Refletir Cristo

Reflecting Christ. As Christians, that's our goal. Too bad it's not as simple as the mirrors glued to brightly-colored shapes of foam we worked on today in crafts, huh?

Today was the day we've been waiting for - we finally got to meet the kids of the Brazilian favelas! Tonight you'll hear about some of the experiences one of our teams from Fort Worth had through our partnership with Igreja Evangelica Batista Vida (Evangelical Baptist Church of Life), led by Pastor Antonio. If the internet holds up okay, you'll hear about the Michigan team in the next day or so, and the second Fort Worth team toward the end of the week.

This particular VBS (led by Brandon & Cindy) is happening just outside of one of the favelas at a facility that is similar to what we in the States might use as a recreation center. Of the three locations, this VBS is the furthest from our hotel, and has the most "rustic charm" of them all - a.k.a. bars on the windows, no air conditioning, a dirt field, and one new potty that we are all praying works all week! But, it does have a beautiful swimming pool - crazy, huh?

At each VBS site, there are two sessions - morning and afternoon. This morning session brought 85 children, but word must have spread throughout the neighborhood over the lunch break, because nearly double that (over 140 kids) showed up in the afternoon! Though we have three different sites conducting two VBS sessions each day, all three teams are doing our best to provide the same purposeful activities and message each day.

The Brazilian kiddos are very polite and listen well. They are so eager to receive praise and approval from all of us, and treat us like honored guests - though they do think we are silly as we try and dance and sing to their music!

After some rousing praise songs with a band that could give Brian & Jennifer Kieta a run for their money (sorry guys - we still love you!), Kevin, Hunter and Travis told the story of creation through a beautiful mural painted by a volunteer back in Fort Worth. While Jim & Madison began the huge task of taking every single child's picture for other projects later this week, our skit team joined Brandon and Cory for some crazy field games to burn off energy. And when the afternoon brought us rain, rain and more rain, our games guys went with the flow (literally!) and adjusted their activity to something the kids probably enjoyed even more - water relay races!

Toni was a master at keeping all three ages groups moving between stations, and stalling with impromptu entertainment if one group ran long. Shelley and Megan performed a short skit about the fall of man while helping every child learn Ephesians 2:10 in Portuguese - "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Finally, Tara, Linda, Cindy C., Cindy B. Amy, Alma, Elektra (now knows as the the Craft Queen - check out that apron full of supplies!) and Julie H. helped each child decorate a mirror that encourages them to "Reflect Christ" every time they look at it. For some children, this honestly could have been one of the only times they have ever looked at themselves in a mirror.

Before each child left, they were given snacks, lunch and a backpack. We are so grateful for all of the contributions of backpacks and money to purchase more! These children were SO excited to have something of their own - in fact, we feel pretty sure we had a few repeat attendees. But hey, if another decorated mirror and a backpack helps these children know and love Christ, then who are we to judge?

In our morning devotion, Jared and Cruz challenged us to plug our own names in for the word "love" throughout 1 Corinithians 13:1-7. No matter our past sins, these kids knew nothing about us other than what we first showed them today. It's humbling to know that you can lay everything aside to start over with new friends. It's even more humbling to see that your new friends have so little wealth, yet are rich beyond measure with their smiles, their hugs and their enthusaism for a few crazy Americans carrying craft supplies and some backpacks to give away.