JP & Kimberly - life

The new year in GA

2012-02-11T20:52:00.004-04:00

After the beach we went to Georgia! It felt so good to feel the wheels of the airplane touch down on Georgia soil! We spent 8 days in Georgia. The weather was definitely different compared to the beach! All of Kimberly's sisters and their families were near to spend the week with us. We did some shopping, celebrated Christmas again, visited extended family, saw our dear neighbors and had a cookout. :) Our cups were overflowing with blessing after blessing!

Christmas 2011

2012-02-11T20:24:00.004-04:00

We had a much blessed Christmas filled with family time. We celebrated the birth of Christ and thanked God for the gift of life offered through Christ Jesus.
Luisa and Preston c ame to Brazil for two weeks. It was great to be with them! These 2 weeks were packed full. The second week the family went to the beach for a week! Wow! It was gorgeous!!! Here are some pictures.

Pirenópolis

2012-02-11T19:41:00.003-04:00

Back in November we spent a holiday in Pirenópolis. It is an old city in Brazil with many, many trails and waterfalls. We drove to the top of a mountain and hiked through the cerrado (on a cleared path.) At the end of the hike we saw the waterfall. It was so pretty!

New years

2012-01-29T20:09:00.001-04:00

JP's eye injury

2011-08-28T11:42:00.001-04:00

So I was playing a wicked new game called paddle (kind of a mix of tennis and squash)
and I got nailed in the eye. The ball actually hit the edge of my racket and hit me square in the eye.
Really bad luck. From there I went straight to the hospital. Tear on the retina. Laser surgery the
next morning and now three days of rest and recovery. My eye hurts less today, but vision is still
very blurry. I'll see the doc again tomorrow at 9am. Thanks for your prayers! JP

Kimberly's Birthday!!

2011-08-23T18:20:00.005-04:00

Kimberly's birthday was great! We celebrated with the family here and had a DELICIOUS chocolate and strawberry cake! That evening we went to a small amusement park and rode the ferris wheel! Then we each ate a churros! Happy Day!! Thank You God for life!!

School Has Started

2011-08-21T14:34:00.003-04:00

We have started our school year at BIS. JP is teaching high school math and P.E. Kimberly is teaching Pre-k 3 and 4 year olds, 2nd grade math and language arts, and kindergarten social studies and science. We are staying busy with school work and lesson plans. We are able to go on runs some afternoons and spend our Sundays with church and family. It has been a privilege to be able to share Jesus' love with the children at school and incorporate stories about Him in our lessons. How cool!!!

Itaipu Power Plant! Major Power!

2011-07-29T17:48:00.004-04:00

Once back in Brazil we went to the Itaipu Power Plant. The largest hydro electric power plant in the world! It has 20 huge turbines. One turbine generates enough power for a city of 2.5 million people! That’s a lot of power we were riding around! On part of the tour we went through Paraguay! Brazil and Paraguay share the power from this hydro electric power plant.

Now back in Brazil we are looking for a car and doing some shopping. JP’s mom knows the places in town for the shopping experience! We are having a great time!! School starts in a week. We have a few more days of vacation left. J

Iguassu Falls!! The "Land of Rainbows"

2011-07-29T17:13:00.014-04:00

After Caldas Novas we came home for a day and then onto the airplane to go to Iguassu Falls! This is one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Unbelievable beauty there! We spent 3 days in Foz do Iguassu. The first day we spent on the Brazil side of the Iguassu Falls. I call this place the "Land of Rainbows". There were so many rainbows there! We took the boat ride and went right up to some of the water falls!! We hiked some and ate lunch. We ate outside and there were signs that read “Watch out for the Quati.” These varmints would come up to your table jump in an empty chair and reach across the table and take your food!!! Then hop down and walk off with it in their mouths! At first I thought they were cute until I saw one take a lady’s lunch right off her plate! They were so fast. Later that day we went to the Bird Park. It was one of the largest bird parks in the world.

The next day we were able to go to ARGENTINA to see the falls from their side! After we got the visa issue worked out our taxi driver took us the Iguassu falls park . We were in for a breathtaking surprise of beauty! It reminded us of the pictures of Never, Never Land in the movie Peter Pan. There was a high standing island in front of the some of the falls which has a water fall coming from it! There were platforms going out over some of the falls to get us closer to the roar of the water. We walked 1.1 kilometers one way over the Iguassu river to get to a raging waterfall.

There was so much water moving through the river. Check out some of these pictures to see. The power of the mass of water was breathtaking. God’s creativity foresaw these waterfalls and HIS power is mightier than the rushing of the many waters. HE has allowed us to look upon HIS rainbows of promise and love! Whoooooooo!!! J

Cristalina!

2011-07-29T16:44:00.006-04:00

After Caldas Novas we went to a town called Cristalina where we were able to see many, many rocks. We even went to a crystal mine and JP found the water! The water was supper clear, clean, and deep! There were rocks everywhere! So pretty! Dad was so happy! It was a beautiful place!

Hot Water Parks!

2011-07-27T20:11:00.005-04:00

Last Monday we went to Caldas Novas hot springs! We went to 3 hot water parks and spent our days soaking in warm water! There were water slides!! This was a highlight for Kimberly and her mom. Kimberly’s Dad and JP went down the slides too! Some pools were hotter than others and some were cool. At night the pools are emptied, cleaned, and then refilled by morning. The water is the best when it is just coming into the pool. So, it was fun to go out and get in the fresh water at night.

Dad's getting a foot massage!

Cross Cultural Concert

2011-07-27T20:06:00.002-04:00

We went to an Argentine and Brazilian cross cultural concert. The music was so good!!

A visit to the school and Brazil Volleyball!

2011-07-27T19:44:00.003-04:00

We are having a full time here. :) The food is so good! The past few days we've given Mom and Dad the tour around town. We were able to take them to the school we'll be teaching in. We were given tickets to watch Brazil play Peru in women's volleyball!!! Brazil won. It was a blow out really. It was fun watching them spike! Brazil won the first 3 sets so it was a short game but fun! They gave us t-shirts at the door.

2011-07-14T22:19:00.002-04:00

A day at the lake with our small group! So much fun!

Our going away party given by our much loved Bible study group.

Our Summer 2011

2011-07-14T21:56:00.001-04:00

We have had an eventful summer! After a yard sale we packed up our apartment with the help of some awesome friends. God sent the "angels" in to help us. It was a major effort but with the help of our friends and family we were able to get it done.

Kimberly was able to spend some time with the family at the beach for a week while JP finished up a class in Atlanta. Then we spent two weeks in Mississippi for training through the school we will be working at. We learned a lot about the structure of the school, the transitions of living abroad, safety, and a better understanding of children who move from country to country. We also met some wonderful people there. Our host family was gold! We are so thankful to have met them and have a retreat to go to after the long days of training.

We made it to Brazil this week. Mom and Dad are here with us for a few weeks. We have been touring the city, eating delicious food, and spending time with family here. It has been an adventure already!
Thank you for all your prayers!!

Jp Kimberly send off

2011-05-22T19:17:00.001-04:00

Church send off. Batista's going to serve in Brasilia !

Watson Mill St Park

2011-01-15T22:45:00.000-04:00

Awesome hike!

Happy new year at the Burns farm

2010-12-31T23:00:00.000-04:00

2010-12-29T00:20:00.001-04:00

Aquarium!!

2010-12-29T00:17:00.001-04:00

Great time with Julie, Greg, Jackson, Jessica, Brennen and Kimberly.
God is amazing for creating so many BIG fish! Amazing!
Sent from my iPhone

2010-12-29T00:12:00.000-04:00

Merry Christmas! Feliz Natal!

2010-12-27T12:23:00.002-04:00

We were blessed with a white Christmas this year!!! We loved playing in the snow! Check out our biggest snowman ever! We've had a super Christmas break so far, with lots of family gatherings, good food and awesome parties. Congratulations to the Burns on their 40th wedding anniversary! We celebrated with family and friends at Innoko's in Athens. So fun to see the chef cooking in front of us... Now a few more days of rest and here we go 2011!

Feliz Natal e um super 2011 para todos!!! Saudades do Brasil... por aqui muita alegria e muita neve!

4 Wells!!!

2010-05-28T18:40:00.002-04:00

Thank you so much to all who contributed towards my birthday gift / fund raiser!!! Our total ended up being $4100!!! That's enough to build 4 wells in Asia! 4 villages will get new wells because of your gift!! Thank you so much for your heart! God bless you! ... JP

Great Party, Thank YOU!!

2010-04-10T18:58:00.004-04:00

This is my B-day speech and well chant : )

Thank you for all who came and for all who donated towards the well!! Through your gift many people will be blessed with water for their basic, but most importantly many people will taste Living water through a relationship with Christ because of this well.

A few people have mentioned they still want to donate. Once I get all donations I'll post the total ammount raised. If you want to donate you can still mail a donation to us (for Gospel for Asia). 1070 Wellington Dr, Watkinsville, GA 30677

Thanks again. God bless - JP & Kimberly

JP's Birthday Party!!! You are invited!!!

2010-03-25T20:21:00.009-04:00

Saturday - April 10^th , 12pm – 2pm
at Oconne Veteran’s Park
(pavilion by the tennis courts)
(If it rains, we’ll party on Sunday – April 11^th,
1 – 3pm )

We’ll grill out burgers and hot dogs
(+ some delicious deserts)
Bring a frisbee or tennis racquet to play!!!
Kimberly and I will provide the food and drinks.

I’m asking for a special gift this year!! J

Please RSVP to
jpbatista99@yahoo.com
& let me know how many are coming with you!

My Birthday Gift - The Jesus Well

You like water? Off course! But thousands of people in Asia do not have access to clean water!
Gospel for Asia has an amazing ministry that installs water wells next to churches and missionary bases, so that the missionaries can provide the natives drinking and Living water!

I want a Jesus Well in Asia for my birthday! It only costs $1000 to install a Jesus well. If you can please bring a donation to Gospel for Asia (tax deductible) for our Jesus Well.

Kimberly and I will collect all donations and send it to Gospel for Asia J. If you cannot make it to the party and you love JP or Jesus or water and you would like to contribute you can send your gift to us and we’ll forward it with all the other’s to Gospel for Asia (JP & Kimberly Batista, 1070 Wellington Dr, Watkinsville GA 30677). Thanks!

JP & Kimberly
~Love people, Love God.
RSVP to jpbatista99@yahoo.com

Noivado/ Engaged !!!

2009-04-26T22:22:00.003-04:00

Estamos noivos! Kimberly e eu estamos muito felizes e estamos planejando em nos casar dia 27 de junho de 2009, aqui em Athens na Georgia... será um casamento simples, mais mesmo pra família e os amigos mais próximos e é claro que se alguém quiser vir do Brasil está mais do que convidado : ) Orem por nós... valeu!

English

We are engaged! We are very excited and we are planning on getting married on june 27th of this year. Please pray for us... cheers!

Triathlon X-terra

2009-04-26T22:13:00.002-04:00

English

Just ran my first Triathlon (X-Terra in Fort Yargo, GA). Awesome experience, much harder than expected, so much fun!!! Highly recomend it!!! Half mile swim, 10.8 mile bike ride (on very hard/technical trail) and 4.5 mile run on the trails...took me 2:58h to finish. I took it easy to enjoy the race and the experience, and I am glad I did because I was dying at the end. Despite some cramps in the first half of the run, I finished strong and had a blast! Lenore Nix did it too and she also finished strong. She did awesome!

Português -

Wooohhhoouuuu!!! Ontem corri no Triatlon X-terra (extreme) e foi muito louco!!! Eu ia lá só pra dar uma força pra Lenore, irmã da Kimberly, mas ai eu pensei, bom já que vou até lá, vou levar a bike e o tenis só pra acompanhar a Lenore e dar uma força... ora se eu for levar todo o equipamento melhor então participar de verdade e correr pra valer. Então na sexta a noite eu peguei a bicleta da filha do meu chefe (Mike) emprestada e fui correr o Triatlon no sábado de manhã! Detalhe, depois de 7.5 horas na quadra, além de organizar as (800) cadeiras na igreja na sexta (só dormi umas 5 horas...).
Mas lá na hora a adrenalina dá aquele gas e foi muito massa! 800 metros nadando no lago, 17.28 Km de mountain bike (numa trilha super difícil), e 7.2 Km de corrida (em trilhas também). No total terminei a prova em 2h e 58 min. Fui bem tranquilo pra curtir a experiencia e também porque eu tava esgotado da sexta-feira puxada. Ainda bem que eu peguei leve... a natação foi moleza, mas a parte da bicicleta foi muito difícil, tive que descer/pular/cair da bicicleta várias vezes pra atravessar obstáculos e súbidas impossíveis (p/ amadores como eu). A corrida pegou geral, nos primeiros 4 kilometros caimbra nas duas pernas! Mas na segunda metade da corrida (depois de muita oração e louvor) a caimbra deu uma melhorado e achei meu rítimo (ainda assim corri bem abaixo do normal). Até que eu cheguei bem, com uma corridinha forte, mas estava muito cansado. Foi muito mais difícil do que eu esperava, mas foi muito legal! Curti de mais! Adorei! Quero fazer outro : ) Muito 10 completar uma prova tão difícil.
A Lenore completou a corrida também. Ela estava super empolgada : ) Depois da corrida descobrimos que a trilha da bike é a segunda trilha mais difícil no estado da Georgia! Tá doido! O próximo eu quero pedalar no asfalto, hehehehe. Mas a trilha foi muito doida e me diverti muito! Só queria que fosse mais curta ; )

Depois da corrida pulei no lago gelado pra dar uma relazada nos músculos, ai que alívio... depois um sanduba de almondegas e muito gatorade : ) Dai passei o resto do dia descando. Pernas muito cansadas e o corpo muito quente do sol e da corrida. Tive que tomar outro banho frio pra refrescar e baixar a temperatura. Experiência nota 10!!

Viagem à Uganda

2008-08-22T16:27:00.008-04:00

Alegria! Já estou de volta da Uganda! Eu tive uma temporada incrível com minha equipe do Teen Missions (agência missionária) e Deus nos usou em grandes maneiras para o Seu reino durante nosso tempo na África. Peguei uma equipe sensacional de 15 adolescentes (11 meninos e 4 meninas) e 3 líderes (eu e mais duas mulheres). Nossa equipe se reuniu primeiro na Flórida por duas semanas para um treinamento intensivo que nos preparou para vida/trabalho na África. De lá fomos para Jinja, Uganda onde ficamos na base da Teen Missions (3 semanas) e construímos uma casa para o diretor da base. Foi um projeto muito grande e estou orgulhoso da nossa equipe pelo esforço e dedicação ao trabalho duro. Construímos quase toda a casa, só ficou faltando o telhado porque não tivemos tempo suficiente. Além da construção da casa nós fizemos evangelismo em várias escolas em Jinja usando basquete e esportes como ferramentas. Nós jogamos e ensinamos as crianças a jogar basquete e depois que havíamos formado uma certa amizade com o grupo, nós compartilhávamos o evangelho com eles através de música e teatro. Muitas crianças (mais de 100) aceitaram Jesus como salvador e muitas outras foram encorajadas, e vieram com pedidos de oração e perguntas sobre a Bíblia, etc. Foi incrível orar com as crianças e jovens e ver a alegria deles em ter um relacionamento com Deus.

Depois da Uganda fomos para Etiópia onde tivemos mais um período de treinamento, dessa vez para nos preparar para voltar aos States. Foi um período bem legal e tivemos tempo de contar as histórias, fazer umas comprinhas e louvar a Deus por tudo que Ele fez através de nós durante nossa viagem. De lá voltamos para os Estados Unidos e agora estou de volta em Athens na casa de um amigo.
Essa viagem à África foi muito rica, e foi uma excelente oportunidade para eu trabalhar e aprender mais sobre responsabilidade, liderança e criatividade. Louvo a Deus por tudo que Ele fez através da nossa equipe e apesar de todas as dificuldades e desafios que passamos, eu toparia fazer tudo isso de novo para honra e glória de Deus. Não tem nada melhor nesse mundo do que seguir os planos de Deus!

No momento eu não sei até quando eu fico nos States... tem muita coisa pra resolver aqui com a namorada (Kimberly) e com o chefe no trabalho, então eu não sei o que vai acontecer.
Muito obrigado por toda força e suporte, e pelas orações!! Eu não conseguiria ter feito tudo isso sem a ajuda e o suporte de vocês! Valeu, muito obrigado!!! Abraços,

João Paulo.

Trip to Uganda

2008-08-22T16:00:00.006-04:00

Hello friends! I am back from Uganda! I had an amazing summer with my Teen Missions team and God used us in wonderful ways for His Kingdom this summer! We had an outstanding team of 15 teenagers (11 boys and 4 girls) and 3 leaders (2 ladies and I). Our team first met in Florida for two weeks of training (boot camp) and from there we went to Jinja, Uganda for 3 weeks where we built a house in the Teen Missions base for the base director. This was a big project, and our team did a great job and we finished the entire floor and practically all walls. If we had a little more time we could’ve finished the roof. I am very proud of our team’s effort and accomplishment at the work site. We also visited many schools around Jinja doing basketball clinics and evangelism. We would teach and play basketball with the kids, and once we connected with them and became friends we would sing songs and present drama skits and share the gospel with them. Many kids (over 100) accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, and many others were encouraged and asked questions about the Bible, prayer requests, etc. It was great to be there and see their joy in starting a relationship with God. Extremely exciting and rewarding J.

