Friends, family, and God's open doors. . .

This week has been a crazy mixture of family, friends, Portuguese, writing, with a bit of fun thrown in.

On Sunday, we had a great time visiting with some of the friends we'd made at the church camp last month. One of the best parts, was hearing from several how much my Portuguese had improved, something I really needed to hear. I'm making progress! If only they'd agree to take out some of those verb tenses. The list I still have to learn doesn't seem to be shrinking at all!

















We are also enjoying having Scott's parents here and are loving every minute of being with them. Granted, our schedule doesn't allow for tons of socializing, but we've managed to find time to chat, play Mexican train, and catch up on the past couple years that we've been apart. They have taken over the schooling for the kids during this time, and this has been such a huge blessing for me, allowing me to keep up with studying Portuguese and my deadlines.

Thank you, Sandy and Farrel for everything!

For those of you who have been following my blog the past few months, you might remember that six months ago, we weren't planning to come to Brazil for language learning. We'd found a teacher in Portugal along with a place to stay for our family, so with all the details set, we packed up our house in South Africa ready to go for six weeks.

Then we found out that our teacher had given our spots to someone else. It was a last minute scramble as we tried to figure out what to do. And I have to admit, we spent some time asking God why all our plans had just fallen apart. With few contacts, it was frustrating, and time consuming to have to start over with only a few weeks until we'd planned to go.

Then God began opening doors. We found our school in Brazil and a furnished house nearby in our budget. We also realized in talking with more people that six weeks would never be enough and decided on six months.

Four months into our time here, we continue to see that God's hand has been involved every step of the way. It's truly amazing. We need more families to join us in Mozambique to be a part of the work and are finding that the best place to recruit is here in Brazil among Christians who already speak Portuguese. God has opened so many doors lately. We already have two couples coming for a short period of time later this year to see the work and pray if moving to Mozambique is what God wants in their lives. Both of these couple are passionate for God and already involved in ministry here in Brazil.

Scott also flew to a nearby city Wednesday for an overnight visit to a group that facilitates Brazilians wanting to work with Christians in other Portuguese speaking places. They were so excited to hear what God is doing in Mozambique. This open door could well end up being the needed liaison we need here in Brazil.

Please continue to pray that God will send people to join the work and for the couples we are meeting with in these last few weeks of our time here.

Blessings,

Lisa

PS. Don't forget to sign up for my newsletter here I'll be drawing a winner next month from that list for some really cool stuff from Brazil as well as a signed copy of my latest book!