Friends and Future

The following is an excerpt from a letter we typed up lately to a man asking about what is going on down here. I realized as I typed it that I hadn't shared any of this with most of you, so thought I'd do so here. We've been here just a little under 4 months now. There is already a lot going on here and there is much more potential. We are so excited to continue to share how that plays out in the years to come.

We are very excited about serving with Asas de Socorro as well as our work here in Brazil that God has for us apart from Asas de Socorro. We just found a church that fits us like a glove. God has really knit us together with this church and we are excited to see what comes of it. We love the vision of the church, their hunger for God and growth, and their heart for the things God has for them to do. We are already really close to the young married people of the church and we feel just as they do when they said earlier this week, "We feel like we've known you our whole lives." (see pictures below)

We also still have a huge heart for adoption. Adoption is a needed thing everywhere, but moreso here it seems than in the states. It is also pretty common among God's people here, as it should be. We are supposed to care for the orphans after all, right? We've only been here for about 4 months, so doors haven't really opened up for us personally yet to adopt. But, it is all around us. For instance, an orphanage is located just about 2 streets over from where we live. Some of the Asas de Socorro people have real ties with this orphanage. Also, the Asas people have ties with some other people who are instrumental in helping indigenous babies be saved and adopted. For instance, the indians believe twins to have bad spirits, so twins are always killed. That is changing thankfully, largely to these people stepping in and bringing out babies in danger, who in turn are adopted. So, needless to say, we are very excited to see what God has for us in that arena.

Yes, so much potential, so much we can see that God might possibly do with us here. It's very exciting. Thanks for your continued prayers for us. We know that God will open doors in just the right timing for everything that He has planned for us.


Saturday night, we put the kids down and got a babysitter (Eliane came over actually) to just hang out here at the house while they slept. There was a youth meeting at the church. The young married couples, our friends, are the leaders. Afterwards we all went and had churrasco...kind of Brasil's version of BBQ, minus the sauce. They grill meat and even provolone cheese (my favorite part about it) on sticks...like shish-ka-bobs.








This is Neto. He is the worship leader at our church. Mariana, his wife, is holding her niece, Ana Laura.

Neto took this one. Pictured are: Mariana, a dentist (Neto is also a dentist), me (holding my cheese on a stick...mmmm!), Joel, Kleyton (a pediatric physical therapist) with his wife Kristina (also a physical therapist), Carol (a speech therapist; also Mariana's sister) with her husband Daniel (an architect; also Neto's brother...yep, the 2 brothers married 2 sisters...they also got married together, a shared wedding), Guilherme and his wife Mariane (who is 7 months pregnant with their first child, a boy)...they are holding Kleyton's and Kristina's little girl, Analis (14 months), and Bima (his nickname...don't remember his real name...he is in the Air Force) and his wife Ester with their 2 boys Lucas (4) and Rafael (2).
Asa also made a new friend. :)
















This is where we have church. Here we're just hanging out afterwards.