Once our time was up in Uganda we went to Addis Ababba (Ethiopia), where we met with another Teen Missions team (Malawi) for debrief. This was a time to train for the reverse cultural shock of coming back to America and to share stories and praise God for the great things He did through us. Our debrief lasted one week and on Monday (08/11/08) at 1:30am (after 37 hours of travel) I arrived in Atlanta. Overall for me this summer was an amazing opportunity to practice (and learn) leadership, responsibility and creativity. I thank God for this opportunity and for the lessons I’ve learned, and despite all the tough times and conditions I would do it all over again in a heartbeat! There is nothing greater in this world than to follow God’s plan J.

As of now I am not sure how long I’ll be in Athens, GA. There are a few things up in the air, but once I sort it out I’ll let you know… : )
Thank you all for your prayers and support (financially, emotionally and spiritually)!!! I could’ve not done it without! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!!

Uganda trip in detail

2008-08-22T15:55:00.001-04:00

Uganda 2008 – Teen Missions – Team #11

I just had an amazing summer in Uganda, full of challenges and blessings! I went to Uganda with a Teen Missions team full of brave and talented young guys and girls, and we did a beautiful work while we were there. Teen Missions is an international and interdenominational Christian missionary organization that sends thousands of young missionaries all over the world every year. This summer I was one of the leaders of the team that went to Uganda, along with Christa Paap (co-leader) and Camille Headlock (head-leader/ Teen Missions staff in Uganda). The three of us lead a team of 15 teenagers to Jinga, Uganda, where we built a house for missionaries in the Teen Missions base and we went to different schools and orphanages to do basketball camps and share the gospel with kids. We had an outstanding team with kids from all over the U.S. and Canada and their names are: Tyler Renew, Andrew Nelson, Alex Carver, Kristy Kerr, Michael Boone, Jenni Chrock, Andy Brak, Jonathan Davis, Zach Anderson, Jonathan Day, James Jakosa, Scott Dykstra, Jasmine Parros, Aubre Lindsey, Evan Lindsey.

Our team first met in Merrit Island at the Teen Missions’ headquarters for Boot Camp – a very intense training phase. Boot Camp was tough and it really broke each of us individually and at the same time brought us all together and built us up like a team. Boot camp was intended to prepare us for the mission field so we would not experience a big cultural shock once we arrived in Uganda, so we slept in tents far into the woods and away from electricity and running water. We had a very structured schedule that started with an early 5:30am wake up call (by the leaders), 5 minutes to get ready and out of the tents and a long walk out of the woods back to the boot camp facilities. At 6:00am we would ran the obstacle course (OC) which was a lot of fun for my team and at the same time very muddy and wet and challenging. The OC was definitely one of the highlights of the day for my team, and almost every day we finished the OC in first place! Since the Uganda team was designed to be a “sports evangelistic team” we ended up with a very athletic team, which gave us a huge advantage.

After the OC we ate breakfast and for the rest of the day we had many different classes that trained us for the summer ahead. We had classes that talked about the Bible, character, evangelism, cultural differences, etc… and we also had many practical/ hands on lessons such as carpentry, block laying, drama, puppets, music and others. There were no breaks between classes, which made it very challenging for us to go from one place to another and get there on time (it’s a very large property), but this was good to teach us punctuality and prepared us to have long and productive days. It also prepared us for the “lifestyle” the we were about to experience in Uganda with no running water, limited electricity, bucket baths and bucket laundry J.

After surviving two weeks of boot camp we were finally off to Uganda. We were extremely excited to leave boot camp and head to Africa! We flew from Orlando, FL to Washington, then to Addis Ababba (Ethiopia), and finally to Entebe (Uganda). However we were stuck in Addis Ababba for two days because of flights cancelled and mechanical problems with the airplane… but eventually we made it to Entebe and from there we embarked on a very bumpy and fun truck ride to Jinja, where we stayed at the Teen Missions base. The base was very nice and well taken care off – beautiful property. We stayed in tents and we shared the bathrooms (squatty potties) and shower stalls with the students/missionaries that lived and worked in the base. Everything was very simple, but well organized, and we were very content with our living arrangements.

Our main job while in Jinja was to build a house in the Teen Missions property for the base director (Peter). This was a very large house and it took a LOT of hard work and time, and I am so proud of our team for the effort and energy they put into this job. We were able to finish all of floor (which was by far the hardest part), and we built almost all of the walls in the house. The only thing missing was the roof, but we ran out of time and money… I think if we had two more weeks we could’ve finished the whole thing. It was a great accomplishment and a huge blessing to get so much done. Peter and his family have been praying and waiting for this house for 10 years! So it was very exciting to see the project finally take off and see the walls go up. The students and staff that are now in the base will finish the roof and do the finishing touches around the house.

Another part of our ministry while we were in Uganda was basketball evangelism. We went to several schools to play and teach the kids how to play basketball (we also used frisbees and volleyball, but basketball was our main tool), and by doing that we created friendships and we really connected with those kids. Many times in the middle of our basketball practice we would stop for a minute and use basketball as an illustration for some biblical principle and that way it was easy for the kids to understand the message. At the end of each practice our group would do a presentation which usually consisted of two songs, a drama/ skit, and then a testimony or alter call. These presentations were very powerful and many kids (over 100) came forward and accepted Jesus Christ as their savior. Some kids came forward and converted from Islam to Christianity, some kids came to us and asked for prayer requests, they asked questions about the Bible and how to grow in their faith, they asked for advice on how to deal with different religions, temptations, and other life issues. It was amazing to see God and the Holy Spirit work in their lives, and to be part of their joy as they developed a relationship with God. These evangelism trips to the different schools were certainly the most exciting and rewarding experiences of our summer! On Sundays we would always go to different churches (sometimes 2 or 3 churches/services in one day) to do presentations and share testimonies to encourage the local congregations. This was also a lot of fun and very rewarding. Church in Africa is so different! They are extremely alive and excited, and they love to worship J.

We worked on the house and did evangelism around Jinja for 3 weeks and on our last days there we went shopping for a day in the open market and local souvenir shops and we also got to see the source of the Nile River. We went on a boat ride around Victoria Lake and got to see where the Nile River starts.

After all that we left Uganda (wishing we could stay longer) and went back to Addis Ababba (Ethiopia) for Debrief - a training time that would helps to adjust back to our lifestyle in America. This was a good time and it helped us with the reverse cultural shock of coming back to the Western World. We stayed at the King’s Hotel and experienced outstanding service. The Malawi team joined us for debrief and we were all very excited to have electricity, hot showers and toilets again! We had many classes on how to bring back home our experiences and deal with the cultural shocks, in addition to lots of fun times playing games, and sharing stories, and shopping in the HUGE open market in Addis.
Debrief lasted one week and from there we returned to back to the States, and in Washington with smiles and tears we said good-bye to our leaders and teammates as each of us embarked on different planes to go their respective homes.

It was an amazing summer and I was extremely blessed to have such an outstanding team and great leaders next to me all summer. Praise be to God for all the deliverance of injuries and accidents that we experience, and praise God for all the lives that were touched in so many ways in Uganda and Ethiopia through our team. For me it was an amazing opportunity to practice (and learn) leadership, responsibility and creativity. I thank God for this opportunity and for the lessons I’ve learned, and despite all the tough times and conditions I would do it all over again in heart beat! There is nothing greater in this world than to follow God’s plan J.

Athletes in Action camps done... Uganda next

2008-06-14T00:23:00.003-04:00

Wooohhhhooouuu!!!! I just finished working the Athletes in Actions camps and it was amazing!!! The last twenty days were VERY intense! We had almost 200 college athletes in our camps, LOTS of competition, LOTS of running and a LOT of grinding! It was awesome! At these camps the athletes learn how to apply biblical principles into their sport and competition. We worked a lot on motivation, attitude, overcoming trials, etc. By the end of the camp we end up playing harder than anyone else, because we had the BEST motivation, and we knew why and to whom we were playing for. It was very physical, very tough, very real. Unbelievable two weeks!! All the running and training in the spring paid off big time : )

Now I am at my sister’s house in Colorado, but on Sunday I’ll be going to Florida to meet my team and do the boot camp (training) to go to Uganda. I’ll be in Florida for 2 weeks, then in Uganda for 4 or 5 weeks, then Ethiopia for a few days, and finally back in the States on August 9^th.

Please pray for my team! Pray for team unity, good attitude through the tough circumstances, and perseverance. Pray for opportunities to share our love and faith. Also pray for deliverance of accidents and diseases (we’ll be doing construction work and basketball camps).

Starting on Sunday I won’t have access to my phone or internet until August 10^th!! But you can write me a letter! And I’ll write you back… : ) below are the addresses …

Thank you so much for your support thus far! For more news during my trip see www.teenmissions.org (team Uganda) . Remember to pray for me and the team!

Thanks!

Atletas em Ação- show de bola

2008-06-13T20:07:00.005-04:00

Alegria!! Estou na casa da Luisa no Colorado e por aqui tudo nota 10! Nos últimos 20 dias eu estive trabalhando com o ministério “Atheltes in Action” (parecido com Atletas de Cristo) aqui no Colorado e foi sensacional. Foram dois acampamentos com quase 200 atletas universitários (de alto nível) no total. Nesse acampamento os atletas aprendem a usar princípios bíblicos na area de esportes. Trabalhamos muito na área de motivação, disciplina, perseverança, etc… Tivemos MUITAS competições, MUITAS corridas, e muita ralação, e no final quando já não podiamos mais correr Deus nos carregou! Foi de mais!!

Domingo estou me despedindo da Luisa e Preston para ir para Florida fazer meu treinamento (duas semanas) e encontrar com minha equipe para ir à Uganda! Estaremos lá por 4 ou 5 semanas, depois passamos mais uns dias na Etiópia e volto para os Sates no dia 9 de Agosto.

Por favor orem pela minha equipe. Por união, por disposição e determinação de encarar as condições difíceis do treinamento e da viagem. Também orem por livramento de acidentes e doenças. Estaremos trabalhando com construção e com esportes (basquete).

A partir de domingo não terei acesso a internete ou telefone até dia 10 de agosto! Mas você pode me escrever cartas! Escreve pra mim que eu te respondo! Endereços abaixo… Fico por aqui… Para mais updates durante minha viagem vejam o site www.teenmissions.org (ver Team Uganda).

orem por mim.

Saudades,

JP’s Brithday Party & Africa 2008

2008-04-04T23:46:00.003-04:00

Grill out at Anne McCullough’s house (1101 Fairway Cour,t in
Jennings Mill) to celebrate JP’s birthday!!

Saturday, April 12th - From 11:30 to 3:00pm.

All are welcome to come!!! We’ll have loads of food and fun J. If you are in the Athens, GA area please come.

RSVP to jpbatista99@yahoo.com or
706-410-3069. Bring a chair if you would like. Thanks!

JP Goes Africa Summer 2008

JP is going to Africa this summer with Teen Missions leading a group of 25 teenagers into Uganda, where they’ll run basketball and sports camps for orphans in the local area. Most importantly, JP and this team will be bringing hope and the love of Christ to these kids in Uganda. This trip will make a huge impact in the lives of the American kids going with JP and it will be a great encouragement for the kids in Uganda too!!!

- JP needs to raise about $3500 for this summer project.
- Feel free to bring a donation (rather than a gift) to help JP in this awesome project.
- You can be a part of this project by making a tax deductable donation of $50 or $100 or however much you would like, to Teen Missions.
- Donations accepted on birthday party or at the tennis pro-shop the following week J. If you prefer you can mail a donation to JP at
170 Habersham Dr. Athens, GA – 30606.

- Thank you so much for your support and your friendship these past two years!! I am going to miss my friends from Athens soooooo much!!!
- And if you or your kids want to come with Uganda on this team just talk to JP!!!

Catch the train...

2008-03-24T11:17:00.002-04:00

catch the train in Fort Collins.... JP, Luiz and Preston.

Colorado 2008 Easter

2008-03-22T14:43:00.008-04:00

Luiz, Andrea, Luisa and I just had a awsome weekend on the slopes in Colorado. Luiz, Luisa and I went snowboarding and Andrea skiing. We had some really good jumps on the ramps and rails, and some big crashes on the half-pipe. More pics soon on the links on the right...

We'll be here for Easter Sunday and then I return to Georgia on Monday.

JP snowboarding^

Estou no Colorado com a Luisa, Luiz e Andrea!!! Acabamos de chegar das montanhas onde passamos 3 dias andando de snowboard. Foi muito massa!!! Altos jumps e quedas nas rampas e half-pipes!! Agora estamos nas casa da Luisa. Vamos passar a páscoa por aqui : )

Luiz 3 jumps^

JP jump and crash^

Fotos e videos de Jampa...

2007-12-21T14:42:00.000-04:00

João Pessoa 2007 - show de bola!!!

2007-12-20T12:04:00.000-04:00

Amigos queridos, sol, praia e muito amor... combinação perfeita para as melhores férias dos últimos anos!!! Meu tempo em João Pessoa foi bom de mais!!!! Muito bom mesmo!! Curti muito as praias e o melhor de tudo, curti muito os meus queridíssimos amigos da minha ETED!
Primeiro cheguei e fiquei na casa de Neguim que foi show de bola!! Muito legal a casa dele e toda sua família... fui muito bem recebido : )
Depois fui pra casa da super/ hiper/ maravilhosa tia Kátia ; ) que é a mãe de Gabi (foto). Lá também foi muito bom... comi muita comida gostosa, conheci toda a família dela que é muito gente boa também e gostei muito de estar lá com eles.
Eu, Gabi, Cristiano e Luiza estávamos sempre juntos e aprontamos todas nessa semana abençoada de dezembro. Fomos a várias praias, passeamos de barco, andamos de Jet-ski, pôr-do-sol no Jacaré (com música ao vivo), nascer do sol no forte (depois de virar a noite numa festa muito doida), frescobol, frisbee, futebol e muito mais... : ) A gente se deu muito bem, eles são muito jóias!
Além disso quase toda noite nós quatro encontrávamos com o resto da galera pra ver filme, comer tapioca na feirinha, festas, lual (sem lua nem música)... foi muito legal! Em um desses nossos encontros fizemos uma super surpresa para o Cris e demos um Laptop novo pra ele!!! Foi muito massa!!! Ele ficou super feliz : ) Quase todo mundo da minha ETED estava lá... fora a galera da igreja de lá (MIRR) e outros Jocumeros que trouxeram ainda mais alegria!
Foi uma semana perfeita... muito obrigado DEUS!!!! ..

E obrigado a toda a galera de Jampa que me recebeu tão bem e me fez tão feliz!! Já estou com saudades... ano que vem eu volto ein!!! Hehehehe

English-

I Just spent a week in João Pessoa in the northeast coast of Brazil and it was the best vacation ever!!! This is the most eastern point in Brazil, so it gets lots of sun and the beaches are awesome!!! This was a reunion of my DTS class, so it was great to see all of my YWAM friends again. I just love that part of Brazil and these people are so special and so close to me… it was amazing. We did tons of fun stuff… lots of swimming and catching waves, jet-ski, paddleball, ultimate Frisbee on the beach, UNBELIEVABLE sunsets (with live music) and sunrise (after an amazing all nighter playing soccer and swimming), great food, lots of fellowship, and we gave away a new laptop to our former DTS leader (Cristiano) – he was extremely happy! It was a magical week!! Hopefully I´ll do this again next year… ; )

ECO 2007 - Rio - jocum/ywam

2007-12-20T09:04:00.001-04:00

Passei uma semana na base da Jocum no Rio dando aulas de esporte e orientação cultural na escola da ECO (English & Cultural Orientation) e pelas fotos vocês podem ver que foi muito louco e muito MUITO bom!!!! Foi uma experiência muito rica para mim. Eu já conhecia a Luciana (diretora da escola - que me convidou) e foi muito bom revê-la e reencontrar com outros amigos jocumeros da base do Rio. Essa turma da ECO é muito legal... eles entraram de cabeça em todas as atividades de esportes, participaram em tudo e até deram aulas de esporte em inglês no último dia!! Eles se sairam muito bem e foi um prazer trabalhar com eles. Que previlégio ensinar e investir na vida de missionários que vão para vários lugares do mundo legar as boas novas!! Muito obrigado Luciana e Jocum-Rio pela oportunidade! Valeu mesmo!
Mais fotos nos links a direita...

English
I just spent a week at the YWAM base in Rio de Janeiro teaching at their English and Cultural Orientation (ECO) school. It was a great week and a very positive experience!!! This school is awsome, the students here are missionaries who are learning English to go to different places in the world to spread the gospel. It was very exciting to work with them because I know that the things they learn here will go with them wherever they go. Wow!!! What a priviledge and honor to work with a group like that!

So I spent the whole week teaching them about sports (popular in the U.S.) and how we can use sports for evangelism and worship. We learned many new "American games" together, and we had a blast playing together! The whole class really came together and it was a blessed week. Loved it!!!
More pics on the links on the right...

