Just a quick update....we have had our visas renewed. This will take us up to Jan 2010. In November of this year we will begin the renewal process again before we fly to the UK for 8 weeks.

Hello faithful blog followers. I guess you have been wondering if all is ok here because it has been over 2 weeks since our last post....well... it is. Praise God.
At the moment we are awaiting the results of the visa renewal process. We should know within a few days if we get it, as we are able to track it on-line. We have applied for a 2 year renewal but it looks like they will only be giving us 1 year (up to January 2010) but we are able to apply for a further renewal at the end of November 09 if this one comes through ok. Please pray for this.

At the moment there is a football match underway between Cruzeiro and Atletico, the 2 football teams from Belo Horizonte and when a goal is scored there is huge cheering from accross the favela as well as fireworks being set off. If you think English people are passionate about football then you should experience the atmosphere here and you would reconsider. However, there are problems to this too. For example, last year when these two teams played against each other there was a lot of violence in the streets all over the city and many people were killed. At the moment there is a large police presence in the area and we are advised not to go out....

We have moved in!!!! Yesterday evening we managed to move all of our stuff across the gravel area to a new house here on the base. Josiah and Gideon have their own rooms now and the place is, for us, HUGE (3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, dining area, lounge area, kitchen) We don´t really know what to do with all the space!
So...how about this for a contrast: when I took some rubbish out to the street there were 2 young boys waiting there (they were about 6 and 9 yrs old, I guess). After I had put the bags down they started going through it. So here we are, getting a bigger place, while kids long for something interesting just from what we throw out. Please do not take what you have for granted but remember that EVERYTHING you own is only yours because God has enabled you to have it....therefore you have a responsibility to use it for His glory.

I (Dave) had an interesting time on Wednesday in the community. Maarten and I had arranged to visit a local missionary and, as we did not know where he lived, it was thought best that we met on the main road and then walked to his house. However, when he greeted us he asked if we could go with him to the house of someone to pray for them. So we did. The person in question had been recently shot in the back and was unable to walk but could stand. We prayed for him, Maarten gave an encouraging word and then we left. It was a little strange but it did show us the reality of the darker side of this community and it was great to be able to bring the light of Jesus into that darkness at that moment. Getting caught in the drug wars is seen as part of ´life´in the area of the favela which we work in. May God change that!

Today, in our group we introduced the story of palm Sunday, then the children got the chance to act it out. I was privileged to be the donkey. The children were so enthusiastic at laying down their jackets and shawls (one girl was concerned that she had to lay down all of her clothes). Then they waved branches excitedly.
These children are sponges, thirsty to soak up all that we teach.

CELEBRATING MY BIRTHDAY
Many thanks to all who have sent me birthday cards it was really nice to keep receiving them. My day began with breakfast in bed (with Pineapple man) and then we had a lovely day in Ouro Preto.

I also had a delayed celebration with my group, (with another boy who was celebrating his birthday), they dressed us up, me as a princess, and we sang and ate cake. It was really good fun. The children love to celebrate their bithdays and some of them don´t normally celebrate at home.