Opportunity Camp

My posts are all out of order - oh well. Just a quick note about Op Camp. It was the best year yet! We had a prayer room this year and some mighty prayer warriors were battling on our behalf all week and we could tell! We are so thankful to all the people who PRAYED last week - at Op Camp and elsewhere. McKenna and Josiah did great and made new friends, Malachi was a hit, Randy got to give stitches twice (once to Van who got hit in the eye at the pool - you can probably tell in the pic), and the Midland camp did a skit on the last p.m. that invited the Lord in a powerful way. Those kids - and adults - won't ever forget it. Lots of exciting things are brewing here in Como - we'll update you more when we can! God is so good!

Anda

Ashley, McKenna LOVED your singing card (and so did Isaac)!

Josiah had a great first year at camp - we were so proud of him!

Randy, Terrence, and Van went with the Hawaiian look on cook out night

Josh really loved Malachi!

Luke singing "Happy Birthday" with all his caffeinated little heart! :)

Happy Birthday, McKenna!

I love you, McKenna! I love your joyful and "bouncy" spirit and how easy you are to be with. I love your beautiful voice and your astounding piano playing! I love how you serve your younger siblings. I love how you encouraged Luke tonight when he was struggling a bit with Cooking Mama :)!! And I love that you sat in bed with me tonight and tried to figure out how to spend your birthday money - you didn't mention one thing for yourself because you're already planning on who you can buy Christmas presents for here in Como. This is such a picture of who you are. I love your sensitivity to the love of Father lately and how tender your heart is to people who are hurting. You ARE a reward from heaven and I'm so thankful that you're ours! Happy Birthday!

Love,

Mom

HAPPY BIRTHDAY McKENNA!!

I just realized that it is past midnight and therefore, it is McKenna's birthday. Happy Birthday, MK. I sure wish we could at least talk with you today, but phone service in the jungle is pretty sparse. Annie really wanted to call you today, but she may have to wait a day or two until we can get phone service again.

I just want you to know, your Grandma and Grandpa are so proud of the young lady you are. You are beautiful inside and out with a sweet spirit that reflects Jesus into the lives of everyone around you. We hope you have a wonderful day. We will be thinking about you today and praying very special blessings for you. I will never forget the day you were born; God blessed us that day with one of our greatest blessings--you!!!

We love you SOOOOOO much.

grandma and grandpa

BRAZIL TRIP UPDATE

Dear Family,
Everyone else is in bed since we leave for "the jungle" tomorrow at 6 am. A.J. is ecstatic about seeing alligators and catching piranha fish. The kids are teasing Bailey about all the birds we are going to see. We have had a very full and WONDERFUL two days in Brazil. I will let the pictures tell the story. Sorry there are so many--you should see all the ones I left out. :)

It has been great to be with Bailey and to see her love for Brazil and her excitement as she shares it with us. It is so exciting to think about what God is doing in the life of her language teacher because of the seeds she has planted. (See pictures.) We are so proud of her.

The kids are having a great time. They are learning more Portuguese all the time, and Bailey has been great to help them understand everything. Today's church experiences were highlights of our trip so far, especially tonight.

We love you all and will keep you posted, but I didn't think I would have access to internet in the jungle--Pantanal.

God is soooo good!
grandma

In the Midland airport--the day has finally arrived to leave for Brazil. Everyone is all smiles. Excitement would be an understatement. The gate agent said there was a problem printing the boarding passes for Alan and Holly's family, but he checked our luggage--all 11 bags--all the way to Campo Grande, Brazil and overrode the sytem to get boarding passes for everyone. He told us that it would be resolved by the time we got to Dallas. Later we understood that if we hadn't been dealing with this young man who knew Larissa and had spent time in Brazil, Alan and Holly's family might still be in Midland. I think he was a gift from God as I look back on the situation.

In Dallas when we arrived at our gate for our flight to Miami, we were told that Alan and Holly's family didn't have tickets, at least none that showed up in the system. For about one hour (fortunately the plane was running a little late) Alan, Dale, and the gate lady, "Cindy" made phone calls, called supervisors, travel agent, Tam airlines, and anyone else they could think of. We had written confirmation of our reservations including seat assignments. Tam assured them that we had tickets. Travel agent assured them that we had tickets. The computer denied that fact so we just continued to go round and round. The plane boarded and was ready to take of. There were at least a dozen people waiting to fly standby. Cindy just kept saying, "The system doesn't show that you have tickets." They did offer to sell us more tickets on the spot for just $7200. We passed on that offer. :)

You may be able to see from these faces that "stress" was an understatement. A.J. kept asking me what we would do if they didn't let them on. I told him we would go to Plan B. He wanted to know what Plan B was. I told him it was to soon to figure that out. I decided to just pray.

