Where have I been?
These past few weeks I was able to participate in the annual Bilingual Camp put on by the Igreja de Cristo em Itu. I first visited Itu in June 2005 on AFCSA and have been able to return several times over the years.
Well I visited Itu about a month ago and was immediately put to work by my friends Mark and Ali, the youth ministers. I was just taking the opportunity of some other friends visiting a nearby town to visit my friends in Itu and, bam, I find myself to have become “the other intern.” Ali was reading an email to be sent to a potential intern and, if I recall correctly, it went something like “Come to Itu where your talents will be used and abused.” I was used. It was so good to work alongside Mark and Ali and their other interns – Carol, Katie, and Mary Lou.
Some of my recent work for the Itu church:
 |
 |
 |
 |
Upon leaving, I was given the invitation to return to help at the bilingual camp. Less than a week later I was back in Itu.
So camp. I thought it was going to be just a five day camp where we spoke English and had some fun but it was so much more. As Kris, another recently added intern, said
…it was a Christian camp where there happen to be people who spoke English and Portuguese.
Two campers, one a former atheist, decided to follow Christ. It was an incredible experience that refreshed my spirit. Good food, dynamic groups, fun staff, a dance party until 3A, s’mores, beautiful facilities! Who could ask for more?
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
I returned to Rio on Monday but with the Johnson Street church youth group from San Angelo that went to Itu to run the camp and participate in the inaugural activities of the church in Itu, which were awesome. They invited me to spend their last two days with them at a nice hotel on the beach. It was a great time and was, actually, the first time since moving to Rio that I went to the beach. That may tell you HOW far from the beach I live!
