Saturday-July 3, 2010- Today has been a difficult day for my family. My cousin died this morning after battling cancer for over a year. My heart is torn-wanting to be with my family and to go to the funeral, but knowing I have so much left to do to prepare for my trip. Please pray for my family in Oklahoma as they grieve this loss.
Sunday-July 4, 2010-Happy 4th! Celebrate the freedom we have in our country! Especially celebrate the freedom we have in Christ.
Monday-July 5, 2010-Today has been a stressful day for me. Trying to tie up loose ends before leaving...banks are closed-needing to get money situation settled... Health department is closed-still need my Hep A...leaving a day earlier than I anticipated...Aghhhh, the enemy is trying to distract me and steal my joy. My sweet sister keeps reminding me that Light is more powerful than Darkness. Please pray for a sweet revelation of Jesus's love and His peace.
Tuesday-July 6th-Up early...will try this again. Banks are open, yea! Took mine and Paige's quarters and pennies to the bank, cashed that in. Next stop, health department for my Hep A...Many other errands before the day is over. Praying for a smoother day today!
Wednesday-July 7th-5:00 p.m. Leave San Angelo travel to Dallas
Thursday- July 8th- 1:40 p.m. Depart from DFW - fly to Mexico City
4:10 p.m. Arrive Mexico City
11:45 p.m. Depart Mexico City- fly to Sao Paulo, Brazil
Friday- July 9th-11:10 a.m. Arrive Sao Paulo, Brazil ---Hello Family and Friends! We arrived today after a LONNNNNGGGG flight. After 12 hours in the air and lots of giggling with Shirley, we landed in beautiful Brazil. We made it through immigration and customs without anything being confiscated (since the peanut butter incident). Dr. Dunham was there waiting on us and had our charter bus ready for travel to Itu, Brazil. Itu is approximately 2 hours from Sao Paulo and is a very safe city. Approximately 150,000 people live here. It is winter here in Brazil...but what we west Texans...and Oklahomans would call a "PERFECT spring night". After walking several blocks on cobblestone sidewalks (uphill all the way) we found Toni Lu's restaurant. It was a quaint little place with fresh Brazilian coffee being boiled and then strained through what looked like "panty hose" into the coffee cups. The smell was delicious. They serve much smaller portions since the coffee is so concentrated. Shirley contemplated getting the coffee, but decided it might keep her awake tonight. Maybe a treat for tomorrow night! :) After supper, we walked toward the sounds of the music and found several people encircled around a group of dancers. It was not like anything I have ever seen. There was a group of boys and girls (ages 5-20) playing handmade instruments. Two at a time, they would enter the circle and dance to the music. They call it Brazilian fighting. It looked something like kick boxing, but their kicks were timed so perfectly that their feet would never actually kick the person. Since pictures say a thousand words, I will try to upload a pic at some point so that this will make more sense. The people here are amazingly friendly and seem to love life. I can't wait for the actual mission to start on Monday. We will be going to a "hippie fair" tomorrow in Campinas. Dr. Dunham describes it similar to a Brazilian "flea" market. So souvenir shopping, here I come. I love you all!
Saturday-July 10, 2010- Happy Birthday to Glenn and Brad today! Woke up early this morning for our trip to Campinas. The breakfast buffet was delicious...freshly squeezed orange juice, fresh pomegrante, watermelon, scrambled eggs, fresh coconut bread...and my favorite-yellow bundt cake with chocolate icing. YES! For breakfast they eat cake here. I always knew that we Americans should have cake for ANY meal. :0 The charter bus took us to Campinas, a city approximately 1 hour from Itu. This city has approximately 2 million people. Again, the weather has been perfect. Phyllis was very serious about us staying together! Not as safe in Campinas as it is in Itu. We found the bathroom (Sanatario), first stop before walking through the fair. Found some fun things to bring back to America. After leaving the fair, we walked to Baby Beef. An all you can eat chicken, steak, sausage, rice/beans, bread....restaurant. They brought out platter after platter of meats to try. Dr. Dunham said to hold out til toward the last because they save the best meat for last. The Brazilians are very patient with the language barrier and try very hard to teach and to understand what we are saying. My new word for today is Obregada- (O-bree-gah-dah)-meaning Thank you. Tonight we go to Phyllis and Antenor's home for dinner. Dr. Dunham's famous cheese cake for dessert! :) Will update more later. Hugs and Kisses.
Sunday-July 11th-4:28 American time...up in Brazil getting ready for church this morning. Today they will celebrate their 1 year anniversary for the church building. Excited for worship. It is the brazilian culture to invite friends over for lunch after church. Their lunches last about 3 hours....hope I get a family that knows a little English. :) The world cup after lunch...then to the school in Ciudad de nova (Siidah zjay nova) to set up for the campaign that starts tomorrow. Please be in prayer for the meeting that Dr. Dunham will have this afternoon with the president of national society of medicine for Brazil. Kellie, Jamie, Katie, and Austin went to get icecream yesterday afternoon, and met this man and his family. No coincidence that this man "just happened to be getting ice cream" too. Wow....God continues to reveal beautiful miracles for His people to be cared for. If this partnership develops, HUGE things will happen for this campaign and for the future campaigns here in Itu! Fique com deus (Feekee comb duece) God Bless.
12:08 a.m. Just finished our team meeting for the night. We set up the school and my heart is FULL of love and my eyes full of tears. I will write tomorrow, but just know that GOD spirit is powerful in this place. Good night!
Monday- Friday July 12th- 16th Itu, Brazil-Clinic
Today was first day at the clinic in Ciudad de Jova and had lots of kiddo's volunteering to help. We set up a triage area, gynecology, ultrasound/sonogram, dentistry, opthamology, a lab, and a room for EKG's. It has all come together beautifully. It has been such a blessing to see the people who need this medical care that we have come to offer. We saw 178 people today. The translation was difficult at first, but our translators are amazing and go to such extremes to help us communicate with them.
Saturday-July 17th- 11:45 p.m. Depart from Sao Paulo-fly to Mexico City
Sunday- July 18th 7:30 a.m. Arrive Mexico City
5:30 p.m. Depart from Mexico City-fly to Los Angeles, California
Monday- July 19th 7:20 p.m. Arrive LA
Monday-July 19th 12:55 a.m. Depart LA-fly to Dallas Ft Worth
5:45 a.m. Arrive Dallas Ft Worth
