We are home

Thank you prayer partners for all your support. We arrived home yesterday afternoon after a smooth-but long trip back. There were many happy family members! The luggage all arrived and all went well through immigration. Fortunately we left Rio with plenty of time to spare as Brasil was playing the world cup that afternoon and everyone was going home early that day. Early afternoon trraffic was at a standstill as the game was at 3:30. We were at the airport at game time-and shops literally pulled down the doors and closed as the game began. Certainly it was a national event-seemingly even more important than our superbowl. Brasil did win!
We were very blessed throughout the entire trip and could see God's hand in it all. Chain of Love is now a part of our lives and we look forward to sharing it with you.
Thanks too for all the rides to and from the airport.
Becky

Today our Hillside Missionaries return to Dickinson but Chain of Love remains in Brazil to serve children in need. Please remember to keep Chain of Love in your prayers and consider how God may be calling you to serve in this special ministry.

Sunday

We had a wonderful day enjoying God´s creation. The plants and trees are so beautiful and Alex and Ruth even spotted spider monkeys in the trees. Despite the beauty of Rio, you do not have to look far to notice the pain of poverty and human need. We are on the home stretch and many of us are looking forward to seeing our families at home. I know I am.
Thanks for your prayers.
Becky

Saturday

Hello,
We are in Rio now. We had a safe trip and the tickets all worked out-story later.
We passed many slums on the way to our hotel-and some of the children from COL came from these areas. This reinforced the amazing work of COL. We visited the houses last night and this was a high point of the trip for me. We prayed with each family and brought their specific requests home. Processing what we saw will take time. We are amazed at our great God.
Internet time is limited....
More tomorrow.
Becky

Friday Afternoon

Bible school ended today and we said 'chow' to the children. It was a very full week and the kids seemed to love the sessions. Yesterday Eileen let the kids put on a puppet show and they are quite talented with lots of rhythm.

Last night we provided a "treat" for all of the children. It was the traditional treat used at birthday parties. It was most like our hotdog althought the bun was like a pocket. They chopped up hotdogs and cooked them with onions and tomatoes. Then they added peas and corn. It all went "in the pocket" and then their version of french fried potatoes was added to the top. We served 243-along with hot chocolate so you can see the kids love this treat. It was definetly a cultural experience.

The colds are improving and almost everyone is better. Thanks for praying.

Tonight we visit the houses. We are in teams and each team will visit 6 houses. We are looking foward to visiting and praying with the families.

We also gave them all the supplies that were donated and we thank you for this.

Keep praying-we have been very blessed here.

Becky

Thursday

Today the puppets "performed" the prodigal son. The focus was on forgiveness and God's love for them. After the lesson, many children raised their hands and told us they love Jesus and were recently baptized.
The lessons this week have been:
Deus te conhece: God knows us
Deus te ajuda: God helps us
Deus e seu amigo: God is our friend
Deus te perdoa: God forgives us
So many of the children made the connection between the the caterpillar puppet that changed to a butterfly-and the change that Jesus brings.
Construction is continuing and supplies are getting low. We hope we can find some more.
Becky

A Photographic Treat From Brazil

Hello Prayer Partners! Trevor must be sending photos home from his cell phone so I got these treasures from Jo Ann's FB page. What a treat. Can't you almost imagine being there with all of these dear folks? ENJOY!