One HUGE praise that I have, is that I have found a group of guys who play basketball at an outdoor court about 5 times a week. It may sound a bit unspiritual for basketball to be a point of praise, but a praise it is! It allows me a chance to meet some new Brazilians, to practice my Portuguese and learn new 'sports-related' terms, to get out of the house and have something to do, and to enjoy playing a game that has, more or less, been a big part of my life up to this point.
Anwho, I was playing on Friday night (I believe my team won 5 games and lost 1 for those who wanted to know) and as I was leaving one of the guys caught up to me and we started talking. We ended up going to a Shell gas station convenience store (yes, they have those here!) to get some Guarana Bare (a drink like coke made with seeds of Guarana that has a lot of caffeine). After that, we hung out a little bit more. He speaks a little English, but I understand his Portuguese a lot better than his English. His mom is Catholic, he believes in God, but he does not go to church or have a personal relationship with Christ.
We played ball together again last night (Monday), then caught the most recent Narnia movie afterwards. He is really nice, he even invited me to come celebrate Christmas with him and his family on Christmas Eve.
Be praying that God would use me to get him involved in a church and to have that first encounter with the God of Creation! I have started memorizing the Roman Road in Portuguese so that maybe I can start talking to him a little bit about Christianity. Pray that I could learn some of that 'religious jargon' in order to talk to him about our Creator and our Saviour.
That's awesome, Greg! I will be praying. You will miss Guarana when you leave. There's nothing like it. They do have it in a few restaurants in the US. It always takes me back to Brasil when I drink one.
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