Juuuuuly

Whew! We have had a CRAZY month.

It all started with CURA, a medical campaign that happens every year here in Itu and Carioca and I were able to help lead "CURA Comuna", the branch of this ministry that goes out into the surrounding neighborhood to offer assistance in any improvement projects the families may need. They are long days and we were exhausted but it was fun to serve alongside so many VIVA kids.

Malu and Tayane with some awesome aggie volunteers

Neymar and Lucas with VIVA's good friend, Mona Lisa

The weekend after CURA, the Church of Christ in Itu celebrated the 10th anniversary of the church building! So many beautiful ministries have been born within these walls and it was exciting to celebrate with my new church family (which includes a TON of VIVA students and professors!!!)

(left to right) Le, Nayara, Heloisa, Joel, Neymar, and Joab at the 10th anniversary celebration

The following week was Camp Roots, a bilingual youth camp that happens every July. Youth groups from Texas join teens from Brazil for one week to learn about Jesus together. There were 17 VIVA kids who were able to raise enough funds to go this year and they LOVED it. The theme this year was God of Creation, and we had lots of great takeaways from the week. We talked about darkness and light and rest and respect for the things God made for us. Here are a few pictures:

Our group at camp. Carioca led discussion and I was able to translate to English!

The VIVA kids made tons of friends, learned SO much, and they were even given the space on the last night of camp to invite all the Brazilian campers to come hang out with us at VIVA:

It was a great week and they are already looking forward to next year!

Throughout these past few weeks, we were grateful to be able to host lots of our Gringo friends at VIVA. We all loved getting to expand VIVA's community a little more and we are excited for them to come back soon and bring even more friends with them.

New friends of VIVA, the Aggies for Christ, the same group I was a part of when I was at A&M

Old friends of VIVA, the Highland Church of Christ youth group from Abilene

As you can see, we've had an eventful month to say the least. We are grateful for all the ways God worked through this craziness and we were grateful to be just a small part of it. We are also grateful that life is returning back to normal now so we can recharge for next July ;)

And we saved the best for last! Two VIVA kids, Bia and Malu, were baptized yesterday! We are so excited for them and looking forward to see all that these new workers do for the Kingdom.

Here are some things you can be praying for:

Our monthly support

The upcoming semester at VIVA, starting next week

Continued growth for VIVA in this community

My adjustment to Brazil, Portuguese, and VIVA

Your care and support is much appreciated!