August 01, 2004

All is Well with My Soul

Where do I begin? Words can not possibly express how I feel right now. My cup truly is running over with joy of our trip to Rio!
Our team arrived home safely around 12:30 on Sunday after a little scare in Houston about some planes being grounded on account of terriost attacks. We prayed... and God answered!
What an amazing trip we had!!! We were able to complete the construction of the church building in Rio das Pedras. It is estimated that 6,000 brick were laid, two coats of sealer applied were after cleaning each brick, morter was put between each row and each brick, and then finally another coat of sealer was painted on for the finished product. That in itself was very time consuming. Six windows and a door were hand painted and installed after all the proper measurements were made. Electrical work was done and clean up was massive. No wonder we were tired. Ha! On Thursday night, we all stopped and watched as the capstone (final brick) was installed. What a celebration we had...
Many of us had the wonderful opporunity to take time and go into the community and share Christ with those nearby. People are already seeing Jesus and accepting Him as their Lord and Savior! How much more excited can it get?
On Friday, after a tedious day of final work, we had the celebration service with a full house and the new pastor. It was extremely emotional and tears flowed freely. What a blessing to be a part of such a God filled week! I personally feel honored and humbled to be a part of such an experience.
The team came to the conculsion at the final devotion and share time in the Houston airport that our work is just beginning. Our mission trip has just started. Now we must bring the love and saving grace of Jesus to those around us--our neighbors, our coworkers, and anyone else we come in contact with. Our mission field for just a few precious days was in Rio das Pedras. Now our mission field is here at home.
Each team member wants you to know how much we appreciated your prayers. They were felt in many, many ways.
Again, it is hard to express with words, but I will close in saying "All is Well with My Soul!" "Praise God from Whom all Blessings Flow!"
Linda

Posted by at 08:55 PM

July 27, 2004

A very busy week so far...

Here we are and it is already late on Tuesday evening. Actually it is really bed time. However, we just got back from a late dinner and of course we had to have our nightly banana splits! Yes, we do gain weight while we are here.
Since our last contact with you on early Sunday, we have had a very busy schedule. We were able to go back to the church our team from BBC built last year and be a part of their wonderful worship service. Bill and Carol Bedi were on that team and were major players in the construction of the church in Silverstre. But who would have ever thought that in the following year, their son Tim would be preaching a sermon in that same church. Wow! It is amazing to see God work.
Well, on Monday we got off to an amazing start on the construction site after tromping though a lot of mud and such to get there. All 16 members of the team found their place and worked eagerly all day long. We worked the ant line many times in order to get material moved from one place to another in a timely fashion. We all worked muscles we did not know we had... On Tuesday, we all expected to be sore and not able to move, but another miracle happened. We were tired, but not sore. Thank goodness! We put in another very full day and we are ahead of schedule at this point. The Brazilian who is in charge said we were very professional in our work. We work hard and we laugh a lot. Something funny is always going on!
On Wednesday, we will start our day with out with our morning devotion and work like little beavers all day. We still have a lot of work to do. I will not bore you with the details.
Just pray for us--health, safety, weather, and of course that our lives will shine for Jesus!
We know you are praying for us and we thank you for those prayers. They are so important to each one of us.
In Service,
Linda

Posted by at 08:24 PM

July 23, 2004

Today is the day for Departure

Well, in just a few hours our team of 16 will be heading to the airport to depart for Rio! How exciting... Our bags are almost packed and our hearts are busting at the seams with joy and anticipation. We covet your prayers as we board the plane for a very long flight. Some of us have back problems and other health issues--Pray! Some of us have family members that are sick--PRAY! Some of us have job insecurities--PRAY!
God is so awesome! We can't wait to see what He has in store for us for the next ten days. Get ready here we go...
Love and Blessings to each of you!
Linda

Posted by at 10:30 AM