Altamira, Para (Brasil)

Elephants in the Sky

2009-05-06T09:01:00.000-07:00

This picture (taken by Steve Dolan) is related to the section under "Flood"

Sky

Before you go spreading rumors, allow me the explain that we don't really have elephants in the sky here. It is merely a reference to a very interesting conversation Camilly (4 yrs old) and I had today on the "pula-pula," aka trampoline, today.

Although...last night we did herd some cows out of our yard and a month ago we shewed out a horse. Normally animals are right outside our yard, but recently they've felt the need to come in. In the past month we've also had a bat and a rat in our house but unfortunantely, the rat is still somewhere in here.

On that note...sorry it's taken so long for me to update. Much has been going on. Here's a little peek into my life here...

Flood

Saturday night, before Easter, it rained hard all night long. But what's new, right? I mean, this is the rainforest afterall.

Well, when you've got a city in the rainforest, you have dams. And when you have two dams break following a night of heavy rain, you get a flood. And that's what happened.

And it came without warning. Without the luxary of local news covering the fragile dams, without police sirens or goverment assistence.

It went from an ordinary Amazonian rain to a devastating flood in less than two hours. Just enough time for most people to excape to dry land.

I'd never experienced anything like it in my life. Friends I had made, friends whose houses I would go to weekly, were suddenly left with the only the clothes on their backs. The little possessions they worked so hard to purchase, were washed away in filfthy flood water.

And as the day progressed, we opened up our house for about 15 friends to sleep in, without the convinience of electricy, as our power had been knocked out for a couple days.

Within 24 hours the waters receded, it all happened so fast and so unexpected that I don't know if I would have believed it had I not seen it. On Easter I was looking, in shock, upon a friends house that was entirely submerged in water. The next day I was in their house helping them clean.

It was hard to watch hundreds of people lose possessions, to watch as the city officials did virtually nothing, to watch people throw out their ruined pairs of shoes and few stuffed animals. It was hard to watch as other children dug through this same trash, trying to salvage the unsalvageable. It was hard watching a mother wash off her child who was covered in 'mud', with water that was just as dirty. It was hard to watch as people tried to salvage disease infested beds, because it was just too much, too valuable, for them to throw out onto the street.

It was a blessing to see the hope in the community, to gather with friends to help make and pass out soup, to sing praises with families in the street, to pray for others in their time of need, to open up my closet and open up our home. It was a blessing to host families in our church and to visit with them and their children. It was a blessing to be there and help and offer hope.

Immediately following the flood, we spent a lot of time delivering food to different people, and trying to assist families how we could. Days after the flood, we were able to help purchase new beds and stoves for families.

Thank you for all who kept Altamira in your prayers; God's presence was very real and powerful here.

Adventures

The Friday before Easter, I road my bike a few kilometers with some friends to Angélica's uncle's house. Behind his house is a stream that runs through the rainforest. It was gorgeous and an incredible experience! I loved hanging out with the youth in such a tranquil, peaceful place.

A couple weekends ago Chelsea turned 21 and so her and I and a different group of youth traveled up to the waterfalls. There was about 15 of us packed into a truck. On the way there we first hit a 'pot hole' that was so big, half the truck went underground and one girl bailed out through the window (which was touching the ground.) The guys all helped lift the truck out and we were on our way again until we hit a particular bridge. Most the 'bridges' here are merely pieces of wood layed down...but this bridge was missing the wood. So we parked the truck and walked there. All in all, we walked about 7 kilometers till we reached the waterfall and caves. It was an amazing experience and I loved the adventure. I love being in the Amazon!

Teaching

This past weekend I got to teach at Aplha Circles which is a Portuguese-English small group which meets at the church on Friday nights. The number of people who attend always varies, but about 30 people are generally expected. We play games, have skits, and a teaching in English which is then translated, and afterwards we break up into small groups to discuss the teaching and our thoughts about it, in English. I taught about the power of love and in the small group discussion, one lady told me that this was the same thing she was studying that morning in her devotions. Cool!

