The Brauns in Brazil: How Late is Late?

While cake is exciting on any given day, we were especially excited about it yesterday. If you remember, a few weeks ago we made bread and brought it to our neighbors as a way to introduce ourselves. Here in Brazil if someone brings you food and you want to continue building the friendship, you need to bring them a gift of food in return. Yesterday our doorbell rang and there waiting was our neighbor who I, Stephanie, have been getting to know - with a cake in her hands! It was such an exciting moment because it meant that she is glad to be getting to know us and wants continue being closer friends. An encouraging and yummy answer to prayer! As a side note, the cake was a fruitcake - which has a bad reputation in the States but in Brazil people really like it, and it really was good! This afternoon I will be going over to visit again as we arranged. Please pray for clear opportunities to share about Christ through words and actions as we continue in our new friendship.

(While I don't have any pictures with our neighbor, here are a few other quick pictures to show you some of the things we see day to day. First is a BEAUTIFUL flower, then are pictures of our visit to a local market...though there are also "normal" supermarkets here too)

Also ,this afternoon Jeyson is beginning the process of flying again. Unlike driving where you just hop back in the car if you haven't driven in a while, flying involves a lot more before you can take control of a plane again after several months away from flying. To begin the process, in a few minutes Jeyson will be the passenger as another pilot receives training. Hopefully in the coming days he will be back at it again himself....however being safe is more important than being speedy in this process.

Below is a picture of the missionary men at the hanger during the morning devotional.

Speaking of getting back at things again - this past week I taught my first ESL (English as a Second Language) lesson at the children's program. I forgot how much I enjoy teaching. It was a lot of fun in the classroom and even more fun after as many came up to me to chat and ask questions during their recess time. One boy (13 yrs old) even started asking me about what church I go to and why. He said his family does not go to church but he is interested and goes to both an Evangelical and Mormon church, as a result of some Mormon missionaries visiting his house. He felt confused to know what to believe. I was amazed that someone so young would be thinking about faith and seeking even without influence from his family. You can be praying for him, Marcio, if you remember and specifically that I will be able to share more with him.

Also this week, we had an interesting cultural learning experience. Jeyson's parents decided to have a little house warming for us. Originally the idea was to have a little wedding reception here in Brazil but the time flew by and we've now been married 4 months! So anyway, we traveled to Goiania on Friday for the house warming - literally in Portuguese "New House Tea". We set everything up and it was supposed to start at 4:30. By 5 no one had shown up and I was assuming the party was a flop. Then at 5:20 a group of people arrived. We all enjoyed the company and had a little party. Then around 6 another group arrived! I was really surprised that so many people would come 1 1/2 hours late! But we pulled out more food and started back up again. By 7:15 everyone had left and we began to clean up. Then at 7:30 a car pulled up to the driveway. It was MORE guests 3 hours late!! I was shocked, especially because it wasn't family or people very close to the Brauns. I can't imagine that happening in the States! So we scrambled together more food and had yet another round of party :) Although Jeyson grew up in South America he has really been influenced by American schooling/his time in the States so he was really shocked too. We were glad to learn this lesson while we were with Jeyon's parents who have more experience in Brazil rather than on our own where we might have thought no one was coming and headed out somewhere! I guess the question "how late is late?" has a whole different answer here in Brazil!

(Jeyson fixing some things around the home before the "New House Tea")