Happenings around Campo Mourao

Its been awhile since I've updated...we haven't really had much internet connection over the weekend. But thats ok because I'll write everything now anyways!

On friday we spent alot of our afternoon getting ready for English Camp. We've got a poster, fliers, and t-shirts in the making! Hopefully soon we'll put a picture of our poster on here.
At 4 o'clock in the afternoon we had our physical education class with Pastor Nata. What a crazy class! Its packed full of anykind of exercise you can think of. Running, stretching, push-ups- even karate drills! We all love it...even though we're worn out by the end:) They're keeping us missionary kids in shape!
When class was over, we got ready and headed over to the English school where Pastor Anilton teaches. They heard we were in town and wanted to have us over for a party so we could talk with the students. We brought fliers for our English camp with and handed them out...so hopefully alot of students will come. Its been a really awsome ministry opportunity to work with English schools. We're interesting to them because we're from America, and they love to practice their English. It gives us so many chances to share our faith (in our language which helps!). We have two friends from this school who not only have come to youth group, but also to hang out with us here at school and to church last night. Exciting! Please pray for more ministry opportnities as we visit various schools and invite them to camp.
Twice a week Pastor Anilton gives us portuguese classes. He is such a wonderful teacher with an amazing heart for evangelism! We had class with him on Friday night, and on saturday morning he took us shopping around Campo Mourao so we could practice our vocabulary with the different shop workers. It was so nice of him to take the time out of his day to do that! The highlight of our morning was when we went to the Christian bookstore. We wanted to purchase Bibles for the three children in the miriam infant home and some extras for children that may come in the future. After we selected 8 Bibles, the employees said that they wanted to give us a big discount on them. If that wasn't a great enough surprise, they also decided to give us 4 FREE bibles- a value of around 80 reias! Wow, that was so incredible to meet people with hearts for heping these kids. Praise the Lord!
Saturday night we had youth group. Nathan, Jon, Bethany and I were in charge of leading it (with the help of our wonderful translator Sabrine!) The mood was kept light as we taught them English classics like the Hippo song and Stand up and Shout it. Following the songs, Jon did a great job sharing his testimony. One of the favorite activities of the night was breaking up into the three groups and preparing a skit based on Numbers 13. One with a cowboy theme, one with a opera theme, and one with a romantic theme...needless to say there was LOTS of laughter!
Its getting close to lunch time, so I'll stop for now. More updates will follow soon!
In Jesus,
Amanda

That last blog title was talking about temperature..not how great things are!

Our student and faculty! A few of us are missing but its almost everybody:)

Things are quite busy over here in Brazil! We found out a few days ago that we're going to be in charge of running an Portuguese camp at the beginning of Dec. There's lots of things to prepare (posters, brochures, t-shirts, and schedules), but its a great learning experience! The camp will be held at the Farm Country Christãa which is the local AFLC camp site here in Campo Mourao. Though its not specifically a Christian camp, Pastor Joni would like to use it as an opportunity to raise interest in the camp and association by bringing in those interested in Portuguese. Hopefully we will be able to show Christ's love to these students!

A few other upcoming happenings: Next Thursday we're traveling to Bateias for Easter. We're all so excited to see Paul, Becky and our friends there! Around April 16th we're heading out to Foz de Iguacu (where the waterfalls are AMAZING!) For the campaign tent that Pastor John Abele is putting on. We'll spend a few days there working with children and performing the program that we've been preparing. There's so much preparation and things to do, but its such a blessing to be involved in these ministries!

Exciting news! Nate just handed me the address here at the Bible school:

Free Lutheran Theological Seminary

Attn: (whoever you're sending mail too)

BR 487 KM 166 - Cowboy's Road

Rural Area SIN

PO Box 44

Campo Mourao, PR

Cep. 87300-970

Brazil, South America

Wow, thats a long address, but its finally here ... and we love mail:)

Hopefully a new update will follow soon.

Also, I just wanted to say HAPPY 11th BIRTHDAY to my little sister Emily!

In Jesus,

Amanda

The first cool day we've had!

