March and April

Hey all,

First of all let me apologize for the length of time that has passed since my last post. I hope you are all ready for good update.

Here we go. March was an incredible month. For Quest it was very exciting. On March 14th Quest officially received our non-profit organization status! In others words Quest was officially born. The process of receiving this status was a much more intense process than any of could have imagined. But after months of paper work and legal documents it finally happened. Furthermore, Quest had a deadline of March 15th to move forward with purchasing the property. the date came and went and we had not raised nearly enough funds to buy the land. When we communicated this to the land owner and told him we could not move forward he gave us more time! God is definitely not closing doors.

As for me, I have been doing more hands on work. Creating games and processing tools. There seems to be a never ending supply of work to do.

early in March, Nathan and I went climbing with one of Jaragua's best female climbers. She took us out exploring rock faces and climbing for a day. Very awesome experience.

*preparing to climb!
We had holidays for a good chunk of March. We spent 7 days at a beautiful beach only a few hours from our home. This was an awesome time to relax and get rejuvenated. This time for me was a time that God choose to challenge me on so many ways. It seems that it is when we are still and available to hear His voice that we really grow with Him. I am thankful that I had this time to spend with Him and allow Him to work in my life.

*Me and my little friends on the beach!

After Holidays the days have been filled with work. We spent 3 days in a strategic planning process as a team. This left me with a pile of tasks to do and many things that needed to be finished up before I return to Canada. Also, we have been in a few more churches speaking, training and challenging people to deepen their relationship with God. Quest is really taking off.

I wanted to share with you one thing that i had the opportunity to do. I went para gliding! It was an incredible experience. My flight lasted about 25 minutes and I enjoyed each one of them. The view was incredible and the experience unforgettable. It gave me the opportunity to appreciate God's creation almost literally through the eyes or a bird!


*Flying

*The Landing. SUCCESS!! The Mountain in the background is the take off point.

The days are moving a long and my time here is beginning to reach the end. Pray that I run hard all the way to the finish line. The thought of coming home and seeing so many people again is exciting but I do not want it to distract me from the work God still has for me here.

Our God is an Awesome God

*Shannon, Patsy and I*

"Be still and know that I am God."

Hey Friends!

This past month has been a crazy one. I am pretty sure that I have said that every update. But the truth is, since I arrived here at the end of November, things have not stopped. I guess birthing a camp is a lot of work !

In the middle of February, Quest ran it's first official camp! Our goal was to run a camp for potential future staffers. Camp here is such a new idea, so we wanted to 'train' our staff by having them participate in a week at camp while at the same time attending sessions to learn about being a camp counselor. It was a blast. Our prayer was to have 15 campers.. and God blessed us with 13. Each one of them were hand picked by God and that become so evident to us at the week went on. Let's just say it was a very different staff training expereience then the one we had earlier in January. This time, the staff were excited about camp and the impact that the ministry can have. It was very cool... each one of them was full of passion.

The camp was an incredible experience for me as well. I was in a little bit of an exciting position. I had a large leadership role ( in terms of behind the scenes things). The day before the camp I went with a group of staff to get things set up. I had about 4-5 people looking to me for direction. It was a weird and humbling experience; they looked up to me and respected me even though I do not know their language well. Needless to say.. it was an incredible time to practise my Portuguese. At times I was very unsure if I was communicating clearly... but everything seemed to get down well... so i guess that was a positive sign.
*Getting Camp ready. Our theme was Indianna Jones and the Sword of the Kingdom.*

Also, during the week, Nathan and I taught a session on Adventure Learning. Now that was an experience! Also, I pulled together enough courage to teach a little bit in Portuguese. I thank God that he has given me the ability to learn the language so quickly.

*This is a part of the session Nathan and I taught. Can you see me speaking portuguese!?*

I could go on and on about how incredible the week went. Let's just say God was there... present.. and moving. My passion for camping grew and my desire to be part of the ministry deepened.


*Me and some of the girls at camp!*

Right now, we are in the middle or A LOT. Property to raise money for ( or at least to trust God with that one), churches are inviting us to do more programs with them, advertising for english camp, continuing portuguese studies, preparing camp activities and so much more.

Guys, I can not even begin to tell you how much I am learning here. I am being stretched beyond anything I would have ever expected. My love for God has deepened, my love for Brazil is growing and my love for camping is solidified. I can still not believe God has choosen me to do His work here and be part of this ministry!

Thank you all for you prayers. 100 days in brazil ....80 more to go! BRING IT ON!

Becky

February .... Already.

"... Let us throw off everything that so easily entangles us and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus" HEBREWS 12 :1-2

Hey All,

Since you have last heard from me things have been pretty busy. Here's a taste of the past few weeks: adventures to 'The Hidden Rock', bagel making, tears, game planning, Portuguese lessons, prayer, a massive youth conference, hard lessons, passing the 70 day point, and listening to God.

