Happys and Crappys

Well, I am sorry to report that my good intentions of posting to this blog every couple of days have not been realized as of yet. It seems like every time my day off comes around, I think, "Oh, yeah! I should update my blog!" So, here is the weekly update. I entitled it "Happys and Crappys" in honor of my Spring Break Campaign co-leader who used to call our daily debriefing times by that name as everyone in the group reported the good things and bad things that had happened to them that day. I feel like my report this week follows a similar pattern.

In some ways, it has been a sad week. One of the families on the team decided that God was calling them back to the States, and so we said an official goodbye to them on Tuesday. That was hard because I hate to see my friends upset, and I also hate to see the Parkers go, even though I know this is the right decision for their family at this time. The other sad thing this week is that Laura got pretty sick over the weekend, so that was definitely the pits.

But on to the Happys. We had a fantastic youth lock-in on Friday night. Most of the regular youth attended, as well as four of the LST students. We watched Bruce Almighty and later had discussions about the spiritual themes of the movie and what we learned about God and his will for our lives. We also played games such as DDR and Spoons, ate junk food and stayed up way too late, as is customary at any youth lock-in. On Saturday, I went with some of the missionary families down to the Pelourinho to enjoy some of the São João festivities. Although it rained, Laura and I decided to brave it anyway and made our first official trip to the beach to play on Monday afternoon. (That doesn't count the two baptisms on the beach or the massage we got on the beach on Friday.) And Tuesday brought another great turn-out for VBS, and I only have God to thank for helping me pull it together this week because I know I did not do that on my own human strength! And yesterday, one of the LST campaigners, in the midst of her studies with Brazilians, realized that although she has been a Christian her entire life, she never really understood the significance of baptism or why it is important. So, she decided to make her commitment to Christ public and was baptized in the ocean by Russ! Below, you'll find a few picture highlights from the week:

Before we watched Bruce Almighty, we had to stand up and announce ourselves as Heather the Almighty and declare what we would do with all of God's power.

Giovane, Andre, Thais and Jennifer go head to head in four player DDR.

At VBS on Tuesday, Gean enjoys the marble art craft to represent Jesus calming the storm.

We also played a translated version of Ship to Shore, that I learned in my elementary PE class at VBS. The kids loved it!

Russ and Whitney standing on the beach just before her baptism in the ocean

Here are some things and people you could keep in your prayers this week:

- Whitney, that her new life with Christ would be abundantly blessed

- Francisco, one of the LST readers who is very interested in Christianity but is feeling persecuted in this search by his spiritist believing family

- Alicia, one of the girls who came to VBS and has just been diagnosed with lupus

- the Parker family, as they settle into their new life in Oklahoma

- the other four missionary families as they adjust to life and teamwork without the Parkers

- energy and strength from the Lord for all of us to accomplish the work he has called us to do

Thanks for all of your prayers and support! You have no idea how much they are appreciated! If anyone is interested, I have posted the video of my VBS announcement in Portuguese last week on Facebook. Here is the link: http://acu.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=504558444217. Please take a minute to leave a comment while you're here because I love to hear news from home! It helps ward off the homesickness. I love and miss you all!