On Saturday I was asked if I could speak that night at the youth service and I agreed. I wanted to speak in Portuguese, but as I didn't have enough time to both prepare a talk and translate it into portuguese, I let Cleide translate for me. I spoke on how a walk with God is more than just crying out 'Lord, Lord' and how it's more than just doing good works and coming to God with prayer requests. It was a cool experience, and afterwards I had a few people tell me how the message was so relevant to their lives and what they needed to hear. Gracias a Deus!

I loved having the opportunity and experience of teaching at these two events.

Friends

One of the great experiences I've had here, is just befriending people and building relationships with all sorts of people. I have made amazing friends at our Vineyard (Mirante) and the Central Vineyard. I've also become great friends with a few girls who just moved here from another city, and a few girls who I know because I work out with their moms at the gym. It's been such a great experience getting to know these people and build relationships with them!

Assurini

Tomorrow I am leaving with Chelsea, Patty, and my portuguese teacher Claudia to go to the Assurini which is an Indian reserve along the Xingu River. I will be teaching Art and Theatre in portuguese. Pray that we have safe travels, that I may speak portuguese well, and that we will have a fun time!! I'm really excited :)

Thank you for everybody who has been keeping Brasil in your prayers. Please continue to pray for wisdom and discernment in my life; physical, emotional, and spiritual strength; and that my portuguese will continue to improve.

Happy Birthday MOM!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!

A Glimpse

2009-04-06T09:43:00.000-07:00

When I went on the River with Kevin in March, we revisited this villiage (same as the one in the picture below.) I got to spend two days playing games and just hanging out with these kids and it was so much fun. Take note in this picture, that the walkway is now actually underwater. From the time I took the picture below, until the time I revisited in March, the water rose to cover the walkways and the floor of some of the houses. By now, all the floors of the houses are probably underwater.

2009-04-06T09:31:00.002-07:00

This is a church in one of the villages we visited on the river; picture taken in January--notice the height of the water.

2009-04-06T09:07:00.000-07:00

Sunset on the River; picture taken on the most recent River trip with Kevin.

Castles in the Sand

2009-04-03T12:27:00.000-07:00

There is something magnificent about sinking your toes in the sand and letting the waves wash over your feet, while entranced in the wonder of how the magnitude of the ocean meets the vastness of the sky. In this moment, the world seems so perfect, so right. It's the sensation of having part of your body enveloped in a sphere of peace and tranquility while simultaneously a body wrapped up in a sphere of curiosity, questions, wonder, and an overwhelming, though oh so slight, understanding of God's almighty power.

Salinas was refreshing. The ocean was beautiful. The conversations were provoking. The relationships were strengthened. And my mind was given a pleasant break from the strain of trying to understand Portuguese.

Now I'm back to the swing of things (whatever that means). A few new events are taking place this upcoming week which I am looking forward to being apart of. These range from starting an art project to visiting a local hospital. For now, I'm off to my small group that's all in Portuguese then going to an Alpha group for ESL students (Alpha is three weeks old and in Portuguese and English.)

Até mais! Peace, love, and harmony.

2009-03-22T12:43:00.000-07:00

Amazon Adventures

Here I am in Maraba, half way to Salinas--our final destination--visiting the newest branch of the Xingu Mission. Two international missionary families currently live here, next to a Brazilian missionary family from Altamira. The first family came in August, the Brazilians moved shortly after, and the second family joined them just this past month. We arrived here Friday late afternoon and will leave for Salinas with one of the families Monday bright n’ early.

Yesterday the youth came to the church (which is currently attached to the Brazilian family's house, looks like a small covered eating area at a park), for that Saturday night's youth service. And guess who had the privilege of giving the message? I did!--translated by the wonderful Dee. I was originally asked to give a testimony but felt led to give a short sermon on the power of prayer instead. It was a really great night, and I loved the experience. Prior to that night's service I spent the day teaching the children the hand game "My-chica-chica," and playing Cops and Robbers. In a half hour I'm off to play volleyball and other games with them, and at night Elba will be preaching for Sunday's service. (About 50 children were at last night’s service, and I'm told to expect around 100 people total for tonight's.)

