Last night was very stormy here. We could hear the most amazing rain and the wind howling around our little roundhouse, and rattling the windows. I was laying in bed in awe of the power of God, for the first time I understood a little the fear of the Lord. I also realised how hard it must be to live in a favela house, with no glass in the windows (although some of them do have glass in the windows).

Some friends of ours have made a video about the Lighthouse where we are staying. It is really good and would give you an idea of what goes on here as well as a little bit of video about the very local community. It is on Youtube so if you click on this link (CLICK HERE) it will take you to the video and please be patient for it to load if you have a slow internet connection. I tried to work out a way of embedding it into the blog but hve not got the time to do so.

One more thing: if you have any questions about anything we are experiencing here then either e-mail it to us and we'll post it on the blog or put it on a blog comment and we will do our best to answer it, either in words or pictures.

I now know why it's called the rainy season. It has rained heavily for at least 48hrs now. At night is sounded like sleeping in a caravan with the rain pelting down. Our classroom has a leaking roof (it's going to be fixed soon) so we had to clean out the water before we began, and then try to not sit under the drips. The roads near here are awash with muddy water, with rubbish floating down. When we looked out of the window at the favelas, they became a cloud as the rain pelted down, it's quite dramatic. Last summer's weather in England was quite beautiful compared to the summer here at the moment.

So...how are we doing? Well...Josiah and Gideon seem to be getting used to home schooling quicker than we anticipated, praise God. I think they have realised that actually they are getting it easy as they only do about 2 hours school work a day, although it is pretty intense for that time. We, too, are getting used to schooling them. Please pray that it will continue to be a smooth ride with this type of learning / teaching as we do have quite busy days and this really helps lighten the load on us. Beckie and I have been learning about what the Bible says about pleasing God as well as examining what motivates our actions...Hmmm, tough stuff and very challenging.
We would send you pictures of the streets around this area but we have been advised that it is not safe to take photos in case we 'accidentally' get a shot of one of the drug gang members and end up having to hand our camera over at gun point. So, for now, no closer photos of the favela.
Josiah is getting into his street hockey (skating around with a big stick) and has also managed to do some 'grinds' with his skates along a broom handle lying on the ground. If you have no idea what I am going on about then don't worry.
We have been helping to clear out some of the workshops here and in doing so came accross an old drum kit (no cymbals, high hat or bass-drum pedal), which Gideon has now claimed. We spent most of this afternoon cleaning it up once the school work was done and have so far only cleaned 2 drums! However, he's loving it and has also been offered an underground room for practicing.
Beckie has spent the last 2.5 hrs learning a Brazilian dance, it's really hard to make your legs and arms co-ordinate like they are supposed to do. We need to learn lots of dances and dramas ready for the outreach phase of our DTS, so we'll be working vey hard.
I thank God for his endless kindness as he seems to be pouring out blessing upon blessing. He knows what we need, ranging from inner peace to a battered old drum kit. Psalm 37v4 reads: "Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart." Go on...delight yourself in Him.

There are a few things that we just have to get used to by living here. Firstly, we have the joy of sharing our round house with God's creation...namely ants and other insects at this time of year as well as the occasional other creature, like the small lizard pictured above on our kitchen floor.

Secondly, there is the noise. As we live on the edge of a favela it is noisy. There are cars, dogs, chickens and people making noise most of the time day and night. At the weekends (and sometimes during the week) there are parties too which are LOUD. Saying that, we all sleep really soundly as by the evening we are shattered.

Thirdly, there is the rain. In England we experience heavy rainfall on occasions. Here it is like a waterfall....really it is! Never seen rain like it. However, the storms here are spetacular and the lightening is really something to behold.

So, what is it like living here? It is still difficult to say really...maybe as the blog expands you will have a clearer idea and so will we!

Well, we've now officially started our DTS training. We had 1 day visiting the other homes in the city, which was fascinating, particularly the HIV house, where although the children were excluded from the community around them they were still used to bring Doctors to Jesus. We were told of several miracles in the middle of their difficulties. The day involved lots of sitting and listening which meant Josiah and Gideon got bored, but they really appreciate being back at the lighthouse now.

Today, we had our first session in the classroom, going through the handbook. Josiah and Gideon had their first proper morning with Dani (their nanny) and everyone survived. Josiah and Gideon also had their first proper afternoon homeschooling, which got of to a reluctant beginning but finished in time for Gideon and Dave to go for a run in the rain together.

The weather is now behaving like it's meant to, hot and very rainy. Josiah is a bit sad that it means that he can't skate. It was great that we were blessed with some really nice sunny days last week.

When we look around us from The Lighthouse (Luzeiro) this is what we see. We are surrounded by poverty and look upon a huge city. Quite breathtaking really.