The View from Above

Our Brazilian sister Leni had this photo ordered - it is an aerial view of the chacara! Hopefully you can get a better idea of just how ample (1.5 hecatres) their property is! The new dormitory is the white-roofed building at bottom left. The old dormitories are to the left of it. The chapel and kitchen are in the building above the lake, and the reception are is the small blue building. The chacara is located off a main road in Alvorada, a suburb of Porto Alegre.

Collective Surprise Birthday Party

Let me first as I begin this post give credit to the Terrys for taking the pictures and posting this event on their blog. Last week we had a collective surprise birthday party for the men at the chácara. This was largely the idea of our Brazilian sister Leni. She made hot dogs, Jennifer Terry made chocolate cakes, and Leni bought mini-Bibles to give to each man (20 in all). A lot of these guys don't get visitors and hardly ever commemorate their birthdays. So needless to say, this was an occasion for lots of joy and some tears...Happy Birthday to the chacara guys!

I think we were all surpised, weren't we?

Habitat for Humanity in Porto Alegre

This is somewhat of an "interlude" to my postings on the chacara, I post this here because it's in a similar vain of volunteer/social work in the Kingdom. I have recently become involved with Habitat for Humanity Brazil as an occasional volunteer for their projects here in the greater Porto Alegre area. In February and March, Habitat sponsored a "40 Houses in 40 Days" build during Lent in São Leopoldo, a suburb of POA. Waleska & I helped out on a couple of occasions with translation and work. Last month, a delegation from Habitat International came and I spent two days translating some meetings between them and local community leaders. From l-r, Habitat Int'l and Brazil staff: Antonio, Elves, Jose Luis, Garry Hansen (with the Lutheran church in Michigan) and Raafat. I have enjoyed this experience and hope to continue helping in the future! Habitat is hoping to launch a large-scale project next year in POA in one of our city's most needy neighborhoods. Stay tuned...