A Beautiful Ending...

Holy cannoli!!!

Welcome to our last newsletter of the summer! By the time you get this we will already be back in Minnesota! We hope you have enjoyed taking this journey with us! It has been a great honor and privilege to share our lives with you and what God has been doing here in Brazil!
Since our last newsletter our time has been spent preparing for English Camp 2009! Wow…God is incredibly good. We can’t even begin to truly describe all that he has done in these last few weeks. From July 20th-24th we were at a gorgeous camp an hour from the city with two teams from Nebraska and California. We also got to enjoy a few random people from Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and a native Minnesotan from Brooklyn Center! The way God puts teams together is awesome. The week at the camp was spent planning, prepping, and getting to know one another so that we could serve more effectively together come English Camp the following week! Having just come from our Cena trip the week before Laura, Bria, and I were pretty worn down with colds and the need to rest. God provided for us beyond what we knew because that week at camp was one of refreshment and fellowship. We had the chance to share our hearts and what we’ve been doing in Brazil all summer with a bunch of Americans who were excited to be in Brazil and ready to serve with us! It was amazing to see God break down barriers, strongholds, and open our hearts to his will (and this was before English Camp even started!) We went back into the city for the weekend to wash clothes, give the Americans time to spend in their host families, and pick up the kids and bring them back up to camp!
July 27th-31st was an INCREDIBLE experience for everyone at English Camp. There were 170 students ages 15-??? (Most of them were to the age of 21 or so but we had a few people in their late 30’s!) God had his hand on every moment of that camp. The students were all open to sharing their lives with us. Everyone was excited about getting to know one another, having a great time, and learning English/Portuguese! Bria and I were in charge of running the camp so it was an incredible experience for us personally to be challenged in our administrative abilities. It gave us a great opportunity to see camp from a different perspective. I cannot share enough how God used that week to change lives; including our own. There were great speakers, beautiful music, delicious food, skits, games, volleyball, soccer, and so much more.
On Thursday night we had our night of invitation. This is the night where we ask the kids to come forward if they desire to answer God’s call for them to make a decision whether it be accepting Christ into their life for the first time, recommitting their life to him, or just desiring to go deeper. The outcome was incredible. We had approximately 57 kids stand up and ask for prayer for numerous things. God really challenged a majority of these kids to go deeper in their faith. He called them to give more of their lives to him and these students answered that call. We will continue to challenge and lift up the students that we know God is knocking on their hearts but they have not answered that call yet. The week ended with a feeling of hope, encouragement, and deepened faith. We have made sure that each student that came forward has gotten connected with a pastor that can give them information about their church. Each of these students are being prayed over by people here and Americans that served with us all week. Would you join us in praying over the students that attended English Camp? God is not done working through this experience.
It is now our last day!!! Today we return back to the states. Would you all lift us up in prayer as we prepare to transition? We are so excited to see family and friends but we are leaving new family members behind here in Brazil. We have seen God’s faithfulness every step of the way this summer and we don’t doubt that he will continue to provide for us as we head back home.

Thank you for taking the time to faithfully walk with us through this journey. It has been amazing to have you serve alongside us even though we are in different countries! God’s loving mercies are new every morning!

Isaiah 26: 3-4

Blessings,
Anna, Laura, and Bria