Hi friends!
As I write this blog, I'm listening to Brazilian Christian children's songs in preparation for working with the slum-kid project at my church tomorrow (Saturday) morning. This project is a branch of Compassion International in partnership with a ministry that has existed in my church for a long time known as "CEVAP" (Portuguese acronym for "Center for Valuing the Person" - i.e. kid). Each week, they serve over 100 kids from low-income homes, providing them with two meals per day, Bible teaching, tutoring, and fun activities. Many of these kids would simply be loose on the streets if it were not for CEVAP/Compassion. Lately, on Saturday mornings, they've created a partnership with Ambassadors to do a soccer championship with the kids. However the 4-6 year olds are too young to participate. Some friends and I are in charge of providing fun activities for these little ones for three hours on Saturday morning. It's been challenging and a learning experience. I'll be involved tomorrow and next week with the soccer club, and then the next Saturday (Dec. 15) is their Christmas party, which I'll probably also participate in. It ends just in time, because my siblings will be here the next weekend for Christmas vacation!
It's hard to believe how quickly the last months have gone by. These last few days my dad has had his executive (national) team here for a retreat, and it's been fun hanging out with them. It's amazing how much work it is to provide meals for seven people for three days, and clean up after them! My mom and I did a lot of it together, which cut down on the work for any one person considerably and made it much more enjoyable.
Last week I spent a day with SEPAL's digital department, getting to know their work and how I could be involved. Monday I'll go into the SEPAL office to get to know the events department. If I work with the events department, I'll have to be here for the main SEPAL event May 5-9, when I had been planning on being in the US. We'll see how it goes :).
The MAPI website in Portuguese continues to progress. I recently made some changes to the homepage that made me feel much better about the site in general. There's a lot to be done, but I'm enjoying it! I'm hoping to get in some time on the English site as well in the next weeks before my sibs get here. If all goes well, Dan will arrive Dec. 20, and Karis and Val on the 21st. It'll be the first time all six of us (us four kids and my parents) are together in Brazil for two and a half years! We're planning on going up to the Northeast of Brazil for a few days for a vacation, as well as hanging out at home and enjoying ourselves.
I hope you are all well!
God bless!
Rachel
Friday, November 30, 2007
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Thanksgiving
So, I'm a week late, but I still wanted to take the opportunity to express some motives of Thanksgiving in my life:
1. For all of you who read my blog, care about me, support me financially or in your prayers, and who have sustained me through your friendships during the last years!
2. For my family who has encouraged me, stretched me, and cared for me despite the challenges.
3. For Brazil and the US, and the significant ways each has shaped me.
4. For the fun of sharing Thanksgiving dinner with Brazilians in my mission - most of them had never eaten stuffing before!
And of course, most of all, for God, who is forever faithful, who guides us through all the ups and downs of life, who is always there to care for us tenderly when we are willing to open ourselves to Him, and who creates beautiful people like all of you!
Thank you and God bless!
Rachel
1. For all of you who read my blog, care about me, support me financially or in your prayers, and who have sustained me through your friendships during the last years!
2. For my family who has encouraged me, stretched me, and cared for me despite the challenges.
3. For Brazil and the US, and the significant ways each has shaped me.
4. For the fun of sharing Thanksgiving dinner with Brazilians in my mission - most of them had never eaten stuffing before!
And of course, most of all, for God, who is forever faithful, who guides us through all the ups and downs of life, who is always there to care for us tenderly when we are willing to open ourselves to Him, and who creates beautiful people like all of you!
Thank you and God bless!
Rachel
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
A thought for your day
Here's a thought to take with you throughout your day:
"Sound Bible exposition is an imperative MUST in the Church of the Living God. Without it no church can be a New Testament church in any strict meaning of the term. But exposition may be carried on in such a way as to leave the hearers devoid of any true spiritual nourishment whatever. For it is not the mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself, and unless and until the hearers find God in personal experience they are not the better for having heard the truth."
-A.W. Tozer, 1948, "The Pursuit of God" (in the preface; Christian Publications, Inc 1982)
"Sound Bible exposition is an imperative MUST in the Church of the Living God. Without it no church can be a New Testament church in any strict meaning of the term. But exposition may be carried on in such a way as to leave the hearers devoid of any true spiritual nourishment whatever. For it is not the mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself, and unless and until the hearers find God in personal experience they are not the better for having heard the truth."
-A.W. Tozer, 1948, "The Pursuit of God" (in the preface; Christian Publications, Inc 1982)
The 12 Steps
Oh, I forgot to include the 12 steps at the end of my last blog!
Here they are:
The 12 Steps as used by REVER:
1. We admitted we were powerless in the face of the harm caused by our separation from God and that we had lost control of our lives.
2. We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. We made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
The 12 Steps as used by Alocoholics Anonymous (the only differences are in steps 1 and 12):
Here they are:
The 12 Steps as used by REVER:
1. We admitted we were powerless in the face of the harm caused by our separation from God and that we had lost control of our lives.
2. We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. We made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
The 12 Steps as used by Alocoholics Anonymous (the only differences are in steps 1 and 12):
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. We made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Friday, November 9, 2007
News, Nov. 9, 2007
Hi friends!
I'm sorry it's been so long since I sent news! A lot has happened in the last few weeks - here's an overview!
On the evening of Sunday, October 19th, I travelled to Florianópolis, a sea-side city about a ten hour drive south of São Paulo, to help with the administration of the biannual REVER national congress. REVER, which means to "re-see", is also an acronym in Portuguese for "Restoring Lives, Equipping Restorers". This ministry is a modification for a church setting and for children of dysfunctional homes of any type of the twelve step Alcoholus Anonymous rehabilitation program (if you're interested, the twelve steps as used by REVER are listed at the end of this blog). My parents started REVER in 1997 (we just celebrated it's tenth birthday!), but it has been under national leadership for several years now, although it continues to be a branch of MAPI. I participated in several REVER events during my highschool years and was always deeply blessed by them. This time, I went not just as a participant, but to offer administrative support. I arrived several days early to help out with the prep and then stayed on through the congress. It was a blessing to me to be able to offer specific and practical help to this ministry, and I also enjoyed the opportunity to strengthen my relationships with the wonderful people that make up the REVER national leadership. The congress itself was extremely worthwhile. The topic this year was "sanctifying our minds" and the main speaker was a Brazilian psychologist and pastor named Fábio Damasceno. He did an incredible job of integrating psychology and theology (to use language familiar to you Wheaton types :) ) in practical and wise teaching about having our minds - with all their psychological complexity - fully consecrated to the Lord.
After an exhausting post-congress two days of working through some financial complications with the hotel, Luciene (the REVER national leader), Paula (the main administrator for the congress), and I stayed on a couple more days just to relax and enjoy the beach. It was a lot of fun. On Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 29, we headed back to Joinville (a town about three hours north of Florianópolis, where Lu and Paula live), where I got to hang out with Lu and her family for another day and see the sights. The next afternoon, I took a bus another couple hours north to Curitiba, Paraná for the yearly Sepal retreat. (If you're interested, see http://p.vtourist.com/223212-Brasil_map-Brazil.gif for a map of Brazil that includes São Paulo - in the yellow region - and Florianópolis and Curitiba - in the red region. Joinville is half-way in between Florianópolis and Curitiba.)
I've participated in Sepal retreats since I was 5, but this was the first time I was going as an "adult" instead of a MK. It was an interesting juncture of the familiar and the novel. As always, the adults had meetings in the mornings and evenings, while the kids hung out all day and had fun. Afternoons for everyone were devoted to rest, leisure, and fellowship. For the first time I actually participated intensively in the meetings! They were a good time of solidifying our identity and commitments as a team. We also had a great time of sight-seeing in Curitiba one of the afternoons. Nonetheless, I admit that by the time the end of the retreat came around on Sunday afternoon, after two weeks away, I was ready to head home to my own bed and familiar food. The first night I slept for twelve hours!
