Back Home

Wow!  I cannot believe it is over.  We experienced so much on this trip.
The trip home was still eventful as we found out our flight from Sao Paulo was delayed over 2 hours.  That meant we missed out connection to Richmond.  We were rescheduled on a later flight arriving in Richmond around 2:11pm verses the original schedule of 9:05am.  We were treated to a meal in the airport by Delta.  Yummm!  Airport food!
We were on a 767-400 this time which had more leg room for us.  I know Ed was thankful.  Most of us were able to get some shut eye during the flight.  I think that was because we were all worn out form all the work and adventure in Brazil.  Just trying to keep up with Roberto is a chore.  He is like the EverReady Bunny!
We made it through customs with no incident.  Well almost.  I broke out a chocolate bar I had purchased in Brazil.  An agent with the airport saw me handing out pieces to the team.  When I was the next in line she informed me that I could not enter the country and needed to head back to Peru.  I must have given her a confused look as I was trying to come up with a pointed reply.  I told her, "That's great, I haven't been to Peru!"  She told me she was just kidding.  She saw me having too much fun giving out the chocolate and not giving any to her, so she had to give me some grief.  I offered hre some chocolate and she refused until I asked her if she was afraid of me.  She took a piece then and continued to monitor my progress through the immigration process.  When another agent pulled a family of 5 out of line ahead of me, my agent friend moved me ahead on another line.  When she saw that I was falling behind our group, she saw one of the other team members who had been processed and tracked her down to make her wait for me.  We are so blessed when we walk in the way of Christ!
We had time in Atlanta to gather together in the food court for relaxation in interaction.  We were able to fill up on American fast food as many were not pleased with the food on the flight from Brazil.  I was able to copy of team members' photo cards onto my netbook.  Now I have the chore of compiling the photos into some presentations.
The flight to Richmond was uneventful and we were greeted by loved ones when we arrived.  All our luggage made it through.  I even made it with extra luggage as the Delta agent in Sao Paulo tagged someone else's luggage under my name.  He went to Denver but his luggage ended up in Richmond.  It really confused the baggage agent in Richmond.  My two bags were there on the carousel so I was happy and thankful.
Speaking of thankful, we were all thankful for God's wonderful protection on the whole mission team.  Except for minor cuts and some occasional intestinal discomfort, we had no health issues.  We all arrived home safe and healthy.  Praise God!
Well the first food I had back in Richmond was Hieth's Ice Cream.  Yes, I had to get my fix.  It was so wonderful to get a warm shower with plenty of water pressure.  It was nice to be back in my bed and not watch the lights flicker from power fluctuations.  I was nice to sleep in late!
But I really do miss the team, Roberto, Rachael and the kids.  It was an awesome experience.  I will continue to place my thoughts here and bring you up to speed on the day to day events of out trip.
God Bless you all.

Day 6 in Brazil

We continue with our efforts.  Today is the last work day at the school.  We are finishing up the various projects.  The cabinet making will have 12 cabinets completed by the end of today.  The mural will be finished and the roof supports will all be in place.  Praise God that so much was accomplished.

Yesterday we went to a slum area in Sao Paulo.  It was incredible to see how these people live.  The govenment supplies the water and electricity.  Mail service is provided too.  I took lots of photos while we were giving out bags of groceries. We presented several households with a care package containing sugar, corn meal, salt, beans, milk, cookies and rice.  We gave out small toys and candy to the kids.
We were able to see Roberto in his element.  He ministered to the parents and had so much fun interacting with the kids.  His face glowed with the joy he felt within.

Slum Housing in the valley

When we returned to Roberto's home for the evening, the electricity was off.  It remained off for about 4 hours and came back on as we were finishing up dinner.  Dinner was prepared on the gas stove and the outdoor grill.

This morning, the water ran out because the sistern was not filled up yesterday due to the power outage.  Chris got the worst of it as the water ran out right in the middle of his shower.  He had to rinse off with a bucket of ice cold water from outside. 

