Return (Voltar)

This morning I'm hungry. I rarely wake up hungry but I also rarely wake up at 7am, that is now... that I'm not working. So I decided to cook rice and beans and veggies, Brazilian style. The beans take forever without a pressure cooker. I am still hungry.

I returned from Brazil a month ago Sunday. Life has been chaotic since that day. Since before that day really. I have been in Charleston, SC for 12 days, the longest I've been in one place since Thanksgiving.

Life hasn't felt "right" since I've come "home." Now, it's hard to go home when you don't know where home is. I guess I should be calling Charleston home now that I've been here almost two weeks but I'm not really working or engaged in much here yet. I have a couple friends but my journey has been so different from theirs that I feel alone.

Living in tight community like what we shared in Rio will do that to a person I feel. There were four Americans and one Brazilian living in a house in favela do Jacarezhinho. Not only was it sharing a lot of personal space but it was also sharing lots of new experiences together. Most of us were new to Brazil or new to Rio, we were new to working with kids and women living on the streets, new to talking Portuguese or English, new to cooking on more primitive appliances and having so many fresh exotic produce around. We shared every waking moment of our lives together for four months and then the umbilical cord was broken and we have split up across the United States. And so I have been mourning. Mourning and hungry.

Hungry not just for Brazilian food and culture but for community. For my fellow Americans who I shared so many unfamiliar experiences with and also for my adventurous Brazilian friends who hiked halfway across the megalopolis of Rio with me. These are the people my heart longs for right now.

Also, job searching is destroying my self-value. I feel like with every application I submit I'm trying to sell myself and many of the places where I'm applying, I know I can do better. I know I should be seeking meaningful work that serves a disadvantaged demographic but right now I'm tired. I'm tired, I'm hungry, and I'm mourning. So I seek easy work while I mourn, am tired and hungry.

Working with Word Made Flesh in Rio (again) reminded me what I was created for. Slaving away with no noticeable gains in Chicago was breaking my spirit and blinding me to God's purposes. No doubt I brightened someone's day, was a good friend to some, and did some "good" but my life was far from my calling. Now in Charleston I'm trying to find my focus, work towards obtaining a more long-term VISA for Brazil and building a support base. But in the meantime, wherever I work, whatever community I find here, I want this life to be glorifying to God as well. I want this chapter of my life to edifying to the whole story, not another step back or a point of stagnation.

My heart is still in Rio. My body has returned but my heart is still in Rio and this makes me a hungry, tired, mourning mess. Please pray for my friends who are also recovering from their time in Brazil and also my friends in Brazil who are facing the constant rains.

Saudades Brasil!

Things are Heating Up

I realize that over the past month I have not been updating as regularly as I had intended to. Part of that is because of busyness (limited freetime to devote to rest, reading, internet and whatever else I may want to do) but also because of costs. If $ were no factor to things I would then I would have uploaded all my photos, emailed many friends personal updates and generally kept closer to you whom I love states-side. As it is, I´ve limited myself to R$5 of internet usage per month. Please understand/respect my decision to live simply.

Recently we´ve had a few really hot days. The kind of days where you come out of the shower and instantly begin sweating again. These days are difficult in a world where I only experience air conditioner once a week for a brief time. But still there are some cloudy days and some rainy days so it´s not like day after day of continuous sweating.

For instance, this Monday on the streets it was raining heavily. So we ducked under an awening with 8 or so of our friends who call the streets their homes, regardless of the weather. One women (19) and her 1 year old baby boy were there asking if we could help her find a shelter that would take her and her baby. The next day Rich searched but some shelters had closed down and most required money. There are so few shelters that will allow women to stay with their children here. And it seems that the government does not fun sufficiently very many options for this friend of ours.

On a brighter note, Friday night at the Missionaries of Charity soup kitchen for men of the streets, we had some very exciting conversations. Our Portuguese teacher has done a very good job with us and it´s exciting to be able to understand people´s stories and then to be able to tell people what we are about.

Yesterday we hiked Corcavado (the mountain of the christ statue) with four of our closest Brazilian friends. It took us 2.5 hours to climb up but then back down part way to the vans that shuttle people to the top. They were charging R$24 to get up to christ. Last time I came it was free. I thought charging so much was an outrage so 5 of us walked as far as was permitted without a ticket and took pictures of the backside of christ. Then when the group got back together we continued to walk all the way to Alto do Boa Vista. We had to have covered 10-12 miles, some VERY steep. This was an absurdly fantastic adventure.

Thanks for reading.
Happy Birthday Matt!
jen

Meio Passado esta passada

Half this trip is now over. I feel like we have gotten to the pinnacle of the roller coaster and now we will be flung down in a whirlwind to the end.

Tuesday was Children´s Day. I am convinced that this holiday is expressed by blasting music and shooting fireworks until 5am the night leading up to the holiday prohibiting children and parents alike from any sleep. On the holiday taking children to the park for a picnic and lots of cake. Culminating in street parades and singing happy birthday to no one in particular at 10pm. And ending the event with a mix of American dance club music (especially Lady Gaga) and Brazilian Funk until 3am. Of course the day before and the day after the holiday are taken off from work to allow for such involved partying.

Needless to say, I haven´t been getting much sleep these past few days. So while composing this message I was relaxing at a used bookstore/cafe enjoying espresso with dolce de lette topped with whipped cream. The espresso was strong and bitter, well paired with the sweet toppings. This was a great way to prepare for working at the sala (Projeto Ester).

On Children´s Day we escaped to the beach for the majority of the day. We all got a lot of sun but our Brazilian escort/housemate Diego probably got the most sun burnt despite having used sun screen. We also endured frequent pummeling from the ridiculously strong waves and wind. Truly it was a wonderful day. I look forward to a quieter week ahead.

Diego is a really neat guy. We (4 gringos) moved into his space 9 weeks ago and now I think he kinda loves having us around, mostly. He is from North Brazil and has worked with YWAM in Argentina and Paraguay as well as in other parts of Brazil. When he was much younger he was called by God in a dream to minister to children in Mozambique. Now he is 22 and this January, Lord willing, he will be on his way there for a year of service, though he feels called to 5 years. He will be a dad to the orphans while preaching the Good News. I have loved getting to know this brother. Currently Diego is on staff with WMF. It will be really hard for the community here to see him go but is will also be a miracle. Fundraising and acquiring VISA and passport have been very difficult for him even though he has a very close and wonderful church community.

Thanks for reading. Please pray for the Brazilian servants of God-their tenacity to follow the callings they have received. Ta ta for now. Thanks for reading and praying.
jen

``Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that I need, or I shall be full, and deny you, and say `who is the Lord?´´

How do I get to last place?

