|
july ´08 update
Dear Friends,
This is Cathy writing from Brazil. Greetings in the Name!
I’ll send more details, and pictures, when I return to the US, as it’s hard to get on e-mail where I am, and difficult to send pictures; also we are asked to exercise care in what we write from here.
The long flights and layovers to get to Porto Velho gave me and the team some jet lag, and of course it’s hot here, which took some getting used to, so we got off to a bit of a slow start, but it’s great to be serving the Lord here! There is of course a language barrier. Thankfully one of our team members, Martina, is from Argentina and speaks Spanish, a cousin language to Portuguese, thus she's able to communicate, so that helps us all!
Praises: Opportunities to help out on base (cleaning, helping in clinic, teaching English as a second language, etc). Also that we arrived here safely and all luggage arrived too. And, after some doubt that it would work out for all, every one of our team members were able to come!
Prayer: God’s help for our colleagues on the YWAM base here, that they will be given grace to accomplish what He wants them to (and US too!), making an impact. It’s “spiritual warfare” here, in just about every way you could imagine. There have been lies told about the base in the news here, with news being twisted. Also please pray that in this short time we can learn enough of the language to communicate a little, and to befriend people here, share the Good News with them, and build up believers.
We meet every morning at 9 for about an hour or so (prayer and planning). Other than that, we're pretty free to work on our projects (no details allowed in communication about that, from here). We share our testimony with the Brazilian people we meet, we try to encourage believers, and we pray with them; that's been awesome!
Weather's extremely hot here, which makes it rather difficult to feel motivated some days. Thankfully there are a couple buildings that do have air conditioning (where our team meets daily, computer lab, clinic), but not the homes where we sleep. We have meals in a big room, taking turns to wash dishes, etc for our work duty. There's a little store in the eating area that sells ice-cream and sodas. It's customary to buy a bottle of soda to share with a table of people – Brazilians are so hospitable, and are very big into sharing drinks/food that they buy.
It’s beautiful here, especially at sunrise and sunset. Well, I haven't actually seen sunrise yet :-), but many sunsets! Lots of greenery. Wish I could send pictures. The Amazon river, in which swimming is not advised, is home to lots of alligators, snakes, and other interesting creatures. A couple of our team have seen the hot pink and purple dolphins in the river. There are also small monkeys around in the trees, and I saw tarantula, bigger than my foot, dart across my path right in front of me. If I had not been carrying a flashlight, I would have stepped right on it...yikes! A flashlight and bug spray are both useful here! We’re well outside the city.
I have been downtown Porto Velho once. It's extremely expensive to take the taxi there and consumer items in the stores are also very expensive, but the food in the restaurants seemed actually pretty cheap. It was fun walking around the city.
People here are friendly and hard working. I have been able to play the guitar here a lot (on my own, as well as with a Brazilian girl I have become friends with, Berenice). I've even given a couple lessons to others; it's been such a huge blessing :-)
The culture: 1) foreigners are expected to take initiative when entering a room to approach Brazilians. They're excited for us being here and want to get to know us, but it’s customary for the “stranger” to speak first. When you enter a room, you greet those you walk by and include them in any conversations. 2) When you go to someone's house here on base, you don't walk up and knock on the door. You clap your hands and shout "oi, oi" to announce that you're approaching their home. (“Oi” means “hi.”) “Como vei?” means “How are you?” “Obrigado” means “Thank you.”
Speaking of which, much Obrigado for your prayers and help in getting me here, and I need and appreciate your ongoing prayers, right to late August. Obrigado!!!
In His love,
Cathy Welch
Cathywelch@hotmail.com
Cathy Welch, Equipe - Kona – Jocum, CP. 441, Porto Velho – RONDONIA, 78900-970, Brazil
US Address 12504 Sabal Point Dr., Apt 107, Pineville, NC 28134 (704)962-3194
|
Cathy Welch, 7/30/2008 |
|
|
