mini adventure

A few weeks ago we got word that a good friend of our from DTS was leading a team from his church to Sao Paulo. so naturally we began to plan of a way to visit him. :D Me Dawn and Cornelia were determined to make it happen even after we found out he was 2.5 hours away across this gigantic city. The other day we sat down and google mapped EVERYTHING finding out when the buses come, how long we are on each bus, how the metro works, how to fill up and put money on our metro cards, which house number we would have to get off the bus at and all that crazy legistics stuff. We even wrote down some phrases in Portuguese saying "is this the right bus" and "Can you tell us when to get off the bus" ect.. haha So Saturday we began our journey with snacks, maps, camera, and water bottles in hand :) We were so excited to conquer this city and only slightly nervous not knowing the public transit system so well and not having a guide/translater with us (no worries, we prayed hard core the day before haha). And God TOTALLY led our way. On each bus we had someone sweet that was willing to help us out and tell us when to get off and only once did we have to chase down a bus every other time the bus was RIGHT there when we needed it, seriously it was crazy. We would get off one bus and our next bus would be the next one that came up or we would get our metro ticket run downstairs and our subway would be right there to hop on haha. Travel went so smooth and we felt so legit traveling across the city using 2 metros and SEVEN buses in all. After the last bus let us off and before we walked to the church Jonathan was staying at we blew up some balloons and wrote little notes because his birthday had been on Wednesday. It was such a blast to spend the day with a good friend and to get out and explore the city a little. Jonathan's team is working on building a church so we got to see some of that process as well. There was only on time where I felt like an idiot as I tried to ask the driver a question in Portuguese and the lady next to me laughed and shook her head as I butchered their language haha. Such a day of new memories..good food...and great talks with a friend.  :D

his name is Bryon

He had a soccer ball. 

I had a camera. 

He played

I photographed.

I rolled the ball to him. 

He smiled :)

He laughed

and I loved.

His name is Bryon

and he is my neighbor

precious Bryon.. 

Jesus loves you..

Sex+Money

Sex+Money is branch of photogenx. It is the outcome of the first Around The World Track (what i am currently doing). These student had it on their hearts to continue traveling and they RVed around the U.S documenting sex trafficking in our own backyard. The Lord has led them in incredible ways and has given them vision and access into interviews with government officials, victims, johns, and brothels owners. They took all the footage and compiled it into a full length movie set to be released this April. You can view all their work and journeys at http://photogenx.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&layout=blog&id=8&Itemid=93


The movie trailor:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsY93C8cm54 

behind the scenes :)

James Nachtwey

The other day in class we watched a documentary on the life and work of photographer James Nachtwey, its called "War Photographer." If you are a photographer and enjoy looking at amazing composition and black and white photographs definitely consider watching it, or at least check out the website ;) The movie is slow moving but once finished you wont regret watching it. James has devoted his LIFE to his work, he's goes to the place and event no one else wants to go. He get up close and personal and really builds relationship with those he's shooting and it shows in his photographs. James photographs war and destruction and the effects of it. He shoots black and white film and has an incredible eye for composition. His commentary and quotes through the movie are so inspiring.

www.JamesNachtwey.com 

(images pulled from google images.)

Nester

I asked him what one this he would like to say to the world.. he responded, "I would tell the more favored class to pay attention to the less favored class."

lollipop, lollipop

meet. SCOTT

     Scott is one of our staff.. He is

•  hillariously funny
•  pricise
•  a tech guru
• a lover of coffee
•  and his height will forever keep us from getting seperated in the subway
•  oh.. and we call him scotchy.. cuz it's cool

Happy 21st! :)

So today marks my 21st year of life :D as well as Sam's19th year of life! Sam is a fellow teammate of mine and so last night (Saturday) we had a mini-pre birthday party :D Complete with pizza and cake (and coffe!) and candles and a movie! It was so much fun and we decided on watching Bourne Identity and then when it finished.. around 11:30.. we decided to watch the second movie.. Bourne Supremacy haha annddd we made popcorn! haha it was lots of fun and then today we had tons of leftover cake and tonight we plan on watching the third movie in the series as well as maybe playing some games..and eat more cake of course :) its just one big birthday weekend haha. Thanks so much to everyone for making it special! This morning I got to open up a birthday letter from home and had a sweet birthday surprise message from Eric this morning as well :) thanks so much everyone!

My Neighbors :)

Misael

I asked him what brings him joy. He responded, ..My name is Misael, I am 11 and what makes me
happy is playing ball...

Yesterday we went to Cracolândia.. "crack land" as they call it here.. its an area with lots of drug abuse and a large slum.. the slum is full of families in shanty type homes as seen in the pictures. The very first picture is the start of a riot that we passed.. someone had set fire to a pile of tires and tons of police were swarming around. Our intention in going to the slum was to meet and talk with the families and see a church service they hold there. That day it was pouring down rain though :( and we were unable to do much other than stand beneath the little bit of roof and attempt to stay dry :( hopefully we can go back again this coming week, and I can give a more detailed up date of our time.

