Gleba Day 1

Gleba is a different experience.  It is a favela, which is a very poor neighborhood.  People make their houses out of whatever material they can find.  We saw some made of bricks and plaster, some made of plywood and sheets, the sewage flows down the dirt road in a small crevice.  The church in the area has been used as a children's church in the past.  The pastor would like to reach out and make it a church for adults as well as children.  That's one of our missions here this week.  We painted the inside of the church and will be painting the beams on the ceiling and windows as well as the outside later this week.  Jon Leeder had an incident with some of the acid used to clean the iron beams.  A drop fell in his eye while he was working.  It was washed out immediately, and he seems to be doing fine.  Jorge read the bottle, and it said to just wash the eye out really well, which we did.  Jon has been able to see fine, and is not in any pain, but we are keeping a close eye on it.  Keep him in your prayers.  We also did evangalistic dinners in Gleba last night.  It was interesting because there were not scheduled ahead of time.  The pastor asked some people, but they were unsure of letting strangers into their homes.  He thought they would let us in if we just showed up with food, so he took us to some houses that he knew, and sure enough, they let us come in.  We all had different experiences, but we feel like they all went well.  I was in a house with Monica (local), who was 19.  She explained a little about her life, and it has been rough.  She felt like we were angels coming to help her, she prayed with us, and we're hoping to see her at the church today!  One of the other groups had an interesting experience.  I'll let them explain it when we get home.  Pray for our evangalistic dinners.  It's a different community, many of them need to hear the gospel and get connected with a church!  We are taking precautions, so don't be worried, but do pray for our safety.  It's always a concern when you are in a different country.  We also need prayers for restful sleep and attitudes.  We are starting to feel the long days, and Gleba takes a little more out of you.  Also, if you want to see pictures, Greg has a website that he updates everyday with his photos.  He has an easier time getting them up than we do on the blog.  Go to http://www.servantsinbrazil.org/ and click on the photo that says "Click here to see Overland Hills Church".  We continue to be amazed and thankful that God is showing us so much!  We are definitely learning to rely on Him!!

 http://www.servantsinbrazil.org/