Saturday, May 16

Friday was a travel day and there isn’t much to report. We took a flight from Iguacu to Curitiba and were met by a driver who took us by van to Camboriu. If you think Chicago traffic is bad, try the highway we were on for this journey. I think it took us three hours to go the last 45 miles. The entire van ride was about 5 hours.

We did stop for a break (and dinner) at what we are all calling “the Brazilian Bucky’s.”

And, that was Friday!

Saturday was much more interesting. We started the day at the site of a new church plant, which has been the dream of a few people for 20 years.

We had a tour of the building, which is still a work in progress. They have a dream of a third floor space for Jiu Jhitsu. Right now, the first floor is a multi-purpose space that is open on two sides, three smaller class room spaces and a kitchen. The pastor and his family live in one apartment on the second floor and they are building out a second apartment in the rest of the second floor space.

The GF program meets on Saturday morning with about 50 children between 6 and 10 years old attending. The children rotate between tutoring, Bible class, and game time.

The games included a pizza building game, a magnet game (the kids love that game) and cards, including Uno (with their own crazy rules).

We were able to play with the children, who are very friendly and respectful (and curious).

Following the structured time, there is a time of free play and the kids are able to go in the yard for soccer and volleyball. That was generally the older kids, with the younger kids playing at the table games or in some of the play equipment that is available.

The playhouse was very popular with the younger girls.

After the free play time, the children have lunch and are then free to go home at noon. Lunch was chicken and rice and cabbage and carrots and cucumbers.

There was a time of conversation with the leaders and volunteers before we went back to the hotel for an afternoon break. One of the young ladies that is the volunteer tutor grew up in the program that preceded GF and came to know Christ through the program. She was an orphan in the area and is an encouraging success story for the leaders here.

We stopped at the mall for a chocolate milkshake from Bob’s. It is a very good shake.

We rested for a bit and went back to the church for the evening teen program. It is for kids between 10 and 15 years old. There were 96 teens attending tonight. That was a record number for the program. Praise God!

Stuart gave a wonderfully simple message on how we are enough in Christ.

I had the opportunity to speak with a few 12 year old girls using Google Translate. That was fun, but I have to admit that it would have been nice to know a few more of the popular performers to carry on a conversation with them on their terms. One of the girls was so sweet. She asked if she could take a picture with me because she said, “you are beautiful.” Of course, I said. All of us were guessed to be much younger than we really are. That is a nice feeling. LOL

These kids are served dinner…a corn meal polenta-like dish. It had quite a bit of flavor.

Following dinner, there was a time for activities. We played magnets and Uno with our new friends, Francilletti, two Victoria’s and Vinnie.

The kids must be respectful and if they curse, they have to do 10 push ups. We saw a few of the boys drop for 10, but not many.

Once again, our hearts are full of joy for all the work that God is doing here, but they also break for all the need that exists. None of the children have a mother and father at home and only a handful have any male figure in their life, and even those relationships are not stable. There is also pressure for the children to enter the drug scene or for the girls to get into prostitution as young as 12 years old. So much for us to add to the prayer list.

The pastor and his wife are both from the “neighborhood.” What a blessing it is that they have stayed and are working to better the lives of the next generation.

It is hard to talk about the shower in my hotel with running water and windows and a roof, but it is a 4 and I am grateful for it.