May 9, 2011
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2011 Review
This year in Brazil Living Stones has gone through many changes. I arrived to find the program on hold at Paudalho, due to construction and changes. I wasn’t sure what that meant for me, but there was plenty to do, as well as becoming the music and choir teacher at the International school. The new Living Stones curriculum needed to be tested and translated into Portuguese as well, because some ideas just don’t work in another country and culture.
While putting together a ministry website (www.buildinglivingstones.blogspot.com), updating, and organizing our missions statement, objectives, and general information (www.wribrazil.com/livingstones.html), I have begun talking with other churches interested in beginning a Living Stones program, and putting all the information into Portuguese.
A second Living Stones project began last year in Cajueiro Claro. It is a small community of 1000 people, about two miles off the main road, in the middle of nowhere. I began walking there with Flavio (the church planter/pastor/Living Stones worker) a couple times a week, and soon found these children holding a special place in my heart. The rural needs are different and sometimes complex, but it has been a rewarding time in Cajueiro Claro (even with the frogs, bats, lizards, scorpions, and snails I weekly clean out of my classroom).
We are hoping to reopen Living Stones Paudalho in August, but in the meantime, we have been able to keep in contact with the kids through home visitation and special activities, like our Easter program. These past months have been a big transition for me personally, as I have gone from assisting/observing to teaching/running the character and Bible program for Living Stones (in Portuguese).
Since my tourist visa is expired, I will be returning to the United States to get a student visa. I have been accepted into the post-grad program at FALUB, a university in Brazil, to study educational psychology. It begins in August, so I will have some time with friends and family, as well as a opportunity to teach with Supercamp in Hong Kong for the month of July.
When I return to Brazil, I will study at FALUB, continue teaching English as a ministry, and work with Living Stones in Cajueiro Claro and Paudalho, as well as working to connect and begin projects in other towns. Thank you for your support and prayers!
