Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Beginning of Brazil

I never had a chance to write more about our time in Brazil.  So here's the recap :)
We arrived in Rio and spent the first two days of our trip staying in a hostel in downtime Rio, exploring the famous beaches of Copacabana, and seeing the sites of the bustling city.  It was a tiring yet super fun first few days as a team.  We stayed at the Beach Backpackers hostel on three high bunk beds.  We woke up very early the second morning to walk about 1/2 mile with ALL our bags on our backs.  Already at that point I was impressed with Jack and Naomi's ability to carry their own things and keep up with the team. Thankfully Sheffield loves sitting in his backpack and the team takes turns helping us with our extra Sheffield bag.  We caught the bus, and caught a quick flight to Curitiba, Brazil.  We were met by our hosts, the Abel family, who we would later find out to be some of the most incredible missionaries we would ever meet.  We saw some of the city and stopped at a Botanical Gardens for lunch.  Sheffield took off running in freedom in the open grass.  I realized he hadn't been free to run for days.  We had been in planes, buses, airport terminals or the crowded streets for days.  He was SO happy running through that park. 
We drove about an hour to the countryside.  I immediately felt more at peace the moment I saw the rolling hills, tall trees, cows, horses and beauty.  We arrived at the ARCA, a Christian retreat center that Paul and Becky Abel run.  At first sight I knew this was going to be a good home for us for the first two weeks of our trip.  The compound had dorms for the girls, dorms for the guys, a common area and eating area, a chapel, basketball gym, sports fields, horses, the Abels home, and a great room for our family to stay in.  We quickly settled into this place as a team.  The Abel family were the most incredible hosts.  They selflessly brought us into their home, spoiled our team with amazing experiences, food, and support.  I feel like one of the biggest gifts we receive on this trip is the chance to walk side by side and learn from such amazing missionaries.  This family has lived in Brazil for 30 years, had their family here, served their community, run this camp, started schools, language schools, churches, bible studies, discipled countless people, provided clean water to 100's of homes, and on and on.  Our team had the chance to support them over the two weeks by helping with building projects, teaching English in the school, hosting a camp over the weekend and several projects at houses in the community to bless those around them.  One of the most significant things was being a part of their church community too.  I'm so thankful for the time, although short, to begin some neat relationships.  Being somewhere for just two weeks makes you realized that you don't have much to give.  The Abels have given their whole life to this part of Brazil and have sacrificed much.  Our prayer was that over those two short weeks we were able to encourage and help in some small way. 


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