Last week was a good week. Actually every week has been better than the last for me. The more language I learn the more conversations I can have, the more I enjoy being here. But this week was also the first time I became seriously excited about when I return. I´m excited now to more back to Lubbock and begin a 2 year fundraising campaign, to be closer to family, and to be at South Plains Church of Christ. I´m also excited to reconnect with many people who were so formative in getting me to this point where I desire to do missions rather than wearing myself out with the endless pursuit of money.
Enough about that for now. This upcoming weekend is the Chicago Marathon. Best of luck to those of you participating. I wish I were there with you. Instead I will be running a 10k at Flemengo Beach with 3 friends and most of WMF Brazil present to cheer us on. I got to run Monday 7-7.5 miles (not so sure without my Garmin) and I´ve still got it. 50-54 minutes should be reasonable for me assuming the course isn´t too crowded. I don´t think the start will be corralled by pace like I´m used to. It will be fun just to have raced in another country.
To more serious matters, the police rounded up several of the youth from the streets to take to shelters. Usually they run away from the shelters in a few days but perhaps some will find refuge.
Monday, we met a women with a 9 day old baby, yes on the streets. It was a cold day and they were wrapped in a sheet together. I was able to get them some milk and food and yesterday she went ´home´ apparently. Some of the staff visited her there yesterday to make sure the baby was okay and hopefully this will be a better place for them to stay for a little while.
I am told that many of the people we meet on the streets have homes or family in favelas away from central Rio. Usually they have then chosen to live on the streets. Many say they were beaten at home or just don´t like it there. Home life must be really bad if street life is better. I can´t imagine what it would take for me to choose to be homeless.
Again to change the subject, Sunday was election day. A new president has not been decided yet but the candidate my friends were pulling for is out of the running. It is now between Lula´s girl, Dilma and some other guy whose name I don´t know but who all those opposed to Lula will not support just because he is the alternative. The run-off election will be November 15th to decide between these two candidates. A candidate must have 51% of the votes to be elected and voting is mandatory.
That´s enough for now, as it heats up here I´m seeing more and more signs of Christmas. Please pray for my friends living in difficult circumstances especially the little baby.
blessings and love!!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment