The official FOCUS Team Blog

Home again

2008-06-24T07:06:00.002-05:00

Praise God for a safe, albeit long, trip home. What a great group to go on a mission trip with and what a privilege to serve our God! We will pray for fruit from the contacts we made for the missionaries and church there.

Portugal is a beautiful country. The people are friendly and the history there is so interesting. It is really cool to visit castles, ruins and palaces!

Thanks ever so much to all those who prayed. And a big thank you to those who provided transportation to and from the airport.

One final prayer request: there were five pieces of missing luggage we hope will catch up to us.

Last Full Day--Sunday

2008-06-22T16:50:00.002-05:00

The team attended morning worship at a small church in a nearby town. We performed the "heart" skit, the brass quartet played, the ensemble sang "Sanctuary," Larry sang a new song he wrote this week (in English) and Danny gave a testimony which Gil translated.

After lunch we went with Cant'Arruda to a nursing home where we did all of the above again except the brass quartet and Danny's testimony. Cant'Arruda, the local choir that Gil directs, sang several songs. The choir sang three times and we did all of our stuff twice since there was more than one building housing senior citizens.

Then we headed right to Gil's church for the evening service. The team performed the "heart" skit once more, Danny gave his testimony and Larry sang his new song again. After service we had snacks with the church folks. The team had a late dinner and several desserts, played a rousing game of Outburst, played ping pong and listened to a commedian. Oh, and we had another announcement of an upcoming birth: Chris and Catrina found out this week that she is expecting.

We "oldest ones" are headed to bed. We must be up early in the morning for final packing and our trip to the airport. See you soon!

Day Nine--Saturday

2008-06-21T14:42:00.003-05:00

Today was another excellent day exploring Portugal. We had a caravan of three vehicles containing 17 people. We explored the ruins of a really old Moor castle and then a "new" castle built around 1840. Some of the time we had clear blue skies and awesome vistas and then the clouds would move in and it was a bit eerie! We had a picnic lunch and from there we went to see the Boca do Infierno (Mouth of Hell), a place where the sea, when it's choppy, comes flying in and makes quite a display. Gil said today was the calmest he'd ever seen it. (Anybody seen the Devil's Churn off the coast of Oregon? Same kind of display.) Guess who dipped a line?? Then we shopped for souvenirs and got some good buys.

Gil grilled hotdogs for dinner and we feasted on good food. Pastor Dan gave the evening devotion. As I type, Catrina and Melissa are in the Thomas' kitchen making peach crisp and chocolate chip cookie bars. Members of the team are setting up the church for services tomorrow and cleaning up the building.
It has been a nice home for us this past week.

Day Eight--Successful Tournament!

2008-06-20T12:20:00.002-05:00

This morning's tournament went really well. The FOCUS team played pitcher and catcher, umped and coached and the kids made up the teams. We had two teams of eight and one of nine that played for first, second and third place. The Portuguese kids took to the game during the week and played very well.

Medals were given out for placing and trophies were presented for Best Attitude, Most Improved, Best All-around Player and Best Hitter. We had lots of smaller prizes--balls, balls & bats with gum/candy inside, baseball caps, etc. Everyone got several things.

The team performed three skits, two funny and one evangelistic. Melody gave a testimony which Gil translated. We also had wordless books (with the explanation inside) to hand out. The head P.E. teacher presented our fearless leader, Pastor Dan with a medal from the school and gave all the team members lanyards and some publications from the school.

We took a picture of the entire group. It's sad to think we will likely never see the kids again, but it looks like Chris & Catrina may run some wiffle ball games in the future. It could be the start of a youth group in Arruda!

For our last meal at the school cafeteria, we took some homemade American cookies to share with the ladies who prepared our meals. They especially liked the peanut butter cookies with the big kiss in the middle.

Dinner was at a restaurant in town and was it ever good! It came in courses and we had a stack of three plates, and silverware for each course. We had appetizers of olives, cheeses and bread; then salad and a fish/cheese/potato dish (yum!); then pork, rice, French fries and some fruit for the main course. It was fun to eat there since we had Gil to explain how/why things were done.

We did see some of the kids again! Tonight was the end of the year party at the school and we were invited. There was folk music playing and people were eating sardines on bread and beverages were available for purchase. Part of "The Sound of Music" was performed by students (including three of our ballplayers) and other students played guitars and sang. Some high school students practiced their English with our teens.

