Christian music day

We attended Christian music day at carowinds today. I had no idea half of carowinds theme park is in North Carolina and half is in South Carolina. Just goes to prove, you learn something new everyday! We had a great time. We left at 6:30 am on Saturday and will return home at 2:30 am on Sunday morning. We enjoyed the theme park and rides until the concerts started. I love watching the kids as they sang along to their favorite artists. They really enjoyed Toby Mac, kutless & casting crowns. We rode a chartered bus which was full of energy and noise on the way to the concert. Tonight however, it is total silence on the bus. Well, other than a few snoring children :)
Thank you Lord for allowing us to rejoice in you and sing your praises tonight.

Garrett

While flying home from Brazil our plane in Charlotte was delayed 3 times :( changing our arrival time from 2 pm till 4:30 pm. While in route home I learned that one of the children on our ministry was in the east Tennessee children's hospital. As soon as my plane landed., I went home and took a quick shower. I'm sure I smelled like a goat after traveling non stop for two days :) the I headed to Knoxville to visit Garrett and his family. Please pray for Garrett! He has a tumor at his brain stem. They will be doing brain surgery on Thursday, October 4th.

Garrett was in good spirits. He was playing video games and singing along with Toby Mac on his iPod. Garrett was suppose to attend the Toby Mac concert in carowinds with us but he is unable to attend now due to doctor's orders.

Brazil recap

Our last day was bitter sweet as we said goodbye to our new brazilian friends. The sweet ladies from happy village came by to thank us for the supplies that were purchased and with tears in their eyes they shared a few stories of the children.

One of my favorite stories shared was about a little boy name Michael. When I met him he appeared to be about 4 years old. He was wearing Bermuda swimming trunks and a blank face. He was just so cute I couldn't resist hugging him. I could tell he was confused by the hug. I taught, sang and face painted that day and before I left I hugged him again and this time he smiled:). The ladies at happy village shared that he typically wasn't a "hugger". When Michael first came to happy village he wasn't wearing anything at all. His parents worked during the day and he was left alone all day on thee streets to fend for himself. All day on Tuesday I had shopped for the remaining school supplies that was needed for happy village, so I did not make it by to see the children that day. The ladies said that Michael had asked if I was coming back and was I an angel. So sweet! I am no angel but I do desire for God to use me to touch those I come in contact with. Thank you Lord for allowing me to share your love with the children and adults that I met in Brazil.

Last full day in Brazil

Our last full day in Brazil was spent seeing a few sights, purchasing a few more needed items for happy village & and spending a few last moments with our new friends.

Happy Village

This morning was spend running some errands with two of the sweetest people, Davi & Antonieta. they were so kind to drive us around:)

The afternoon was spent teaching at Happy Village. It was so much fun and the kids are so sweet!

This evening Roger Morrell & I shopped for supplies for Happy village. God is good! We purchased construction paper, glue, colored pencils, paper, fans and many other much needed supplies. Praise the Lord!

Children's Hospital

We had a very blessed morning. We hung out with a bunch of clowns :)
We went to the children's hospital and sang and ministered to the children and parents there.

God is the ultimate healer.

Gracious words are a honeycomb,
sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. (Proverbs 16:24 NIV)

From sand canyons to Empadinhas

The morning was spent at sand canyon. Pastor Paulo said we were to rest in the Lord so He could renew us for the remainder of out time here. The sand canyon was beautiful! God is an amazing creator.

After our time at the sand canyon, we had a lovely lunch at the home of davi & antonieta. We had papaya,mango, salad and pineapple delicious. It was definately delicious and they were wonderful hosts.

We came back to the flat to refresh an shower again after the sand canyon hike. Then we went to church. Gabby was my translator for the talk I gave at church. It was a blessing to be with other children's ministers and teachers. I even taught them the chicken dance and making melodies.

