Our time is done... :-(

We are back in the United States and most of us have gone our separate ways.  There are so many mixed feelings.  The feeling of missing the people in brazil to the feelings of being excited to be home with family.  It is an odd feeling...

I hope that I can speak for everyone on the trip, but the love that was experienced from these Brazilian people was amazing.  Many of us question why are they loving us so much? Well, as we were all satisfied and amazed by the love that was show to us by the people, it is crazy to think that God's love for us is greater than that!  That is an awesome feeling!

I wish I could just sit here and write and write and write about our time in Brazil but that would take too mush time and I wouldn't have the right words to say to describe it well enough.

God really worked in us and through us while we were in Brazil and that was thanks to all of you and your prayers and support.  Thank you SO much for that!  Please continue to pray for us.  There was so much that happened on the trip that was special to us.  Pray that we don't get caught up into our same old lives.  I know there are experiences that I had that I don't want to forget.  

Thank you again for all of your support!

Sabado

Last night was a fun night. We went to the market in downtown Goiania. There were a lot of clothes there and homemade jewelry. It was a neat experience. After the market we headed to the Goiais vs internacional game. The was not even full but the fans were in full force! I dont think that there was one minute where the fans were not cheering! It was an exciting experience. Oh, and the stadium wasnt even full... I can´t imagine how loud it would be when it was full. Sadly, the goiais did not pull it out in the end. The internacional scored towards the end of the game and goiais could not recover.
During the game there was a camera guy that came near our group. He found out that we were americans, so of course he had to interview someone. Coach, since she speaks portuguese, was interviewed. Coach was able to state our purpose here in Brazil and also to advertise for Progject Grow! THe camera man did a shot of the group and we got to scream and yell Goiais! Later we found out that this clip of us was not only going to be on local channels but the whole country of Brazil! God sure set that up perfectly!
The interviewer was a well known guy here in Goiania as far as sports are concerned. He offered us an invitation to play in that stadium sometime this week. We are guaranteed and opportunity, all we have to do is find a team to play against! Pray that that works out because that is just another opportunity for us to spread the gospel!
Today we are off to teach various sunday school groups. Ages are from 3 to adult! Pray that our words are clear and their hearts are open to what we are saying. Pray that our words spark something in their curiosity!
Thank you for all of your prayers... we know that a lot of things on this trip would not be possible without your prayers. We feel them full force!
Obrigada! Tchau!

PEDO.... :-)

After breakfast we had a little time to ourselves. A few people went on a run, others went to a little internet cafe and some slept. Then it was lunch time... beans and rice!
We then all gathered and went to the beach to play some soccer. It was awesome to be on the beaches of Brazil and play soccer, even though it wasn´t much. We were able to share the salvation bracelets with some of the members of the team that the eagles girls were coaching. That was pretty awesome. I am not 100% sure, but to me it looked like a few of the girls decided to accept Christ or were very touched by what was shared. After the beach we went back to the hotel. A few decided to play a game of pick up futsal on the court in the hotel. It was a mix of Eagles Brasil and charlotte eagles. It was fun to watch! I have to share this... one of the Brasil girls juggled the ball twice on her foot, twice on her head and followed that by a bicycle kick to score a goal for her team; all this with a defender on her back and the goal behind her! I must say that was simply amazing!
After the game we all showered up and headed off to dinner. We had esfihsas (sp). They are little pizza type things with chicken or pepperoni or cheese on them. They were amazing! Not only that but they had dessert ones. There was a chocolate one and a white chocolate one with coconut sprinkeled on top. After dinner we headed back to the hotel and played signs. That was an awesome bonding experience with the girls. We played it for probably 2 hours!
The next morning we had breakfast at 730 and had to leave by 830. That was a challenge. Breakfast was the eay part but saying goodbye was difficult. Those girls kept saying that they were so blessed by our company, but honestly we sould fight all day as to who was really blessed. Those girls have nothing, some came to this team with 30 cents in their pockets; when I say nothing, that is what I mean! These girls left what they had to come and play for a team who couldnt give them much of anything. They want to play for the Lord, and that is what they are doing. They have nothing and they are playing for the Lord. Those are some of the happiest people I have ever met! We could barely communicate with some of them but because of soccer and the Lord, it was like we became best friends! That was an amazing experience, I can´t even put into words how touched we were by those girls!
Then we left for Goinania. We arrived yesterday around lunchtime met up with Leo, our translator, Jr., his friend, and our driver Caverna... awesome people. We had free time and some of us sat around the pool on the roof at our hotel. Then we had dinner and Jr. and Leo led us in a little worship afterwards. The hotel people are so nice! Bruno and Cinema (sp) are workers here who bring a light to our face when we see them!
This morning we headed off to Project Grow. We had four stations for the kids to rotate too... I think I can speak for everyone but our time there was so much fun. Bekah, Heather and Rachel all shared their testimonies afterwards. The set up there is amazing, it looks like it will be awesome once the project officially starts!
We are now relaxing back at the hotel before we go to the market. After the market we will go to a professional game Goias vs. Internacional.
Please continue to pray for us. God is truly working something in everyones life... all different things! Our gifts that we have are all coming together in different ways to help reach the Brazilian people as best we can! Thank you!