Redefining Road Trip
The time in Maraba has been a great experience so far, but it was a rough ride up. On Friday we (Steve, Elba, Camilly, and Alyssa Dolan and me) left at 5 a.m. and spent 11 hours traveling with a grand total of 5 people in the car...may I remind you that Camilly is 3 and Alyssa is 1. And the drive was far from smooth. I'm not sure how many of you have gone off-roading before, but I can hardly imagine an off-roading experience that can even compare to this Transamazonian experience. The dirt (sometimes muddy) road is covered with massive pot holes and sudden drop-offs that often cannot be seen until you physically approach them and no longer can dodge them. It gives the vehicle, and your neck, such a beating, that I literally found myself unable to look in any direction other than straight on for fear of injuring my neck. Unfortunately though, looking straight on doesn't exempt you from injury and within the first half of our trip to Maraba, Elba got hurt pretty badly on the top or her head, her neck, and upper back, though she is doing fine now. We have ten more hours of driving tomorrow to get to our destination. Coming home, we will have another good 18 hours of travels to look forward to.

A Brief Update on the River Trip
As you know, I had the amazing opportunity to travel with Kevin Vanhulle, Chelsea, Isaiah, and a Brazilian couple and their two children along the Amazon River. This trip was an absolutely incredible time. The purpose of this mission was to disciple people along the River who have committed their life to Christ, but need more training. We were able to host small groups, visit with different families who we have built relationships with, and spend quality time with their children. In a few instances Kevin and Nay (the Brazilian), would meet in somebody's house and disciple them. In such a case, as it would have been unnecessary, and perhaps obnoxious, for me to have joined in for such an intimate time, I would play games with the children. Now, I've never seen myself really involved with children's ministry, but God definitely used this opportunity for me to share God's love with these children, and it was a BLAST. I spent time playing different water games with them, card games, and other silly games that I couldn't describe here. It was so genuine and so much fun! My favorite game was trying to stand up in a little dug out canoe then row around while still standing. I loved all the laughter and smiles on this trip.

My other favorite thing was how incredibly beautiful the experience was and how God flooded me with a sense of peace throughout the trip. I will never forget the beauty I witnessed and the since of God's glory I felt. At one point Chelsea, Isaiah, and I were sitting watching the sun set (after an afternoon of re-teaching ourselves how to dive) and Chelsea told us that in Ohio when she was with her friends and bored, they would ask each other, "If you could be anywhere in world right now, where would you be?" And it was such an awesome feeling to look out upon the bright blue painted sky, the lush forest, and the reflective water, sitting with two amazing friends, blessed with perfect weather, and sense God's peaceful presence, and come to the realization that there was absolutely nowhere else in the world I would want to be. Even greater than this, was that this feeling followed me throughout the trip. The second place where I felt this feeling the strongest was while canoeing for two hours through the rainforest with Isaiah another afternoon.

God's been doing so much, and it's been such an incredible experience. Thank you all who are supporting me through prayer and financial giving. This next week I will be spending the majority of my time in community with various missionary families from all three locations (Altamira, Porto de Moz, and Maraba). I am very excited to have the opportunity to learn more about the families and build stronger relationships with them, as well as become rejuvenated and refreshed.

May God's Grace be with you.

More Travels

2009-03-19T18:08:00.000-07:00

My most recent travel on the river with Kevin was very fruitful in terms of the people we discipled, the children we connected with, and my personal spiritual walk with God.

And while I'm anxious to write about my different experiences and adventures, my nearly closed eyes and over worked brain refuse to follow by hearts desire to finish the blog.

So if I can't tell you about my experience now, why bother writing anything at all?

Well...I'm leaving in about seven hours (5am) with the Dolans for a little beach town called Salinas. As there is no internet access there (so I'm told), I will not be able to update my blog until the first of April.

--although you can check back before then just in case we do have access

There's power in prayer, so please continue to pray for me, this mission, and the people we interact with.

I love you all and am so thankful for everybody in my life.

Boa Viajem

2009-03-06T10:01:00.000-08:00

In half an hour I'm taking a taxi with Isaiah and Chelsea to Vitoria. From there we are hitching a ride on a line-boat and traveling north (down river) for ten hours until we reach Porto de Moz. We will stay with the Kubackis for two nights then head out on the River. Us three, the VanHulles, and a couple of Brasilians will take Kevin's boat to a village 6 hours away called Quieras. I visited this village with the team from Delaware Vineyard in January and while we were there, 5 men and 1 woman dedicated their lives to God.

