Two weeks in already and so much has happened!

But what exactly? Well after a few initial days of acclimatising to the time difference and the intense heat that is Brazil I was eventually able to settle and find my feet and explore my new hometown for the next two years.

This past week and a bit has primarily been set aside for me to focus on learning Portuguese. And while there were a few days when I wanted to bounce my head off the wall it is now slowly coming together and I am able to make a bit more conversation with people.

So far the best sentence I've managed to say is "My little brother is called Simon and he is 21 years old, he is younger than me but he is taller", the worst was when I indavertently told someone I have 17 cats when actually I have a cat that is 17 - big difference!

I am really enjoying living here and meeting so many new faces as people constantly pop into the house on church buisness or for a social visit. Before leaving I was a little apprehensive at having people who I could just hang out with but partly due to the fact I am the only 'white Brit' for miles this really hasn't been a problem. To give you an idea of this for my birthday in a few weeks time we are having a party here at the house and are already thinking of how we can do it so everyone doesn't turn up! I might stick out from the crowd but I really feel that Brazil in terms of its culture and my personality really match up well.

I have already began on some of my projects including the football outreach and cell groups with the plan once I have mastered Portuguese for me to take on more responsibilities as time allows.

As I have said before I am really benefitting from being so very connected with the church and am enjoying all that it has to offer. There's nothing I'm not involved in so am really pleased to feel like I am in the right place to make a difference. Although the oppotunities for this might be limited at the moment soon I will able to go on more pastoral visits, do more preaching and leading of cell groups etc and assist in day to day jobs like driving people to church.

I just hope those days come along soon.

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For those of you pray:

• Please be praying I get to grips with Portuguese quickly.
• General energy levels and speedy healing from all the knicks, bumps and scratches I am constantly getting.
• That I would continue to see areas where I can help and be a blessing to others.

Until next time...

God bless!

Dave