The children in the school as wonderful.  Many show up early to interact with us.  There were more children than chairs set up in the classroom today.  Dee is so apt at reaching them with english words. 

Pam and Sandy have made many friends with people walking down the street.  They are able to show others the love Jesus has for everyone.

Day 5 in Brazil

This is the first posting since we have arived in Brazil.
We made it here fine, just trouble with getting the food on the plane from Atlanta to Sao Paulo.  All our stuff made it here!
We have been working on various projects at the Technical School.  Gary, David and Troy are the welding team.  They have installed a door and windows into the kitched area for the student apartment.  Myself, CHris, Curt and Ed are the carpenter team and we have been building shelving cabines.  Sandy and Pam are painting the area that will be a little shop for the student to sell what they make at the school.  Rebecca is working on tile murals in the restrooms.  And Dee is teaching the students English.

We work 9 hour days and head back to Roberto's house for a late dinner prepared by his wife Rachael.  Then we crash for the night.
Today we visit some slums to hand out some items we brought as well as groceries that were purchaced here.
There is just so much to tell!
Today is the first day I have had some free time while the internet access is working. As time permits, I will post more.

On our way!

We have made it through check-in and the TSA security.  No problems.  Although the check-in kiosk crashed when trying to print out our boarding passes.  It seems that with all the electronic check-in process, Delta has not added the ability to handle Visas.  Se with all the pre-planning and the direction from the Delta agent to use the Kiosk, we still had to be handled one by one at the ticket counter.  Who knew?
We had absolutely no problems with security.  It helps to be prepped and ready.

Here is a shot of us waiting in the gate area.  Gary is catching some zzzzs and Curt is strumming his guitar.  It is nice to have the time to relax. 

Resting and Waiting at RIC

Even with all the pre-check-in, it took 2 hours to collect everyone together, get checked-in and through security.
Weather is brewing for some storms in Richmond.  Lets hope for an on time departure.

More later.

Today is the Day!

Wow, it is finally here.  The months of preperation will soon be put to the test.  One more big hurtle and that is the jump across the Equator.
My things are all packed and my carry on runneth over.  I've pack some aspirin to help thin the blood during the long flight and therby reduce the chance of clotting in the legs.  There is a lot of warnings going around about that happening.  I haven't experienced any difficulties in the past, but this body is getting older and more banged up.
I am definitly taking too much technology.  I realized it when I packed all the cords, power supplies and chargers into my bags.  Yikes!  Was it really possible at one time to survive without them?
This morning I attended the Thursday Men's Bible Study at the Bellgrade Starbuck.  I normally attend the Friday meeting, but, hopefully this week we will be in Brazil by then!  Gary Perry attends the Thursday meeting and I wanted to touch base with him to hear about his recent mission trip to Mexico.  I ran into him in Chicago last week as we were both boarding the plane to Richmond.  He was on his way back from Mexico.  He was so jazzed from the experience and seeing the Hand of God at work first hand.  His excitement was contagious this morning.  I am looking forward to comparing notes with him when we return.
Gary's group did without all the techno gadgets we carry around everyday.  He said it was enlightening for him to get away and be able to "hear" God.  Awesome!
That may be something to try on a future mission trip.  For now I plan to use technology to reach out with this blog.

I figure this blog will serve 3 purposes:

1. Provide our friends, loved ones and supporter a source for infomration about how we are doing in Brazil.
2. Provide anyone planning a future foriegn mision trip some insight on the details and rewards of planning and carrying out such an endevour.
3. Provide a journaling record for me to review once I have returned.

So, I thank you for your support.  It is already rewarding to know that this little blog is being spread around.  It is surprising how connected we are when we think of ourselves as branches attached to the vine of Jesus Christ.  Gary Perry was telling a co-worker about his mission trip and mentioned to her about my trip and this blog.  Sandy Townsend told him that she was going on that trip too!  Go Sandy.

