The last 2 1/2 weeks have been so FULL! We’ve celebrated 3 birthdays — Neil (40-something), Lucie (11) & Titus (2) — and Savana will celebrate her 14th in Brazil! Neil’s parents also celebrate birthdays in September — it’s one big party month! 🙂
Neil’s sister Lisa, and her husband Dan visited us! All in one day, we checked out a cattle auction (amazing!), visited a splash pad because it’s still hot, hot, HOT here, and shared our favorite Texas BBQ with them (Rudy’s) — where Neil’s parents shocked us with a surprise visit on their way to Houston-area! We topped the evening off with frozen custard — it was kind of a dream day 🙂 The next day we went to a horse jumping competition (there are so many worlds I don’t know anything about)… Like the cattle auction, this is a world I know NOTHING about — I’m fascinated!
Neil’s parents made their way back this past weekend — we celebrated those birthdays I talked about, chased down some homemade fried pies from the Mercantile in Mineola, and spent quite a bit of time in their hotel pool. They also were able to attend class with us on Friday morning.
Our last couple of weeks of class focused on Evangelism — from some of the basics like listening, and living out our faith, to using worship to encourage (aka, evangelize), to understanding apologetics as a way to evangelize.
Onto OUTREACH… I would be lying if I told you packing up our dorm-home of the last 3 months, and packing to leave the country for a month is easy. It’s totally not!! (insert sobbing crying emoji!) BUT, our school leaders have been gracious & kind — they gave us time to pack while our kiddos are in classes, brought in a packing expert to demo packing minimally for outreach, and helping us know where in the world to start. We’re also so thankful for our mobile storage unit (aka our trailer) — it’s allowed us to bring the extra things (like bikes & strollers & books & a few toys & lots of bedding) that have been lifegiving and made this place home for us for the last 3 months.
So tomorrow, we spend the first half of the day cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. Neil will be in the cafeteria kitchen, I’ll be working in the dorm, and our older kids also have cleaning assignments around base. After lunch, we clean up and pack up into a bus and a couple of vans, and make our way to Dallas. We’re spending the night there, as our flight leaves EARLY (6 am) on Friday. We fly from Dallas to Miami, then from Miami to Recife, Brazil. We arrive in Brazil at 9 pm, and from there take a 6 hour bus ride to Canapi. It’s kind of a daunting 24 hours of travel, but God is faithful! We’re praying peace over the littles, peace over the details of travel & customs, peace and purpose even in flight… We’re trusting Him for safe travels & divine appointments all along the way.
I don’t know much yet about the details of our schedule once in Canapi. I do know that our first day is a rest day — Hallelujah! Beyond that, we’re prepared with skits, testimonies, short messages, intercessory prayer, magic tricks, and cute babies to lead us into conversation with people who need to know Jesus. Brazil, there’s a little army a’comin’…so get ready! We’ll update here as often as we can… We love you all, and thank you so much for praying for us and we jump into the outreach phase of our YWAM adventure!
Amy!! May God bless and watch over you all! You are all amazing!!
Brazil is about to be extremely blessed to have you guys invade!
Amy, this is incredible! I can feel and hear the excitement in your words. I pray a hedge of protection around your family and everyone traveling with you. Be safe and shine His light!
Praying for you all on this next leg of the adventure! So excited for what God is doing in you! Your family is a blessing! Love you all!