Attack of the Termites!

For those of you who are already cringing, it is gross. We learned this week that when termites or "Cupins" in Portuguese hatch in the spring they have wings and are ready to mate. One evening this week, while I was making dinner we had our windows and doors open to get the nice breeze. But of course the sun was already going down and so we also had the lights on. Joe had gone upstairs to change out of his work clothes and when he can down he went into the living/dining room, and immediately made and shrill that I know as the "disgusting noise". Meaning something has just creeped him out, so I turn the corner from the kitchen to see what he is looking at, the reason behind his noise. I then made the same noise upon seeing hundreds on these little big winged bugs swarming around the light above our dinner table, the one we were going to be eating at in a few minutes. So as more of these things start moving in and taking over all the light fixtures in the house, Joe and I try to figure out how to get rid of them! So we decide(still not knowing what they are)to turn off all the lights(which really just makes them settle to the floor) and turn on the porch light to attract them outside. We then closed all the windows and doors, turned the lights back on and decided to smash the stragglers. Luckily we got out the majority the first time. But then learned when you swat at them, their wings fall off and the land on you. Hopefully you can picture the chaos. We eventually killed them all and we able to eat dinner(which I burned since my attention was elsewhere). Luckily for us Cupin mating season only lasted a few days! So what's buzzing around in your house?

Pastor Encouragement

OK...So part of Joe/Our job is to encourage pastors through out the project. Sometimes that looks like us going to their church, other times it just means making a phone call. Last night we went to a Methodist church in an area called Butanta. It is a very poor neighborhood, also known as a favela. They can be dangerous, but mostly to an American who stands out like a clown in a chorus line, it was just scary. The taxi driver that took us was using a GPS to guide his way. After winding down several roads they GPS said we had reached our destination! We looked around and first you notice the dancing that looks similar to that of a college frat party and then you notice the beer cans. I looked at Joe and said "If this is a church, I'm not getting out of the car". So Joe tells the cab driver to go forward a little so everyone at the party would stop staring at us. Then we realize that the number address was different and so we turned around we up the street, through the party (again) and then found the church nestled on the corner of a hilly street.
Experiences like last night are so humbling! The people of this church we so friendly and had such great faith! After the pastor finished describing the project and asked who in the congregation would like to participate, 12 out of 30 members stood up! Which is an amazing percentage of participation! God will truly bless this little church...
And a quick prayer update, the broadcast will take place on November 6,7,8 at 9:00pm on Banderantes TV. Please pray for the people who will watch the program as well as Matthews who invite them!

Sorry for the silence

Hey Everyone, Welcome Back! Sorry for the silence. For a quick recap/defense arguement. Beginning the end of June we were held in the U.S. slightly against our will for 6 weeks. Techniquely speaking we came home to renew our visa's. We were very confident that nothing would go wrong, so we sent them off to D.C. through a passport service, and headed to the beach with my family. Upon returning to Charlotte, we learned that we were denied for "jurisdiction issues". Meaning since Joe's last residence was Virginia and mine was North Carolina, so on paper we look like a married couple that don't live in the same state. So the next week we made the 7 hour drive to DC to turn them in, in person...because we were told if we turned them in ourselves they had to service us. So we drove up and drove right back. Not in our case. After waiting our 4 days we drove back to D.C. to find out we were still denied for the same reason and now they want an FBI fingerprint clearance form. My first question was how do we get that? After too many details to explain and two weeks of waiting we finally recieved our FBI clearance...A sheet with a non special stamp that said "no arrests on record". Duh, I could have told them that. Anyway we went back to good friends at the car rental company to pick up our 3rd car in 3 weeks, and headed to Atlanta. Why Atlanta this time? While we waited for the FBI papers we changed Joe's residency to NC. So now we were both listed as from the same address as our "perminent" address. Atlanta was such a different experience. The people were nicer, the experience was easier and their was a one day turn around! So crossing our fingers and saying our prayers we went back the next afternoon, AND WERE HANDED VISA's!!!! To those of you were able see it was wonderful, and we wish we could have seen everyone! So now we are back in the normalcy of Latin Life in Sao Paulo.