T-Minus 1 day!

Wow, its TOMORROW that we leave for Brazil.  It has always seemed so far off in the distance. Now it is right here at us.
Today was a day to get the house in order.  No, I don't mean the will, the insurance documents and the bank accounts.  I mean the house!  I took time to clean the gutters, cut the grass, trim, edge, and spray insecticide.
All my stuff is laid out for one last cull before stuffing the luggage.
The big task this evening was going on line to the Delta website and getting everyone checked-in.  The site is pretty good but tedious when you are checking in 11 people at one time.  You have to select the number of bags to be checked, and enter all the information from the passports.  Lots of pull down windows!  That is all done now and I have printed verification that everyone is already checked in.  Ready to go!
Once at the ticket counter, all we should need to do is show our passports with a current Brazilian visa and place our luggage on the scales.  We will have one piece of luggage (actually it is a cardboard box) that is over sized. (We were actually successful in getting the saw prepped for transport.) We already know about and are prepared to pay the baggage fee for it.
Today has also been a day of mental preparation for me.  In pulling together what I am going to pack in my personal bags, I have had to envision how the trip will go.  How many long pants do I need, how many shorts?  What about shirts?  Long or short sleeves?  I am packing lighter that I normally would. 
The weather is shaping up nicely.  Almost no prediction of ran for the entire time we are there.  Over the weekend the daily high temperatures will dip a bit to a high of 60 F.  Then it returns to the mid 70's.
My mindset is one of servitude.  I am prepared to work in whatever capacity needed.  The only objective I have is to learn about Seeds of Hope and write about it in this blog.  Also to make personal connections and share the Message of Christ our Savior.  I guess that does make a pretty full plate for only a week in Brazil.
Of course the prayer request now is for the team's safe passage to Brazil.  Pray for the pilots, flight attendants, air traffic controller, ground crews, gate agents and ticket agents that they will perform to their abilities and that they will have our interest in mind.  Pray for the health of each team member and that they remain healthy, without injury during the trip.  (Let's bring the team first aid kit back unopened!)  Pray for Roberto that he is ready for us.  Pray for Chris that he is ready to lead us.  Pray for the orphans and the workers who we come in contact with that they hear our message.  And last, pray for the team itself, that we will all work together to do the work that the Lord has planned for us.
I also request each of you as well as my fellow mission team members to take the time and read Philippians Chapter 2 as a way of aligning our mindsets for the duration of our trip.  God Bless.

Lost in Translation

We are heading into a country where English is not the prevalent language.  The language in Brazil is Portuguese.  Unfortunately, I do not speak Portuguese.  In fact I don't know any Portuguese.  Shame on me.  I plan to memorize the basics of hello, goodbye and thank you on the plane trip.  I find that reading a book is not enough for the language to sink in to my head.  I do better when I am surrounded by people speaking the language.  I am forced to learn it and provided instant feedback if my usage or pronunciation is off.  That is how I learned what little Japanese I know.  I worked for Fujifilm for 10 years.  During my first 4 months with Fuji, 3 of them were in Japan which drove in the simple communication.  I have also worked with French and German machinery manufacturing companies.  My communications, I am ashamed to say, were always done in English. 
Americans have it pretty easy in the world when it comes to communication.  All over the world, children are taught English as their second language in school.  In the US, English is our primary language and we have a variety of languages to choose from as a second language in school.  I took three years of Spanish.  I have forgotten at least 10 times what I remeber.  These languages are taught to US students primarily as a learning exercise.  Students are not given the direct application for such a skill, after all, everyone else in the world is taught English, why learn their language?  Sad.  I envy those who can communicate in multiple languages.

I have come to realize that bridging the language gap through English can be made easier if you take a few steps in consideration.

