When I was a little boy my mom would always buy each one of her kids an advent calendar. You know the ones with a new chocolate for every day of December up to Christams? Every day we could come to her and get the chocolate for that day, but only if we could say the prescriped verse for the day by heart. That small little chocolate piece would somehow give me enough incentive to study the verses until I could recite it to my mom. It was one of my favourite parts about the build up to Christmas. It made the wait for Christmas morning a little bit more exciting. (It also gave me something to do with all my time off in those very generous summer holidays)
I find myself now in a new period of advent, as I wait for the next phase of my life to start. Rather than learning verses off by heart (although it's still an important part of my life), I find the tasks keeping me busy and building my excitement are kinda different. From visas, to raising support, to learning a new language and filling in forms. This waiting period is most definitely an active one.
So what am I doing about Brazil? Well, I'm glad you asked. I've decided that I'm going to study in Sao Paulo next year. What? Has the Casa Elohim dream been sidelined? Nuh uh. In order to get a long term visa, I'm gonna have to study so that I can qualify for a student visa. Go figure. They apparently want me to be a student to apply for that visa. Brazil and their rules, amirite? I'm trying to decide between studying the Portuguese language and doing a teaching degree. Learning the language would help me in relating to those around me who speak Portuguese. But doing a teaching degree could open up the doors for me to be a math teacher there if they ever need that. Besides, teaching math is amazing!
Then...I had been planning to raise support from friends, family and extended family through the church, by finding 100 people who would sponsor me R100 a month, however one of my mentors explained that this plan was very ambitious. Apparently 100 people is alot. So I'm now on the search for any amount of people who can help me raise the ... probably ... R15 000 a month I need to finance this venture. I know what you're thinking, and I thought the same thing. That is ridiculous!! That's more money than I earn here! Well, almost. But when I look at all the costs, from rent and food, to travelling home yearly and keeping a medical aid... it turns out that the little costs add up, and don't get much smaller even when you spread it over 12 months. So, if you're interested in helping me, well, then that'd rock. Please e-mail me the amount you can contribute and when you can start, so I can add it to my budget. I actually got my first sponsorship cash TODAY!!! THANKS, BUDDY! You're an inspiration to me!
My Portuguese DVD's arrive on February 24th. Ask me how my portuguese is doing around then.
And finally, I have been in contact with the fellows at the ABBA house. I skyped the house director last year, and he said he is very excited about my trip. I'll fill you in more about that next time. He said he'll mail me forms that I need to fill in and send back to him, which I'm very excited about. Now if only he'd send them. I hear he's on holiday with his wife. He deserves it.
Thanks for reading this far. I hope you'll pray with me about the lives of these precious kids. God is using a group of people to be His hands and feet and give them a future - something they never had before. Please keep walking this journey with me. There's MUCH excitement ahead!