Thanks so much for praying!

Day Seven

2008-06-19T13:48:00.002-05:00

There were 17 kids out for wiffle ball today and some new adults stopped by to watch and take photos. Three were new players and the rest returnees.

Tomorrow is our tournament. We are hoping that lots of kids will turn out. We have had a display of medals, trophies and other prizes throughout the week. We have two skits ready, one of the teens will do a testimony and it will be translated, we'll have the awards ceremony and whatever else Gil has planned. Pray!

The gym we are using belongs to the town and the school has first dibs on it. It is a nice facility, mainly set up for soccer but also with movable basketball hoops. The school has fed us a delicious lunch each day at 1 p.m.

The garden project was finished this afternoon and the auditorium ceiling is textured but not yet painted.

Tonight is the Portugal-Germany soccer game. Half of the group went with Gil and Chris to a Bible study out of town. They will watch the game, have Bible study during half time and then finish the game. The rest of us are here at Gil's house. We have the game on and will bake cookies for the kids tomorrow and maybe play some games.

The temperatures couldn't be better and the surroundings are so lovely. We have the windows open and it is comfortable. There are hills with vineyards around Arruda and you can see for a long ways.

Day Six

2008-06-18T16:57:00.003-05:00

We had another great day of wiffle ball. We had a new group of girls, probably 7th graders and many of our boys came for the third day! I think there were about 25 kids in attendance and after the clinics, we were able to have two games going simultaneously. One boy, Patrick, lives in an apartment near the church and he stayed with us for lunch, our afternoon project and dinner. He speaks some English and loves the teenage boys.

We had chocolate salami for lunch dessert. Sound weird? It's a chocolate loaf, kind of like a stiff brownie with vanilla cookie crumbs baked inside. It comes in a loaf like salami and is served in slices. Yum!

After our usual hour rest, we began planting and mulching the church flowerbeds. We split up clumps of flowers and spread them around and also planted new plants that Gil purchased. The team made good progress but will have more of that to do tomorrow afternoon. Adam and Tim continued texturing the ceiling in the church auditorium.

We're practicing a new skit to use on Friday at the tournament. We're doing the one where the girl carries around her heart, people mistreat it and eventually she gets a new heart from Jesus. (Remember when it was last performed at FBC, Shanna was the girl.).

Prayer meeting was at 9 p.m. (that's late for us!). Gil gave a devotion on the tongue from the book of James, and went back and forth from English to Portuguese so everyone would understand. Then we broke up for prayer time, followed by snacks.

Now it's bedtime and as usual, I'm the last one up, typing away. I will post more pictures as soon as Pastor Dan gets them to my computer.

Ciao for now.

Day Five--IMPORTANT Announcement

2008-06-17T15:43:00.003-05:00

DISCLAIMER--The following information is being provided at the request of those most intimately concerned: Tonight it was discovered that we have a stowaway on this FOCUS trip! Yes, FBC actually sent 14 people to Portugal. Are you confused yet? Well, a certain married couple, last name of Gibson, are expecting come January! Cool beans!

On the ministry front--today we had quite a few boys return from yesterday plus five sixth grade boys. We also had two large 4-5 year old classes and 24 fourth graders, not all at once! It kept us busy and Gil was very happy with the good will we are creating in the community and the potential contacts. A great time was had by all.

A van load of our group helped the Herricks move things from their apartment. They will be living in Gil and Denise's house while they are on their leave of absence during the next year. Larry, Daniel Comings and Adam are working on smoothing out the ceiling in the front of the sanctuary. Beth went shopping with Katrina for groceries and Emily, Connie and Beth did some baking for the group. All in all, another busy and productive day.

Thanks for your prayers!

Day Four

2008-06-16T16:11:00.005-05:00

Oh, boy, did we have a big day today! After breakfast we headed for the school's gym where one of the PE teachers let us in. We played wiffle ball for a few minutes against ourselves while kids filtered in. Today fourth and fifth graders were invited. At first we only had four so we got them into the game and we were amazed at how fast they picked it up. Then a few more came and a few more until we ended up with 17, four of whom were girls. We ran clinics to work on the various skills and played with teams made up of a mix of our group and the kids. Later we made it a FOCUS team against the kids and they were so excited! We finally had to call it quits because it was time for lunch.