This is a quote from Caleb, a young man on my servant team who always seems to have the best quotes come out of his mouth. Jesus taught us that the first shall be last and the last shall be first. In this upside-down kingdom I find that I have been born into a disadvantaged position. I have been born into relative wealth and possessions can be dangerous. `Possessions are dangerous because they often encourage unconcern for the poor, because they lead to strife and war, and because they seduce people into forsaking God. Even more, they put people in the never-ending loop of covetousness.`Ron Sider `Rich Christians in an age of Hunger.` I´m still trying to break the bond I have to things and security.
Last night we went to Central Rio and hung out with 25 people or so (someone is always coming and going). We took our usual food, games, and bible story. I sat with children coloring in my lap most of our time there. As we were getting up to leave, I pulled my rain jacket out of the bag and began to put it on when a young man (16 or so) with his arms tucked inside his tank top asked me for my jacket. My response was Eu pressiso (I need) and I think my facial response was to quickly close down. I failed to see him as a person surviving the elements without the opportunity to easily acquire his perceived needs as I was. Another young man who has been meeting with Word Made Flesh for nearly seven years stepped in to rescue me. He knew me and this group as friends so he helped me get my arm into the jacket. The first boy asked next for my sun glasses and the second boy in again. He rescued me from this uneasy situation.
I desire to be seen as a friend, not a rich American. And I desire to see these people as real friends not people I have to guard against. There is so much between us.
This week we went to a passeo (field trip) to Quinta Boa Vista (a big park) with the kids from Projeto Vidinha, 15 or so ages 4-18. I played lots of baseball, soccer, Frisbee, and other games. It was a wonderful time. I got my first sunburn since being here. It has been raining a lot these past four days but the sun came out long enough for us to enjoy the park.
Afterwards we went to a Brazilian friend´s house and ended up watching A Walk To Remember. This was NOT chosen by the Americans. Cheesy!
Sunday we went to a place called the Jerusalem Cultural Center which was a large model of the city of Jerusalem during the years 66-70 CE. It was complete with Herod´s Temple, the palace of David, Upper and Lower city, the city of the second wall, and the New City. This was really cool. I love maps so this 3D map got me really excited. I wish I had access to this while studying bible at LCU and Wheaton. The model was located on the property of a mega church not to unlike Willow Creek. It even had a Bob´s (Bob´s is like Brazilian McDonald's) on site. Afterwards we walked to church in the pouring rain.
I´m still really enjoying being here after 7 weeks. I´m loving having access to fresh fruit and veggies. I made a veggie stir-fry for four the other day and spent about $1.10 USD in total. Today we bought 2 pineapples and a pint of strawberries for $1.75. We´ve been making smoothies often to try to stay cool and get our vitamins. It´s a real treat. Anyway. Off I go. Cooking pizza tonight. Tchou! Thanks for reading.

Psalm 139

Read the chapter first if you want to understand

Yesterday we did Lectia Divina on Ps. 139. I was touched by several images. The phrase that struck me most was `You hem me in` remembering the prayer of St. Patrick. Then considering the final stanza about search me, know my heart, know my thoughts, see if there is offensive ways in me, lead me in the way everlasting. (paraphrase of vs. 23-24).
God is with all his children even in the places we consider most dark. God makes those places of light. He also directs us to become agents of light, driving out darkness. He exposes the dark places inside each of us.
There are parts of me which are opposed to the light. I pray that God would either destroy those parts or completely reconcile them to Himself. I realize that I am a mess spiritually at time. I profess Christ and He is instructing me in freedom but I abuse this freedom possibly to an extent that damages Kingdom efforts to reconcile a broken world. I am free to do all things except that which harms my brother or sister. Sometimes the effects of my actions are hard to discern. It seems I need increased wisdom in these matters as well.
Lord begin this painful work in me.

Last Tuesday by grandfather passed away with ALS. I expected he would while I was here in Brazil but it was still hard being so far from the family. My dad was able to call Wednesday night while I was teaching Jessica our new cardio workout. It was good to hear his voice. I´m thankful for our group cell phone. Then Friday during the funeral I went to the Metropolitan Cathedral to pray alone. This was a good time for me.
Last weekend we stayed at the Nichol´s house outside the favela. The Nichols are the American WMF staff. There was lots of English speaking and American food. When we left the house to go to the grocery store it took me a little while to remember I was in another place. Yesterday and today were good to be with Brazilians again, speaking Portuguese, giving positive attention to children who don´t want us to leave.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that I got to run nearly 5.5 mile on Sunday at an island called Paquita in the bay. It was a chilly overcast day, perfect for running.

one month

Friends and Family
I´ve been in Rio a couple days short of a month. I have the tan lines to show for it and maybe a couple extra pounds. But maybe you want to know what´s impacted me or how I´ve impacted this community in that time.

Last night we went to the streets of downtown Rio and gathered with many people: children (8-14 years), young adults (15-21), and young families (22-older). There was a woman maybe 21 years old and 8 months pregnate with a 1 year old child. There was a motherly figure (probably late 30s but looked nearly 50), a young woman (16ish) under the mother´s care (not her mother), and a couple men all going to the same house later this week. There were 5 or 6 8-12 year old boys with a girl (maybe 9) practicing their provacative dance moves and several other individuals gathered this week. I spent most of the evening listening to the stories of an energetic/buzzed man (one of the ones going to a house together). He had never been to this woman´s house and said he was afraid to go. He said she was strict (not sure what that implied). He told me he has been living on these streets since he was 8 years old. He had been married but said that was no good and has a 19 year old son he hasn´t seen in 2 years and is now too ashamed to go see/find him. Many times he expressed his gratitude that we were there and said it was not good when we are away.

Almost every women I have met living on the streets18 years or older is pregnate. It seems like a perpetual state of being for these young women. Abortion is illegal in Rio but many have lost children presumably this way and many are raising children while barely able to support themselves. My heart breaks.

But then I get on a bus, ride for an hour to my current home which is like a huge suburban home compared to the conditions of my new friends´ trying to survive on the streets. I eat a big meal, have a shower, and sleep fairly peacefully. Perhaps this journey from ´have-not´to ´have´ is tearing me to peices.

I desire to build genuine relationships but feel limited because of the language barrier. I´m understanding more and more each day but can´t contribute much to a conversation. This is okay. It´s a humble position to be a baby, unable to talk only able to look and smile. I´m certain body language communicates our love sufficiently for now.

My greatest impact right now can only be my prayers. I´m dreaming about and wrestling with ideas about what my role might be in this place if I will be able to make a long-term committment.

That´s enough for now. Right now I´m making tortillas for everyone in the house. Yum!
Much love, I miss you, pray for you, and look forward to seeing you again!!!!
jen

Genocide

Greetings!
I have now been in Rio 3 weeks and we are in the midst of a colonial revolution. Yesterday we blockaded their points of entry and poisoned the disputed territory. This morning I found 8 enemies dead and only 3 living but I know the battle is no where near over. As often as we discuss colonialism and our role hopefully as reverse colonialists we are actively participating in the genocide of Baratas (tiny Portuguese roaches), the natives. They have the run of our kitchen even though we clean thoroughly everyday. We store nothing in the cabinets or drawers. Our food is kept in plastic containers with sealing lids. Our dishes are stored in the fridge. Never fear, we will prevail!