The kids were great--trying to think positive and keep a good attitude. However, Annie kept saying, "My dad is a lawyer--he can sue them!" I assured her that wouldn't really help at the moment.

The plane was fully loaded and ready to leave. Cindy finally just said, "Board the plane and we will try to get it resolved before you land in Miami." Annie is saying, "We love Cindy!!" Fortunately they had saved 6 seats for them in spite of the long stand-by list.

When we arrived in Miami, there was a gate agent waiting for us to tell us that the problem had been resolved. They issued boarding passes without incident and they are celebrating here--"We have boarding passes." However, Dad and I had boarded the plane when Dad's phone rang--Alan saying that they said that they didn't have tickets--something on their boarding passes that wasn't right. Here we go again. I stayed on the plane and Dad went to help. At the last moment they finally just let them board again--without tickets. We were finally on our way to Brazil, tickets or no tickets.

Arriving in Sao Paulo was another nightmare. After going through customs it is usually a very simple process to recheck luggage for the final destination. However, we just happened to arrive when the line to recheck luggage was all the way through the airport. We thought we had plenty of time, but 10 minutes before our flight was to leave we were still in the line with all our luggage where we had been slowly progressing for 1 1/2 hours. This may have been the most stressful part of the trip so far, especially since we were rather tired and hungry. At the last minute they finally called people from our flight to come to the front of the line where we rechecked our luggage and ran through security and to our plane. This time they didn't take time to examine the boarding passes very carefully and we were able to board without our normal delay for not having tickets. Finally, on our way to Campo Grande--last flight.

Bailey was THRILLED to see her family. She was the first one we saw when we landed, waving her arms and grinning from ear to ear. She and her cousins have been having a ball since the moment we arrived.

Shortly after getting settled at the home of Leila and Zanatta we made our way out to the country home of Carlos and Emilia for a churrasco meal--very Brazilian and very delicious.

Even at their outdoor barbeque cabana they had a game system set up. Alan, A.J. and Zanatta enjoy a little friendly competition.

One of the "specialties" at the home of Carlos and Emilia are "redes" (hammocks). Holly knew exactly what to do with them.

A 24 hour very stressful trip and an outing all in Portuguese at a Brazilians home has taken its toll on our brave little mama and her chickens. Leila and I were talking in the front seat while Holly and kids slept on the way home from Carlos and Emilia's house.

Saturday night we went to the street market for "soba" for supper--one of Bailey's favorite things. It is deluxe Ramen and really good. Zanatta and Leila know people everywhere we go.

Everyone shopped for souvenirs at the street market. Of course, Abby Claire picked out shoes. Zanatta is helping her find the right size. Annie found shoes for her as well. What man would get down on his knees to help little girls find the right size shoes except this wonderful, sweet man. I guess he probably has some experience with his own daughters, and I suppose it brought back a few memories.

We had a great time at the street market. After our 24 hour trip, we were still going strong at 10:30 pm; it appears that Brazilians never sleep.

Sunday morning church in Portuguese was a little much for A.J. Holly was working hard to keep those eyes open. We were all still exhausted from the trip and Day 1.

Carol, on the left, immediately took Abby Claire and the rest of the kids under her wing. We looked over and Abby Claire was in the middle of a group of Brazilians grinning from ear to ear. I don't know what they were saying or how they were communicating, but she was having a ball from what I could tell.

Carol--one of Bailey's new Brazilian friends--really reached out to the kids.

Bailey and Allison with Bailey's language teacher, Lillian. She accepted an invitation from Bailey to come to church--first time--and then join us for lunch. She seemed eager to experience this church Bailey had told her about. Bailey has done an outstanding job of planting the seed in her heart, and I can't wait to see how God is going to make it grow. She is so nice and seemed to love being with us.

Alan found this young man who is in law school. They enjoyed comparing notes.

It was fun for Alan to be able to bring his family to the Campo Grande church where he spent the summer with Karen and Eugene Goudeau during his college years.

Bailey was met at church in Cangaru Sunday night by her "fan club." All the kids love her, and she enjoyed introducing her cousins to her Brazilian kids.