I want to thank you all for your thoughts, prayers and support, it is hard for us to be productive here in Brazil without a good support team back home. We had a major event this last week as we took a group of 13 teenagers from the English ministry that we assist from the tough neighborhood of Vila Esperança.
We attempt to have some sort of reward each semester for these students but this was much more involving than other rewards, we haven't taken these students on a multiple day retreat for several years. Us missionaries left Wednesday afternoon to prepare the rental house and then the children arrived Thursday morning and stayed until Saturday afternoon. There were fun activities, a few hours at the beach, much time spent in the pool and a lot of good food to eat. I believe that our main goals were accomplished, safety, fun and times to present the Gospel.
This was also a time that Shelly was able to use to say thank you to the students for many years of taking classes with her and an opportunity to say goodbye as she returns to the States in December. On the last day of the retreat I sat down with the main teacher of these classes and with Aaron Brakefield and we discussed the future of the classes. We agreed that I will take over as the American assistant beginning next year, continuing a partnership that has been going for over 10 years. I've never thought of myself as much of a teacher but now I get the opportunity to test myself and develop relationships with many young people in a difficult neighborhood to grow up in.
We have used these classes to help teaching English with great success, we have also had great success in teaching these students about God and the Bible. Our desire is to draw a connection between these classes and a church that will challenge them to grow in their relationship with Christ. We would love to have them come to our church but it is unrealistic to expect them to come walking or by bus from the other side of town.
Please pray for commitments made and seeds planted during these few days to remain strong and to grow. Activities were mentioned to connect our church and other ministries to these young people, pray that these ideas can come to fruition. We didn't bring a camera on this retreat. As pictures get posted from others we will share those so you can see the faces of some of these young students.
