It had been predetermined with Uncle Mark and Aunt Lori that I had a desire to go back into the village on Thursday with more tracks. The only problem was that we were all out. After breakfast, they took Caroline and Lillia and went to the Christian book store to purchase more tracks. I stayed home with William again, and it was the nicest day weather wise that we had experienced since we had arrived. I used the opportunity to get some sun until they returned home a few hours later.
We had another big lunch and then I raided the plastic bags to view the multiple varieties of tracks that they had purchased. Aunt Lori had also ordered a shipment of Portuguese bibles to pass out in the Planalto, the area near the hall, as her and Uncle Mark went door to door. Caroline was just aching to go back to the cooperative to paint, so they took some all the Bibles that the store had in stock and tracks and left for an afternoon in the Planalto. William and I hit the streets with over 300 tracks in hand. I thought it would have taken the remainder of the afternoon to pass them all out, and didn't think we would even get that far since I was dragging an 8 year old along with me.
An hour and a half later, we had distributed over 300 tracks. Just as before, each had been handed personally to somebody who was more than willing to take it. However out of everyone we had tried to hand a piece of literature to only one person said no, which I thought was pretty amazing. God blessed our timing by directing us past a school just as the high school and junior high school students were getting out. Around another cobblestone corner, we met a boy who begged me to take his picture, and then proceeded to follow us around town for 20 or 30 minutes. He brought us to some houses of people he knew, knocked on the door for us and told his "friends" to take the paper that we were giving out.
We went into a poorer section of the city that had dirt roads and houses that were barley standing. It reminded me a little of the favela (slum) area of the Planalto. It was different from the Planalto and other favelas in the way that these people weren’t homeless yet. They actually had clothes to wear, as limited as this clothing was. We found people in this area even more willing to accept what we had to offer. The children all had smiles on their faces, and I realized that even though they had next to nothing they were happy. They weren’t that much worse off than the people in the nearby village and they had known nothing else in their life than what they had right now. They didn't know they were poor. It was part of their everyday life and it was all they knew. It was an eye openingexperience to say the least.
We got back to the house and waited for the others to get home from their day. Lori had gone door to door in the neighborhood around the hall and had really gotten to know several families quite well during those few hours. Uncle Mark had met some kids in the street in front of the hall and was trying to teach them the concept of baseball, using his very limited Portuguese vocabulary. Caroline had finished her first project at the co-op, and had begun a second. It had been a productive day for all...
Thursday night is the normal prayer meeting evening at the Planalto Hall. I had a headache again by this point and the thought of straining my mind to understand the Portuguese language made my cranium pound even more. I stayed home with the kids while Mark and Lori went back to the Planalto. It was at this point that I realized the wireless card in my laptop wasn’t working (hence the missing post yesterday). I thought it may have something to do with the weird weather we then experiencing, but the schedule for the first half of the next day would prove I don't have expertise in either meteorology or computer science.
After Uncle Mark and Aunt Lori came home, she gave me a quick rundown of how their prayer meeting operates. Other than singing, most of the time spent in prayer is for the work in the Gospel, both locally and abroad. Last night they had focused on specific missionary works going on throughout the world. I thought the concept was really cool, and I hope that these headaches subside so I will be up for a trip to the Planalto next Thursday night. I didn't know what was scheduled for the next morning, although I was planning on going with them to the hall the next afternoon...
We had another big lunch and then I raided the plastic bags to view the multiple varieties of tracks that they had purchased. Aunt Lori had also ordered a shipment of Portuguese bibles to pass out in the Planalto, the area near the hall, as her and Uncle Mark went door to door. Caroline was just aching to go back to the cooperative to paint, so they took some all the Bibles that the store had in stock and tracks and left for an afternoon in the Planalto. William and I hit the streets with over 300 tracks in hand. I thought it would have taken the remainder of the afternoon to pass them all out, and didn't think we would even get that far since I was dragging an 8 year old along with me.
An hour and a half later, we had distributed over 300 tracks. Just as before, each had been handed personally to somebody who was more than willing to take it. However out of everyone we had tried to hand a piece of literature to only one person said no, which I thought was pretty amazing. God blessed our timing by directing us past a school just as the high school and junior high school students were getting out. Around another cobblestone corner, we met a boy who begged me to take his picture, and then proceeded to follow us around town for 20 or 30 minutes. He brought us to some houses of people he knew, knocked on the door for us and told his "friends" to take the paper that we were giving out.
We went into a poorer section of the city that had dirt roads and houses that were barley standing. It reminded me a little of the favela (slum) area of the Planalto. It was different from the Planalto and other favelas in the way that these people weren’t homeless yet. They actually had clothes to wear, as limited as this clothing was. We found people in this area even more willing to accept what we had to offer. The children all had smiles on their faces, and I realized that even though they had next to nothing they were happy. They weren’t that much worse off than the people in the nearby village and they had known nothing else in their life than what they had right now. They didn't know they were poor. It was part of their everyday life and it was all they knew. It was an eye openingexperience to say the least.
We got back to the house and waited for the others to get home from their day. Lori had gone door to door in the neighborhood around the hall and had really gotten to know several families quite well during those few hours. Uncle Mark had met some kids in the street in front of the hall and was trying to teach them the concept of baseball, using his very limited Portuguese vocabulary. Caroline had finished her first project at the co-op, and had begun a second. It had been a productive day for all...
Thursday night is the normal prayer meeting evening at the Planalto Hall. I had a headache again by this point and the thought of straining my mind to understand the Portuguese language made my cranium pound even more. I stayed home with the kids while Mark and Lori went back to the Planalto. It was at this point that I realized the wireless card in my laptop wasn’t working (hence the missing post yesterday). I thought it may have something to do with the weird weather we then experiencing, but the schedule for the first half of the next day would prove I don't have expertise in either meteorology or computer science.
After Uncle Mark and Aunt Lori came home, she gave me a quick rundown of how their prayer meeting operates. Other than singing, most of the time spent in prayer is for the work in the Gospel, both locally and abroad. Last night they had focused on specific missionary works going on throughout the world. I thought the concept was really cool, and I hope that these headaches subside so I will be up for a trip to the Planalto next Thursday night. I didn't know what was scheduled for the next morning, although I was planning on going with them to the hall the next afternoon...
The Young Boy That Followed Us Around for a Holding His Gospel Track
These Donkeys Lead a Hard Life of Pulling Carts to Pick Up Road Side Trash
1 comment:
What Alex hasn't told you: He is connecting with everyone he meets, all the kids love him, he's able to communicate perfectly using a masterful combination of charades and Sportuguese! It's wonderful to have him here and we're thinking that we just might rip up his return ticket!!!
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