Today has been a great day so far! Bethany and I now have the opportunity to work with school program for troubled kids on tuesday mornings. Its a program that puts kids in an environment where they can have fun doing various art projects (which were all really cool!) while being observed by psychologists. They spend some time talking with and counseling each child separately, and also encouraging them to interact with the group. It was so interesting be there and learn about the work they're doing. The program is not Christian, but it looks like we'll have plenty of opportunities to share with them! About halfway through our morning everyone was getting tired of sitting down...so Bethany and I asked if we could teach them a song. If you've heard the Hippo Song then you know its a TON of fun! They all attempted to learn the English and were dying of laughter at our crazy actions. Since it was in English, we translated the message, and they were able to hear about a magnificent God who created the entire world and loves us SO much! Please keep this new ministry opportunity in your prayers:)

The boys were joined for work today by our two newest students! Thomaz and Seymon arrived here yesterday from Curitiba. We're so excited to have two more people staying on campus now!

Its time for afternoon coffee so I'll sign off now....Tchau!
Amanda

Drop us a note!

I've been hearing about alot of friends back from the States that have been reading our blog...I just wanted to say thank you for your prayers and support! It really fun to hear that people back home are thinking about the ministy here, SO we'd love to talk to some of you! Our email is bethanyandamanda@gmail.com.
Amanda

Back in Campo Mourao!

The Thursday night church meeting at the Abel's home.

Well we're back in Campo Mourao now! It was SUCH a great weekend at the Abel's house. We were really able to relax and get some needed rest (though Bethany, Jon, and I are feeling like we may be getting Michelle's stomach flu...yuck). The Abel's have a wonderful ministry there in Maringa. We all appreciated the look at what they do- just one more amazing way that God is using their family in Brazil!

On sunday Nathan, Jon, Bethany and I did our first program for church. There were a few "technical difficulties" with guitar strings breaking but overall it gave us a good idea of what we need to work on for next month's presentation.

Today we had a fun surprise. We were waiting at the bus station with Pastor Joni and one of his missionary friends found us there...it turns out he wanted to take us to Bible School for free in the bus he owns! Its was given to him for his ministry, and he's planning to revamp it for use in medical missions in Northern Brazil. We always run into fun adventures here!

Have a wonderful monday!

Amanda

Geetings from Maringá!

Right now we're staying with Pastor Joni and Tamba Abel in Maringá! We arrived on thursday and are leaving on monday. It has been so relaxing and nice to have a restful weekend. On thursday night we participated in the churches Bible study at the Abel's house. Yesterday we spent alot of time at the house playing Uno with Michelle (their adorable 7 year old daughter) and eating delicious food the Tamba prepared! Later in the afternoon we headed a couple big malls in the area for a grand tour so we could get familiar with them. The highlight of the trip was definately eating MCDONALDS! In the States, I never considered it to be anything special, but after not having American food for so long....it was amazing! A taste of home:)
Today we are mostly relaxing around the house, and tomorrow we have church in the morning and evening. Please pray for Michelle because she woke up sick today. She is full of energy and has been engaging us all in fun activities since we arrived. Its very hard for her to be under the weather because she is so excited to have all of us "cool" people around! Hopefully she'll recover quickly, and the rest of us will stay healthy.
Have a wonderful day and keep serving Jesus!
Love,
Amanda

Bible School:

This is where Bethany and I live! The campus here is SO beautiful.


The Bible school van...its a sweet ride!

The Miriam Infant Home:)

Prayer request

Hi, I only have a few minutes but I have a quick prayer request. We've been able to become friends with the three girls in the Miriam Infant Home and it is SUCH a blessing. They are beautiful young ladies in need of love. Yesterday the four of us played soccer with them, followed by a hair styling party (just us girls, haha!) They really seem to love the attention. Today when they got home from school, the youngest girl (Gabriella) was sobbing...from what we could understand the girls mother had come to their school. They really miss her... So far, we don't know their whole story, but please pray for comfort for them. I can't imagine what a hard life they've had. Its so heartbreaking to see them so sad... Praise the Lord that He gives comfort!

Hopefully soon another update will follow....

In Christ,
Amanda

Introducing....Bethany as your new blog hostess!

