Outback of Brazil - Pelo Sinal (Part 2)

When our team went to go look at the living conditions of the family that I mentioned in my previous post, we sent all the children of Pelo Sinal to the town square. We told them we would meet them under the big tree in the center of town shortly.

All the children gathered there as we sang songs and taught them hand gestures to some of our favorite songs. Here we were teaching them lyrics and hand motions to "O, Happy Day".

O, happy day, happy day

You washed my sin away

O, happy day, happy day

and I'll never be the same

Forever I am changed.

We wanted to make one home visit before time to meet back with our entire group for lunch, so my team grabbed two precious sisters, Victoria and Raphaela, and asked them if we could go to their home for a visit. My team leader, Daniel, already knew them from a previous trip.

(L to R) Shelby, Katarina, Daniel, Raphaela, Victoria and me

We headed through the village and up the hill to their home.

We had an amazing visit with this sweet family. Unfortunately, their brother, Oscar, was not there when we visited in their home, but the girls' parents and their paternal grandfather were there. They were so gracious to us and so appreciative to us for coming to visit them. Their mother was disappointed that we could not stay and eat lunch with them and made us promise that when we come back that our entire group would eat lunch at their house!

Victoria went to her room and got a notebook with her schoolwork in it and read some of her answers regarding what she believed about the Bible and why, and I was absolutely amazed with her spiritual maturity! She said she had been reading her Bible that had been given to her on a previous trip.

My heart just melted as little Raphaela snuggled up to me on the sofa. She just latched onto me from the minute we sat down in their home and I couldn't get enough! So precious!

This is a picture of this precious family (minus brother Oscar) with our team. (Unfortunately, our translator, Katarina, was taking the picture so was not able to be included in this photo.)

They made us feel so welcome that it was really difficult to leave. I had to snap one more photo of this precious family- taken outside the door of their home.

We headed back through the village to Nalva's house (the Mayor of Pelo Sinal) for a delicious lunch prepared by Pastor Carlos' wife, Dinalda.

As soon as lunch was over, it was time to head back to the town square. The "Face Painters" took their places......

The lines started to form ......

And beautiful faces were painted!

My daughter, Faith, even threw in her hair braiding services!

Afterwards we even got to observe a dance class that the little girls in the village got to be a part of. So sweet!

To be continued.....

Outback of Brazil - Pelo Sinal (Part 1)

Saturday was our first day in the Outback and the first village we would be working in was Pelo Sinal. Several of our team members had been in Pelo Sinal on previous trips and had started building relationships with some of the people they had lead to the Lord on previous trips, so they were very excited about getting back to this little village. At this point, I still didn't know what I was in store for.

We ate breakfast and loaded the bus early. On the way, Pastor Carlos and our team leader, Daniel, gave us our schedule for the day and assigned our teams for the day.

We drove by bus to the end of the dirt road that lead to Pelo Sinal and there we unloaded all of our supplies and left the bus for the day.

This is a picture of my son-in-law, Chad, my daughter, Faith, and myself. I was blessed to have them on the trip with me. They have been on several mission trips before and were a great help to this "rookie"!

These were four of our amazing translators on that first day. Ruth, Katarina, Anne and Monica (L to R).

Here are my team leader, Daniel, and his wife, Jennifer . I cannot even imagine how much work went into planning and organizing a trip like this, but they did an amazing job! Everything went so smoothly!

After we got all of our supplies unloaded from the bus we all climbed onto the "Turnip Truck". It was at this point that I really started to get excited! This trip was finally a reality and I was really here in the Outback of Brazil!

After about 6 miles of very rough roads we started approaching a little village and this is a glimpse of what I saw. Children from the village came running toward our truck because they were already expecting us.
As I went to climb off the truck, I was taken aback by all the beautiful little children. It was a very emotional moment for me to see all of these precious ones.

On our way over on the bus, Pastor Carlos had mentioned to us about a home that needed to have a new roof put on it that they were hoping that we could help with, but they had not been able to come up with all of the money to buy the necessary supplies prior to our coming. The family that lived in the little house had 3 children, the youngest of which was 4 months old. On an average day this time of year, the temperature inside their house was approximately 40 degrees Celsius! That translates to over 100 degrees Farenheit!

Our first stop was for the team to take a look at the living conditions of this family. As you can see, they had a flat metal roof and the heat was just being absorbed into this house.

This is a view from the side of their house. It was made out of block and they only had one window in the entire structure.

These were the children's toys that they played with.

This was their "oven" -- whatever they place in here was cooked by the sun.

And this was their laundry area. The big 50 gallon drum was full of rain water that they captured during the rainy season.

As we were walking around and through this little house, I think all of us were very disappointed that we had not known about this need prior to our coming so that we could have raised the necessary money and had the supplies on hand to replace the roof while we were there.

We broke up into our teams for the day and I was on the team that stayed to talk to the woman that lived in this home. As Daniel and Monica began to talk to the lady, her baby started to get a little fidgety and I asked if I could hold him so I could remove that distraction and have her focus on what they were sharing with her. As you can imagine, this was right up MiMi's alley!

