The police strike is over so we are going tonight for our first meeting with the youth group in Passagem. YAY! Pray that the Spirit fills us to help the youth there come closer to Jesus.
And I just found out that I'm going on a 3 day Youth Retreat with 5 of our youth. 3 days of worship and praise...and sleeping on the floor in a school! LOL! I think I must be a little bit crazy to be excited about sleeping on the floor for 3 days, but oh well! Please pray for us as we prepare for Lent.
Happy Carnival!!!
love,
Sunny
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Wish List
My parents and my oldest brother and his family will be here in 1 month!!! They are coming to visit and I'll get to take some vacation time. And they'll be here for my birthday! WOOHOO!! I'm so excited I could pee but I still have to wait another month.
So, if any of you have been thinking that you'd like to send something you could send it with them and save the postage. Here's my wish list:
toys for the kids such as:
Polly Pockets (they're all the rage)
frisbees
inflatable balls
yo-yos
craft supplies such as:
glitter (they are glitter maniacs!)
beads and clear string or elastic to make necklaces, bracelets, decorations, etc
washable markers
pencil sharpeners
construction or colored paper
cooking supplies so that I can cook even more for tudo mundo (everyone):
electric mixer (beating egg whites by hand is really getting old)
whisk (I've already broken 2 whisks--blame it on the egg whites)
spices (other than cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, oregano)
flavorings other than vanilla (ie. lemon, maple, coconut, peppermint)
luxury items for me:
facial products for oily sensitive skin
eye cream
hand cream
non-metal hair elastics
long white cotton socks--they come in handy at night to keep the mosquitoes from biting me
blank white note cards
size 10 clothes--not new, but if anyone needs to clean out her closet and has size 10 clothes I could really use some. I have 1 pair of capris and 2 pairs of jeans that actually fit me. No shorts. All my skirts and nice blouses are way too big. I look like I'm wearing sails most of the time--frumpy! All my t-shirts are ruined. Usually when we get clothing donations there aren't many women's clothes and none of it is very nice.
Or if you have anything else in mind, I always love surprises!
Please email my parents if you have stuff to send: rogerdolly@msn.com They live in Chandler and need to have the stuff no later than Saturday March 3rd.
Muito obrigada queridos! (Thank you very much darlings!)
love,
Sunny
So, if any of you have been thinking that you'd like to send something you could send it with them and save the postage. Here's my wish list:
toys for the kids such as:
Polly Pockets (they're all the rage)
frisbees
inflatable balls
yo-yos
craft supplies such as:
glitter (they are glitter maniacs!)
beads and clear string or elastic to make necklaces, bracelets, decorations, etc
washable markers
pencil sharpeners
construction or colored paper
cooking supplies so that I can cook even more for tudo mundo (everyone):
electric mixer (beating egg whites by hand is really getting old)
whisk (I've already broken 2 whisks--blame it on the egg whites)
spices (other than cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, oregano)
flavorings other than vanilla (ie. lemon, maple, coconut, peppermint)
luxury items for me:
facial products for oily sensitive skin
eye cream
hand cream
non-metal hair elastics
long white cotton socks--they come in handy at night to keep the mosquitoes from biting me
blank white note cards
size 10 clothes--not new, but if anyone needs to clean out her closet and has size 10 clothes I could really use some. I have 1 pair of capris and 2 pairs of jeans that actually fit me. No shorts. All my skirts and nice blouses are way too big. I look like I'm wearing sails most of the time--frumpy! All my t-shirts are ruined. Usually when we get clothing donations there aren't many women's clothes and none of it is very nice.
Or if you have anything else in mind, I always love surprises!
Please email my parents if you have stuff to send: rogerdolly@msn.com They live in Chandler and need to have the stuff no later than Saturday March 3rd.
Muito obrigada queridos! (Thank you very much darlings!)
love,
Sunny
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Finding my voice in Passagem
I've written some about the closest little village to the Fazenda: Passagem dos Texerias. I've been going there once a week since the beginning of my mission to visit. It is a poor but friendly place and I have completely fallen in love with it. I've started going to make visits twice a week now because I just have too many friends to visit. (I'm so popular!) I wish I could live there.
