End of July

Sorry it has been a while since my last update. There are two phone/internet carriers here: MCel and Movitel. Movitel is the better one and the one that we run our internet through but they have some problem with their fiber optics so we have been without internet, it was expected when I came that the internet would be difficult to have but then I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived and it was as good as the internet service in the states. Reality check. But we have survived and besides it being harder to communicate with you all, it hasn't been too bad. But, we still are hoping that it come back up before too long!
Brenda went to the states for two weeks to visit with her parents in July. Her mother is not in good health and Hannah and I were happy to be able to hold down the fort here so she could go. Really it wasn't too difficult since we had Capena here who knows all the programs and pretty much ran everything with the help of the pastors. We controlled money, keys and assisted with the basic programs that continued while Brenda was away. We got to use our Portuguese to ask the guard to go to the market for fruits and meat. He came back with the right foods and amounts so I say it was successful. Also, Ashlynn arrived from the states two weeks ago and we are happy to have her here.
We go to the center daily at catorce hora (1400 or 2:00, we go by military time here) for Escola Ingles, most days we have students show up with their notebooks and pencils. We teach them basic words and if Nelson is there, he is 16 and knows a good amount of English, we ask him how to say things in Portuguese. This week there were some teenage girls looking through the windows and giggling as we had class. I asked if they wanted to learn English and they came right in, borrowed paper and pens from the boys and eagerly took notes. We sometimes take children's books and have them read in English and then translate for them. It was a challenge as we read "The Nose Book" and I had to try to figure out how to say that 'some use their noses to blow horns', that's kind of weird. Or how to say 'sniffle'. We decided to put my Portuguese/English Bible to use and teach them--as well as ourselves!--some Bible verses in English and Portuguese.
We finished corn processing this week. We are relieved to have that huge job finished and thankful that God provided and everything went off relatively smoothly. The second big truck broke on the last day of transporting corn but Brenda and Manel were able to get it up and running again so Manel and two other guys could deliver food to another village a few hours away from here the next day.

Thanks for the continued prayers. I'll write more later!