The journey continues....

This trip just continues to get better!! After being with Marcelo in Limeira, we traveled to Sao Paulo to meet up with the Eagles Brasil! We made it just in time for their first game as a professional team! It was awesome to see them playing here in Brazil for the Lord. One of the teams that was going to play after them did not show up, therefore there was an open chance to play a Brazilian professional women's team, so we did! We only played 1 30 minute half. We had two of the Brazil eagles girls join us to make 11 players. There was one injury, Riley had a slight twist of the ankle that got caught in the turf. Please pray that a miracle occurs so that she is able to join the team in play this last week in Brazil. There is some nice swelling and bruising but she has been walking on it since it happened. (Mom and Dad, I am OK! I will try and call later! :-) ) We won the game 1-0, thanks to Evona (an eagles brazil player).
We then went back to join the Eagles where they are staying, one mile from the beach! We had a little meet and greet session at their hotel and then it was time for bed!
We woke up the following morning and walked to the beach to watch the BEAUTIFUL sunrise come over a mountain! It was a great reminder of how great our God is! We had such a great time and OF COURSE took millions of pictures! We then walked back and ate breakfast. The bread was amazing and the coffee was unlike any other!

I appologize but I have run out of time. We are about to start a bible study so I must go... I will continue this update later!

UNREAL!!!!!!!!!!

Brazil is absolutely amazing!
Sunday we went to a small community, where the kids don´t have much of anything. It was so sad to see it but so awesome to be there with those kids! They were such a blessing to our life, I think that we were more blessed with their presence than they were by our. Riley was able to share her testimony to them. Later, we got to play soccer with a group of girls who can only practice together, it was society style 7v7. We won 4-2! Those girls were so nice. They gave us some earings as a welcome gift, and we gave them salvation bracelets. Kristi shared her testimony with the girls and the fans. After that we went to church at a local church. Amy was able to share her testimony with them.
Yesterday was our busiest day by far. We did some clinics for kids at a school in the morning. The sun was so hot, and it is only their winter!!! We did that for about 5 hours, amazing! We then went to help helouise, an english teacher here, with her english class. We got to talk/teach english to some kids. Riley was able to share her testimony again. We then played some soccer with those kids, of course!!! We won... again! haha! Our day is not done yet! We then went to a local university, Einstein. We had a little panel about women´s soccer in brazil and america and the organization and respect. They focused on how soccer can be for more than money, but to develop a person as a player. After that we got to play futsal, 5v5. We played two games in front of about 200 people who were SOOOO loud that we couldn´t hear eachother on the field! It was amazing!!! Highlight of many of our careers!!! We won 4-0 and 6-0!!! We won soccer games and we are in BRAZIL!!!!!!!!!!! Totally God! Abby shared her testimony and Rachel was able to share a little bit to the second team. That was absolutely amazing! The Holy Spirit was there with us for sure! After the game we went to dinner with the president of the university who is also a Christian. She had a very touching story and said that God is the only thing that got her through her struggles! WOW! We were able to dance with some of the girls and guys that were there. They taught us the samba! It was so much fun! Our day was not done until about 1 am!
Today we were able to relax A LOT! Praise God! We were blessed by the addition of two of our team-mates at lunch today, Bekah and Heather! It is so nice to have them with us again! We did another clinic this afternoon at Marcelo´s school. Those kids are amazing! We played a few games with them. We beat the guys but `let`the girls win, it was fun. The kids were chanting USA! and AMERICANOS! It was a blessing to be around them. We are off to another game tonight at Einstein!
Obrigada por orar. Deus e fiel! (Thank you for your prayers! God is faithful!)

chegamos :-)

we have arrived safe and sound! the flight was easy. going through customs was fast. the food is amazing. God is faithful. we met our host, Marcelo, at the airport and he took us to his town, limeira. we had our first taste of brazilian food (but no chicken hearts, yet....we´ll wait until Heather and Bekah arrive for that!)

then Marcelo took us to our first home...a beautiful, tropical, simple home surrounded by fruit trees and a small soccer field in the back yard, of course. after a short 4 hour nap, we are at our first church service and the church peeps are kind enough to let us use their computer to tell you all that we are safe.

prayer requests: tomorrow morning is our first clinic with 50- 70 children from the local community. pray for lives to eternally change. we have our first game tomorrow afternoon and we will be at church again tomorrow night. pray for unity in our group, health for our bodies and Christ to shine through us as we love these beautiful people.

te amamos muito....tchau!

More prayer!

We are still waiting on 2 Visas to be approved.... and there is NOT much time left at all!!! Please pray with us that a miracle comes along and we are able to get an open spot THURSDAY so they can get to us by Friday before we leave!!  

Thank you!  or in Portuguese.... Obrigada!