A few weeks ago I got the chance to live there, if only for 3 days. A group of our friends from Rio came to do a small mission and spent a week in Passagem evangelizing, inviting people to come back to the Church. Erica and I joined them for part of the mission since we go there so often and know everyone. We stayed with our friend Ana Paula and her family. I don't actually know how many people live in their house--11 or 12, I think, and there are always other siblings/relatives coming and going. I felt so at home hanging out with her and her sisters, playing with her nephew, chatting with her mom. Just walking down the street at night with them made me feel like such a part of that community. I went with the group from Rio to meet new people and I felt such a rush of excitement as people showed interest in coming back to the Church. Each night we had mass and a different prayer focus. One night for the elderly, the sick, the youth, etc. The church was packed every night and the Spirit moved through that little village.
Saturday afternoon we invited all the kids for a party. About 70 kids showed up and I was amazed at the simplicity of the party. The games, the food, the decorations were all simple--no one spent weeks planning--but the joy was intense. It was a good reminder for me how important it is just to do spend time with them, play with them, to show your love.
Saturday night we had a night of praise with the teenagers. There were 60-70 people there, and I think some of them showed up because they thought it was a party, but whatever, the Spirit moved them all the same. It was such a thrilling night! As we all sang and raised our hands and voices in praise I was floating! I wanted so badly to be able to speak to these teenagers--to speak to their hearts and encourage them to open up to God--in the same way that the woman from Rio was speaking to them. It's a hard thing to do in another language, but I knew that somehow God would give me the words, the voice to be able to lead them. As I stood there amongst them I thought "this is my mission."
Ok, let me back up a bit...a couple weeks before this Erica, Adrian, and I were talking about how we missed being part of a more charismatic praise group. Our prayer life here is the backbone of our mission and very fulfilling, but each of us comes from a more dynamic parish and we just miss waving our hands in the air and dancing around sometimes, ya know? So we decided to have a little night of praise in our chapel. Diego came too because he wanted to play the drum. So it was Adrian on the guitar, Diego on the drum, and Erica and me singing. We had visions of a group of hundreds of people being led my Matt Maher, but whatever, we made the best of what we had. We had a little bit of a plan, but mostly just let the Holy Spirit lead us. We sang and prayed our little hearts out in Portuguese, Spanish, and English. At the end we talked about how we'd have to take this to Passagem. How the teenagers there were so lacking in any type of youth group, but honestly how could we 3 foreigners lead them? We didn't know--we were nervous, but we knew we'd have to make it work somehow. The very next day we heard about the group from Rio coming to do a mission in Passagem, that they were a charismatic group and had planned a night of praise for the teenagers! God provides. :) So during our time in Passagem we talked to a group of 9 girls who we know (Ana Paula and her sisters are part of them) who are very involved in the Church. They range in age from 13 to 19 and have been meeting on their own every Wednesday night to pray and talk for 5 years! 5 years these girls have been faithful to each other and to God with no adult to help them plan or guide them. We asked if they'd like some help organizing it and growing the group and they were absolutely thrilled at the idea! They are so thirsty for more Jesus! So we learned a few popular Brazilian Christian songs and had planned to go last Wednesday....
then the police in the state of Bahia went on strike. That's a whole other story, but we were unsure about the safety of us going into town at night, so we didn't start last week. We visited the girls during the day and everyone is making preparations to officially start the group, but until the political situation improves we can't meet at night. Please pray for the whole state of Bahia here as it really is a very grave situation. Please pray for our hearts and ears to be open as the Holy Spirit guides us to form this youth group. And please pray for my tongue to be loosened so that I can express God's love more fully in Portuguese!
