English? Yes please.

Life became normal for me last week as my English classes started in earnest. I was happy to continue one of the longest running ministries through Evangelical Church Missions here in Brazil by going out into the rough neighborhood of Vila Esperança to give English classes. Last week Cris and I went to three classes out of the four we will regularly go to. We were called before the Wednesday morning class and told that there weren't any students in the class, last year Wednesday morning classes had the most students. In all, there were 22 students, ranging from beginner to advanced. I anticipate that throughout the next few weeks there will be more students to register and we will go out 4 times each week.

My classes also began at Life English Center. I have one VIP student on Monday evenings, 6 students in a class that meets Tuesdays & Thursdays, and 4-5 students in a Saturday morning class. I am not used to lesson planning and organization but I have put together a good template that makes things easier.

We have been looking for ways to connect our church to some of the other ministries of Evangelical Church Missions-Brazil. Last night, Monday, was the first of weekly Bible studies in the classroom where I teach English in Vila Esperança. We have encouraged the students in the classes to invite their families to the Bible study, last night 16 people attended. Tonight, Tuesday, we begin a Bible study in Life English Center, this study will be done in English and will be practice for the English students to read, listen and speak.

We appreciate your prayer and support, here are some ways you can keep us in your prayers this week.

• For good relationships to be developed with my new students.
• For Izabel's Citizenship process
• Good attendance at all 4 of the weekly Bible studies.

Happy New Year!

I started a post with this title last year but I never really got around to finishing it, I guess I'm stealing my own idea then. What I have been told before is that the new year in Brazil doesn't officially kick off until after Carnival so I'm a little bit early in spreading my New Year's wishes. Carnival is later in the year than most years so some thing are getting started before this major holiday here.

Izabel and I on the beach with our Brother-in-law for New Year fireworks

It has been quite a ride since late November as both Izabel and I, along with Aaron and Cristiana Brakefield, have been working on documents for Izabel and Cris to become U.S. Citizens. This process has included required trips to the United States for Izabel and Cris in order to maintain their Legal Permanent Resident status.

Izabel met extreme cold on her trip north...

The process is moving smoothly so far for Cristiana, but Izabel is working on her third try for submitting the application and hoping that this one is the charm. Once they are accepted we anticipate at least one more trip for Izabel up to the States and potentially two more trips. We see many benefits for Izabel becoming an American Citizen and are using those benefits to help encourage us as we continue to resubmit the application.

and had the other extreme upon her return.

We spent our second Christmas as a family here in Brazil and all that I can say is that it is completely different than our Christmas traditions up North. The weather allows, even encourages, people to stay outside as we are in the heat of summer and the air is usually quite hot and stale inside. It's common to celebrate from Christmas Eve into early Christmas morning by visiting friends and neighbors and by lighting off fireworks. I felt bad having a hard time staying energetic and finally used the excuse of needing to get Samantha to bed in order for us to go home.

I have taken a break from lesson planning in order to give an update about what is going on down here. Although it is one month before Carnival, the year has commenced for me. By the time this is published I will have completed my first class teaching at Life English School in 2014. My days will be busy planning lessons or giving them. Since Shelly moved back home to Washington (way to go Seahawks, by the way) I have taken over the classes that she had been teaching. I will be teaching three classes at Life along with going out to Vila Esperança twice a day on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Thank you for your continued prayer and support. Here are some specific ways you can keep us in your prayers this week:

• Pray for the Citizenship process for both Izabel and Cristiana
• Thank God for protection and safety, we should thank Him even more when he keeps us from danger we may not even know about.
• Pray for David beginning classes at Life and in Vila Esperança.