Since being here I have read a lot, "Tuesdays with Morrie", "Dispossessed", "The Jesus I Never Knew", "A New Kind of Christianity", along with Ester, Job, and Joshua. I am now reading "Compassion" by Nouwen, McNeill, and Morrison, "The Kite Runner" and Judges. I also picked up a copy of Runners World in Portuguese. It is the August edition even though we are now well into September-oh well.

It has been a bit overcast and drizzly since Sunday. This weather has me thinking about fall in Chicago. It would be great running weather if that were an option for me here. Instead I sit inside and read.

Perhaps because of the gloomy weather we had a great gathering of children and young families on the streets Monday night to hangout with. Mondays are when we walk the streets looking for people we know living without homes. There were nearly 25 of our friends in one place. The past two weeks we have maybe found 3-8 people generally in a couple areas. This time we were able to set up for a few hours with a soccer ball, sidewalk chalk, drawings, Jenga, Uno, a Bible story (the story of the lost sheep), food and drink, and lots of attempted conversation. The smallest children are very precious, when they see Dandy or Jacqui (Brazilian staff) walking up they run for an embrace. It is evident that real relationships have been formed. And many women have benefited from Project Ester, the conversations and connections formed there.

Yesterday was a big work day for the Servant Team at Project Ester. We sanded and painted metal handrails and a suspended iron gate. We were filthy from the dust that had settled for so many years and tired from working from a ladder for so many hours. But the place looks pretty good, much improved anyway since it was purchased a year ago. Yesterday was also Brazil´s first independence day so there was a big parade in downtown and a "march for Jesus" in our favela. No work for Brazilians but extra work for Americans.

Thanks again for reading. This weekend would have been Mother Teresa´s 100th birthday so I will leave you with a quote, "If the work is looked at just by our own eyes and only from our own way, naturally, we ourselves can do nothing. But in Christ we can do all things. That´s why this work has become possible, because we are convinced that it is he, he who is working with us and through us in the poor and for the poor."

Just a reminder of my continued financial need. I left three weeks ago trusting that God would provide the support necessary for my participation in this ministry completely before I return in December. To date I have received $3500 of $5200. If you want to support you can either through the WMF website (www.wordmadeflesh.org) or by mailing checks to Word Made Flesh P.O. Box 70 Omaha, NE 68101. Remember not to put my name on the check but in an enclosed note. Thank you for your prayers as well!

"For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" Luke 14:11
Please join me where you are in learning to be a servant, humbly walking with God, seeing every lowly person as Jesus who we are sent to serve.

shalom,
jen

Fund Raising

I wanted to let people know where I was regarding fundraising. It appears that I have raised $2750 of $5200. This presents a problem for me as I will be responsible for the difference when I return if it has not been raised by then. So here is how you can help... PLEASE SEND SUPPORT TO:
Word Made Flesh
P.O. Box 70
Omaha, NE 68101
Please don´t write my name on the check but on a note attatched to the check. Thanks!

check out the web site, see what we´re doing. Read my stories. Sorry that none are up yet. I´m still getting my barings, not much free time.
www.wordmadeflesh.org
www.wordmadeflesh.org/support/give/

email me with specific questions, I respond to those more quickly.
pare.jennifer@gmail.com

Much Love, stories to come!

21 days to go

The countdown begins. 21 days=3 weeks. I've been telling people I'm leaving in like a month or something. BUT OMG it's only 3 weeks away!!!!!
I have finally printed support cards and a small stack of support letters. I've been debating whether I should do a full scale mail out like I've done in the past. The letter looks great and I have wonderful friends who probably enjoy receiving a physical letter but mailing that many letters is a bit pricey and I'm trying to collect rather than spend money in this case. What to do...
I have not received notice from WMF yet as to my current funds collected. This makes me very nervous. But it's in God's hands.

To prepare for this trip I have to read and review 3 books plus have a reaction to what I'm reading in my current Bible studies. Today I sent in my responses to "Brazil: An Oxfam Country Profile." By Jan Rocha and "In the Name of Jesus" by Henri J. M. Nouwen. I was not actually able to read these books because my heavily loved and notated copies are lost in Lubbock somewhere. But I was able to read what I have written on them in the past and use my questionable memory to have new insights on the material I recall to be contained in them. And for the sake of possible commentary I'll post both of my responses here.
Thanks for reading!

Brazil by Jan Rocha

I recently read over the essay I submitted on this text three years ago and have reflected on what details have stuck with me over this time. It is evident to me that I took remembered the information that I understood experientially. I remember reading about the rural poverty in Brazil, the take over of family farms and youth leaving their families for the cities. I remember in great detail the explanations on stripping the Amazon to increase cattle grazing lands and the subsequent expansion of arid (un-farmable) lands. Growing up in a West Texas town, rural poverty and agrarian practices are simple truths. These were the concepts that I read about and could relate to directly.

Trying to reflect on the description on the urban environment, I remember very little about what Jan Rocha tries to convey. I do know that there was a section on favelas, their origins, what they are, why, and where. This background was helpful to me going into the favelas for the first time and also as I began to understand the culture of these places. Consequently, a year ago I went to a barrio in Venezuela incidentally assuming that it would be very similar to what I experienced in the favela only to be shocked by the blatant differences. I could not find a paradigm for understanding what I was seeing and being told while at the same time trying to find the similarities between the Venezuela barrios and my home in Jacarezhino.

I also remember appreciating that this book was more than a history of Rio de Janeiro, a description of politics, or social tourism. Jan Rocha tried to take an unbiased approach to describe some of the over-arching themes of what makes Brazil the place we find it to be today. Brazil is a place of booming economy (car manufacturing and vast energy sources), evolving government, and the full spectrum of poverty and wealth among its citizens.

Working in a place that has healthy and fractured elements is difficult. It can be difficult to explain to people at home that I’m not going to Brazil to find beautiful beaches but to confront some of the greatest poverty in the world. It is hard to reassure families that by going to this place of poverty that I will find the safety that I need to maintain health and sustainability. Brazil is hard to wrap your mind around, it is also hard to experience but never the less it is a place where God is at work and is beckoning me toward.

In the Name of Jesus by Henri J. M. Nouwen

"Much Christian leadership is exercised by people who do not know how to develop healthy, intimate relationships and have opted for power and control instead."

This short, easy read by Nouwen is one of my all time favorites on ministry. Nouwen assess the way Christian ministers have traditionally taken on their role and reveals through the temptations of Christ how a minister in love with Christ might lovingly take on the challenging role of ministry.

The way of this world is to move up the corporate ladder, to gain power, money, and popularity. The way of Christ is through humility, love, giving, and relationships. The way of Jesus is counter-cultural and as much as I may desire to follow the example Christ has set for my life, I struggle. I want to be a person motivated by love. I want to be a person who values healthy relationships and is not swayed by personal power or influence.