I wrote this yesterday, but was unable to post it, so it's a day late :(
Hello all! This is Bethany blogging for the first time, not Amanda. It has been quite a while since we've updated...so I'm sure you've been waiting in suspense to hear more of the adventures in Brazil.
Well...we finished out the rest of last week washing all of the windows of the Bible School buildings and squeegying floors inside and out! This will become a regular morning routine for the next 5 months :)
We woke up bright and early at 3:15 am on Saturday morning to attend the women's conference in Londrina. It was just a day trip, so Amanda and I boarded the bus with only our purses and Bibles. Everyone else got on with a large bag or suitcase. We had no idea what these women were lugging along and we felt very out of place, not knowing what we had forgotten to bring, especially when we could not speak their language to ask them. It turned out that they had brought along all their shower supplies and AT LEAST 2 changes of clothes! Brazilians have extremely good hygiene and take at least 2 showers per day. It was a very hot day so everyone was sure to do so, and they brought their swimming suits to cool off in the lovely pool. Amanda and I were covered in sweat the whole day, yearning to enter the swimming pool, or shower or something! We have now made a vow to never leave to go anywhere without at least 2 changes of clothes again. This was one of our most embarrassing moments in Brazil. Despite feeling completely out of place with the clothing issue, it was a lovely day. We got to meet women from Londrina, Maringa, Curitiba, and our very own Campo Mourao. Hopefully we will be seeing them again soon, as we are planning to visit and share (skits, testimonies, music...) at many of the AFLC churches here in Brazil during our stay. Ladies of the two churches in Londrina hosted the event. Please keep these churches in your prayers as they are dealing with issues of direction right now. We made it back to Campo at about 3 am on Sunday morning. When we arrived back to our dormitory on Sunday we had a pleasant (NOT) surprise of two SOPAS (giant toads a little bigger than a softball) that made our home their's. We both screamed and ran to get the boys to dispose of them. After letting them outside, the boys braved the dorm checking for any more critters that might have decided to move in. Nothing else turned up but we still have not found the culprit of the mess in the downstairs bathroom. We're still a little leery of that. Anyway, we keep our door locked at night now. This morning the maintenance Edival and Karla and our cook, Odete, said that they heard our screams and were wondering what the crazy Americans were up to. How embarrassing!
Today turned out to be an absolutely wonderful day. Amanda and I started the morning by sweeping out all of the Bible School buildings. Then, after lunch we had a short english class with Karla. We taught her 18 english words :) Following that we began cleaning out the girl's dormitory to prevent other animals from making their homes there. We also got to work with Jon and Nate on our skit and songs that we will be sharing when we visit the church in Maringa this weekend. Then...we got a happy surprise! We found out that 3 sisters had just moved in to the Miriam Infant Home on Sunday. We went over to meet Melina (11), MariaEduarda (8), and Gabriella (5) and to play with them. At first they were very shy and quiet. However, they came out of their shells after being tickled! There mother was not able to sufficiently provide for them. We are so excited to have these girls to befriend and play with every day. Hopefully we'll get some pictures of them up soon. Please keep them in your prayers as they have to start a brand new school tomorrow. Also, when we first saw them they seemed very sad. I'm sure they've had a hard life, so pray that we might be a blessing to them and that we would have the opportunity to share with them about Jesus!
Our day ended with a churrasco to begin the new year of Bible School, so we had a nice time visiting with students and teachers. Before it started we got to have our first Portuguese lesson with Pastor Anilton. It was very informative and fun! We learned pronouns and vocabulary and are sooooooo excited for our next lesson with him.
Okay, this has been an extremely long post so I'll end it here, but hopefully I'll be better about giving a little input on our blog more often (when my online classes don't interfere so much). I'm so thankful that I have Amanda as my teammate who really enjoys blogging, etc :)

In HIS Grip,
Bethany

P.S. Our tastebuds are getting a little bit tired of rice and beans, so please pray for more tolerance in that area of our lives!

Plans for the week...

This morning we had another good work session. John and Nate have been doing all sorts of outside raking, weeding, maintenance in general, and Bethany and I have been sweeping, mopping and washing windows! I never realized before how much work goes into maintaining a campus...its a great learning experience! Everyone here is super friendly and willing to help us learn.

Yesterday afternoon, our friend Karla had Bethany and I over for juice and cookies. She's newly married and works for the school. Even though we sturggle with the language, we find ways to communicate. Usually our conversation end in laughter! Her husband, Eduval (he is the older brother of our friend Daniel from Bateias!) eventually started using Google Translator online to talk to us, and it was the most hilarious thing ever!

Classes are also going well so far. The teachers here are very passionate about what they teach, and they are fun and challenging to listen to! Many great opportunities to learn Portuguese come from hearing them.

On Saturday, Bethany and I are heading to a women's conference in Londrina so there may not be any updates for awhile....but hopefully a chance will arrise before then!