Kevin and Angie VanHulle have visited this village many times throughout the years, but since January, have revisited about every two weeks. The men there are on fire for God and hungry to learn more about Him. We will spend about four days here, discipling and encouraging them. We will return to Porto de Moz on Friday and I will be back in Altamira on Sunday. Keep us in your prayers! :)

Ate Mais!

Picture Perfect

2009-03-02T05:02:00.000-08:00

You cant lead the people if you don’t love the people. You cant save the people
if you don’t serve the people. Cornel West

Chelsea, Cleide and I were walking home from the River today when an ambulance pulled up next to us to ask where a specific street was. He slowly drove off, passed a road, reversed, and turned onto the wrong road. Some things you just learn not to count on here...

But that's not the only thing that makes Altamira unique from Westerville (or for that matter, any city in the US).

I take walks through the city or through different parts of Altamira almost every day. It's a perfect way to talk one-on-one with somebody, enjoy nature, and become increasingly familiar with my surroundings. Here's a little bit of what I see...

The sky here is gorgeous and if I could start a ministry for sky-gazing, I'd snatch it up in a heart beat. Unfortunately I don't think that's realistic. The sky is bright blue and the clouds are distinct, multi-layered, and incredibly surreal. How can I describe clouds without it sounding like clouds that we've all seen before? I don't think I can but you've got to take my word for it. They pop out, entrance you, and hold you captivated. It's so hard not to stare.

I live on a hill and when I look down I see the city of Altamira. Down below are an assortment of houses,all different shapes and sizes, all unique in and of themselves. Their vibrant colors paint the city and all in-between-space is filled with a lush green from all the vegetation.

In a two-deminsional view the little city would color the bottom, the dynamic sky would paint the top, and the Xingu River would snake in between, bringing it all together in perfect harmony. It's the third deminsion that takes your breath away. It's incredible.

What else is different? Well, when you walk somewhere, you are never alone. Accompanying you on the road are probably a herd of cattle, a couple horses, disease infested dogs, or hungry vultures. People generally walk or ride bicycles, but motorcycles, volkswagen beetles, and donkey and carriages also share the roads. A couple of main roads are paved, but most are 'dirt' (redish-orange clay) roads, lined with trash and poorly, poorly, poorly managed sewer/draining system. Despite the fact that it rains here every day, the city is incredibly filthy.

On our walk yesterday I was commenting on the amazing color contrast between the color of a house, the trees hugging it, and the deep blue sky behind it. But to see it, we needed to overlook the mound of trash and dead carcasses along the road leading up to the house. We laughed and said, just do a little cropping and it's perfect. [Photoshop] Picture Perfect.

A couple other things...

When people go to other people's houses they clap, and if you enter the house you always take off your shoes. No exceptions.

There's no double dipping policy, no five second rule, and there's almost always a community cup for drinking.

It's not weird to see a boat sitting on the side of the road, policemen guarding the bank with ak-47s, or half of the frame of the head of a truck sitting in a corn field.

Amiga

Elizangela is a girl (27yrs) here who I have become really good friends with. Since she is studying English, and I Portuguese, we love to help each other with grammar and pronunciation. Aside from our conversations, we enjoy practicing pronunciation by reading the Proverbs together. She will read a chapter in English and I will help her with specific words, and then I will read the same chapter in Portuguese and she corrects me. I love doing this with her :) . We also go to the same small group and take many walks together. Elizangela is one of my best friends here and I am so blessed to have her in my life.

Prayer

Continue to keep my health in your prayers. Amongst other things, I'm very weak, dizzy and at a loss for energy.

Thank you for all of your prayer support! It is so wonderful to be blessed with the friends and I family I have.

Valentines Day

2009-02-18T18:02:00.000-08:00

ants in my pants

what compares to bubbly laughter, wide grinned smiles, and speaking broken portuguese over cafe com leite with two brasilian women in a river village? it's perfect

...as we stood around the kitchen i lifted a cup to my mouth when suddenly discovered there were ants in my pants! lucky for me, the 'ants-in-my-pants-dance' is universal and it didn't seem to matter that in my confused and shocked state i couldn't possibly translate my experience to them. so i danced a bit then ran straight into their bedroom and killed every last one of them.

the laughter it brought made the pain worth it.

