Christmas is in the Air

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....though not quite like the ones we used to know :) But none the less, we've been really enjoying getting ready for a unique Christmas together here! Both of us grew up always having real Christmas trees, but there are none available in our city here in hot Brazil. Rather than just skip on it (like we did last year) we decided to get a little table top one. Despite how artificial it looks, we've been enjoying it :)

As we look around we remember many of you since almost all of our Christmas items were sent to us or given to us by our friends and family....table decorations, ornaments, even the CD we're listening to that Katie and Dan preformed, recorded, and sent to us!

We have a tiny nativity scene from Ecuador. It is on top of the microwave now but originally we put it on the coffee table. The next morning we woke up and it was GONE! We found the cow under the coffee table, the horse in the hallway, Mary under the bed, the manger under the couch, and Joseph under the refrigerator. We're still looking for the angel! I'm not sure what happened, but I think I know who did it....and I think he's in the previous picture :)

We have these nice Christmas towels that my sister sent down last year and even some festive napkins and a candle my mom gave us.

This year I have the cookie baking bug. Have you ever had that? It's funny, last year I hardly baked cookies, but this year I have about 7 kinds on my list and I can't seem to eliminate any of them. I searched for all of the ingredients and can't wait till the weekend to get started. I am especially excited about the peanut butter cookies. Thanks so much Mom for sending the mix! I think I'll make the one with the Hershey kiss in the middle - except we don't have any kisses. Do you think Christmas colored M&M's will work? Do you have anther suggestion?

Well it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. We're singing Christmas hymns in church and reading about Christ's birth.....

The only part I'm still trying to get used to is seeing my garden in full bloom!

Unrelated to anything above - I've made some changes to our blog. First, now I'm going to categorize my posts as either ministry, just for fun, or life overseas. You can see the topic at the bottom of the post and click on the right at the top of the blog to see only posts from that category. That way, if you're interested in hearing about our ministry you can just see posts about that or if you just want the fun stories you can just see those, etc.

Second, I have improved how you can leave a comment. I didn't realize there were so many hoops to jump through to leave a comment. Now it's easy - you don't even need a Google account. Just leave a comment, type in the word you see, and it will appear right away!

Servant's Heart, Welder's Mask

A few weekends ago we decided to spend the whole weekend with Jeyson's sister and her husband who are leaders of a Youth With A Mission base in Goiania. As we were packing our bags, I noticed that Jeyson added his welder among the pile of things that were coming along.
Me, "Jeyson, are you bringing the welder?!?"
Jeyson in a completely natural way (as if he had just packed his toothbrush), "Of course! You never know when someone needs something welded!"
So in the welder went, and we headed to Lika and Mario's house. The next morning when I woke up, Jeyson was already up. I went outside and guess what found him doing?
Welding, of course! Recently the mission had bought an old rickety trailer that they need to lug large quantities of food, supplies....and really anything large to the base. Unfortunately, the trailer was not usable since the unpaved roads are so bumpy there and the axle was about to fall off. Everyone was so glad Jeyson brought the welder and put him right to work.

Jeyson had tons of assistants ready to help! The three men on the left are from a Christian rehab center that YWAM helps to run. They were very interested in learning some tips since here any skill (including welding) is another opportunity for work and a way to stay off the streets!

Jeyson has the hope of teaching men from the rehab center some skills like this in a more formal and ongoing way.

In the 2 years we've been married I've learned so much from Jeyson...

I haven't learned anything about welding (though I'm sure he'd be excited to teach me....wouldn't that be romantic :)....

But I've learned a ton about serving and ministry....

So often we wait for opportunities to come knocking on our door, but I've learned from Jeyson that you have to first make yourself available and then you'll never stop finding opportunities.

I wish I had gotten an after picture, but the trailer is all ready to be put to use keeping the base running! Thanks Jeyson! And thanks Bob and Lynn for the welder....it's been such a blessing to many! (PS - how we got the welder into our suitcases and on a plane to Brazil along with a bread machine, wedding dress, and a Kitchen Aid stand mixer is another story :)

Wanted

Christmas Cards!!

Do you send out Christmas cards or yearly update letters? Can you please include us on your list? We'd love to hear from you! We're always sending out our news and updates via our blog, emails, letters....but we'd love to know how YOU are!
Here's our address:

Jeyson and Stephanie Braun
Asas de Socorro
Cx Postal 184
Anapolis, GO 75001-970
Brazil

The cost to mail a normal letter from the US to Brazil is 98 cents so, if it's easier you don't have to go to the post office...just put that amount of stamps on and it's on it's way. What could be easier....and what could be more wonderful for us than to hear from you!

Nice Shades!

Pretty cool glasses, huh? Well, they may never become a trend, but Jeyson has been wearing them lately as he works towards his commercial pilot's license. Part of the rating is being able to fly only using the instrument panel in the plane...no looking out the window allowed! These shades are really a blinder that gets attached to the headset to block him from being able to see out the window as he flies.....with a fully seeing instructor as the co-pilot!
I had never actually seen this piece of equipment before, so when I was taking pictures Jeyson also showed me what it felt like to wear them....a very strange feeling! I can't imagine actually flying a plane like this!

Actually, I can't imagine flying a plane even without the blinder on...but that's not the point :)

Here I am sitting in front of the picture seeing what it is like to not see above the instruments.

Ready for take off!

