Eu So Livre (we are free)

And now for the play by play...

14 days, 2 days, 20 310 km, 3 airports, 5 time zones, 3 bus trips, 250 kg of luggage (excluding hand luggage), 1 lost bag, 1 free meal in airport, 4 games of ninja, lots of fun and laughter, praise&worship in the most random places, Global Challenge lifestyle:  priceless!  (Well, technically not actually – donations welcome…)

On the morning of 6 March, we waved goodbye to our dearly beloved, closed the door to our predictable lives and opened a new door to spontaneity in Christ, taking faith to a practical level. We flew out of SA at 13:45, first time for a few on the team.  Qatar airlines is our new favorite, the food is delicious and service is top notch.  Chicken or beef?  Both!  Yeah for free, unlimited snacks.  Stocking up has never been this easy.  After 8 hours, we arrived in Doha, our first pajama party  in the airport.  Once again our Proverbs 31 woman, Erin, managed to get us a free meal.  With little rest and sore backs, we headed for our next destination – Sao Paulo, Brazil!  A much longer flight entailed more sleep, more movies and more time for studying, sharing and reading God’s Word. 

14 hours later, we had to part with some of our food, but it ended in a biltong buffet at the security check point (no wastage!).  The next few hours were spent looking for a place on the airport to crash for the evening.  Our first good night of rest and en-suite bathrooms.  The following morning, after much needed praise and worship and corporate prayer, being encouraged by God’s faithfulness, we set out on our next mission to find transport to Ubatuba.

We arrived in Ubatuba after a 3 hours bus trip, only to find that we had arrived in paradise.  Jumping on the next, more than interesting bus, (lets just say he went off road, at high speed) we arrived at Shekinah camp ,safely.  Shekinah (meaning glory of God) is a small camp site, just outside Ubatuba in the Brazilian rain forests.  We were met with a very warm Brazilian welcome,  more delicious food and a bunch of energetic teenagers.  Once slightly settled into our dorm of about 50 ladies, we found out that it was a church camp hosted during Carnival, the most hectic time in Brazil.  The rest of the day was filled with getting to know a lot of new people, learning a new language and playing very weird, but fun games.  We found out very soon that Brazilian people don’t like to sleep.  So much for our 22:00 curfew…

The next morning as we got up for solo time (and they went to bed) we were blessed with words of encouragement from Dad, through our team members.  There was a sense of new energy amongst the team.  After singing our war cries and introducing our teams (of which Yellow is of course the best) we started our first work duty – cleaning out a huge baptism pool in the middle of the rain forest.  Through this, our team learned that the most glory can be given to God when praising Him in everything we do, even if it is hard labor.  This gave us so much joy and made the work less taxing.  After 2 hours of cleaning out the pool and filling it up with new, living water, we were able to “cleanse” ourselves in the most epic waterfall!  We spent the rest of the afternoon, jamming with some good tunage and having quality fellowship with our team and uncle George (a very cool Brazilian man).  At 17:00 we were picked up by our next bus and taken to Elaine’s house, which her dad very graciously opened up for us.  South bound has a new home away from home – and it’s green, like a tree!

Here it seems that people don’t have anything to do but to go to church!  Every night in fact.  (At least until Carnival is over).  We took our first walk to the Agape church in Ubatuba.  Amazing worship and some good spiritual food – delivered in gentleness, but in authority – taught us that you don’t have to understand Portuguese  for your Spirit to be encouraged (although the translator did help a lot).  I would just like to add that church only ended at 22:45!  Our next mission was down to the beach front, were we indulged in some Acai madness!  Wow, what a treat!  It’s a type of purple berry that they crush and freeze and then add anything to it!  Fruit, cream, chocolate, condense milk, you name it.  This was a really great time to engage with the local Agape church and be a part of true Brazilian culture.  00:30 we said our goodbyes and headed back home, only a 45 minute walk away… Yes, we did have a very good night’s rest!

As a yellow team we have been so incredibly thankful for everything that we have been blessed with these last few days.  God has really impressed in our heart the importance of unity and how power in ministry first stems out of unity in your team.  So as we embark on this journey, living with one another, we want to learn to love in such a way that unity becomes central to everything we do.  And not just to give away what we have, but to really share it and build relationships.

Please pray with us:

• To keep our eyes and hearts open for ministry opportunities
• There is a possible ministry opportunity in Natal, up north in Brazil, and we’re still seeking God’s heart on whether to go or stay
• Provision for our finances.  Our team still hasn’t reached the cut-off mark
• That unity will be maintained in the team, even in the little things
• Learning to communicate in an effective and understandable way with the locals.   They are so willing to share with us.  May God cross all borders to make this happen.

Well, that’s it for the play by play.  We’re looking forward to all that is in store.  We’ll keep you updated as much as possible.  Feel free to comment and send your prayer requests our way too!

Until next time, be blessed.  Peace out!

Linel, Max, Elaine and Tian aka Yellow team.