What an incredible two weeks.  The best part - seeing Sarah and Morgan in the Tyson McGhee Airport on Day 14!   I have come back with alot of memories and relationships.  Brazil now has a place in my heart.  It has changed my life and I hope to return one day and see the faithful people of Rio.  The intentions for this trip were for our intern team to see what the Methodist church is doing in Rio, but God had additional plans.  We did see alot of what the church is doing, but he spoke to many on this trip in a unique way.  I believe we are all coming back with a renewed vision for the church in America. I believe we were all struck with the passion of the Brazilian people and desire to see that in the church in America.  

However, while the Rio methodist church is rapidly growing (8,000 - 95,000 in 20 years) there is still a tension between a near pentecostal movement and social action.  Ideally the two would go hand in hand.  Sadly, however, many times one side is neglected.  We visited three orphanages in the greater Rio area.  One of the homes was in serious need of repair, but was not receiving the attention it needed.  I reminded the church in Itaipu that all the spiritual gifts are in vain if we do not have the selfless love demonstrated to us on the cross.   Thankfully though there are many churches that are seeking to bring justice to all God's children.  The church in Itaipu is one such church.  They minister to the poor in the falvellas by bringing them medicine and health care and also bringing the kids to the church where they usually have a meal before the children's programs.  The pastor, Delson (pictured with me above in front of their new church building), is a true servant leader.  I went to the store with him after their morning service and he knew nearly everyone there. I jokingly suggested in bad Portuguese that he was a celebrity, but he was quick to correct me and say he was merely a servant.  

A special thanks to all those churches and pastors that hosted us, to Tiago and Cynthia at IMFORM, to Rosanne our interpreter, to pastor Delson in Itaipu, to Wilson our guide, and the many others that opened your hearts and doors to us.  Your hospitality and faithfulness helped change our lives.   

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It is day 10 of our trip and things are beginning to wind down.  The effects of being away from family and not really having any rest are beginning to show.  Today wasn't all that exciting.  We did visit an orphanage for about an hour, but then went and had lunch at a nursing home.  We were expecting to be working more with the poor in the flavellas.  We are hoping tomorrow is more hands on.  It feels like a month since we left.  One thing I have to say is that Brazilian hospitality cannot be beat.  Every restaraunt we go to insists on giving us ungodly amounts of red meat.  And we aren't staying at the Hilton, but when you ask for coffee (or cafe as they say in Portuguese) they literally bring it out on a silver platter.  However, laundry costs an arm and a leg.  To get one shirt washed it costs about $3.  So right now my shorts and underwear are hanging outside our bathroom window drying off after I washed them in the sink. 

It is about 1:00am right now and I am still wide awake because I have had about 4 cups of the strongest coffee in the world.  Brazilian coffee is incredibly intense... and good.  I am an addict now.  The only way I can describe it is as if you added 2 cups of raw coffee grounds to a teaspoon of water and heated it up in the microwave. 

More tomorrow....

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I now hate dot-matrix printers! I have been uploading photos and emailing people for about 2 hours now in the hotel lobby and the whole time there has been a dot matrix printer running.  I didn't think those things even worked anymore.  Not to mention that it is pushing 100 degrees in the lobby.  So I will make this one short.  Here is a video of me going to down an awesome waterfall we found at IMFORM in the mountains.  Also click here for more Brazil pictures.  Until next time, blessings!

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Well it is ay 6 in Brazil and I think I can say I have met my daily dietary fiber goal for life. We have had black beans and rice with every meal besides breakfast.  But don´t get me wrong - the food is great. 

Today we met with Wilson Bonfim, the director of Evangamed, a medical mission in the slums of Rio.  He is also a key person in mobilizing the lay people in the churches in missions.  One of the keys to the success of the Rio conerence is their empowerment of the people to follow their calling.  God has called eveyone to something that will impact the world for His Kingdom, but so many times we relegate all the calling to clergy. 

We attended the Central Methodist church in Teresopolis (The City of Theresa) last night.  It was quite an experience.  Some of our group participated in the service.  Todd and I helped lead worship.  I was on congas and Todd played and sang.  Luckily we were rescued by their very talented praise band.  The Brazilian methodists know how to rock.  But just like American churches they too had trouble with their projector and powerpoint!  The spirit of the people here is amazing.  Their were literally about 600 people on a Thursday night (which is not their usual worship time) crammed into a gutted out industrial building - no air, no cushioned seats, but much energy. 

I am writing this from the office at IMFORM the Missions School we are staying at and the internet connection is very slow (I just found out that there whole network of 3-4 computer is run off of one cell phone!).  So I will hopefully have some video of a waterfall we went water sliding on uploaded once we get to the hotel in Rio, but for now here is one photo of us in Teresopolis. 

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I am writing from an interenet cafe in Petropolis Brazil - as best I can figure it means Rock City in Portuguese.  So we did `See Rock City`, but in Brazil!  Or... is it where the Brazilian Superman is from??

The plane ride down was long and I only spilled coffee on myself once so that wasn`t too bad.  I just looked like a complete idiot walking around with my camera and a big brown spot on the front of my pants in the Rio airport.  I also accidentally walked into a women´s restroom at a rest stop.  I again had my camera with me - not a good combination.

The retreat center we have been staying at has been very hospitable.  They have an all you can eat buffet!  We are really suffering for Christ down here.  The classes we have been attending have been incredible.  We met with a pastor who has been planting churches in the Rio district of the UMC.  In the past 20 years the Rio district has grown from 8,000 to 95,000 members in the UMC.  That is compared to a church in America that has been declining for the last 50 years. 

Warly and Carla are not theologians and probably have never been to something like Catalyst - they are just obedient.  It amazes me to see what God will do with his people when they are obedient.  I am hoping to be so when we return.  There have been many times in the last two days that I felt God was speaking directly to me and I hope to share them on here soon, but until then it will suffice to say that God is working (like he ever stopped). 

There are times when you know people are praying for you - this is one.  Please continue to pray.  It is an exciting time.

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