The most beautiful thing about today was sitting and visiting with families in the favelas, genuinely building relationships, and sharing Christ. We (Jonytas, Italia, Patty, Jim, and I) got to visit one family though that was really special to me. To put this experiences in to words would be an impossible thing to do, but I will do my best to explain. Last year, my mom, Pam, went on this trip to Brazil and had a special bond with a girl at camp named Bruna. This year, when I came on this trip, my mom sent me with a picture of her with Bruna and told me to try and give it to her. I had the opportunity to meet Bruna and her family today and spend time in their home. Though I forgot to bring the picture with me, Jonytas will bring it to her next week. I showed Bruna a picture of my mom, and she smiled..and excitedly exclaimed “PAMELA! PAMELA!”. She was ecstatic. She then ran to her room and gave me a brown wooden box to give to my mom, along with a necklace for me. Her two sisters gave me little presents as well. And, I took a picture with Bruna and her family. It was a moment that was painted with God’s love and grace. My mom would be happy to know that Bruna has a wonderful, God-loving family.
There is so much more I could explain about today or about this week. Being here is a blessing, a gift, a priceless treasure that I hope you can share in. We had some pretty neat experiences today. I love that we serve a God who loves His people dearly and is passionately in love with those that put their faith in Him. This week is about loving God and loving others.Love. Love. Love.
Update on God's love from Brazil!
As I was writing somewhat about being patient…my four paragraphs I just typed just got erased. Haha..deep breathe :) Here we go! :)
Where do I start? It was a pretty rough trip here. From the long flight, to a frustrating and trying time in the airport, God has shown that our plans aren’t always His. It’s humbling. As we landed in Sao Paulo, Jimmy, Patty, and I had to go through a separate security because of our bags. After over an hour of confusion, frustration, and miscommunication, they took and kept our bags of toys because we did not have any claims that they were donations and they taxed the speakers as well (a lot of money). But, we made it out safe!
Our journey had just begun. We made the trip out to beautiful Camp California. It was rainy and muddy, but we were determined that God would work despite all of the rain. As we pulled up to the dirt road leading to the camp, our bus got stuck deep in mud. We hoped and prayed and did what we could to get the bus up, but a pretty 45 minute walk up to camp was the outcome. And, thankfully, the bus was pulled out later. Hooray! Sadly, because of all the troubles, the kids were not able to come up Friday night. Yet, the next morning, they arrived, after walking the long climb as well, with excitement. We instantly became celebrities. God was and is at work.
The camp was great! It was full of God’s grace and love and His peace flowed from the dewy rain that kept us inside all Saturday. That did not hold back the extatic kids from running around and grabbing our hands and jumping up and down during worship. :) It is incredible the relationship you can build with kids in a day, even with a language barrier. Though it may seem like a barrier, at times, it is not, in fact….it may push us even closer to using love to show God to kids yearning for a heavenly Father.
After walking back down from the camp and the buses getting stuck again, we made it to the hotel ..showered quick, and joined Restoration Ministries for church. It was wonderful!!! Jonatas gave an amazing message and we felt God’s love fill the small, but powerfully loud room. It was great! Well, I could write tons and loads, but I gotta go! Pray that God’s grace and presence fills our tour of the flavelas tomorrow :) We are excited to see what God is going to do.
Where do I start? It was a pretty rough trip here. From the long flight, to a frustrating and trying time in the airport, God has shown that our plans aren’t always His. It’s humbling. As we landed in Sao Paulo, Jimmy, Patty, and I had to go through a separate security because of our bags. After over an hour of confusion, frustration, and miscommunication, they took and kept our bags of toys because we did not have any claims that they were donations and they taxed the speakers as well (a lot of money). But, we made it out safe!
Our journey had just begun. We made the trip out to beautiful Camp California. It was rainy and muddy, but we were determined that God would work despite all of the rain. As we pulled up to the dirt road leading to the camp, our bus got stuck deep in mud. We hoped and prayed and did what we could to get the bus up, but a pretty 45 minute walk up to camp was the outcome. And, thankfully, the bus was pulled out later. Hooray! Sadly, because of all the troubles, the kids were not able to come up Friday night. Yet, the next morning, they arrived, after walking the long climb as well, with excitement. We instantly became celebrities. God was and is at work.
The camp was great! It was full of God’s grace and love and His peace flowed from the dewy rain that kept us inside all Saturday. That did not hold back the extatic kids from running around and grabbing our hands and jumping up and down during worship. :) It is incredible the relationship you can build with kids in a day, even with a language barrier. Though it may seem like a barrier, at times, it is not, in fact….it may push us even closer to using love to show God to kids yearning for a heavenly Father.
After walking back down from the camp and the buses getting stuck again, we made it to the hotel ..showered quick, and joined Restoration Ministries for church. It was wonderful!!! Jonatas gave an amazing message and we felt God’s love fill the small, but powerfully loud room. It was great! Well, I could write tons and loads, but I gotta go! Pray that God’s grace and presence fills our tour of the flavelas tomorrow :) We are excited to see what God is going to do.
Brazil: A trip to love..love..love..
