapoa...

We arrived at 11:45 at the project and toured a home in the property region. Dirt floors with little space. Less square footage than most American household bathrooms. The Government is stepping in, but progress is slow, and Pastor Audir has a large heart! Great things Will happen in this place! One disciple at a time.

We headed to the Igreja Methodista do Bacacheri and were greeted with open doors, open minds, and open hearts as the love and welcome is beyond what I can comprehend! I know you are reading this and have no idea what we are experiencing. My lack of words typing these updates on my iPhone while driving with crazy drivers... Interesting roads, and carrying on conversations in poor Portuguese and bad English are not helping my thought process!

As you can see it's hard to explain, what I'm trying to explain, in a way you will understand, how I wish for you to understand...

Lunch was amazing again, and the food gets better and better with no meals bad. Everything is delicious. We then prepared for money exchange so we can get the best rate for today. It went up! R1.57 = $1

We played soccer with a few youth in the church alley, met with host families and parted ways to get settled in. The six of us are split up into 3 homes and the families are excited to say the least and extremely loving, no gauge can measure.

We met back at the church in an hour for tea, coffee, bolo or cake, desserts, and snacks! FOOD???!!!! I don't think I'll like this word as much as I used to!

We headed upstairs for a discussion of Cell Groups where the church has 95 groups with 1000 people in the comminuity. These groups are similar to those churches with circles within the UMW. But for everyone. Leaders have 1 hour every week to share lessons, prayers, blessings, and singing. Men and women are separate. So are families...sisters are not in the same groups, families are not in the same group, and so forth.

We toured the chuch quickly (GPS:25.400276 S, 49.241242 W) and then returned to the fellowship hall for supper. The food is so good, My stomach is saying no more, but My mind is like yes. Eat more!

We then headed and joined a cell group to see an example and the lesson was 1. Do not doubt and have Faith, 2. Be humble and accept Jesus. 3. Trust in Jesus

We then departed for our host families and drove through the city to our destinations. We were welcomed and at least Matt and I were asked to have dinner with the family at 11:30 PM. The love is so great, the family waited until we got back to have supper! At 11:30 at night? Find me a family that would wait together in the US to do that! A fresh cake made just for us, and the family was so excited they forgot to put eggs into the cake! But you could have never guessed until it was mentioned. We talked with the family and shifted thought and concerns until the morning was young. We are about to retire and I'm not sure who else will be posting but will try and get everyone to share since we are split up.

Details are limited at this point as plans are being changed around.

You are in our prayers and we love and miss you all!
CG

Part 2

Followers... We are safely in Curtiba and are settling in. We had lunch at the church and met our host families and have a few moments before we reunite for snacks, snacks, and supper!

You are all going to see 2 things when we return:
We are bigger in areas than when we left.
We are going to be extremely hungry at many times of the day.

Most meals are buffet and if you don't eat more, it gets served to you!

Will post later today! So many words, no steady writing or Internet posting time...

Carl on behalf of all 6.

Samambaial Project



Our team with a local family breakfast this morning




The food, as always, was delicious!



April spending quality time with a rowdy child at the Project



Carl teaching the Jacobs Ladder craft for VBS at the project this afternoon



A child from the project sporting his new purseira de amizade (friendship bracelet)
all the way from the youth at Thrasher UMC

It is Tuesday, and yet it feels like we have been here forever! Today was a gorgeous day without a cloud in the sky. I’m not sure if we have posted about this yet, but Itapoa, the town we are in, is a costal, beach town. It is somewhat like your typical beach town: right now, during the off-season/winter, there are few people here. The stores are empty. There are many people who fish for a living and many who rent homes to tourists. It feels like the beach in October, cool enough that you need a fleece jackets in the morning and evening, and sometimes in the afternoon, depending on the clouds, the wind, and the chill in the house.

But today was absolutely beautiful. We started our morning with a visit to the fish leather project in Samambaial. The Methodist Church has begun several local projects where the women of the community use the discarded fish skin and tan it to make fish leather, which they then make into all kinds of products to sell. It is brilliant really, to use that which is always thrown away by the fisher people and make it into a new source of income.

There were at least 10 women who gathered this morning to share breakfast with us, and like all of the meals we have eaten here, there was no lack of delicious food! We ate together and then shared with one another. Carl gave a wonderful devotion, and at least one of the women wanted to adopt him. Everywhere we go, people want to adopt us!

Another thing we have found is that people are always astonished that we are so young. No one, including the persons who helped to plan this trip, really understood that the whole team would be young adults! Almost everywhere we go, people are astonished that we are so young (and that two of us are pastors!)

We had lunch with a couple from the church who live right on the beach, and we went for a beautiful walk before lunch. Breathtaking. What an amazing God has created all of this!

