I can’t believe my first two months here in Portugal are almost over! It’s been an eventful time. My team and I have been settling into life here, and trying to learn how to interact in this new culture. Things like grocery shopping, taking transit, and talking to people have suddenly become both exciting and challenging. In many ways, we feel like five year olds. We don’t speak the language, and there are many, many basic things that we simply don’t know how to do. It’s a challenge that I love, and we are learning more and more each day.
Here are a few highlights of this last month:
- We helped out with preparing food and serving at a youth banquet.
- We have helped with a clothing bazaar.
- We have served on the worship team.
- We have been helping friends of ours with their kids as they prepare to leave on their furlough.
- We celebrated American Thanksgiving with the long-term team here.
- We have been studying Portuguese.
We hosted a Christmas card making class for some of the women from the church, and we will be helping with the Christmas theatre (backstage - our Portuguese isn’t that good!) and choir, decorating the church, and exploring different ideas for community outreach this season. One thing that I am really looking forward to is beginning discipleship with the youth in this next month. I’m excited to come alongside them and here about what God is doing in there lives, what he is teaching them and how he is speaking to them, and encourage them in their walk with God.
A few prayer requests for the upcoming season: Praise God that we are here, and that we’re learning and growing each and every day! Pray for us as we study the language, that God would give us understanding, and that we would be diligent in our studies and work hard. Pray that God would show us how to best reach out to the community around us this Christmas season, and that God would soften people’s hearts towards him.
