The End.

Well, folks, this is it. In a matter of hours, we will be on a plane headed back home. Okay, we'll be on a plane headed to São Paulo, then to the States, and eventually back home. What you are reading now will very likely be the final post on this blog. If I get a chance at our Dallas end meeting, I might post again, or maybe when I have a day or two at home to see everything from a different perspective. No promises, though!

Our last weekend has been a good one. Friday night was our final party. We had lots of pizza and games, and everyone really enjoyed themselves. A lot of our readers came to say goodbye, and we even got some neat presents! We also posed for so many pictures that my eyes still have dots in front of them. All of our readers were so great, and they all told us how much it meant to them for us to come and share our time and our faith with them. I'll miss them a lot, and I will continue to pray to God will keep working in their lives as He has during our time here.

Oh, and exciting news about Christiane! I think I told you before that she traveled to another state a couple of weeks back to take a test for a job. She was my very first reader, and my very last session on Friday was also with her. When she came to the party, she told me that she got the results from her test--and she got the job!! Actually, when she told me, she just said, "I win!" I am so happy for her. Not to be selfish, but it was really cool to have that kind of bookend to my experience here.

Today, we went to see the sunrise over the ocean. That's what we went to see, but we really saw some very nicely backlit clouds. Later in the morning, we spent some final time on the beach. The tide was very low, and we walked around on the reef. We found a spot where the waves were hitting against the side of the reef and sat near the edge. Let me go on record as saying that I thought it wasn't a great idea, especially for Kensey. The waves were pushing me around, and I'm a bit heavier than she is. But, to appease William, she decided she needed to join him out there, and I went along, too. That adventure lasted about three minutes, at which point a huge wave came and pushed us all along the reef for a few feet. William and I felt some pain, but nothing we couldn't laugh off. Kensey was destroyed.

Destroyed.

Okay, maybe that was dramatic. She cut up her feet a little, and got a nasty scrape on her elbow that will probably leave an awesome battle scar. But she's a tough girl. She walked it off, laughing the whole time. As bad as I feel for her, she refuses to accept my pity. Now she's got a story to tell and some Spider-Man band-aids to show off.

We spent the rest of the day at Dayanne's house with her and Pietro. We had lunch and dinner there, watched a Brazilian comedy, and played some card games. Kensey won first, I won second. I also learned that I'm not good at making sad faces, which I count as a strength. Dayanne and Pietro have been really great, and we've been lucky to be able to spend time with them over the past weeks. We'll really miss them!

Now we're almost all packed and ready to go. Tomorow, the church will have a big farewell lunch for us, and whoever wants to (including some of our readers, we hope!) will go with us to the airport to see us off. Kensey will probably cry, and I will try to find a couple of last-minute souveneirs.

In case you're interested, here's our basic schedule starting tomorrow. Our flight from Recife to São Paulo is at 4:30p. We will get into Dulles airport on Monday morning, then it's off to Dallas for our end meeting. We'll be there with a few other teams who are finishing their trips. We will stay there overnight and leave for home sometime Tuesday afternoon. There's a short stop in Atlanta (because who has direct flights anymore?), and then back in good ol' Memphis, Tenn. sometime late Tuesday, maybe early Wednesday.

Thank you so much again for reading our blogs and keeping in touch with us during our trip. We have been greatly encouraged by your love and support, and the trip wouldn't have been the same without you. We are all very excited to see you again!

Thank you for being a part of our adventure here in Brazil. I hope that you all will have similar opportunities, and that you'll let all your friends and family be a part of them, too. Wherever God leads you, know that everything done in Him and for His will can be an adventure. Whether He sends you to another country, another part of your city, or even to your church, Jesus has promised us life to the fullest in Him, and I honestly believe that God wants us to be able to feel like our lives are exciting and meaningful, even if we have a routine that we're used to. Never give up on the idea of adventure, and never doubt His ability to equip you for it.


PS- I did take a fair amount of pictures here, though nowhere close to Kensey. I'll probably put them in an online album soon, and you can see them then, if you're interested. I'll post the link here when I do that.

Penultimate

I feel like today was a very busy day, even though I've had several days with the same schedule. I guess because we're getting so close to the end, everything seems like more of a big deal. It's kind of like when we first got here, but now things are a little crazy because everything is about to change for us all over again.

I had a few readers' last sessions today. The last sessions have been sad, but really more awkward than anything. I don't know how to end it. It's just kind of like, "Well, thanks for coming by for the last six weeks! It's been a lot of fun!" Several of them will be at the party on Friday or at the airport on Sunday, so that will probably be a better situation for goodbyes. Just getting up from our reading session like normal doesn't seem very final, especially since we have so much left to do in the next few days.

Tatiane gave me a present today! She and Quesia (William's reader who is friends with Tatiane) bought us both shirts that look like the flag of Pernambuco (the state we're in). They were the two that came to church last week. Neither of them are believers (or maybe haven't thought about it all that much), and we're very glad that we have been able to share the Word with them. Pray that God will equip the people here to continue His work in them, and that they won't stop asking questions.

Tomorrow is our last day of reading, as well as our last party. It's going to be very weird not having the same responsibilities anymore, especially since I don't have any solid responsibilities lined up when I get back home. I think it will be good for me to have a few days to relax and process the trip, but I can't really say I'm looking forward to it. I just don't know what to expect, and I'm going to miss this place and the people. Even though I'm sad to leave, I am excited to see what God has lined up for me at home.

Speaking of which, if anybody knows of a good job for a recent college graduate (it's official--my mom said my diploma came in the mail yesterday!), I'm open to suggestions.

