Eliane

That's eh-lee-ah-nee, with the accent on the 'ah.'

Before we moved down here, it was suggested to Joel by our pastoral care of CTEN (our sending agency...yeah, they provide pastoral care too along with our sending church...really cool) that he make sure we have some help around the house. This is very, very common with anyone who moves to another country, at least Latin American ones. Every missionary I've ever stayed with through the years has had house help.

Well, I'm not one to argue with that advice. :) Some people have a real difficulty letting go of doing their own cleaning and cooking. Yeah...not me. :) When that was suggested, I very humbly listened to my mentors...I am very teachable after all. :) No, seriously...it really does help to free up missionaries to do their jobs and also helps the local people of the community to have work when sometimes normally they wouldn't. Although only common among the elite in the states, it is common here...and I'm glad. :)

When we came down to visit Asas last year, we met Eliane. She works for many of the Asas families and she told us then that when we come down, she would work for us. She is so great. She is a very strong woman...very strong in her faith, but also very strong otherwise. She's probably the hardest working person I've ever met. She is such a self-motivator. She has to be here in this house since I can't tell her what I want her to do. We don't have to though...she just comes and gets right to work. :) She is raising 2 teenage daughters on her own now...their father passed away pretty recently. She is funny (can't wait to be able to really talk to her...I know she will be a fun friend too) and very, very sharp. I'm not sure if she is book smart because I haven't really been able to have a conversation with her. :) But, I'm sure she is. I do know that she has more common sense though than most people I know. She is just so bright and on top of things. For instance, she's given us several pieces of advice about things that we don't know about...the pots and pans here have what is called INOX on them. She warned us against storing food in them since it can be dangerous. She just knows her job very well and is very good at what she does. She has also worked for another English-speaking family for several years, so every now and then she'll surprise me with a little English phrase. :)

We are so very thankful for her help. It frees me up to work on Portuguese (Eliane is very ready for me to learn :)) or catch up on laundry or just play with my kids. She has been coming twice a week since we got here to Brasil. She comes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and today started staying with the kids while I go to Port. classes...that way Joel can go on to Asas and not miss 2 whole 1/2 days a week. And that just gives our kids another opportunity to hear only Portuguese and pick up on some stuff. Funny...our friend was watching Eliane hold and talk to Asa the other day and remarked that it will be interesting to see if Asa passes the other 2 kids up in speaking Portuguese since she is hearing it nonstop from such an early age.

Thank you Eliane!! We are so thankful for you and your help! And here is Eliane doing what she does...working hard, helping others.