Serra Negra
Greetings from Brazil!
Today is the one day I have in Atibaia in between two different trips! We just got back from Serra Negra, a little tourist town about 2 hours away from here. A group of Americans (high schoolers and a few adults) from Paul Gale's church came to help with a music clinic at this little storefront church, and we also did services at the church and an evangelistic performance in the plaza near the center of town. The town is pretty small, and the first thing we saw was a huge banner that said "Americans from Michigan--Free Music Clinic Friday and Saturday." Our picture was in the newspaper and the publicity really helped bring unsaved people to the music classes, and we were able to invite them to the various services we held during the weekend. At the last service on Sunday, there was an invitation for people to accept Christ, and several people made this decision.
A lot of the people in our music classes were not church people at all. I had 11 people in my keyboard class (two keyboards--everyone just stuck their hand in and each got an octave with which to play Happy Birthday, and everything was great!) and 8 people in my beginning guitar class. We also gave classes in saxophone, drumset, and advanced guitar. In my guitar class, 7 of the 8 people were under the age of 10, and their fingers could not exactly push down any of the strings. The one other person was 21 years old. So, we did a lot of singing! At one point in the class, we were singing a song about God and I asked if anyone could tell me who Jesus was. Nobody could tell me! I explained who Jesus was and what He did for us, and why I love him very much.
On Saturday morning, we had the opportunity to watch the sunrise from the top of a nearby mountain!!! A lot of people were not happy about the 4:30 wake up call, but I'm a morning person so it didn't bother me too much. The beauty of it all really rivaled my favorite place to watch the sunrise in Boca (south inlet beach)--the mist in the valley below made it look almost like an ocean! We had breakfast and a special time of prayer on the mountain for Brazil and for our friends and families. Many of you who are reading this Blog were prayed for by name on Saturday morning.
We drove back Sunday afternoon, had a quick turnaround, and all attended the Sunday evening service at PIBA, the last service of what has been "Missions Month" at our church. Afterwards, I got to go out for pizza with a bunch of my Brazilian friends! I have to admit how wonderfully refreshing it was to be speaking Portuguese again, and hanging out with Brazilians. I love Brazil so much! The people and the culture and the language and the scenery. . . I feel so at home here!!! These past few weeks there has been a battle going on inside of me, as to my future. I was confused about post-graduation plans before I got to Brazil, but now I'm even more clueless!!! I thought I could just go to Brazil for 2 months and come back, and life would go back to normal. But this country has affected me far too deeply for me to ever be the same again.
I don't know if God is calling me into the mission field, but I ask you to pray for me right now as I'm struggling with what to do with my future. The decision to be a full-time missionary is not one that can be made on a whim, without weeks or months or years of prayer. Am I willing to sacrifice everything (like, EVERYTHING everything) to follow the Lord? Am I willing to give up my dreams of living in beautiful Boca Raton near my family, being a music teacher at a Christian school, getting married and raising kids. . . not that these things could never happen, but I need to be willing to lay all of these things on the alter, no matter what path my life ends up taking. I want to follow the Lord with reckless abandon, to whatever corner of the earth I am called. Please pray that God will give me the strength to be a living sacrifice--to not try to take control over any part of my life, but let my Creator lead and guide me every day.
Well, tomorrow 9 of us are going to Paraty!!! Paraty is a really pretty historic town near Rio de Janeiro. It's far away, and we're going for a whole week to give English classes to the "Boat people"--the Brazilians who often are shuttling English-speaking tourists around the waterways. We are also working with a local church to do services in the evenings, which will mean lots more singing and playing. Most of our students will not be believers, so please pray for open hearts. I don't know if I'll be able to get internet access there, although I have a feeling Micheli will not be able to survive a week without technology so I'm sure we'll find a internet cafe somewhere. Oh, speaking of, there was an internet cafe in Serra Negra called "JOY.COM!" I didn't have time to go there, I think someone took a picture. Anyway, we return to Atibaia from Paraty on July 6. Thanks so much for everyone's e-mails!! Please understand if I don't have time to respond to everyone before we get back. Most of all, thank you for your prayer and encouragement.