I choose this verse because it speaks so loud to my heart at this point in my journey. ( I love how different pieces of God's word come to life when you need it most.) Up until this point, I feel as if i was walking my own path and as a result sin was easily entangling me. But God is good and he has opened my eyes to this and I am ready to run th path marked for me. I want to run with perseverance and above all I want to have my eyes fixed on Jesus. God has been teaching me a lot about putting my all into Brazil, learning to let go of Canada, and surrendering my plans to Him. The journey has been painful and it is not over... but God is refining me.

On the camp end of things, we have been busy. Nathan, Dwayne and Scott went to a camp called PV Sul Beach Camp to speak. The camp is a new camp plant from a larger organization. The experience was very positive. Also, our whole team is preparing for our upcoming staff camp. We are running a 4 day camp program for potential future staff. We want them to learn what camp is by actually participating in a camp program. We have been planning and preparing for weeks, making games, planning sessions and program. Initially we were overwhelmed with the number of people interested. But for some reason, that only God knows, we are not receiving many response. Please pray for our camp. God knows who is meant to be there and who he is preparing to be part of Quest. No matter how many people come, we want to be the people that God has chosen.

Last weekend, a group of us decided to go on at adventure to find a place called "The Hidden Rock". It is an rock face that has been developed for climbing. Let's just say that the place lived up to it's name. We hiked up a hill and bush-whacked for hours before we found that place. On the way up we even had a little accident. Carol was hiking up a section that was a little steeper and slippery. She lost her footing and took a tumble. Luckily a tree stop her fall, but her knee popped out of place. Needless to say the hike back down was interesting and slow! But we got her out safe a sound. Don't worry she is ok!

*Left: Nathan in the bush on the was up to the rock face Right:Scott helping Carol down the hill*

This past weekend, Nathan, Carol and I attended a massive youth conference. 1500 youth from three states in southern Brazil. It was crazy and definitely a cultural experience for me. There were soccer and volley ball tournaments, speakers, worship, swimming and lots of people. I learned a lot about the Brazilian culture and the Portuguese language.
*Left: Soccer and Volley Ball Right: The tents. Most of the people stayed in tents; it was a massive village. *

Also, the longer Nathan and I are here the more we are noticing things that are different here. One things we discovered is that the do not make bagels in Brazil. We both love bagels so we thought we would attempt to try to make them. It was actually a really fun experience and a learning one as well. We made some mistakes along they way but they were actually really good! Below are the results of out labor.

*Bagels!*

As far as my part of Quest goes, I have been doing a lot of the planning for this upcoming camp. My roll has been responsible for planning and creating the program for the week. The theme is going to be "Indiana Jones and the Sword of the Kingdom". The whole week revolves around the campers using a 'map' to find the location of the sword. The map is a series of clues and they all need to work together to retrieve the sword. The week is full of symbolisms. ex. The sword represents the word of God.

*These are the maps and some clues that I created for our game. They are double sided and are in 6 pieces. The map can be put together 5 different ways and each way reveals a different clue.it was a lot of work but a lot of fun!*

I am learning so much Portuguese and my English is getting worse. I am enjoying learning a new language. But there are definitely days that i don't really understand God's plan at the Tower of Babel. It would be so much easier it we all spoke the same language! haha. Maybe that was the point.

Lots has been happening here in Brazil. I have been 71 days in Brazil. At this point I need prayer for wisdom in deciding what to do next. Part of me wants to return to Brazil, but part of me wants to stay in Canada and it is unclear to me at this point exactly what God wants me to do. Also, i am wanting to take a position at a Medeba Summer Camp again this summer. Pray that I will only walk the path God has set.

Thanks for all your support!
Becky

Hello from Brazil,

It has been a while since I have last posted and consequently there is a lot to share.

Let's start with Christmas.
Christmas this year was a very new experience for me. It was the first time I have spent a Christmas away from home; I enjoyed it but it was also challenging. It was weird being away from home and celebrating Christmas in a new culture. Here Christmas is not a huge deal. People don't have the money for it. They have a BBQ on Christmas eve and gather with family. We had a very Canadian style Christmas with Brazilian flavor. On Christmas day the Buhler Family, Nathan and I went to a water park to escape the heat and relax. I had to consistently remind myself that it was Christmas.



*Left: Nathan and I on Christmas Day! Right: We had a Quest Staff Christmas Party. Nathan conquered the pinata. *

Shortly after Christmas, we left for a city called Pelotas. We traveled there for a wedding and to visit some of Scott and Patsy's friends. While I was there I met a lot of new friends but I made one friend in particular. Her name is Jordana. She is Brazilian, only speaks Portuguese, and is planning on joining Team Quest in July. Even though there was a language barrier, I was still able to connect with her. Also, during that week Nathan and I took some Brazilians climbing, went to the beach, experienced a Brazilian New Years Eve celebration and had many opportunities to practice my Portuguese. My Portuguese blossomed that week and I can not thank God enough for giving me the ability to pick up the language quickly. Keep Praying for that. Overall, the trip was awesome but it was good to get back to our house.


