The Thursday night the Southside group was here we (read they) put on a big event at the theater where the church is meeting. I say they just because I did minimum work for the event, other than have a good time. There was a sportsy theme for the night and the graduates involved in our community invited friends from work for a night of virtual sports. Southside brought in 5 Wiis which were set up with different sports games running. I first lost in baseball. Then tennis. Then boxing. Then I lost in baseball again. Then tennis again. Noticing any themes? I've since made a comeback. We played again last night at our graduate event (thanks to Southside leaving two Wiis behind). Amy and I were unstoppable in tennis. Last night we talked as a group, evaluating the event together with the Brazilians. We talked around ideas about the attractiveness of the event... whether it was a safe place for newcomers. I was most encouraged about the depth of engagement in our small group around the overall vision for our church here. How can it be clearer? What structures and processes need to be put in place?
The Southside group flew out this past Saturday after a solid week of 18-hour days. On Wednesday of last week, part of the group came over for dinner and shared with our children's program workers about the vision and structure their church has put together. I was really encouraged about their heart for kids which really came through during the night. I think all our volunteers came away energized to keep pushing forward with our program and to keep trusting God to work on the kids' hearts.
A 19-member, short-term team from Southside Church (Peachtree City, Georgia) arrived this past Saturday to work alongside our church. Together with the team we are planning three major events. The first was this past Sunday with the kids at the church. Southside put together the program and we helped with the translation. It was a great opportunity for us to be exposed to their children's ministry and the kids had a blast. Today we are doing an American football clinic for neighborhood kids. Our hope is that it can be a great contact with the families around us. And tomorrow night our graduate ministry will host alongside Southside a virtual sports (Wii) night to invite their friends and coworkers. Please pray for the remainder of our time and praise God for this new partnership and friendship. Team-member Brian Mount shared this morning, "Love the people, love the food, love our hosts. We are glad to be here to serve."
Simon got to pose with Spiderman after the Festa Junina this past Saturday. We didn't have our camera with us but this one showed up on the sports club's site (where the party was).