Holiday Fun and 2 Strange Sights

This week Angelina and Nina came over to learn how to make Christmas cookies...

Angelina especially enjoyed being the decorating committee :)And Nina was our official cookie cutter :) We also made chocolate chip cookies and Nina was SO amazed about how you don't have to flatten out the cookies and shape them into circles....you just form a ball and they spread out into a perfect circle on their own! She said she was so glad I could teach her because she never would have figured it out on her own. Who knew making cookies was so impressive? :)

And who knew that making cookies is such a good way to deepen friendships? And who knew that deepening friendships is such a good way to invest in a life? And who knew that investing in a life is the way to change one for eternity? Well, I guess I"m not the first one to figure that out!

Well, changing subjects....here's a strange sight that you can see around here in Brazil.

Here there are many people that drive illegally without a license since the process is pretty expensive and difficult. This is especially true of motorcyclists. As a result, occasionally the police set up barricades and pull over all motorcycles and/or cars and check the drivers for their licences and to be sure that the vehicle was not stolen. As you can see, the truck is filling up quickly with motorcycles that the police are taking away from the drivers because of one of these two things.

On the left you can see another one on the way to the truck. Although it's too bad the guy is losing his motorcycle, it's good to know that there are less unlicensed drivers on the road!

One more interesting sight...This week a worker came to fix the tiles in our shower since the water was pooling and not draining. The job took a little longer than expected so the man asked if he could leave some tools at our house to come finish the job the next day. Among the tools he left, I couldn't help but notice this one that was on the floor....a flip flop that looks like it is used for spreading cement for the tiles!?!? Sometimes it doesn't feel like we're in another country, but rather on another planet!!

Well as mentioned our update email, this weekend we enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving meal with American missionaries that live in the area and work with several different missions.

We were SO excited to enjoy all of the scrumptious American food! Chickens (turkey is too expensive here), stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, pumpkin pie, etc...there's nothing like a Thanksgiving potluck! We missed spending the holiday with our family, but this was fabulous!

We ate lunch, sang some songs, played games...

And by the time we knew it, it was time for dinner so we all just ate the leftovers.

Wow! I can't tell you how wonderful it was to be surrounded by English, great food, fun, people going through the same things in life that we are....there was so much to be thankful for!

Seasonal Confusion

Have you ever experienced Seasonal Confusion before? Seasonal Confusion...what's that?!? Ok, I confess that I made up the name of my condition, but that's exactly what I'm experiencing...confusion about the seasons. While almost all of you are heading into the cold winter months, here in Brazil we're heading into summer heat....and boy is it hot! This is causing so much confusion for me.

I read my friends' blogs from back in the States and see them bundled up and I go on recipe websites and see postings for hot stews to warm your toes. Meanwhile, it's in the 90's here and very humid! Palm trees are in full bloom and just walking out your door makes you want to take yet another shower. It's very, very confusing to my internal calendar! What time of the year is it really?!?

The strangest part of all of this is the idea of getting ready to celebrate Christmas. To me, (almost) every Christmas I remember has looked something like this:



But this year, this picture better describes what will be the reality temperature wise:

Good thing Christmas is all about celebrating our Savior Jesus Christ and is not dependant on snowmen and fireplaces! Not that those things are wrong to enjoy...but maybe my Seasonal Confusion will allow us to focus on the real reason for the season a little more than usual.

Lessons Learned....from a Cake

Every two weeks, the ladies from Asas and from SIL (Wycliffe in Brazil) get together for a time of encouragement, prayer, and fun. Recently some of the women had the idea to use this get together as an outreach opportunity. Rather than just us missionaries get together, why not use this as an opportunity to invite women who need to hear about the Lord? So, this past week that's just what happened.

In addition to our time of encouragement and prayer, we all invited our friends out to learn how to decorate a cake using fondant. Fun fact - fondant is called "American Paste" in Portuguese....I had no idea that it was such an American thing! On that note, do you know what place mats are called in Portuguese? (Of course not, but I just thought I'd ask :) They're called "Americans"! It's so funny to see what people here in Brazil view as American when we don't even see it as uniquely from our country!
Anyway, my student (and friend) Nina came out as well as my mother-in-law. Even though Nina didn't know anyone, she seemed VERY comfortable and really enjoyed herself. She even commented about how much she enjoys activities with little moments hearing about God....talk about open!



Her interest in coming made me wonder...why don't we as Christians open up more opportunities to invite friends to hear about the Lord? Why so often do we just have activities with each other? When I invited Nina I was surprised that she immediately said she'd come. Maybe you'd be surprised how many of your friends would say yes if you invited them! (This was lesson #1 that I came away with)

Anneke (left) translated for Katie as she decorated the cake, since she just arrived here in Brazil and is still learning Portuguese. At this point there was just a layer of fondant on the cake, icing, and green coconut to look like grass.

Here are some of the ladies watching the cake decorating...

It was a lot of fun and we all got to participate making flowers to put on top.

I imagine when Katie started teaching herself how to decorate cakes that she never would have guessed it would be used as an evangelistic opportunity....but God can use any talent or ability if we're willing! Can you play an instrument? Do you know a good recipe? Can you play a board game? Is there a big sports game coming up? I imagine anything could be used as a way to get people together for that and to hear a little about the Lord. (This was lesson #2)

And Katie did an excellent job putting it into practice...

Finishing up...so cute and delicious too! What sweet lessons to learn :)