Serve Jesus!
Amanda

The Weekend in Campo

On saturday we spent some time getting use to our new home. We explored the Bible school campus, got to know people, went shopping for things we needed, etc. For Bethany and I, the biggest surprise came when we found out that we were going to see our friend, Sabrine, For the first time since coming to Brazil! The three of us attended the Associatoin Free Lutheran Bible School together for 2 years. Her father is the Pastor of one of the local AFLC churches (Luterana Livre Central), and she lives only a few minutes from where we are staying. We were able to go to her house and get ready together for a wedding we were going to that night. It was so fun to FINALLY meet her parents and sister! Pastor Paul, Becky, Jon, and Nate met us at the wedding. Our first Brazillian wedding...a cultural experience!

The next day, we all ate lunch at Sabrine's house along with a few of her relatives. There was a few hours for us to accomplish some things here on campus before we headed to church that night. Church was followed with a youth group outing to a pizza restaurant. We all made some new friends and learned a little more Portuguese!

Yesterday was another busy day of running errands, figuring out what our plans would be for the duration of our stay here and starting the first day of school! Pastor Joni Abel got into town in the afternoon and we were able to have a meeting with him about the plans for the year. Needless to say, there is no lack of work! Please continue to pray for more workers to support the ministry here.

A few of the tasks we'll have this year: mantaining the Bible school campus (about 3 hours of work each morning), participating in local youth and childrens ministry, accompanying a psychologist on house visits to the troubled families of children from the Miriam Infant Home, and traveling with Joni to most of the AFLC churches in Brazil to put on a special program we'll prepare. Thats some of it at least:)

Orientation last night went well and so far there is a total of three students. We're praying that opportunities will arrise for more to join us! There is a wonderful staff of teachers here who are well equipped to handle more students!

Its now Tuesday afternoon and I'm taking advantage of our afternoon break to write this. We worked all morning, and have classes tonight. Continue to praise the Lord for He is GOOD.

God Bless!
Amanda

Backtrack....

On friday morning BEFORE we left on our journey, we had a birthday party for our friend Igor. He's one of the local boys that Paul has been mentoring, and he's a wonderful young Christian! His family situation is not good at all so we really wanted him to have a special day. The party was also a late celebration of Jon's birthday and an early celebration of Gigi's birthday. It was a great time, and we all appreciated the chance to hang out together before the move to Campo Mourao. Here's a few pictures from the day:

The birthday kids!


The sweetest picture ever! Gigi and Bethany.

Jean, Daniel, Bethany, me and Igor.

Igor and me. Please keep his family and him in your prayers, as he is one of two Christians in a family of around 11 kids.

Have a fantastic Tuesday!

Amanda

Living in Campo Mourao

For the last few days we've been without internet so there's lots to catch up on!

On friday we packed up Pastor John's station wagon and Pastor Paul's truck and headed to Campo Mourao. Jon, Nate, Pastor Joel and Becky went with Paul, and Bethany, Carlos, Ruby and I went with John. It was a beautiful drive through the country side of Brazil. The landscape was so diverse! From one minute to the next it would go from mountains to jungle to plains. Brazil has it all I guess. Here is a picture of Bethany and Ruby at one of the rest stops we went to. It was really beautiful! The building, which had a hotel and restaurant in it, was made to look like a castle.

During the trip we got to hear alot of Ruby's stories about different times during the early years of their ministry in Brazil- she is the most adventurous woman I've ever met! She told us that no journey is complete until there is a little adventure involved... well she was right. About half way into our journey we stopped at a gas station and when we were ready to go, the car wouldn't start! Thankfully there was a mechanic about a half a block away. Carlos had someone from the gas station push the car to the mechanic, and within 15 minutes and for 20 reias (the brazillian dollars) they'd fixed the problem. There is no way you'd find a fix so cheap in America! Soon we were on our way again. Apparantly that had not been adventure enough! About 20 kilometers outside of Campo Mourao we ran into more problems. There is a one last big hill to drive up before getting to the city and our poor station wagon just could not make it. The engine died halfway up, and we were standed in the dark on the side of a brazillian highway. While I took control of the situation by taking pictures, the guys checked out the engine and could not find the problem. Here's an important lesson: always remember that the Lord provides! Soon the rest of our party drove by, saw us on the side of the road, and stopped to help us. Paul tied our car up to his trailer hitch and pulled us all the way into the town at the top of the hill. This story is getting long...... To sum it all up, we made it safely to the Bible School! It was an exciting night and we were SO thankful to finally be there!

That is enough for this post....I need to go study for Portuguese class with Pastor John!

