October 26, 2007

Hello,  Friends and Family!

Things are rolling along closer and closer to the end of our time here in Portugal. Kim and I are so sad about that. Every time the subject of leaving comes up, we say, “No, no, we’re not going to think about that.” But things are going well.

For the past few weeks, Kim and I have been doing a B discussion group in connection with the ESL classes. In order to finish our academic work in Portugal, Kim and I had to find out people’s opinions and interpretations about 1 Corinthians chapters 11-14. When the other members of the m team heard about our requirement, they thought it would be a great idea to discuss these chapters with our ESL students. That way, we would have more opportunities to talk about JC with them, instead of just teaching them English. So we started the discussion group. We had no idea who would show up or what would happen, but we started it—and every time we had it, someone showed up and the discussion went well! One guy came to almost every discussion, even though he lived over an hour away. We think he’s really searching. He has a good bit of ch background, but from what he said, we think he was really burned by his ch experience.

Another thing Kim and I have been working on is gathering the cultural information we need to write our ethnography paper. In that effort, we’ve had several good interviews and conversations with people, and we’ve found out some things that have really clarified who the Portuguese are and what kind of place Portugal is. From what we’ve found, Portugal seems to be a country in the middle of change. More and more immigrants are coming into the country, bringing new culture and ideas with them. The older generation’s worldview was shaped by the Salazar dictatorship. The new generation, who has not experienced a dictator, has a different worldview than the older one. The fact that Portugal is changing so much makes me think that now is an exciting time to be a m here, because change and the unknown often drive people toward Dad.

Speaking of different cultures, Kim and I had an interesting experience the other day. We had to go to the Loja da Cidadão to get our visas renewed. The Loja da Cidadão (It means “The Citizen’s Store” – slightly ironic, I think) is the place in Lisbon where anyone and everyone goes to pay bills, take care of any type of legal business, renew visas, take care of driver’s license things, get information—basically any official thing people might need to do, they can do it there.

For this reason, almost all the immigrants and other foreigners in Lisbon have to go there. Not only that, but the Loja is in the center of Lisbon, in an area full of tourists from all over the world. During our 3 hours at the Loja (most of that time we spent standing and waiting), we saw and heard people from almost every country in the world, either inside or just outside the building. I’ve never experienced anything like that before. It overwhelmed me: the sheer variety of skin colors, body types, clothing styles, languages, passport colors. Amazing!

A couple of other interesting things have happened to me lately, both on Thursdays, and both involving people named Ana. I have my language lesson on Thursdays. Two Thursdays ago, on my way home from a lesson, I met a girl named Ana on the bus. She’s a university student too, studying business. We had a good conversation, and she mentioned that she always took the bus on Thursdays.

The next Thursday, during my language lesson, I was talking with my teacher, Ana, about a text I had written in Portuguese about religion in Portugal. Ana had corrected it for me, and I wanted to know her opinion about what it said. Even though she is a fairly strong Catholic as far as Catholics in Portugal go, she admitted that many times, Catholicism doesn’t have all the answers. When people have problems, the Catholic church just says, “Pray about it.” It’s not very practical. However, she said she had read some of the NT; some American m friends had given it to her several years ago. She said there were more answers in the NT ! She’s so close. Who knows what kind of work Dad is doing in her life right now?

That same day, I saw my other friend Ana at the bus stop again! We rode home together and had a good conversation. We’ve also messaged each other a few times. Hopefully, I’ll be able to spend more time with her in the future.

Well, there’s so much more I could talk about—fun smiling people in Tires, chocolate cake adventures, gypsies and fish carvings, family craziness, Bulgarian B translations, lost shirts, Flat Maggie…oh yes, it’s been fun! Thanks for yarping and reading my emails and caring. Lots of love!

Beijinhos,

Brittaney

1. Me with Sara , my supervisor’s daughter, at the jungle gym in Quinta das Conchas. A couple of weeks ago, I babysat for Sara and her two sisters while my supervisors went with Kim and Emily to an all-day meeting. We had lots of fun, and the weather was wonderful!

2. Me with my friend Irina and Flat Maggie. We had coffee one Sunday afternoon, and then we went to the park to talk and walk. We had a really good conversation about spiritual things. Along the way, Irina agreed to be in a photo with Flat Maggie. Flat Maggie is a paper doll I got from a girl named Maggie Noyes at my church back home. She and her elementary school class are doing a project, in which they send flat versions of themselves to friends around the world, and then wait to see the different kinds of adventures their flat selves have.

3. The view of Lisbon from the top of Parque Eduardo Sétimo. Parque Eduardo is just a short walk from my house, and I go there a few days a week. It’s crawling with tourists, but it’s beautiful, relaxing, and the perfect place to get some exercise. You can see the entire city from the top of the park. It’s breathtaking! Every time I see the view, I think, “Thank you, Father, for sending me to Portugal.”

A few yarper requests:

1. For my family. Many of you probably already know about this, but many of you don’t. Right now, my mom is really sick, my dad is hunting for a job, and one of my brothers has a broken wrist. My other brother is finishing up his senior year of high school, trying to make decisions about college, and my sister is making some changes in her work and studies as well.

2. For the relationships we’ve made. We’ve met so many people, and we don’t know exactly what God is doing in them through us. Some of them seem to really be searching for the Father, whether they realize it or not.

3. For our schoolwork. Kim and I are working really hard to research for our ethnography paper and to keep up with studying Portuguese. Things are going really well so far (thanks for the prayers, everyone. You all are amazing!!), and we are learning more and more.

4. For Kim and Emily’s new venture. Kim and Emily (our roommate) have started working with the Bapt. ch. in Tires, with the youth drama group. They will be helping the drama group put together a Christmas program, and much more. Yarp for them as they travel back and forth a lot from Lisbon to Tires (about an hour’s trip).