For a while now, I have been avoiding the little button on
the options bar of my Safari that reads “Blogger.” I knew I needed to blog. I got the hints that
were dropped by various family members and/or friends. I knew I hadn’t blogged
since my brother’s birthday.
I just wasn’t feeling it.
I like blogging when I have something to say. I was under
the impression I didn’t have anything to
say. I like blogging when I have new, radical or exciting words. I believed the
words I had were boring, ordinary and lame.
It’s a little difficult picking up where I last left off. A
lot has happened since the last time I sat down to write. Life has evened out
for us here in Sao Leopoldo. We have a routine. Definitely not a rut, but a
routine. Things are just life now.
In no way does that mean that each day is the same old same
old. There are new laughs, new questions, new discoveries everyday.
Since the middle of April, I’ve been to new cities with my
family. I got to spend the extended Easter weekend with my family’s family in Três
de Maio. One of the coolest things is being able to meet your host family’s
extended family members and see the city where they grew up, hear the stories
from their childhood. Last weekend, my family and I went to Canela for a
retreat with the futebol club Marcos, meu pai, plays with. We ate amazing food
– ohhh, the dessert - and spent time in a beautiful park.
Since the middle of April, the Hannah’s, Stewart, Renato and
I have gotten heavily involved at two universities, Unisinos and Feevale.
Students and staff know us on each campus. They expect to see us talking with
other students or teachers. They know we love to snack at Happy Station and
dine at RU. They stop to play a couple rounds of Uno or Jenga with us. We drink
chimarrão together. We’re part of the universities’ communities.
Since the middle of April, we’ve gotten leaps and bounds
better at Portuguese. I have to say… Hannah West and Stewart are really good at
Portuguese. They know the most random and silly things. Stewart has learned
sayings the old Gaúcho men say from his host home pai. Hannah West has a large
vocab of both slang and grammatically correct Portuguese. Hannah Morrison and
her little Brasilian sister point to objects in their house and say the name in
both in English and Portuguese. Morrison and her pai work on her Portuguese
homework together every week.
Me… Well… I understand a good amount. I can listen to
Brasilians talking to each other and catch the majority of what they’re talking
about. My speaking is alright. I have a hard time wrapping my tongue around
some Portuguese words, which keeps me from saying a lot. However, one of my
most fond memories of my time in Brasil was one night at Unilinguas. It was a
Monday night, and we were playing Jenga. My Brasilian brother, Tales, had just
gotten out of his English class and was waiting on Fabi to pick him up, so he
joined us playing. When Mãe, Fabi, and Denis, my other brother, got to
Unilinguas, they ended up playing with us. During this time, I was talking with
my brothers. Just little things I knew would make them laugh. After they left,
Renato told me he was really impressed and that I knew more Portuguese than he
thought I did. That simple statement was the encouragement needed to push me a
little further out in the conversing world of Brasil.
Since the middle of April, I’ve been to the hospital
multiple times. *Gasp!* Actually, both Hannah West and I have been. No, not
because of health reasons, but because of an English class. We go to an English
class with a teacher we met at Unilinguas, Anae. Anae teaches a group of
employees from the official World Cup hospital in Porto Alegre. This has become
one my favorite things to do here. I love driving to POA with Anae and Hannah.
We talk about everything under the sun. The students in the class make me laugh
uncontrollably and hold a special place in my heart. I burst with pride when
they say what they want to say, and correctly. During one of the classes Hannah
and I weren’t able to make, a couple of the students typed out an invitation to
the last day of class for a little celebration. I can’t wait for June 9th
when Hannah and I can go celebrate these people and what they’ve learned, when
we can go and offer that last bit of encouragement.
Since the middle of April, we’ve started Free Hugs at
Unisinos. I’ll admit, Free Hugs is still a little difficult for me to do.
Standing with a boldly colorful sign and essentially yelling “abraços” to
people walking by is not something you’ll find in my comfort zone. It’s difficult
to get in the mood to hug complete strangers when the first couple people you
offer a hug to turn you down flat. But once you feel the first tight embrace,
with a touch of desperation, your heart melts. After some time, you find
yourself enjoying the hugs and smiles you receive
rather than give out. A simple hug does wonders.
Since the middle of April, we’ve started Zoe em Casa. Finally! This is what we came down here
for! “Zoe is a Greek word that means ‘abundant life’. We get it from John
10:10, where Jesus comes to offer life more
abundantly.” Something to that effect is said every Saturday night when Zoe
meets. Zoe em Casa starts off with food and conversations, with music playing
in the background. This leads up to us reading a Psalm or two. After some
discussion about that, we finish it out with the same question week after week.