*Jordana and I*

I was back in Jaragua for 2 days before we left again. It was about enough time to get our laundry washed and ready to go again. Team Quest was asked to run a staff training and program for a Lutheran Youth Retreat. I can not even explain how much that experience opened my eyes. People here in Brazil have very competitive attitudes. This attitude was more then noticeable during this past week. Quest vision is all about cooperation and encouragement; so let's just say we planted some seeds but nothing really took root yet. We have a lot of work to do.

*Left: Some of the Staff working through a cooperative activity. Right: A massive bonfire we had with the campers*


*Left: Nathan and I. We went on a hike with 130 campers up a mountain; this was the site at the top. Right: Me and Some staff girls. Barbara, Becky, Aline, Aline, Angelica.
Now I am back in Jaragua preparing for a third camp. We are running a camp for potential Quest summer staff in February. Also, we are in the process of raising money for a piece of property that we feel is perfect for Camp Quest. We have a lot of work to do.

All in all, life here has been incredible. God has been working in my heart so much. There have been countless times where I have wanted to get out of here; Living in Brazil is not Home yet.. and it is far from being comfortable. But God is changing that. Already, I have been here for over 1/4 of my time. I am sure that when May rolls around it is going to be hard to leave this place.

Celebrate yesterday, so you can embrace today!

God Bless,

Becky

True Adventures

This weekend was full of all kinds of adventures.



On Friday, our team went out for pizza to celebrate our friend's final day of school. Nathan Carol ( our friend and team secretary!!) had to take a bus. We got there ok, but the ride home was interesting. We found that that bus system is hard to figure or maybe we should have just done our research. Mistake # 1. We were not 100% sure what time out bus was coming to pick us up. Mistake #2. We did not know what bus we needed to take. We knew we wanted to get home to Schoeder, but that was all. Mistake #3. After waiting for an hour we took the wrong bus. The bus was going to Schoeder, but not the part of town we wanted to go to.





We ended up going on the craziest bus ride of my life. The road was windy and made of dirt and gravel, the bus driver was going so fast and it was pitch black. The only word that comes to mind is SKETCHY. We did arrive home safely..... 2 hours later.





The following day, I went on a completey different type of adventure. A guy we met at church volunteered to take a group of us out rapelling and climbing. We jumped at the opportunity, especially since we are looking for adventure opportunities in the area for our camp.


We started with a 15o ft rapel. We were right in the mountains and the veiw was incredible. We tried a little bit of rock climbing, but it was insanely difficult. I thought they day was over until our friend pointed at a waterfall a little further up the mountain. He wanted to take us rappelling ON the waterfall. It was incredible. the picture below does not even do justive to the experience. The picture is of Nathan and I; can you see us?


Needless to say, it was an intense experience. When I look at that place it is hard to believe that is me. I loved just being there. The place displayed God's beauty and His power. It was hard to not praise Him for his creation. I wish all of you could just be here to see it; as I am sure most of you would not be up for actually doing that rapel. I was even a little intimidated.

'Stop and consider God's wonders."

We Arrived!

Hey Guys,

There is so much to tell.

Nathan and I arrived in Brazil last Thursday and we have been thrown right into the action.

The trip down seemed very long. We flew from Toronto to Sao Paulo; the flight was just over ten hours. After this we had a 4 hour layer over in Sao Paulo while we waited for our flight to Curitiba. We almost missed our flight, but God was taking care of us. Our flight to Curitiba was 45 minutes long and we still had a 2 hour drive to our home.

As soon as we arrived the rest of the Quest Team was waiting and had prepared a Welcome party for the two of us. It was over stimulating to go from such a long trip to meeting so many new people, hearing a new language and being in a new place. But God has been right by my side, and slowly I am becoming more comfortable with this new place!

Here are some pictures of the veiws from our house.

The first weekend we went to a church to promote Quest. We are looking for potential summer staff for camp. It was really hard not knowing the language but it was awesome to see people catching the vision. One thing we have run into is brazilians have no knowledge if what camp is. So we are really having to explain what it is that we are doing. This also shows me how big the need for camp ministry is.

I had the opportunity to explore the peice of land taht is currently very heavy on Our team's heart. There is a lot of paper work that needs to come together before we can buy the land and we are trusting God to being it together in His time. Below are some pictures. It is absolutely beautiful.

Every afternoon, we are taking intense language classes. Already I am surprised at how much I am learning. God is answering my prayers to pick up the language. But I know it is going to be a long and discouraging process. Keep praying!

I can deffinately use your prayers at this time. Pray that i will continue to learn the language quickly. Pray for my relationship with God; things are so hectic it is easy to push him to the side. Also, not knowing the language makes it difficult to grow from a church. Pray for Team Quest and the property. We are very anxious to get things going, but we also know the importance of waiting on God.

I'l be keeping you posted!! Please keep in touch and I will do my best to keep you all updated.


Each day my heart gets more and more excited about what God is doing and going to do in Brazil.

It's Official!

Hey Guys,

My Visa has arrived! God answered that prayer and he answered it with speed! He is so good!

The days are going by so quick. I can not believe that I am leaving in 5 days. Thank you all for you support, encouragement and prayers. I will be keeping you all posted!

Brazil ... here I come!

Becky