Brasil Bound (and Colombia too and then maybe back to México)

hey all, thanks so much for your continued prayers and support as I make transitions in my life. I had a great time in Guatemala with my brother and saw so many beautiful things and met so many beautiful people. It was interesting to talk to various of Pete's friends and just get to know Guatemalan history. It was neat to talk to various students and former students about their view of Guatemala, the civil war, social injustice and suffering there. I really feel like it opened my eyes to some of the pains of Central América and most of Latin América with dictatorships, coups and civil wars. I think its just hard for me to fathom the concept of civil war and a blatantly oppressive government, its just so far from my experience. Its amazing how that could become or is for so many people the norm and just part of their story and experience. It really just helped me to understand better some of the pain, doubts, struggles and pessimism that often pains Latin American politics and attitudes. While in Guatemala we also had the chance to visit this beautiful lake called Atitlan which was nice to just relax for a bit. We took kayaks out into the lake and it was just so gorgeous. On my way home from Guatemala, I was stopped in Houston by homeland security and interrogated and searched for like 20 minutes which made me miss my flight, but i eventually got home at 2am and have been home for about a week now. It has been great catching up with friends and family. I have finalized plans with Brasil and almost Colombia as well and perhaps back to Mexico to end it all. I will be in Sao Paulo, Brasil for 6 months living in an intentional community in the slums and working with a church plant and the young people of my community. I will live in a house with 5 guys (Brasilians) and look forward to the challenges of a new place, culture and language. Due to visa restrictions I will only be able to stay there 6 months, my plan from there is to go to Colombia for 2 months to work with a LAM (latin america mission) missionary who does microenterprise development ministry. From there I may return to México for one last summer (my 5th last summer) before returning home next August to make decisions for what is next. I hope all is well with you all. Much love and God bless.



my bro and I
three countries that are near to my heart

a bad translation in Guatemala