Brasil Internship Summer 2008

My experience here so far: Well first all I’d like to say thank you to anyone who has put me in their prayers. I know that it is God’s plan for me here in Brasil. And also, I would like to thank you all for the financial support. I wouldn’t be here without you!! So I have been here one week. It has totally been a different experience than my time here with our group last year. But, not in a bad way – just on a different level. I came here expecting a lot and thinking that it would be the same as last year. But the fact is it’s totally different being here on my own. It takes a whole lot more courage to talk to people, to be confident, to not be emotionally exhausted. When we were here with a group, there were translators and I didn’t feel far away from home because we all stuck together. We were so busy everyday we were here, there was no time to get exhausted or feel distant. I am not trying to sound negative at all – this was my purpose of coming here alone. To put myself in a place where I have to put my trust completely on God and people I don’t know for comfort. And that’s it. God has taught me a lot. He has taught me how important it is to be close to Him and confide in Him for guidance and direction. He has taught me that even though at times I may feel unimportant here, he is using me to impact someone’s life or even several. I hope that I can open doors for more students like me to spend time here and to be involved in the significance of this community. The family I stayed with my first week was so welcoming. They treated me as one of theirs. I met so many of their friends and family and they were so happy to meet me! Senhor David (my “pei”) was an English teacher so he helped me with my Portuguese because Jane (my “irma”)and Semae (my “mei”) do not speak English – which that in itself has been an important lesson. I’ve realized how little I listen to people and how selfish I can be. Most of the time I talk about myself and can’t wait to get the next word in and barely even listen to what the other person is saying. Here I have had to listen to every detail of what people are saying because I need to understand them. So anyways, I’ve learned a lot about the language and the culture in just a week. So far, I helped Vila Andrade organize their church library and I am getting more involved at Project semear with the Compassion Children. Many of them remember our group from last year and have asked where the team is. I am basically trying to use “teaching” English as a way to conversate with them. They teach me the Portuguese word and I in return teach them the English word. It was a little slow going at first, but the children have started to open up to me… Please continue to pray for me. Pray for the opportunity of change in this community, Pastor Marcelo and the people to have open hearts to God’s word.