Lunch, oh my what a feast! The school cafeteria provided a bountiful and delicious spread for us: 2 pieces of breaded chicken fillets, rice (a staple here), soup, green beans, salad, a roll and several choices of fruit. We were stuffed!

Tonight after dinner the Arruda community choir came to practice at the church. Larry sang with them, even though the Portuguese was hard to pronounce. After they were done, our team sang "Sanctuary" for them in Portuguese and English, did the doctor's office skit and sang King Jesus.

Larry gave the devotion tonight and lights are to be out at 11 p.m. My lights are going out now so I'd better go to bed quick! Thanks for upholding us in prayer.

P.S. Tomorrow, the same kids are invited back again, plus the next age group up. And our tournament will be held on Friday.

Connie
FOCUS team scribe

Day Three, June 15th

2008-06-15T10:34:00.002-05:00

Today so far, we visited the Monument to the Discovers and the National Palace in Lisbon. We ate lunch at a McDonalds (Gil´s suggestion), walked through an outdoor craft sale and a few of us went inside the cathedral.

We will soon be heading to Sunday school and then the worship service. We will participate in song, special music and a skit.

Tomorrow morning we begin teaching wiffle ball. Please pray for us as we begin to make contacts with the kids and invite them to our tournament.

Oh, and there´s soccer on tonight, so guess what many of our guys will be doing?!

FOCUS teams lands in Lisbon, Portugal

2008-06-15T10:29:00.003-05:00

We are all here!

We arrived safely and on schedule in Lisbon, somewhat rumpled and tired but happy to be on the ground again. Gil, the Herricks and Jose´, a man from their church met us. We had a caravan of two vans and a small car to get us and all our baggage to the church in Arruda, about an hour´s drive. We cleaned up, had a snack and a rest. Then after lunch we took off for some touring. We visited an old walled city (Obidos), ate a picnic dinner and drove over to the shore in several areas.

There are two double beds, two cots and three bunk beds at the church and they sure looked good as we fell into them and turned out the lights!

More later!

Commissioning Service and Spaghetti Dinner

2008-06-09T07:56:00.003-05:00

What a great day at Fellowship Baptist Church yesterday! The FOCUS team led the morning service with the theme of worship. The team provided lots beautiful music (including part of a song in Portuguese), the Bible reading, and a poignant skit. Our missionary to Portugal, Gil Thomas and his daughter, Andrea were able to be with us.

Our wonderful church family prayed over us and dedicated us and our work in Portugal to Him for His glory.

Then we headed to the fellowship hall for a wonderful spaghetti dinner/fundraiser put on by several of the moms of our team members. We had delicious food and a great time fellowshipping. The team performed three entertaining skits, two of them have few words and can be used in Portugal. Gil shared a bit more about what we will be doing and some prayer requests.

Newsflash!! FOCUS Team Takes Over the Evening Service!!

2008-04-28T18:59:00.002-05:00

The FOCUS team waxed creative at their April 27th planning meeting. We were in charge of Fellowship's evening service and had some work to do.

Introduction cards were written by each member to be read as his/her picture was displayed in the front of the church. If there was ANY doubt that we have some personalities on our team...

A powerpoint presentation of our plans was polished up and our FOCUS drama team put together their first skit, a recitation of Psalm 1 complete with acting.

During the service, team members also played in the orchestra, played the offertory and special music, led singing and played guitar, led in prayer and preached. It was a wonderful service and one that we trust pleased the LORD.

Way to goooo, Team FOCUS!

Planning with our main contact

2008-04-28T18:44:00.003-05:00

Our missionary to Portugal, Gil Thomas, met with us at our planning meeting on April 13th. We found out that we will be able to teach wiffle ball to students in a local school and then invite them to the church for a weekend tournament, where we can share the Good News with them. There is also painting and some light construction work for us to do. And we will be attending church on two different Sundays and will participate in the worship services. Sounds like we will be very busy!

