Boa Tarde!

Good Afternoon!
Here is a little about life in Roi the last couple of days...
after the party on saturday Wilson and his daughter Vivan gave me a ride back to the Salvato house. When I got back I spent some time with Isa. She left Sunday morning. She was such a sweet friend and I really enjoyed spending time with her. She is going home to spend a couple of weeks with her family during her break from school.
Sunday morning I went to church with Rudolfo, he is an assistant pastor at a small Methodist church. Everyone was very nice there and I was greeted with hugs and kisses (if i have not mentioned this already everyone kisses you on each check when they greet you! it was a little weird at first but I am used to it now and think it is such a warm and inviting way to greet people!) Going to church here is interesting becuase, of course, it is all in portuguese. Rudolfo speaks English pretty good so he translated a good part of the sermon for me. It was about repenting and being broken for Christ. We read Psalm 51, were David is crying out for forgiveness for his sins. My favorite part was the worship, even though I did not know what they were singing I knew they were praising God! To me it was a sign of how big God is to see people who speak another language and live on the other side of equater prasing God just like we do! After Church I went to lunch with most of the Salvato Family. Ordering was quite an ordeal, it is so hard to figure that out, but they helped me and I decided on some pasta. Most of the lunch converstation was in portuguese, but it is fun to see their family interact, they are very loving! It reminds me of my family! Everyone talking and trying to get their two cents in!
When we returned back to the apartment I watched a movie with the kids (i say kids but they are a little older than me). Everything American is really popular around here, American clothes, American movies, etc. we watched an American Movie (Pride and Glory, I think that is the name of it, that movie about cops that are curropt in NYC) it was okay, too many bad words. sidenote: they do not translate the bad words when they have subtitles!
In Brazil most people go to church Sunday (Domingo) morning and Sunday night, so I went back to the same church Sunday night. The sermon was good (again Rudolfo translated during the service) it was about David and Golaith and how the past can tell us the future. For example, in the past David had killed a lion, a bear, and i think some other animal, and that helped give him peace about the future, being able to kill Goliath. I have found encouragement in this knowing that God has provided for me in the past being in new places and have seem him provide so far, and know he will continue to provide here! There was a group of 15 Americans doing some long term misson training visiting the church last night and afterwards they had a dinner for them and they asked me to join! I know this was Gods way of encouraging me yesterday and giving me someone that I can speak with! I loved talking with them! Some of them were from Alabama and Georgia and others from other parts of the US, we had a great time trying some Brazilian food and chatting about missions! Many of them are about to be long term missionaries and I really enjoyed talking with them about that.
When we arrived back home Mrs. Salvato was home from vacation so I got to meet her. She even brought me back a t-shirt from where she was, again I can´t descrive how this family has loved me! It was pretty late when we returned so I went to bed shortly after returning. This morning I took the bus to ICP (a lot less eventful this morning!) and I have been doing odd jobs around the center. It is raining here so there are not as many people around today. Tomorrow I think we are going to start painting. Lunch was rice and beans, (have a mentioned that is every meal here!) and I ate with two other volunteers that are from England, so it was fun to speak with someone. again, God providing! I also found a book of English/Portuguese here at the center and asked to borrow it, that way I can point and have people around here help me with pronunciation.
Here is one thought I have had reflecting on our culture and the culture here in Brazil. Self-sufficiency is something that we value in the the US, or atleast I feel like I do. For example, growing up, supproting yourself, having a house, living the American Dream. But I think these ideas we have (I have) are not always inline with what Jesus taught. Here in Brazil people depend more on each other. The poor and the rich too. The idea of living in community seems to be more of a priority. I have been reading Matthew while I am here and in a study by John MacArthur. Matthew 5:3 says "Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven." In a side note MacArthur has written that "poor in spirit" means "the opposite of self-sufficiency, i.e. the deep humility of recognizing one´s utter spiritual bankruptcy apart from God." Our culture teaches, figure it out on your own, self-sufficiency, dont depend on others, its about me BUT Jesus teaches the opposite, to live in community so that no one is in want, blessed are the people who depend on others, who depend on God! Think about all of the hungry people here in Rio, millions of them, think about all of the hungry people in Montgomery right now, our community. I am reading this book called The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Clairborne and he qoutes Dorthy Day "If you have two jackets, give one to the poor." I don´t know about you, but I have a lot more than two jackets. Thinking of all the things I have makes me a little sick. What would our community look like if we loved the least like Jesus did? When you see poverty everyday it is hard not to ask yourself how we can end this, especially when I live in culture where there is so much, we could do something about this. Please join me in praying for the poor in our community and around the world!
p.s. thanks for the comments, I like to read them!
p.s.s shout out to my small group that is going to eat together tonight, I miss you lovely ladies! and look forward to seeing Destree soon!
pss please ignore the words that are not spelled correctly, spell check is not working and lets be honest I am really bad at spelling! :) just ask my bball girls!