Happy Valentines Day

I am so blessed to have gone on this most recent river/jungle trip. I made amazing new brazilian friends as we shared in this adventure.

this valentines day i woke up and spent time before the Lord with the team, the afternoon i visited with the people in the village, watched the men slaughtered a water buffalo, helped cook in the kitchen, ate lunch, swam, got in a canoe and visited three nearby villages where we prayed a blessing over them and invited them to come to that night's small-group-like-service, swam and watched freshwater dolphins jump next to us, headed back to the mother ship, swam, had dinner, worshiped and listened to a teaching in a family's living room, and prayed for a couple women and a man who gave his life to God. it was a beautiful day...

that afternoon a mens small group was also held, at which point i was swimming with some brazilian women.

after the service we canoed back to our mother ship, yet not only did a huge storm come in, but our boat was stuck in the shallow. the boat swayed back and forth and the reality of it tipping increased. the men got out and pushed and pulled and one friend in particular had his arms wrapped around a rope, pulling with all his strength until the boat was finally set free and the propellor was able to spin. but the propellor caught the rope and pulled him down with it. a quick eye, a near by knife, and fast hands, set him free.

it was then that brin reminded me how that morning in our silence before God, particia shared how she felt that there was something wrong with the boat and that we should pray over it. our prayers were definitely heard that morning and God was faithful that night.

Prayer: that i may have no more eye infections, clarity, faith, courage, and strength.

peace begins with a smile--mother teresa

Let's see what happens

2009-02-12T16:49:00.000-08:00

It’s something unpredictable, but in the ends it’s right. I hope you had the
time of your life.

This Sunday a few missionaries from Porto De Moz (PdM) came to Altamira to pick up Terry Price from the airport. Terry is our newest addition to the Xingu Mission and will be heading up the children’s ministry in PdM. (PdM is a ten hour boat ride from Altamira). The PdM people were here from Sunday till Wednesday and here are a couple ways I was blessed by their stay here…

Waterfall

On Monday, Luke (a PdM missionary kid, 15), Isaiah (living in PdM for three months, 18), Chelsea (a new missionary in Altamira, 20) and I woke up at 5am, and walked up a tower to watch the sun rise. At 9, the four of us and two Brazilians (Allison and Beto) drove an hour to a jungle. We parked the truck and walked through grass that was between waist and head high, then through a trail through the forest, and finally arrived at a gorgeous waterfall. It was absolutely perfect and we had an incredible time. I climbed to the top of the waterfall a couple times and jumped into the water. Wooh--talk about exhilarating! After that, the six of us and our one flashlight, explored a nearby cave. We wanted to spend more time there but had to leave since Chelsea and I had Portuguese class at 2pm and I had to teach at 6.

New community

The next night, Isaiah, Luke and I were walking along the pier when we decided to go exploring through the city. Isaiah said, “Let’s go down this road and see what happens,” and that’s exactly what we did. Slightly disappointed that this road seemed to offer no adventures, we decided to turn onto another random road and see where that took us--and there we had it, we had just begun a new adventure.

As we turned down this street we came upon a neighborhood that is entirely built on stilts. This part of Altamira (a part I had never seen), is built on stilts because the water comes up during the rainy season and it is where really poor people live. As we walked down this neighborhood we discovered a garage sized church were a service was currently being held. We decided to walk in the back and listen in for a little bit. The pastor had different words for people in the church and would call them up and pray for them, and interestingly enough, he had a word specifically for Isaiah and prayed a blessing over his family. It was such an exciting experience!
In fact, we were so in love with the people we met that night that we decided to go back to the community the next morning. At 8:30am we headed out, bought a few loafs of bread, and walked back into the community. We started off by walking to different houses and offering them bread, then spent some time sitting with the children, and then the real fun began.

We introduced to them the hand game, “My chica, chica.” It gathered a good sized crowd, a lot of smiles, and a bunch of laughter. Then Luke took out a camera and we had a great time taking pictures with different children and moms. We had an incredible time socializing and playing with the children. It was such a powerful experience, and definitely one of the best experiences of my life. It was so genuine and so much fun. I am so thrilled to go back to this community and continue to build a relationship with the families down there.

