Jul
19
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Posted by Nealson Munn in Brazil
Our ministry at the Panamerican Games (of which pictures will soon be posted, to assist visual learners) has been one part relational, one part artistic. Take the artistic aspect first: Josh is managing sound equipment for the praise band and timbrelists, Amber and Surey are acting in the drama team, and I am playing bass trombone in the brass band and second guitar in an unplugged samba quintet. Our work at the games commenced with a raucous praise meeting at Meíer Corps, ending with a performance of one of the few mambo arrangements in the Salvationist brass band catalogue, ‘Ask’ (Triumph Series #1105, Larsson, arr. Graham), a piece I also performed with the Oxford Citadel Band, but which sounded more authentic in Rio de Janeiro.
Jul
15
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Posted by Nealson Munn in Brazil
With less than two weeks remaining before our team’s return to the U.S.A., we have entered the fifth and final phase of our stay in Brazil. We spent phase 1 preparing a fundraising event at a Salvation Army children’s home in the center of Rio; during phases 2, 3, and 4 we repainted two officer’s quarters and an outreach center in a favela. Now we join a team of Salvationists from across the Americas in outreach ministry at the 2007 Panamerican Games.
Jul
10
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Posted by Nealson Munn in Brazil
Today our team accomplished what has been a goal of ours since the moment of our arrival in Rio de Janeiro: to surmount Corcovado and stand at the feet of Cristo Redentor, elected just three days ago as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. Sculpted by a Frenchman (like our own Statue of Liberty) and inaugurated in 1931, ‘The Christ’ stands 107 feet in height and is visible throughout Rio de Janeiro.
Jul
9
Monday, July 9, 2007
Posted by Nealson Munn in Brazil
Our team returned to Rio de Janeiro this evening, which is to say that we completed a four-hour journey in a white Volkswagon van driven by our personal chauffer, the stoical and winsome Major Areovaldo Camilo. Major Camilo’s personality is characterized by a wry sense of humor which, unhappily, is not always well-received owing to its occasional poor timing.
Jul
4
July 4, 2007
Posted by Nealson Munn in Brazil
When I wrote five days ago of our team’s upcoming sojourn in a rural part of Brazil, I anticipated that internet access would be severed throughout, in which expectation I was wholly mistaken, as evidenced by this post’s existence. The surprisingly brief span of time between the present update and the last has been in many respects typical of our time here: long hours of manual labor, clamorous Salvation Army meetings, cheerful, hospitable Brazilian officers, pink sunsets, black beans, and spiky tropical foliage.
Jul
1
Sunday, July 1st, 2007 (Margaret)
Posted by India Team in India
Mizoram Update 06/25/07 - 06/30/07 - Margaret Silva
I have been so blessed with the people of Mizoram.This past week on the 25th we traveled back from Kolasib to Aizawl and stayed in the Tourist Lodge. Tuesday the 26th we went to the Motherless Babies home to scrub windows and play with the kids. The age of these children was anywhere from 1 to 6 and all of some of them were not necessarily orphaned, rather their single parent could not take care of them. They presented us with the song ‘Building up the Temple’ then later I tought them ‘Jesus Loves Me’.
Thursday we visited the Muanna Boys Home. There, we planted some more memorial trees and we had a fellowship time with the boys. They sang a few songs and we taught them as few as well as a memory verse and the bible story ‘David and Goliath’ with a fun quiz at the end. Before we left the home we played some games such as trees, a gooseberry relay race and Musical chairs…in which I beat 10 other people and won 10 rupees (hehehe).
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Jun
30
Saturday, June 30
Posted by Nealson Munn in Brazil
To our friends, family, and otherwise concerned loved ones in the USA Eastern Territory, the 2007 Brazil Team sends a hearty Hands On greeting!
You may be relieved to hear that the four of us - Amber Morgan, Joshua Morales, Surey Roriguez Cortes, and myself - are all in excellent health. I dwell on this fact from day to day in a manner that sometimes unnerves my teammates.
‘So does anyone have any praise reports?’ (Amber asks as she prepares to offer a prayer at the end of our nightly team Bible Study.)
Jun
24
Sunday, June 24 (Andrew Garcia)
Posted by India Team in India
The five of us have just returned from a week long stint in the western division of the India Eastern Territory. It is comprised mainly of the Kolasib district of Mizoram and is about a three hour journey north of the capital city. I think that each of us started to get the idea of exactly where we were going shortly after the first hour of travel, as the houses became more and more scarce, and as those we did see became smaller and cruder. Two hours after that realization, ideas became reality as each of us were clearing our way through a bivouacking army of grasshoppers, beetles, mosquitos and other such curiosities of God’s creation. Soon after we arrived at our residence, we found ourselves crawling into our mosquito net canopy beds and falling asleep at the standard Kolasib hour - roughly 9:30 PM.
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Jun
17
Sunday, June 17th, 2007 (Mark Ferreira)
Posted by India Team in India
Today was our first day of ministry. We experienced further delays in Kolkata, and we were unable to leave there until yesterday morning. This was of course due to the baggage handlers’ strike. But we were so thankful to arrive in Aizawl. As the plane dropped beneath the clouds over Mizoram, a lush, green and mountainous landscape was revealed. Perhaps the other passengers were accustomed to the sight, but as for our team, we were awestruck by the beauty of our new surroundings. As we landed, little on the ground was visible, due to fog and rain. We have been told to expect our entire stay in Mizoram to be a wet one.
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Jun
13
Wednesday, June 13th, 2007 (Andrew Garcia)
Posted by India Team in India
The team took its very first steps onto Indian soil today at about 5:00 AM Calcutta time, and I wish I could report to you that we hit the ground running, but after we engaged in those very first steps, we engaged in our very first sit. And it was a long sit. Between having five of our bags lost in England, having our flight to Mizoram cancelled due to a baggage handler’s strike, and having flash floods in the streets of Calcutta impede our travel to any location outside of the airport, we spent about eight hours trapped in the limbo of indecision. Thankfully, we had a very capable Mizo officer as a liason, so he and his family were able to set us up in a hotel overnight.
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