We arrived Tuesday, traveled-rested-sorted meds on Wednesday, prepped and saw our first village on Thursday June 19. June 20-23 were normal days, normal meaning morning devotions with singing, serving villages, and traveling.  Here are a few highlights thus far… 

• Brazilians vs. Americans in soccer at one of the villages. At every village, and I mean EVERY village, the day ends with a football game.

• Brazilians vs Americans in UNO. The Brazilians also take their UNO very serious. At one point in our UNO game a Brazilian did something that we Americans were not accustomed to. The Brazilian spoke up and said, “In Brazil. Brazil rules!”

• Oakley the dog. We all have a part to play, even Oakley the dog. When we step foot into a village Oakley leads us. Michael throws a Frisbee, Oakley retrieves it. This goes on for several minutes. Everyone is captivated. What a great icebreaker! Oakley sets the table for us build relationships.

• Devotion times. Morning devotions are fun and inspirational. Many times those who don’t speak for a living communicate better than the “professionals”. We were challenged this week to “give the gifts we have to others.” One morning the Americans listened to the boat crew tell their stories which ended up being very encouraging.

• Monday June 23rd`s devotion the boat crew was asked to tell us a little about themselves. It was a wonderful and precious time to hear their stories and understand their hearts for Jesus.

• Tuesday June 24th, we saw our last village then traveled to Sao Sebastian overnight. We took a tour of the Central Brazil Mission gardens, conference center, churches, and futbol field. After supper Michael led a devotion time with local and regional ministers. A total of 17 ministers and wives attended. We discussed having courage in the ministry, we reminded each other that God is always with us, and we told each other that there “are more with us than against us.” 2 Kings 6:16