English

I have started teaching English at a non-profit organization. I teach an intermediate level with 11 students ranging from 14-34 years old. I have taught two classes so far and it is so wonderful! It’s a refreshing experience; I enjoy it so much!

Jungle

Tomorrow (Friday 13) I leave for a short River trip where I will travel out to the bush, and will be back on Sunday. The Pflederer family, Patty, and a few Brazilians and I are traveling to a village which currently does not have a church but they are interested in having us share about the gospel. I will give you more details about the trip after it happens!

Prayer

Your prayer is SO powerful!
Trust me!!! I am so thankful and so blessed to have the prayer support of my
friends and family. Keep it
up ;)

Financial Support

If you are interested in supporting me financially you are more than welcome, I won’t turn you down! I have been incredibly blessed by many of your generous donations, which I am very grateful for.

If you feel led to give, I would like to remind you that your money will spread far and wide down here. This is because the exchange rate practically doubles your money, and since the people we are reaching are poor, even a small amount of money will go a long way.

Financial support allows be to do simple things like buying a couple loaves of bread for a community, paying for a couple people to go to a conference ($15 per person), blessing somebody by taking them out to ice cream, or paying the gas money so that I may travel on the River to unreached communities. If you are interested in supporting me on this mission trip, please email me at katesnow_07@yahoo.com or my parents at ksnow1@insight.rr.com. It’s very simple to do, as my parents would deposit it directly into my account which I have access from here.

Life is either a daring adventure or it is nothing. –Helen Keller

God Bless!

quick visa update

2009-02-04T15:41:00.000-08:00

I'm officially aloud to be in Brasil till July 10th! (although i will leave july 6th, be home the 7th).

THANK YOU soo much for everybody's prayers!! Now that I'm getting settled in Brazil, I can't wait to tell you all that God is doing here. :)

Prayer requests:
1. That I can learn Portuguese (speak, understand, and write)
2. Physicall strength and protection of my health
3. That I may build strong relationships with the other missionaries and the brazilians here
4. More wisdom

I start teaching English next Monday and will teach till the end of the semester (feb-june). My classes are on mon and tues from 6.15-7.30pm. I'm so excited!!

Love,

Professora Kate

please don't pet the animals

2009-02-02T16:40:00.000-08:00

When we lived in California my sister and I liked to catch frogs and play with them (and snails and daddy-long-legs...). So today when a frog jumped into our house it was hard to resist the urge to catch the frog...that is, until Steve reminded me of the poisonous slime they wear.

Today Chelsea, Patty and I started our Portuguese classes which are three hours a day, five days a week. It was a great class and I love our teacher. I'm so excited to learn more of the language so I can move past asking somebody their age and how many children or siblings they have. :)

I will hopefully be visiting the federal police tomorrow to request a visa extension. Please pray for God's grace and that my request will be granted.

"Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals." -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The Amazon is...

2009-01-31T17:30:00.000-08:00

Hey eveybody! Descuple (sorry), I haven't updated my blog earlier; I've been at a loss for words. I've been at a loss for words for a few days now. I don't know where to go into detail or what parts to focus on. Nothing I say will give anything I've experienced any kind of justice.

13 of us from Delaware Vineyard arrived in Altamira on Jan 14th. From there, we met up with about 15 long-term missionaries and boarded a boat where we reached out to Porto de Moz and several villages in the Amazon Basin.

I may add more later and will probably write more in depth thoughts regarding particular events later...but here we go for now....

