Friends For The Journey

PSA 91:14-16 “Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him, and honor him. With a long life I will satisfy him, And let him behold My salvation.”

Yesterday morning (Sunday) we met Jen, Brooke, Aimee and Sarah at the Fort of Copacabana and had brunch with them. It was a beautiful, windy, clear day. We all enjoyed the food and the time together. Brooke and Jen shared a little bit about the backpacking trip they have planned up through South America for six weeks when they are done here.

Afterwards, we walked up Ipanema Beach and over to the Hippy Fair (we’re not sure where it got its name), a large park where people from everywhere set up booths and sell everything imaginable.

We bought a few little souvenirs, met up with another classmate and walked around a little more, shortly after, we headed to the Irish Pub to rest and re-hydrate. Afterwards, we headed back to our apartment for rest and for Joseph to work on his homework.

Joseph attended a Catholic service Saturday night with one of the students. He and I have gone there before, but this time I stayed home to rest. We attended a service at the Maranatha Church Sunday night. It is the church where Lourdes, the librarian at IBEU attends. It was a nice brief service beginning with worship and then the pastor shared from Psalm 91. Afterwards, the pastor prayed for me, for healing from the cancer. He told us that the Lord had changed the message he had prepared to Psalm 91 and that when he prayed for me the Lord said that I was the one He had changed the message for. It was a very encouraging time.

We now have less than two weeks to complete our time here. Joseph’s ability to speak and read Portuguese has greatly improved and I feel that I could easily learn the language with some classes and practice. I guess time will tell on that one. We will see where life’s journey takes us in the future. Joseph would like to return to Brazil, at some point, for three months to complete his research for his doctoral dissertation, but then he would like to go to Brussels, Cuba and Colombia for extended periods of time to do research also. What an adventure we are on!