Xtreme musical chairs video below... very funny!

JP in Brazil!!!

2007-11-28T13:36:00.000-04:00

I am in Brazil!!! I had a good and relatively fast trip home. This trip took me 18hours (better than the usual 25hour trip). Just before coming home I had a wonderful thanksgiving with Miriam and Bob - in the picture-(good friends from home/YWAM). Sooooo good to see them!

The flight was not as good as usual (no movie!) but it was quick and worth it! Only one of my bags arrived with me though... the other one got lost in Miami, but it arrived today in the morning (24h latter), so it´s all good.

When I arrived a few cousins, aunts and uncles were waiting for me at my house for breakfast... it was a nice surpise : ) Now it´s time to go visit the rest of the family and in a week I go to Rio to teach at YWAM. Thank you for your prayers.

Right now it´s 80 degrees, the low tonight will be 64. Humm I think I am going for a run .... JP

Luciana em Atenas

2007-09-16T23:24:00.000-04:00

Olha ai eu e a Luciana no jogo de futebol americano aqui em Atenas!!! 92000 pessoas dentro do estádio e mais umas 5000 do lado de fora!! Loucura total! Futebol americano aqui é uma febre!

A Luciana (minha amiga da Jocum-Rio) veio pros States fazer um curso para professores de inglês no estado da Pensilvânia, mas como Atlanta era no caminho ela resolveu passar um fim de semana aqui comigo : )

Então na sexta eu peguei a Lu no aeroporto de Atlanta e viemos pra Atenas (onde eu moro) e tivemos um fim de semana bem relax e divertido. Sábado fomos ao jogo de futebol americano da universidade e foi bem divertido... O jogo é meio complicado, mas acho que ela entendeu mais ou menos o que tava acontecendo. Foi uma experiência bem "americana" ehehahah ahahah : )

Mas o mais legal mesmo aconteceu na sexta-feira quando a Luciana ganhou um super laptop!!! Foi muito legal... eu e uns amigos meus soubemos que a Lu estava vindo e então levantamos um sustento aqui e consiguimos o suficiente pra comprar um laptop ferá pra ela. Eu sabia que ela já estava orando a um tempo por um laptop e aqui os computadores são bem mais baratos, principalmente nas promoções. Então na sexta eu levei ela pra loja e escolhemos juntos o computador dela... foi tudo surpresa (até chegarmos na loja)! Ela nem sabia o que dizer... foi de mais! Fiquei muito feliz de ver meus amigos investirem numa missionária brasileira (ainda mais a Luciana que é ferá né... ). Bom agora a Luciana está super equipada pra dirigir a ECO (English Cultural Orientation) no Rio...

Ela fica na Pensilvânia até 9 de outubro, dai ela passa mais um dia aqui em Atlanta (e vamos nos encontrar no aeroporto) e depois volta pro Rio pra trabalhar na ECO.

Eu estou bem. Super ocupado com meu trabalho, dando MUITAS aulas de tenis. Tá bem legal aqui agora... bem melhor do que em julho. Foi bom ver a Lu também. Me trouxe muitas memórias da minha equipe da ETED e da Jocum em geral : ) show de bola...

On the road... / Na estrada...

2007-08-19T16:24:00.000-04:00

Last weekend I had an unbelievable road trip! First I went to NC to visit Maggie, which was wonderful (we had a lot of fun in Ashville). Then I went to Emporia, VA to visit Dr Wray and that was great too (this was my main stop). But while in Virginia I got in touch with Nicole and found out that she was only 70 miles away... so I couldn't miss this chance to see her. So at 11pm I got out of bed and drove to Richmond to hang out with Nicole.

The next morning after breakfast I drove to Louisburg, NC to meet Dr Wray again for lunch and see the campus where he is working now. From there I drove to High Point to meet with Dr Ellenburg and some of my former professors. I spent the night there, and got to see the campus the next day (which has changed a LOT) and after lunch I finally drove back to Athens... it was a GREAT road trip, I got to see a lot of old friends and it was fun to catch up... : )
..................................................................................................................................................

Em portugues.

Nesse fim de semana viajei pra caramba aqui no sul dos States. Sai de Atenas na Georgia, fui para Ashville (na Carolina do Norte), depois para Emporia na Virginia, depois Richmond, depois Louisburg (de volta a Carolina do Norte), de la' fui pra High Point (onde fiz minha faculdade) e finalmente voltei para Atenas. Passei uma noite em cada cidade... foi bem legal rever os velhos amigos e colocar a conversa em dia. Agora estou de volta em Atenas trabalhando muito la' no clube : )

Luisa, Preston, JP & Colorado

2007-07-09T02:47:00.000-04:00

Acabei de passar uma semana com a Luisa e o Preston aqui no Colorado, comemorando o aniversário dela e a compra da casa nova!!! Eles compraram uma casa muito show de bola, e bem no dia do aniversário da Luisa eles assinaram os papéis e no dia seguinte fizemos a mudança. Eles estão muito feliz com a casa nova, e pra mim passar esses dias aqui com eles foi muito especial e relaxante. Desde que eu sai do Rio (Jocum) que eu não tinha um tempinho pra parar e descansar, então essa semana pra mim foi excelente!! : )
Segunda-feira estou voltando para Geórgia pra trabalhar no clube.

In English
I just spent a week with my sister and her husband in Colorado to celebrate her birthday and new house!! That's right, they bought a house, and it is a nice one! I really like it. They closed the deal on her birthday and the next day we moved in : ) This has been a special week for me. It was so good to spend some time with family and just take it easy... I've been on the GO since I left Brazil, and it was nice to chill for a second... On Monday night I'll be back in GA and on Tuesday I'll back into the routine (looking forward to it). I love Colorado... and I love being here with Luisa and Preston! Great times... : )

cheers - JP

JP ----> Athens, Georgia

2007-06-11T19:50:00.000-04:00

Ja' estou nos Estados Unidos e graças a Deus deu tudo certo em Brasília (na embaixada americana e aeroportos e etc...). Quando Deus abre as portas não tem jeito... tudo vai dando certo e no fim das contas eu cheguei no dia certo na hora certa. Glória a Deus!
Wow, então eu ja' começo a trabalhar amanhã... hj eu joguei um pouco de tênis e o negocio foi feio! Faz 6 meses que eu não pego na raquete... mas em uma semana eu já' devo estar bem melhor, a sim espero ne'!
Gostaria muito, MUITO de estar em Curitiba e rever o pessoal da ÉTER, mas devido ao vários milagres que Deus providenciou isso não será' possível : ( Mas estou super feliz so' em pensar que todos estarão ai reunidos outra vez, contando as historias e tal. Espero que vcs aproveitem muito tudo ai!
Estou morando sozinho em uma casa enorme de uns amigos meus que estão viajando. A casa e' incrível, bem afastada da cidade, tem tudo que vc imaginar menos internete... : ( mas tem uma biblioteca show de bola... ehehehehe. - JP

In English

I am finally back in the States!!! After one year of traveling and working with YWAM in Brazil I am back in Athens, GA working with tennis again. It's good to be back... I'll probably be here until December, and hopefully I'll spend most of that time on the tennis court ; )
I just arrived on Friday and I start working tomorrow! My tennis game is a bit rusty, since I haven't played any tennis in 2007, but it will come back quickly... I hope!
I am housing an amazing house! Perfect timing... I got here just as my friends (the Carters) were leaving town, so I get to stay at their house and take care of the dog and what not. I am very thankful and excited to be tehre : )
God is good and he is faithful! Can't believe that I am finally here... It's all good.

Cheers,
JP

em Brasilia... saindo pros States dia 8

2007-06-04T14:06:00.000-04:00

Estou em Brasília!!! Tem tanta coisa acontecendo que ta' difícil manter todos informados! Bom o meu visto de trabalho finalmente foi aprovado, então estou voltando para os EUA dia 7 de junho para trabalhar la' com tênis. Creio que fico por la' ate' o final do ano e depois não sei ainda o que vou fazer, mas estou pensando seriamente em trabalhar com a JOCUM de novo em 2008.

Esse meu tempo com a JOCUM em Curitiba foi muito muito bom!! Gostei muito da ETED (Escola de Treinamento e Discipulado) , aprendi de mais, cresci muito, fiz grandes amigos.... foi incrível! Nunca experimentei tanto de Deus em um período tão curto. O período pratico da escola também foi excelente! Pudemos plantar muitas sementes no estado do Rio de Janeiro e muitas pessoas foram alcançadas pelo amor de Cristo através do nosso trabalho. Foi muito 10!!
bom espero ver muitos de vcs que estão aqui em Brasília! Quinta, dia 8 estou de saida para os States...

Returning to Athens, GA this week

2007-06-04T14:03:00.000-04:00

There is sooooo much happening in my life these days that is hard to keep the blog updated : )
So the latest news is that my working visa was finally approved!! So I am going back to the U.S. to work (teaching tennis) at least until november/december of 2007 year. I am not 100% sure what I'll be doing in 2008, but I will probably be working with YWAM again (either in Brazil or Hawaii). I am looking at some of the schools they will be offering in 2008.
I had an amazing experience with YWAM doing my DTS in Brazil. We were able to reach a ton of people with the love of Christ and we planted many many seeds in Paraty, RJ. It was a priviledge to be part of this school. What a blessing!! I just finished the school, now I'll spend one week with my family in Brasilia and on the 8th I'll be in GA! A lot of miracles happened so that all of this worked out.... amazing stuff.
Oh, and UGA Men's tennis won the National Championship!! I am so happy for them! go dawgs!!!

Hope to see some of you soon!

Casa nova / New house

2007-05-19T12:39:00.000-04:00

Hoje estamos de folga, e dia de folga é dia de lan-house né?!!! hehehehahah. Tivemos uma semana bastante agitada. O Cris (nosso líder de ETED) veio nos visitar e ver como está indo nosso trabalho aqui e tivemos um tempo muito legal com ele aqui. Foi muito bom revê-lo e saber notícias das outras equipes : )
Segunda-feira fizemos um impacto (evangelismo de rua com teatro e pirofagia) no bairro da Mangueira, que é um bairro mais pobre aqui em Paraty. Nos apresentamos de noite, e ainda estava chovendo... mesmo assim a rua lotou e muita gente ouviu nossa mensagem. Foi bem legal. Só que no dia seguinte estávamos todos doentes (principalmente o Nego e a Lígia) mas finalmente depois de 3 dias de cama eles estão bem J.
Nos mudamos para uma casa no bairro da Mangueira pois o pastor Sanderley precisava hospedar mais 6 missionárias na casa dele (que vieram para um congresso). Então tivemos que sair da casa dele e agora estamos em um sobrado muito simples. Temos 2 sofas muito duros, 3 cadeiras, 1 televisão, 2 panelas, 1 geladeira que não funciona e um frizer que funciona. Só temos água corrente durante a noite e de manhã bem cedo e não temos água quente... mas estamos nos virando numa boa J. Cozinhar com duas panelas requer um certo planejamento ehehehahaha, mas não temos do que reclamar : )
Semana que vem vamos tentar fazer tudo que ainda não fizemos (que é muita coisa)!!! Então orem por nós! Valeu,
JP -ah! Essa semana nossa equipe saiu no jornal de Paraty! : )

In English
We are having a grand time here! Last week our DTS leader came to Paraty to check on us and see how our outreach is going thus far. He was please with our team and our work : ) It was great to see him again!
Last week we did “Impact” street evanglism in a poor neighborhood called Mangueira and we were able to share our message with a lot of people. We even made the newspaper this week! But on this particular night it was rainning and we did drama, and spit fire and all on the rain, and on the next day we were all a bit sick. Our leader and another girl got really sick, but after 3 days of bed and rest they are good to go.
We just moved into a different house because we had to make room for a group of 6 ladies that are comming to Paraty for a congress (and they were suppose to stay at the pastor’s house where we were staying). So moved to this house in the poor neighborhoood of Mangueira. We have no furniture (just two love-seats with no cushion, 3 chairs and 6 mattress), two pots to cook, a freezer and a fridge (the fridge does not work) and no running water during the day (just at night) and no hot water. Cooking is a little tricky (you have to plan ahead how to use the pots.. heheheh) but we are enjoying our new “home”, plus it is good to be closer to the people we are evangelizing ; )
Next week we have a very busy schedule!!! Please PLEASE PRAY FOR US, so we can do ALL that we are planning. We are running out of time here and we want to do
much more here. So pray for us! Thanks! Also, I am making plans to go to GA this summer, so please pray for that too. I need a miracle to schedule my interview with the embassy on June 4th. It’s a very long line... so it’s hard to schedule something for June. Thank you for your prayers.

Cheers – JP

Dia de folga/ Day off

2007-05-13T14:34:00.000-04:00

Wow, essa vida de missionário não é facil não viu.... óh céus! O que eu não faço pelo evangelho! Veja bem os lugares que tenho que passar e o que tenho que sofrer no campo!!! hehehahaheheeheheheh

Essas fotos ai são do nosso dia de folga que fomos para Trindade (que fica pertinho de Paraty). Muito linda essa praia! Estava praticamente deserta... eramos só nossa equipe e um cachorro muito doido que apareceu por lá. Foi show de bola... passamos o dia lá, levamos uns sanduiches e fandangos, pegamos muitas ondas, fizemos caminhada e nadamos e uma piscina natural incrível!!! Muito bonito mesmo esse lugar.
Agora já estamo de volta na correria da semana, fazendo evangelismo de rua a noite e trabalho com as crianças de tarde. Até aqui tem sido muito bom nosso prático!

Ah, o meu visto de trabalho para os Estados Unidos saiu essa semana... positivo!!! Wooohhhooouuu... faz mais de um ano que estou esperando essa resposta. Acho que por agora eu vou tentar só dar um pulo lá e voltar pro Brasil : )Aquele abraço – JP

In English...
Wow, the mission is tough!!! Just look at the places that I have to go to... Oh, goodness!!! hehehahahe. These pics are from a beach here in Paraty called Trindade and we went there our day off. We had an amazing day. We had the whole beach just for ourselves... it was great : )

Don’t worry, we are still doing lots of street evangelism during the week and work with the kids in the afternoons... Our outreach is going great thus far. Keep praying for us. This saturday we’ll be doing our big show downtown!

JP stays in Brazil +...

2007-05-03T11:25:00.000-04:00

Things are great here in Brazil. Right now I am working with YWAM in Paraty (in the state of Rio de Janeiro). We’ll be doing urban missions here for about 50 days, working more specifically with four values that we’ll try to pass on to the church and the population here (Responsability, Integration, Initiative and diversity) and through these values we’ll share the love of Christ. My team and I are very excited about our mission here. Our first week has been a blessing already ; )
Last week I received an assistantship to do an EdD at UGA, but I turned down the offer in order to stay in Brazil and continue to work with missions and YWAM. This was a very , VERY hard decision!! But after much thinking and praying and seeking God’s voice I am certain that this is where I am suppose to be right now. I wish I could’ve done both... so I could be in GA and see my dear friends and at the same time continue to do the work we do here. Although I am sad to not be able to back at GA, I am very happy to stay here and continue to work w/ missions in Brazil.

It was very hard to turn down the assistantship offer, because it is a great opportunity and it would be great to be back in Athens, close to all of my friends. I prayed a LOT, and I was really seeking God and in the end He confirmed that he was calling me to stay in Brazil and work with missions. At first I am not exactly sure what I´ll be doing, but my desire is to work with sports ministries. I would also like to take another course in YWAM in the near future.

If I get the working visa I’ll try to work in GA this summer, but I have no idea if that would be possible....
Either way I would like to return to the US to take care of my car and other little things I have there. I don´t know if I´ll be able that, nor how long I would stay if I go to GA. For now I have to focus on Paraty and the work and training we´ll be doing here along with the local church.

JP fica no Brasil e mais....

2007-05-03T11:13:00.000-04:00

Ja´ estou em Paraty, onde vou passar os próximos 50 dias, fazendo um pouco de evangelismo de rua, dando treinamento para as igrejas locais e principalmente trabalhando nas áreas de influência da cidade, como educação, lazer, mídia, etc... tentando passar 4 valores para a comunidade (integração, iniciativa, responsabilidade e diversidade) e atravez disso evangelizar. Por enquanto isso é o que sei e esse é o plano. Até aqui nos fomos muito bem recebidos! Passamos 3 dias na base do Rio, 3 dias em Angra dos Reis e hoje chegamos aqui em Paraty - por onde passamos fomos muito bem tratados... esse negócio de ser missionário é maior barato. Agora estamos todos na casa de um pastor... ele tem 5 filhos, dois cachorros e agora nossa equip de 6 Jocumeros. Semana que vem chegam mais 4 missionários!!! Quero só ver como vai ser... mas até agora tem sido legal....

Bom recebi uma bolsa para fazer um doutorado lá na Georgia mas resolvi não aceitar e ficar aqui no Brasil por mais um tempo trabalhando com a Jocum... Foi uma decisão muito difícil, mas eu orei muito e busquei a Deus e estou confiante que era isso mesmo que Deus tem planejado para mim. Estou apaixonado pelo trabalho que fazemos, transformando vidas não só no lado espiritual, mas em todos os aspectos desse mundo também. Pretendo trabalhar e fazer mais uns cursos na Jocum, mas esses planos estão incertos no momento... preciso ver datas das escolas e locais onde poderia trabalhar também. A principio quero trabalhar com ministérios de esporte.

