We are boarded for the long flight waiting for pushback from the gate! Awesome news from first flight! But you'll have to wait! Hint: Football


Here
We
Come
Miami!

Friday's Post (Finally)

What a great morning! Pastor David and myself woke to get in a 3.5 mile run along the beach one last morning. A cool breeze and a shower earlier this morning cooled things off, for a few minutes anyway. It's great to see this place for all it's glory one last time.

We had devotions from Zack this morning at 10, followed by a team closing, where we each took turns bringing out the best of others from this trip. We also gave Andressa her gift for the countless things and problems she has worked through for us! Pastor, Gallilleo, and Wilmara joined us for lunch after we packed the van with our our goodies. I tried sneaking my luggage into Pastor's car, but they said it was too big. Guess I have to get a taxi to move into her place.

We shared a quick lunch at a restaurant near the hotel and then departed across the rivers and through Recife to another bigger mall. Shaped like a capital D, it was huge. Half an hour to walk one floor end to end, not doing any shopping!

We currently are sitting waiting for the shoppers to wrap up to get through security. We depart our first flight at 7:35, and I think I have several opportunities to get "lost" from the group. I know at least 5 are returning to Virginia.

We are looking good for flights, and baggage is taken care of.

No news is good news folks. See the flight schedule post for details. At this point, all is legit.

For those returning to the other side, they will see you Saturday...

Tearful Thursday :-(

What a day...Where have YOU seen GOD today?

We end each and every day with this question and we all have a chance to share our viewpoints. By tonight, it should have been asked "where have you not seen GOD...?"

Today was eventful. Phase 1 of the Project Sombra e Agua Fresca is nearly complete. Big change from 2 weeks or even 4 weeks ago. We are working on a video, but even still, our resources are limited. I knew I should have gotten that iPad3. Next year! It's going to be amazing for you to see what we have accomplished. I hope by Saturday night. Sorry folks, time is limited.

We worked for about 2.5 hours this morning and then cleaned up the site, and there was a lot of progress looking back. We did good with God's help! We went to the preschool and gave shirts to the construction workers who had lunch today at the preschool as well. Then we gave shirts to the teachers, kitchen staff and our team leaders and assistants.
 
I don't want to leave anybody out, but I need your help for these wonderful people. Please pray for all that they have done and continue to do!  
All workers at the site:
Hildo-Engineer
Manuel-Foreman
Gatekeeper-Site
Gatekeeper-Daycare
Sergio
Ciao
Suzanna
Fernando
Jumara
Galileo
Wilmara
Director
Tete
Kitchen Staff of 4
Sarah
Jessica
Thalita
Gabriel
Carlos
And many others that I may remember later.

We had a wonderful lunch, and a Banana and Fruit Dessert. I am going to miss these meals! During the afternoon we shared memories and exchanged gifts, and they had prepared boxes with goodies for us. We have one for the Bishop as well, but don't let him know I ate the candy in case it went bad in checked baggage.

We visited a few in the neighborhood and as little as we knew these people, there were tears of sadness. We were going to play soccer, but the field owner was not available to ask, so we did not play. We departed early for the hotel to freshen up for the Brazilian STEAKHOUSE! When you visit me here, I'll take you every time. In exchange for some Apple products of course! We visited the local craft vendors for some small shopping before we leave Olinda.


Tonight we reflect back on the past 10 days and all that we have done, witnessed, made connections with, and conversations we had with little or even negative understanding. God is everywhere as we can share our experiences.

Although the roof did not go up today, all the walls will be completed by Friday to the half way point, which is a huge change from 3 weeks ago.

Fridays agenda consists of exercise, packing, breakfast, final devotions, and departure to a local restaurant for lunch. Then the mall, and then the airport. Tomorrow will be MIA unless I find free WI-FI, which is slim in these parts of the world. Our first flight departs at 7:35 Friday night and we go through Sao Paulo before Miami. Again, no news is good news! I'll update as much as I can, with the time I can find. Prayers are welcome.


