Halloween Birthday & Fun

On Jeff's b-day there was suppose to be a talent show for the English class in Lagoa de Itaenga (Ricardo's church). When we got to the church, Ricardo's daughter told Jeff "Jeff Jeff tem cake, tem cake." Which means we have cake, we have cake. When Jeff went down the stairs to the church the lights went out and back on again with everybody singing happy birthday. It was a great surprise!

Earlier that day Emily, Lindsay, & Jeff with the vocal assistance of Pat & Harold Hood made a fun video to show at the talent show. It was originally Emily & Lindsay's idea for the plot of this video. I hope you enjoy it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb6hoNG3uag

Prayer for Lindsay

Please pray for Lindsay because she has been having weird joint pain for about 2 weeks now. It wasn't a lot of pain for a while so we thought it would just go away but it has gotten a little worse. We have gone to see Dr. Santos (those of you who have been on a medical trip know him) and he has ordered some blood tests. We will be going tomorrow morning for the tests.

Please pray that Dr. Santos will discover why Lindsay is having this joint pain and find something that will take it away. It normally hurts the most in the mornings which makes it very difficult to get going and start teaching.

Tele is in the US right now, so don't forget to see him and hear more about what is going on here in Brazil.

Rest & More Work

Last week we had Monday and Tuesday off from school because of children's day and teacher's day. It is very strange that those two days are so close together. Technically teacher's day wasn't until Thursday but the school decided to stick them right next to each other. Because we had some time off we thought it would be a good idea to go to the beach. We have been trying to take the couple that is here teaching from Kansas lots of different places. We have been doing this partly to get used to driving more and to figure out how to get to all of these fun places. The beach trip was the same. We went to Porto de Galinhas which is the biggest tourist beach in the region. We stayed over night at a beach close by because it was a little cheaper. It was a very fun and relaxing time. I think we are all prepared to take Lindsay's parents there when they come here in late December.

God has been stretching me (Jeff) recently. I am so very thankful for my brother in Christ Pastor Ricardo. He always seem to try to challenge me and keep me growing. He asked me to preach at his church a few weeks ago and I always give the excuse that I am not a pastor and don't have the skills. But, I told him I would be willing to if I could make it more of a testimony/sermon. So, last week I talked about my life and how God brought me to Brazil. A lot of my life has revolved around the verse John 10:10: ¹⁰The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.. God has shown me in many ways that He wants to the best life for me possible. I talked about the time in my life that I finally gave up complete control of my life to God.
It sermon went well and it was encouraging to see how people responded. So, then Ricardo said that he was going to go to his first church plant at Guadalajara and asked me if I could preach the same thing there. This was last night. It was a lot bigger church but again I trusted in God and He worked through me while I was preaching. Normally I feel very ackward preaching but God gave me a peace. After I preached yesterday Ricardo asked me if I would talk at a youth conference they will have in November. He asked me to talk to a group of all boys about sexual purity. Now, that is a big difference of giving my testimony/ life story to actually preaching about sexual purity. But, God gave me a peace about saying yes and I have agreed to talk about that subject at the youth conference. Please pray for me about this. I will give you the dates later.

It took us a while to get back into the swing of things once we got back from the beach. I have been working on a video about Pastor Asseurio going to Africa. Tele will be presenting that video while he is in the USA. I will also put it online soon. I want to start a video mini series about the church and town in Lagoa de Itaenga. I am not sure if I will start that soon or wait a few months after I get some more video equipment.

Please keep us in your prayers.

Video update from the town of Lagoa de Itaenga (Pastor Ricardo's church)

I decided it might be a good idea to do a video update since I have started doing the video update "Tele Talk" for the ministry. I am not sure why I haven't done this type of thing earlier.