Language Acquisition

2008-03-20T19:23:00.001-05:00

Portuguese is the language of Portugal. It is very similar to Spanish and those of us who've studied Spanish will recognise many words. Here are some words/phrases it would be helpful for our team to become familiar with:

Good morning = Bom dia
Yes, no = Sim/Não
Please = Por favor
Excuse me, ... = Desculpe-me
Where is ...? = onde é que é
Thank you = Obrigado
How much is it? = Quanto custa?
Do you speak English? = Fala Ingles?
Good bye = Adeus

Melissa, will you please help us with pronunciation?

Planning Session Two

2008-03-17T10:23:00.003-05:00

Yesterday the FOCUS team had a delicious lunch and our second planning meeting. We had a discussion of chapter nine of John Piper's book Desiring God, including defining the terms "Christian hedonist" and "frontier missions." Our latest assignments are: 1) to begin reading the book of Psalms and make notes of verses and ideas that are especially meaningful to each of us and 2) to read the first chapter in John Piper's book Let the Nations be Glad before our next meeting on April 13. Each member attending the meeting wrote a short salvation testimony to be compiled and copied for our notebooks. Larry showed a few pictures from the Madrid's trip to Portugal in 2006. Several of the team are still working on obtaining passports.

Psalm 67:4 May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth. Selah

Preparations

2008-03-10T11:09:00.003-05:00

The 2008 F.O.C.U.S. team has had its first planning meeting and we are getting excited! We have five high school students, two college students and six adults making plans to head to Lisbon, Portugal in June. We are composing information/prayer letters, applying for passports and praying. Our fearless leader, Pastor Dan, is in contact with our missionaries Gil and Denise Thomas and they are working on our assignments. Stay tuned for more information.

FOCUS Reborn

2008-02-22T20:01:00.004-05:00

2006 is two years behind us! The team consisting of Phillip, Rich, Renae, Megan, Shanna, Preston, Nathan, Josh, Christopher, Jeremy, Daniel, Emily, Adam, Melissa, Aggie, Tom, Dale and Debbie made it to and from Brazil safely. Since then Shanna, Debbie, Aggie and Daniel have each separately returned to Brazil for short periods of time. But now it is 2008 and with a new group we set our eyes on a new country - Portugal, different missionaries - Gil and Denise Thomas, but a similar language - Portuguese. And so we go from
to:
Please pray as we make preparations for this trip that the Lord would be preparing our hearts for the ministry in Portugal and that everything we do would be to His glory!

2006-06-09T10:10:00.000-05:00

Pictures are up!!! Go to the churches flickr site and see some pictures. This is still just a small sampling of the hundreds of pictures that we were taken.

Daniel

Teaser

2006-06-07T21:33:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures to preview.

Safe and Sound

2006-06-07T11:38:00.000-05:00

Just a quick update to let everyone know that we arrived safe and sound! Sunday will be the official presentation day, with reports from Aggie, Dale and Debbie coming later when they get back from their (planned) extended stay in Brazil.

To John: Pictures will be arriving shortly. :-)

And we are off!

2006-06-06T10:48:00.000-05:00

Momentarily we will be packing up the bus and heading to the airport. This has been a great week but many of us are ready to come home!!!

We will see you in a few hours!

Renae

Another Chapter Closed

2006-06-05T02:32:00.000-05:00

It's 4:30 Monday morning. Last night the team officially wrapped up their ministry in the Cariri Valley, and in approximately 30 minutes they will be heading North torwards Fortaleza, and tomorrow towards home.

The last couple of days have been eventful, and so have not allowed us the opportunity to update. Saturday morning we helped run the Awana program at a small "church plant" just outside of Juazeiro. At 7:00am we hit the remote, dirt roads and began going door to door inviting children to come to Awana. The houses we went by were very poor. The house right next door to the church did not even have the customary wall around it, and, as the people we were working with informed us, had actually been robbed about a week before. We were able to minister directly to that family by giving them $160 (reals), the equivelent of at least 3 months salary.

Many children came with us, and by the time the groups returned to the church there were 90 kids in all! The games, songs and story time all went well, and when we left that place we wished we could stay longer.

There's much more to tell about the rest of Saturday and Sunday (including a group of American guys actually scoring a soccer goal on a bunch of Brazilian guys) but the bus awaits, and we must begin our trek north.

Thank you for your continued prayers, comments and emails. We look forward to seeing you soon.

Daniel Comings

A normal day? Could it be?

