Thankyou guys for the gifts for the groups! We had a 'fun session' in the pool with lots of new inflatables. Of course it meant that they complained and whined wanting the inflatables for themselves all of the time. One of the unfortunate disadvantages of doing things that are 'super fun'. Despite the frustrating moments it was really great fun and the girls LOVED IT!

I just had to post about a piece of work a girl in our group wrote. The title is 'my important person'
Here's a translation - Beckie is very important to me, I cannot leave you Beckie, you are my favourite person. I love you, you speak English and Portuguese, but I can understand you. You have beautiful skin and hair. I like your way, you are very beautiful. You help everyone who needs help in YWAM and she is an adult.

This piece of writing really made me smile, what a sweet encouragement.

Just wanted to share one of our sessions with our girls. We have been trying to teach them about who they are and who God says they are. Eleanor (my co-leader) really wanted to do a session about how we are a success, not just the things we do but who we are! So, she actually prepared the whole of this special afternoon. She shared about what it means to be a success, how God delights in us for who we are and we presented each of the girls with a medal, which they then decorated.

Our girls love doing crafts, they might be noisy or distracted at other times, but during craft time they work almost silently.
Eleanor also made some yummy food, so that we could really celebrate with them. When they saw the table spread with party food they all asked who's birthday it was. After much guessing, we eventually told them it was because of them, that we are celebrating who they are.

The girls are all indulging - YUM, YUM

These are a few of the girls, we also asked Felipe (one of the great photographers here) to come and take some photos, so we can do a special craft with them another weekThis is Eleanor and I - We are successes! We had a fun afternoon affirming these girls and sharing God's pleasure in who he made them to be.

WEEKENDS
Living and working in the same place is quite interesting, it's very convienient, no traffic problems with getting to work, also it makes it much easier to organise a few things from home and for Dave and I to be flexible with our duties and time. On the whole it's a great experience, but one thing is you never really know is what's going to happen next. Weekends can be very quiet or they can be crazy. As there are many of us living here and our area is quite big, including great physical resources (e.g. park, pool, sports court, classrooms) often special things happen at the weekend. A meeting for parents, a quick game of football, visiting kids from another YWAM house to use the pool, pastors' breakfasts, parties, weddings, a church using the facilities, baptisms or even pre-funeral gatherings. This is great as we are really able to bless the community, there is no other space quite like this one here.

This weekend has been a bit crazy, on Friday night there was a football group here and another group having a campover for the weekend. Saturday there was a swimming group and the camp continued. Today, as well as the campover still happening a church of about 30 people appeared wanting to get to know the house and find out about what we do. These sort of unexpected things can happen and it's great that the community is interested in what we do as working together is definitely the best way. Thankfully, someone was willing to show them around, they brought their own picnic breakfast and had a good time. But what is strange is the way that we never know if a weekend will be quiet or noisy, if the doorbell will ring constantly or if we'll see nobody. With all of the crazy stuff happening today it made me think back to our weekend camping away 2 weeks ago. It is always very nice to get out of the city (I don't think I'll ever be a person who loves the city) and relax somewhere else. We went to one of our favourite places called Serra do Cipó (about a 2hr drive away). It has beautiful views and waterfalls.
Gideon and I appreciating the fresh air and the view (and having a bit of a rest after a steep climb)

We had a great walk, going up river, climbing over the rocks and finding a way around the waterfalls. Our goal - to reach the source...... we didn't make it, but we had an awesome time trying.

Just one of the smaller waterfalls along the way. We are very thanful that we had a brief time away, helping us to re-charge and appreciate God's creation. We also enjoy the 'unexpected' nature of the work here, knowing that God uses these things and we never want to get to the stage of blocking out what he wants to do so that our agenda remains undisturbed.

I (Beckie) love being busy, love juggling a few things at the same time and am often very willing to say "yes" to most things. Just occaisionally I stop and think about what I'm doing and then I worry that I won't be able to do it all. I am currently trying to learn how to do the finances of the house / community center, it's a big thing!!!! Every day that I learn a bit more I am aware of how much time it will take. I'm OK with numbers, thinking a few different things at the same time but learning all of this in my second language and on a computer (Josiah would laugh at this point as I always ask for his technical help with the smallest computer problems) is stretching me!!
I'm sure that once I've actually learned how to do this it will be fine, please pray for me to learn quickly and to manage to get extra help when I need it. Thanks.

BUILD A BEETLE / BISCUIT

Last week we did a fun activity with the girls, we played the 'build a beetle' game using biscuits, icing and various sweets for body parts.

At the beginning the girls all desperately wanted a 6 to get the biscuit to start. Some were getting a bit frustrated, also an opportunity to learn some patience. I was actually the last to get a 6 and some of them began to feel sorry for me.
The biscuits are partially made.... most girls were still excited to complete them.

When everyone had completed their biscuits we took them to the park to eat. It was a fun afternoon, nothing profound, but a great way to build our relationships with them.

Time I posted something, I think.
We always face challenges here, in various forms. Sometimes we do not know what to do when faced with certain situations and we are challenged to pray and then pray some more to affect change. Sometimes we face language challenges and occasionally we face tough, physical challenges.

Just over a week ago 3 guys (including me) went on a visit to a house which is in a place very near to where drugs are sold. This particular house is a house where people use the drugs once they have been bought. The lady that lives there asked us to pray with her when I met her earlier on that day. So, at 8pm we arrived there and entered while some people were smoking 'crack'. They got a little embarassed and then stopped smoking during our time in the house. We prayed for them and Evan (a guy from Israel) shared some Bible verses for them. Also, Isaac (United States chap) had a word of knowledge for one of the men there which we then shared with him outside the house. While we were praying, another person called for the house owner but she said that we were talking about God and if he wanted to join us he could but he chose to come back another time. I love it when God interrupts a drug taking session and turns it into a prayer and Bible study time. Afterwards, 2 of them said that they will go to church now and one of them gave us his address so that we can help him - he did not want to go back into prison for stealing so that he could buy the drugs. It was a great time and the presence of the Holy Spirit in that place was strong during that time. Praise Jesus.