Goodnight from our final night in the hotel.
~Carl

Wound up Wednesday?

Actually, I think we're losing steam. So wind down Wednesday? But one last day to get the roof up! Just kidding!

We had devotions with the kids today and sang songs in Portuguese and several in English. We sang "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes", "Deep and Wide", and "Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock". We then played with the kids with beach balls and had enough to give each kid their own.

There was special music from the pastor of the daycare who played the violin for the kids. We got a somewhat decent group photo of the kids and all the beach balls. The kids had showers and lunch as we recovered and some of our team visited a woman who makes origami, which were also available for purchase.

Mary Ann and Carl joined Andressa and Wilmara on an ATM trip to the mall. Keeping Mary Ann out of stores is like fighing with a shark in the ocean. You have to watch her... I tried to get driving lessons along the way, but Andressa is difficult to persuade! I'll bring American crackers and American peanut butter next time, and perhaps and iPad 3. I'm sure I'll find a way!!!!

We returned to the project for lunch and joined the rest of the team. Today we had spaghetti and red and white chicked Alfredo sauce and also rice black beans and kalbasi-like popular dish called "..." which all food is amazing! Thanks to the kitchen staff and Pastor Gilmara who takes great care of us!

We checked the work site and can't wait to show some videos of how the site is progressing... The footers we dug now are walls, bricks we moved are now permanent walls, and it's exciting! By weeks' end, all walls should be complete!

The afternoon we visited with Caio (a helper) and his mother and brother in their home. We gave them gifts (T-shirts) and then finally got to play soccer (or an attempt thereof). Zach, Carl, Lyndsay Rex, Pastor Fernando, Caio, and Galliello played a quick game until we had to leave to catch our van ride. We started off strong but soon fell victim to the locals...

We returned to the hotel for some cleaning up and then headed on our way to pastor Fernando's church for Thursday night service which they are hosting tonight so we can attend!

hours later....
We worked our way through Recife and the soccer/rush hour traffic where tonight Pastor David gave a sermon on John 1:35-39. What a welcoming church! With the team we had about 47 in attendance, with songs and music and dancing, the service was amazing yet again. We ended the night with food and drink in the fellowship hall and made new friends. We said our goodbyes and headed back to the hotel.

We shared our God moments of the day and reviewed the schedule for tomorrow! Everyone is sad about saying goodbye, but a trick I learned is not to say goodbye, but see you next time... Next year, next month, next week, it's relieves the heartache of saying something that could be permanent. You never know what God has in store for you...

We returned Pastor Gilmaras car to her and Andressa, as sweet as she is showed us the soccer stadium where Santa Cruz plays. GPS coordinates: Lat: 8D 1'31"S Lon: 34D 53' 36" W The biggest stadium in the NE!

What blessing to have been witnessed today. Truly amazing of what people can share with fellow Christians.

Goodnight everyone!
~Carl

Sunday Catch-up

Because three of our team weren't able to be with us Sunday for the tour of Recife, we are going to try to catch you up on what we saw. We saw the first synagogue in the Americas and lots of very old beautiful buildings.  We stood on 'Ground Zero' which is the point where the city of Recife began. We got a close-up view of the reef that protects the city. There are 5 rivers which all come together into 2 rivers which flow into the ocean. We crossed many bridges and learned that Recife is actually made up of 3 islands. A few interesting facts that were shared by our guide - the number of layers of roof tiles told how wealthy the family was and the number of Imperial Palms also reflected wealth. The government buildings were next on our tour. The courtyard between the governor's mansion and the legislative building contains a gorgeous fountain and an ancient boabab tree. Many pictures were taken to try to capture this beauty. We can't wait to share them with you.

Brazil has found a most unusual use for an old prison building. It is now a craft market called Casa da Cultura and we had the opportunity to shop for awhile. Each cell has been turned into an individual shop full of Brazilian products. We especially loved the table cloths and blankets and did our share to help the local economy. One cell has been kept in its original condition and we all decided that we didn't want to spend any time in that one.