Daniel used the Evangecube to share the Gospel and with the help of our translator, Monica, the lady of the house prayed to receive Christ! We gave her a Portuguese Bible and a list of verses to encourage her, but she told us that she could not see. She needed glasses, but that she had been to the doctor and the glasses she needed were too expensive. Last year, a group had taken reading glasses to give out on the trip and she had tried a couple of pairs left from that trip, but none of them had worked for her. This just broke my heart that she could not see to read and I hope that there is some way we can get her some glasses so that she can read the Word of God.

We all signed the Bible that we left with her.

Here is a picture of us with our new sister in Christ! I know the angels were rejoicing in Heaven!

This was only the beginning of our exciting day in Pelo Sinal. I have lots more to share.

(To Be Continued)

BRAZIL - Finally A Reality

Well...after about 6 months of planning for, praying about and looking forward to my very first mission trip, it finally became a reality! I, along with my team, left on Thursday, September 3rd for the Outback of Brazil. Our flight left Charlotte in the evening and we flew to Miami, FL. We immediately got onto a flight (10:30 p.m.) and flew all night to Salvador. After a brief layover in Salvador, we boarded our last flight that took us to Recife, where we landed around 10:30 am on Friday. It took us a while to claim our baggage and get through Immigrations and Customs, but soon we were greeted by Pastor Carlos. I had heard so much about him and could hardly wait to meet them.

We headed out with all of our luggage to our tour bus that would be our transportation for the 7 hour trip to the Outback. Our first stop, before we got on the road, was to stop for lunch at a local restaurant in Recife, called Tio Pepe....and OH MY WORD!

It was here that I knew that I was probably not going to be losing weight on this trip as I had hoped and expected! The food was delicious and I also had my first taste of Guarana- the carbonated beverage that is original to Brazil that I had heard so much about. It tastes sort of like a much sweeter Ginger Ale and is really yummy! Pastor Carlos and our team leader, Daniel, ordered a variety of different dishes --beef, chicken and fish -- and everything I tasted was great! This is a picture of my plate. YUMMY!

It was here at the restaurant that I first got to meet Pastor Carlos' sweet wife, Dinalda, and with the help of an interpreter, start to get to know her. I could tell right away that I was going to love her! (Please keep in mind that this was me after being on an airplane for about 14 hours! lol)

It is also where we got to meet up with more of our amazing translators that would be helping us all week, two of which are pictured here L to R, Katarina, and Carla, Pastor Carlos' daughter.

This is another one of our translators, Anne, with my daughter, Faith. God was so faithful to provide us with so many awesome translators and we certainly could not have done it without them!

Soon it was time to load onto the bus again and head for the Outback.

After driving a couple of hours, we stopped at a little place on the side of the road that everyone on my team that had previously been to Brazil fondly called "The Chicken Ball Place". It was like a little "Cantina" with a gift shop, ice cream, fresh coconuts, and the infamous "chicken balls". Several people had Coconut Water, but most of us had ice cream and an opportunity to stretch our legs.

Here is Brooke, one of our precious teens on the trip, giving the the fresh coconut a try.

After this little stop, it was back on the bus for the remainder of our trip into the Outback. We arrived at the Hotel Brotas somewhere around 9:00 that night, and after checking into our rooms, we headed for the hotel restaurant and found this spread awaiting us.

After dinner, it was off to our rooms for a good night's sleep before heading out the next morning to Pelo Sinal, the first village where we would be ministering.

One Step Closer To Brazil

Look what came in the mail!!!

I was told to allow 4-6 weeks for my Passport Application to be processed, but it came in 10 days!  

***To read more about the upcoming Brazil Mission trip and how God "winked" at me and provided for my passport, go here. 

(It was Wink #9.)

On the same day that my passport arrived, a check from one of my dear blogging friends arrived, too -- completing the money that I need to get my necessary immunizations for my trip. God is so good!!

Please keep praying that God will provide the support needed to cover the expenses of our trip. 

I am so excited to see how God is going to provide!

"God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request

 in your wildest dreams!"

Eph. 3:20 (The Message)

When God Winks

The American Heritage Dictionary defines a coincidence as "A sequence of events that although accidental seems to have been planned or arranged". 

I believe that God is the one that plans and arranges those things in our lives - both in the past and in the day-to-day that we live in now. I recently read a little book entitled, "When God Winks" by SQuire Rushnell. He calls these times in our lives "God Winks". He defines these times as "a personal signal or message, directly from a higher power." He says, "they are clear signposts on the path of life, revealing that each of us is guided by a powerful force".

These "God Winks" happen for a reason and that is to let us know that we are not alone. Rushnell likens it to a time when we were kids and were sitting at a dinner table with the grownups. You looked up and saw a parent or maybe a grandparent smiling at you -- and they winked.  That was a reassuring message of love that said, "Hey, kid, I'm thinking about you. You're OK. Hang in there."

Simply put, "God Winks" are messages of reassurance that come to us when we most need it.

I love the idea of "God Winks" in my life. I can look back over my life and see many times that I have experienced them, some of which I did not even recognize at the time. Recently I have been experiencing a number of them in my life.