Oh, and mass in Passagem continues to be packed! Praise God for the new life in that little town! Don't be surprised if soon I'm asking for donations to build a new church there :)
Remember too to send me your prayer requests at: sunnywallsings@gmail.com
in the love of Christ,
Sunny
A few weeks ago I got the chance to live there, if only for 3 days. A group of our friends from Rio came to do a small mission and spent a week in Passagem evangelizing, inviting people to come back to the Church. Erica and I joined them for part of the mission since we go there so often and know everyone. We stayed with our friend Ana Paula and her family. I don't actually know how many people live in their house--11 or 12, I think, and there are always other siblings/relatives coming and going. I felt so at home hanging out with her and her sisters, playing with her nephew, chatting with her mom. Just walking down the street at night with them made me feel like such a part of that community. I went with the group from Rio to meet new people and I felt such a rush of excitement as people showed interest in coming back to the Church. Each night we had mass and a different prayer focus. One night for the elderly, the sick, the youth, etc. The church was packed every night and the Spirit moved through that little village.
Saturday afternoon we invited all the kids for a party. About 70 kids showed up and I was amazed at the simplicity of the party. The games, the food, the decorations were all simple--no one spent weeks planning--but the joy was intense. It was a good reminder for me how important it is just to do spend time with them, play with them, to show your love.
Saturday night we had a night of praise with the teenagers. There were 60-70 people there, and I think some of them showed up because they thought it was a party, but whatever, the Spirit moved them all the same. It was such a thrilling night! As we all sang and raised our hands and voices in praise I was floating! I wanted so badly to be able to speak to these teenagers--to speak to their hearts and encourage them to open up to God--in the same way that the woman from Rio was speaking to them. It's a hard thing to do in another language, but I knew that somehow God would give me the words, the voice to be able to lead them. As I stood there amongst them I thought "this is my mission."
Ok, let me back up a bit...a couple weeks before this Erica, Adrian, and I were talking about how we missed being part of a more charismatic praise group. Our prayer life here is the backbone of our mission and very fulfilling, but each of us comes from a more dynamic parish and we just miss waving our hands in the air and dancing around sometimes, ya know? So we decided to have a little night of praise in our chapel. Diego came too because he wanted to play the drum. So it was Adrian on the guitar, Diego on the drum, and Erica and me singing. We had visions of a group of hundreds of people being led my Matt Maher, but whatever, we made the best of what we had. We had a little bit of a plan, but mostly just let the Holy Spirit lead us. We sang and prayed our little hearts out in Portuguese, Spanish, and English. At the end we talked about how we'd have to take this to Passagem. How the teenagers there were so lacking in any type of youth group, but honestly how could we 3 foreigners lead them? We didn't know--we were nervous, but we knew we'd have to make it work somehow. The very next day we heard about the group from Rio coming to do a mission in Passagem, that they were a charismatic group and had planned a night of praise for the teenagers! God provides. :) So during our time in Passagem we talked to a group of 9 girls who we know (Ana Paula and her sisters are part of them) who are very involved in the Church. They range in age from 13 to 19 and have been meeting on their own every Wednesday night to pray and talk for 5 years! 5 years these girls have been faithful to each other and to God with no adult to help them plan or guide them. We asked if they'd like some help organizing it and growing the group and they were absolutely thrilled at the idea! They are so thirsty for more Jesus! So we learned a few popular Brazilian Christian songs and had planned to go last Wednesday....
then the police in the state of Bahia went on strike. That's a whole other story, but we were unsure about the safety of us going into town at night, so we didn't start last week. We visited the girls during the day and everyone is making preparations to officially start the group, but until the political situation improves we can't meet at night. Please pray for the whole state of Bahia here as it really is a very grave situation. Please pray for our hearts and ears to be open as the Holy Spirit guides us to form this youth group. And please pray for my tongue to be loosened so that I can express God's love more fully in Portuguese!
Oh, and mass in Passagem continues to be packed! Praise God for the new life in that little town! Don't be surprised if soon I'm asking for donations to build a new church there :)
Remember too to send me your prayer requests at: sunnywallsings@gmail.com
in the love of Christ,
Sunny
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