1. Open your eyes to see what is around you.  What is the expression on the speaker's face?  What is the context of their communication?  Where are you located?  Realizing the background will help to make the words understood in the intended context.
2. Open your ears to listen to is spoken to you.  What words are they using in their speech?  Do they use words in a different manner than you expected?  What is their understanding of the topic being discussed?  Can you use what they said when communicating back to them?
3. Open your mind to understand the information conveyed.  This is the difficult part.  Try not to bring in preconceived notions of how you want to express something.  Process the information before you speak.  If they use the work "pink" to describe a color that you know as fuchsia, do not confuse them by using the word "fuchsia" use their work "pink."  I received an email from a Japanese friend who had just returned to Japan after spending 3 years in the US.  He stated that he missed the "free air" of America.  I was confused until I realized that he was referring to the wide open spaces in the US.  He had returned to the cramped and crowded cities of Japan.
4. Open your mouth only after making sure you have covered steps 1-3.  You have heard it said before "There is a reason that God gave us two eyes, two ears and two halves of the brain; but only one mouth."  The Book of James in the Bible likens the tongue to the rudder of  a ship.  Such a small instrument can direct a large vessel for good or evil.

As we head off to Brazil, I pray that each of us on the mission team will be aware of our communications.  I ask that God and my fellow missionaries keep my "rudder" in check.  Speak up to talk it out!  If discontent from spoken words are held in, they will only fester ill will.  Something that has no place in doing the Lord's work.

T-Minus 2 days

Today started off pretty slow; but, ended with a big round of success.  Chris asked us the make sure we packed paint roller covers.  I bought 30 of them from Lowes today along with some duct (I got the real stuff, not that duck stuff!) tape to reseal any of the tool caddies we would need to open up.
Gary and I met at the church tonight for a little rearranging of the supplies in the team bags.  Our mission was to get the Kites-On-A-Roll packed up.  Gary was dissappointed to find out that his piec of luggage was only 30 inches long and we needed 38 for the rolls.  We called Curt who had emailed me earlier that he had a couple of boxes that may help out.  I drove over to his place and picked up a box that was 46 inches long and total dimesions of 61 inches.  It worked perfectly.  Thanks Curt!  We were able to get the 3 rolls of kites in it along with 19 paint roller covers.  We rearranged the other team bags so that 7 more paint rollers were packed up.  Gary placed the last 6 in his bag.  (Yes, I can do the math that there were 32 roller covers packed up.  There were 2 roller covers in the window, when combined with the 30 covers I purchased today that makes a total of 32. If it wasn't bolted down, we packed it!)  The items in the plastic tote with no wheels were consolidated into the two suitcases I borrowed from my sister.  We have everything packed up in 11 team bags, each weighing less than 65 pounds!  There are 2 corragated boxes, 5 mobile tool caddies and 4 suitcases.  Each team bag is numbered with its weight recorded on the number tag.  Everything is now ready for Gary and Troy to pick them up and transport them to the airport on Thursday.  Praises to God!
I will have to get out an email tomorrow to the team with the check-in plan for us to follow once we arrive at the airport Thursday.  What can I say, teamwork!  And with God on your side, how can you not expect it to get done?

Why the Chill?

How did I come up with the "Chill" in the blog name Chill-Brazil-2010? 
Two reasons; first, our church is Clover Hill Assembly of God.  Sooo, the C from Clover added to Hill provided "Chill".  Sometimes I have seen it abbreviated as CHAG.  What is a chag anyway?  Besides, Chill rhymes with Brazil and it is kind of catchy, which hopefully will make it easier for people to remember.
I did say there were two reasons.  The second has to do with weather; both in Sao Paulo and in Richmond.  During August, it is extremely hot in Richmond.  Well not boiling hot, but the temps stay above 90 F for most of the month.  It is the humidity that makes it so oppressing!  When the temperatures are above 90 F and the humidity kicks in at levels above 90% it is miserable to be outside.
On the other hand, Sao Paulo is quite different.  The city is well below the Equator and when we have our summer in the northern hemisphere, they have winter in the southern hemisphere.  (Yes, that college physics course on planetary motion is paying off now!)  The temperatures in Sao Paulo for August average in the low 70s during the day and mid 40s during the night.  Looking at the 10 day forecast on weather.com, the temps in Sao Paulo are shaping up nicely for our time there with highs around 70 F and lows around 60 F.  Awesome!
Compared to the weather we will be leaving behind on Thursday, there will be a "Chill" for us in Brazil!
Hopefully those tile floors that Roberto told us about will not retain a lot of the colder days they have had recently!

