Oi from Brasília, Brazil!
The past few days have been an adventure here in Brasília. The LifeShape teams welcomed us with dancing and love. Shortly after arriving, we bonded over shared dances and songs.
Our first day spent in Brasília was filled with laughter and worship as we began to intentionally meet new people and dig deeper into our relationships as Fellows. An amazing experience we got to kick off the international trip with was the LifeShape Conference! We attended the LifeShape Conference for three days which ended around midnight. We started our days with a traditional Brazilian breakfast consisting of pão do quiejo (a delicious cheese bread), fruits, fresh juices, and chocolate cake. We then had free time to swim, play card games, and build deeper relationships with each other. Later, for lunch, we had a variety of chicken, rice, beans, salad, and everyone’s favorite… pão do quiejo. Then, we changed into our clothes for the conference and headed over to the church.
“The conference was amazing! Even though there were a lot of differences, we all had one thing in common and that was our love for the Lord.”
-Abigail Handorf
The LifeShape Conference was such an impactful experience for us Fellows. The worship was unique because we got to see the Brazilian culture through it. The people of Brazil love to celebrate, so throughout worship, we sang and danced. When it was time for the teaching, all of us Fellows received a translation device to help us interpret what the pastor was teaching on. One of the main points that was being preached was about leadership. We need to be leaders that keep God ahead of us and not behind us. We want God to lead us in the direction that’s according to His will, and not our own. Throughout the conference, we also got to see famous Brazilian Christian artists and listen to their amazing music!
Moving on from the conference, we attended church this past Sunday. It was a small but cozy environment with all LifeShape and us. After church, we got to visit an art gallery and a museum, showing us the history behind the Brazilian postal service. Following the museum, we visited a Catholic cathedral. It was beautiful, fully made of glass with statues of angels hanging down.
While we have seen God moving in our hearts and lives in the first week, we are prayerfully expectant of what is to come. We are eager to see more of what God is doing in Brasília and our hearts as we approach these next two weeks in Brazil. Nós te amamos, Brazil!
Cece Belmont and Ryan Crosley