This book is broken into chapters discussing the three temptations of Christ, to be relevant, spectacular, and powerful. In relevance, I see the trends in ministry books to address culture, sub-cultures, and generations in relevant ways. Nouwen cautions against this approach because it not genuine. Altering your message and style obsessively to reach particular people is not profound and cheapens the love Christ has for all people. Ministers who are deeply in love with their savior effect people richly.

The second temptation, to be spectacular reminds me of the reaction some people have when I tell them that I am going to Rio to live and work from the favelas. They tell me I’m some kind of super-hero and I want to plug my ears and scream. People try to make their ministers heroes, better than the normal human, and in this way unattainable to the average person. I want to have some comeback to this reaction to people who want to make me other than them like saying “I slept through work one day last week and my co-workers don’t think I’m wonderful” or “I cuss when I get angry on the road” but that would not solve the cultural complication. Nouwen suggests ministers especially need to be in the habit of confession. Communities should be in the habit of confession to one another. Christian communities need to see that we are all average people but God has made us spectacular. Our lives are still full of sin but God is bigger than that and chooses to use each of us still to bring love and reconciliation to a hurting world.

In the third and final temptation, Nouwen exposes our shared temptation to be powerful. So many ministers and people of influence and leadership are corrupted by the pursuit of power. Nouwen suggests that our response to subduing the urge for power should be reflection on God theologically and contemplatively. Quite simply we are to focus our attention on the one who has the power and off of our egocentric selves.

Last time I was in Rio, I spent a lot of my unstructured time on the roof reading, being intellectual, trying to make sense of what I was experiencing. This time, going back, I want to make my priority building relationships with people that are healthy. I do not want to grow close to my Brazilian neighbors to “convert” them or for the specific task of teaching me Portuguese. I want to make friends to sharing in the joys and suffering of my neighbors, or learn and to impart, to mutually value. And perhaps God will bless these relationships and teach me to love and live a bit more like Christ.

Mullen's Fun-Raising Party

See my flier for August 6th 7-9pm Open Bar party at Mullen's Restaurant and Bar in Lisle, IL. Hopefully you can join in the fun.

Updated Support Letter

new support letter

Brazil Servant Team 2010

I have been nearly silent on this blog for the last couple years but I would now like to announce the grand re-opening of unconventionalwisdom at blogger. That's right, my voice will once again be recorded on this site regularly. So get ready to hear about some awesome adventures.
July 6th I accepted an invitation to join the Brazil Servant Team with Word Made Flesh in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from August 17-December 17th. That means I have a lot of preparations and not a lot of time. So far I have applied for a VISA though I haven't received any indicator yet that said VISA has been granted. I have tried to find a plan for managing student loans, car and credit card bills while away and unemployed. And lastly, I'm trying to make a plan for fund-raising.

Fund-raising is not that difficult but it does take some planning. For instance, I have had a list of places to call to see if any restaurants or bars could help with setting up parties where proceeds would go to Word Made Flesh. I have a support letter drafted but not yet finalized or distributed. I have plans to make little cards with my information and address for funds and care packages. Mentioned today was the idea of having a car wash...if you know anyone who could help to arrange this let me know.

I am going to post my support letter here and begin over the next two days to email it out to see what kind of initial response I am getting. Please send ideas and encouragement this way because planning to leave the country for four months as an adult (rather than as a student) is a bit challenging. Perhaps it would be more difficult if I had a house, kids, spouse, but one reason I don't have those things is because I want to be available to serve in the places God opens the door to, not excluding my backyard or the other side of the world.

Support letter, draft 1:

Oi Amigos e Familia,

Many of you may know that I moved back to the Wheaton, IL area in March 2009 and have been working as much as possible in hopes of being able to return to Brazil. I am excited to announce that the invitation to return has been extended and I will be returning to Rio de Janeiro this August.

Once again, I will be working with Word Made Flesh. They are an ecumenical community of Christians working and living among the most vulnerable of the world’s poor. The Word Made Flesh community in Rio targets women and children living in the favelas (shanty towns). “Our witness to the hope and transformation Christ brings is offered through ministries among the excluded and marginalized, especially children living on the streets. Our ministries include mentoring and modeling relationships, education and recreation programs, partnerships with local ministries and supporting the local church’s mission to be a light to the community and the world” (an excerpt from the Brazil vision statement).

This trip will be a time of intense exposure to one of the world’s poorest population. In the context of a dying world (both physically and spiritually), our team will be seeking God’s heart for the poor and how He would have us respond to the suffering of this world.

Many of you might be willing to go and serve alongside us if it were not for other responsibilities in your lives. So, I want to stress the important role you play back home. By giving financially and supporting me with your prayers, you are allowing families to be fed, clothed, and loved. No gift is too small. I cannot do this without your support, and Word Mad Flesh would not exist if it were not for the gifts of supporting people back home. I urge you to prayerfully consider what God has called you to give and partner with me as we follow His call.

I am responsible for raising $5200 by September 1. Already I have received

$1516. Above the program costs I am trying to raise additional funds to use to bless the missions community in Rio so they can continue to bless their neighbors ($650) and continue to make payments on my students loans while unemployed ($650). If you feel like God has called you to serve with financial gifts you can send checks to the Word Made Flesh office in Omaha (address on the next page) or to me personally. Please do not write my name in the memo line but do write my name on a separate paper attached to the check.

As I said, no gift is too small. To know that you are mindful of those serving among the poor is very encouraging to us. Please be prayerful of our travels, expenses, and that God would impart to us wisdom and sensitivity to His Spirit. Care packages can be sent to address on the back of this page. We always enjoy American junk food (not excluding Jiff peanut butter). Thank you for your time and concern. I look forward to sharing with you all that God will accomplish in the months to come!

Shalom,

Jen Pare

Addresses for sending support:

Word Made Flesh

P.O. Box 70

Omaha, NE 68101

Jen Pare

859 E Lawrence Ave

West Chicago, IL 60185

*before Aug 15

6012 73rd Street

Lubbock, TX 79424

*after Aug 15

Please post a comment or email me if you want my address in Brazil for sending letters or care packages.

Thanks for reading. Looking forward to your advice/suggestions/support!

Goals Revisited

A year ago I posted a list of goals to accomplish is life. I've had some interesting experiences over the last year and have a bit of a different perspective on what I really need to do verses what would make for interesting experiences to tell the grandchildren or whatever. So read on for the actual posting last year and at the end I'll create a new list of goals and a bit of a commentary on what things I have actually accomplished this year.

Friday, May 25, 2007
Life Goals
A couple years ago a friend told me about a list of things he wanted to do in his lifetime. He wrote it while he was in high school and by this point he had graduated college and realized his time was running out to accomplish some of the things on his list before the strains of adult life held fast their unrelenting hold on him. The most remarkable thing on his list was to run a marathon. This man was at least a hundred pounds away from running a marathon but that didn't stop him, it actually became greater motivation. He inspired me to come up with my own list. Now two years later I think I'm finally ready to give this list a try.