T-Minus 3 days

Not too much going on today.  I made a purchase of a compact towel to use in Brazil and to have in the future for hiking.
We have been working on ideas for how best to pack the Kites-On-A-Roll.  We didn't have a box or a suitcase that was long enough to put them in.  I picked up some FedEx tubes that will hold them perfectly.  The trouble is, to use them would require checking an extra bag and payment of a baggage fee.  The fee would be almost as much as the kites.  Gary thinks he can fit them in his personal suitcase.  We will find out tomorrow night.  I have a larger suitcase that measures out to be exactly the dimensional limit of 62 inches.  If we repack a little, we think we can make it work and not exceed the baggage count.  One more thing for tonight's prayer list.
I also went on Delta's website to get copies of the reservation documents.  These will help us in check in at the ticket counter.  Group check in can be difficult without some pre-planning.

I was asked today for information on how to provide funding for our mission effort.  I replied that the information is on the blog.  Ooops, its not on here!


Send your contributions to: Clover Hill Assembly of God.
The web site is http://www.cloverhillag.org/.
The address is: 12310 Bailey Bridge Road; Midlothian, VA 23112
The phone number is: 804.739.7500
Please be sure to make a note on the memo line "Brazil Mission" so that the funds will be properly allocated.

Check out Sao Paulo

Sao Paulo is a fascinating city.  By some accounts, with 20 million people, it is the 3rd largest city in the world, behind Mexico City and Tokyo.  By others it is the 5th largest.  It all depends on which accounting firm is doing the counting!
I visited several web sites to learn more about Sao Paulo. Here are a few links should you want to learn a little about Brazil and Sao Paulo.

The Brazilian Embassy:  http://www.brasilemb.org/
The Brazilian Tourism Portal:  http://www.embratur.gov.br/site/en/home/index.php
The US Department of State: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35640.htm
The Lonely Planet: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/brazil
The City of Sao Paulo: http://www.cidadedesaopaulo.com/sp/


Think population density.  Just to put it in perspective, here is a view of a park and the city buildings.

Ibirapuera Park in Sao Paulo

As for me, I want to find this bridge:

Bridge in Sao Paulo

And the soccer (football) stadium that hold 80,000 spectators:

Morumbi Stadium

Let's talk food.  Lots of bread I am told.  Plus one Brazilian dish that I am looking forward to trying:

If there is one dish that typifies Brazilian cooking it is probably feijoada. It is a complicated bean dish prepared with air-dried beef, smoked sausage, tongue, pig’s ears and tails, garlic, and chilli peppers. It is customary to fill a plate with white rice and spoon feijoada over the top, covered with farofa (cassava flour) to thicken the sauce. The whole dish is garnished with spring greens and slices of oranges.

I am sure there are Brazilian Churrascarias (barbecue houses) all over.  We have Texas de Brazil here in Richmond, but, it is probably not the same as the real deal.

Finally, I have to talk auto racing.  The Formula 1 series will be in Sao Paulo November 7th this year.  I don't think I can manage to stay there that long.  Hmmm, maybe a return trip!
Here is the Interlagos circuit for auto racing near Sao Paulo.

Autódromo José Carlos Pace

Ok, is it a coincidence that the paint color on my car is Interlagos Blue?