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