Vaso de Barro

Every day here I hear planes flying overhead. I live close to the airport and it always makes me smile when I hear them. It reminds me of waving back to my parents after going through security in St. Louis at the airport. I'm sure if you ask them they would say I had an enormous smile on my face. That smile hasn't left! My heart has been in this country, with these people, since I left it here on August 4th, 2011. I don't feel whole if I'm not here. I don't know exactly why, or what God's got planned for me, but I do know one thing. I love this place! The language is beautiful. Thanks to my foundation from two years ago I'm rapidly learning and I'm already to the point where I can have conversations in Portuguese! (If the other person talks slowly and corrects my grammar, haha!) This city, Recife, is beautiful, too. The architecture of an ever-growing modern city is mixed with natural plants- mostly flowering trees and other flowering plants, and it's quite the site. The only other minus is that it's less safe here and

God is doing great things in this city! There are many faithful churches here and the theological seminary that our base church runs is a blessing for so many! I've met a lot of amazing Christian brothers and sisters here.
With the LST project I'm here for I have about 14 people I'm reading the book of Luke in English with (which is a TON... reading for about 28-34 hours a week) and I hope they all continue to come. I have a passion for languages (after God, I think they're my favorite thing to study!) and so I love doing what God's allowing me to do here! He's blessed the time here already and I've only had three days of meeting with people. I really enjoy the conversations I've already had with the people.

For example, one beautiful lady came in and when I asked her why she wanted to make her English better she started crying and told me it was her dream to go to the United States and be with Americans, but that she hadn't ever had the money to go and that talking to her was making her dream come as true as it ever would be. (I was so touched that I may or may not have started crying too).

I don't know what God's got planned for me but I really can't wait to see what it is. I wholly believe it will be to be in Brazil, because being here just feels right.

I'm also very well taken care of here. There are 5 or 6 guys, ranging from 25-50 who work here every day, and it's been great to get to know them so far. None of them really know any English and they're really the only other people here who I have to talk with (The other American, Dan likes to be alone a lot) so not only am I learning more and more Portuguese but I'm also gaining some great friends and brothers in Christ. They all act like my fathers, always PERFECT gentlemen and insisting I don't go alone anywhere, offering to walk me home every night, offering to do anything for me, joking around with me, and such. They're some of the silliest, most kindhearted people I've ever met, and we're just on the first week! I'm happy, happy, happy! (: (:

This Sunday will be my first time at the church here.... last week I went with my family to a different church because my host dad was preaching. He is a great preacher! He talked about Christian families and the father's importance to take responsibility for the spiritual health of their families. Good stuff, and something that really needs preached over here in Brazil.

Today is my day off, and I have nothing to do because it rained so much this morning that the streets are flooded and there's no electricity. I'm typing this without internet so by the time you get it everything will be back on. I braved the weather to come to the church to make sure Dan wasn't lonely, but now I'm just chilling out on the porch, writing this. After I'm done I think I'll go back home before it gets dark, because I have been granted permission to walk home by myself- when it's light out. It gets dark at around 5 here, and it's 4, so I'd better go!

Áte mais, gente! (See you later, people!)

Love,
Mindi