Internet working, HURRAY!!!!!
We've had some frustrating internet experiences lately, it's great to be able to get online again.
This week has been another busy one, we have finished teaching on being a worker approved by God (2 Tim 2:15), and now we're onto the divine plumbline. We've also had lots of asignments to do in our evenings, so we've had to be very self-disciplined. Josiah has started helping in one of the groups of boys (6-8 yrs) that comes to the lighthouse. It's really good for him to get to know them, to see some of the reality of life here and to learn Portuguese, he really likes it. Gideon is having lots of fun with Dani, she is very quiet but she's also a bit whacky, and has jumped in the pool fully clothed a few times, much to Gideon's delight. We're all quite excited about going to Amambai, even if it is a long way away. We're now practising dances and dramas in preparation - even Dave!

I'm just having a break from studying...my head hurts! This week we have been looking at 2Timothy 2v15 - being a worker approved by God. There is soo much to take in as well as getting all of our studying done to a high enough standard that sometimes it is really difficult. As well as this we have to make sure we spend enough time together as a family, which is also difficult. Because of this, we have to make sure that both Beckie and I are ahead of our studies enough to have a day off together. Some students study on their day off...not us...it is our icecream day.
We were told on Tuesday to decide where God wanted us to go on outreach (the 2 month practical aspect of the course we are doing) and let the leadership team know by Thursday. They gave us 4 options: 1)Help develop a community project in the Western state of Matto Grosso du Sul, 2)Work in two different cities in Minas Gerias - this state - doing evangelism, house building and other practical work, 3)Go to Chile to work at a YWAM bass, 4)Stay here at The Lighthouse. So, we prayed as a family on 2 different occasions waiting on the Lord for a word and He spoke to the children giving Josiah 2 different pictures, giving Gideon a desire to go where there was 'decorating' to be done and God showed me a vision of a cow! On their own they made little sense but when pieced together they all pointed to the state of Matto Grosso du Sul. When we met again with the leadership about this they said that God had spoken to them about us going there too - cool, huh? If you do not know God's leading in this way maybe you should spend time with your family seeking Him and asking Him what you want to know and then just wait. He may want you to give Him an oportunity to speak to you in that way.
We leave for Western Brazil on the 12th April, we think. The place we are going is called Amambai and is right near the border of Paraguay. It is a 26hour bus ride from here! We have been told that we will spend some time with tribal folk too.
Anyway...must get back to work as there is much to do...

We have just had a most amazing weekend called 'Culture Weekend'. We spent time living and experiencing what it is like in different cultures. We sampled Muslim, Hindu, Chinese and Central African cultures (from specific countries) by watching films about them and having seminars as well as eating the food, wearing the clothes and behaving like they do.

For example, on Saturday we were woken up at 4am to pray and had to face East in a kneeling position - although we prayed to Our Heavenly Father and not Allah! Then, after some sleep, we learnt about the culture before having to act like it - the men bossed the women about, ate first and the women ate afterwards and were generally nasty to the women. We then explored what it was like for both groups afterwards.

To put things right though, the men decorated a room and spent time washing the feet of the women and praying for them...it was a really deep and emotional time as God ministered to the women through the men after they had been so nasty to them.

Today is a much needed day off and we have been doing very little...although the boys have done some school work, writing up their weekend experiences. The Lighthouse opened up its doors to the community today too as it began its programms for the kids and lessons fr the adults from the favela. We'll write more about this stuff in the future though. At the moment we are not involved in any of it, it just goes on around us.

The avacados on the tree near our house are nearly ripe for the picking. We've never had fresh avacados before.

Recently we invested in a blender as there is soooo much fresh fruit here and it is all so cheap. Great for fresh fruit smoothies. The weather is HOT. The people are LOVELY and God is AWESOME

We have been learning about Homiletics (writing sermons). At the end of the lesson we were told that we would each preach a mini sermon, on a subject of our choice the following morning. I had a bit of a panic about this (Dave was fine, he had done plenty of talks before). We only had the minimum of time to prepare, but God gave all of us a word to talk about, and actually it was OK. The worst bit was the Pastor assessing us at the end, on everything from appearance to verse jumping, to talking with an unvaried voice tone and much more. It was rather scary.
Last night we had a service at the base and Gideon played the drums again, he really listened to the other musicians, it was FANTASTIC