Se der, eu vou aos EUA vender meu carro e resolver umas coisinhas por lá. Continue orando pelo meu visto que até hj não saiu... Mas a advogada falou que pode sair algo nos próximos dias. orem pelo nosso trabalho aqui e pela nossa equipe.
..................................................................
Ontem fizemos ´´sombra´´ na rua e foi bem divertido. também fizemos uns malabares, brincamos com as crianças... foi só pra gente mostrar a cara para a cidade mesmo. Foi bem legal nosso primeiro contato ´´publico oficial´´. Estamos treinando os jovens da igreja também. hj é nossa ultima sessão de treinamento.
A igreja que está nos hospedando e que estamos treinando é bem pentecostal e com muitos jovens... é muito legal. Nós visitamos muitas igrejas, dando treinamentos, palavras, testemunhos... então estou conhecendo várias denominações, e é muito divertido e muito engraçado as vezes. A gente vê cada coisa! Muito engraçado! To gostando muito desse lado. Estamos sendo muito usado em todos os lugares que passamos.
Domingo passado mesmo eu mais uma Jocumera fomos a uma igreja Batista renovada e durante a escola dominical o pastor descobriu que eu e ela éramos da Jocum e que estávamos dando um treinamento na cidade etc, e pediu que nós fossemos lá na frente dar o recado sobre o treinamento para toda a igreja, p/ que eles participassem do próximo treinamento que daríamos na semana seguinte. O pastor nos chamou lá na frente e a minha amiga se empolgou e em vez de dar só o recado ele começou a falar da Bíblia e de missões, depois o pastor me fez um monte de perguntas e eu dei um testemunho lá, e depois minha amiga (Arandi) pegou o microfone de novo e ai ela já pregou a mensagem de vez e no fim das contas o pastor pediu pra ela fazer a oração final e acabou que nós fizemos o culto todinho!!! Foi muito engraçado, muito show... foi uma coisa que foi se desenrolando bem naturalmente, bem do Espírito Santo mesmo. Foi benção!!! Vários jovens vieram até nós depois para se inscrever no treinamento da semana seguinte.

Bom essas e mais histórias creio que ainda irão acontecer mais vezes : )

NIKO

2007-04-16T15:27:00.000-04:00

We just returned from a 4 day camping trip and it was amazing! This
"program" is called NIKO, which mean winner in Greek. There a few things that are secret and we cannot tell to everybody (for the sake of those who will participate in it in the future)... but it was a major adventure in the jungle! No showers, no toothpaste, no cookies, only allowed 3 sets of clothes and that's is! We had to be very smart with the food we had, we had to make our own camps, sleep in some rough conditions and a complete a lot of tasks/assignments during the day. Wow, I loved it. The trails and the jungle were awsome. We worked a lot on team work and leadership... I certalinly learned a lot and was able to hear God's voice in different ways. It was unique experience... very challenging and certainly worth it.

EM PORTUGUES - Acabamos de voltar da nossa expedicao do NIKO - 4 dias na mata e muita aventura!! NIKO em grego quer dizer vencedor, e esse foi nosso penultimo treinamento na ETED antes de sairmos para o pratico. La' fizemos muitos trabalhos em equipe e dinamicas de lideranca. Foi um tempo muito bom onde ouvimos a voz de Deus de maneiras diferentes...
Tinhamos que montar nosso proprio acampamento, racionar bem a comida, e cumprir muitas tarefas (mata a dentro) durante o dia. Foi muito show e muita aventura mesmo! Bem desafiador, mas com certeza valeu a pena!!

The work we do at YWAM - be part ot if!

2007-04-11T19:07:00.000-04:00

Dear Friends

This has been a very special time in my life, where God has called me to work at a YWAM (Youth With a Mission) base in the south of Brazil. The base is in Curitiba and it is the IWT (Impact World Tour) headquarters in Brazil. The work that we do here has brougth thousands of people to Christ and right now we have a very deligent and committed group working here.

One of the strategies of YWAM is to work with youth. Young men and women have their whole lives in front of them and as they seek direction they hear God’s voice and come to YWAM to give God their best, their youth. God is very pleased with these young men and women specially because of the tough choices they make, knowing that supernaturally God will use their lives to reach places never reached before and to face the reality of pain and suffering that only the love of God can cure.

Most of the young men that come and work in this ministry leave everything behind. Most of them quit their job (or are fresh out of school) and have no support from their families or had to go through some tough situations to get here. Being here we all work full time in the base and its evangelism ministries and almost all of us in the team need some sort of help from others.

In our DTS (Discipleship Trainning School) we are a team of 13 young men and women (from 3 different nations and from all over Brazil) and we have experienced a lot of joy serving God in the communities around us, on the weekend evanglisms’, and experiencing the presence of the Holy Spirit in the midst of us.

We are almost at the end of the “lecture phase” of our training. The cost of this training here is approximately US$400 per month (this includes lectures, housing, and meals for this first part of our training - 3 months). Next, each of us needs to buy our own airfare to the place where we’ll be doing our outreach – 2 months (where we’ll put into practice everything we learned during the lecture phase).

In this particular team that I am a part of, the financial situation of these young men is very hard, and they have very little or no money to pay for their training expenses before they start the second phase (outreach) of the school that goes from April 24th until June 11th.

God gave me the idea of writting this letter for the people that have a heart for missions and that would like to be a part of this team by helping us with US$100 that will help us go through this desert so we can reach our promissed land.

If you would like to help these young men and women of God to finish their school and accomplish their mission you can send an offer or a check payable to JP Batista with whatever valeu God puts in your heart to the following address:

JP Batista / Mike Carter
4023 Colham Ferry Road
Watkinsville, GA 30677
706 769-8620

Please let me know the ammounts that you’ve sent because these checks will be deposited in my bank account in the U.S. so I can withdraw that money here in Brazil with my debit card and pay for the school and some travel expenses of my colleagues. If you would like more information please contact me at jpbatista99@yahoo.com.

Thank you so much for your contribution and I pray that God will reward you and multiply blessings in your life. In Jesus name I thank you and I bless you,

JP Batista.

Meu trabalho na JOCUM

2007-04-11T18:56:00.000-04:00

Bom o que eu realmente faço aqui é um escola de discipulado. É um treinamento/aprendizado bem profundo de como realmente, de verdade conhecer a Deus. É muuuuuuuito legal esse aprendizado pq a medida que eu vou conhecendo mais a Deus, consequentemente eu acabo me conhecendo melhor também! É como conhecer o arquiteto que fez sua casa. A medida que vc conhece o arquiteto vc vai entendendo. melhor pq a casa foi feita daquele jeito e pra que serve cada quarto e cada móvel na casa.

Bom nossa equipe/turma é formada de 13 alunos e 8 obreiros/auxiliadores (que acompanham os alunos de perto, aconselham, e ajudam os alunos a lidarem com os temas mais difíceis p/ cada indivíduo). Temos aulas pelas manhãs e cada semana temos um professor diferente (que vem de várias partes do mundo inteiro) que é especialista em determinado assunto. Alguns dos temas já estudados foram Cosmovisão, Obediência, Graça, Consiência limpa, Aceitação pessoal, reununcia e vários outros... O que eu mais gosto é que todos esses temas tem mesmo a ver com a nossa vida, eles são muito pessoais e são coisas que todas pessoas deviam saber. As coisas que estou aprendendo aqui tem muito mais relevância do que as que eu aprendi na minha faculdade pq elas lidam diretamente comigo e com minha vida e não com meu trabalho ou profissão.
Então pelas manhãs temos aulas e de tarde trabalhamos na base (no momento estamos preparando um campo de futebol, então estamos pegando na enchada todos os dias pra nivelar a terra e enchertar os buracos. Bem legal – eu gosto desse trabalho braçal).
E nos fins de semana nós colocamos em prática o que aprendemos... Muitas vezes vamos a igrejas explicamos para as pessoas a verdadeira liberdade que temos em Deus e o quanto Ele nos ama. As vezes fazemos apresentações de peças de teatro na rua que também falam do amor de Deus para com a humanidade, as vezes vamos à azilos ou hospitais e ficamos lá só escutando as histórias dos coroas (cada história mais engraçada que a outra hehehehe). E é isso que eu faço aqui. Esse nosso trabalho aqui tem um impacto muito forte na vida das pessoas. É incrivel de se ver o quanto uma pessoa muda quando ela recebe o amor de Deus! Nossa equipe nesses últimos dois meses já viu de tudo. Vimos pessoas que estavam prestes a se suicidar (literalmente naquele dia) que depois de conversar conosco e entender algumas coisas largaram a arma e se encherão de um amor que supria todas as suas necessidades. Coisas incríveis que não dá pra se explicar... só Deus mesmo.
Temos mais um 2 semanas de aulas (no total são 3 meses teóricos) aqui na nossa base em Curitiba e depois eu e mais 5 pessoas da minha equipe vamos p/ Parati, RJ trabalhar lá (2 meses) colocando em prática tudo que aprendemos aqui.
Orem por mim e a equipe que está indo para Parati!! Valeu, abraços, JP

1 month of YWAM / 1 mes de JOCUM

2007-03-13T19:07:00.000-04:00

Wow, I’ve been here in Curitiba studying at the YWAM base for one month and a half already!! I am really enjoying it and I am learning a LOT! We have a very busy schedule here with classes, drama practices, evangelism, community work, book projects and home work.

We usually work or study from Tuesday through Sunday and on Monday we have our day off (much needed)! We usually have breakfast at 7am, from 7:30am to 8:30am we meditate (quiet hour). From 8:30 to 9:30am we have either a worship or intercession time together (the whole base, which is about 50 people or so...) and then from 9:40 to 12:30 we have classes. From 12:30pm to 1:30pm we eat lunch and then we do maintenance work untill 3:30pm (this first month I worked outside doing construction work, tearing down fences, and moving heavy stuff around – I really liked it. This next month I’ll be working inside, cleaning the kitchen and stuff). From 4pm to 6pm we have either study hall or drama practice. At 6:30pm we eat dinner and at night we either have classes, drama practice, community work, evangelism or free time. Also on every Wednesday afternoon we have community work.

Last week we went to Paranagua to do evangelism there on the week of carnaval. There were thousands of people on the streets celebrating carnaval and we were able to reach up to many of them. I bet over 100 people got saved through the evangelism that we did on the streets. We were there for five days doing evangelism at night and recuperating/interceding during the day. We stayed in a public shool and we slept on our sleeping bags on the floor. There were two YWAM bases there along with some of the local church, making a group of about 100+ people. We evangelised from 6 to 9pm, then we had dinner and a quick rest and we came back and evangelised from 11pm to 4am or 5am. Sleep until 10am, then breakfast... lunch... prayer and worship and at 6pm back to the streets. It was a very intense schedule, but we were all glad to follow it up. We had amazing results and many stories to tell.
While we were there we slipt into 3 groups. One worship team that stayed in one corner and played music and worshiped in public, another group that did shows, drama skits, and “altar callings” (I was on this group), and a third group that did spiritual reading. That’s right, they sat around a table with a big sign (in the middle of a town square) that said, FREE SPIRITUAL READING. Once a person would come up they would explain to them that they would pray to God and if He wanted to tell that person anything He would reveal that to us (the people praying) and we would pass that on to the person. This was very exciting, God revealed tons of stuff about the past of these people and what they were going through and what not. The people would be amazed on how we knew about their most intimate secrets! But it was all God revealing it to us and we would just say it, not knowing what reaction to expect, but every person that sat there was impacted. Many of them accepted Jesus right then.
For the most part I presented drama skits and did some jugling exibition along with other clowns and juglers. We had a blast!!! I never thought I would do jugling for Jesus : ) It was carnaval and things are crazy at this time of year and we had to do lots of improvs due to certain city laws, crazy people, and the rain. By the end of the week I did just about everything from first aid (on a guy that got on bad fight), to cleanning dirty bathrooms, to juggling, to altar calling. And it was great, I loved it, I think Jesus loved it, and loads of people were saved in Paranaguá.

Em Portugues

Ola'!!!! Que saudades de todos! As coisas aqui andam tao corridas que nao tenho tempo nem de entrar na internet. Essa semana eu completei um mes e meio de escola! Faltam mais mes e meio de periodo teórioco e depois mais dois meses de prático. Tudo muito bom ate' agora. Muita oportunidade de praticar o que estamos aprendendo. Viver em comunidade com crente esta' sendo mais dificil que eu esperava, mas estou tocando bem.
Todos os dias aqui temos trabalho de manutenção. No primeiro mes o meu grupo trabalhou fora do prédio (carregando toco, construindo bancos, derrubando cercas, etc.) Agora meu grupo passou pra dentro e agora trabalhamos na cosinha limpando panelas, o chao, refeitorio, lixos e etc... Gosto dos dois ambientes. Dentro e' legal pq tem musica e agua e e' divertido, mas fora e' mais legal pq e' trabalho pesado e ja' da' pra dar uma malhada enquanto faz o servico.
A comida essa semana deu uma caida de novo. Ja' perdi 2 Kilos desde que cheguei aqui e pareco estar mais magro mesmo. Tem semanas que a comida e' muito boa, mas 60% das vezes a comida e' mais ou menos... mas sempre e' comestivel . Fico por aqui. Desculpa ai, mas a versao em ingles tem mais detalhes, quem puder da' uma lida na parte de cima : ) Abraços... - JP

Marau 2007

2007-01-14T11:52:00.000-04:00

After an awsome Christmas my family and I went to Marau in the north east of Brazil's coast for new years! It was amazing!!! The beaches here are great, the people are wonderful and the weather is always nice and hot. It was perfect and we enjoyed a ton. The surfing was a fiasco (we needed a longer board) but we had a blast with the waves and all.
My two cousins (Luiz and Marcelo) my aunt Claudete, mom and gradmother, niece and uncle all stayed at my unle's house (Paulo) right at the beach. Great food every day and lots of time to relax and tell stories :)

-more pics on the links on the right... cheers- JP

every body
... Luiz? Marcelo? .... ?? ;)

Kimberly in Brasilia

2006-11-25T19:28:00.000-04:00

Kimberly came to Brazil!!!! We had an amazing week :) We were able to catch up, meet the family, eat lots of Brazilian goodness and play with friends and cousins. We had a blast!!!
Kimberly, JP & cousins (Luiz, Marcelo).

She arrived on Saturday morning around 7am and after a super Brazilian breakfast we went for a ride around town and after lunch we went to the lake to ride my friend's jetski. This jetski is super fast and we had some good crashes on the water... hehehehheee. Right on the first day Kimberly met my cousins Luiz and Marcelo and their girlfriends (Andrea and Luana - pic). They all speak English so we all got along really well and we got to hang out a lot during the whole week.

- Kimberly and Claudia (mom).
In addition to the city tours all over the capital, Kimberly was able to meet my grandmothers and the extended family. Almost all of them speak English and they all liked Kimberly :)
We went to church on Sunday, ate Brazilian BBQ, spent a day in the country club (unbelievable place), went shopping on the open markets and fairs, and lots of sightseeing. The weather was great all week long (it was HOT!) and we wasted no time ;) Definetely one of the best weeks of the year! :D

- cute couple after church :)

Goiania - Rio - Brasilia...

2006-11-11T12:52:00.000-04:00

The fact that I have no job and no daily obligations make my schedule extremely open and flexible. So I've been trying to do as much as I can these days. A few days ago I ran a 10km race with my cousin Ivan and we had so much fun! We've been running a lot together these days...

Two weeks ago I went to Goiania (200 km from Brasilia) to an Athletes of Christ leadership camp. It was great, very intense. We had lectures in the morning, afternoon and night. The speakers were famous Christian Athletes and the national leaders of Athletes of Christ. I learned a LOT. Sports ministry is HUGE and very exciting. On the last day we did a "Kids Games" and reached about 100 kids. We got to play tons of games and share the Gospel with them :)

I returned from the camp on Sunday evening and on Monday morning I left to Rio de Janeiro (the wonderful city) to accompany my sister. We had to go to Amercian consutale in Rio to get her visa. We were there for only three days, but it was an excelent trip. We got to stay with my aunt and uncle (Thereza and Carlyle) and they were great! We had a SUPER time in Rio - this city is the bomb! We went to Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon, the sugar loaf, the Corcovado and more - all very beautiful! We also met up with my cousin Lennyson (he's a trip) and he showed us some more of the city at night.

From Rio my sister return to her husband in Colorado, and I returned to Brasilia to be alone at home. Until next week (when my mom and Kimberly arrive) I am only hanging out with my grandmother who lives upstairs. It's cool... I am jamming with the Happenin and doing my thing. My mom is in Europe this month with some friends travelling through a bunch of countries. Next week she will be in Spain for a missionary congress and after that she will retrurn to Brasilia :)

Please continue praying for my visa! I hope to hear an answer soon. I am really looking forward to return and work at the club. Cheers - JP.