For all my friends and family, I do look forward to seeing all of you again! Especially if English is your native language. Thank you again for all your love, support, and prayers while we've been gone. Oh, and if you don't get a souvenier, it's probably not because I forgot you, just that I ran out of money before I found anything you would like. And if you're Kensey's family, just pick one from Kensey and pretend that it's from me. :)

Tomorrow is a big day! Pizza Party!

Sweeping the Clouds Away

Today is a bright and sunny Brazilian day! No hint of rain, and everyone is all dried off from the past two days. Yep, things are back to normal here in ol' Recife.

Eliane is my last reader tonight at 5:00p (we end early on Wednesday because of church). It's her final reading session. :( Our work here really is ending. Over the next two days, we'll be saying goodbye to lots of people. Not everyone will show up to the party. (--or will they?!... No, they won't.) I am glad that God has been using us to reach His people here, and I know that His work in their lives will continue, even if our part is done. But it's still sad to say goodbye to everyone!

Okay, enough depression for one post. We went to the beach on our lunch break today. How awesome is it that I can even say that? Saturday is our last day off, and we might just spend it relaxing on the beach with some açai one last time.

If you want to see something cool, go look at Kensey's first post and then the last few posts with pictures of us. You wouldn't even know those were the same people if they weren't on the same blog!

If you want to see something cooler, stay on my blog. It's just cooler overall.

The Final Countdown (Ba-na-naaa-nuh! Ba-na-na-na-nuhhh!)

The past two days have been rainy and slow. Yesterday, it rained all day long! It was the first time we've experienced that kind of rain here. Usually, rain comes for a few minutes, then it clears out. Our rainy days up to this point have been on-and-off with some sunshine mixed in. But this was a Memphis rain. A hard, drenching downpour for hours and hours. Of course, that meant that some of our readers couldn't make it. Not that they didn't want to come, but traffic is so bad here when it rains that it takes some of them hours to get here. But we still did all the work we could, and those that could make it had very good sessions.

Today wasn't rainy all day, but it comes and goes. The sun hasn't come out all day, though, and I think that has stopped everyone from recovering from yesterday. Pray that we have a bright and sunny tomorrow so everybody can get back to normal!

It's really starting to set in that our time here is almost over. Some of my readers only have one session left. It's hard to believe that we have to go back to the States. To me, it seems like we have been here for much longer than six weeks, but in a good way. We have gotten to know several people here well, and we are comfortable spending time with them. We have also gotten used to our living arrangements and how things work in daily life around here. I will have a hard time using water from the faucet when I get back home. I'll also get a sudden craving for suca de graviola or cajá or some delicious Guaraná, but, alas, there will be none to be found.

We decided that our final party on Friday will be a pizza party. We wanted to have a talent show, but everyone's too shy to perform! Hopefully, we can convince Dayanne to play her violin and David to sing, but most of the time will probably be spent playing games and having fun with the group. That's fine with us--last week's party was a lot of fun!

Sunday, the church is having a farewell lunch for us, and everyone is going to see us off at the airport. We are hoping that as many of our readers as possible can come, because we want to see them before we head back.

I have one last reader tonight (Ronaldo), and then it's back to the apartment for dinner and some much-needed sleep. One week from tomorrow, we'll be back in Memphis, Tennessee!

PS- My sunburned arms are peeling. Gross!

Missing Pictures

I know I haven't kept my promise about the pictures, but I have a good excuse. Kathy made an unplanned visit to the States, and she took her laptop with her. That's where I had all my pictures so far saved. I haven't uploaded them again (or any of the new ones I've taken), because I am very impatient. And don't tell me that Kensey has done it, because she uploads pictures three times a day.

This weekend, we spent some time with a few of our readers. Since this is our last full weekend before we leave, it was really good to be able to do that. Yesterday, after our reading sessions to make up for our day off on Monday, we went to a movie with Dayanne and Pietro. We had our first (but not last!) Brazilian bus ride! It was pretty much what you'd expect, except there's a cashier sitting there when you walk on, and the bus flies down the street about 6 inches from obstacles such as other buses and pedestrians.

The movie, by the way, was The Happening (or Fim Dos Tempos, as it's called here--"End of Times"). I know this isn't a movie review blog, but I'll just tell you anyway. Don't go see it. If you want to see it, wait for it to come out on DVD. But if you never see it, you're not missing out. This is coming from a huge M. Night fan. I don't know what he was thinking, but this is is worst movie so far.

Today, we went with Everton, David, and Thalles to their home city, very close to Olinda. We actually rode the bus through Olinda on the way. It was beautiful and historic, from what we could see out of the bus windows. Then we spent the day at Everton's house. His mother made us a delicious lunch, and we went down the the beach. Kensey found two dead crabs. Her hands probably still stink.

After that, we hung out at Everton's house until it was time for church. There were lots of people there, and we went to what seemed to be a service for younger people. Today was their Valentine's Day (Dia dos Namorados) party. We had a couple of people translating for us, and it was fun to watch. They played a few couples games, and some people told their stories of how they met. Everton's sister sang a song she wrote for her boyfriend (awww). She has a beatiful voice, and he was very happy about his song!

Thalles and his dad drove us all the way back to Boa Viagem. That was very nice of them, as it's about 40 minutes from there to here. Now, we're all very tired. Tomorrow starts our last week of work. It's very strange, and it hasn't sunk in that we'll be leaving here in 7 days. I'll let you know when it does.

Happy Father's day, dad! I tried to call, but it was busy. Love you!