Hey everyone, again, so much time has passed and so we have so much to tell. This blog is full of little stories, we have tried to keep them short so I hope you get an idea of all the things we have been up too! Enjoy
Go Team
Each summer (our winter) we receive a team from Holland. This is a group of youth from 17 to 25 years who come for about two weeks to have a short term mission experience. It's always a time for us to enjoy a full house and to do things we are unable to do during our normal schedule, such as evangelism in the community. A team of 7 girls came and it was a great time. We took them for an experience in the ladies rehab, to crackolandia and we did a few evangelism outreaches in the community, also to the girls youth prison (with the Rescue House). It was a great time to see each of the girls grow in their faith and be used by God. Many stepped out of their comfort zone and gave their testimonies, prayed for others and saw God working through them! So cool!
Nivaldo and Tiane are a couple we know who live in the slum with their two kids (In the photo below they are joined by their niece). Nivaldo and Tiane came to know the Lord through the work of the Rock House and year by year we see the changes in their lives of this commitment they have made. This year they have invested in redecorating their home , something many in the slum don't see as important, and it is beautiful. The Go Team helped with this process as they painted their home. Now that it is all finished they invited Nico and I over for Sunday lunch. What a privilege! What an amazing time together with this lovely family. It is awesome to see God at work in their lives.
This first half of the year has been super crazy with our two visits home, the finishing of the construction work here in the Rock House and receiving the new staff. We decided as a team to take a week off after the Go Team. Everyone was so happy to hear this!
Many people have been giving Nico and I the advice; enjoy every moment together now because when the baby comes life will never be the same!! Some suggested a "Baby moon!" I loved this idea! So we decided to take the week and go the beach! What a week of rest - we just spent the whole time on the beach or in the pool and sleeping! What a blessing to have this time together, just the two of us and away from the Rock House where we could really rest!
Practicing baby
It seems like this is the year for Babies! Everywhere I look I am seeing people pregnant! In the community where we work, two mums who we work closely with had baby girls a month ago! I had the opportunity to visit both within a week of their births!
Being pregnant has opened a door to a whole new level of relationship with the women in the community - now we all have something in common! It's been amazing to see my relationships grow, not just with these two mums but with all the mums that I encounter in the slum. Each one giving me advice about the pregnancy, the labour and the raising of children! It's been really special to hear this and to have my eyes opened even more to the culture that God has called me too. What a privilege to carry a baby but to see how God will use this pregnancy not only to bless me and Nico with a son but to open the doors to deeper relationships with the mothers. And of course Nico was getting some practice in too, which brought a smile to the mum's!
Baby Shower 1
Jumping in further to the brazilian culture... they say "when in Brazil do as the Brazilians do!" When you are pregnant one of the things that every mother does is a baby shower.... or more commonly called "A nappy shower!" The reason being that the guests bring a packet of nappies! What a blessing when you see the price and hear about how many nappies a baby uses!!
Some of our friends wanted to organise the party for us, this suited us well as we didn't really know what was involved! Oh my, did they work hard! The decoration was perfect - with a theme of Noah's ark. The food was amazing including a home made cake of Noah's ark with Noah and some animals! At the end each guest leaves with a little souvenir from the party... the girls hand made a little cloud magnet (about 50 of them!) to tie in with the theme!
So many friends came (from YWAM, volunteers from the Rock House and friends from our church here in Brazil). It was a fruitful time being together, eating and sharing. There was a time of prayer for me and Nico and for our baby. The guests could write messages to us on animal cut outs, and they played a game to see who could guess how many centimetres round was my tummy.... and Nico's!! This made everyone laugh. Not too many guessed right! What a blessing as we saw how generous everyone had been to bring us a packet of nappies! An amazing afternoon!
Many ladies from the slum and our neighbours were asking about doing a baby shower for us. So we decided to do a second one! We were able to use the decorations from the first one and I cheekily froze the "Noah's ark" part of the cake from the first party - there was so much cake! We handed out the invites and had another party with the ladies from the slum and our neighbours. Another opportunity to deepen our relationships with them. They also came with a packet of nappies each to bless us. How generous!
Alison
My friend Alison, from home, came to visit! Everyone said she was crazy wanting to come when I was 8 months pregnant!! Thankfully the baby didn't come early! As I am unable to keep up with our usual full schedule here at the Rock House it gave Alison and I some time to be together! She also came over a bank holiday which gave us an extra day to be together without work commitments!
Apart from having an amazing time together, Alison also left her mark here at the Rock House. She offered to use her skills that God has blessed her with and she did a huge mural on the wall of the big room where we host the majority of our groups. Our theme for this semester is "Heros". So she designed an image of Jesus talking with the Superheros, finishing with the phrase, "...and that's how I saved the world!" The true super hero in our lives!
Alison also brought loads of arts and crafts supplies and lead the activities in the teenage girls group and the afternoon kids group! The kids love to have time to do arts and crafts because in the school they don't have time to develop this as they only study four hours per day, and also supplies are super expensive here in Brazil. What a blessing for the kids! Thanks Alison for giving so much here at the Rock House even though it was your holidays!! Come back soon!
Every Thursday evening we have a church YWAM service, all the YWAM workers get together and we have worship, announcements and a receive a word. It's a great time to receive instead of giving and to receive a word of encouragement. Also it is so nice to see the other Ywamers as we live spread out among six houses across the city, each with a different project. The services are always translated into english for those who are visiting or those who have recently arrived and haven't learnt the language yet. Nico loves this job! I love to see him translating the Pastors as it always amazes me, he is translating normally from Portuguese to English - two languages that are neither his mother tongue! What a blessing to have this gift of languages!
Also, our team are very musically gifted, and recently they lead us in worship. It made us (me and Nico) so proud to see them step out and use their gifts to bless our base! It is amazing to see how God opens doors for us to use the gifts and talents that He has given us. I can't imagine how proud He is when He sees His children using these gifts to glorify him!
Baby is coming!!
So I have made it, 39 weeks pregnant!! Baby can come any day now!! Are we ready? Everyone keeps asking.... I ask, what does that mean? We have bought the baby clothes, nappies, wipes, cot, dummies etc etc.... so yes?! Have a name chosen....there is still some doubt.. so no?! Haha! But we are super excited for our baby to arrive! Nine months is a long time to wait for something and we cannot wait to see his little face and hold his little hands! Next news... will be about the arrival! So watch this space! But please Pray for God's hand on the delivery, that all will go smoothly and that He will arrive well.
Thank you so much for reading all our news! Thank you for continuing to be a part of this journey that we are on! We appreciate each and every one of you. May God bless you.
Thank you so much for reading all our news! Thank you for continuing to be a part of this journey that we are on! We appreciate each and every one of you. May God bless you.
No comments:
Post a Comment