This afternoon we had our second day of Vacation Bible School with this children of the Samamabaial project. There were at least 35 kids, though it is hard to get a true count, since they are always moving! The kids enjoyed playing with us, especially today when it was so beautiful. They especially loved playing tag, soccer, and running around with Carl and Matt. It made me tired just to watch! But it is such a blessing to see the kids have so much fun with the guys! We sang songs, like Father Abraham, in Portuguese. Sara is the young women who works with this kids at this project as her job, and she is absolutely amazing with the kids. She is the perfect example of a person who you can look at and SEE that they are doing exactly what God has called them to do. She is so patient, loving, and fun with the children. A combination like this is a gift from God! We have been very blessed to work alongside her and witness her gifts.

Right now, we are getting cleaned up to go and eat dinner at Daniel’s house again. (Have I mentioned that we are eating REALLY well???) And then we will return to church for the prayer service tonight, during which David is giving a message. We are excited to go to church again; the energy in the church, especially in the music, is moving and inspiring. Often during the singing, we will jump, dance, and move around, so that our whole bodies are involved in praising God.

Thank you for your love and prayers. We miss you, but we are having a WONDERFUL time, and are witnessing God’s presence and work in ways that are powerful. We can’t wait to tell you about it!

Current Status

Oi! Everyone!

Days are long and time is ... Short! Everything is going great! One day at a time, we are sharing God's love with children no pictures can capture. We hope to post tonight at dinner time where we will have Internet access again.

We have visited the fish leather projects and the women love us. Our biggest compliment is how young we are as a team...not expected at all!

Here are some pictures with the professional pics to be posted tonight. Thank you for the prayers as they are working.

Your Brothers and Sisters from Brazil!

House of Worship

What a Sunday...

Now, not to brag, but by the time you all were in worship, we were at church. (Here Sunday school is on Sunday mornings, Worship is at 7:30 at night.) Clarification aside, Matt and Carl led adults, while Charlie and April led the single child...

Sunday school was 2 hours long so we were done with Sunday school and walking on the beach before you were in services in the states...

Not bragging!!

We roamed the town and the beach after Sunday school until lunch time, where once again we were welcomed by the women and men of the church with a buffet of food...lots of food for us down here. The ladies and men take a lot of care for us with hospitality I have never seen in my young years.

What a blessing!!! The people of the United Methodist Church of Brazil in Itapoa, have no limit to endless Service to the Americans.

As we are praying for everyone back HOME, and you are praying for this team and its mission, let it be known that The people of Brazil are praying for the United States of America as a whole!!! And I can see why! After just 2 days here, there is unconditional love in every person, at all hours, every block, and every greeting! And during Sunday school, the church is concerned about the condition of the American people and their relationship with God... They believe it's fading and have asked if it will "bounce back". But we as an American Christians...will it? Or have we lost more than we can gain? Should we ponder that?

After lunch, and stuffed until we were full and content, we stopped by our house and changed for the beach!!! Yes, in the middle of winter, after Sunday school and before church we walked the beach, kicking a soccer ball and admiring the sights sounds and smells. We found a rock point on the beach and explored the tiny Peninsula and then the brave (or stupid) 3 went swimming in the Atlantic for a few hours body surfing and then playing soccer with some ladies from the church. The others sat on the rock with ocean views and enjoyed the peaking sun and warm temperatures. Perfect weather regain God has blessed us with!

We returned to the house and relaxed with reading, hammocks, naps, fellowship and welcomed Marcello and their daughter Kachima who cooked supper for us. Fried pastall which was homemade hot pockets fried... Pizza, meat and cheese, ham and cheese, chocolate and cheese, cheese... Too much food!

We then went to church Sunday evening and worshiped with a full house! What an experience! Full of praise and prayer and worship. Everyone loves the Americans and our strength to carry the work of God through this community!

Stay tuned...
This is Carl's recap for Sunday.

Saturday July 23, 2011

Friends followers and family:
We made plans to write every 24 hours or so, but Wifi is sketchy at best, and not present at worse. But we already have too much to share!
We are staying in a house with 2 bedrooms downstairs, 2 bathrooms, kitchen, and living/dining area.
Three plus one are upstairs...Carl, Matt, Charlie, and Daniel. We have a personal Brazilian housemate to help us along, Daniel. His parents started the station project where we are working, and he has been very involved with the children here. He is also translating for us!

Help us thank everyone behind the scenes here and at home that made this trip possible and continue to do so. The one thing we are struggling with is the language, but the best part is experiencing the language. We incorporate Portuguese in games, prayers, short conversations, and all around. Our counterparts are amazing and are truly a blessing and we've only been here 24 hours.
Our god is an awesome god, and this week he just got more awesome!

