Honeymoon Phase

Experts say that there are different stages of living cross culturally and that after a short period of living in a new culture, the romanticism and newness wears off then frustration begins to set in. Well, I have not reached the second phase and only grow fonder of Rio and Brazilians with time. I can't help but praise God daily for allowing me to be here and cannot imagine living anywhere else.

The retreat was fantastic and included a costume party, dancing, a mechanical bull, lots of soccer, a water slide, soccer in a huge inflatable field covered with soapy water, games, great fellowship, and lots of worship. I was broken in some areas of my life that needed to be addressed and, although painful and repentant, absolutely necessary in my process of sanctification.

Saturday we had our usual English classes and then a big outreach event for the kids. There were around sixty kids, not including the parents, and it lasted for a few hours. This is was an important step in building the future ministry.

Three more people approached me tonight asking to get involved in Morro Azul and one of my English students, who is an incredibly talented performer, has agreed to meet with the kids in the favela once a week to teach singing and dancing for an event for the parents at the end of the year.

Cultural observation: When exiting the elevator in your building, you should tell everyone that is in the elevator goodbye.

Personal comments: I have been told that I look exactly like Enrique Iglesias, Pierce Bronan, Ben Afleck, and Jean-Claude Van Damme.....no Steve Nash comments, yet.

What's your name in Portuguese??

A couple of weeks ago, I was approached and asked if I would be willing to speak on "hoochie", which is the exact pronunciation of Ruth in Portuguese. So I accepted, while holding in my laughter, and will be doing my first bible study tonight in Portuguese. It has been really good for me to spend time studying and preparing.

This Friday we leave for a retreat for the young adults. It is a couple of hours from Rio and we will be there until Sunday night. We filmed a video where I am asking questions about adapting to Brazilian culture and asking for help in dealing with certain situations.My friends ,who are very good at video production, edited in different responses from people going on the retreat to different questions they were asked. When spliced together, it is pretty funny.

My parents are coming out in a few weeks and we are working on putting together a medical clinic for a couple of days with my Dad. Details to follow.

Ministry is happening and the doors are opening. The senor pastor has given me full support and told me that I can do what I see fit and the church will print up materials that we can distribute in the favela. HUGE!!!

Cultural Observation: When going through the checkout line at all supermarkets, the passage is too narrow to bring the shopping cart through. The system, at least everywhere I have been, is to randomly push the cart away from the counter and try not to hit people standing in line.

Locally: It appears that the people on my floor of the apartment building have pitched in their monies and rented power tools for the month. I was not notified but I have been enjoying the sounds of grinding, banging, drilling for the past couple of weeks.