2006-06-02T20:47:00.000-05:00

To my knowledge, nothing broke, nobody was injured, and we went everywhere we needed to be! Wow! Praise the Lord!

This morning we hopped on the bus with Jim Leonard and his two daughters to hike the mountains surrounding the Cariri valley. Jim is the administrator at the Baptist Seminary and one of the missionaries that Andrew and Itacyara work with. Our hike took us to a peak that overlooked the valley. From that vantage point we could literally see almost all of the mission field where Andrew is ministering (as well as all the places in the valley we had been). We got some amazing pictures (which will one day make it to the website), and amazing perspective of God's working in the valley as Jim Leonard explained different churches and works being done in the area.

For lunch we the Leonards graciously hosted the team at their home, and served something that many had been longing for....American food....well....technically Italian food, lasagna and breadsticks. During this time the guys played some carpetball and even got our bus driver in on the action. Some of the girls from the Peace Baptist Church youth group were also there, and we enjoyed the interaction with them and the Leonards.

In the afternoon we toured an area deaf school administrated by John Peterson (a missionary), and ended up doing the skit "Friend of a Wounded Heart." Since we weren't planning on doing this we didn't have the music....but we were at a school for the deaf, so that didn't really matter, and the students really enjoyed it. One of the believers stood up and said that the believers in the group liked it so much that they were going to copy it and use it. The students also gave each of us names in sign language. Very cool.

We wrapped up the afternoon with another session at the American English School. This one didn't have as many students, but we still enjoyed the interaction and continuing the friendships that had been devoloped throughout the week.

The day ended with a social time at the seminary. The brazilian students had put together several games, not dissimilar to awana games that often pitted the Americans against the Brazilians. I must say that the Americans held their own, and Andrew and Daniel even won a match of four-way tug-of-war.

Prayer Requests:

Please pray for Andrew as he has much to prepare for the week-end.
Please pray for the group as they minister to young children tomorrow (Saturday). These children will come from very poor home environments, and may give the group their most challenging but most rewarding ministry yet.
Pray for Andrew's voice, Emily's throught and the overall health of the group.

Thank you for all your prayers!

Daniel Comings

We're up and running

2006-06-01T11:38:00.000-05:00

The bus arrived back to the Seminary around 12pm today. It is fixed and ready for more riders. We are VERY excited and very relieved.

This afternoon we will be going to a English school again. Yesterday we were suppose to go shopping with the students, but that will actually happen today. Pastor, most of the money I have to spend is in cash, so I'm still loaded...or as loaded as I can be. And since you asked, no I don't have anything for you yet.

There was a monkey siting this morning, but no carmera was present. Rich has plans to go back with a camera and just wait.

The weather is great again today. This morning there were no clouds and a nice breeze. We just checked on the weather conditions for Tuesday and Wednesday and there is little to no rain forcasted for the cities we will be flying through.

Prayer Request!

2006-05-31T23:15:00.000-05:00

I sit here at 1:13 a.m., just having returned from possibly the most eventful evening of the trip. It started with the prayer meeting at Peace Baptist Church where we finally met the members of the Brazilian youth group that we'll be working with the next couple of days. Adam did an excellent job preaching, and then we, along with some of our recent acquaintances went out to have an after-service snack. This was a wonderful time of fellowship, but of course all good things must come to an end, and so our group headed back to the bus.

Now the real fun began. It turns out that somewhere between the seminary, the church or the little restaurant, part of one rear axle broke, making the bus quite unfit to drive. This left us in downtown Juazeiro, at 11:00 at night, with no way to get back to the seminary efficiantly. The good news is this, as of 1:00am, every member of the seminary, as well as those in the Brazilian youth group, had been delivered to their respective dwelling places, with no danger posed to the group! Praise the Lord!

Here is the prayer request.....at this moment the bus driver is with a mechanic at the bus (Andrew and I dropped them off after we dropped the last group off at the seminary). Please pray that God will allow them to fix the bus quickly so that the team can continue to minister to the American School and the surrounding churches and congregations. Without the bus we could end up cooling our heals on the seminary, which would be very dissapointing to the entire team.

Thank you for your prayers!

