Jesus es meu amado, Jesus, nunca te deixarei

Hey all, i hope all is well with you. I continue to grow in my knowledge and understanding of the portuguese language and Brasilian culture, although I most certainly have a long way to go. I am still trying to define my ministry and figure out what exactly I'll be doing for the next 5+ months. This week I started working with a futsol (sort of indoor soccer, the world cup of futsol is being played in Brasil right now), its the most played sport here, much more popular than soccer on a big field because its played on a basketball sized field and is a 5v5 game. I am learning how to play and working as an assisant coach at the same time. The ball movement and defense seem more related to ice hockey than soccer and I'm getting the hang of it the more I watch and play. The ministry I'm working with has ballet classes, a computer lab, daily meals as well as a variety of soccer teams for kids from several neigboring favelas (slums) here in Sao Paulo. I am mainly right now working with kids from another favela (not the one with the community house I want to live in), its been neat getting to know the kids a bit, we start each practice with a miny Bible study and a prayer and then start training. John, the missionary I'm working with, seems to be thinking about starting a new community house in this favela and wants me to be one of the people to start it. The idea is pretty exciting although not exactly what I was expecting to do, the frustrating part about it is that I can only be here for 6 months and so even if it really took off I would have to leave in the middle of it all. I continue to work on Saturday and Sunday with the Casa Esperança (the house I thought I'd live in) working with both a kids and teenage group. I have enjoyed getting to know the people in the community house better as well as the kids and youth group. I find that conversations in Portuguese are getting easier although my vocabulary still leaves something to be desired. In one on one situations my understanding of the language is pretty high, but I still struggle to keep up in a situation where a lot of people are talking at once. I can get around on the buses now at least to the limited places I need to go and am hoping to have a chance to explore the city a bit more. I am attending a middle class mennonite church that is like a 5 minute walk from the community house and where several of the kids from the favela attend. I met the pastors of that church this week and hope to get involved some there too. Thanks for all your prayers and support. Much love and God bless.