The Latest News

2006-10-06T17:44:00.000-04:00

I am stuck in the best place in world- home sweet home. Although I wish I could've been back in the States by now I am not complaining. Things are great here in Brasilia and I am really enjoying my time with my family. My sister is also having some problems with her visa and she'll be here until November 7th. Her husband, Preston, is also here with us and we are doing lots of things together :) Grand times. The new plan (not for certain) is for me to return to GA in January. That will depend on many things that are out of my control, but hopefully things will work out. I still have not heard about my new visa, and I am uncertain about the future of JMCC... Please pray about these things. Thanks!

For now I'll keep on running and playing lots of soccer :) I am also looking for a job, but that's not easy here. I hope to see some special people soon. If you would like to visit, this would be a really good time to come!

Christian soccer camp

2006-09-19T11:24:00.000-04:00

Last week was Brazil's independence day and I had the priviledge to be
a councelor of the first CCF - Christian Concentration of Football.
This was a GREAT soccer camp. My cousin Ricardo (professional soccer coach)
organized the practices in the morning and afternoon. We had 32 kids signed up.
In the morning we would have a time of worship and then a quiet time in small groups
(my group rocked). Then soccer practice, lunch, rest, more soccer, dinner, and then
guest speakers at night (like Christian athletes and sports medicine doctors). All
the speakers were GREAT, and the kids got really into it and learned about the TRUe victory
which is in Jesus Christ :)
On the last night I was scheduled to preach, but then the power went out! No problem, we made
a bonfire and I got to preach right there. The Holly Spirit was present and in the end many kids
came forward and accepted Christ for the first time (or rededicated their lives to God). It was
so cool to see these teenagers stand up and put their trust in Christ! It was a very special night!
The next day we finished with a supper soccer tournament and my team (I was a coach) finished
second. I was proud of the guys :) It was a very blessed long weekend!

The week before the camp I hurt my wrist playing soccer and it's hard for me to do some daily things.
Please pray for recovery. I also have not heard an answer from the U.S. immigration, so please
also continue to pray for that. Thank you!!!
Em Portugues
O acampamento da IPN da Concentracao Crista de Futebl foi show de bola. Tive o privilegio de ser
um dos conselheiros/tecnicos dos adolescentes. Foi muita bencao, muitos jovens aceitaram a Cristo
e Deus foi Glorificado ali no Recanto Canaa. Passa la' em casa que eu te conto todos os detalhes ;)

Spain >> Portugal >> Recife >> Wedding >> Amazon >> Rio >> Brasilia

2006-08-23T09:31:00.000-04:00

Wow, so much has happened in the last 15 days that it is hard to believe I lived through all of it. Sooooo much has happened! Fasten your seat belt, here goes a very rough summary of the recent events:

After I left Sweeden I went to Vigo, Spain to meet my great friend Adrian (pic). As always, the fun is guaranteed with Adrian... we went to Portugal for a music festival and the next two days we relaxed in nice restaurants by the beach and what not (mostly recovering from the night Portugal). It was great to see Adrian and the rest of the gang in Vigo. I wished I could've stayed longer...

The one day and a half that I spent in Lisbon was just enough to get a feel for the Portuguese capital. Lisbon was the only city that I didn't hit on my 2004 trip so it was good to see it this time. From there I went to Recife in the northeast of Brazil (paradize area for me) where I spent one marvelous night. Great meal and walk by the beach, killer breakfast and I was off to home sweet home Brasilia!
I arrived in Brasilia and I hit the groud running. Tons of little stuff to do for the wedding, renting tux, driving and translating around town and what not. I had to do lots of stuff before the wedding, it was very enjoyable. I got to spend a lot of time with the Pattersons (now the inlaws) and show them Brasilia. It was great.

My sister married Preston Patterson on August 26th and the wedding was AMAZING!!! Perfect!!! Outside, around 5pm, no clouds, great spring weather, she looked beautiful - it was like a dream. My mom was so happy with everything :) Me too. The party afterwards was great too. I got to see sooooo many people that I hadn't seen in a long time (just about all my family and friends ;) ).

The next day after the wedding the Patterson's and I flew to Manaus to explore the Amazon forest and river. We got to see lots of cool stuff, great boat trips on the Amazon and Negro river, and a super nice/fun hotel by the river. We had a very full time in Manaus! From there we went to Rio de Janeiro - the wonderful city- to catch some more of the Brazilian culture. Rio was fantastic. Great weather, amazing beaches and views. It was soooo enjoyable! The Corcovado (where the big statue of the Christ is) is spetacular! One of the most beuatiful/ special places in the world for sure! The Maracana was also lots of fun. From Rio the Pattersons went back to Colorado and I returned to Brasilia to finally be at home for a bit... ;)

This trip accross Brazil was really special. It was fun to be with the inlaws and help them with all the menus in Portuguese and the small (sometimes BIG) problems in airports and what not. We sure experienced lots of adeventures in these 5 days. God was all over our trip! It was amazing :) Thanks again Rick, for letting me come with you guys! I loved it!

Now I am just waiting on my papers to be able to come back to the States. Please pray about this because it's been more than 4 months and I still have no answer! Hopefully I'll be able to return to GA in October. In the meantime I'll try to stay on solid ground for more than a week and enjoy my family :)

>> Marilyn, Karol, Cailey, Rick Patterson

Em Portugues
Estou no Brasil! Depois da Suecia passei pela Espanha, Portugal, Recife, casamento da Luisa, Manaus, Rio de Janeiro e agora estou em Brasilia. Me liga ou passa la' em casa que te conta todas as historias ;) Valheu?! ;)

Sweeden/ Suecia

2006-08-16T06:07:00.000-04:00

Thomas, JP, Margareta, Folke

My time is Sweeden has been great. I've spent most of my time with Thomas and his family hanging out in Lund and Malmo. We had a delicous dinner with Thomas' parents (Folke and Margareta) on Sunday night and on Monday I got to hang with Peter (Thomas' older brother). This was the third time we've met and I really like to spend time with this family. We've become good friends. It was also very nice to meet Thomas' girlfriend, Ida. Cool girl. Staying in the dorms and cooking with Thomas brought back many good memories from High Point ;) Today I am off to Spain and in 4 days I'll be in Brazil!

>>Peter + JP

Em Portugues
Minha passagem aqui pela Suecia foi joia. Foi bem legal rever o Thomas e sua famila, e tambem conhecer a namorada dele (Ida). Domingo a noite jantamos com os pais dele e segunda feira passei o dia com o irmao mais velho (Peter) em Malmo. Fiquei hospedado no dormitorio da universidade, no quarto visinho ao do Thomas. Foi muito bem divertido estar com o Thomas mais uma vez nos dormitorios, e cozhinhar juntos e tal. Hoje estou de saida para a Espanha para rever meu amigo Adrian. E depois, em 4 dias estarei no Brasil!

Acknowledgement / Recochecimento

2006-08-14T04:21:00.000-04:00

I must take a minute to acknowledge how real, present and good God is in my life. This past week I've been contacting many different airlines trying to book a flight to Brazil (Varig went bankrupt so now all the other companies are overbooked and there are no flights from Europe to Brazil). On my last day in Thailand after fasting and prayer I call United Airlines one more time and got connected with a very helpful agent. After 2.5 hours on the phone we found a flight from Lisbon to Recife on the exact date that I wanted! It was really amazing how all this worked out. Immediately after that phone call I went to the Chiang Mai airport to catch my flight to Bangkok so I could come to Copenhagen.
About a month ago I called from NZ to book my flight from Bangkok to Copenhagen and the agent told me that there were no seats available for that route in the month of August! So we changed the route to Bangkok - Frankfurt - Copenhagen. So I called Lufthansa in Bangkok to confirm that I was on the flight, and the agent said, "yes, you are confirmed and it will be 33000 baht (about US$1000)." I had no time to talk because I had to board the plane in Chiang Mai, so I told the agent that I would be there in an hour to discuss this problem. During the whole flight from Chiang Mai to Bangkok I was praying about this matter, because I had already paid for this ticket and an extra $1000 was not on my budget. So I got there and met a good agent and the Lufthansa office and after much explaining and calculations (1.5 hours) she was able to reissue my ticket with all my new routes all the way back to Atlanta and I only had to pay the standard $125 fee for reissuing a ticket plus the airport tax for stopping in Frankfurt. It was very intense hour and a half at the airport office in Bangkok, but God provided in an amazing way, and everything that could've and needed to happen for the reissuing of the ticket to work out happened in perfect timing.
I was soooooo relieved and thankful when I boarded the plane. Now I am in Sweden (Lund) with my good friend Thomas and it's great to be here. God is very real and very good. You just have to trust him and go for it.

Em Portugues
Tenho que escrever pelo menos um paragrafo aqui para reconhecer o quanto Deus e' real, presente e bom na minha vida. Nos ultimos 10 dias eu tenho ligado para varias companhias aereas tentando marcar minha passagem da Europa para o Brasil. Como Varig faliu todas as outras companhias estao super lotadas e nao tem mais vagas para voar da Europa para o Brasil no mes de agosto. Depois de um tempo de jejum e oracao liguei mais uma vez para a United e foi atendido por uma agente muito boa e depois de duas horas e meia de pesquisas e tentativas achamos um voo de Lisboa a Recife justamente na data que eu queria! Gloria a Deus. Logo depois do telefonema foi direto para o aeroporto de Chiang Mai para pegar meu voo para Bangkok, para seguir com minha viagem rumo a Europa.
A um mes atras quando eu estava na NZ eu liguei para a United para maracar meu voo Bangkok- Copenhagen mas nao haviam mais vagas no mes de agosto. Entao tivemos que mudar o trajeto para Bangkok- Frankfurt - Copenhagen. Logo antes de embarcar em Chiang Mai liguei para o aeroporto de Bangkok para confirmar que eu estava no voo para Copenhagen mais tarde naquela mesma noite. A agente da Lufthansa confirmou minha reserva e disse que custaria 3000 baht ($1000)! Bom eu falei pra tia que em uma hora estaria em Bangkok para resolver esse questao. Esse voo ja' estava incluso na minha passagem e nao tinha $1000 no banco sobrando para pagar mais essa passagem. Bom passei o voo inteiro de Chiang Mai a Bangkok orando sobre mais esse problema e quando cheguei la' Deus me deu uma paz no coracao que ajudou bastante. Fui atendido por uma agente boa e depois de muitas explicacoes e contagem de milhas (mais uma hora e meia) a moca emitiu meu bilhete novo com minhas novas tragetorias ate' Atlanta. So' tive que pagar a tarifa normal de $125 para a emissao da passagem nova e mais a taxa do aeroporto. Que luta meu.
Foi o maior alivio finalmente embarcar no aviao saindo de Bangkok. Agora estou na Suecia com meu grande amigo Thomas. Bom de mais estar aqui. Deus e' bom de mais, o lance e' confiar nele e bola pra frente.

3 day treking/ 3 dias na trilha - Chiang Mai

2006-08-10T02:35:00.000-04:00

The three day treking expedition was certainly my favorite adventure so far in Thailnad. On the first day we got on a truck and headed out of Chai Maing into the mountains and jungle of north Thailand. Ou first stop was an awsome waterfall, with cool (very slipery) natural slides :) Afteer that a quick stop at a temple up in the mountains and then a good 2 hour walk to a very small local village for our first camp sight. You should check the pics of the village to see our accomodations. This was a very cultural experience. So different from the Western world. After dinner we sang songs around the fire until late at night. I sang a song with made up words about Thailand and our group and the guides and everybody had a good laugh... The second day was full good hikes and waterfalls. By the end of the day the trek got tougher and tougher and it was lots of fun. We had a group of 10 (2 french guys, 3 Israeli, a French family of 4 and I). The Israeli guys (Alex, Bendov, Dori) were a lot of fun and I spent most of my time with them. After dinner on the second night I had my first original full body Thai massage. It was wonderfull! On the third day we jumped off a 10m waterfall (several times... + a 3m back flip), then went bamboo rafting (no seat belts or handles on this thing) and lastly we got to ride on elephants! Off course I asked to sit on the head of the elephant and be the driver :) Loads of fun, not so easy to stay balanced...
In addition to all that, we got to play lots of Thai football (which is smiliar to Foot-volley, but with a smaller/plastic ball), eat loads of different fruits along the way and learn some cool tricks that our guides would teach us. These guys knew a LOT of tricks :) They were like the Thai version of Macguiver.
I am back in Chaing Mai now for two days and then I am off to Sweeden. I am still having troubles booking my ticket to Brazil. Please pray about that. Thanks!
(Bendov, Alex, Dori)

Em Portugues Com certeza o melhor programa que fiz ate' agora na Tailandia foi a trilha de 3 dias aqui perto de Chai Miang. No primeiro dia saimos da cidade de caminhonete rumo as montanhas e florestas do norte de Tailandia. Nossa primeira parada foi numa cachoeira sensacinal e depois do almoco visitamos um templo no topo de uma montanha com uma vista bem legal. Logo depois deixamos a caminhonete e seguimos a pe' (2 horas) ate' uma pequena aldeia local onde nos acampamos. Vale a pena ver as fotos da aldeia. Vida totalmente diferente da nossa. Depois da janta sentamos em volta da fogueira com o violao. Inventei uma musica la' na hora sobre a Tailandia e os nossos companheiros de viagem o todo mundo rio pra caramba :). Eramos 10 no nosso grupo, 2 franceses, 3 israelenses, e mais uma familia de 4 franceses. Os israelenses (Alex, Dori, Bendov) eram muito gente fina e passamos a maioria do tempo juntos. No segundo dia caminhamos muito no meio da selva, vimos muitas canhoeiras e nadamos varias vezes - muito show de bola! No ultimo dia pulamos de uma cachoeira de 10m (vairas vezes) e depois decemos o rio numa jangada de bamboo - que foi bem mais divertido do que o esperado :) E para acabar o passeio montamos nos elefantes e fizemos um passeio pela selva. E' claro que montei logo na cabeca do bicho e de vez em quando tinha que segurar nas orelhas de fera' para manter o equilibrio. Bem legal.
Agora estou de volta em Chaing Mai (em um hotel 5 estrelas -pq aqui tudo e' barato entao to podendo, hehehehe ) e em 2 dias estarei na Suecia visitando meu amigo Thomas. Orem pela minha passagem para o Brasil. Valeu!

Bangkok .- Thailand

2006-08-04T11:58:00.000-04:00

Eitcha, cheguei sufrido ontem a noite viu... mas
cheguei bem, achei o albergue e estou bem acomodado. O
aeroporto era meio que mal sinalizado e tudo que podia
acontecer para atrasar minha saido do aeroporto e vir
para cidade aconteceu. Caramba meu, a paciencia tava
no limite. Primeiro entrei na fila mais lenta do
mundo... todas as filas do guiche da imigracao
passaram e pegaram suas malas e minha fila ainda tinha
uns 8. Claro que eu pulei para o caixa ao lado para
ser o proximo a ser atendido. Quando finalmente era
minha vez a mocinha falou, ah nao - brasileiro tem que
passar la' no outro caixa para ver o medico. Oh diaxo,
depois de esperar esse tempo todo, sai da fila e vai
la' pro outro lado do salao pegar outra fila. A
senhora que me antendeu nao tinha a minima cara de ser
medica, e com um ingles bem quebrado ela me deu uns
formularios que eu assinei. Voltei de novo para o
guiche com meu passaporte e cai logo na fila de um
individuo que estava em treinamento. Meu, devia ser o
primeiro dia do cara. Demorou um tempao, uma duzia de
pessoas da fila ao lado passaram e finalmente eu
passei. Cheguei la' na estera e todas as malas ja'
haviam sido tiradas, mas logo depois eu encontrei
minha bag. Demorei uns 10 minutos para achar a saido
do aeroporto meu! Nao tem placa... depois tive que
desviar um batalhao de taxistas que queriam me vender
uma promocao, tive que passar por 3 maquinas para
finalmente consiguir sacar um cash. Depois sai, e
peguei o taxi normal (que era a metade do preco - bem
como o meu livro disse). O motorista nao falava nada
de ingles, mas cheguei na rua certa e logo achei meu
albergue. Morto, 12 horas de voo, mais 5 horas de
fusohorario atrasado, meu quarto era justamente no
sexto andar (sem elevador). Dormi bem pra caramba.
Cama dura que nem chao. Banho frio de manha (nao tem
agua quente - mas nem precisa). Bastante quente aqui, mas um calor suportavel.