Life Goals:
1. Hike the entire Appalachian Trail
2. Run a Marathon
3. Spend a minimum of 8 years in another country
4. Adopt children
5. Write a book

Now we all know that dreaming about doing things is not enough. Unless we make concrete efforts to accomplish goals they will never get themselves done.
So here's where I'm at in accomplishing each of these things:
1. Looks like I'll begin preparing to make the voyage across 14 eastern states from March-September 2009.
2. I'm trying to run 2-3 times a week to maintain current shape but have not selected a marathon or year.
3. Preparing to work on a Servant Team with Word Made Flesh this fall to see if WMF would be an organization that I could serve with for many years.
4. I know that I want a boy from Africa and a girl from South East Asia but I'm single and in a transitional stage in life so I am not prepared to have kids of my own yet. I would prefer to wait until I'm married and plan to live in one place for several years before beginning the adoption process.
5. I have an outline for the book I want to write. I plan to work on the majority of it after graduation from Wheaton while working in Lubbock. Some before the AT and finishing after just before going overseas long-term. Approx. date of release: 2011.

There, that was a fun exercise. I'll come back to this in a year and see what kind of progress has been made. You should come up with a life goals list as well. No matter how young or old you are goals and very good to motivate us to constantly better ourselves and benefit the world we live in.

blessings,
jp

Alrighty, Well I ran the Traverse City Bayshore Marathon on May 24th 2008 and finished right at 5 hours. My goal was to finish in five hours and that I did.
I have not continued plans for the AT or made any significant headway on writing a book but I'm thinking I need to get busy with that because I'm headed overseas sometime in the next year guaranteed. I still have the book's outline saved on my computer somewhere but it probably hasn't been opened in nearly a year. I did write that I was planning on serving on a servant team with Word Made Flesh. I went with them to Rio de Janeiro. As far as adopting children goes I might just be happy unofficially taking kids in from the barrio or favela wherever I find myself living and working. These will be my kids and I don't have to be married to have and take care of them.

My goals now are to get a pet and be healthy again.
Last night I had other goals in mind that I wanted to write about but I've already forgot what they were so I guess they weren't that impressive or important.

9/10- I remembered what one of the other "original" updated goals was: have an avocado tree. I guess that can replace the have a pet goal. I want an avocado tree and to be healthy. Unfortunately I just learned that I'm never going to be healthy in the sense that I meant ever again. boo, sad day.

This is long overdue

So it looks like from my blog I've been traveling home from Brazil for over four months. The truth is(n't) I traded my international flight for a 150cc Brazilian motorcycle and have been struggling with intra-continental travel since mid December. My family got concerned when Christmas rolled around and I wasn't' there. The debt collectors got concerned in January when my student loans went from repayment to default status and I got concerned when I realized at this rate I would be making better time running the last leg of the journey from Mexico to Chicago then trying to keep the bike in functioning condition. So that's what I'm doing these days. This past Saturday I had an amazing 18 mile run. And if 18 miles in one day is better distance then riding the motorcycle you can only imagine what these past four months have been like. But it is true, I missed the snowy winter Chicago is said to have had this year.

The truth is this has been quite a busy semester. Not so turbulent in the realm of culture shock as I had initially expected but none the less there have been many adjustments to be made. Looking back I thick my disposition fits better with the rhythm of Latin America. This may come as a shock to many of you who know me well and think I thrive on business and unplanned obligations. My rhythm didn't exactly match Brazil's but they were complementary like breaking 4/4 time into triplet quarter notes. It becomes something like Bosa Nova and is totally groovy. So I grooved in Brazil and now that I'm still plowing through this semester at breakneck speed and intensity I am really craving a groove. Here's the deal though, in one week all my class work must be completed. So if I can handle to demands of academia on top of all other life obligations for one more week I'll be free finally to pursue a new rhythm of life.

A refresher course on the recent history of my life just for reflection's and procrastination's sake: Spring of 2007 I attempted a hunger project in which I ate little more then Breedlove dehydrated soup (stuff that USAID uses for international relief aid). This project began to cultivate within me an increasing brokenness for the plight of the poor in the majority world.
The summer of 2007 I embraced voluntary homelessness by ending my traditional lease situation and primarily camping in the backyard of a friend's house. This lifestyle of camping was also mixed with a bit of cross-country road tripping which facilitated some amazing prayer and listening to C.S. Lewis audio books.
The fall of 2007 was spent applying the values that have been surging and seeking expression by living and working with Word Made Flesh in the second largest favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Please read my reflections from each of the phases in my life by flipping through my previous posts.

What is going on in my life now? Well to be sure, I don't have a motorcycle, I also don't have a lease but I do have two bedrooms that I flip-flop between and I still work at the coffee shop in Wheaton. I'm a week from finishing my Master's degree at Wheaton College and I'm within a month of running a marathon. And running is what I should have been posting about throughout this spring. Running has been my extreme pursuit of the season. I have been running in -2 degree with strong wind weather. I have also been running in 90 degree high humidity weather. I have had icecicles growing on my eye lashes and I've been sun burnt. Running is extreme. Anytime I run more then 5 miles I wonder why the heck I do this painful thing to my body.

Well, the reason is death. I wont expound on that yet. Maybe after this afternoon's run, after I've had another chance to meditate on the topic the words will come to me to explain the thing that compels me to run 26.2 miles on May 24th in Traverse City, MI.

I'll try to start blogging more regularly again. Sorry for checking out of the world of media connectivity for so long. No promises that I'll do any better at answering my phone or checking my email but maybe I can promise a blog at least every two weeks.

tchou!

Newsletter 7

Greetings Friends and Family from Rio again.

We are counting down the days until we have to hop back on an airplane and come back to our respective homes and places of work. Today is Monday and we leave on Saturday so we have five more days to make the most out of our time in Rio.

I hope you have all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are preparing for Christmas and more time with family and loved ones. I am looking forward to not only family and friends but also SNOW and rediscovering winter clothes. My tank tops are looking a bit stretched out and ragged from four months of hand washing and active wear. It has been strange observing some of the things I miss most about life in the States. I think I'm really going to relish the freedom to be alone when I want and the ability to go places when and where I want with much fewer restrictions.

It has been since early November that I gave a lengthy newsletter and for that I'm very sorry. November has been a very involved month and December is even more busy. About a month ago we climbed Corcovado to the Christ statue. The climb was steep and jungley, lasted about 2 hours and most of the time we were climbing through a cloud. Once we committed, we couldn't see much of the statue because of the density of cloud cover, rain, and strong winds that threatened to blow us over the cliff edges. That was the first time I have been really cold in Brazil. But still it was such a memorable experience and I'm so glad we went.

