Saudades do Brasil

It’s 6:30am. I can’t sleep. I’ve been awake since 4:30 and there is probably no going back now. About 40 teens here right now on a short-term mission trip. It’s been a lot less noisy than I feared – and a lot busier. And we have kept them busy right from the start – so I’ve been pretty occupied also. Mostly sorting gifts for Brazilians and prepping for English Camp. It starts in about 2 hours. All I think about is English Camp, but I’m trying to make sure I have time to pack, too.

I don’t really know what to think. Things change so drastically so fast. Last week we didn’t know what we were doing next. Now we know we have to go back to the US. We'll be going back next week thanks to an awesome flight deal from my cousin. I’m heartbroken, nervous, a little excited (about seeing loved ones), and trying hard to remain a hopeful. We’re going back a little more visa savvy this time. We know that it might still be a while before we get this work visa. We know there are still mounds of red tape. We aren’t even sure that this work visa will go through. We’ll be living out our contingency plan (see the post on July 06, 2008), meeting up with family, visiting our supporters, and trying to recruit some new English teachers for the school.

We do still believe that God wants us to serve Brazilians. We feel like we fit in here more and more. We feel like we have a place here and that they need us. We’ll be back. It might be one month. It might be one year, but we’ll be back.
So, see you soon.

-Lindsay