My Town
Greetings from Brazil!
This place is hoppin'! Yesterday we had our second day in Sao Paulo. This time, we went into the old center of town via subway to what is known as the "armpit of Sao Paulo" to witness to one of Micheli's friends who works there. We didn't take anything of value with us, and I'm learning about being "street smart."
The subway was actually cleaner than the Metro in Miami, and later I realized that the whole time I was so worried about staying close to the others and not getting pickpocketed (although the only thing I had in my pockets was a personal alarm) that I didn't really absorb much of the sleeziness of the area. We got there about an hour early, so we walked around looking for a particular book (which we didn't find), but I was able to buy a Bible!!! I've been pretty desperate for a Portuguese-English NIV parallel Bible, because I only have 2 seperate ones, and my Portuguese one is an old translation that's so hard to understand that I gave up even bringing it to church. Now, it's really easy to follow along, and learn more Portuguese at the same time!
The lunch meeting with Micheli's friend went really well, so I hear--she and Paul talked to her, and Laura Gale and I prayed for them and ate at a different table at the McDonalds (I NEVER thought I'd enjoy eating at McDonalds this much). Afterwards, we had the college Bible Study and went home.
God has really been teaching me about His Will and His Purposes...so many times I view "today" as just preparation for something in the future. I have this mindset that I'm just in training before the really "important" stuff comes my way. But that's totally wrong! First of all, I'm not looking for "God's Will in my life"--I'm seeking after "God's Will," period. And His Will is for me to OBEY--today! Each day is a task that God wills for me to accomplish. Yes, He has prepared me for it through past experiences, and yes, He is in the process of forming me to be ready for tomorrow's mission, but I need to remember that we're dealing in real-time here. Every person I run into, every job I do, every word I say, has a purpose for today. God doesn't need me to accomplish His Plan for the universe, but I am honored that He wants to use me anyway. And this is not a privilege to be taken lightly!
Today I gave 4 private lessons, invited Micheli and Paul over for lunch, and practiced the piano. Tomorrow night I'm playing background jazz and singing at a Valentine's Day dinner for the church (yes, it's V-day here.) I translated the song I sang at Nick and Tyreen's wedding and I'll be doing a few jazz standards. They're working hard to decorate the hall and provide lots of good entertainment--It's going to be a really romantic evening (Paul says it will be ro-tic for me...romantic without the man) and a lot of my friends will be there, so I'm looking foward to it!
By the way, this is my town. You can click on the picture to see a larger version. I took this pic on the way back from Itapeva. You can see the Pedra Grande mountain which overlooks it (translated: "big rock"). On Tuesday, 15 of us are going up there to camp and go rappelling!! Woo-hoo! The city is really cute, and it has a little downtown within 10 minutes walking from the church where I can go grocery shopping or to the bank or get esfihas (little pizza-pastry things) or whatever. By the way, if you ever go to Brazil and order pizza, you may be surprised to receive peas, corn, and cream of chicken soup on a bed of provalone. Speaking of food, my neighbor taught me how to make Brazilian beans and rice!!! It is soooo good!!!! I could seriouslly live off of it for the rest of my life--no offence to any Cubans, but it tops black beans and rice by a million miles. I also technically learned how to make Brazilian-style coffee, but I'm having more difficulty mastering this one. Go figure.
Please pray that I get un-sick. I caught Micheli's flu during the Itapeva trip (I hope that's what this is and not some Amazon wild animal disease). I'm pretty good at pretending I'm not sick and going on with my life, but I need to just take it easy if I'm going to be well enough to survive a camping trip on a big rock in the middle of winter. I'm really glad I brought some Sudafed with me, but I've been having trouble finding kleenex or any kind of tissues here, which kind of stinks for my nose (hahaha). I'm rationing the 3 kleenex I have left in my travel pak.
Ok, thanks again for all of your prayers and all the nice e-mails and Blog comments! It is really encouraging to stay in touch with everyone! I have to keep reminding myself that I have a job to do here and I can't spend as much time as I'd like writing long e-mails and blogging, but it is really great that I can still keep in contact with everyone.
Hugs!
--Joy
This place is hoppin'! Yesterday we had our second day in Sao Paulo. This time, we went into the old center of town via subway to what is known as the "armpit of Sao Paulo" to witness to one of Micheli's friends who works there. We didn't take anything of value with us, and I'm learning about being "street smart."