Daniel B. Comings
Associate Pastor

Wednesday

2006-05-31T11:42:00.000-05:00

I can't believe this lovely weather!!!! It is so nice, little humidity and just pleasant to be outside. Today we went to Andrew and Tassie's house. It is very nice and large. Then we went to the top of a mountain to see a statue of Padre Cicero, a man that the people practically worship. We walked through a small town near the statue and you could just sense the hopelessness. All of us went back to the bus very humble.

This afternoon we plan on meeting up with some English speaking students. We are then going to the market (YAY!) where they can translate for us. Shopping has been fun so far, but in my opinion we haven't done enough! Phillip would like to say hi to his mom.

In case you didn't know, we are using James 1 as our passage for this trip. Daniel, Adam, Tom and Dale are taking turns teaching us during devotions. We have seen where we have not reacted well to different trials on this trip and are trying to count all things as blessings.

We have yet to see any monkeys although there are catepillars and moths in excess. Trust me Pastor, we are keeping a close watch for any sightings. Phillip would like to tell his mom that he still is having fun.

That's all for now. Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Renae

Leader Commentary: The group has did an excellent job today at the American English school. I think it's safe to say that everyone stepped a bit out of there comfort zone today! Continue to pray for us, and especially for Adam as he preaches tonight. ~Daniel

P.S. Still no monkeys.

Finally.....

2006-05-30T18:12:00.000-05:00

Well we did not have instant internet access, so I had to wait a few days to update. We are now at Crato at the Seminary. Our 8 hour bus ride was long and somewhat interesting. All of us took cat naps.

But let me back up. We arrived to Fortaleza timely with only 2 pieces of luggage missing. Luckily they arrived later that night. We had a LOVELY hotel with air conditioning. We spent some time shopping and seeing sites. Yesterday we went to Beach Park. VERY COOL!!!!

On Sunday we went to church at night where Emily and Renae played their song, Rich and Phillip gave their testimony and Pastor Dan preached. All went well and the church was very welcoming.

This morning we left the hotel at 5am. That was REALLY REALLY early! But we are still pretty rested, although I think that is about to change.

There are many students at the seminary who are learning English or speak it very well so for the most part communicating has been fun!

So that is it for now. I must be getting back to the dorms.

Keep us in your prayers!!!!

Renae

SO far, so good

2006-05-27T06:34:00.000-05:00

I am currently standing in line to check our baggage in the Sao Paulo Airport. We left Tampa late due to weather in Miami. They had troubles getting the flight up to us.

We left Miami timely and settled in for the night. The food on the plane left most of us craving a home cooked meal. Some of us were on the right side of the plane to see the sun rise. It was beautiful!

Once in Sao Paulo, we made it through customs without one bag being opened. What a blessing! The one funny thing about Brazil is that it is about 70 or so outside and people are wearing leather coats and they look like they are about to freeze!

So that's all for now! We will try to update once we arrive in Fortaleza...but no promises.

Tomorrow

2006-05-25T09:57:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is the day we have been waiting for!!!!

FOCUS members, please arrive at the church between 10-11am. We want to be ready to go right around 11am.

See you then!

4 days and counting....

2006-05-22T08:30:00.000-05:00

Basically...it's time to go.

Yesterday (Sunday) we spent both services dedicated to Brazil. We explained our goals, gave a preview of some dramas, gave short testimonies, sang songs, played music and preached. And no, Renae's morning testimony was not her true testimony. She just changed the wording to the drama to apply it to FBC.

Please continue to pray for Nathan. He will not be able to go with us, but will probably take a trip later this summer. Thank you for praying for all of us and continue to pray for us during our entire trip.

I have changed a setting so that anyone can now comment on the site. You can leave messages for team members while we are gone and we will get them to the right person.

For any further questions, direct them to Daniel.

Nathan

2006-05-17T09:44:00.000-05:00

Please pray for Nathan, a FOCUS member. This past Sunday he was in a motorcycle accident giving him bumps and bruises as well as a knee injury. It appeared everything would be ok, but last night he was re-admitted to the hospital. The doctors performed emergency surgery because he knee had become infected. The next 48 hours are very critical.

Everyone is worried because we will soon be leaving for Brazil. He also has finals coming up very soon. Please pray for him!

Prayer and Praise

2006-05-16T11:22:00.000-05:00

As many of you are aware, there have been some uprisings and rebellions in Brazil, specifically in the Sao Paulo area. This is important to the FOCUS team because we will be making a very short stop there.

As of Andrew's last report, things are not back to normal, but it appears that they are heading that way. The Consulate of Brazil also put out a statement concerning travel. It does state that Americans are not being targeted.

We must still be extremely careful.

Please pray that we will be able to exercise caution wisely and remain safe. Also pray for those who are behind the rebellion. I am sure that they have never heard the Word of God and are completely lost in sin. Pray for the government. Pray that they will quickly put a plan into action to stop the violence. It appears that they are lacking in this area.

To read the entire article from the Consulate, you can visit Andrew's site http://www.comingstobrazil.com/blog/

2006-05-14T12:18:00.000-05:00

Happy Mothers Day!!!!

I hope all of the mothers are having a relaxing day. While looking for a card for my mom, I found one that was talking about without mothers, kids would eat dirt, read in terrible light, never take a shower and eat junk food day in and day out. I'm extremely thankful for my mom!

Last week the FOCUS team met to review and make final preparations for our departure. This was our last formal meeting. Next week Sunday, May 21, we will spend both services explaining our mission and sharing some of what we plan to do.

Ms Aggie gave us so tips about our travels.

1) Bring many, many shirts. They will get dirty fast and we can leave clothes in Brazil if we want to.
2) For girls, have a 1 piece swim suit or a tankini. Boys...no speedos or jammers
3) When packing, roll up your shirts and put them around your suit case as padding.
4) Bring sunblock, insect repellent and pocket size tissues. You can also bring a roll of toilet paper because we will be at different places that might not have it.
5) Bring wet wipes (or baby wipes) to wash off your feet before you get into bed. Your feet will get dirty fast!
6) When we are being tourists as a group, wear bright colored clothing so that you can be easily spotted.
5) You are allowed 2 suit cases, 50 lbs each, one carry-on and one personal bag.

Three, Two, One

2006-04-24T20:57:00.000-05:00

Three. Sunday marked our countdown of how many more meetings we will have before we leave for Brazil. After Sunday's meeting we only have 2 meeting left.

This past Sunday we worked on our skits and ate food. We also reviewed the songs we have learned in Portuguese and added some new words to our vocabulary.

As the date gets closer, we all get a little more excited. It is important that we all start to focus on what is ahead and prepare ourselves for ministry.

I would also like to thank everyone who helped in the Silent Auction. We raised a total of $370. I hope that in the near future I can give a report as to how close we are to reaching our total goal for this trip.

Silent Auction on Saturday

2006-04-20T21:36:00.000-05:00

I know I've posted about this before, but this is just one last reminder.

This Saturday, April 22, FOCUS will be having our silent auction during the AWANA Grand Prix. There are some great baskets to pick from. Come check them all out. There might be one you like.

I'll give a quick run down of what will happen.

First, we will be located somewhere by the shed. Our exact location is yet to be determined. Bidding will open promptly at 12pm.

In order to bid, you must see me, Renae Pleima. I will be right by the baskets and be wearing a name tag incase you do not know who I am. I will ask for your name, bid and phone number. I only need the phone number if you will not be at the church after 3:30pm.

Then I will have a runner update the bidding price by the basket.

We have this system so that the bids are kept totally anonymous.

Once the Grand Prix starts, we will move all baskets to the gym. Bidding will close promptly at 3pm and the winners will be announced shortly after the close of bidding.

Please be aware that once you place a bid, you are committed to that bid. Bids cannot be recalled.

Attention FOCUS Team

2006-04-12T22:13:00.000-05:00

Andrew Comings has informed Pastor Daniel that he would like a prayer request from each team member to give to the youth group in Brazil.

If you remember from our meeting on Sunday, Andrew discussed how he was going to give our names out to the youth group so we can start to form a relationship. This is another step in the relationship building process.

So let Daniel (fbcpastor2@verizon.net) know your prayer request so he can forward it on to Andrew.

We can see you!

2006-04-10T11:17:00.000-05:00

This week we had another internet visit from our resident Brazilian missionary, Andrew Comings and his family. This time we were able to see live video feed of them and they could see us. Mikey introduced us to Sharkbait and Tassie complimented Shanna on her highlights. Andrew gave us a brief Bible lesson and then we talked about our visit.

After we talked to the Comings', Daniel passed out some new dramas that we needed to learn. One drama is silent while the other is a true missions drama. If you are in Lakeland or Brazil, you will probably see these dramas at some point.

Finally, we received an internet call from our northern FOCUS member, Jeremy (JC) Chiano. It was fun to be able to include him in our activities and bring him up to speed on a few issues. He also found out what we are doing in Florida to raise the money for Brazil. Jeremy also did a presentation at his church last night explaining the trip to Brazil. He later informed Shanna that the presentation went well.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers. The next big event will be the silent auction during the AWANA Grand Prix. We will be presenting some dramas as well as auctioning off our baskets.

Cultural Meeting

2006-03-28T11:31:00.000-05:00

Once again we met to talk about the culture, lifestyle and language of Brazil. Those who are fluent in Portuguese have a fun time watching us Americans try to learn the language.

We also received a call from a resident missionary in Brazil, Andrew Comings and his family. He was able to bring us up to speed on a few issues and answer some questions.

We also had native food. Beans and rice, meat and great deserts!

And look!!!! Our shirts!

Our next meeting will be April 9. Just a reminder to the team that we need to have our testimony written out by that date.

Also, on April 22 we will be having the AWANA Grand Prix/Car Show and Silent Auction. I'll have more details about that with the next post.

Fundraiser Opportunity

2006-03-15T23:57:00.000-05:00

I need your help!!

Actually the F.O.C.U.S. group at Fellowship Baptist Church needs your help. During the AWANA Grand Prix on April 22, 2006, the F.O.C.U.S. group will be holding a silent auction.

We are in need of items, donated by local companies, to put in our baskets. We will take any an all donations! Nothing is to big (like a house) or to small (like a pin) to add to our baskets. We would love to advertise your company's name for you!

Some suggestions could be, but are not limites to: hair cut/style, day at the spa, coffee items! books, gift cards to anywhere and everywhere for any amount, car care, facial and body care. We can make a basket out of anything.

Please leave me a note here that you have something you would like to donate or e-mail me at rpleima@mail.usf.edu

If you have a person I could contact for a possible donation, please e-mail me that information as well!!

Thanks so much!

Renae

Ministry

2006-03-13T09:54:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we met again in preparation for Brasil. This time we focused more on the ministry aspect of our trip. We put everyone on multiple teams so we would have an idea how involved we will be. I'm sure by the time we come back to the States we will be exhausted. But who cares!!! We are going for to do Christ's work.

Anyway, we put together some really powerful silent dramas. I was impressed on how quickly we mastered each drama.

I know this is a short post, but we just discussed technical items and I do not want to give our ideas away incase you see us in action.

Remember FOCUS members.....Testimony....APRIL 9!!!!!

Deus é amor

2006-02-26T14:32:00.000-05:00

Today was culture day.

We had Brasilian beans and rice

Even tasty treats

We also learned a song and some key words with the help of Ms. Aggie. What a great time!!!

F.O.C.U.S Meeting #2

2006-02-12T14:47:00.000-05:00

Today was our second F.O.C.U.S. meeting. Poor Daniel has printer problems so he couldn't get us our booklets. We did get to see a picture of some of the Brazilians that we will be working with. I think we are all so excited to go that we would leave today if we could.

Then Daniel handed out our papers to get our Visa and place tickets. We discussed business matters and worked a few things out. That was the boring part.

We worked on prayer/support letters. Ms Aggie wrote her letter within 5 minutes and proclaimed she was finished about 4 separate times. We quickly commissioned her to help others write their letters because most of us are not retired missionaries like her and do not really know how to write support letters.

That's all for today. I took some pictures of us working on our letters.
Daniel & Emily

Josh busy typing and Megan is hiding behind her paper.

Shanna & Ms. Aggie (She helped Shanna on two lines and then reminded us that she was finished. Shanna quickly told her that she was NOT finished helping her!!)

Intro to the FOCUS Blog

2006-01-26T15:57:00.000-05:00

WELCOME to the official blog of Fellowship Baptist Church's FOCUS Team to Brazil in 2006. The following posts will chronicle the Teams progress as they seek to serve God, and prepare for a joint ministry in Brazil with Peace Baptist Church.