A couple weeks ago we took all the Projecta Vidinha (orphanage) kids to a really big park to play futbol with the older kids and other games with the young kids. That was such a huge success. I played soccer non-stop that whole day. The kids beat up on me terribly but still my team was determined to get me to score. I preferred to play defense. A couple days before that was my birthday and then also I got a chance to play, this time under an over pass with the street kids with commuting business people occasionally walking through our make-shift playing field. On this particular day I scored three goals. Unfortunately those years of smoking and perhaps also being a bit high make the street kids slow enough that I could keep pace.

Ben, our servant team coordinator who has been in the U.S. since Mid October was finally granted student VISA so he was able to come home to Brazil on Wednesday. This was a huge relief to us all. We missed having him around terribly and he returned just in time to take us on our debriefing retreat to Angra, a beautiful beach town with hundreds of nearly abandoned islands. We left for that retreat on Thursday night after we helped run a Christmas party at Timonis (the favela kids program). The Christmas party was lots of fun. We decorated the place with lots of lights and streamers, had candy to give away, made mini pizzas, and had a huge supply of sodas. Each of us operated a carnival type game that the kids would rotate around to and receive points to redeem for a Christmas gift at the end. My game was a huge tub of sand with 10 marbles buried in it. The kids had a minute to dig through it and pull out all the marbles. They had a lot of fun with it but I was covered in mud by the end of the day. Mud because when sand settles on a really sweaty person it becomes mud. Oh, the power had gone out again so not only were the Christmas lights not lit but also none of our ceiling lights or fans were operational. On really hot days the electricity tends to go out. The wiring in illegal residency doesn't tend to be that great but many people are starting to own window air conditioning units that drain entire blocks of electricity. We're getting used to always being covered with a sticky film of sweat. Unfortunately the party ended on a sour note because of a police raid that was warring with the Drug Traffickers on the streets outside. We kept the kids inside with us until the area immediately surrounding us had quieted down a bit. Happy Birthday Jesus, right?

Then we hurried home to clean up for the debriefing retreat to Mangaratiba and Angra dos Reis. We have a Brazilian friend who has a house not 100 yards from the ocean at Mangaratiba and he allowed us to invade his house again for this weekend. It is such a beautiful place unfortunately half the time it was raining. We still had a good time and spend a day and a half on the beach. Yesterday, for the last day of the retreat, we went to the bigger city of Angra to go on a boat trip to Ilha Grande (the big island) and to a couple small islands along the way with beautiful beaches. We also went snorkling at one point on the Ilha Grande. Yesterday was the perfect day to step back from our life in the favelas and from this time in Brazil to consider what God has done in our lives and what we have learned during these past four months.

We have just a few days left now. Next week I'll be back in Texas to the things that have always been familiar to me speaking a language I know. I can't wait to come back and reconnect with all of you. I can't wait to share in more detail some of the experiences I had and also to hear about what has been happening in your life since the last time we were together. If this letter wasn't too long for you check out this blog posting for more details from my days: http://jen-unconventionalwisdom.blogspot.com/2007/11/almost-over.html

Miss you all. I'll see you soon. May God bless your life this holiday season.
jp

almost over

I can't promise I will write any more blogs during my time in Rio. I will write lots I assume once I return and am trying to make since of my time in this place. But for now, I'm pretty busy both with normal ministry activities as well as additional end of our time stuff like Christmas parties, farewell parties, debriefing retreat, and growing desire to spend time with our Brazilian friends. Today was a bit out of the ordinary as far as ordinary days go. I'll try to capture a few moments from it for you now.

Today, being Wednesday, was a long day of work. We were up a bit before 8am to make cafe de manha (breakfast-meaning coffee) and head out to catch a onîbus (bus) to Lapa (an area of downtown where the Missionaries of Charity is located). The bus didn't come right away. It seemed like every other possible bus had passed by several times before a very full bus that would take us where we wanted to go arrived. We had to stand about half the 45 minute commute and when I finally sat it was in the back row (5 across) and I got stuck in the very middle between two men. One was asleep and seemed to seemed to drift more and more onto me. Finally the man on the other side of me got off the bus and I got to sit on the crack between two seats so the sleepy man wasn't leaning on me anymore.

We arrived at MoC and say hi to all the wonderful old women who cook amazing almoça (lunch) on Wednesdays. We tell them that this week we have brought the sobremasas (desert), it is chocolate bolo, but we like to call it Brownies. After that anouncement, we joined the Sister from Rowanda to help with the laundry. She told me happy birthday in both English and Portuguese and asked if I danced for the party. She really likes dancing but I think that pleasure is a bit stiffled if you are a nun, but of course I can't be sure. A little later after the laundry is done and after we learn how to get coco (coconut) out of a dried green oblong shaped ball and how to then shave it like what you would find on the baking isle of a grocery store, the sisters let us try some candied coco. It was heavenly. Then they said to take it home with us to share with the other Americanos. After more time has passed and we have prayed with the cooks and eaten their amazing meal of rice and beans and noodles, and mean and salad and pineapple they get to try our brownies that we have been trying to make and give them for over a month now.

After MoC we get on another bus and ride 30 minutes or so to Tijuca, another area of town between DT and where we live. We check the mail box, nothing for me, then walk to Projeta Vidinha (the orphanage). Kids are eating lunch. IN (a 10 year old boy) is playing with the four little kittens with a clothes hanger. B (2 year old girl) is in a great mood and having my head be a race track for a matchbox like car. R (8 year old boy) is obediently eating. No other little kids there at the time. We take them to the main room after they eat to play a memory card game. It works for a bit before the other Americans on staff show up with their baby. B is playing with markers and stealing our cards. T (6 year old boy) and PV (8, boy) arrive. R has started to cheat. IN is rearranging the cards. R is becoming more obsinate each minute. Finally the other Americans who can speak excelent Portuguese come in and give the kids more direction. Now they will create Christmas cards for their American sponsors. Last week they created cards for their Brazilian sponsors. So because of this repitition they weren't very excited or engaged in the assignment. IN followed directions well once he possisioned himself on the other side of the room from me and requested marker colors he needed in Portuguese and had me throw them across the room to him back and forth. R just wasn't having a real good day and kept pouting. The other boys T and PV focused for a total of 10 minutes. Once they were done so were Heather and myself. The house quickly became chaotic again with kids trying to use us as jugle gyms, yelling and fighting each other. All the while I'm locking in having to throw markers across the room at IN. Three and a half hours of being in this house finally pass and we decide we've had enough and need to get home for the evening. We get directions for the next day from the American staff then start saying our good-byes to the kids. I ask little B for a hug in good enough Portuguese for her to have no doubt about my request for a hug, I said, "Eu preciso uma abrasar." She got a really big smile on her face, opens wide her little arms and flings herself at my chest. I'm squatting on the floor so it's perfect. Then the other kids see me within their reach so before I know it PV and T and R are all on my back. This frustrates me as much as it makes me feel loved and appreciated. We finally leave and tell the kids we will see them again Friday for Enlgish class.