Born into Brothels

yesterday I was inspired, my heart was broken for the brothel children of India, and I was blessed by the brave woman and photographer who took on such an incredible project. This movie is INCREDIBLE, and we had the privledge of whatching it in photo class. I beg and plead with you to check it out. Born into Brothels is a documentary about this photographer who spent time living in a brothel in Calcutta, India and working to teach the children photography. The children are so beautiful and smart and the responses to the question the videographer asks them are so profound, they understand so much at their young age about life. And they capture beautiful things through their innocent photography. Please take a look at this documentary and you will forever be changed by these children :) As the movie started my eyes already started to fill with tears and I felt the pain and sadness that I had felt for those in the sex industry in the Philiipines. This movie though takes such a different approach, focusing on the children. So please please please rent it, netflix it,  ..just watch it :)

(www.kids-with-camera.org)

God speaks

So I promised I would tell you more about our prayer time the other day, so here goes! :) We prayed about a variety of things such as asking God what he wants for us personally, and for the group and then we also prayed about which 3 things we want our track to focus on. The track that went last year wished they had figured out a focus earlier on because now they are in Kona trying to assemble all their experiences and stories and photos without a clear focus. We all split us and prayed about it and listened to see what the Lord had to say. When we all came back we shared what things were put on our hearts, and we expected to all have different answers and passions and what not but it was the opposite! everyone had the same three answers! some people said street kids/orphans.. a few said homelessness and the root of that issue and others said restoring worth into women/working with sex trafficking. But everyone that shared, shared 1 or 2 of those same issues! When I was praying three words popped into my head. First was loneliness (which I believe links to homelessness) second was beauty and worth (which links to the women/sex trafficking) and the third was silence, and I saw this picture of a kid in the street all alone and I just got this burden for people who through circumstance have become silent, they have been pushed aside and no one has given the time to listen (and I think that relates to the street kids/orphans) So yeah it was awesome to come back together and see how the things I received when praying linked up with what everyone else prayed for and what not. This got us really excited just to see the direction God is leading us.. we are still trying to find some sort of ministry to get involved with that we can go back to every week. The way the track is run is because you have schooling and courses the ministry part is sort of left up to you to find and pursue, so I definitely want to try and get plugged in some where. Whats cool about all the traveling we will be doing as well though is you really learn what "every day" ministry looks like. Because we will be busy studying and not always have time to go out and work in the slums ect you have to rely on finding those small day to day things to serve people with. You learn to really live out what it means to be like Jesus and walk in love and humility and with a serving heart no matter where you go and what you come in contact with. All that being said haha I am really excited for what is ahead for our group :)

H2.Ohh

So you may have read in the news about the flooding in Australia and the Philippines AND Brazil.. seems to be a lot of that happening right now. Well, we as well had some flooding in our room :) Its been raining pretty hard every night and now two nights in a row our roof has leaked.. last night it leaked really bad starting at 3 in the morning.. the night before we were able to catch it before going to bed. Its brought quite the excitment and scrammble as we tried to quickly find pots to catch the streams. 5 pots were being used at one point. Here are some photos to document said event. :)

 

Ephesians 4:1-4

¹ Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. ² Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. ³ Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. ⁴ For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.

Meet. LILY

I would like to slowly introduce you to each of my teammates.. starting with LILY!

• she is quirky.. BEAUTIFUL..and brilliant
  
• the coolest chinese person I know
• she can sleep anywhere in any position for HOURS! haha I wish I could get as much sleep as she does :)

São Paulo:Brazil

well.. I have arrived :D

I got to São Paulo around noon on the 6th very tired from not getting any sleep on the plane the night before haha. The place we are staying is a small YWAM base its basically one house, a chapel/classroom and another building that I believe is a guys bathroom/ other classrooms maybe. Where we are staying there are lots of trees surrounding the house so its nice and cool and blocks us from the Brazilian heat :) Brazil is very tropical so it is humid and sunny during the day and usually showers late afternoon/ evening.. Sao Paulo is a city of about 15 million... their largest slum holding 1 million of those people. our hearts have already been burdened for the homeless in the area and we hope to do some ministry with them in the future. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what a Bazillion looks like. This city is one of the most diverse I've been to. Some are dark, some are white some have African American decent while others look Japanese. It's been neat getting to know the culture/people. They are all very friendly :) So far we've have lots of orientation and getting to know the area, tomorrow starts our photography class and "normal" schedule. There is a team from Nashville staying here as well so it is very crammed.. its taken a little bit to get used to community living again :) Adjusting to being away from home/ the comforts of your normal life again was harder than expected.. knowing I wont be going back for a very long time I think made it worse. I'm still trying to find my place and purpose here/on this team trusting in God during all the transitioning. We had some beautiful prayer time as a team and really got sort of a direction for this years Track Team.. I will post more about that later. Yesterday we took the subway and a bus and walked around down town for a bit..after standing in a 2 hour line to exchange our money haha quite the experience :) Not many people speak English here so that has been an adjustment as well.. but we have been learning some Portuguese :) its fun and I like being able to speak a few phrases here and there :)

This is my home for the next three months

the wildlife around base :) ..reminds me of home haha

a huge famous church that we found shelter from the rain in

JOSHUA.

⁵ No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. ⁶ Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.

⁷ “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.

.....

¹⁶ Then they answered Joshua, “Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. ¹⁷ Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the LORD your God be with you as he was with Moses. ¹⁸ Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey it, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!”