Prayer Request!

I sit here at 1:13 a.m., just having returned from possibly the most eventful evening of the trip. It started with the prayer meeting at Peace Baptist Church where we finally met the members of the Brazilian youth group that we'll be working with the next couple of days. Adam did an excellent job preaching, and then we, along with some of our recent acquaintances went out to have an after-service snack. This was a wonderful time of fellowship, but of course all good things must come to an end, and so our group headed back to the bus.

Now the real fun began. It turns out that somewhere between the seminary, the church or the little restaurant, part of one rear axle broke, making the bus quite unfit to drive. This left us in downtown Juazeiro, at 11:00 at night, with no way to get back to the seminary efficiantly. The good news is this, as of 1:00am, every member of the seminary, as well as those in the Brazilian youth group, had been delivered to their respective dwelling places, with no danger posed to the group! Praise the Lord!

Here is the prayer request.....at this moment the bus driver is with a mechanic at the bus (Andrew and I dropped them off after we dropped the last group off at the seminary). Please pray that God will allow them to fix the bus quickly so that the team can continue to minister to the American School and the surrounding churches and congregations. Without the bus we could end up cooling our heals on the seminary, which would be very dissapointing to the entire team.

Thank you for your prayers!

Daniel B. Comings
Associate Pastor

Wednesday

I can't believe this lovely weather!!!! It is so nice, little humidity and just pleasant to be outside. Today we went to Andrew and Tassie's house. It is very nice and large. Then we went to the top of a mountain to see a statue of Padre Cicero, a man that the people practically worship. We walked through a small town near the statue and you could just sense the hopelessness. All of us went back to the bus very humble.

This afternoon we plan on meeting up with some English speaking students. We are then going to the market (YAY!) where they can translate for us. Shopping has been fun so far, but in my opinion we haven't done enough! Phillip would like to say hi to his mom.

In case you didn't know, we are using James 1 as our passage for this trip. Daniel, Adam, Tom and Dale are taking turns teaching us during devotions. We have seen where we have not reacted well to different trials on this trip and are trying to count all things as blessings.

We have yet to see any monkeys although there are catepillars and moths in excess. Trust me Pastor, we are keeping a close watch for any sightings. Phillip would like to tell his mom that he still is having fun.

That's all for now. Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Renae

Leader Commentary: The group has did an excellent job today at the American English school. I think it's safe to say that everyone stepped a bit out of there comfort zone today! Continue to pray for us, and especially for Adam as he preaches tonight. ~Daniel

P.S. Still no monkeys.

Finally.....

Well we did not have instant internet access, so I had to wait a few days to update. We are now at Crato at the Seminary. Our 8 hour bus ride was long and somewhat interesting. All of us took cat naps.

But let me back up. We arrived to Fortaleza timely with only 2 pieces of luggage missing. Luckily they arrived later that night. We had a LOVELY hotel with air conditioning. We spent some time shopping and seeing sites. Yesterday we went to Beach Park. VERY COOL!!!!

On Sunday we went to church at night where Emily and Renae played their song, Rich and Phillip gave their testimony and Pastor Dan preached. All went well and the church was very welcoming.

This morning we left the hotel at 5am. That was REALLY REALLY early! But we are still pretty rested, although I think that is about to change.

There are many students at the seminary who are learning English or speak it very well so for the most part communicating has been fun!

So that is it for now. I must be getting back to the dorms.

Keep us in your prayers!!!!

Renae

SO far, so good

I am currently standing in line to check our baggage in the Sao Paulo Airport. We left Tampa late due to weather in Miami. They had troubles getting the flight up to us.

We left Miami timely and settled in for the night. The food on the plane left most of us craving a home cooked meal. Some of us were on the right side of the plane to see the sun rise. It was beautiful!

Once in Sao Paulo, we made it through customs without one bag being opened. What a blessing! The one funny thing about Brazil is that it is about 70 or so outside and people are wearing leather coats and they look like they are about to freeze!

So that's all for now! We will try to update once we arrive in Fortaleza...but no promises.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the day we have been waiting for!!!!

FOCUS members, please arrive at the church between 10-11am. We want to be ready to go right around 11am.

See you then!

4 days and counting....

Basically...it's time to go.

Yesterday (Sunday) we spent both services dedicated to Brazil. We explained our goals, gave a preview of some dramas, gave short testimonies, sang songs, played music and preached. And no, Renae's morning testimony was not her true testimony. She just changed the wording to the drama to apply it to FBC.

Please continue to pray for Nathan. He will not be able to go with us, but will probably take a trip later this summer. Thank you for praying for all of us and continue to pray for us during our entire trip.

I have changed a setting so that anyone can now comment on the site. You can leave messages for team members while we are gone and we will get them to the right person.

For any further questions, direct them to Daniel.

Nathan

Please pray for Nathan, a FOCUS member. This past Sunday he was in a motorcycle accident giving him bumps and bruises as well as a knee injury. It appeared everything would be ok, but last night he was re-admitted to the hospital. The doctors performed emergency surgery because he knee had become infected. The next 48 hours are very critical.

Everyone is worried because we will soon be leaving for Brazil. He also has finals coming up very soon. Please pray for him!

Prayer and Praise

As many of you are aware, there have been some uprisings and rebellions in Brazil, specifically in the Sao Paulo area. This is important to the FOCUS team because we will be making a very short stop there.

As of Andrew's last report, things are not back to normal, but it appears that they are heading that way. The Consulate of Brazil also put out a statement concerning travel. It does state that Americans are not being targeted.

We must still be extremely careful.

Please pray that we will be able to exercise caution wisely and remain safe. Also pray for those who are behind the rebellion. I am sure that they have never heard the Word of God and are completely lost in sin. Pray for the government. Pray that they will quickly put a plan into action to stop the violence. It appears that they are lacking in this area.

To read the entire article from the Consulate, you can visit Andrew's site http://www.comingstobrazil.com/blog/

Happy Mothers Day!!!!

I hope all of the mothers are having a relaxing day. While looking for a card for my mom, I found one that was talking about without mothers, kids would eat dirt, read in terrible light, never take a shower and eat junk food day in and day out. I'm extremely thankful for my mom!

Last week the FOCUS team met to review and make final preparations for our departure. This was our last formal meeting. Next week Sunday, May 21, we will spend both services explaining our mission and sharing some of what we plan to do.

Ms Aggie gave us so tips about our travels.

1) Bring many, many shirts. They will get dirty fast and we can leave clothes in Brazil if we want to.
2) For girls, have a 1 piece swim suit or a tankini. Boys...no speedos or jammers
3) When packing, roll up your shirts and put them around your suit case as padding.
4) Bring sunblock, insect repellent and pocket size tissues. You can also bring a roll of toilet paper because we will be at different places that might not have it.
5) Bring wet wipes (or baby wipes) to wash off your feet before you get into bed. Your feet will get dirty fast!
6) When we are being tourists as a group, wear bright colored clothing so that you can be easily spotted.
5) You are allowed 2 suit cases, 50 lbs each, one carry-on and one personal bag.