So we leave and hobble like wounded soldiers the half mile or more to the bus stop more aware than ever of the toll that being in a forein country, doing manual labor, and working with kids has on a person. The bus this time is another 45 minutes and I settle in comfortably by Heather and start to drift to sleep (not deep sleep but just kinda nodding off now and again). We get off and walk home another 1/2 mile through the favela. At home Heather and I part ways, her to the internet cafe and I to the roof of our house.

At the roof, I take "Announcing the Reign of God" a book we will be discussing as a group tomorrow that I haven't finished yet. I also have my water bottle and disposable camera hoping to catch a good sunset and noticing that the neighbor kids are trying to get their kites to take flight. I love watching the flight of their little kites. It looks like a lot of work but well worth it. One of the kids has a roof like ours that is really tall above all the buildings around it. The other is under several clothes lines and has taller buildings on three sides so it's much more difficult to get a kite to fly from such a position. I watch them struggle for a while and then I hear teenage girl voices behind me and realize the kids from a couple houses down are joining me on my roof. I recognize them but have never had conversations with them before. Now I speak more and am up for the challence. T (14 year old girl) asks to see/use my cameral. I let her. She takes a picture of her friends. Then one of me confussed that she has so quickly figured out how my camera works, I will trash that one once I get them developed. Then she takes one of her friends and me with the mountains and kites in the backgrownd. We talk a bit about names, ages, where I'm from, do I have a boyfriend, my favorite types of music, and that was about all. Then the oldest starts beating up on T. Not really sure why but it destroys our moment of conversation and they find their way back to their own roof.

I look up after this and see the kids have finally sucessfully gotten their kite flying. I hollar PARABANS! (congratulations) at them and the girls I was talking to start laughing of course. Just as quickly as the kite takes flight it seems to crash back down so I decide I can probably invite them over to my roof because it is so much better possitioned for flying a kite but no kids live here to do the honors. So I hollar over again "vocês pode vam car aqui com suas peples." please excuse my spelling I'm not sure of my accuracy with Portuguese spelling but this is my attempt to say "Ya'll can come over here with your kite." They act like they understand and seem to say, really? After one attempt the kid runs downstairs and looks like he's asking mom for permission but then returns to the roof and resumes flight there. So I give up and just enjoy the sunset with the kids still trying to fly their beautifle kite for a long time. Heather joins me after a while with her camera also. I share a cookie with her that I got last night at my birthday party.

Then we go downstairs and evaluate our options for super. We are now out of noodles, out of rice, out of meat, cheese, we have two eggs, some slightly moldy bread, and good spices. I have no money. I have just enough money for the bus fair until we get paid Friday morning. I have so little spare money that I have been borrowing toothpaste and soap all week. I made the mistake of going out to eat Chinese food with Lisa on our birthday. It was worth it but now I have no extra. We don't get much money to live on, which is good. About 1/3 of the R$100 we get goes to transportation. The rest basically covers our food. But then we always end up doing things during the week with our Brazilian friends and nothing is cheap. So we decide to make egg sandwiches with curry and tabasco. Heather has some spare money and buys two slices of cheese. She is very generous to me. Most of her weekly allowance probably went to my birthday celebrations. I decide to contribute to the meal by sharing some Crystal Light to go Cherry packets with her. It is a really good meal.

After eating I came to the Lan House where I am at the moment. I hope you enjoy my day. So ordinary and yet so amazing. I really love Brazil. I love Rio. I love my teammates and friends. I really love the favela. And I thank God for drawing me to this place in relationship with all these people. Thanks for reading. I'll be back to Texas in two and a half weeks and to Chicago at the first of the year.
Tchou

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving Friends.

Today I am thankful for you, my friends. I want to say a special thanks to all of you who throughout the past 3+ months have taken the time to send me emails. You will never truly know how encouraging those emails have been for me. Thank you also for those of you who have sent me letters and packages. Getting mail always makes for a great day, no matter what else occurred during that day. (however please don't try to send anything else my way because it wont get here before I leave)

I also thank you friends for your prayers. I have full confidence that many of you have been praying frequently for us, our safety, our ministry, and probably many other things. Thank you for bathing this experience in your prayers. And now as we are coming into the home stretch, only three weeks remaining in beautiful Brazil we will need your prayers all the more. We are already getting choked up at the thought of saying good-bye to our many friends here. How do you tell a 10 year old good-bye for real when you are so accustomed to saying I'll see you tomorrow or next week? How do you tell so many close friends and casual acquaintances in this place that we wont see each other again most likely until the throne room of God? My prayers now are that those we have been ministering with will come to see us as not-so-distant cousins that they will always be able to look back and fondly remember and know that someday we will get to romp around again and create wonderful adventures. Because we all are in fact family. The children we have become so close to are our brothers and sisters in Christ with equally strong bonds as any blood family could ever be. I hope you will realize that these new friends I have in Brazil and that I write stories about are also your brothers and sisters. I'm sorry you may not have the opportunity to meet them face to face but they are still your family too.

On this Thanksgiving, as anticlimactic as it is in a country that obviously doesn't recognize this holiday, I am thankful for the opportunity to meet this part of my family in Brazil. I am so thankful to have met this extension of the body of Christ. I am thankful to see the movement of the Spirit in this place. I am thankful for being part of a family that isn't bound by nationality, ethnicity, sex, income, occupation, time, or distance. I hope on this Thanksgiving day you too will remember your extended family and brothers and sisters that may currently be unknown to you but that live all over the world in all conditions imaginable.

I pray for you also. I love you and miss you. I will be coming home to you soon. We fly out of Rio at 11:55pm December 15th. So I'll be back to Texas on December 16th and back to Chicago-land December 31st-ish.

Deus te abençoe (God bless you),
jp

I'm Slacking

on creating new posts that is. I have finished several books since my last quasi report and intend to at some point in the near future at least record what books I'm been reading and a one or two sentence summary of each. But for the past few weeks I just haven't felt like writing such seemingly unimportant words that may or may not take up your time to read when you could be living life in some more constructive way.

I also haven't recorded for you enjoyment any funny stories from our experiences in Rio, which have been occurring undoubtedly, but again I have not slowed down my own life in order to reflect on these moments and type them out in a humorous account. So sorry, you will have to wait for more fun stories from Rio.

The things that have happened lately that I would want to write about are unfortunately very difficult to reconstruct with words when I know that my readers are primarily if not entirely based in the U.S. suburbia. There is nothing wrong with you being a US suburbanite, it just makes trying to explain particular events in daily life in Brazil a bit more challenging.

For instance when I talk with a Brazilian I can say this morning as we were leaving the favela we encountered the Caverão face to face for the first time. And immediately that statement conjures up countless relevant images in their minds and they begin to tell us stories that relate to my one short statement. Yes, I will attempt to describe the Caverão and other things that are happening in our lives but perhaps some stories I will go into deeper detail with once I return and practice trying to describe the events face to face with close friends before I go off trying to type it out. Then maybe what I will say will make a bit more sense.