After our time at church Gabby took us to get empadinhas. They are so yummy! They are like muffins with lots of yummy stuff inside. You can get the with cheese, chicken, shrimp or my favorite chocolate :) Gabby's friend Davyd came to join us so he could practice his English. Sharon tried out his motorcycle. Lol

Before we left Gabby tipped the Epadinhas people to say welcome Sharon & Melinda. If was funny.

Horseback rides & sunset

After a busy morning,we had lunch in our flat. Sharon and I were tired but I tried to read some to prepare for my teaching. Eventually, we both fell asleep. When we woke up, we decided to go to the beach for a walk. I found a whole sand dollar! I have found them before but they have always been broken when I have found them on the beach. I was so excited! We ended up finding a total of 8 sand dollars that were whole... No chips or breaks. It was a grand find! It reminded me of how we are like the broken fragments of shells lying on the beach but with Jesus in our hearts he makes us whole again.
On our walk back to the flat we saw a few teenagers and an old man with a beautiful white horse. They were riding it back and forth on the beach taking turns. Of course, I decided that I wanted to ride the horse. Sharon laughed at me but I just walked up yo them, with motions and mixed english and portuguese, then understood and let me ride. I asked one of the teenagers to ride with me because I really didn't want to fall off a horse and end up in the hospital in brazil:)) I have never ridden a horse on the beach until today!

Paulo & Hilde picked us up from the flat and took us to crocodile beach. If is a famous place to go and watch the sunset. There is a guy that rides across the ocean playing the sax every night at sunset. Pastor Paulo said it was the best place to watch the sun set.
After the sunset we met up with Gabby. She is one of our translator and I just love her. She shopped with us at the stores along the beach and then we all went to eat dinner at her favorite restaurant. We had some sort of burger with fries and fruit juice. They have lots of different fruit so I was intrigued by the juice choices.
So glad Gabby could join us!

Thursday Morning in Brazil

We left this morning and went to happy village. I taught on Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, Daniel 3. We taught the children how to play ships & sailors. It was a fun game time. We talked to the children about how God loves us and always keeps his promises. We painted a heart on one cheek to remind them of God's love and a rainbow on the other to remind them that god always keeps his promises. They taught us some songs in portuguese an it was fun.

Afterward, Pastor Paulo took Sharon & I to the beach. He bought us coconut water and had fun taking our pictures with surf boards. The beach was beautiful.

Arrival in Brazil

We spent most of the day traveling on Monday and Tuesday. We arrived in brazil in the late afternoon. We were so tired from traveling and it was nice to find that we had a beautiful flat two blocks from the beach and they had stocked it with a few groceries for the evening. We took a short walk to the beach, had a snack and was off to bed.
We did however have a small flood when I took a shower. We have no hot water so I took a quick shower but somehow I managed to flood the bathroom, our bedroom and part of the hall. Oops! Luckily we found a squeegee and I cleaned it up quickly.

Children, banks and shopping

Wednesday was filled with teaching the children & running errands. We went to happy village which is a project that pastor Paulo is working on. I taught on the fruits of the spirit and taught them Boom Chaka Laka by Deliberate kids.

Then, Sharon Michelle & I took Hilde out translator to lunch since Hilda had a birthday last week. She had to celebrate alone last week so we told her we would be her party:) We let her pick the restaurant it was a brazillian Japanese restaurant, that was interesting. After lunch we went shopping for soccer cleats, flip flops & groceries. We had lots of new things in our buggy to try. We had fruit, frozen acai berries and some crazy fruit ice cream called Graviola. I haven't tried the ice cream yet, but everything else was yummy!

Apparently, all the banks are on strike here and my visa would not work at the ATM machine. It is ok because I was able to use it to purchase food at the market. I just can't get any brazillian money out of the ATM. Glad I got some in Miami.

It was off to church this evening. I slipped out of the service an found all the children. :)) imagine that! Lol. They were in a music class with a lady named Michele. She was so much fun and even though I don't know much Portuguese the children did a great job translating! It was fun!