Ready...Set...GOOO!!!

I feel that my life right now consists of getting ready for the next few months. Here at the mission, each of us have our times that are busier than others and mine is arriving. I am really excited for the next few months because it will involve a lot of hands on ministry (as opposed to behind the scenes stuff), meeting new people from the US and Brazil and seeing what God has in store. The specifics of what I will be involved is not completely decided yet but I hope to keep everyone informed regularly as I believe there will be many praise reports and blessings to report!

For now, we will just talk about what is coming up for me this month. This past week, I have been participating in daily prayer meetings at noon in preparation for an 'Encounter with God' weekend for adolescents. Some of you may remember that I worked one of these in November of 2008. I am so blessed and excited to be able to serve again. The Encounter will be held May 14-16 and I know that it will be an incredible weekend for these young people. Up until the day of The Encounter, my schedule is filled with prayer meetings, planning meetings and preparations. Please be in prayer for the safety and health of all the participants and workers, open hearts for the participants and a servant's attitude for all the workers. More to come when I return...

Next week, we have a team arriving from ORU. I will be involved with this team during The Encounter weekend and also toward the 22nd - 31st of May on a trip to Parintins, an island city along the Amazon. This trip is very exciting for me for a couple of reasons. First, when I came to Brazil as a short termer in May of 2007, I went to Parintins with a team from ORU. Since I was able to speak Portuguese fairly well at the time, I was able to make some great friends in the city. I will be returning exactly 3 years later and am beyond excited to see everyone. Second, this will be the first team and trip I will be leading alone (yikes). This trip is also different because we will not be taking one of our mission boats but will be traveling by line boat. I can't remember how long the trip is but I believe it is about 10-12 hours by boat. We will string our hammocks up and travel up the river. We will be doing a lot of evangelism on this trip. This trip will definitely be a stretch for me, as I will be leading, translating and be the main person responsible for the team. Please be in prayer for this trip that God would open up doors and opportunities for us in the local schools and wherever He leads. Also, as always, pray for protection and health.

Hopefully I can get an update done after The Encounter and before the trip to Parintins so I can keep these entries short and to the point :)

Blessings and please leave a comment below, email me or facebook message me if I can be praying for you about anything! I appreciate so much the prayers and financial support from each one.