The Amazon is...

walking onto a boat with a team of strangers and walking off with a team of new best friends
holding hands and dancing with brazilian friends in a small village school
canoeing to local villages to invite people to that night's service
being invited into their simple, beautiful homes
drinking milk that came from their cow right outside
drinking cafe com leite
all while exchanging smiles and laughs
praying with people in these remote Amazon villages
becoming their friends
witnessing the courage of five men in a village dedicate their life to God
being encouraged by the faith of people who live difficult, demanding, and painful lifes
praying for them, praying for the sick
meeting genuine people
hearing testimonies of God's goodness, grace, and love
having the privilege of seeing the indescribable beauty of the Amazonian people
marveling at the beauty of the rainforest
attempting to speak portuguese
bathing in the river
rainy nights
eating exotic fruits
walking barefoot up a mountain with 3 brazilian boys and 4 other friends
falling knee deep into "mud" and having to be rescued
diving under a waterfall
walking out of the falls only to see a poinsonous snake was there
exploring the forest with two friends, looking for caves but seeing a bright blue butterfly instead
bathing in the river
having conversations on the top of the boat
comparing 'stupid human tricks'
spending time with God
building relationships with friends
tudo bom

God's amazing--what else is there to say?

Prayer requests: that i may pick up the language quickly, physical and spiritual stength, wisdom and discernment, saftey, courage. Pray how you feel led :)

Kyla-Feliz aniversario do brasil!!!

I love and miss you Mom (mae), Dad (pai), and Kyla (minha imra). I love and miss all my friends and family and I appriciate your support and encouragment.

(p.s. aside from the boat i have already had my first tarantula in my room and saw my first big iguana--cool, legal)

Ate logo! (i will post pictures later this week...sorry im so bad at this!)

Tudo bom

2009-01-13T03:00:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone. This is Kate's mom posting for Kate! Kate did not have the opportunity to post an update before leaving Columbus. She wanted me to let you all know she is on her way to Brazil this morning. She will arrive in Belem this evening where she will spend the night. Wednesday morning they head to Altamira where they will immediately get on their boat. They will travel up the Xingu River for the first 10 days. They will spend their time ministering to the indigenous people along the Amazon River. She is really excited about this opportunity. It is teaching her about faith and the power of prayer. She will be updating her blog when she returns from the river trip the end of January. Please keep her in your prayers as she ministers and that she will be granted a visa extension. Thank you for all your support!

The Art of Blogging

2008-12-29T20:03:00.000-08:00

I'm new to blogging, and quite frankly, if it wasn't for the fact that I'm going to Brazil, I wouldn't be blogging at all.
Granted, I'm not in Brazil yet. But I've been learning a lot about life (faith in particular) and I have been wanting to write about it.
And yet I find it's impossible for me to blog. Here's the deal: when I write, I spend an obsessive amount of time wording my sentences (thank you a.p. brit lit), and deciding what sentence structure best captures the moment or idea. If I don't feel that my syntax is supreme, there's no way I'm exposing it to on the internet. So I spend all this time writing, editing, rewriting, re-editing, rereading, and storing away to edit the tomorrow when I have a clear mind. And so, the blog never gets posted.
Not to mention, the necessity of capturing a thought weighed with the deep consideration as to who the reader is. But my audience appears too diverse as I have handed my blog address to a diverse crowd.

Bear with me as I discover the art of blogging. As I learn how to be a real, raw, genuine writer (blogger).

I depart in two weeks! :) I appreciate all the prayers and words of wisdom.
Please keep my visa in your prayers. I will request an extension in late January, so pray that the it will be granted so I may continue to serve in Brazil. I will write more on the topic of my visa and on faith soon.
Tchau!
"Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers; pray for powers equal to your tasks." -Bishop Phillips Brooks

< 1 month

2008-12-14T11:54:00.000-08:00

I leave in less than one month!

Please keep my visa in your prayers. I was only able to obtain a 30 day visa from the Embassy but will be applying for an extension from the Fed. police when I am in Brazil. We anticipate they will give me a three month extension, which will allow me a total of four months. As the fourth month approaches I believe we will apply for an additional extension bringing me to a total of six months. That's the plan anyway...please pray that the federal police will approve this extension!!

and I can always use prayer for increased wisdom and faith. :)

67 dias

2008-11-05T10:52:00.000-08:00

67 days till I leave for Brazil...but who's counting?

I'm going to be in Altamira, Para for 6 months, teaching English and ministering to my brothers and sisters in Brazil. I'll be living with the Dolan family while I'm there.

I'll post more shortly before I leave and of course I'll keep all my wonderful friends and family updated on what's going on in the beautiful country of Brazil.

I leave Jan 12, so check this blog again in Jan!

Thanks!!