Rio Day 1

We are in Rio.  Cannot believe it.  The trip has been great so far besides being very tired.  We left DFW at 5:40 on Friday evening and arrived in Atlanta at 8:30.  Our plane to Rio was boarding at 10:00 so it was a fast walk from terminal A to E.  A fast snack at the food court and we were in the air by 10:30 Atlanta time.  That is when the fun started.  Anna fell asleep around 12:20 or so.  Sharla and Mariah were in and out of consciousness from 2 am forward but never really got any good sleep.  I finally made Blake lay down at 3:30 and he crashed until we landed at 8:40.  Needless to say we are TIRED!!!!!

We were picked up at the airport by the missionary Kevin Reynolds (brother to Burt for you ACU people) and the evangelist named Jefferson.  The rest of the day has really been a blur.  We went to our host home which is a great young couple named Bruno and Tami.  They are very solid.  Then to church for a meeting and an english class from the readers who were involved in the previous LST trip that ended two weeks ago.  It was really encouraging to see the impact that the previous team had.  11 people were present for the english class which went deeper into a section in Chapter 2 of John and Chapter 2 of Acts.  Great dialogue with people wanting to learn english and getting to hear about Jesus.  I was honestly surprised at how the gospel caused these english learners to question what the scriptures were saying.  Before you knew it we were in a study.  It was just wonderful. 

We are eating tonight at Bruno and Tami's house/apartment/home with about 7 kids from the youth group.  Brazil is just awesome.  It has a feel to me of Mexico and Dallas.  Kevin the missionary says it is described as India blended with L.A.  Tight streets, crazy drivers, unplanned homes and building projects surrounded by slums in the hills and brand new construction around the corner.  Small neighborhood shops, markets and butcher shops fill the air with a strong aroma of fresh food and yesterday's trash.  It is something to get used to. 

We are so excited to be here and for our kids to see the Church and the work in God's the Kingdom in Brazil.  It will be a blessing and we will love it just as soon as Sharla gets some sleep.  The kids are going to crash and I run on batteries.  Planning on getting some pictures out. 

Love to you all.