The first 3 Weeks!

     Well I am not much of a writer, but several people mentioned to me about posting my thoughts and experiences from this journey that God has me on so i figured I would give it a shot. About 8 months ago, God called me to spend a year working at a wonderful orphanage in Fortaleza, Brazil. The directors, and all involved, truly have a passion for sharing the love of Christ with these kids as well as giving them a vision and hope for a better future! So these are my rambling thoughts as best as i can compile them! :)
     My first experience of Brazil was in the airport on Rio de Janeiro where I missed my connecting flight to Fortaleza and had to hang out in the airport for about 7 hours! I almost cried right there in the middle of everything going on around me because I was terrified! But then I remembered that God had called me to this, and I knew that He would take care of me! It actually turned out nice to be able to have that time to spend with God and think and read, etc!! :) So when I finally made it to Fortaleza I was more than relieved! The missionaries made me feel right at home from the very beginning and I loved it already!
     After a couple days, I moved into my apartment at the orphanage (called Davis Lar) and started to meet the kids!! Imagine my shock when i realized that only two other people living at the Lar spoke English out of the 60 kids, 5 house moms, two cooks, and a few maintenance guys! I was terrified and thought that it would be nice to just go back home! Sure that would have been the comfortable thing to do at the time, but God was asking me to do what was uncomfortable to me! And so the fun began!
     The first week at the Lar was the kids' last week of their break from school (technically it was their summer break)! So i had lots of time to hang out and get to know the kids as well as get adjusted to living here! I cant tell you how many movies i watched with the kids that first week of being here...something like 20 or so!! sheesh...it was fun though :) These kids are awesome and they are so fun to hang out with, its cool to see them entertain themselves without having to have tv or video games, etc!! 
     So the next week was their first week going back to school. Now everything goes back to a normal scheduled routine and so began a new challenge for me...teaching English classes!! At more than one point in my life im pretty sure ive said that i would never be a teacher! And then they give me 4 classes per day to teach..with varying age groups! I was given no curriculum to follow so I had to come up with my own lesson plans and then follow them out with methods of teaching to keep them interested as well as games to stimulate learning! Like I said, Im not much of a teacher so for me, I knew I would have to completely rely on God for this one (not that I dont have to for anything else, its just that it doesnt come naturally for me)!! Maybe its better this way because if the kids learn anything, then I will know that it was all God and nothing that I did! :) This week was hectic with the classes because the kids' schedules were not completely set yet...this means that kids were everywhere and of course all of them wanted to be on the computers at the same time! All the girls watched so much Justin Bieber and High School Musical on youtube that I thought I was going to scream!
     This week our schedule was much more set and organized so it went better! The teaching is not as bad as I thought it was going to be (most days) and I love when I see it click for some of them :) This week I was also able to start a Bible Study with the teenage girls! We are doing a 12 week study with them about the basics of the faith. We chose 5 topics to study each one for 2 weeks. The Girls paired up and took the topics to study on their own and they seemed really excited about the study and what all we were gonna be doing! This is very encouraging to see their excitement! And of course I am excited because this is the reason that I believe God has called me here! These girls have so much to offer and i love hanging out with them! They have taught me so much Portuguese and so I am just starting to be able to communicate with them in very small ways! 
     As a whole the kids here are so very loving. Everyday i get so many hugs and kisses and even little notes that say I love you melissa! It fills my heart with joy and I pray that I could have that same impact on them!! So far, ive only gotten homesick once or twice and it didnt last very long...I think that i havent really gotten homesick because I feel like this is a home away from home for me!!! 
     One last story and then im done for today....the other day i was sitting in the cafeteria eating lunch and one of the house moms (who doesnt speak English) came up to me and asked me how I was doing. I told her that I wasnt feeling very good! She told me that she was praying for me and started telling me different ways that I could feel better...like drink lots of orange juice, take a shower and a nap, etc!! I wanted to hug her and cry all at the same time...she barely knows me, and yet she was communicating such words of comfort at a time when I really needed it! And even though we dont speak the same language, I could feel the Spirit of God in her connecting with my Spirit and I was so comforted!! 


So if you are still with me at this point I am impressed!! I promise all the posts wont be this long...this is 3 weeks packed into one! hehe :) 


All For HIS Glory!!
-Liss