Let me tell you more......

For years, I have wanted to go on a mission trip and have looked into the possibility of going on a medical mission trip on a couple of different occasions, but it has just never seemed to work out. As I began to hear about an upcoming mission trip to Brazil, I felt that the Lord was impressing upon me that I needed to go on this trip - that it was time. My daughter, Faith, and son-in-law, Chad, are planning to go on this trip, but neither of them had said a word to me about it, other than the fact that they were planning to go.

As I was walking out of church a couple of Sundays ago, I was walking next to a sweet friend and I commented that I loved her necklace she was wearing. She said, "Oh, thank you. I got it in Brazil!" As she said that, I felt a little nudge in my heart. Wink # 1 (-;

Walt and I went out to lunch with Faith and Chad on this particular Sunday, and while we were in the restroom washing our hands, I asked if all the "spots" were already filled for the Brazil trip. Faith said, "I don't think so, why --DO YOU WANT TO GO???" I told her I had been thinking about it and that I felt the Lord might be leading me in that direction. She said, "Oh, that would be awesome!" Wink #2 (-;

As we walked to our seats in the restaurant, Faith saw some friends from Brazil seated in the booth right beside us and she introduced me to them. After talking to them for just a few minutes, I could just sense in my spirit that these were some of the sweetest people in the world. Wink # 3 (-;

We sat down at our table and we started talking about Brazil and the possibility of my going. Faith shared that they were having 1 (and maybe 2) dentists go on the trip -- and then she suddenly remembered that I AM A DENTAL HYGIENIST!!!   Wink # 4 (-;

As I began praying about whether I would go on this trip, of course the biggest obstacle (apart from the funding) would be the time off from work. I was unsure whether any of my employees were already planning to be off during the same time period. When I got back to my office on Monday, I checked the scheduling calendar and, not only was no one off during those dates, but it fell over a period of time that my office was already going to be closed for several of the days. I would only have to miss 3 days of work!  Wink # 5  (-;

When I mentioned to my boss that I was praying about going on a mission trip to Brazil, he volunteered cases of sample size toothpaste that he needed to get rid of because we d0 not use it in our office and do not have the space to store it. I now have a huge box of toothpaste samples in my possession that, Lord willing, will end up somewhere in a little village in Brazil! Wink #6 (-;

I began checking online to see what immunizations I would be required to have before making the trip.  After obtaining the information, my boss suggested that I call a local doctor that used to work next door to us.  I told him that I was pretty sure that you had to go to a special place to get the travel immunizations for missions.  I decided that I would check and  as I flipped to the doctor's business card in my Rolodex, across the bottom were written the words "Travel Immunizations and Vaccines"! I called and spoke with the Office Manager and he said that whatever immunizations that I needed they would not charge me anything to administer the vaccines -- and would only charge me for the "vaccine" itself!

Wink # 7 (-;

As many of you know, my husband has been out of work for over a year, so needless to say we do not have the extra money to fund my trip. My first thoughts were, there is no way that I can afford to do this. This past week, it was confirmed that our team would be able to work the concession booth in the Family Section of two of the major NASCAR races that we have locally here in May. Anyone that works the booth will be raising money toward their trip, so Walt and I both signed up to work those days. (He is working to help raise money for my expenses, too.) 

Wink # 8 (-;

My most immediate need was to secure a passport because you are looking at a girl that has never been out of the U.S! I went to the post office and got an application and discovered that the passport cost $75.00, plus $25.00 to execute it and $15.00 for the passport photos - for a grand total of $115.00. Right now, there is not $115.00 extra dollars in the budget, so I began praying that God would provide the money for my passport if I was supposed to go on this trip. (I went ahead and scheduled my appointment for yesterday.) This past Monday, I received a birthday card from a very special family member and when I opened it up, inside the card was---you guessed it --a check for $115.00!!! I called her the next morning to tell her how God had used her to answer a prayer in my life. She said that she had no idea why she made the check for $115.00, that she fully intended to make it for $100.00, but that somehow she had written it for $115.00 before she knew it! She didn't know WHY she did that! I know why she did, because God took hold of her hand and had her write the exact amount that I needed!! Isn't God awesome!!  Wink # 9 (-;

I know many in this world would call these things coincidences, but I much prefer to think of them as "God Winks" in my life. 

I believe they are direct and personal messages from God reassuring me that He is thinking about me.

I like to think of them as clear messages of reassurance that no matter how uncertain my life may seem right now, He is moving me toward certainty. They are reminders that I am never alone. A signpost from heaven that I am on the right track.

A reassuring message of love that says, "Hey, kid, I'm thinking about you. You're OK. Hang in there."

How about you?  Can you look back and see any "coincidences" in your own life?

Is it possible that they weren't coincidences at all and maybe "God Winks"??

How has God "winked" at you recently?

As you look back over your life, I believe that you will see many times, at various turning points in your life, when God has clearly "winked" at you!

I would love for you to share some of your stories about the "God Winks" in your life.

The next time a coincidence pops up in your life, I hope you'll start to wonder ----Was that a "God Wink"?