Festival Johannes IV

Le week-end du 22/23 novembre dernier, nous avons participer à l'organisation de la 4ème édition du Festival Johannes au couvent, pour les jeunes de Salvador et de sa périphérie.

Nous avons eu de beaux moments de louange..

De partage..

De témoignages, de leurs missionnaires préférés.. (en portugais !)

De danse..

 

De repas..

 

 Et surtout.. de prière.

Rain, Rain GO AWAY!

We are excited to announce that in about two weeks Kara and I will be moving into Mary Magdalene House as the first residents post “Extreme Makeover: Salvador Edition”. Let’s give you an overview of the house floor by floor…

On top, we have the classroom. We have been plugging away at our classes in art, music, recorder, and Catechism. This week, Katie surprised the kids and did a dance class which they loved. I was able to sneak upstairs and take a quick video which I think you would all find charming. All of our work in the classroom is going to be displayed during the week of December 18^th, the feast of our Lady of Hope – the patroness of the community. For the beginning of Advent, Edouard is going to do a Nativity theater piece with the kids and they are learning “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”

The middle floor is going to be our apartment. We have a guest bedroom, so we can now have company in Alto! We are in need of some things before we move in, but we are hoping to acquire them soon so we can get there. Our Portuguese is coming along. See the picture below - Gabriela has been teaching classes here in the mornings and Kara and I have been taking courses at a language school here. Nothing like immersion, though. We will have to figure it out once we live away from the comfort of the convent.

Our Classroom 

The bottom floor is a tutoring center. We lost our tutor because she got called back to work, but we are waiting on God for this. Please join us in praying for someone to come help the kids one-on-one… at least until Kara can speak Portuguese well enough. We would love to open this floor for socials on Sundays after Mass at Alto as well as on holidays. We are looking for some folding tables and plastic chairs to have so we can accomodate company.

It was Kara's Birthday on Saturday!

We have dinner as a community every Thursday and this past week we spiced things up with a camp fire. We sang “Don’t Worry Be Happy” and made some delicious banana/chocolate roasted things over the fire. We ate chocolate again when we had cake for Kara’s birthday! Kara and I got to go to a friend’s house and celebrate with an authentic Brazilian barbeque. The BBQ season is officially kicked off here in Salvador, so hopefully that can happen more often. However, there won’t be any barbecues if it keeps raining. It has been raining like crazy here. Nonstop for about four days. We want it to stop in time for the St. John festival that will take place here over the weekend. Also, it would be nice for our laundry to dry J… Besides the rain, things are pretty “normal” here. Which, we all know is not really possible.

Bonus Photo: Monkeys hanging out near Barra

 

 

The Festival Of Pizza

The Celebration of the Mass before the Pizza Party

Hello from Brazil! I can honestly say I have never been this busy in my entire life. As I spend more time here the style of living becomes more and more natural. In my first few weeks here it was a struggle to rise early for silent prayer, and now, I cannot imagine doing anything else. We all rise, splash water on our faces, and walk to the Chapel to say hello to the most important person in our lives. On average we spend about three hours a day in the Chapel, and at first this also was quite an adjustment.  We now work from 5:30 am until about 9 or 10 pm everyday. I realize that without turning to Christ time and again throughout the day asking for grace, we would be incapable of working as hard as we do for as long as we do. He is our strength, and through him and for him, we are able to give of ourselves more fully everyday…Or at least we try to :]

Last week was one of our most exciting events! The Festival De Pizza, Aka, The Festival of Pizza, Aka, The Pizza Party. From now on I have made the personal decision to call all Pizza parties, “The Festival De Pizza” I feel like it gives pizza the respect it is owed. 

Our week was one of trepidation and excitement.  

“We’re having a pizza party.” Brother informed us early in the week.

“Oh?” we responded, unaware of what was to come. “How many pizzas are we making?”

“100.” Brother responded.

A hush swallowed us up.

100 Pizzas? Had anyone ever made that many pizzas before? Was there even enough flour in Brazil for such a feat?

We quickly realized there wasn't a moment to spare. We spent the week making dough, delicious homemade sauce, and slicing vegetables. We went to sleep the night before the Festival, each one of us closed our eyes, knowing what was to come.

We arose early the next morning, dressed for battle, and descended the stairs. We placed the days in Christ’s hands, and got to work. Katie and I spent four hours grating cheese, and then got to work making sure the dough the ready to go. Before we knew it the time had come. Gabriela, Katie, Brother Francis Therese and I set up the bakery. We braced ourselves, said a prayer, and got to work. The night went off with off without a hitch. While we cooked the pizza everyone celebrated mass in the courtyard. We made a variety of delicious gourmet pizzas, and everyone was very happy. Afterwards the cooks had a mini party with the extra pizza and talked about the day. We sat in the court yard, laughing and eating.

Me, dressed to impress. 

A few women, running for cover from the rain. 

As always, know that you are all in our prayers. Stay tuned for more exciting events next week! 

- In Christ, Faith