All of that sightseeing and shopping left us pretty hungry so we headed to a Brazilian buffet for lunch. The array of food was unbelievable - everything from shrimp to beef to goat. We missed having very many vegetables but we managed to find enough to eat.

We couldn't survive without Andressa and her amazing knowledge and ability to interpret for us. Our new Brazilian friend Sergio spent part of the day with us and was a great help in translating and making deals at the craft market.

After lunch we headed to a cultural museum of Northeastern Brazil and learned lots about early Brazilian history.

It was time to head back to the hotel and catch up with our sickies! We found them all well and Carl has already told you about Sunday night and the amazing church service.

Deus te abencoe!
Carrie and Bonnie

Tuesday July 24th 2012

Hello everyone! Trying to update before dinner. It's Pizza, and hopefully ok like Wednesday night. As long as its not mall pizza!

It was hot today. We were sweaty just from the tour.We started at 9 AM and went just a short drive to begin our tour. Learning history and heritage and seeing several Synagogues around the district. Including the first one in Olindia shown below.

There was intermittent shopping in local shops along the way. We climbed a water tower for a beautiful view 360 degrees around and could see the earth curvature.

We headed to the van and drove across town to the project, where we had delicious hamburgers again (back by special request of Zack) and some Mango Mousse! YUM! It was work time at 1:30 and we had to stop at 4:30 where we continued again to move some soil, and Zack and Carl moved a foundation footer 2 feet over for a bigger kitchen.

We made a quick video and it's uploading to the Brazil Partnership as I write.

Tomorrows schedule consists of devotions by Carrie at 8:00, departure to project at 8:30, devotions with the kids at the Shade and Fresh Water Project at 9 until lunch. The afternoon consists of a break, visiting a helper's family (Caio) and then playing soccer with him and his friends in the neighborhood at 3 (Zack and Carl). We depart back to the hotel at 4, and depart to Pastor Fernando's church at 6:30, for a 3 hour Wednesday evening service. Small church of about 20, so we are bringing some visitors! The team almost doubles the population.

The views today are beautiful and many of you may have had the opportunity to see a paradise near or far...but today with rich houses in the historic district, the downtown near the rivers, the slumps on the hillsides, and mother nature with the ocean wide open was truly breathtaking!

God is here. God is there! Our God is an awesome God and is and can be everywhere! This team is living proof of showing and believing in that!

Ok, Round 2 of Phase 10 is requested to have been set up, so will be in touch tomorrow!

A : See Details(Google Map)

A new day in a new week past half way.

Well, the sickness is behind us, we pray, and we have started the work week again. Apparently I over worked the crew last week, and so they put me down with food poisoning at the mall to catch up on some rest. Apparently it worked, minus me feeling horrible, and at Zack's and Lindsay's expense!

We had a late start today as a catch up of the weekend. Those sick Saturday were able to see the beach and enjoy a walk. Others caught up on sleep, and the rest moseyed around. We had devotions at 11, thanks to Bonnie, and were told to be dandelions and keep an open perspective during our journey today. We then caught the van at noon to the project where we had lunch, and headed to work. We continued to move soil around from trenches and piles to level rooms and assist the masons. There will be a video tomorrow of site progress.

Speaking of the site... Please join the Facebook Group Brazil Partnership if you have not already done so! There you will see pictures of us, our friends and random updates.

We worked until 5 today and headed back to the hotel for chicken noodle soup supper and a walk to the ice cream parlor with Andressa, before the soap operas came on at nine. The rest eventually joined in a game of Phase 10, where we just paused for another night.

I need to get more photos but the tablet was being used, so I'll try tomorrow. The video will be made and it will tell a lot.

We tour the city of Olindia first thing and then head to the site to continue our quest. My percentage of returning to the states stands at -34.583% on a 0-100 scale. Most of us are at or near 100% health, mentally however, I'm not sure, but physically I think the team is back!

From the sea shore in Olindia, good night folks!

~Carl