Now that our official language learning time has come to an end, many of you are probably wondering what our ministry is. I am happy to say that I can finally tell you. 🙂
We actually jumped right in to a couple of roles here. During the Christmas break there is something called ‘C’ (for short…to protect our missionaries who may not be able to say where they are) that goes on. It’s a time when as many as the missionaries that are in the country, that can, come for teaching, encouragement and a time of refreshment. Of course if you are going to be doing that sort of thing for a bunch of missionaries, you also need to do something with their children. Joel had the wonderful idea to volunteer to teach the pre-school class. 🙂 So for one week (from 8:30 am-11:30 am) we were in charge of 20 children between the ages of 2 and 5 years old. Thankfully we were able to get their moms to take turns to help us. Let me tell you, it was QUITE INTRESTING having to tell all those little kids things in English & in Portuguese! 🙂 Besides that, we also gave our testimonies one night in church…in Portuguese! I (Angela) was soooooooooo nervous I felt sick! But it went well & we survived. 🙂
Now that ‘C’ & Christmas break is over, we are actually ‘moving’ into our roles for the semester (sometimes the different roles may change somewhat depending on which missionaries are here, on furlough, etc.). Here is a brief description of what we’ll be doing.
Angela– will be the “Fruit & Veggie Lady”. Which means I do all the ordering of our fruit & veggies (for the families living here at PQQ). Each week I take orders from the families, compile them into one list & order them from a local Brazilian. Then I take delivery & divide them out to the correct families. I also have to make sure all the bills are correct for these transactions…like not paying for rotten things, or things that are missing, making sure each family is billed correctly, paying the delivery man, etc.
I will also be the new “B.M.” for PQQ. Because of safety reasons (on the Internet), I can’t go into detail what this job entails. But suffice it to say, I have some learning to do. 🙂 Feel free to e-mail if you would like to know more.
Besides these two jobs, I still have to cook, clean, be a wife & mom, encourage & get to know students, help with outreach, and homeschool Josiah his Kindergarten year. There is also the possibility that I’ll be doing lifeguard duty(some days) during swim time as well. Sooooo, I think I’ll stay busy enough. 🙂
Joel– will be teaching Bible class to the 1st & 2nd graders, Science to the 3rd & 4th graders, a Small Motors class to the High schoolers, getting the curriculum ready for next year when the NEW Bible curriculum goes into effect (This is a HUGE praise!), helping with the outreach program, helping with Maintenance around the school, life guard duty, be Dad & husband, preach in church some (in English & Portuguese), and probably help out with a Study Hall class as well.
Oh, and we’ll both still need to use/practice our Portuguese so that we don’t ‘lose it.’
So there you have it…our ministry jobs. Seeing it all written out makes it look overwhelming. And I figure there will be those times…but with Christ we can do all things! Praise the Lord for His strength in us. So glad it does not depend on us!!!!
Please Pray:
*That the kids will adjust well to being in school.
*That we will learn our new ministries well & be a help and encouragement here.
*That we will continue to have opportunities to share Christ with others (Brazilians, on outreach and the MKs here at school).
Feel free to e-mail any time. We LOVE hearing from those of you in the States.