Brazil

I guess it's the busyness of travel and the many kilometres between Africa and Brazil that have made last week feel like last year. We’re thankful for hassle-free, safe travels both for ourselves and for our luggage :). We arrived in Curitiba at 7:30 p.m. Brazil time—half past midnight our time--and since the meal we got on the plane was a wimpy one, we stopped at the “Boi Dourado” Churrascaria for some “real” food on the way to the Mt. Horeb mission! (A Churrascaria is rather like B-B-Q heaven. There’s a buffet with endless bowls of delightful salads and hot dishes, then spits of meat are brought to you at your table, hot off the coals, one fine cut after the other until you’re quite sure you can’t fit another bite in. Then they offer you some more!) (Top 2 photos: patterned beach sidewalks in Guaratuba, Parana)

Old family friends offered us the use of their home by the beach for a few days of R & R before we leapt headlong into the work that awaited us here. We strolled along beaches, dipped in the pool, ate great seafood prepared by Jose (our attentive host)

and admired once again the incredible variety in every aspect of life in Brazil from plant life to the people here. (This amazing specimen is from the banana plant family...I think)

Nicest of all, however, was to have a bit of family time away from the rush of city and mission life to catch up on personal news and mission business. And now that we’re over jet-lag and have caught up on sleep a bit, it’s time to get back to work.

(My mom and I: the Bobsy twin look was purely accidental.)

We left our perfect setting on the beach yesterday and came to Curitiba to share about Mt. Horeb’s work with a church cell group as well as to visit long-time friends (dentists) who worked with Mt. Horeb for several years. We are constantly encouraged by the enthusiasm these people show for the needs right here closest to them. Their insight into the developmental needs of poor people makes their input invaluable to us in our work.

Today we return to Mt. Horeb and a fairly busy schedule of meetings as well as continuing to seek and share information helpful to the work both in Brazil and Mozambique. And if we’re lucky, there may just be at least one more trip to the Churrascaria as well!