Observations

Hello everyone! This is Amanda. Sorry I haven't posted anything thus far this trip but hopefully this will catch me up with everyone :) My first impression of Brazil was the traffic. I tried to distract myself with the view of the city from the freeway on the way from the airport to the church, but this was unsuccessful. I took many deep breaths and was able to keep myself from begging to go back home. Haha. My (actual) first impression of Brazil was the welcoming people. As soon as we arrived at the church everyone greeted us and gave us coffee and bread (and so our binge eating through Brazil began). We got to rest a little at the church then we all dispersed and went to our host homes. Our hosts welcomed us into their home immediately, before we even got to their house! We talked briefly in the car and connected instantly. Over the past few days I've seen the love that Brazilians, or the ones I've met anyways, show to everyone. They are extremely generous. We have been told "minha casa e sua casa" multiple times, and they mean it. I've also noticed that they give what they have to those who do not. Of coarse there will always be people in this world who are selfish and keep things for themselves only, but the mentality of almost everyone I've talked to and heard stories from is "why would I buy for only myself what I know my friend does not have". They have a heart for people, and I love it.

Over the past few days I can confidently say that I am in love with Brazil! It's beautiful here and I am so excited to spend the next week exploring more of the city and the hearts of the people! I would like to thank you for your prayers and support for our team as we submerge ourselves in this culture and seek God alongside His people!

Tchau

Amanda

Day Two

Incredible day today. Started with a meeting with Pastor Edison and some of his staff team to discuss and plan our itinerary for the two weeks we are here. You will find out what we are doing each day when you read this blog. (I don't want to spoil the surprise) After the meeting, we took a little tour of their facility. You may find it interesting to note that when you look at a map of the city of Santo Andre, you will find the church right in the middle. In the heart of the city. Coincidence? I think not. See Connie's facebook for pictures of some of what we saw today. Next, we went to lunch. The restaurant was called Tendall Grille, a Brazilian Barbecue. We know it as a Brazilian Steakhouse in Fresno like Samba or Rio. They serve several kinds of meat and keep returning to your table until you are full or finished. Needless to say, we ate plenty. Then, we returned to our host homes to rest for the afternoon. Willie and I are staying with Edson and Edinilsa Florencio Cortezani. They have three children. Two of them are still living at home. Diego, who is 18 and Priscilla, who is 15. Their oldest son, Vagner is 27 and lives in Pirassununga. They are a wonderful family which, I'm sure I will blog more about in the future. This afternoon, for example, Edson was singing Karaoke in the living room. Quite entertaining. I even got in to the act. I know, that surprises you, right? Anyway, we are blessed that they have opened their home to us. Tonight we went back for a meeting with Pastor Edison, Frank Dietz from Operation Mobilization, who happens to live in Sacramento and many business people from the church and community. I will have Willie blog about this later. I left the meeting to give up my seat as people kept coming in. I found Cleide and we ended up in the worship team rehearsal. This was an incredible, worshipful experience. They have excellent musicians and they allowed me to join in and work on songs for Saturday evening's young adult service. I am looking forward to interacting with them more throughout the rest of this trip. We came back to the house around 10:30 and ate dinner. Now I am ready for bed. This was a quick overview of the day from my perspective. Thank you for continuing to pray for us. More to come. Pastor Bryan

First Impressions

This is Connie...Day 1 of our Brazil Adventure has come and gone. Well, maybe it is day 2, I'm not sure if you count the travel. We got in to Sao Paulo this morning around 7:30 a.m. local time, then got settled into our host homes. My first impression of the travel? LONG. On the plane, Amanda and I would wake up after small bouts of sleep (mostly Dramamine induced). We would check to see how much time, hoping maybe we had slept a significant amount, only to find we had 7 hours, then 6, then 5, then I think we stopped counting. But, nevertheless, we made it here. Our (Mine and Amanda's) host family is wonderful. So amazingly hospitable and generous. I had my first Brazilian meal here, and it was amazing. I'm sure that once I pass through the fog of jet lag I'll have more profound things to say, but today was marked by just being thankful for basic needs. We made it safely, got some rest, ate great food, and went to church tonight. And now, time to sleep more. Looking forward to all God has in store for us these next 2 weeks. we have already met some great people, and looking forward to the others God has for us. On tomorrow's agenda, meeting at 10 a.m. then, yep, you guessed it, more food! We're going to go to a Brazilian BBQ place. Oh how I love Brazil :) Blessings and Tchao!

Live Services

Do you want to see what we are doing. There is live services at First Baptist in Santo Andre.

3:00pm every Sunday.

http://www.conexaoprimeira.org.br/Midia/

This is Pastor Bryan. We are just a week away from flying to Sao Paulo, Brazil for a missions trip with our team from Fresno First Baptist Church in Fresno, CA. I am excited to see what God will do in us and through us and to join Him in His work alongside the good people of the First Baptist Church of Santo Andre. The members of the team will be posting throughout our experience and hope that you will pray for us and follow our experiences through this blog. God bless you and we'll see you back here real soon.