APRIL 2, 2007: PREACHING IN CATETE
Yesterday I preached at the Methodist Church of Catete in Rio. It's the oldest Methodist church in Brasil, founded in the late 19th century. They have a traditional worship service in the morning and a contemporary service at night. I preaching in the morning service.

Even though it was Palm Sunday, I broke tradition a little bit and preached from Luke 5:1-11, the story of Jesus calling Peter to become a fisher of men. The focus of the message is that Jesus knows more about your situation than you do, because he knows more about you than you know about yourself. Just like he saw the potential for great leadership in Simon (who eventually became Peter, the rock), he also sees potential in you that you or others might not see.

Left to right: Michelle, Henrique, Fabiloa, Dandara, Fabio

APRIL 4, 2007: TEACHING IN MORRO AZUL
One thing I'm able to do this time in Brasil that I haven't been able to do as much in the past is spend some time in the classrooms with the students. On Tuesday and Thursday we have two classes -- a morning class and an afternoon class. The morning class is made up of some of our older students, and it's a quiet and relaxed class. The afternoon class is all teenagers -- and it's a little hectic, but a lot of fun.

When my sister visited last week she commented how the teenagers in our class were so much like typical teenagers (she's a school teacher in Knoxville). It's true; kids are basically the same whereever they're from.

Since these are kids who have grown up in the same favela, they know each other well and there is a lot of camaraderie in the group, as well as a lot of teasing. We taught them the song "You Are So Beautiful" (it has very simple lyrics and it's a song they know) -- and immediately Dondara turned to Henrique and began singing, "You don't are so beautiful to me." We had just been teaching the use of don't and doesn't; Dondara was a little creative in how she applied it.

But it's a fun class and I always look forward to spending time with the students each Tuesday and Thursday. In the afternoon we also have a children's class. My sister worked with them, teaching them a song about "I am your friend so let's hold hands and dance" or something like that. It was a kids' song. They really enjoyed learning it, and I heard them singing the same song again this week.

We also have beginning classes on Wednesday and Friday morning, and additional children's classes on Wednesday afternoon and Friday morning.

APRIL 16, 2007: MINISTRY UPDATES
It's been a busy and productive month. We've made great progress here on several items.

● We've made key contacts that could open the door for contributions from Brasilian corporations looking to support the type of work we do. This is a lengthy process, but we've been here now more than two years and have established credibility for ourselves; those who visit our project can see the value of the work we are doing. If we were to obtain any type of corporate support, it would begin sometime in 2008.

● I have been able to connect with more pastors here who want to be involved in our work in some way. My speaking schedule for my next visit to Brasil is already full.

● Mission teams. We have finished putting together some short-term mission tours here for church groups wanting to be involved in ministry in Brasil -- this includes all travel details and ministry projects. We will make this information available at the website in July 2007.

● Teaching class. As I mentioned earlier, this is the first time I was able to be fully involved in teaching an English class. I won't always have this luxury, so I took advantage of it this time. I really enjoy being in the classroom. Teaching English is not as easy as it looks, but it's great fun and I love interacting with the students.

● We've also made some progress on our clinic. My goal from the beginning was to provide medical assistance to this community. For the last year or so we have helped the local volunteer doctors with medicine and supplies. And we have continued to look for opportunities to do more. We have strengthened our connection with the volunteer doctors that serve our community, and are actively developing ways we can help them better connect with the people of our community. In the coming weeks I'll be making posts about specific actions we are able to put into place.

APRIL 18, 2007: VIOLENCE IN RIO
Yesterday was an eventful day in the South Zone of Rio. A war broke out in a nearby favela in what is typically a pretty safe area. The favela is called Mineira; it is about a 10 minute walk from where I work.

The violence was caused by a turf war; two gangs and the police were involved. The fighting took place near a high traffic tunnel that leads to downtown, to the airport, the bus station etc -- so traffic was basically shut down in my neighborhood for several hours.

19 people died, most of them gang members.

The Pope is visiting Rio next month, and in July Rio is sponsoring the Pan American Games, so the city is doing all it can to ensure that it will be safe for the hundreds of thousands of visitors, but it is a big challenge for them.

The Washington Post has a good one page article about yesterday's events.

APRIL 20, 2007: CLASSES FULL
On my last day in Rio it is great to say that Beatrice's class afternoon class was filled to capacity to this week -- so much that we didn't have enough desks to go around. We about 14 little kids (ages 5-10) in her class. At the same time Ana Claudia was teaching about half dozen teenagers in her class. The math doesn't quite add up; there weren't enough chairs for everyone. This is good, but we'll need to get some new desks before too long.

I want to remind you that these classes are voluntary; kids come here because they love the atmosphere and they love to learn (and, clearly, they love the teachers). The enrollment in Beatrice's class is pretty loose; she just teaches who shows up. (And they are LOUD.) Ana's classes are more consistent -- the same students day after day.