Our bodies are exhausted but our minds are charged tonight! We played a team from the American School in Brazil (the girls are mostly Brazilian with a few from other countries around the world. The school is just like any other school in Brazil but focuses on English as well). There were a few standout players on the American School team, but for the most part we held our own pretty well!! The score was 6-3, American School, but the last three goals were scored in the last 5 minutes when our Briarwood tanks went empty :( Had we kept the energy level up the game would have been at least a draw and maybe even a win for the Americanas!?!
Best of all from the night was the ministry opportunity that sprung from our game against these girls. We invited them back to our house for dinner and had another evening of great food, dancing and socializing with the girls and their families. Relationships were built after competing against each other and then sharing a meal together - Futebol is truly an international sport and bridges any and all potential cultural gaps. I think we all as a team need to step back after a day and night like today/night and praise God for blessing us with a passion for and ability to play soccer and be Ambassadors for His Kingdom through the sport this week...
The Brazilian leaders from Comunidade Horizonte will be following up with the relationships that were built (and will be built on Wednesday after the rematch :) with the American School girls and their families.
This morning was another "mountaintop experience" for the team - literally! Our Brazilian friends drove us to the opposite side of the city up the mountain to two different lookout areas that overlook the entire city of Belo Horizonte. I dont think any of us had ever seen anything like it; picture a city filled with sky scrapers, tall apartment buildings, houses, office buildings, streets and villas/slums planted in and among rolling hills and tons of greenary...5 million people live in this city and the majority of them do not know Christ. 5 million people without knowledge or acceptance of a Savior. We prayed. We prayed for the city, for Comunidade Horizonte, for laborers to rise up for the harvest, for strength...We prayed in English and in Portuguese. It was a morning of stepping back from the distractions that crowd our hearts and minds and focus on whats in store for eternity..."Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." (John 17:3)
Tomorrow we will go back to the orphanage and play with about 75 kids from 10-3 (same place and mostly same kids from Saturdays experience). Pray that we can again seek to overcome the language barrier and that we would be the hands and feet of Christ to these kids tomorrow. Our team is growing closer and closer by the day, and we are moving forward through this week as one family and the united Body of Christ! Pray for continued unity and relationships built among our group that will further lead us to serving each other and this city we are in!
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