The subway was actually cleaner than the Metro in Miami, and later I realized that the whole time I was so worried about staying close to the others and not getting pickpocketed (although the only thing I had in my pockets was a personal alarm) that I didn't really absorb much of the sleeziness of the area. We got there about an hour early, so we walked around looking for a particular book (which we didn't find), but I was able to buy a Bible!!! I've been pretty desperate for a Portuguese-English NIV parallel Bible, because I only have 2 seperate ones, and my Portuguese one is an old translation that's so hard to understand that I gave up even bringing it to church. Now, it's really easy to follow along, and learn more Portuguese at the same time!
The lunch meeting with Micheli's friend went really well, so I hear--she and Paul talked to her, and Laura Gale and I prayed for them and ate at a different table at the McDonalds (I NEVER thought I'd enjoy eating at McDonalds this much). Afterwards, we had the college Bible Study and went home.
God has really been teaching me about His Will and His Purposes...so many times I view "today" as just preparation for something in the future. I have this mindset that I'm just in training before the really "important" stuff comes my way. But that's totally wrong! First of all, I'm not looking for "God's Will in my life"--I'm seeking after "God's Will," period. And His Will is for me to OBEY--today! Each day is a task that God wills for me to accomplish. Yes, He has prepared me for it through past experiences, and yes, He is in the process of forming me to be ready for tomorrow's mission, but I need to remember that we're dealing in real-time here. Every person I run into, every job I do, every word I say, has a purpose for today. God doesn't need me to accomplish His Plan for the universe, but I am honored that He wants to use me anyway. And this is not a privilege to be taken lightly!
Today I gave 4 private lessons, invited Micheli and Paul over for lunch, and practiced the piano. Tomorrow night I'm playing background jazz and singing at a Valentine's Day dinner for the church (yes, it's V-day here.) I translated the song I sang at Nick and Tyreen's wedding and I'll be doing a few jazz standards. They're working hard to decorate the hall and provide lots of good entertainment--It's going to be a really romantic evening (Paul says it will be ro-tic for me...romantic without the man) and a lot of my friends will be there, so I'm looking foward to it!
By the way, this is my town. You can click on the picture to see a larger version. I took this pic on the way back from Itapeva. You can see the Pedra Grande mountain which overlooks it (translated: "big rock"). On Tuesday, 15 of us are going up there to camp and go rappelling!! Woo-hoo! The city is really cute, and it has a little downtown within 10 minutes walking from the church where I can go grocery shopping or to the bank or get esfihas (little pizza-pastry things) or whatever. By the way, if you ever go to Brazil and order pizza, you may be surprised to receive peas, corn, and cream of chicken soup on a bed of provalone. Speaking of food, my neighbor taught me how to make Brazilian beans and rice!!! It is soooo good!!!! I could seriouslly live off of it for the rest of my life--no offence to any Cubans, but it tops black beans and rice by a million miles. I also technically learned how to make Brazilian-style coffee, but I'm having more difficulty mastering this one. Go figure.
Please pray that I get un-sick. I caught Micheli's flu during the Itapeva trip (I hope that's what this is and not some Amazon wild animal disease). I'm pretty good at pretending I'm not sick and going on with my life, but I need to just take it easy if I'm going to be well enough to survive a camping trip on a big rock in the middle of winter. I'm really glad I brought some Sudafed with me, but I've been having trouble finding kleenex or any kind of tissues here, which kind of stinks for my nose (hahaha). I'm rationing the 3 kleenex I have left in my travel pak.
Ok, thanks again for all of your prayers and all the nice e-mails and Blog comments! It is really encouraging to stay in touch with everyone! I have to keep reminding myself that I have a job to do here and I can't spend as much time as I'd like writing long e-mails and blogging, but it is really great that I can still keep in contact with everyone.
Hugs!
--Joy
posted by Joy | 6:29 PM
1 Comments:
Hi Joy,
I just found your blog info and am now updated on all of your adventures. You are something else! It is fun to visit Brazil through your writings. I am praying for you and especially that you are feeling better! I am so glad that Portuguese is becoming more and more familiar to you.
Hugs,
Patti
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