JP ----> Athens, Georgia

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

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

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

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

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 +...

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....

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!