Suffice it to say that life is still moving at lightning speed. We realize the we will only be in Brazil for something like 24 more days. We know the exact number of times we will return to each ministry. When we left the Missionaries of Charity today we said to each other, 5 more times. We will go to the streets 2 more times, the orphanage 7 more times, etc. We have two more weekends after this coming one that we are busy planning. We want to make the most out of each moment. That's our life right now.

No more time to write now, I have life to live and processing to do for what we have experienced. I don't want to be a basket case when I return. I want to make some good healthy decisions before I hope on that plane. Right now I feel very healthy mentally. I don't think I will freak out as bad returning even as I did when I returned from China. I will be tired however and in desperate need of alone time. I haven't had alone time in four months. How blessed it will be to have my own room for two weeks while I'm in Texas. Yeah! Life is good.

What are we doing in Brazil?

Just so you know,

Our time in Brazil is being spent relaxing

on the beach

and in the slum.

Newsletter 6

Oi Friends and family,

I have been observing that Brazil has a lot of holidays. There were at least 2 last month: children's day and teacher's day. November 2nd was All Saints Day and November 12th I think will be another holiday. These are on top of our own Thanksgiving holiday and double birthday party the following Monday.

This month we will also throw a big birthday party for all the spring birthdays at Projeta Vidinha (the orphanage). The founder of that home, Dora, has a birthday on November 13th so I'm guessing that's when we will have their party.

2 Women from the Word Made Flesh staff in Omaha, NE are visiting the Rio community in mid November as well for about a week. We are all hoping to do many touristy things during that week because even after having been here for two and a half months we still haven't been to the Christ statue or a couple of the world famous beaches.

Though our life continues to maintain a type of simi-consistent weekly rhythm I realize I have yet to really expound upon what we do here. What follows is a brief description of our responsibilities but it all adds up to a long newsletter. I apologize for this fact and hope you will persevere to the end.

Sunday morning we attend the Timonis church in the favela Maginhos. The church was began there in early October I think. Sunday afternoon we go to the market and buy fresh fruit and veggies and decide which church to attend in the evenings (Sunday night is the big church gathering).

Monday mornings we study or rest up, eat lunch together, then travel downtown to a gorgeous cathedral with a tragic story. This cathedral is called Candelaria and during our time there we pray before walking to Praça XV to spend some time with our friends the street kids. Generally we spend a few hours with them. Chatting, playing uno, drawing, and solving math problems before distributing sandwiches, fruit, and chocolate milk. They generally are more appreciative of our time then of our food.

Tuesdays we still split up to double our ministry involvement. David, Will, and Lisa work at Timonis, a place for the kids in the favelas to learn the bible and play. I explain more about that later. Heather and I head to Tijuca (a nice part of town) where Projeta Vidinha is located to play with the kids living there. We learn each others languages, draw, do homework, chat, rest, eat, and generally have a decent time together. Sometimes we tell Bible stories and pray and sometimes we don't. I don't feel any guild about this. It's a very religious environment so often we share the love of God in more creative ways.

Tuesday afternoons we travel downtown to Lapa (the aqua ducts) and walk to the Missionaries of Charity home where we find the nuns in their personal quarters praying and the gentlemen in residence, thrilled to have two American women greatly limited in their understanding of Portuguese ready to attempt to converse or play dominos for about an hour. Most of these men are seriously limited in their mobility by various forms of cancer or injury. Then we descend to the kitchen and dinning area to assist with transforming the tranquil monastic setting into a bustling soup kitchen for homeless men for the following couple of hours. It's exhausting but also lots of fun.

Wednesdays are a reverse of Tuesdays in which we begin our day at the Missionaries of Charity and end at Projeta Vidinha. Wednesday morning at MofC are the weekly big cleaning day. We have have frequently been put to work doing laundry, washing windows, organizing the clothing donations, or changing the sheets and cleaning the men's rooms. We have the most fun when working along side a sister and get to hear a bit of her story. My favorite sister is a young woman from Rwanda. She makes me laugh a lot. Last week we threw four 50lb. sacks of jeans down the stairs together. She knows how to have fun while she works. After our tasks we return to the kitchen for more laughs with the crazy old women cooks. They are so full of joy, so beautiful, and their food is to die for! Yum!!! This week we promised them we would bring the sobrimesa (desert) and their faces lit up with excitment. We are going to try to make carmel brownies. Brazil doesn't really have brownies which is a shame. I think they will like it. After lunch we return to Projeta Vidinha and continue to spend quality time with the kids.

Thursdays we have community time. In the mornings we discuss our reading assignments. We just finished reading "From Brokenness to Community" by Jean Vanier. Then we eat lunch together and in the evening we have our Portuguese lesson for a couple hours.

Friday mornings we teach English at Projeta Vidinha. This class is going suprisingly well. David and I team teach the high school class. Heather, Lisa, and Will teach the younger kids. They do fun stuff like paint by numbers. David and I just talk from the chalk board.

The rest of the day Friday and all of Saturday varry from week to week. Sometimes we go to the beach, sometimes we go to the mountins. And sometimes we do nothing at all. This Saturday I slept until 9, read for a while, spent some time online, then went to the roof of the house in the favela Jacaré for a couple hours just to see the view. I think the mountain behind the favela is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I spend a lot of time on the roof and I have the farmer's tan to prove it.

That's our week and the regular responsibilities we uphold. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays David, Will, and Lisa work at Timonis is the neighboring favela. It is a children's program where they teach a Bible story, do a drawing, eat a snack, and play hard like there's no tomorrow. We also do other things of course. We have many Brazilian friends now and they are showing us the city bit by bit. We went bowling last week and went to a pizza rodisio (all you can eat brought fresh to the table including desert varieties). They boys went to a Brazilian broadway musical, sometimes we get taken to a beach or to a friend's home for food. Rest assured we are quite busy, healthy, and staying safe.

Congratulations on making it to the end of this long note. I hope you are all well. I'll see you in a month and a half if you are a Lubbock friend or 2 months if you are in the Chicago area. There's still time to get a birthday card sent to me (Nov. 26th). It takes 3 weeks to get here. My address is:
Jen Pare C/O Ben Miller
Caixa Postal 24103
AC Tijuca
Rio de Janiero, RJ 20550-970
Brasil
Be sure to send air mail. Remember I have a blog, jen-unconventionalwisdom.blogspot.com and have added new posts tagged "fun stories" that are quick blurbs from my life in Rio. The oldest ones are best. And please continue to send prayers, art, and other articles for my WMF project to encourage their full-time missionaries around the world. I have also added a snapfish photo album of some of the early moments of Rio. More will be added soon. Here is a link to view those photos. http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=178639973/a=82676049_82676049/t_=82676049If is doesn't work let me know and I'll find out a better link.
Thanks for reading. God bless. Don't freeze this winter.
jp