Monday morning dawned ... I mean... ahem... afternoon... I slept until 1:45PM! That day and the next few were spent getting rested up from the trips, catching up with things here, and getting back into the rhythm of life in general. Yesterday, Thursday, Nov. 8, and today are normal work days for me - which mainly means working on the MAPI website, which I had neglected for two weeks, and a few odds and ends related to research. Unfortunately, the woman in charge of the Sepal research department was told by her doctor to take a four month medical leave (if you remember, please pray for her. She is a wonderful Brazilian woman named Eunice, who was just overworked and overwhelmed and needed some time for rest), which mainly curtails my work in that area. The one aspect of it I am able to continue doing is typing the results of a survey my dad is doing, for later analysis. I will probably start working with a different Sepal department in the next couple weeks - most likely either events administration or digital support. Tomorrow morning I'm going to be helping out with some activities at my church's outreach program for slum kids.
God bless you all!
Rachel
I'm sorry it's been so long since I sent news! A lot has happened in the last few weeks - here's an overview!
On the evening of Sunday, October 19th, I travelled to Florianópolis, a sea-side city about a ten hour drive south of São Paulo, to help with the administration of the biannual REVER national congress. REVER, which means to "re-see", is also an acronym in Portuguese for "Restoring Lives, Equipping Restorers". This ministry is a modification for a church setting and for children of dysfunctional homes of any type of the twelve step Alcoholus Anonymous rehabilitation program (if you're interested, the twelve steps as used by REVER are listed at the end of this blog). My parents started REVER in 1997 (we just celebrated it's tenth birthday!), but it has been under national leadership for several years now, although it continues to be a branch of MAPI. I participated in several REVER events during my highschool years and was always deeply blessed by them. This time, I went not just as a participant, but to offer administrative support. I arrived several days early to help out with the prep and then stayed on through the congress. It was a blessing to me to be able to offer specific and practical help to this ministry, and I also enjoyed the opportunity to strengthen my relationships with the wonderful people that make up the REVER national leadership. The congress itself was extremely worthwhile. The topic this year was "sanctifying our minds" and the main speaker was a Brazilian psychologist and pastor named Fábio Damasceno. He did an incredible job of integrating psychology and theology (to use language familiar to you Wheaton types :) ) in practical and wise teaching about having our minds - with all their psychological complexity - fully consecrated to the Lord.
After an exhausting post-congress two days of working through some financial complications with the hotel, Luciene (the REVER national leader), Paula (the main administrator for the congress), and I stayed on a couple more days just to relax and enjoy the beach. It was a lot of fun. On Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 29, we headed back to Joinville (a town about three hours north of Florianópolis, where Lu and Paula live), where I got to hang out with Lu and her family for another day and see the sights. The next afternoon, I took a bus another couple hours north to Curitiba, Paraná for the yearly Sepal retreat. (If you're interested, see http://p.vtourist.com/223212-Brasil_map-Brazil.gif for a map of Brazil that includes São Paulo - in the yellow region - and Florianópolis and Curitiba - in the red region. Joinville is half-way in between Florianópolis and Curitiba.)
I've participated in Sepal retreats since I was 5, but this was the first time I was going as an "adult" instead of a MK. It was an interesting juncture of the familiar and the novel. As always, the adults had meetings in the mornings and evenings, while the kids hung out all day and had fun. Afternoons for everyone were devoted to rest, leisure, and fellowship. For the first time I actually participated intensively in the meetings! They were a good time of solidifying our identity and commitments as a team. We also had a great time of sight-seeing in Curitiba one of the afternoons. Nonetheless, I admit that by the time the end of the retreat came around on Sunday afternoon, after two weeks away, I was ready to head home to my own bed and familiar food. The first night I slept for twelve hours!
Monday morning dawned ... I mean... ahem... afternoon... I slept until 1:45PM! That day and the next few were spent getting rested up from the trips, catching up with things here, and getting back into the rhythm of life in general. Yesterday, Thursday, Nov. 8, and today are normal work days for me - which mainly means working on the MAPI website, which I had neglected for two weeks, and a few odds and ends related to research. Unfortunately, the woman in charge of the Sepal research department was told by her doctor to take a four month medical leave (if you remember, please pray for her. She is a wonderful Brazilian woman named Eunice, who was just overworked and overwhelmed and needed some time for rest), which mainly curtails my work in that area. The one aspect of it I am able to continue doing is typing the results of a survey my dad is doing, for later analysis. I will probably start working with a different Sepal department in the next couple weeks - most likely either events administration or digital support. Tomorrow morning I'm going to be helping out with some activities at my church's outreach program for slum kids.
God bless you all!
Rachel
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