Brasil Update

Oy (Hello) from Brasil (yes that is how it is suppose to be spelled),
I thought while I had a minute I would write what’s been going on here and what I’ve been learning. Figure that by the time I get back I’ll have learned and done SO much that it would take FOREVER to tell you all so might as well start now J
To begin, I know everyone that goes to a third world country says this but, America is SO blessed! I can’t even begin to describe to you how truly blessed we are! Compared to these people the American milkman is rich, and I am not exaggerating. From the moment we drove out of the airport it felt NOTHING like America! What I would have expected to see in a African poverty film is what you see all up and down the streets of Sao Paulo. There is trash everywhere, buildings are COVERED in graffiti, and are patched up with anything and everything you could imagine, everyone is running around barefoot on the streets, and the crime rate is so bad that they have to put fences around their trees because people will steal them. The average Brazilian makes a grand total of $7,000 U.S. dollars a YEAR!
To say the least, being here has really put life in perspective.
The biggest thing I have been spiritually challenged by though is the national pastor’s wife. Her name is Goretti (yeah have fun pronouncing it! Took my like a week to get it down) and she doesn’t speak a word of English. The notable thing about her is that she has TRUE joy. How do I know this? I can’t talk to her, I cant understand what she says to others, but I can tell by her actions and her face that she is a Godly woman. The biggest sign is that she is ALWAYS smiling, and not a fake smile but I genuine, joyful, happy smile. And even when her mouth isn’t smiling, her eyes are. You can SEE the joy of Jesus Christ coming through her face. People can literally SEE that there is something TRULY different about her. The kicker is, she lives in a house that (once again I am not exaggerating) is 85 square ft. After watching her for the past 2 weeks it has made me think “can people SEE the joy of Jesus Christ coming through my face? When I look at someone am I TRULY happy to see them and see what the Lord might/has been doing for them?”
Ok, so one more story and I am done with this book J
The missionaries I am with (the Huffmans) were back in the States about a month ago, and for several different reasons decided that they could no longer have their “sending church” be their “sending church” anymore. Well this church decided that because they could no longer be the “sending church” they were going to drop the Huffmans completely. Unfortunately, this church made up a very large part of the Huffman’s support, $700 a month to be exact.
Well, the Huffmans came back to Brazil and decided to just pray about it and trust God to raise them the support they need. So they have been praying for a month. Well Sunday night they get a call from a teeny tiny church in Oklahoma (and when I say teeny I mean it! They have like 80 members). David’s parents are out there right now doing a camp for this church and David’s dad had been talking about the Huffman’s with this pastor. The pastor asked how everything was going with David and Kim and David’s dad mentioned in passing about their sending church dropping all their support.
When the pastor heard this he immediately went to his mission’s board and said they had to do something. To make a long story short, the board and church have voted that for the next year they are going to send the Huffmans $750 a month! And at the end of the year they are going to continue sending them $200 a month! If you haven’t done the math yet, that is $50 MORE than what they had been previously receiving. Is God good or what?!

Anyways, that’s just a LITTLE bit of what I have been learning. I hope you are all doing good, I miss ya’ll like crazy! You can pray that I make the last week ok, I am getting a lil homesick for my family, bed, and English J
Love in Christ,
Kristin Hanson
Ps 73:28