online basketball is not easy

 Dear Friends

Dad has asked if I could do a little update so here it is. We have been in quarantine for about two weeks. It makes it a little tough for dad to share the gospel to people when we have to stay inside all day. I do online basketball which is not easy. One advantage of online basketball is that when you do situps and pushups they can't see you. I have also started online Classical Conversations class which is hard in general but now it is portugeuse. Yesterday was April Fools day. I did the best tricks. Dad got all of us, he asked us to put on our 247 365 day a year shirts (pictured below) and he said that a picture guy was coming to take our picture and he tricked us!!!!(ask dad for more info) Apparently April Fools Day is not a thing in Brazil it is actually called Lying Day where you just lie. Portuguese class has been great. If we went back to a resort called the Hotel Fazenda when I did not know any portuguess it would be much better. (We went to the Hotel Fazenda for christmas.) Tchau tchau!! Eu gosto muito do Brasil. Bye bye!!! I like brazil very much.

From Everett

PS. I saw two monkeys a few days ago. The popsicles are the best here!!!! Surprisingly kiwi is a great flavor for popsicles. BYE!!!!   

 Read Lucy's update. 

afternoon coffee

Hey everyone, 

It's been raining here since last night after days and days of heat. For me, the cooler air has been a welcome change even if it means bringing the clothes inside to dry. 

A couple of busy weeks have launched us into February. Here are a few of the highlights: 

Here's a pic of our visit with Bernardo. Many of you may remember Bernardo from waaaaay back when I met him as a student. Bernardo, his wife Arabela, and their son Ian had us over for café da tarde (afternoon coffee) and it was such a treat. Meeting up with Bernardo and other "old" friends has been such a great reminder of God's continued work in us. 

Speaking of old friends, we've also gotten to meet so many of their children. Here's a pic of Everett at our favorite neighborhood popsicle stand with our friend Mirella's 4 kids. Sometimes the kids are the best language teachers. They often don't care that Simon, Lucy, or Everett may not understand something they've said. They go right on talking! It's been amazing in one week to see how far Simon, Lucy, and Everett have progressed with the language. This week during class they had to go to a local store and make a purchase on their own, while asking specific questions to the shop owner. 

 

We've also made some great new friends since we've arrived. Here's a pic of a Sunday lunch we had recently with Elias and Vitor. Elias and Vitor both got involved with Campus Outreach while students and Vitor started an internship with the campus ministry this January. He's become a quick friend to our family. We just met his friend Elias this past Sunday. It was such a treat having him lead us in worship at the church earlier that day. He's a music student at the local university, UFMG. 

This past Tuesday Everett got to do a "test" with a local basketball team. The coach was fantastic and even spoke English (he lived in Ohio for awhile). Next week Everett will start practice with a group of 10 year olds! The group was all 13 year olds for his test, but he did such a great job keeping up!

 

Thank you for your continued prayers. God has shown great care for us, providing cultural adjustment, friendships, and a great start to the ministry at the church. My feelings of not being enough or worry about the kids still show up. But recently, the Lord has reminded me that even suffering does not undo our great hope! Pray that we could keep close the reminder that we testify to him and not ourselves, and to our eternal hope and not momentary pleasure. 

One last prayer request before signing off: please pray for our documents for our Visas. We submitted one specific document in early December and never received it. I tried calling today and they told me to call back in March. We understand the delay because of COVID-19, but in the meantime please pray that it wouldn't cause complications for our Visa process and that we could even receive them before March.

In his love, 

The Dowdys   

almost halfway there

 

Update Highlights! We have 41% of our support in!  And... 24 degree weather is probably too cold for camping! Oh well, hindsight is 2020.  We (me, Amy, and Everett) took advantage of the long weekend to head up to Spartanburg, SC to visit Braden at college. He got us tickets to a home basketball game on Friday - Wofford vs. Furman, and on Saturday we set out for Keowee-Toxaway State Park in Sunset, SC for some camping. The temperature dropped down to 25 degrees on Sunday night, but we survived and had a great time with him and his girlfriend, Aniah. Everett, however, continues to remind me that I fell on the trail and had a short slide down a hill.  Support raising continues to build our faith. Earlier this week I was reading in Genesis 50 about Joseph's brothers' fear that he would do harm to them after their father died. Joseph replied, "Do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones." And I thought, if Joseph makes a promise like this, surely God's promise is much greater. Then today I read, "how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" God is teaching us to trust him and not our own means! It's true in our parenting, in support raising, in our personal transformation. God, teach us to trust you!  In the past month our support has increased by 10%! And we've met with many others who plan to partner with us. And, as if that weren't enough, God has blessed us recently with two supporters joining our monthly support team unprompted by us! As we work toward a July departure, all giving received is counting towards our one-time moving expenses. So, thank you for your generous gifts! Prayer requests:  that we'd walk by faith as we invite the remaining partners God has for us to join our team. that we'd quickly break the 50% threshold!  that the kids (and Amy) could stay strong in school in this transition, for Simon to thrive in his last semester before graduation, for me to finish well at work, and for us as we move toward selling the house and packing up our things!  Pledge Now

the boy is growing

He's getting chubby and happy. Maybe he's finally waking up. He can saw some logs.

a little excited

Amy just called. Her dad is here for a visit which is awesome. But what makes it incredible is that he brought down the canoe he bought me at an estate sale recently. He's been working on it for the past few weeks, I guess, putting on a new wood trim. I can't wait to get it in the water!

In other news, I'm graduating in a few weeks. I have one final project due tomorrow and one due next week and I'll be finished. I'll officially have my MLIS.

Everett is here!

We welcomed the sixth member into our family this month: Everett Walker Dowdy. Everett was born the day after my (Jeff) birthday. I joked the week leading up to the birth that it would be my last birthday to celebrate knowing full well that from now on Everett's day will trump mine (rightfully so, since I've already had 35).

I created a slideshow. Please leave a comment or two for us to share with Everett and the proud Momma.