~Amanda

Last night in Bateias...

Unfortunately our time here in Bateias has come to an end:( Tomorrow we're packing up and heading to Campo Mourao...which also brings alot of excitement into the factor!

Its been such an amazing time here and we've learned so much. Our first two weeks gave us a really good look at Paul and Becky's ministry here in Brazil. There are so many stories of changed lives and families. How can anyone deny the power of Christ after seeing the transformation that happens in a saved soul? Please keep the town of Bateias and its residents in your prayers!

This is a picture of Bethany, Becky and I on the trip to the beach yesterday! We drove on the first road that was built out to the coast from Curitiba. Almost the whole thing is cobblestone! It goes right through the heart of the jungle and is definately the most amazing strech of scenery I've ever seen. Jungle, waterfalls, mountains, valleys and rivers- it has it all! Not to mention the beautiful ocean that waits at the end. I will try to put up more pictures later!

The team at the entrance to the cobblestone road to the ocean!

Well, please pray for a safe journey for the Abels and us (its a 6 hour drive to Campo Mourao!) We'll update as soon as the chance arises!

In Him,

Amanda

Amigos!

These are three of our best friends here in Bateias! Their names are Daniel, Igor, and Jean. Super fun kids and growing Christians! Every morning when they're done doing their work for Paul, they come to either our window or the boys window to talk to us. Its so funny! So we had to take a picture......:)

Busy weekend!

Bom Dia!

We've had a busy weekend here in Brazil! Finally have a moment to drop a quick update. On friday afternoon we started out by cutting back a big hedge that goes around part of the ARCA soccer field. It wore us out, but it was a fun project! Near the end of the afternoon, Bethany and I got a little tired so we headed back to the house to make some beijinho (a delicious Brazilian chocolate candy)! It was for the 18th birthday party of Emily Gil, who is the Abel's neice. Luckily for the boys, there was some extra which we brought down to the work site. They got some nice Brazilian refreshment to spur them on to finish the hedge!
That evening, we were able to have a relaxing evening at home. Becky set up the projector and we watched the Passion play. Every Easter the people in Bateias put on a huge production of the Passion of Christ. It is an amazing play, and even seeing it on film was moving. The people of the town really come together to make the production happen, and their love for the Lord is evident. The average attendance is around 1000... an excellent way to share the gospel!

Saturday we went to the Language House in Campo Largo. Our job was basically to go into the different classes and talk in English. The students were at varrying levels of proficiency with their English skills, but they seemed to enjoy talking to "real Americans". Not only was it a learning experience for them, but the school also gains credibiliy if they have actual English speakers in the classes. It was nice for us to not speak Portuguese for awhile too:)
After classes, we went to the Gil's home for Emily's birthday. Our first Brazilian birthday party! The Gil's have a beautiful home and were very welcoming to all of us. It was great to get to know some of the 11 kids in their family!
From the party we headed back to Bateias for youth group. Bethany, Jon, and I shared testimonies and Nathan gave a sermon. We also sang a worship song in English and Portuguese. A few of the youth kids hung out with us til the night was over. It was a long, but productive and enjoyable day!

Yesterday was also full of excitement! Every sunday morning there is a HUGE street fair in Curitiba. We packed up early and headed there for a real tourist experience! The vendors go for what seems like miles! They sold everything from jewelry to clothing to picture frames to toys. Paul gave us all a stack of tracts to hand out as we walked around so please pray that some of the recipients of those are impacted by the Lord!
The real excitement came that afternoon. Our very first Churrascaria! Brazil is known for this amazing event. Steak cooked over a fire like you've never tasted before! Everything tasted so good. If you're ever in Brazil, that is one thing you must try.
After the cleanup for that we spent a nice afternoon playing card games, ping pong and worship music with the local kids. They are always so fun to have around! Many come from broken homes, and Paul and Becky's home is a real haven for them.
The night was finished off with church on the far side of Curitiba. It was the first church that the Abel's planted! We shared similar to what we did for youth group the night before, though the song seemed to go a little better. Becky did a wonderful job translating as we spoke! On the way back home, we stopped at a hot dog stand and finally tried our first Brazillian hot dogs which are NOTHING like American hot dogs. There are so many things that they put on them! Everything was excellent as most Brazilian food is.

Now it is lunch time on Monday. Jon, Nate and I went to the English school this morning for about an hour and will head back there with Bethany this afternoon.

Praise the Lord for His faithfulness!
Amanda