Pizzaria Bona Bonnye

Tonight, we took our devotions' group to their favorite pizzaria to celebrate their first 50 memory verses. Each week, they have had a chance to memorize a different scripture about a trait of a Godly man...after tonight, we may have to have a lesson on gluttony! :) Everyone left satisfied and we praise God for His protection as we travelled. Please continue to pray that the Holy Spirit continues to work in the hearts of each of these young men.

Bem Vindo Jake and Amanda!

We praise God for the calling of Jake and Amanda as full-time missionaries to CLM! Jake has served at Entre Rios and Turvo as a single and is now returning with his wife, who also served here three separate times on short-term trips. They will be living for several months in Guarapuava to study Portuguese, become accustomed to Brazilian culture, and familiarize themselves with the city. Please pray for God's protection and blessing on this special couple as they continue to seek His perfect plan for their lives.

Library Dedication

After our Sunday morning children's service, we dedicated our Kathy Larson Memorial Library. I have spent the last few weeks buying new books and collecting old ones that had been scattered around the house. We also were very blessed by a donation from our Portuguese teacher of about 150 books for our teenagers. Aline and I spent the day shopping last week and bought a couch, loveseat, bean bag chair and rug while Mike was building the bookshelf, painting the room, and preparing the wood floor. (I think I had the better of those two jobs!) It was wonderful to see the kids so excited about books! We would like to buy a floor lamp and some wall hangings, as well as a plaque for the door in recognition of the donation in Kathy's honor. I will post more pictures as we continue to add shelves and more books to this special addition to CLM. A huge thank you to everyone at First Friends who helped to make this possible!

Fun Day at CLM

Each year, we are blessed by a family here in the colony that chooses a special day to come and celebrate what God is doing in the lives of our children. Yesterday, they literally transformed CLM into a carnival! For about 8 hours, the kids played on a huge inflatable slide, jumped on trampolines, and took turns trying to ride a mechanical bull. The family also prepared a delicious meal of chicken, pork, and beef so it didn't take much to convince our kids to take a short break for lunch. However, as soon as we were done eating, they were all begging to go back to play some more. Throughout the afternoon, there was cotton candy, popsicles and lollipops...that kept them going full-throttle until dark when we dragged them inside for baths! Check out our flickr page for more fun pictures! We praise God for the generosity of this family, as well as His constant provision and blessing.

Ride 'em Mike!

Here's proof that a Nikon D50 has the capability of taking three pictures in less than a second!

Welcome Patrick!

We are thrilled that Patrick has arrived and will be serving with us until the end of July. He is from Ohio and is a friend of Nate who served with us last year. He is a very talented young man and has already offered to give soccer and guitar lessons...and as you can see, is hoping to give bull-riding lessons soon! :) It is obvious that he loves kids and has been eager to help out in any way he can. Please pray for God to do an amazing work in and through his life during the next three months.

Jesus Ressuscitou! Jesus Has Risen!

We had a perfect day to celebrate Easter this year at CLM...starting at 5:30am, making pancakes for around 60+ people! The kids were up and at 'em at 6am (well, most of them) and there was non-stop action from there. After our passion play and breakfast, the kids enjoyed searching for eggs, playing parachute games, and of course, enjoying their new playground and sports area! The kids loved the First Friends practice jerseys and were on the court all day, playing soccer or basketball. After lunch, each received a special Easter basket from the judge in Guarapuava...as you can imagine, no one was hungry at dinner but fortunately the sugar high kept them awake through our evening service! :) We pray that you also had a blessed Easter, celebrating the resurrection of our Savior. Blessings!

Alisson and Aline

Meet our new kids! They are just as sweet as they look in these pictures! We don't know much about them except that they have two little brothers and they had run away from the government group home. They arrived on Monday and have quickly blended into the family. Please pray that they will feel the love of Jesus in our home and that they will be quickly reunited with their siblings.

Out with the Old...In with the New!

Donei and Maria took the old playground down before the team arrived and today the First Friends team put the finishing touches on the new playground! To say the least, the kids were excited! :) A huge thank you to all who generously donated to this project in Kathy Larson's memory and to the team who has worked so hard during the past 10 days to make this happen.