Brazil 2018

I just returned home from my 7th trip to Brazil (over the last 8 years).  To say that I love Brazil would be an understatement.  Ten years ago, the idea of traveling on a boat into the remote jungle, swinging the nights away on a hammock on an open deck with no AC would have not even crossed my mind.  Regardless of whether I go 18 more times, or never again, it will always be one of the highlights of my life that I was given the opportunity to serve with the Brazilian people on these shores.  

Each trip is unique.  Some years we struggled up the river, and sometimes it's a trip with double rainbows and villages full of baby monkeys.  This year the team I traveled with were mostly new to me, which is always a little scary, but they were INCREDIBLE.  Everyone worked hard without complaint, despite some injuries and illnesses-everyone was all in, which makes all the difference.  We traveled with some of the translators I've been with in the past, and new ones I met this trip.  One morning, the pastor performed Baptisms in the Amazon River-a first for me to witness.  

Our focus this year was the Bucket Ministry one of our trip members began the ministry about five years after realizing the river is the source of water for these villagers, and their lives are gravely impacted by this.  He began working with a company to provide filters and buckets for the families.  We work with established missionaries in the area who utilize these filters to help improve the lives of the people in these jungle communities, and open doors to start building relationships.

I've thought a lot about how to sum up this year, and the truth is, I think the stories are still being written, so maybe I'll bring them back in pieces from time to time.  Or maybe I'll let the pictures tell the stories where my words can't.  
Another highlight of the trip-I finally held a sloth!  Most of the folks who travel to Brazil a lot of have done this before, but they have never been a part of my trip.  This little guy was a pet to one of the gals at a store we stopped at on the last day.
One of our amazing translators (Lia) offered a few of us a ride around her city (Manaus) while we waited on our airplane on the last day.  The World Cup was going on, and something I have learned about Brazil (and South America) these last 8 years is that they LOVE their soccer.  Lia took us to a street totally decorated for the world cup from top to bottom.  Each building was playing the soccer game (not even a Brazil game at the time).  We see this over and over.  No matter how remote the village-they find a way to hook up a satellite and a generator for these events and gather around a small tv.  I didn't have cell service for over a week, but I was always apprised of how Brazil was doing on the soccer front!
This trip will be one of my favorites and I can't wait to hear from the missionaries we got to love and left behind and hope to see them again soon!  

BrAziL!!!

The Olympics start today in one of my favorite places on planet earth.  I've blogged about Brazil a time or ten, and I am heading to Good Morning, Texas today with a car fool of crafts, food, and loot from my many trips.  I'll be doing two segments, but, in the meantime, I'm going to link all the past trip post with lots and lots of pics, and a few of the crafts I've done through the years.
Click on the words to go to the recipes/stories/pictures.
I'll link the videos from today's segments later on facebook, and I'm posting my favorite pics from Brazil on Instagram at least as long as the Olympics last.
Visits to Brazil:
2011 How it Started
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Food:  
Brigadeiros
Cheese Bread
Crafts:
Mask

Brigadeiros

I was introduced to Brigadeiros 6 years ago when I first visited Brazil.  It would end better for my waist line if I didn't know about these, but that's another story and I do, so....  It's, basically, a Brazilian version of fudge, and they are really easy to make and really delicious.  My friends in Brazil tell me you can find these at just about every celebration from birthdays to get random togethers.  You can roll them in all sorts of fancy treats (nuts, coconut etc) but I see them most frequently rolled in sprinkles (the brown ones, in particular).

 All you need is a can of sweetened condensed milk (14 oz), 1 T of butter, and 3 T of (unsweetened) cocoa....plus...sprinkles.  Toss everything (minus the sprinkles) into a pan over medium heat and stir...stir...stir for ten minutes.

When it pulls away from the side of the pan, it's ready, but....I'm terrible at making candy, and I want a time limit....10 minutes was just about perfect.  At this point, let it cool, and you can even toss it in the fridge for awhile, but that's not necessary.  Once it's cooled, roll them into small balls (think, mini muffin size), and roll them in sprinkles.  You can serve them at room temperature, or chill them.

Olympic Crafts

 The Olympics begin Friday....just in case you missed that.  It just so happens that are happening in one of my favorite countries-Brazil.  I'm putting together two segments for Good Morning, Texas.  Here's an easy craft-I'm going to bring some Olympic colored feathers to make some mask in honor of Rio.

I grabbed all the supplies at the craft store and all it required was a glue gun and about two seconds. The skies the limit with creativity.  

Brazil 2016

 I genuinely believed I would not be in Brazil this year. (Click on Brazil below to read more about the missions over the previous 5 years).   It's a good thing I have wiser friends and a big God who intervenes in my worldly thoughts.  It's a long story, but the short version is my house is literally falling apart (roof, new ac unit, plumbing back up etc), and I am currently holding my car together with duct tape (I wish I were making that up).  There have been family circumstances that require a lot of attention and I just thought....not this year.  I didn't see a way.  I told the team I wasn't going.  Twice.  One member put a deposit down for me, and then a few good friends that know my heart, and believed in the mission long before me blessed me and I found myself in Brazil.  It was a bumpy ride (plane delay upon plane delay, boat delays due to paperwork not being completed because the whole country was on vacation it seemed....all except for the military (who stopped us five times)).  There were bumps in the villages, but in the end, there was peace because I know where I was supposed to be...it would be impossible not to know after the journey that came before.

 I love Brazil.  I consider the people I've met there family and I'm homesick for them already.  I was homesick just hours after leaving them.  Some of the best people I've ever met call it home, and meet me on this boat each year.

 I can't tell all the stories in a blog post, but I can share a few photos.  Kids holding bibles of their own for the first time, ladies getting pampered, medical and dental teams coming to villages in desperate need because an already difficult journey is almost impossible now with a chaotic country government.

 One of our team members began a Bucket Ministry after encountering all the people along the river sick from drinking the parasite rich water.  He raises funds all year for filters, and parasite medicines for each family member.  The team goes village to village and trains the people on how to use the buckets, and they also share the story of living water that last longer than the seven years these buckets promise.

 Each day the team splits up and spends time with the children (vbs and this year....water balloons), women, and men, and we also walk house to house to meet those who are unable to come to us.  I believe in missions that don't take me any further than my house, my next door neighbor, and my city, but I also know God sends us to all the nations until all have heard.  I'm blessed to get to make this journey and see the harvest God has prepared along these shores.

 The last few years we have added a Tex Mex dinner for our translators and boat crew.  When we leave, these folks remain-continuing the mission with the missionaries who call these villages home.  These are truly my brothers and sisters and I look forward to the yearly family reunion on these boat decks each year.

I'll pray about next year, but in the meantime, I pray for these folks I left behind on the shore.  I can't wait to hear updates, and I can't wait to be able to revisit these friends someday in heaven and introduce all those that made it possible to all those I got to spend a few minutes with on this side of heaven on the shores of the Amazon River.  

Mini Brazil Scrapbook Album

 This was my 5th summer to go on a mission trip to Brazil.  The first few years I added photos to an 8x8 album, last year I made this little album out of a box, and this year I decided to make one of these flip card albums.

I found this premade flip card at Michael's on clearance.  I bought a few of them for an upcoming shower I'm going to help host, and I was going to use one to make the bride an album after the shower (a new 'thing' I've been doing since I feel like so few people print pictures now).  

 I threw this together quickly.  I grabbed a bunch of stickers in the same pastel colors and I cut the pictures down to fit the page.

 I took a small selection of photos from each event.

 I didn't do too much journaling b/c I added a letter at the end I wrote to people who had helped sponsor this mission trip, and in that I explained what we did.

 I didn't add too many doodads so it wouldn't be too thick, but I could resist a few buttons and flowers.

 I made a pock on the very last page and slipped the letter inside.

 I literally used scraps...scrap paper, scrap ribbon etc and it was definitely a cheap way to go.  Not to mentioned-significantly less time was put into the album.

Brazil 2015

 At the end of June I headed down south to Brazil...again.  This was my fifth summer.  Each summer I think it will be my last, but each summer I'm called again.  This year, I went in with the same thought, but every boat trip down the Amazon I fall in love with the people, places, and stories along the jungle and all I can think about is going back.  It's not an easy trip-living in a hammock, no air, lots of heat and moisture-constant sweat, and full days of work.  At the end, I know I've had the opportunity to work with some of the most fabulous people on planet earth, and I've acquired a boat load of new brothers and sisters I'll see on the other side of heaven..if not next year in Brazil...which has happened before.

 This year we expanded the bucket ministry.  Our doctors deal with skin infections caused by the bugs and hostile plant atmosphere, and all sorts of internal problems caused by the river water.  Enough money was raised for 500 filters (50 dollars each) and buckets.  We drew a crowd, taught them how to use the filters.  This year some of our team was able to fly out to the villages we saw last year where our first 100 buckets were passed out, and the locals were proud to show them their bucket filters, and stories of better health that came along with this gift.

We flew into Manaus and headed 24 hours up the river.  We then spent 6 days in 6 villages along one of the tributaries off the Amazon.  

We traveled with a local pastor and the missionaries who spend their time in these villages.  It never ceases to humble me to compare all I was born into versus these people that live with dirt floors, wood walls, and palm leaf ceilings.  Even by America's humblest standards I am abundantly blessed.  Then again, life is simpler along the river-there are fewer conflicts interfering with who God is, and what He offers.  There are no false promises, just genuine faith.  They are thirsty for the gospel.  Yet, there are also universal problems.  We found one lady sitting on a little couch (a rare site) in the family's open kitchen area.  Her family had left for the day to go to the city and she had nothing to eat or drink.  She began crying as soon as we stepped onto her porch out of loneliness being met.  We brought food and water from the boat.  We also passed another house where there was a domestic dispute.  We spent time talking to the husband, and more time nurturing his wife.  She was limping and bruised, but more than that, devastated by her community who all knew that her husband took out his frustration with his fist, but they refused to interfere.  It makes my heart ache still, yet what an honor to be able to tell her she was loved, that we cared, and to step in and be the hug she has needed all these years.  My prayer is that the counseling with stick, and that our compassion will be remembered long after we leave the village.  

 The Amazon is a beautiful place with stunning sunsets, even more beautiful sun rises, daily rainstorms.

 In Manaus, there is a point where the Amazon and River Negro meet, but never quite combine due to their varied densities.

Wild animals are daily sites.  We met monkies, parrots, snakes, and birds of every color.  

...but the Amazon's most beautiful offering are the people.  They welcome you into their homes-each home pulls out their finest chairs, and stops whatever they are doing to entertain their new guest.  It's hard to come back to America with locked doors, and worldly beliefs.  I crave the simpler ways where nobody is a stranger for long.  I've learned a lot about loving others and welcoming newcomers from the people along the Amazon.  We share the bible.  Each member of our team has different ways of worshiping, through different denominations, but we all share the bible and our love of the people of the Amazon.
I don't know if I'll go back next year, but I know I'll be sharing the stories from this year's adventures long into eternity.

Brazilian Cheese Bread

 I was gone most of June.  I went to Israel for the first half of the month, and then I was off to Brazil the second half of the month (through July 3rd).  I'll be posting ABOUT those trips over this next month.  In the meantime, here are a few things I've learned from past trips to Brazil.  A famous cheesy snack are these Pao de Queijo.  These are a very chewy, light treat that we usually snag at the airport before saying goodbye.  I've made them a few times in past years, and I recently made a couple batches for our going away dinner.  They are no fail (in my book), really easy, and it makes a ton.  Just a side note-they are Glutton Free b/c they are made with Tapioca flou!  Not on purpose, but....doesn't that make them almost healthy or something?  So...if you want to experience a slice of Brazil, try these out!  They are best warm, but you can make them the day before and just nuke them for a few seconds before serving the next day.  You can also make the batter the day before, put it in the fridge,  and pour it into the cups when you are ready to bake!

Brazilian Cheese Bread

PRINT HERE

Ingredients: 1 egg, 1/3 c. olive oil, 2/3 c. milk, 1 1/2 c. tapioca flour (I use Bob's Red Mill-which I find at Sprouts or Whole Food type grocery stories-it's near the other flours), 1/2 c.  grated Mozzarella cheese, 1 t. of salt
Instructions:
1.  Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until combine (about 30-45 seconds).  
2.  Grease a mini-muffin pan.  Fill to 1/2 full.  
3.  Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.  
*Makes 24+
The original recipe came from Simply Recipes!

Jacare!

 I've gone to Brazil the last four years and each year...and it's as much of an adventure as you would imagine when you hear 'Amazon River.'  The one thing I'll say about alligators, or at least those I've encountered-they aren't everywhere you look, and they are much smaller than I imagined.  I'm sure that's not true for everyone, but...it was true for my experiences.  Last year, before we headed off I made these little cookies for the team.

 I used my favorite cookie recipe and added some clear karo syrup (1 T per cup or 2) so that the icing hardens over night and the cookies can be bagged.

Making a Mini Album

I made a few of these little mini albums lately using paper mache boxes.  I did a picture tutorial a few weeks ago, but now....here's a little video tutorial, with the help of my dog, June.