Bahia

"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." John 3:17

What do you do on an 8 hour road trip?

We only stopped twice. Once to eat lunch and once for the bathroom. I didn't do much in the car as I usually sleep. I slept well but then I read the Bible and a book. I was still reading Jesus > Religion. I was really moved by some things I read and I would stop and meditate on it for a while. "He gives even when we think He's taking." This is just one of the many things that struck me in the book. Sometimes it's hard to understand what God is doing, but that's where faith comes in. It's definitely easier said than done. Sometimes He takes away something to get me closer to Him, therefore whatever "feels" like something is bad happening, I must look to God. This is just a little insight.

New State, more adventures and memories made

We've arrived in Southern Bahia. It's the 5th largest State by size. It 15.6 times BIGGER than our little Taiwan. It's similar to the size of California but a bit bigger. We got to Lukas's house, Bella's boyfriend. We came to see him since he got adopted 3 months ago by his grandma. He used to be a boy of Hope Mountain. His birthday was coming up, so we really wanted to do something special for him since transitioning wasn't easy. We went to the beach a lot because he lived close by. We got to go to his school which was really fun! I got to talk to a lot of kids and it reminded me of my teaching days at cram school in Taiwan. There was a nice tourist area with food and cute things near our hotel so we went there every night. We stayed for 4 days and 3 nights. We went to church and connected with people for Lukas hoping that this would be his home church. Then we had his early birthday party! He was really moved that we spent time with him even though it was only a few days. I'll continue to keep him in my prayers as he continues with school and other things.

In the front, from left to right, Uncle Luciano, Aunt Neyde, Aunt Sirlene, Ana and me.

In the back, from left to right, Bella, Lukas, Aunt Corenne, Lukas' Grandma and Grandpa.

We walked around in the little tourist town. It was so much fun!!!

We celebrated Lukas' birthday. We blessed him and the family.

We had the Corinthians Football Club theme birthday. Lukas was thrilled!!!

This is the beach that we went to every day. I jogged every day and it was great!

Tried to be comfortable in a hammock.

We visited his school and the kids were awesome! Absolutely loved it! We also did face masks. We actually used Dead Sea mud and it reminded me that last November I was just in Israel!!!