On Friday we went to farewell Brazilian bbq for an Asas couple heading to live/serve in the Amazon area. The man on the right is the husband from the couple.
This couple who was leaving was just like us. The husband worked with Asas missionaries here in Anapolis to get all of the ratings/experience necessary to move to the Amazon and serve as a pilot and mechanic. It is so exciting to see others who have gone before us, finished everything, and are moving onto the next step. We can't wait to get there, but are enjoying where God has us for now. Above you can see the Brazilian style of bbq. Someone (in this case Jeyson) comes around with bite sized pieces of meat and everyone just picks one and eats it with their fingers. This way you can try tons of different kinds as each time the tray is passed around it is usually a different type. The focus of the event is really conversation as you leisurely enjoy a delicious meal. You can also see me - the one sitting closest to where Jeyson is standing. 
Above is a picture Jeyson took this week in the hangar. Each day before beginning work, the men have a morning devotional that they rotate leading. 
Also above is a picture of Jeyson on our new motorcycle for getting around town, as I mentioned in the last post. Well, thanks so much if you were praying about this new ESL ministry. Yesterday was our second meeting which went really well, but sadly I forgot to take pictures again! Our group was smaller this week. I had imagined the group might shrink some since, although most of the students are a fairly high level of English, a few were a lot lower and weren't able to get as much out of the time practicing conversation. Although a smaller group might seem discouraging, actually in a way I was glad because the time together was better quality.
Our Bible study time also went really well and I was so encouraged about the feedback about last week's Bible study. One of the students who came again this week is not a believer, but after the Bible study last week she mentioned to another student how much she enjoyed this part of the "class"! She has never studied the Bible like this before, so please keep praying!
Another really neat thing I learned was the testimony of one of the students who just became a Christian a few months ago. Lorena had several friends who were Christians and they had shared the Gospel with her, but she was not ready yet to make a decision. Then a few months ago she went to a salon to get her hair cut. The woman cutting the hair of the person next to Lorena started sharing the Gospel with her client. Lorena listened to the conversation and was compelled by the message. Right there, in the salon, she prayed a silent prayer giving her life to God and she came out of the salon with a new hairdo and a new heart. When she went home she called one of her friends (also in our ESL group) and told her about her decision. It is such an awesome story about how God can use people of any profession to share His love and salvation, even when you don't know if anyone is listening. Lorena is really excited about her faith but has so much to learn and to grow. Please pray that if God put me in her life to help her in this way that He will show me how.
Speaking of groups and meetings, tomorrow is the beginning of us finally putting our FamilyLife material we got into practice. You might remember back in February we went to a FamilyLife marriage conference and were very excited about their concept of "homebuilders" groups - basically a small group for couples wanting to build their marriage. We were really excited about the small group books/home courses that they put out and really feel like our marriage could grow from it so we wanted to start a group here in Brazil. Of course we are very newly married would normally make us very unqualified to teach anything about marriage, but the best part of this material is you don't have to teach anything. The studies are all set up so that the group looks at verses together and discussing them as a group. Being the leader means simply having the role of facilitating discussion and asking questions. All of that to say, we decided to start a little group of us and 4 other newly married couples from Asas de Socorro. (Several are also new as missionaries as well.) The book we chose to start with is "Keeping Your Covenant", a study that lasts for 4 weeks. We think this a great place to start because a 4 week course is a much less intimidating commitment, and after the month we will all reevaluate and decide what, if any, next step to take. Please pray for our time together as you think of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment