Back in Canada :)

Hallo Everybody. We are finally back in Canada. We had save travels, but we are all very tired. We want to thank you for all your prayer and support. But there is one last thing. When we got to Edmonton we noticed that our luggage was missing. We got 1 out of 6, the other 5 bags are still in Chicago. So we would be glad if you keep praying for our luggage. Thank you so much.

The trip goes on...

We arrived safely in Chicago. And we are now already waiting for our connection flight to Edmonton. We should be in Edmonton by 12:32pm.
I think all of us are exited to get back to Canada but at the same time we had a great time in Brazil and it is hard to leave everything behind.
So see you soon and again we just want to thank you for following our blogs and praying for us. God bless you.

Flight back

So we are already back in São Paulo and waiting for our flight to Chicago. We had a good flight from Fortaleza to São Paulo. We are all glad and thankful for your prayer. We hope to keep you updated with our trip back to Canada. Thank's for all your help.

On the truck to the rural zone

While we were diving out to the rural zone we started to sing songs. The best part Karina knew was "Não, Não, Não, Não". Steven and I were fighting against the fire underneath our butts. The back of the truck was so hot that you could barely sit down.

Sem noção!!

Bon dia! We've finally been able to get on our blog. Internet has been a rare occurance here, with all the rain and storms! We've been at the Rancho de Lua (Ranch of the Moon) this past week, helping in any way possible. Digging a small trench so the beloved cocunut trees can be watered, painting Beat and Ursala's (Joel's parents/the missionary couple here at the Ranch) washroom and cleaning house, and helping Ursala prepare for her school tutoring program. 
Lila, Victoria, and Karina enjoyed a night out in the town here. Joining some of the Bible school students for the 2 km hike up into town to get ice-cream, accompanied by our new best friend, the English/Portugese dictionary!


Interesting facts we've learned so far this trip:
- passion fruit makes you sleepy
- "vamos nus" is not something you want to say.. Karina.. 
- do not put toliet paper in the toliet,unless a plunger is near by.
- walk with caution through the streets as the motorcycles and cars will not stop or even slow down while passing. 
- sidewalks are great parking places
- adding sugar to your coffee is never necessary, they love it super sweet and super strong.
- don't be startled by the set of chicken claws on your plate. They have a surprising quite salty flavour
- siesta! just have a nap after lunch until 2, everyone does. Can't do much else during the hottest part of the day.
- don't knock, just clap to get attention!

Oiiiiiii!!!

Hiiiiiii everyone! I finally have found the time to put up a post! It has been really busy here and I have been having a great time so far. :) I just might not come back Lol! I have been planning to blog for the last couple of days, but I hadn`t gotten around to it until now. Let me tell you about my experience yesterday. When I woke up I was rather sick and I thought I had Dengue!!!(sickness that you can get from mosquitoes) Ahhh! It gave me quite a scare. I had a fever, aching bones and muscles and was really exhausted, but luckily I was given the opportunity to sleep more in the morning, instead of walking around evangelizing from door to door. Even though I really wanted to go outside, I decided to sleep instead. The sleep helped me a bit and I drank lots of water too. It turned out that I didn`t have Dengue because if I did, I wouldn`t have been able to even get out of my bed. I ended up sleeping more in the afternoon and then I really wanted to go to the kids program at 4:00 but Joel, being the good guy that he is, thought that I should rest until I got better. So I was rather sad that I would be missing the last day of our kids program, but then Pastor Valter said that he would give me a ride to the sports centre on his motor cycle, if I was feeling better, so that I wouldn`t get tired walking! :D I was soooo pumped! So when the time came, it was a great experience; as it was my first motorcycle ride! Woot Woot! :P When I got there, the kids cheered me up with their smiles, hugs and portuguese words that I couldn`t understand. Lol I think I just needed to get out and do something after resting almost all day.

Also, after supper we had a night of drama and music for the public. Our Team Brazil performed our "Above All" Drime, that we made for class and then I was also in a drime with 7 other people on our "Projeto Agua Viva" Missions Team. They also did another drime by themselves. So it was a really a cool experience and good way to end the day after being sick.　
If you guys could pray for good health for everyone on our team, it would be really appreciated, but especially Victoria and I because we have had some symptoms of heat stroke possibly. It was around plus 40ish yesterday and it is usually 35+ during the day when we are out. Also if you could pray for us to get some rest because we usually get up at 6:30am and go to bed at 11:30pm and working in the heat is rather exhausting.

Tomorrow is our last full day with our "Projeto Ague Viva" team members and it will be sad to leave them, but we will be taking a bus ride with them from Barão du Grajaú　to Demerval Lobão, which is 30km south of Teresina. Once we arrive there, we will be going to the Ranch again, to work with Joel`s parents. I can`t wait to meet up with the people there again, but I will also miss the people I have already met. I know God has great plans for all of us as we move on to the ranch to work with them and then back to Canada. The people that I have met and prayed for here will forever be in my heart because they have taught me so much about God`s love and even with some personal areas that I need to grow in. I thank God for this opportunity to come here to serve him and become closer to him as well.

Thank-you (Obrigada) for your prayers and I can`t wait to tell you more stories about our trip as we get back. God Bless!　

Ps. I wrote this blog on the 14th and we tried posting it, but there was no internet until now, so thanks for your prayers again because I am no longer sick. I was only sick for about one day and now we have been at the ranch for 3 days and have been doing projects inside and out for Joel´s parents. I think we all got a little burnt even though we put sun screen on. :P Talk to you later and see you all soon, as we are on last stretch of our trip. God Bless!

Boa tarde! Good afternoon! Surrounded by the afternoon heat, a high of 35°C. This time of the day is the hottest, hence a good nap time! The only time it cools down here is a little at night and when it rains. And when it rains, it RAINS.  Last Monday afternoon we were just finishing up the kids ministry (a VBS type event) in the community outdoor/undercover sports area when it started to rain. And rain it did! The wind picked up and we all had to move several times to escape from it blowing in and soaking all the equipment.  We must have been trapped there for 15 minutes until it slowed a bit and we could head back. Us foreigners might have showed a bit more excitement at the down pour and forgot to take good cover! But it's a refreshing break from the heat! And because of the rain that day we had to postpone showing the Jesus film that evening until the next night.

Team picture with Maria

A unique opportunity that we've been able to experience this week is door to door ministry. Victoria mentioned these visits in the last blog about the opportunity to personally visit the people in the community and share the Gospel.  Joel and I were partnered on Monday morning and one of the first visits that we did was this little old lady, Maria. Maria is a dedicated Catholic, as many in this town are, and you could tell by the pictures of the Virgin Mary on the walls of her house(a small, clay brick square). Sharing Christ's love with Maria was a unique opportunity to see answered prayer. She had quite a nasty looking infection on her foot, that had been there for 8 days. We prayed that the foot would be healed, and promised to be back the next day with the nurse from the Project. Tuesday we returned and the nurse cleaned and wrapped it. And just when we're about to leave, Maria thanked us and said that Jesus truly does answers prayer. When she had woken up that morning the swelling had gone down and the pain had decreased! How exciting!

There has been some challenges. The language barrier is a big one. But we know that the Holy Spirit is a lot bigger than that, and it's been very rewarding trusting him and giving God the opportunity to work! Thank you so much for your prayers!

Hello folks, team brazil here. We arrived here safely without any problems. After we made it to Sao Paulo, Brazil, we took a flight to Fortaleza. After that we had a 10 hour bus ride from Fortaleza to Teresina. In Teresina, Joel's parents were there to pick us up. We were able to spend 2 days at his parents ranch, chilling (ha! very punny!), adjusting to the heat and having some Portuguese lessons. One of our highlights being at the ranch was getting to run outside in the warm rain and get soaking wet. Not to mention eating mangoes right off the tree- so good. We think some of the Brazilians thought we were a little crazy :) 


After the 2 days, we joined a group of people from across the country for a 10-day mission, called Projecto Agua Vida (Living Water). Although not knowing much Portuguese, we have enjoyed getting to know everyone, with the help of Joel translating and a couple others who can speak English, and playing a life-size game of Charades. Everyone is very friendly and easy to be around. We have enjoyed lots of rice and beans. Every meal, except for breakfast. But really, it's great food!  Tomorrow we start our mission, having had 2 days of training. We are involved in different actvities, such as music, kids, doing hair and nails, sports, drama, and setting up and taking down equipment. Also part of the mission is visiting people in their homes, and evangelizing to them. Going just in groups of 2, it reminds me of what the disciples did, going out in pairs sharing the gospel. Pray that they go well!  Thank you for all your prayers. They are so appreciated! 


Victoria, Team Brazil




*funny story-When we arrived at the ranch, Karina noticed that she had swollen ankles. Lila and I were laughing at her and thought that was funny, but when we looked at our own ankles, we saw that we, too, had huge ankles. Cankles! We decided to call our terrible misfortune "traveler's elephantitus." Pray that we don't get this on our way back home, haha. Although we think it's just from the heat. It's hot here. 

Next stop

Just to keep you updated. We arrived safely in São Paulo. We had a really bumpy flight. Nearly through the whole flight we had turbulence. But we had a great time and enjoyed our flight.
Thanks for praying for us. God bless you

On the road again! er.. in the sky again?!

Good evening everyone! Karina here, a first time blogger. I am quite excited to be blogging, but mostly to finally be making our way to Brazil! Right now we have been sitting in the Chicago airport with a 5 hour wait (Spending our time wisely. I just beat Steven in a game of crib!). The flight from Edmonton this morning was quite eventful as it was Lila and Steven's first flight! Joel, Victoria and I  had fun watching them.  In a couple minutes we'll be boarding the next plane to Sao Paulo, a good 10 hour flight, arriving there tomorrow morning. From there we'll board our last flight to Fortaleza. We will keep you posted, and thank you so much for your prayers. We are in good spirits! Obrigada! 

Last hours

So we are in the last hours before we leave to Brazil. We want to thank you all for your prayer through out our prep. time. Especially in the time where we were waiting for our visas. We hope that you will keep praying for us and that we can keep you updated on our trip.