Saturday: we awoke early had breakfast and met at 8:30 with devotions, and prayer to be picked up at 8:50 to go to the local Samambaial Project.
We moved tables, chairs, food and other supplies to a community building in the same block and then went with 5 children, splitting up and inviting children and parents around the community to attend the "block party" this afternoon at 2:00.  With the six of us, and determined 5 children from this local project to us house to house handing out paper notes "flyer's" and inviting families to attend this party.

We all agreed that this was a wonderful and effective mode of evangelism: the children visiting families door to door and inviting other children to the party!

We then gathered and went to lunch at a local resturant buffet style and experience local culture food. Don't be surprised if we all come home 10 pounds heavier: we have all been eating and eating and eating! There is always silence when we have our meals, combined with contented sighs.

The children's party this afternoon was great fun and very well attended! When we arrived, we were informed by the Brazilian leaders that this is a very traditional party that communities all around Brazil hold in June or July. Everyone gets dressed up like "people from the country." So we were painted with makeup: the guys all got mustaches and beards and the gals got pig tails and freckles, Sadie-Hawkins style. Most of the children and adults were dressed up. We played lots of games, had great food, and had a grand time for several hours! There is no doubt that the adults here are very focused on the children and spent many hours preparing food, decorations, and activities.

Right now, we are eating Brazilian barbecue in Daniel's home and preparing to go to church, where David is preaching. Just in case you thought that we pastors were "on vacation," I will let you know that we have already been informed that we are preaching several times this week, while other team members are leading Bible studies and giving testimonies.

This is Kristin writing right now, and I will pass along to you all that we love you and are praying for you. We have been welcomed in such an amazing way, it is hard to describe how profoundly touching is the hospitality of our brothers and sisters here. Thank you for your continued prayers. We will be worshipping with you tomorrow as the Church worldwide gathers to praise God!

Touchdown!

Followers!
We arrived in Curtibia at 1:45 pm our time Friday! We got all 8 checked bags and for future reference, tripods are prohibited on Brazil checked bags. Who knew? Allowed in USA, bad in Brazil.

After stopping for snacks at at fancy truck stop, we drove 3 hours to our first week stay.
GPS: 26.059600 S
48.612886 W. Check this location with google earth if you like.

We have a house 2 blocks from the ocean and pictures will follow when there is more light. It gets dark around 6 PM but weather is perfect for us. 45 degrees cooler than Virginia!!! We are so sorry you have heat back home, but we are in heaven!

We had dinner with some new friends and are preparing to retire in the next 2 hours. A lot of travel in 2 time zones.

Thank you all for prayers and continue to pray we share what God has on our heart in the next 2 weeks.

Thank you all again for your support, we LOVE you all, miss you all, even though we have Ocean views and sounds during our mission this week.
Pictures to follow tomorrow.
Good night from your 2011 Virginia young adult team in Bazil!

Rio De Janeiro

We safely arrived in Rio, got all luggage, cleared immigration, and have met our family that will be transporting us to the other airport.

Flight 800 was all good, minus some cramping issues.

Next flight is at 12:19 our time. Which is 1 hour ahead of East Coast USA.
Stay tuned!

Flight 3186

Note for followers!!!
New flight from Greensboro to Charlotte is 3186!
Both flights are still there!
We just changed flights!

Security...check

So...we all arrived at Greensboro/Piedmont Triad Int'l Airport around 4:30 ish!
After some name tags for the bags, and some weight shifting between luggage owners...
Thanks to a group photo in front of US Airways sign by some lovely drivers, we checked in baggage, cleared security, and now wait for 2 hours before boarding.
So far so good. All looking forward to the long flight in 5 hours, and a good meal at Charlotte Airport! (BBQ I think...)
Will touch base in a while.

The Final Countdown

So, are we packed yet?  That probably all depends on who you ask!

We gather together at 5:00 pm at Greensboro, NC to prepare for the international flight check in and security.
A group of 4 is gathering in Roanoke at 2:00 and traveling to Greensboro, while 2 from Lynchburg, depart at the same time.

We have about 12 hours of flight time in an 18 hour span, Mostly overnight and only 3 flights (see flight schedule in June)

Here are our flight numbers to keep up with our travels:
US Airways 3219
US Airways 800 (International flight)
TAM Linhas Aereas 3265


PLEASE be PATIENT!  NO NEWS is GOOD NEWS!

With over seas cellular phone and networks unknown and sketchy, we will try to post to this blog updates as much as possible.

We look forward to our adventure and thanks you for all your support and thanks you for your prayers!

Brazil, here we come!

Carl Gravely