Brazil is coming right around the corner .. in a few days actually! My two trips this summer somehow landed back to back. And while my mind is reeling over my trip to Michigan, God is preparing my heart to go to Brazil with a small group from my home church, Lakeside, to reach the people there. I am excited to see God work on this mission trip to Sao Paulo.
We will be working with Restoration Ministry, a ministry that reaches out to the people of the Flavelas. The Flavelas is an area of extreme poverty, ravaged with drugs, prostitution and the abuse of kids. Restoration Ministry seeks to help the poor of Sao Paulo and bring the love of Christ to a beautiful people that are deeply hurting and crying out for help. Visit the website of Restoration Ministry, themotas.org to read more!
As our group ventures out on Thursday to go work with the ministry for a week and provide a vacation Bible school for the children there, we are in need of a lot of prayers! Please pray for the team and keep in tune on my blog to get updates during our time there.
If you would like to financially support me on my trip, my address is
2245 Rookery Place
El Dorado Hills, CA
95762
Most importantly, pray that God works in a way that moves the people of Sao Paulo and that his brilliant love will be shown.
We will be working with Restoration Ministry, a ministry that reaches out to the people of the Flavelas. The Flavelas is an area of extreme poverty, ravaged with drugs, prostitution and the abuse of kids. Restoration Ministry seeks to help the poor of Sao Paulo and bring the love of Christ to a beautiful people that are deeply hurting and crying out for help. Visit the website of Restoration Ministry, themotas.org to read more!
As our group ventures out on Thursday to go work with the ministry for a week and provide a vacation Bible school for the children there, we are in need of a lot of prayers! Please pray for the team and keep in tune on my blog to get updates during our time there.
If you would like to financially support me on my trip, my address is
2245 Rookery Place
El Dorado Hills, CA
95762
Most importantly, pray that God works in a way that moves the people of Sao Paulo and that his brilliant love will be shown.
Athletes in Action: TUFF Camp in Holland, Michigan
I'm scrambling through my brain to try and come up with the words to describe this past week in a half I spent at TUFF Camp in Holland, Michigan. TUFF camp is held by Athletes in Action, a Christian sports ministry to reach athletes all over the world. So, what is TUFF camp? Training you farther and faster. Running camp. When I flew out to Michigan, I met up with the other college counselors and coaches to prepare to lead a group of 60 high school runners through a week of two-a-day runs, competitions, clinics and ..just experiencing running with a deeper meaning--a relationship with Christ.
As I flew out of sunny California to the small town--Holland, I reflected over the current running injury I have right now and what camp would be like as a counselor, since I've gone to a TUFF camp before in Mammoth Lakes just a few years ago. Held at Hope College, our first night there was spent getting to know the other counselors and talking about what the week would be like: crazy busy. Every morning started with a shakeout run, food, followed with a clinic, food, another clinic, run again, food, have a competition, testimonies given by the counselors, and small group time.
The week was packed full of so many experiences, like hanging out with Nick Willis, the current Bronze metalist in the 1500. But more than running and competitions, there were some pretty impactful testimonies given that spoke volumes. And, at the end of the week, a few kids came to accept Christ as their Savior. The camp wasn't just about running, but about the hope we have in Christ and how much He values us. Our value needs to be found in him. Whether we win or loose races does not change how much we are worth. Running is something we do to glorify God.
This camp taught me a lot. Though I was a counselor, I learned once again that sometimes I fail to put all my joy in the Lord. I feel disappointed or let down because I have a stress reaction (not a runner's favorite injury). When I should be rejoicing that it's getting better, I get caught up thinking about not being ready for season, or the fact that I spend most of my time trying to cross train when I would rather be running. It is always cool to find that when we think that we are trying to teach others something, we find in return that we were the ones being taught all along.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize."
As I flew out of sunny California to the small town--Holland, I reflected over the current running injury I have right now and what camp would be like as a counselor, since I've gone to a TUFF camp before in Mammoth Lakes just a few years ago. Held at Hope College, our first night there was spent getting to know the other counselors and talking about what the week would be like: crazy busy. Every morning started with a shakeout run, food, followed with a clinic, food, another clinic, run again, food, have a competition, testimonies given by the counselors, and small group time.
The week was packed full of so many experiences, like hanging out with Nick Willis, the current Bronze metalist in the 1500. But more than running and competitions, there were some pretty impactful testimonies given that spoke volumes. And, at the end of the week, a few kids came to accept Christ as their Savior. The camp wasn't just about running, but about the hope we have in Christ and how much He values us. Our value needs to be found in him. Whether we win or loose races does not change how much we are worth. Running is something we do to glorify God.
This camp taught me a lot. Though I was a counselor, I learned once again that sometimes I fail to put all my joy in the Lord. I feel disappointed or let down because I have a stress reaction (not a runner's favorite injury). When I should be rejoicing that it's getting better, I get caught up thinking about not being ready for season, or the fact that I spend most of my time trying to cross train when I would rather be running. It is always cool to find that when we think that we are trying to teach others something, we find in return that we were the ones being taught all along.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize."
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