We Made It!

After nearly 24 hours of travel, we finally made it to our "missionary house" in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The 7 hour layover in Miami and 8 hour plane flight seemed to go by pretty fast due to the eccentric personalities on the team :) We were the "airport entertainment" for the evening as we played Ninja and made friends with other international travelers. It was Gretchen's first time on an airplane so the two flights were celebrations for the group as well!!

Praise God for safe travels (and that all of us made it here with all our bags!). The place we're staying this week is a home across the street from the UFMG campus in Belo and just a few blocks down from a huge Futebol stadium where some of the 2014 World Cup games will be held! We entered into the home to see balloons and a Welcome sign on the wall and a table full of Brazilian snacks and treats to tie us over before lunch. The Brazilian culture is very relational, so the people here have been so intentional about getting to know all of us and are taking GREAT care of us! We enjoyed a lunch of spaghetti and chicken meat sauce and then passed out for some deep sleeping naps for the afternoon. All of us feel a bit "off" but a good night's sleep tonight will help!

Dinner was cheesy mashed potatoes, beans and rice and chicken fingers. After dinner we had "orientation" and learned about the neighborhood, church who we're working with and the culture of Brazil (as well as some portugese to help us get by...) The girls and I are meeting nightly to go over the devotional that was given to us by the Church leaders. Tonight we read through Philippians 2:1-10 and the humility of Christ. Pray for humility for us tomorrow - that we would become like the children and love them through the challenges of the language and cultural barriers.

Tomorrow we will leave here around 9:30 for Soccer with the Social Project (kids 10-17) from 10am-3pm, then we'll come back to the house to clean up, rest and prepare for the Welcoming Party which will be held here at 7pm (about 70 people coming to our house!!)

Continue to pray for our safety, the team, the kids and community who we're working with and that the Lord would lead us to make the most of every opportunity before us - for His Name's sake among the people of Brazil and also the work He's doing in each of our hearts this week.

WE LOVE YOU FAMILY!!! :)