Quick Update

It's a little after the fact, but earlier this month we hosted a ladies' tea in honor of Mother's Day. Sadly, I didn't check my camera's battery before the event, and it was dead, so I didn't get any pictures. However, my sister-in-law, Christen, took pictures and wrote a great blog about our time and you can read about it here. I invited several different women, including my next door neighbor. She asked if she could bring her adult daughter and I said sure. It was interesting that my neighbor did not come, but she told her daughter about it and she came and brought her sister-in-law too. I had not met either of them before, so I was glad to have 2 new contacts. A few days ago, I talked to the daughter again and asked her if she was interested in having a Bible study with me. She said her family is busy with building their house right now, but that when it's done, she'll come to me for a study. More than likely, that was a polite way of saying she was not interested, but I'm praying that God will work in her heart so that she actually will come for a Bible study soon.


It has been nice to have a family of 5 join us for our Sunday morning Bible studies the past couple of weeks. James and Christen have been working with them and we would love to see the whole family receive Jesus as their Savior. We are longing to see genuine fruit in our work here. Recently, we have been tempted to be discouraged as people we have come to know and care for and have had Bible studies with have lost interest or become offended by the gospel for one reason or another. Instead of taking it personally, we have to remind ourselves that they are actually rejecting Christ, not us, and that God calls us to be faithful in proclaiming the gospel and to trust Him for the results.

As for our little family, we are doing well. Juliana is growing too fast! I am a little sad that she has already outgrown some of her clothes and has moved up a diaper size. Why do mommies want their children to stay little? She is generally a very happy, easy-going baby and she seems to have easily found her place in our lives.

Gabriel is always full of energy and is a little more high-maintenance than his sister ... well, a lot more high maintenance. He surprises us almost every day with things he has learned. Not too long ago, I walked into David's study to see Gabriel sitting at the computer. I asked him what he was doing and he said, "I writing e-mails."



We are excited about some upcoming things:
1- the World Cup (soccer). I plan on doing a blog about that in a few weeks including pictures that show Brazil's passion for this sport and specifically this event. Go Brazil!

2- potentially buying a house or a piece of property on which to build a house. David has been running around a lot recently meeting with realtors and builders, trying to find a good spot for us and getting estimates. We live in a very hilly area, so we're praying for a piece of property that is flat. :)

3- going to Sao Paulo. Juliana needs to be registered at the American Embassy as an American citizen and my American passport has expired, so we (minus Gabriel) are flying to the nearest American Embassy in Sao Paulo to get those important documents taken care of. That may not sound exciting to you, but we found out there are both Applebee's and Starbucks close to the Embassy, so we're looking forward to that!

4- having a kids' club in July. We are already planning for this event. It was an effective outreach program last year and we are expecting to have many more kids come this year.