Hugs,
--Joy
Today is the one day I have in Atibaia in between two different trips! We just got back from Serra Negra, a little tourist town about 2 hours away from here. A group of Americans (high schoolers and a few adults) from Paul Gale's church came to help with a music clinic at this little storefront church, and we also did services at the church and an evangelistic performance in the plaza near the center of town. The town is pretty small, and the first thing we saw was a huge banner that said "Americans from Michigan--Free Music Clinic Friday and Saturday." Our picture was in the newspaper and the publicity really helped bring unsaved people to the music classes, and we were able to invite them to the various services we held during the weekend. At the last service on Sunday, there was an invitation for people to accept Christ, and several people made this decision.
A lot of the people in our music classes were not church people at all. I had 11 people in my keyboard class (two keyboards--everyone just stuck their hand in and each got an octave with which to play Happy Birthday, and everything was great!) and 8 people in my beginning guitar class. We also gave classes in saxophone, drumset, and advanced guitar. In my guitar class, 7 of the 8 people were under the age of 10, and their fingers could not exactly push down any of the strings. The one other person was 21 years old. So, we did a lot of singing! At one point in the class, we were singing a song about God and I asked if anyone could tell me who Jesus was. Nobody could tell me! I explained who Jesus was and what He did for us, and why I love him very much.
On Saturday morning, we had the opportunity to watch the sunrise from the top of a nearby mountain!!! A lot of people were not happy about the 4:30 wake up call, but I'm a morning person so it didn't bother me too much. The beauty of it all really rivaled my favorite place to watch the sunrise in Boca (south inlet beach)--the mist in the valley below made it look almost like an ocean! We had breakfast and a special time of prayer on the mountain for Brazil and for our friends and families. Many of you who are reading this Blog were prayed for by name on Saturday morning.
We drove back Sunday afternoon, had a quick turnaround, and all attended the Sunday evening service at PIBA, the last service of what has been "Missions Month" at our church. Afterwards, I got to go out for pizza with a bunch of my Brazilian friends! I have to admit how wonderfully refreshing it was to be speaking Portuguese again, and hanging out with Brazilians. I love Brazil so much! The people and the culture and the language and the scenery. . . I feel so at home here!!! These past few weeks there has been a battle going on inside of me, as to my future. I was confused about post-graduation plans before I got to Brazil, but now I'm even more clueless!!! I thought I could just go to Brazil for 2 months and come back, and life would go back to normal. But this country has affected me far too deeply for me to ever be the same again.
I don't know if God is calling me into the mission field, but I ask you to pray for me right now as I'm struggling with what to do with my future. The decision to be a full-time missionary is not one that can be made on a whim, without weeks or months or years of prayer. Am I willing to sacrifice everything (like, EVERYTHING everything) to follow the Lord? Am I willing to give up my dreams of living in beautiful Boca Raton near my family, being a music teacher at a Christian school, getting married and raising kids. . . not that these things could never happen, but I need to be willing to lay all of these things on the alter, no matter what path my life ends up taking. I want to follow the Lord with reckless abandon, to whatever corner of the earth I am called. Please pray that God will give me the strength to be a living sacrifice--to not try to take control over any part of my life, but let my Creator lead and guide me every day.
Well, tomorrow 9 of us are going to Paraty!!! Paraty is a really pretty historic town near Rio de Janeiro. It's far away, and we're going for a whole week to give English classes to the "Boat people"--the Brazilians who often are shuttling English-speaking tourists around the waterways. We are also working with a local church to do services in the evenings, which will mean lots more singing and playing. Most of our students will not be believers, so please pray for open hearts. I don't know if I'll be able to get internet access there, although I have a feeling Micheli will not be able to survive a week without technology so I'm sure we'll find a internet cafe somewhere. Oh, speaking of, there was an internet cafe in Serra Negra called "JOY.COM!" I didn't have time to go there, I think someone took a picture. Anyway, we return to Atibaia from Paraty on July 6. Thanks so much for everyone's e-mails!! Please understand if I don't have time to respond to everyone before we get back. Most of all, thank you for your prayer and encouragement.
Hugs,
--Joy
posted by Joy | 10:41 AM
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