I have been in

Youth during the evening session
Forrest and Peter helping with the night gameI have been in

Youth during the evening session
Forrest and Peter helping with the night gameI have been so blessed by this opportunity. Coming from
Each day I spend here I fall a little more in love with Brasil and its people. It almost makes me wish I didn’t have to go back for awhile but I’m not ready for that, just yet!
My first few days here were spent with the medical group. The best part was getting to meet the people. You could never have guessed that these people were lacking in anything. In a way they aren’t. To them it is just how life is and always has been. These are a people that waste nothing and find joy in everything.
These last couple days we have been preparing for the youth conference. I have never met a group of teenagers that are so on fire for God. I have been blessed by meeting them and getting
to know them. You see the love that they have for God in everything that they do.
Once the Youth Conference is finished it is on for English Camp. This is what I am looking forward to the most. It will involve the younger kids which is my main interest since I am an Early Childhood Education Major. At K-State by the way….Go Wildcats!
My time here is definitely one of those defining moments in my life. I have grown so much while I have been here. I am only hope that the lives of those I met were as blessed by me as I was by them.
The people of
God has opened my eyes to another culture – His creation – that he loves just as much as He does me.
It’s amazing to think back and see the journey that I have made in my life. By God’s grace I grew up in a Christian family and knew the Lord at an early age. I have been God’s hands
several times, leading my friends to Christ. But something was missing. I didn’t think of God as a friend and our relationship was lacking. Upon this realization, I re-committed my life to Him and asked Him to use me in any way he chose. And now I’m here on my first mission trip, I am content in knowing that I have a purpose and that I am becoming more like Christ. I am where I’m supposed to be. I continue to pray for the people of
Our first couple of days at the clinic have been significant days of kingdom work. Over 360 people were seen. Our first day the guard [of the school where we were] turned people away but it was as if God was easing us “first timers” into things.
The second day, busier than the first, left me with faces that continued to go through my mind as I tried to rest, the two small boys with despair ridden faces brought in by their 16 year old sister; the woman who lived on $6.00 a month that worried about being able to buy firewood to boil water in order to wash her linens & then blessed us by saying, “It’s a gift from God that you are here,”; and the woman whom we didn’t have medicine to put in her hand but showed love as we were privileged to pray for her physical healing.
The “team” itself is inspiring and encouraging watching each whether its shaking a hand, landing a smile, driving a combie [a VW van] to & from the clinic, interpreting, handing out medicine, or seeing patients… It all goes back to Him, and each day I want more of Him & less of me.
Seli Deo Gloria!
I thank God for providing everything I needed to be able to come on this mission trip. (Philip 4:13 I can do anything through Him who gives me strength.) The support letter I sent out provided the funding for my trip! My husband is disabled so I needed care for him. His sister retired last summer so he is staying with her while I am here.
Our trip down here was good. We changed planes in
Gabe was the first face I recognized in
The evening we arrived was the semi-final game of soccer in the World Cup between
Before the game, Tele took us to the Café/print shop in Carpina for dinner. The Coxinha [a fried meat and mashed potato snack] was very good.
The print shop will be printing the newsletter that we will take back to the 
The Alcance is Beautiful!
They let us sleep in on Sunday to recuperate from the trip! We took advantage of the pool around 10am. The water was chilly but very invigorating.
The food here has been delicious! Everyone back home told us the fruit and juices were good. They understated it! They are awesome!
Everyone has made us feel so welcome! I was a little concerned about the language barrier but that has gone very well.
Jeff and Lindsay took us on a tour of the Alcance, inside and out.
We had devotionals just before lunch. Most of us just laid around the rest of the afternoon.
We went to the Church at 7pm in Tracunhaem. It was so filled with the spirit! We couldn’t understand what the pastor was saying but we could feel the presence of the Lord. The children sang a beautiful song. It just really made me realize how blessed I am. What we take for granted in the
God is sooo good!
-Edna Chestnut