“Where did you see God this week?” Americans, Brasilians, followers,
non-followers, all alike, answer this question. This is a humbling experience
for me. I love hearing what others have to say about God in their lives. It’s
caused me to think about how much I am probably missing, how unaware I am. Many
Brasilians have come to Zoe and said, “I thought this was church.” We love
answering this question. It is a church, but we do things differently. We do
things based off the first church. We think there should be celebration about
the things and areas God’s been apparent in. We think we should gather together
and talk about the Word and spend some time in prayer. Zoe is geared towards
the believer, but more times than not, there are more unbelievers than
believers in attendance and who share about where they saw God. Zoe em Casa. Boom.
Since the middle of April, we’ve experienced spiritual
warfare like no other. Oh man. Thing after thing after thing was flung our way.
Melody lost her dear and near aunt and had to fly to the States for a while.
Chris’ car was broken into while he and Michael were inside a restaurant
getting dinner. They weren’t harmed, but their privacy was invaded, and they
lost many items. Hannah Morrison had her iPhone stolen. People were sick,
snappy and salty. Little things that normally wouldn’t faze us were highlighted
because of all the other things going on. We were having major successes with
Zoe, and the devil knew that. He tried and tried to attack us from each and
every angle. Our armor lost a bit of shine and gained a few dints, but never
once were we conquered. During those crazy weeks of spiritual warfare, we, as a
team, spent an abundance of time in the Word and prayer. We grew as a team as
well as individuals. I saw Chris and Melody encourage and support each other
through difficult times with thousands of miles of separation. I saw my team
band together. Whether it was in the form of a meal, time sitting in the
federal offices waiting to renew visas or in the form of a passionate and
demanding Nerf Gun war, we stuck like glue.
So yeah, since the middle of April, life has evened out.
Things are normal and familiar to us. We no longer get lost on buses or trains.
We can hold conversations with strangers. We eat rice and beans everyday. But
mano, things have happened. I get on the same bus every night with the same bus
driver. Last night, I didn’t ride that bus, but he saw me on the curb. He gave
me a head nod, honked the horn and waved at me. Talk about being blessed by the
little things. In a city of over 200 thousand, a bus driver remembers and
notices little ol’ me. Zoe is seeing hearts changed. We bought a baptistery – a
fish clad kiddy pool. We are becoming more confident in answering those tough
questions, in asking questions that could potentially lead to awkwardness. We
are still meeting new people who are excited and curious to hear about Zoe.
Yesterday, we spent some time playing the tourist and buying
souvenirs. I’m excited to give the gifts I bought away, but no way am I ready
to say bye to my friends and family here in Sao Leopoldo. Since the middle of
April, time has ticked away, but there’s still a job to be done.
We are currently preparing for a large group of
International World Changers (IWC) arriving on June 13th. We’re
setting things up to host Brasil game viewing parties. We’re still talking with
English classes; we’re still taking Portuguese classes. Zoe is still in the early
and impressionable stages.
I ask that you read this and see the prayers needed. I ask
that you pray for Brasil. The Coppa starts soon.
Pray for the people of Brasil who aren’t excited about, ready for or wanting
the Coppa. Pray for the people of Brasil who are going to be dealing with
tourists coming to watch the games; pray for the hospital, Mãe de Deus. Pray
for the Brasilians who work in transportation.
Lord, thank You for
the changing times. Thank You for the weather change. It’s weird that the first
of June is tomorrow, and I’m wearing sweaters and eating sopa. Thank You, God,
for what’s happening with, through and in Zoe. God, I pray that I will be more
aware of You throughout my week. I
lift my teammates up to You as we start our last month here. Help us to make
the most of our time here. Set our minds on the Spirit. Be with our families
who are chomping at the bit to see us again; give them the patience and comfort
needed. I’m forever grateful for the laughs I have each day here.
Gung ho,
Taylor Lea
For the mind set on
the flesh is death, but the mind
set on the Spirit is life and peace.
Romans 8:6
And God is able to
make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at
all times, you may
abound in every good work.
2 Corinthians 9:8
So as to walk in a
manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good
work and increasing
in the knowledge of God.
Colossians 1:10
The thief comes only
to steal and kill and destroy. I came that
they may have life and have it
abundantly.
John 10:10
No comments:
Post a Comment