My time in Brazil is almost over... I cannot believe how quickly the time has gone! It has been a eye-opener and a real time of encouragement for me.
Since the last post I have done a lot of marking and grading of the students at school. Now that that busy period was done school has begun to wind down. I praise the Lord that he helped me through that busy period. It was hard saying bye to my classes, they say they will miss me... and I will miss some of them too. One of the classes threw me a leaving party today which was nice, there was lots of food, and that makes the farewell easier to swallow (excuse the pun!).
Today was also sports day at school... if you could call it that. Contrasting it with a sports day in the UK it is like watching organsised choas as opposed to military drill. It was unorgansied madness! Having said that it somehow worked... eventually. There was running, dodgeball, volleyball and football. Volleyball was the definately the one I enjoyed the most. I was allowed to compete for a start, as teachers could not compete in the running or the dodgeball. I think I made quite an impression... mainly because the net was about 3 foot tall and I was a foot taller than everyone else. Football was a contrast to what I thought it would be. Far from the beautiful game it was like watching primary school football! No passing, everyone shooting as soon as they got into trouble... it was disappointing. By the end I was annoying my team as they were complaining I was saying "PASS, PASS, PASSSSS!" to much... I would have stopped if they listened.
The weekend gone was certainly a busy one. I went out with some friends on Friday night which was nice. The following day I said farewell to some of them at the airport as they were travelling away. There was also a Pastors' conference going on from Thursday-Saturday. I attended the final session on Saturday night. It was encouraging to see so many pastors from different denominations there, Victor Maxwell and Peter Milsom spoke that evening.
On Sunday we attended a large baptist church in town, a church which seats 400+. It was a lovely modern building with the latest technology. Peter Milsom spoke there in the morning. We ate out at lunchtime (a common thing to do in Brazil) in a lovely restuarant which provided wonderful meat... it really was a joy to behold and consume! In the evening we attended the small congregation church that I have been visiting the most on my trip. Contrasted to where we were in the morning it was so different! I gave my testimony in the evening and Peter spoke a clear gospel message.
Tomorrow will probably be a quiet day before I have the mammoth travel back home, I just hope I can get home in one piece... and don't get on the wrong plane by mistake in my tiredness!
It has been a joy to see so much of the Lord's work here in Brazil. I have visited 4 different churches in Manaus, met numerous Pastors and many missionaries. I have also worked in a school with a real Christian enthos where God is also at work. It would be great to pray that the children there would come to Christ having heard the Gospel presented faithfully there in Bible classes. It is so encouraging to see how God is working in Manaus but also throughout Brazil and interesting to see the differences from the UK. The church here needs lots of prayer but the opportunites are great. There is much need in this country as there is in the UK.
I can't find the words to sum up my time here but one thing I am sure of is that God is at work, saving lives and bringing people into His kingdom, and that is so, so encouraging.
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