first entry!

Dear family and friends,

It has taken so long to write, but we want you to know that we are all okay. When we arrived at the hotel on Sunday we attempted to write the first blog, but we didn´t have the password and log in name. We then drove to camp in Sumaré, and just found out we have access to the internet today. We have not seen anything that should cause you any worry...even with the recent stories here in Brazil. So I hope you have time to read this blog...it is many of the events over the past couple of days.... enjoy!!

About the trip, we flew for about 8 hours, and arrived in Saõ Paulo at 8:30 Sunday evening. We met up with Hilario from Mexico, Livia and Benahia (native Brazillians), and the bus from Cidade dos Meninos and drove to Campinas. The pollution was so bad there! We then got settled into our rooms and got a good night´s sleep. We got a wake up call for breakfast, then got ready to tour the girls ranch. They were so excited to see us again, and once again welcoming us into their homes. As soon as we got off the bus, some girls started giving us hugs. Some were reserved, but soon we all had atleast one girl hanging on our arms or holding our hands. We played and attempted to talk to them. The language barrier is once again a difficult situation to overcome. Some of our girls have a better opportunity to talk with the children from Brazil because of their Spanish background. But we got into the hang of things by using hand motions and attempting to speak words they could understand. We are so thankful to have our translaters, Livia and Benahia, here with us. However, there´s not enough of them to go around. They have been amazing. They can be in the middle of a conversation when someone pulls them away to help them understand something. After visiting the girls camp we drove to visit the boys camp. This facility is bigger, and we toured the classrooms, vocational rooms, and houses. Some of the areas they get trained are bakery, industrial cooking, sewing, computers, desigining screens for shirts and aprons, and a place they work on cars. We then had lunch with the boys. Do you know what we had? Rice and beans! We also had chicken (atleast I hope it was chicken) and penne pasta. It was an amazing time to talk with the boys. To see their faces light up when they recognized some of us was unforgetable!

We drove back to the hotel, thinking we would have time to shower and change, but we ended up having time just to change. That is just the first of many times we will have to be flexible. We met with Mrs. Smith and her son. She said that they would probably be meeting us in Vitoria for camp. Phil Smith will be joining us, also. They are amazing people! The church in Soracaba (where Justin stayed) picked us up. We drove around the city, and then had dinner at a bakery. It was delicious fried food. We then went to church and met with the congegation. Pastor Luis spoke, Jorden and Hillariogave their testimonies. It was a great night! They all have great stories to tell and amazing hearts to serve.

Yesterday we woke up at 6:30 am. Well some people got up at 6:30. I´ll admit that our room (Tina and Benahia and myself) didn´t wake up until 7 to go down to breakfast. We had all our things packed, so we went downstairs, and then brought our suitcases down to get on the bus to go to camp. The bus with the girls from Cidade dos Meninos picked us up. We were all exhausted so we slept a little. We drove about 2 hours to the city of Sumaré. The camp is located in the city, unlike last years (which was out in the middle of nowhere). There´s a merky lake, swimming pool, huge soccer fields, and all the rooms we need. Us girls are next to our boys. The accommodations are much nicer than last year. They are bigger. There´s a front area with 5 bunkbeds (where 4 girls are sleeping) and two rooms (one with 3 bunk beds, and the other with 2 bunk beds). Still only one bathroom. Suprisingly it wasn´t that difficult to get ready this morning. The only time it´s hard is when someone has to go to the bathroom when someone else is already in there. Anyway, our group got together and had a time to talk about why we were on the trip and to do a devotional. We then split up into 6 teams with the children. Then we had lunch. No beans this time. Only rice and spaghetti. A nice change :) We had free time and we hung out with the kids. The girls from the camp went swimming yesterday. It was the boys day today. It´s too chilly for us Americans to swim! We did a craft with them, also. We brought foam notebooks and they decorated them with foam cutouts. They seemed to really enjoy it. Dinner was rice and beans and hotdogs! Special, I tell you!! Last night Pastor opened the service, myself and Annie gave our testimonies, and Bill spoke on being content, just as Paul was. We then played 2 games: Ultimate Person and King Wants. Ultimate Person is played with everyone starting out as an egg (you put your arms in a circle above your head), then you find someone else that is an egg. You ´´farkle´´ (rock, paper, scissors). Whoever wins becomes a chicken. But the looser stays an egg. Then you have to find another chicken. You ´´farkle´´ and the winner becomes a dinasor, and the looser goes back to being an egg. Then the dinosaurs play and the winner becomes a person, the looser back to a chicken. To play King Wants, there´s a person who is neutral in the game. He asks for certain things. Like a blue tennis shoe, or a square watch, or a shirt with green and blue. The first team who brings the item gets a point. At the end the team with the most points wins. They seemed to enjoy it. Then it was time for tea and coffee before bedtime. Yes, they drink tea and coffee before bed!!
This morning we woke up freezing. We walked outside and could see our breath! We found a spot to have our own devotional, then met with our teams and had a group devotional. Breakfast was bread and hot chocolate or coffee. We then had time to play games with them, and the teams competed for points. We had lunch and then free time. Our craft was a cross necklace with the wordless message.

So, family and friends, please continue to pray for us. We are in charge of all the games tomorrow and by God´s grace it will go smoothly. We have gone through customs without any issues, and we pray that it will continue for the rest of the trip. We love and miss you, and will see you in about a week and a half!!