Abby in Brazil

    Football... Here we go!!!     I can conclude that Saturday was a football day. Football as in "soccer." We got to go to a game. Even though our team lost the championship game by one goal, I still had a really fun time.      Later on, we went to another football club to watch the live game. I'm beginning to be a die-hard fan of the Corinthians. It's a Brazilian team in Sao Paulo. I find the football culture really interesting. People are SOOOO passionate and loyal about their team! There's really 2 sides of the coin for this. Some people really take it too far... they always end up fighting... When I was at the live game, I was thinking what if we were all fired up for Christ like this??? I seldom see people fired up for JESUS like this. I hope I keep the fire going for Jesus!!! THIS IS THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME WE WATCHED! THIS IS THE CORINTHIANS FOOTBALL CLUB THAT WE VISITED!!! REALLY COOL PLACE!   Small Group!     I forgot to mention I got to lead worship for m

  It was one of those days...     Friday was one of those days where I did everything that I could and still was bored... It was a rainy day, so I couldn't go swimming or anything... I did my quiet time, walked the dog, fed the dog, worshipped in my room, I went to buy candy for youth group later on that night, and got ready to lead worship on Saturday...      We still had v olleyball so that was fun! My team played really well despite my team was at a disadvantage because we had a girl that didn't really play volleyball. After volleyball we celebrated together one of the girl's birthday in our youth group! It was a huge blessing for the birthday girl as her father was in the hospital and was in critical state. He still is. So you can pray for him.      Later on, youth group was great! I felt that God was speaking to me about that whole day. Even though I felt bored and I didn't do much, God was preparing something for me. I sung the same song in the morning as I was wo

     Have you every been on a diet? What type of diet were you on? And why?     Because of my love for food and lack of self-control, my parents always had to watch what I ate and also make sure I exercised. My mom's side of the family knows all about diets. There's Keto, 18/6, and more... I've been on a lot of different diets... I put my mom through a lot of hard times because she was the one keeping me accountable...      This time, my church started a new program called "Saudável," which means healthy or health. Because we are a temple of God, we should take good care of ourselves so we started a 28 days diet and exercise plan! I'm glad I'm not doing this alone... It's hard when I do diets alone without accountability... This time nearly the whole church is doing it! The plan is no sugar and white flour for 28 days. We should exercise every day for at least 30 minutes. We read one chapter of Acts every day. We pray for 20-30 minutes. And get involve

      This past week has been quite interesting... When I recall what has happened this week... I don't remember much... Does that happen to you, too?       So this week I continued to help out with Bella's homework as much as I could. But we still didn't finish all the assignments on time! It could be because we had other things to do these days that we didn't have good time management to finish everything on time. It was my job to make sure that this doesn't happen, but it still did. Now I have access to Bella's online school account so I can make sure we are on top of things. I can "actively" help her instead of "passively." But anyways, this would be a prayer request because I find it hard to be Bella's teacher, friend, sister and all. Pray that God gives me wisdom for this because I really can't do this alone.      We were able to get Caramelo his last shot. He is growing and we continue to potty train him to be able to be an ins

     These days have been quite interesting. Nothing really happening but God is moving. I might have the opportunity to join the worship team at my church. God is working in my personal life as I'm trying to be more like Him. I got officially added to the group chat of my small group so I get more information with the church activities and devotionals. I would like to share it with you all.      "For God to be complete, He does not need what we can offer Him;  nor our sacrifices of praise and worship to have joy and be happy;  He does not need expressions of love to feel loved, because He is love itself (I John 4.8).  Before creating us, He already existed in His fullness and was complete with the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Perfect in unity, They partake of an eternal fullness.  Together They are the fullness in all things, including all worship, joy and rejoicing.  This is the reason for thinking that the Father does not seek worship, since worship fills all of heaven.  The

      These days have been pretty fun. During the day, I continue to help Bella with her school. There are assignments every day but thank God we finish them all on time. I usually need a nap afterwards because school is tiring. God somehow provides time for me to rest.      I got the chance to attend another church service on Wednesday evening. I know it's confusing because I've attended 3 different churches for different events so far. 😂 But all of them were such a blessing to my soul and spirit. This evening, I took the bus by myself again but it took me 2 hours to get to church... I forgot to set an alarm to leave so I ended up leaving super late. I got home at 11:45pm which is way too late!!! Because where I live is very dangerous at that time. But God protected me. I will never do it again but God really had mercy on me.      I'm on a volleyball team and practices have been pretty good. A lot of the girls are improving so that's really fun to see. I'm working

    On Monday, Bella and I had a great time with school. We were really productive. We had volleyball practice and that went pretty well as everyone was having fun but also focused on some level. Later, Bella and I went to watch Meg 2 in the theaters. I usually don't like watching scary movies but Meg 2 wasn't scary at all. It was more like an action movie and I LOVE action movies. We got home at midnight so I was really exhausted.      On Tuesday, I got to call my mom and dad. It was Father's Day in Taiwan so I was able to talk to my dad and pray for him. It was a blessed time. Then Bella and I had another productive time with school. Then right after school ended I had to leave quickly to go with Sirlene and Luciano to their small group. Something really amazing happened at the small group. I was really tired but I also knew that God brought me there for a reason.      First off, it must've been the Holy Spirit helping me because I understood most of what was being sh

    This weekend was special. I knew I needed time to myself to focus on God because I was starting to have a lot of negative thoughts and depressing emotions. Friday was a tough day because of all of these thoughts and emotions starting flooding over me and I was overwhelmed and exhausted.      So on Saturday, I went to my cell group. I brought a boy from the Mountain named Vitor and we had a blessed time. Just as I was going through some processes emotionally, God reminded me that I was a worshipper. At the cell group, I was able to play the guitar and sing "Oceans" with everyone. That was a huge breakthrough for me as I was reminded of my calling and purpose. Then from the early evening to night, there was a 5 hour worship and prayer time at another church of a friend. After some the worship and lots of prayer, my heart felt lighter and filled with God's peace and even joy. I felt like Hannah in the Bible coming before God troubled but leaving the temple full of peace,

    It's weird that I can't really remember what I did yesterday... does that happen to you, too?      I would say that I do have a steady schedule. I wake up at 7 and my day ends around midnight. Maybe I should try to move my bedtime even earlier or add a time to nap, because I've been feeling quite tired. I don't sleep in at all because I have a dog so I must walk him and spend time with him.      Why would I name this post "Blessed Friendships?" It's because since the Americans left, not only have I tried focusing more on God but also I got the chance to spend lots of time with some friends. It's a good distraction from negative thoughts. A friend bought a bus card and a card holder for me so now I can take the bus!!! I've also got to spend time with Bella's friends. They taught me how to make  brigadeiro!!! It's a famous dessert!      Thank you for all your prayers and support! I still have chiggers on my legs... but I continue to trust

     The Americans left 2 days ago. There were many tears shed including mine. I’ve only known them for 10 days and they are already family to me. I really felt like I was ministered by these lovely, faithful and pure-hearted disciples of Jesus. They are a gift from God and a demonstration of His love for all of us. For me personally, I felt that through this American team God was trying to say that He loves me and cares about me. He knows that I feel lonely in Brazil. He knows that I battle with anxious, helpless, frustrating and depressing thoughts. So He gifted me a dog 3 months ago. He gave me the chance to go to California a month and a half ago. And how He blessed me with the team that felt like family.       I not only received their love, care and prayers, but through their visit, I got the chance to see Hope Unlimited in a full scope. I never had the chance to visit boys who graduated from the program, see how they are doing, and pray for them. I saw transformed lives and live