As I walked away, I could see she was already reading her new Bible. I went back and asked for her photo and thanked her.
Some of the classes will sing for us when we arrive. At one school, the entire school was gathered together to sing. Brother Paul Sr. then teaches them the song "God is so good." Look for the video sometime in the near future when I can get enough bandwidth to upload it.
I've gotten to share my testimony in a couple of the classes, and that was a blessing.
Grilled chicken, rice, pork and beans, and fries. Coke is coke all around the world. Rachael got hold of my phone for a minute and did a lovely self-portait. The gentleman sitting next to Rachael, Djoca, is one of our taxi drivers. He needs to be saved. Our other driver, Tatino, received Christ yesterday.
Update: Djoca came to the church service on our second Monday night. It was a strong Gospel message, but it appeared that Djoca was going to leave without responding. I asked him if I could show him the picture I had drawn while I was still an atheist, and asked Claudio, one of the Brazilians on the trip, to translate for me. Djoca understood the meaning of the picture right away and said that he was ready to have the darkness taken away from his heart. Claudio talked to him from that point on, and he soon bowed his head and received Christ. Friday night, he brought his son, who also responded to the invitation. More on Djoca later.
A good friend always says, "You'll be the same this time next year except for the people you meet and the books you read. " Today I met Francisca. It's hard to say what impressed me about her. Maybe that my first impression was totally wrong. I first saw her sitting on the rock in front of her house, and then later when she had a very difficult time getting up, I assumed that's all she did was sit on the rock. Later, when I saw her making her way slowly down the street, half bent over and leaning very heavily on her walking stick, I knew I was wrong about her. Lisa told me that she really likes chocolate, and so I slipped her a piece from my bag the next time I saw her. She was really pleased.
I also met Neni (almost sounds like nanny) who is trying to raise three kids alone. She will be doing our laundry while we're here, and it really bothered me that I didn't even know her name before I met her today. I hope I can spend a little more time with her and get to know her as more than just the "laundry woman".
And I met Lu and had coffee at her house. This was one thing I was hoping to have the chance to do while here. It would be a real shame to come all this way, do all the work that will be done, and never touch or be touched by the people who call this home. So I'm both surprised and delighted that these encounters have happened so quickly.
More later.
It's beautiful, but I've never seen so many rocks in my life. The one word that fills my heart as I look across the landscape is hopeless. Sometimes you can see that same hopelessness when you look into someone's eyes.
I like flying, but I usually only do it for a couple of hours at a time. Seven hours will be interesting. Got to give a nice young couple who were wondering what all the lime green shirts were about a couple of Get Out of Hell Free cards.
After Rachel and I discussed the artistic possibilities, we came up with this ponytail hanging over the back of the chair.
Update: Well, after Mrs. Cynthia’s ankle failed to improve, x-rays revealed her to have a fractured ankle. She spent most of the trip confined to bed with her leg elevated directing the curtain sewing and praying for us throughout the day. The local doctor was very nice and did make a house call to check up on her. 
It was great to see Brother Paul today and hear him preach to us from the story of Jericho. It was a long day on two hours sleep, but I'm glad to be here.