After a long, but thankfully uneventful trip, we arrived in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday morning. There we met up with 2 students from Guatemala and 1 from Mexico. After breezing through customs and immigration, we set out to explore the city. We opted not to be adventurous and instead rented a van and hired a tour guide for the day. We were also blessed to have Tracy’s friend, Simone, a native Brazilian, spend the day with us. Although we were tired, we had a wonderful time. Cris, our guide, did a great job showing us around the city and explaining the culture. We visited Corcovado, also known as The Christ. This is the famous statue of Christ in Rio that is now one of the Wonders of the World. While we were there we were blessed to have a clear sunny day accompanied by a choir singing at the base of the Christ. It gave many of us goose bumps.

After the Christ we went for lunch at a churrascaria otherwise known as a Brazilian steak house. The food was delicious and Cris showed us how to eat the Brazilian way. She then took us to Ipanema and Copacabana to walk off the lunch. We watched the sunset over Copacabana and then headed back to the hotel for some much needed rest.

On Sunday we rode for 7 hours on the bus and reached Vicosa at 3:30 pm. When we reached the house we were given an orientation to our responsibilities. Who knew we would be feeding chickens and geese while in Brazil!! We promised that we would not eat the chickens!! Actually, the food is here fabulous. There is no chance that we will loose any weight while we are here.

Because the students have been arriving at different times, we did not officially start the program until this afternoon. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that most of the students have already taken some English classes so we have been able to communicate fairly easily. Because of this there has been a lot of laughter and fun.

Blessings from Brazil,
Ann

Monday 6/30/08

We all arrived safely in Vicosa yesterday and are now awaiting the arrival of the last of the students. This is the first time we have had access to the internet. I will post a little later today to let everyone know what is happening here. So far we have been having a wonderful time.

Ann

First Post

Welcome to the Brazil Team 2008 !!!

Those of you who have gone on this journey with us in the past know that last year we didn’t run the program. Then an opportunity presented itself in Brazil. Last June, Ann Perkins, Stacy Moyer and I traveled to Brazil to look at a missionary training center, Evangelical Missions Centre (CEM) in Vicosa. It is several hours, by bus, from Rio de Janeiro. The setting is beautiful….and it is warm! :0) The program, now called EnglishBridge, will begin Friday, June 27th when Team One leaves Living Word Community Church for BWI. They will fly to Rio de Janeiro, where they will spend one day and night. On Sunday, June 29, they will travel by bus to Vicosa. The program will begin on Monday morning.

The program will be primarily the same, with a few exceptions. One is the housing. In Argentina, we stayed on a small campus. There were two separate ‘housing’ areas were students and team would sleep. There was also a dining room. In Brazil, we will all be staying in a large house….19 of us. Think of it as ‘Big Brother (or Sister!) Brazil’. We will truly be living ‘in community’ which is one of the main components of the EnglishBridge. It will be interesting as we all get to know each other.

Another change is the makeup of the teams. This year, Living Word has partnered with Ogden Church in Adrian Michigan. Six people from Ogden make up the majority of Team Two. We are so happy to have Ogden as part of this endeavor. Finally, the team leadership is different. The past two times we have run this program I have been the team leader for all three teams. This year, we have a different leader for each team. Team One’s leader is Ann Perkins. Ann has been on both of our Argentina teams and has emerged as a strong and capable leader. She is a veteran of missions, having been to India and Guatemala. Team Two will be lead by an old friend of mine, Dan Maloy. Dan also was part of both of our Argentina teams and last year we began discussions about him leading a team from his church in Michigan. He had the opportunity to travel with Andy, last November, to visit CEM and make final preparations for our trip. He has a passion for missions and we are so happy and fortunate to have him as a leader.

We look forward to you joining us every day to see what is happening and be a part of the adventure.

Until the end of the week………
Grace and peace,
Deb