Hoje fui visitar uma pancada de tempos budistas, e varios outros pontos turisticos. Eu cheguei muito cedo la' no templo e cai na armacao do "amigo" que tava la' que me arrumou um tuk tuk (moto sobre 3 rodas com motorista doido) para me levar em outros lugares e me trazer de volta. Na verdade o lance foi genial, e rodei Bangkok e passei por varias atracoes com motorista particular por um dollar. As coisas aqui sao muito baratas. Mas andar de moto e tuk tuk (esse e' o nome mesmo do trem) aqui e' atividade radical. Muito mais louco que pular de bungy ou paraquedas. Aparentemente as faixas nas pistas nao servem pra nada, cada um vai pra onde quer, um cortando o outro, maior confusao... e so' para no sinal se nao der pra ir meeeesmo. Bom sobrevivi. Deopis fui a Chinatown ver o bairro chines e outra anarquia de loucura total. Um tumulto de gente em lugares que nao tem espaco nem pra andar, e tem moto e carrinho de cachorro quente tentando passar na sua frente. Meu coisa de louco mesmo. Amanha vou fazer umas compras e depois ja' estou saindo daqui para ir para o norte pegar umas trilhas, ver cachoeiras e andar de elefante :)

>> tuk tuk

In English
Jus before leaving NZ I went up the Sky tower (highest building in the souther hemisphere by the way) to take a look at Auckland. I thought it was pretty big, but compared to Bangkok let me tell you... it's not very big at all. Bangkok is HUGE, extremely busy, things here are very different. The arrival last night was a bit rough, because it took me forever to go through immigration. This morning I woke up way too early (at 5am due to the time difference of 5h from NZ) and had a killer breakfast at the hostel (it was so good I orded it twice - big breaky today) and headed to town. Traffic here is insane! Like in NZ and Australia they also drive on the left side, well actually they drive on both sides... wait a minute there are no sides here. Honestly I don't think the lanes painted on the street mean anything, and WAIT! The light is red... oh I guess that doesn't mean anything either because we just kept on going. Today I did something far more eXtreme than bungy jumping or skydiving. I got on a tuk tuk (three wheel motorcile driven by crazy Thais) and this guy took me for a spin around town. I got to the buddist temple too early so a "friend" arranged this tuk tuk to take me around some other sites and bring me back around 1pm. The whole thing was set up, but it worked out really well actually. This guy drove me around for 2 hours to some of the attractions and the TAT (tourist authority t? / travel agency). It was fun, but insane! Driving on the wrong side, cutting people left and right... the works.
After that I spent a few hours wandering around the Buddah capital of south east Asia. It's called Wat Phra Kaew (Emerald Buddha) and it has many temples of different shapes and sizes with hundreds of Buddha's everywhere. Very shinny and bright, with lots of details on the outside, but the inside of the simpler temples were a bit dull. The big/important ones were quite impressive. Nonetheless I didn't really feel any peace or serenity in there. Very hot in busy inside. Unlike the European old cathedrals that somehow stay cool and quite (even in the summers with many visitors). After that I got on the boat again and headed to Chinatown. More insanity, motorcicles on sidewalks, people selling/eating/drinking stuff only God knows where it came from. Most of it looks weird and smells weird. I got to see a lot of new things today. That's for sure! After an exausting sightseeing day I went to one of the malls and was glad to see some familiar things like Burger King and what not.
I am hoping to do lots of shoping tomorrow! I am a little disapointed that things are not as cheap as I expected (as far as clothes - everything else like food/transportation/lodging is dirt cheap). But tomorrow is Saturday so I am going to the BIG market. Should find some good deals there. Then I'll go to the biggest mall in southeast asia, which should be quite good also.
In two days I'll be headed north to Mai Chai to do some trekking on the hills and forest. 3 days/2nights and many trails, waterfalls and elephants coming up. should be fun!

Report / observacao

2006-08-02T07:58:00.000-04:00

I've been reading the book, The World is Flat, by Thomas Freedman which was recommended by my good friend/mentor Dr Wray, and this book talks a lot about blogging and the power of uploading and I feel compelled to write down some of my findings of the Land Down Under (this will be very brief).

I have noticed that the Kiwis (New Zealander) is very proud of their country and their roots (Maori culture) and they take very good care of their land - a lot more than any other country I've seen. They are proud to be nuclear free. They seem to be spiritually asleep. Australia is more industrialized and has more big cities, where as NZ only has Auckland. As one of the guides here said, NZ is like the rest of the world was 5 years ago (and that's true).
Australia has no typical or stereotype looking people or food. The country seems to be so young in its roots and has so much international flavor that it doesn't have a flavor of its own (yet). In NZ is easy to spot the Maori's where as in NZ the Aboriginals are nonexistent in society (at least on the east coast). Australians were very cool, into surfing stuff to look cool, laid back, almost slow. I found more Christians in Australia then NZ.
I found both countries similar to Brazil and Europe and different from America (as I expected). Aus and NZ are culturally closer to Brazil then Europe. The Europeans that I've met here confirm what I learned two years ago on my tour of Europe. The Spanish are a lot of fun, they party their life away and seem to be happy at the moment but they are clearly missing something that is not of this world. The Sweeds are extremely polite and the role model for world citizens. The German guy that I met here was different then the typical. He was a Christian and was usually late. We became good friends. In a nut shell that's my take on the people and the Land Down Under.

Em Portugues
No momento estou lendo o livro "O Mundo e' Plano" escrito por Thomas Freedman, que e' sobre a globalizacao do mundo. O livre menciona que uma das maiores razoes da rapida globalizacao e' justamente esse mundo dos blogs e tudo que eles passem de informacao e tecnologia de um para o outro. Entao ai vai minha contribuicao sobre o que eu ja' observei enquanto desse lado do globo.

Os Kiwis (povo da Nova Zelandia) tem muito orgulho da terra deles e por sinal cuidao MUITO BEM do seu meio ambiente. Impressionante o tanto que eles se importam com a natureza. Eles tambem estao bem vinculados a sua cultura (Maori), ja' os Australianos quase nao tem contato com sua cultura original (Aboriginais). Na NZ tambem se nota facilmente os individuos de decendencia Maori, ja' na Australia todo mundo parece ser gringo. Eles nao tem uma aparencia ou comida tipica. A Austalia parece mais uma salada de Asia e Europa com influencia americana. O pais ainda e' muito novo e ainda tem sua propria identidade. A costa leste da Australia e bem desenvolvida com varias cidades grandes, ja' a NZ so' tem Auckland (que nao e' tao grande assim, 1.4 milhoes de hab). A NZ esta' 5 anos atras do mundo (em termos de civilizacao, nao tecnologia) mas eles nao estao nem ai, pq a NZ e' show de bola e eles amam a natureza. Espiritualmente a NZ parece estar adormecida e sem interece. A Australia ja' esta' mais na frente, com pinta de reavivamento nacional (pelo menos foi o que eu vi e ouvi enquanto na JOCUM de la').

Auckland. summary/ retrospectiva NZ

2006-08-02T06:37:00.000-04:00

Wow, this is my last night in NZ. The last two weeks have been unbelievable! I arrived in Auckland yesterday and tomorrow I am off to Bangkok, Thailand. Auckland is by far the biggest city in NZ (2 out of 3 Kiwi's live in Auckland). Very cool town. Today I spent the day at Waiheke Island doing some awsome hikes. These trails were amazing! I got to go through bush, mountains, beaches, and cool little villages (pic 2). The views are spectacular. For sure one of the coolest islands in the world. The hike got quite technical in the end and I had some exciting slip ups (close to the edge of the mountains!). It was all good at the end. On my way back into town I stopped by Devonport which is a lovely neighborhood/beach. Very nice sunset and atmosphere there (pic 1). Great day!
For the last few days, I've been hanging out a lot with team Spain (Bruno, Nuria, Bibiane, Gabriela). We had loads of fun in Kaikoura and Wellington. Wellington is notorious for nice restaurants, and we had a nice italian meal on our last night together there... good times.
here goes a brief summary of my travels in NZ (for my own record) - Day 1 arrive in Wellington, stay in an awsome YHA hostel and catch the ferry to the South Island the next day. This is was a very nice cruise. Big ship, the works, great views too (3h trip). Day 2 join the Kiwi Experience bus in Picton, spent the night in Nelson, nice hostel, met the friends I would travel with for the next 10 days. From Nelson to Westport was a nice drive, checked out a cool lake (crazy English guys went for a swim) and then a walk through tropical forest. Next day we had an amazing walk by the beach, another scenic drive till lake Mahinapua. Checked out the sunset at the beach, went for a run on the beach with Dan (English guy) and at night we had our trash bag costum party (we all had to make outfits out of trashbags. I was a rugby player on steriods- great costumes that night). Day 4 walk through forest to a nice lookout point where we could see beach, mountains, forest, river and lakes. Eat lunch at the beach, check out Franz Joseph glaciers. Day 5 at 6:45am skydive over Fox glaciers, then an all day hike on Franz Joseph glaciers and watch the All Blacks beat South Africa at night. Day 6 we went to lake Wanaka. Amazing views, including lake Hawea too. In this town Anders and I checked out the old fashion cinema where they served us dinner in the middle of the movie (cool place, we watched the daVinci Code- I thought it was pretty good). Day 7 as we were leaving Wanaka we went to puzzling world. They had lots of cool interective visual effects there, plus a maze that took me a while to find the exit! The first thing we did when we arrived in Queenstown was the bungy at the legendary Kawarau bridge (highlight!!!) I spent 5 nights in queenstown doing snowboarding, bungy, watching my friends jump and riding on the luge. Very fun town! On day 11 we went to Christchurch with a very crazy driver (Dave). We saw Mt Cook (biggest mountain in NZ) one more time, watched a couple of movies and headed to the east coast. Loooong drive. All Blacks beat Australia that night. Day 12 we headed to kaikoura where we went whale watching. Only got to see two, but it was fun, they are huge! Saw many seals as well. Day 13 get the ferry to the North Island and back in Wellington (capital). Nice dinner with the Spanish team in downtown. Day 14 check out the national museum Te Papa with the Lord of the Rings exibition. Very cool displays of the original miniatures, clothes and weapons. And finally the last two days I've been exploring Auckland and Waiheke islands. Could've not gone better. Very full time. Thank you Lord for letting me see so much of your beauty :) 100's of pics coming up... :)

Em Portugues
Bom, agora estou em Auckland (a maior cidade na NZ) e passei o dia na ilha Waiheke. Peguei umas trilhas muito feras la', com vistas fantasticas. Na volta passei por Devonport que e' uma praia bem legal tambem. Amanha estarie indo para Tailandia e vou passar 10 dias por la' . Ai vai o roteiro que fiz na NZ nas ultimas duas semanas: Wellington - Picton - Nelson - Westport - Lago Mahinpua (festa a fantasia com sacos de lixo), Montanhas glacias em Franz Joseph (paraquedas) - lago Wanaka- Queenstown (bungy e snowboard) - Christchurch - Kaikoura (baleias) - Wellington - Auckland. A versao em ingles a cima tem mais detalhes das aventuras... fotos em breve.

spanish team

Snowboard - Queenstown

2006-07-27T19:14:00.000-04:00

O snowboard aqui em Queenstown foi muito show de bola. Dois dias de muitos tombos e descidas sensacionais nas neve. As montanhas aqui sao enormes, sem arvores ou pedras, entao da' para ir para qualquer lado a qualquer hora. Muito legal desbravar novos caminhos e ir desviando dos outos... Conheci uns caras muito legais no onibus e estamos viajando juntos a 10 dias e ja' somos bons amigos. Matias (alemao) e Anders (sueco, paraquedista) estamos fazendo todas as aventuras juntos. Muita adrenalina, muito legal.

In English
Snowboarding here in Queenstown has been fantastic!! Two full days of awsome rides and some pretty tough crashes too (off course). On the first day I had a new (lowest) record of only two crashes! The second day I had many more than that, but I also had better runs too :) This mountain (Coronet Peak) was not as long as the ones in Colorado, but it had many more paths, and much more snow. The conditions were really good. Actually the whole mountain was good to ski. There were no trees or rocks, and you could basically go any where, any directions you wanted, and make your own trails. Really fun this way, so many options, loads of variety! I've met some cool people on the bus and we've been traveling together for about 10 days now and we've become good friends. Matias (German), Anders (Sweed), Claire (Engl) and I had a blast at the mountains. Anders and I have really hit it off with the adrenaline crazy stuff, doing bungy's and what not together :) - he is a certified skydiver (so a good friend to have in NZ) ehehehehe. Cheers - JP

Xtreme week / semana aventura

2006-07-27T05:32:00.000-04:00

As if skydiving wasn't enough, latter that day I went on a super hike on Franz Joseph Glacier. Very cool. Huge walls and caves of ice every where. Two days latter I jumped off the original bungy bridge!!!! Bungy jumping was invented here in NZ, I got to jump off the bridge where it all started! It was a perfect jump, head first with the classic water touch up to the waist. The best part is shooting out of the water, flying high upsidedown. Sooooo much fun! Today I got to ride the luge, which is a track going down a big mountain We ride on little go carts racing down the mountain. When we get to the bottom we catch the lift back up and do it again. Good fun! Tomorrow I am going snowboarding on the mountains of the Lord of the Rings! for sure this is the most Xtreme week of the trip!!! Love it!

em Portugues

Por aqui tudo certo. Mae, antes de ler ser ultimoemail ja' tinha pulado no ioo ioo humano. Muito doido mae!!! Deu tudo certo e' claro. O bungy jump foi inventado aqui na NZ e eu pulei justamente da primeiraponte onde o Bungy foi inventado! Sensacional, 43metros de altura! Cheguei a tocar na agua!! Tudoprecisamente calculado. Pulei de cabeca e' claro e oelastico deu so' para eu colocar a cabeca dentro daagua e me jogou la' pra cima de novo. A melhor partee' quando vc sai da agua, molhado e voando pra cima decabeca para baixo. Muito fera'! Eles fazem isso aqui a17 anos mae e ninguem nunca morreu... mas agora podesficar tranquila pq ja' fiz todos os salto que queriafazer mesmo. Agora e' so' snowborad... yeeeeaaaaaaahhh:) Aqui a alta temporada e' o verao, mas o invernotambem e' temporado, pq aqui o ski e snowboard saomuito fortes. As temperaturas aqui no sul estao entre0 e 13 graus, entao nao ta' tao ruin nao. Da' prafazer tudo e tolerar numa boa. Agora a agua la' do riodo bungy tava fria viu! Que gelo meu! A agua fria foipior do que o pulo. Creio que a Australia no verao seria melhor sim, porcausa das praias. Mas tambem seria mais caro e todasas praias ficam lotadas e nao sei se seria tao bomassim. Aqui na NZ sao duas temporadas bem diferentes.Aqui tudo e' radical. No verao e' a temporado de surf,caiaques e barcos nos lagos e rios. No inverno e'escaladas no gelo, e ski e snowboard, e o bungy e' oano todo e' claro. Mas pra mim deu pra eu fazer detudo, pq peguei uns dias bom de praia e surf la' naAustralia e aqui a neve esta' de boa. Agora viajar naNZ e' bem mais caro por causa dos passeios eaventuras, mas tambem e' mais legal pq tem maisaventruas, opcoes e beleza para ver. - JP

Skydive / Para-quedas

2006-07-23T05:54:00.000-04:00

12000ft, open the door, smile at the camera, and FLYYYYYYYYYYYyyyyyy... 120mph for 45second of free fall - crazy adrenaline.... very very cold. I did the skydive over Fox Glacier - the only place in the world where you get to see glaciers, tropical forest, ocean/beach, rivers and lakes - all in one jump. It was unbelievable!!!

Em Portugues

12000 pes de altura, abre a porta, sorriso para a camera e fuuuiiiiiiiii..... voando nas nuvens da Nova Zelandia. Pulei de para-quedas mae!!! Nao se preocupe - estou bem. Pra falar a verdade nem deu medo! Serio mesmo! Foi tao surreal que nem deu medo, mas foi show de bola. O salto foi sobre o Fox Glacier, o unico salto no mundo que se ve montanhas glacias (?) rios, praias, lagos e floresta, tudo de uma vez so'. Foi sensacional!!! Bom de mais!!! 45 segundos de queda livre e mais 4 minutos de paraquedas. Aterrisagem nota 10. No problem... :)

Nova Zelandia - Sul/ NZ south island

2006-07-21T02:45:00.000-04:00

Alegria!!! Muitas montanhas e praias sensacionais aqui na Nova Zelandia!!! Antes de sair de Sydney passei um dia nas Montanhas Azuis e foi muito joia (foto abaixo). Montanhas e vales incriveis. 15 vezes mais velho do que o Grand Cannion. Espetacular. Mas com certeza a NZ e' o pais mais espetacular de todas as minha viagens. Estou vendo todas as montanhas do Senhor dos Aneis, muitas cachoeiras e praias fantasticas! Sai da Australia a uns 5 dias atras e aterrisei em Wellington (capital da NZ). Passei a tarde e a noite por la' curtindo as vida urbana. Na manha seguinte embarquei em um super navio para atrevessar da ilha do norte para a ilha do sul. Esso passeio foi um super cruzeiro. O navio (enorme e muito chique, com tudo que tem direito) faz um verdadeiro zig-zag entre varias ilhas pequenas, e e' montanha pra todo lado, e todas as fotos parecem ser cartoes postais. Chegando em Picton peguei o onibus do Kiwi Experience e estou fazendo o tour da volta completa em torno da ilha do sul. Amanha vamos escalar montanhas de gelo! Muitas aventuras em todas as cidadezinhas que nos passamos. Bem legal. Depois tento escrever todas as paradas e atividades... Vamos passar duas noites aqui em Frazier Glaciers e depois vamos para Queestown, a capital mundial da adrenalina e esportes radicais! Vai rolar o snowboard com certeza ;) herheheherheh. Ate' a proxima. - JP

prai na NZ - NZ beach

FOTOS - as novas fotos sao 4 albums da Australia. O primeiro sao as fotos da base da JOCUM, o segundo das ilhas Whitsundays, o terceiro do trabalho de evangelismo feito na praia de Airlie, e o quarto da minha super viagem de Melbourne a Sydeney (na estrada/ off the beaten path). Espero que gostem das fotos... :)

In English

Wooohhhooouuu!!! Aki aora!!! (hello in NZ). New Zealand is amazing! Certainly the most scenic place I've ever seen!!! Huge mountains every where, amazing beaches, waterfalls, glaciers plus wild life. I am in awe of all. Just before leavinng Sydney I got to spend a day in the blue mountains (pic) and it was fantastics! HUGE! 15 times older than the Grand Cannion. I arrived in Wellington (capital) 5 days ago and just spent a day/night there. The next morning I got on a big ship to cross over to the south island where I'll be in the next 2 weeks. This trip was great. What a cruise! The ship had to make some zig-zags around islands of mountains and huge rocks coming out of the ocean. It was amazing! Every thing looked liked a post card. On the other side, in Picton, I got on the Kiwi experience bus I'll be doing the south island tour that goes all the way around. So far we've been going down the west coast, checking the mountains from the Lord of the Rings, Waterfalls and amazing beaches. Tomorrow we'll go hiking on the glaciers! Moving mountains of ice!!! so cool... The New Zealanders (Kiwi's) are great too. Very laid back, huge on rugby! The All Blacks (national team) play tomorrow and the whole country stops to watch that (including our driver – Jarrad) ;) Should be a good game. We'll sepend two nights here and then we are headed to Queenstown which is the Adrenaline capital of the world (loads of eXtreme sports). Snowboarding for sure!!! Big time!!! Love it! It's very cold here, and it will be even colder there... see ya then - JP

PHOTOS - There are 4 new albums from Australia posted on the links on the left. The first one is the YWAM base, the second is the Whitsundays island/beach, the thrid the evangelism work at Airlie beach, and the last is the trip from Melbourne to Sydney that I did with OZ experience.

Working / Surfing / Learning (Eng/Port)

2006-07-13T07:54:00.000-04:00

Well so much has happened and I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had time to update the blog, so fasten your seat belts because here comes a quick review of the last 10 (very full days). To catch more details you will have to catch up with me next time I see you (it would be too much stuff to write).
I am still at the YWAM base in Brisbane and last week I got to work VERY hard. On my typical Thursday I wake up at 5am to watch the world cup, around 7am had breakfast and after that worked in the kitchens cutting some fruit for the morning tea (which we have every morning here and it’s an excellent idea that should be implemented worldwide). Around 10am I was doing construction work, mainly digging a whole and mixing concrete for new laundry set up that we’ve been working on. After lunch I helped the crew clean up the kitchen (one of my daily duties here), then back to the construction to nail some boards, move washers and what not. After that I worked on the garden planting some ferns and watering tons of plants with bucket, picked up a huge sack of leaves for the clean up of the front of the property, and then put away all the tool that were used in all the jobs. After all that, play a little volleyball on the park down the road, eat dinner, clean up the kitchen, ping pong and crash into bed… no time for internet you see. Oh, and today I was the cheff in the kitchen and we made Brazilian food. It was sooooo good. Everybody loved it!

Last weekend I went to Byron Bay and it was excellent. This is the most popular beach town of Australia and the beaches there are really amazing! As soon as I got there I signed up for a surfing lesson and it was fantastic. Greg and Dominic (picture) were the aussie coaches that my group had and they were great. I am not going to lie, I crash countless times and I’ve never been flipped so many times in one afternoon, but by the end of the day I had the surfing thing down pretty good : ) It was soooooo much fun! The waves of 1.5 meters were great! Perfect conditions!
I spent the night at the Arts Factory which is a very cool, crazy hostel. Definitely the coolest one I’ve been to yet. Lots of surfers, musicians and artists here. There was art everywhere. The counters were made of surfboards, one of the dorms was made out of a bus, the other one was a circus tent. Very cool and different. The next day I did lots of walking and running and swimming on the beaches. I reached the most easterly point in Australia and got to see some dolphins from the lighthouse look out. Amazing place!!!

This week I’ve had the privilege to be a part of the Sports DTS school here at the base and it has been a blessing. The first half of the week we were away in a ranch house in the country. So peaceful there. Nothing around to bother us. Great teachings on the character and nature of God. I am learning so much! We also played tons of volleyball and I introduced foot-volley, which was a major hit too! We came back yesterday and the lectures will continue until the end of the week. Oh I wish I could stay for the whole course. It’s sooooo good.

This weekend I’ll try to see the city of Brisbane, since I’ve only been on the base thus far, and on Monday I leave for New Zealand! Better go now. The sports group (the one I am in) has 6am work outs on MWF, so it’s going to be an early rise… cheers – JP

don't know how to flip this pic so...

Em Portugues - Trabalho / Surf / Aprendizado

Alegria!!! Eu tenho feito tanto coisa por aqui que nem deu tempo de eu atualizar o site, mas ai vai um resumo do que se passa por aqui…
Ainda estou na base da JOCUM em Brisbane e tenho trabalhado bastante por aqui, fazendo de tudo. Lavo prato, corto fruta, limpo a cozinha, trabalho na construcao cavando buraco, fazendo cimento, pintando, martelando, removendo movies e maquinas de lavar roupa, jardinagem plantando samambaias, regando palmeiras, catando folhas, e mais… Hoje fui o chefe la’ na cozinha e fizemos comida brasileira. O arroz e feijao fizeram o maior sucesso e todos adoraram.

Fim de semana passado fui a Byron Bay, que e’ a praia mais frequentada da Australia. Muito show de bola. Chegando la’ peguei uma aulinha de surfe com uns professores (foto) muito feras. Depois de varias tombos e caldos peguei a manha da parade e no fim da tarde estava arrebentando nas ondas eheheheheheehhehe. Muito show de bola, bom de mais! Duas semanas atras estive no ponto mais sul da Australia e em Byron estive no ponto mais leste do pais. Uma vista incrivel da praia, do oceano e de baleias!!! So’ que nesse dia eu nao vi nenhuma baleia nao, so’ golfinhos. Show de bola esse lugar.

Essa semana eu tive o privilegio de participar das aulas do curso do DTS de esportes. Fomos para uma fazenda, longe de tudo para ter as primeiras aulas sobre o carater e essencia de Deus. Muito bom, aprendi bastante. Foi muito legal, bem tranquilo o lugar, muito volley e baralho com os amigos. Introduzi o futevolley e foi o maior sucesso! Todos adoraram : ) Amanha eu assisto a ultima aula dessa serie aqui na base mesmo e no fim de semana eu vou visitar a cidade de Brisbane, porque ate’ agora so’ fiquei na base. Segunda eu pego meu voo para Nova Zelandia!
Vou dormir porque amanha o pessoal do esporte tem que correr e malhar as 6 da manha, entao tenho que ir dormir cedo. Aquele abraco - JP

Evangelismo com a JOCUM na praia de Airlie

2006-07-03T06:22:00.000-04:00

Ai ai… as coisa que eu nao faco para o reino de Deus. Ok Senhor se e’ mesmo da sua vontade eu va' para praia Airlie fazer evangelismo eu vou… ehehehahehe
Pois e' um dia depois de chegar na base da JOCUM aqui em Brisbane eu sai com uma equipe deles para Airlie beach para fazer evangelismo por uma semana. Foi uma viagem muito longa (15horas) mas valeu muito a pena. Esse lugar e' um ponto muito estrategico porque e' ali que estao os corais e as praias mais bonitas da Australia!
Na nossa equipe de evangelismo tinhamos cerca de 70 jovens que vieram de 3 bases diferentes da JOCUM. Formamos um grupo muito unido e fomos muito abencoados. Tivemos muito tempo de louvor e consgracao e tudo isso foi muito forte. Estar em volta de crentes de verdade, tementes a Deus e’ outra coisa viu. Outro nivel meu. Muito boa essa experiencia.

Na praia, montamos uma barraca enorme que parecia um circo. Cabiam mais de 200 pessoas. Dentro da barraca montamos um palco para shows a noite, e varias mesinhas de café para os convidados sentarem em volta e jogar baralho, conversar e desfrutar do ambiente. Tambem tinhamos uma barzinho de cha’ e café que fez muito sucesso.

O grupo todo foi dividido em varias areas especificas e eu cai logo na area de esportes. Nosso objetivo era conectar com as pessoas durante o dia e convida-las para a barraca a noite. Entao todos os dias jogamos futebol e volley na praia, fizemos muitos amigos e a maioria deles passaram pela barraca a noite para tomar um café ou escutar a musica. Dai a gente conversava e compartilhava nosso testemunhos e nossa fe’ com os novos amigos. Foi muito bom. Conversei e compartilhei com muita gente, a maioria jovens que estao de viagem. Tocamos e impactamos muitas vidas.

No meio da semana tivemos um dia especial para o esporte e fizemos um torneio de volley de praia e eu fui o diretor do torneio. Fizemos um churrasco e com 3 quadras na praia tivemos um super campeonato com 48 participantes. Foi sensacional. Eu organisei tudo igualzinho a um torneio de tennis e deu tudo certo. Foi show de bola.

No ultimo dia eu ganhei uma passagem de graca par ir visitar as ilhas da Whitsunday onde estao as praias mais bonitas do mundo! Bom nao achei que era mais bonito que Fernando de Noranha nao, mas o lugar era mesmo espetacular. Fui com um alemao que estava visitando a barraca e nois demos a sorte de sermos os escolhidos no meio de todos que estavao la’ na barraca naquela noite. A viagem foi sensacional e o alemao (Frankie) que era muito doido e nao sabia de nada acabou aprendendo bastante coisa sobre cristianismo ;) orem pore ele!

Depois do jogo horrivel do Brasil contra a Franca voltamos para a Brisbane (mais 15 horas - no sentido sul dessa vez). Hoje acordamos tarde e depois do almoco tiramos e guardamos todo o equipamento da barraca e lavamos os onibus. Durante as proximas duas semanas vou estar trablhando aqui na base. Vou trabalhar com construcao, jardinagem, cozinha e limpeza de segunda a sexta das 8:30 as 18h. Semana que vem vou assitir as aulas do DTS de esportes e ver como e’ o treinamento deles aqui. Estou bem animado para ver essas aulas - esse era o DTS que eu estava interessado em fazer. Vamos ver como sera’… - JP

YWAM outreach in Airlie Beach

2006-07-03T05:21:00.000-04:00

Ai ai... the things I'll do for the Kingdom of God... Ok Lord, if you really want me to go to Airlie beach (the most amazing beach on the western hemisphere) I'll go.
So one day after I arrived at the baseI got on the bus and came with the YWAM team from Brisbane to Airlie beach to do evangelism for a week. It was a looooong 15 hour trip straight up north, but it was worth the drive. We had 3 YWAM teams there with a total of about 70 YWAMers. All these people were amazing and we had lots of deep, quality, worship and spiritual time together. Very intense and very real. Very powerful too. It was great.
On the first day we got there we helped the others teams to finish setting up our tent. This tent was huge and could easily fit 200 people. Inside it we had a stage, a few coffe table that were used for board games, cards, etc, and a free Chai tea table (which was a major hit). I was put in the sports ministry team and all we did was play soccer and volleyball at the beach all day in order to meet people and invite them to the tent at night. At night we would all be at the tent and hang out with the people that came in for the free Chai and to hang out. Almost every night we also had live music and one day we all got really crazy and had an amazing jaming night. Some how me and these other 5 guys with drums, guitars and trompete sounded really good. It was sooooo much fun. In the middle of the week we organized a volleyball tournament and I was the tournament director. We had a free BBQ and a great tournament. 48 people signed up and participated! Lots of them stopped by the tent at night and we had a chance to share our lives and testimonies with many of them. I ran the tournament like the tennis pizza parties and it worked out really well :)
I had lots of great conversations and many powerful experiences this week. God was so real, present and evident in this tent. It was amazing! Very humbling in times. Most of the people that came into the tent were backpackers from all ove the world, mostly Canadians and Europeans. With most of these I had to talk and listen to them for 1 hour or more before we talked about God and Christianity, but it was always worth being patient. Some times the subject didn't even come up, and it was ok, we had a good time together. So many of these young people were glad that the tent was there and that they could come hang out with us intead of going to the bars and get drunk again... (there is not much to do in Airlie beach). We made many friends and handed a few bibles too. I believe many lives were changed.

On friday, after the amazing jamming session, somebody gave our leader a free trip for two to the Whitsundays Islnad and she ended up giving it to me and another dude that I met that night. This guy (Frankie - from Germany- on the picture above) was so happy! He just walked into the tent, talked with me for like 20 minutes and ended up getting a free trip to the most amazing island and beaches in Australia! I ended up spending the night with Frankie and Michael (Australian dude) whom I had also met that night. Our whole group stayed in an elementary school 15 minutes away from the beach, where we slept on the floor with our sleeping bags. I couldn't go to the school at night because I would have no ride to catch the cruise in the morning, so I ended up crashing with Michael in a really nice hotel right by the beach. It was so nice to sleep in a bed (even though it was only for 5 hours) - I had been sleeping on the floor for a week... Early the next day Frankie and I got on the boat and had to the Whitsundays. The food on the boat was amazing and the beaches and islands were spectacular too. The water was crystal clear and the sand was white as snow and really really thin and soft. We spend the afternoon there swimming and playing frisbee and other games. Loads of fun.
On many nights I was on security duty and I had to stay awake at the tent to watch the sound equipment and make sure no drunk people would sleep or pass out in the tent. It wasn't too bad, specially with the world cup games being at 1am and 5am (we showed all the games on a big screen in the tent and this was also an evangelism tool). After 2 nights with very little sleep and a full day on the boat I was put on security again and my shift was suppose to end at 4:30am. By 10pm I was almost a sleep but I drank lots of coffee and managed to stay awake until the Germany Argentina game at 1am. The game was great but afterwards I was dead, and needed desperately to sleep. Everything went wrong, the van that was suppose to pick us up broke down I was stuck there until 6:30am! It was awful! When the next crew finally arrived we had no car so we had to take a taxi back to the school. After I slept for 3 hours I had to wake up and pack my bags to leave the elementary school. I ended up missing the bus was stuck there for another 3 hours (that I wish I was sleeping)... the rest of the day was pretty rough but it slowly got better. We had a good dinner and a fun last night. The next morning at 5am Brazil played awful and lost to France. Horrendous! After that we cleaned the house and got on the bus again. 15 hours latter we arrived in Brisbane.

For the next two weeks I'll be doing construction work, gardening, moving luggage and helping in the kitchen, from 8:30am to 6pm Monday - Friday. Next week I'll be able to watch some of the Sports DTS (Discipleship Training School) lectures and I am very excited and looking forward to it. That's the main reason why I came to Brisbane and Australia in the first place. Below is a picture of us jamming in the tent :) - JP

Na Estrada / Off the Beaten Path

2006-06-22T05:12:00.000-04:00

Woooohhhhooouuu!!!! Estive na estrada nos ultimos 4 dias e fiz uma viagem sensacional de Melbourne a Sydeny.
Fui com um grupo de gringos e fizemos tudo que tinha direito. Eramos 16 (varios ingleses, duas meninas da Dinamarca (Gitte e Anne) que foram bem legais, um cara da Malasia, uma menina da Singapura, duas alemas e um guia australiano (Craig) que foi sensacional. O cara era muito gente fina, e sabia de tudo sobra a Australia, os atlahos, as historias, cangurus, e tudo mais.

No primeiro dia saimos de Melbourne as 6:30am rumo as prais do sul da Australia que ficam no parquet nacional Wilson Ponontory. Vimos praias sensacionais e chegamos ao ponto geografico mais sul da Australia. Como estava frio nao deu para pegar ondas mas jogamos um futebol australiano na praia, e fizemos escaladas nas rochas de granito. No caminho tambem paramos para ver varios cangurus (uns 100), emas e uns outros animas tipicos da Australia. Muito legal, parecia um safari e dava pra chegar bem pertinho dos bichos. A noite fizemos um churrasco e as 5am e’ claro o Brasil meteu 2 a 0 na Australia! Ainda bem que de Australiano so’ tinha o guia no onibus ;)

No Segundo dia fizemos uma caminhada por uma floresta tropical, visitamos a praia mais longa da Australia (90 milhas) e passamos a noite em um hotel fazenda que e’ um retiro para monges. Nesse lugar eles tinham um brinquedo daqueles da NASA que vc prende os pes e as maos e gira feito louco em todas as direcoes… muito legal! Na janta comemos umas comidas organicas la’ dos monges (muito bom) e depois tivemos uma aulinha de introducao a meditacao. Foi interessante. Depois da aula tive uma conversa interessante com a professora que e’ budista. Depois sentamos em volta da fogueira ate’a hora de ir dormir.

No terceiro dia pegamos a estrada de terra e seguimos o “rio neve” e vimos paisagens incriveis! Vejam as fotos em breve! Cruzamos a fronteira dos estados Victoria e Nova South Whales e chegamos ao monte Kosciusko que e’ o ponto mais alto da Australia. La’ fomos na estacao de esqui e tivemos varias guerras de bola de neve e alugamos umas pranchichas la’ para descer nas montanhas (so’ para quando cai). Foi massa’!!! Passamos a noite em Jindabyene em um hotel com uma vista fantastica do lago. Ali jantamos e jogamos sinuca com os amigos ate’ tarde e as 5am todos os ingleses e eu acordamos para ver Inglaterra e Suecia (2-2).

No quarto dia passamos bastante tempo no onibus para chegar a Sydney a noite. No caminho passamos por Canberra, a capital, e vimos o parlamento, predios do governo e um memorial de guerra dedicado aos soldados australianos (muito legal esse lugar). A capital em si e’ bem pequena e nao tinha muito mais o que fazer por la’. Mais 3 horas de viagem e chegamos em Sydeny. Fui direto para o aeroporto pegar meu voo para Brisbane. Aqui estou na base da JOCUM e vou trabalhar aqui por 3 semanas. Amanha ja’ estamos saindo de viagem para o norte, Airlie Beach, para fazer evangelismo por uma semana. Dizem que la’ e’ lindo. E’ la’ que tem os mergulhos e praias famosas da Australia. Mais 15 horas de viagem... o pior e’ que eu vou perder o jogo do Brasil as 7am. Tomora que pegue ao menos no radio! - JP.

IN ENGLISH

Woooohhhooouuu!!! I just had an amazing 4 day road trip from Melbourne to Sydney. I went with a group of 16, mostly Europeans, and a phenomenal Australian guide (Craig). It was fantastic, we really got off road and saw tons of the country!

Day 1- we left Melbourne at 6:30am and went to Wilson Promontory National Park to check out some amazing beaches, and reach the Australia’s most southern point on the map. We hiked on granite rocks and played Australian rules football on the beach. On the way there we saw tons of kangaroos (about 100), emas and wombats (all very different animals). Very cool, we got very close to them. At night we stayed in a camp ground and grilled BBQ for dinner. At 5am Brazil beat Australia (2-0)!!!! Thankfully the only ozy on the bus was the guide, ehehahahehe.

Day 2 – we saw Lake Entrance and went for a walk on (a cold) tropical forest. Then we went to Australia’s longest beach (90 mile beach) and spent the night in a retreat place in the High Country of Australia that is run by monks. They had a great play room with one of those toys from NASA that you strap your feet and hands you spin in every possible direction… very fun (before dinner). For dinner we had some crazy organic food and it was excellent! Then we had a intro to meditation class and it was interesting. Afterwards I had an interesting talk with the teacher who was a buddist. Then we sat around the fire until we went to bed. Very nice accommodations.

Day 3 – We drove along the Snowy river and had some amazing views!! Check out the photos latter. We crossed the state borders of Victoria and New South Whales and went to Mount Kosciusko (highest point in Australia). There we played in the snow with sleds and many snow ball fights. Great time! We spent the night at lake Jindabyene at a nice hotel/motel. After dinner we played some fun games of pool and then at 5am me and the other 5 Englishmen watched England vs Sweeden (2-2).

Day 4 was mostly driving in order to get to Sydney by 6pm. We stopped in Canberra (the capital) to see the parliament and government buildings. We also saw a great war memorial. Very cool place. Nice little town, good landscape. 3 hours latter we arrived in Sydney where I caught a flight to Brisbane where I’ll be doing my 3 weeks of missionary work. The base here is really nice and there is a good sense of community all around. But tomorrow I am leaving already with a team for a week of evangelism in Early Beach (this is the place where you see all the pics from Australia. It’s suppose to be amazing corral riefs and beaches). So 14 more hours on the road tomorrow. The worst part is that I’ll miss Brazil’s game! Hopefully we’ll listen to it on the radio. Gotta get some sleep. We leave at 5am! - JP

Australia Open - Melbourne

2006-06-17T05:15:00.000-04:00

Eu joguei tennis no aberto da Australia!!! Ja' estou em Melbourne e e' claro que eu fui ver as quadras do aberto da Australia. Chegando la' peguei uma raquete emprestada e bati uma bola com um muleque australiano que estava treinando. Dei uma peia no coitado... ganhei oficalmente minha primeira rodada no aberto da Australia!!!! Muito fera' as quadras. Olha eu ai dando a entrevista da vitoria :)
Bom antes de sair de Sydney passei um dias nas praias de la' (Bondi e Manly), sensacionais!!! Muito show de bola Bondi. Dei uma malhada la' na praia que foi o ouro (bom de mais!). As ondas la' estavam maiores dos que a do Havaii. Muito surfista bom por la'.
Melbourne tambem e' uma cidade sensacional, com muitos parques e jardins por toda a cidade. Uma delicia de andar e passar tempo nesses parques... nem parece que vc esta' na cidade. O rio Yarra passa bem no meio da cidade e na beira do rio tem de tudo... restaurantes, lojas, calcadao, barcos e mais. Bem legal de andar e correr na beira do rio :) O complexo do Australia Open e' sensacional e ja' fui la' duas vezes. Tambem assiti um jogo de Futebol Australiano num estadio muito fera' daqui! Futebol Australiano e' meio que uma mistura de rugby e futebol normal. E' bem legal, o campo e' enorme e os cara tem que correr pra caramba! O time da casa tomou uma goleada, mas foi bom que eu vi muitos gols :)
E' impressionante o tanto de gente asiatica que tem por aqui!!! Pelo o que eu ja' vi todo australiano tem cara de estrangeiro... pra todo lado tem gringo, australiano com cara de gringo e aisaticos. Em Sydeny tambem tinha muito brasileiros! Ver o jogo do Brasil la' foi joia. Assisti no I-max (cinema gigantesco). Os jogadores na tela eram maiores do que em pessoa! A tela e' enorme!!! 5am foi show!
Aqui se dirige na esquerda e eu fico louco na hora de atrevessar a rua. Que confusao meu... muito louco. E na hora de andar na calcada a mesma coisa, pq como os carros todo mundo ando do lado esquerdo. Aqui eu nao ando, eu desvio... mas to melhorando. Em termos de andar na cidade ja' estou craque e ja' sei chegar em todos os pontos importantes em Sydney e Melbourne. Bem facil de aprender as ruas daqui.
Amanha as 6:30am estou saindo em um tour de 4 dias de Melbourne para Sydney. No caminho vamos ver varias cidades tipicas austrlianas, montanhas, cangurus, Canberra (a capital) e mais... depois eu vou para Brisbane passar 3 semanas la' fazendo um trabalho missionario. Depois disso eu devo ir para Nova Zelandia. Amanha tem que acordar cedo! E o Brasil vai jogar contra a Australia e eu aqui no territorio inimigo meu... seja o que Deus Quiser e Brasil pra frente!

In English - Melbourne

I played in the Australian Open!!! It's offical, I've won my first round :) I got to play with some kid that was practicing here in the Australian Tennis Center (home of the Australian Open -Melbourne). I crushed the poor kid, but then I gave him a few tips. The courts here are so nice... I was pumped :) Dream come true!
Just before leaving Sydeny I spent a day at the beaches there and they are amazing. Bondi and Manly are great and I had an awsome time there!
Melbourne is the capita of sport in Australia so I am loving it. They have so many stadiums and facitlies! Last night I went to an Australian Rules Football match at Telestra dome. Sooooo much fun! Crazy sport, fun to watch. It's kind of a mix of soccer and rugby (I think). The gardens here are amazing along with the Yarra river that runs through the city and everything else around it. Very relaxing atmosphere.
In Australia people drive on the left side, and it's extremely confusing at first. I've dodged a few close ones on the streets, but now I looked both ways, twice, before crossing any street (even the one ways) eheheheha :)
Tomorrow morning I leave on a 4 day tour headed to Sydney. We'll see cangorus, mountains, Canberra (the capital) and lots of other typical Australian things... should be fun. On Monday Brazil plays Australia and I am on enemy ground! It's going to be Brazil all the way baby!!!
I got to see the first game on the I-max in Sydney. It was great! Lots of Brazilians there :) by the way, tons of Asians everywhere and all Australians look foreign...
Gotta wake up early and hit the road tomorrow... more pics coming soon! Vamos Brazil!!!

Beautiful Sydney

2006-06-12T19:25:00.000-04:00

Wooohhhhoouuu!!! I am Sydney!!! All is well and so far I am having a great time. Lots of exploring! I've seen and experienced so much already that is hard to put it all in words so here are some highlights...
After I left Colorado I actually got to spend a day in Los Angeles which was a nice (unexpected) addition to the trip. I got on one of those city tour buses and went everywhere and saw everything... Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Venice beach, Chinese theater, farmers market and more. We had a few stops and a nice guide and the whole thing was a lot of fun. At night I came back to the airport to catch my flight.
The flight to Sydney wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. It was not bad at all and it was easy to adjust to the time change too. The key is to sleep on the plane and stay awake here on the first day (no naps). But man on the first night here I crashed at 9pm and was gone...
My hostel is clean, has lots of cool people and it is in a great location. Yesterday I went on an amazing run from my hostel through the botanical gardens to the Sydney port and Opera house. Unbelievable!!! So nice to run by the water and on the park and then around the Opera house. Amazing workout/ run/ worship time :)
Today I am going to check out some beaches, and tomorrow I might go to the mountains. So far in the city I've seen lots of great architecture, cool modern museums and an awsome Jazz festival in Darlin Harbor!!! The weather is a bit cold, but not bad. Brazil plays at 5am and I am so pumped for our first game. Australians are really into the world cup (Thank God!!!) so it's been a lot of fun already :)

Em portugues
Por aqui beleza pura! Sydeny e' muito fera' mesmo. Ta' fazendo um pouco de frio mas da' para explorar tudo que tem pra fazer aqui. Meu alberque e' massa, e esta' bem perto do porto. Ontem dei uma corrida ate' o porto de Sydeny e a casa de Opera atravessando o jardim botanico... sensacional!!!! Bom de mais correr por aqui. Muita gente ativa por aqui.
Antes de chegar me Sydney passei um dia em Los Angeles e foi joia tambem. Peguei um onibus tour la' e fomos e todos os lugares intressantes... Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Teatro chines, praia Veneza e mais...
A chegada em Sydney foi tranquila e o ajuste ao fuzorario foi tranquilo. Indo rumo Oeste nao bem problema... e' so dormir no aviao e nao dormir durante o dia quando chegar aqui ;)
Hoje vou explorar umas praias e fazer um passeio de barco. Tem muito extrangeiro por aqui e o ingles daqui tem um sutaque diferente, mas da' para entender melhor do que o sutaque da Inglaterra. O povo aqui ta' animado para a copa e todos aqui estao mais interessados nos jogos do Brasil do que da Autralia!!! Bom amanha as 5 da madruagad estarei vidrado na telinha com um monte de gringo aqui vendo nossa selecao rumo ao hexa!!! Segunda copa que eu vou ver de madrugada- que furada meu... Hoje vou as praias amanha as montanhas... fui!

Colorado Highlights

2006-06-05T12:16:00.000-04:00

Wow! The last two weeks have been so exciting and full of highligts! First I got to see my mom and sister (it has been 16 months since I've seen my mom)! Then Kimberly came over and spent a weekend with us! And yesterday my sister got married! Well, she is not officially married yet, the real wedding will be in Brazil on August 26, but they had their engagement celebration/reception here in Fort Collins for all their American friends and family that won't be able to come to Brazil in August. - Check out all the photos on the links on the right :)

My family and I had soooooo much fun with Kimberly in the rocky mountains!!! She flew in on Friday night and stayed with us until Monday. Friday night we had some good pizza in Old Town (downtown Ft Collins) and on Saturday we spent the day at Hestes Park. This place is amazing! We were surrounded by snow top rocky mountains, wild animals, and amazing view points every few miles. We had some snow ball fights, a killer picnic, great nap by the river and lots of fun pictures :)
On Sunday we went to my sister's church in the morning and after lunch and a deserved rest we went running on the beautiful mountains around Ft Collins. It was such a fun run/workout!!! Monday morning came too soon and we had to go our separate ways in the Denver airport...
- After Kimberly left my mom and Luisa focused more on the wedding stuff and I got to hang out some with my sister's roomate and go on a awsome hike onGray Rock Mountain. It was a tought 7 miles and 7700 feet hike, specially on the way up! Well somehow we get off the trail (unitentionally) and ended up on the wrong side of the mountain man. The hike quickly turned into rock climbing and thank God we had some Colorado mountain boys (guys that move like monkeys) with us! They would climb ahead and throw us ropes for us to get over the tough parts. It was AWSOME! I am glad we got to do some rock climbing. Once we got to the top we saw the trail and the way down was cake...
The greatest highlight was certainly my sister's wedding yesterday! Luisa looked beautiful! First Preston (groom) walked in with his grandmother, then I walked in with Luisa. Luisa and Preston took their seats on the stage and the grandma and I set on the family table. After that the pastor said a few words, one of their friends sang a beautiful song, they exchanged some words, and cut the cake. After that lots of picutres, coffe expresso bar, cake, chocolate fountain, and fellowship meeting the new family. Everything looked great. The parents and family did a great job with all the decoration!

EM PORTUGUES
Wow, as ultimas duas semanas tem sido sensacionais!!! Muita alegria por aqui. Primeiro tivemos o reencontro da nossa familia, faziam 16 meses que nao via minha mae! Depois a Kimberly (gata/namorada) veio nos visitar aqui no Colorado e tivemos um super fim de semana juntos, e ontem foi o casamento da Luisa!!! Bom o casamento oficial sera' no Brasil em agosto, mas essa foi a comemoracao que eles fizeram para os amigos e parentes que nao vou poder ir ao Brasil em agosto. Vejam todas as fotos nos links ao lado...

O verao aqui no Colorado e' super legal porque faz bastante calor e da' para aproveitar bem a montanhas e a natureza do local. Essa semana mesmo participei de uma super escalada ao topo de uma montanha aqui perta da cidade da Luisa (Monte Pedra Cinza). Foram 11km de caminhada (7700 pes) e se isso nao fosse o suficiente na subida nos erramos o caminho e sem querer saimos da trilha... logo logo a caminhada virou escalada e em alguns pontos tivemos ate' que usar cordas para consiguir escalar as partes mais dificeis. Mas foi muito FERA'!!! Chegando la' em cima achamos a trilha e a descida foi moleza :)
A cerimonia da Luisa foi muito bonita! Primeiro o Preston (noivo) entrou com a avo' dele e depois eu entrei com a Luisa. O Preston e a Luisa sentaram la' na frente e eu e a avo' sentamos na mesa dos familiares. Depois o pastor deu uma palavra, uma amiga deles cantou uma musica muito bonita, eles trocaram umas palavras, cortaram o bolo, e depois tivemos a festa. Um super bar de cafe' (coisa de americano, mas muito bom viu), bolo e fonte de chocolate - que delicia!!! Depois de muitas fotos tivemos uma recepcao mais intima so' para os familiares e amigos dos noivos onde a Luisa e o Preston abriram os presentes e lerao um monte de cartoes. Eles ganharam muita coisa boa e foi divertido ver eles abrindo os presentes e cartoes :)
Ai esta' a familia completa do noivo e noiva. Click nos links ao lado para ver todas as fotos!

The Links - (Os links a direita)

2006-06-02T21:37:00.000-04:00

On the right side you can click on some links to see some of my pictures of the last two years…

- Pics from Jessa are the photos that I got from Jessa’s camera. Lots of wedding pictures, new years, twilight, small group, and showers…

- El tour de Europe – this has pictures of my journey in Europe in 2004. Two and a half months of backpacking through 8 countries in western Europe (England, Denmark, Sweeden, Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Germany)

- Pictures from Athens has random photos of friends

- The Atheltes in Action (AIA) camp was an awesome fun experience learning how to apply biblical principles into sports and competition.

- Christmas 2005 are picture of my sister and I in Athens and Atlanta during Christmas and new years – great times!

-Thanksgiving 2005 I spent with my sister in Colorado- lots of hiking and snowboarding!

em Portugues

Vc pode clicar nos links a direita para ver varias fotos minhas dos ultimos dois anos…

- Pics from Jessa – fotos de casamentos e amigos no ano novo…

- El Tour de Europe – as fotos da minha viagem a Europa em 2004. 8 paises em dois meses e meio na Estrada (Inglaterra, Dinamarca, Suecia, Espanha, Portugal, Italia, Franca, Alemanha)

- Pictures of Athens – fotos dos meus amigos em Atenas (onde eu moro).

- AIA Camp –as fotos de um acampamento para Atletas de Cristo que eu participei, onde aprendemos a usar principios biblicos em copeticao e esportes.

- Chritmas 2005 – o natal que eu e a Luisa passamos juntos na Georgia.

- Thanksgiving 2005 –o super feriado de acoes de graca que passei com a Luisa no Colorado.

In the beggining God created the Heaven's and the Earth

2006-06-01T13:05:00.000-04:00

In the beggining God created the Heaven's and the Earth. I am not that creative, so this is just to see how this blog stuff works. Nonetheless I do believe that story from Genesis 1! It's the story of my life... :)