Hurray, I´m on the internet. It has been really difficult lately to find the internet working. All over the site it has been bad, but our´s in particular. It´s amazing how much you rely on it to feel part of the rest of the world and for the boys to use it in their schooling. Things are crazily busy here. We´ve had to hand in our biblical analysis´, write our book report, practise dramas, keep up to date with our creative journal, do practical work, meet our counsellors, have lots of teaching (it´s all good stuff) and homeschool the boys. The weekend is going to be fun, although we don´t exactly know what we´re doing, but it´s called a cultural weekend. We´ve heard a few things about what we´re not allowed to take, e.g toothpaste, comb, shampoo...... It´s all very mysterious but I reckon it will be fun. Josiah and Gideon have nearly finished catching pidgeons, although Gideon´s favourite one seems to have adopted him, and keeps coming to our house.

While we were in the city getting our visas sorted, Joachim, the guy who accompanied us, suggested to Josiah and Gideon that they do something to raise some money because they kept going on about things that they wanted. So that is what they did! Yesterday they spent time making cookies and sold them to the other students for an unfixed price. It was up to the purchaser how much they wanted to pay for the cookies. They had their own stall and sold them all in about 1 hour, raising about 15 Reis for their 'stuff' fund.
Yesterday evening we had a power cut which was really good for all of us at the base. We ended up setting up some candles on a table and sat chatting with tea and biscuits instead of doing our studies. It was really relaxing - I guess the Lord knew we needed a breather. The power came on about 1 1/2 hours later so not a big loss of time. It was quite cool though becuase we heard loud cheers from accross the favela when the lights turned on...almost like at a football match.
Today is a day of rest for us. No studying...just spending time together. Gideon and Josiah have been swimming and skating and then after that they decided to make some traps to catch pidgeons - they caught 4! Also Dave and Gideon have been having some 'jamming' time with the bass and drums.
Beckie has been for a girly day out into the city with some other students...as she is not back yet I cannot relay what she has been doing.
On Friday, we had a seminar on 'culture shock' and there was a question posed which really stuck with me. It was this: How do you select who you talk to about Jesus? What do you reckon?

Today has been a very dull, but essential day. We have been to the federal police to register our visas. It took us 4 hours, but if the people there had not been so helpful it could have taken all day. There were lots of forms to fill, lots of copies of documents to be made and we even had to have all of our fingerprints done (that was quite exciting). Hurray!!!! It's done now.

Where to begin? I think I'll start with a dedication to my dear brother Jonathan and talk about...
the weather. More rain and more spectacular storms. Josiah said he was told today by one of the staff to remain inside during a close storm because they are dangerous!
Today has been a day of trying to get back into a routine with the boys, which has proven difficult. Both of them were unmotivated in doing their home-school work which caused arguements. This was compounded by me (David) needing to use the computer to write up a Bible Analysis report on Exodus. Sometimes these things don't seem to 'work' like they should...or like we want them to.
However, once the school work was over, Gideon and I got down to some more drum cleaning while Josiah had his computer time and Beckie walked down the hill to the shops.
Something interesting we are learning at the moment (not in class) is to gain greater understanding as to what it means to persevere because when we face trials and persecution, according to James 1v2-12, we grow in perseverence in our faith. Pretty cool huh? Actually, it does not feel it at the time but if these verses are in mind when going through difficult times then it is easier to "consider it pure joy"(v2) knowing that "joy of the Lord is our strength" (Nehamiah 8v10)

We´ve had a quiet few days as the rest of the team went to do evangelism at carnavel (it was too dangerous for us to take the boys, and they would have seen things that are really unsuitable for children to see). so we´ve been staying with Ruth and Izaias who we met last year, they are great.
We celebrated a Brazilian birthday here (at Ruth and Izaias´) last night. Ruth and I made a big guitar cake for him, and some other stuff. These people are full of faith and have been telling us some inspirational stories, I wonder how God will want to use us?
I´ve been testing a few new recipes, for unusual juices and other stuff. The best was a banana pizza, we´ll post a recipe soon so you can all try it out. Today we´re going to go into the big park in the city centre, then we´re returning to the lighthouse to work hard again.