Here is the link to the video: Lagoa de Itaenga Video update
I recommend watching the video in HD

Life with a Car

Having a car now is such a huge blessing. I have never felt this much freedom/independence in Brazil before. It is finally starting to feel like we are here for a long time and that we are home. It is so nice to be able to take Pat and Harold hood (the teachers from Kansas) downtown and other places when they need a trip away. It still feels very weird driving in the car and knowing that I am not just borrowing the car but it actually is ours. This last weekend I went to Ricardo’s church on Saturday night for the youth program, then we went there on Sunday afternoon for the English classes. We also went again that evening for the church service. I am starting to feel like we are Pastor Ricardo’s groupies or something. But, we really love the ministry that he does and we are so happy to be able to help out that church plant.

A big part of having this car will be being able to go to the other churches and gather information about the ministries. My first stop will be Guadalajara early next month. I am going to try to bring back the Church spotlight section for the WRBrazil.blogspot.com site.

Lindsay has been super busy this semester. She is teaching full time at the school plus she has a teachers class where she teaches English to the international school teachers. Emily is splitting the load of that class with the more advances people with Emily and then Lindsay has the beginners. Lindsay & Emily are also teaching English on Sunday afternoons at Ricardo’s church. Then, Lindsay is taking 2 online classes from IUPUI. So, some days I feel like she never stops doing things. My schedule is a lot lighter but it seems like I do things at weird hours sometimes, like start a project at night when I hadn’t done very much that day. Generally I have class in the mornings on Monday, Tuesday, and Fridays. Then on Wednesdays and Thursdays I am at home working on the blog sites or websites or video project, or really whatever is going on at the time. There are a lot of peaks of tons of work then all of a sudden there will be nothing else to do.

Overall Lindsay and I are doing fine. Right now I have the car filled with ethanol in the tank because it is a flex car which means it can take gas or ethanol. The car has a computer in the dash that keeps track of KM/L and such but I am still trying to figure out how it works. I think the car gets about 8 km per liter. Which I have no idea if that is good or bad.

Fiat Palio

Back in Brazil

We are back in Brazil! It was a super fast trip only 13 hours to get here. I feel like we just took a long car trip to get here. We want to thank everybody that we were able to see during our trip to the USA, Thank you for being apart of our lives and taking the time to see us and find out what is going on with the Brazil ministry. We had a fantastic time meeting with people and being able to hang out with our friends. Julie Turner now Julie Landrum’s wedding was just perfect and made the trip complete. We wish Julie and Tim all the best as they start new lives together. We hope that you will make your home a “vortex of love” (taken from Julie’s fake vows).

When we got back to our apartment, I had Lindsay wait outside the apartment because she didn’t know that I had bought a futon for our living room (thanks to a donation). When I went to open our wood door the key just melted off into the lock. I barely had even turned the key. I called to Lindsay to stop Gilson (our ride) from leaving. Luckily he hadn’t left yet. It was about 7pm though and everything in town closes at 6pm. Gilson went down to the locksmith places and they were all closed. He took down all of the phone numbers though and came back to us. He went to call them and discovered he had no more credit on his cell phone ( almost everybody has pre-paid phones in Brazil) so thanks to my dad we still had Reais (Brazilian currency) in my wallet. I gave him R$10 and he was able to go to a drug store and buy credit. Thankfully some drug stores stay open later than normal shops. He finally got a hold of someone and then we told Gilson to go be with his wife, because before he dropped us off he dropped off his wife at the hospital because she thought she might be pregnant and had been throwing up. (we do not know if she is pregnant yet) So, Lindsay and I waited outside for the locksmith to show up. Lindsay kept speculating if it was the locksmith every time a car stopped near us. She never guessed right. Ok, to be fair she went to the bakery to get a drink for us when he arrived. The locksmith went up to the door and jammed in this metal key looking thing and started to wiggle it around so fierce that you would have thought he had fire ants on his hand. I couldn’t figure out if he was trying to pick the lock or was just hoping that he would randomly find a combination of moves that would open the door. He finally stepped back and said he needed a different tool. He went outside and walked the 100 feet to his shop to open it up and get this other tool he talked about. Lindsay and I went back outside and sat by the street again to wait for him. The next thing I know he comes walking up with what looks like a 3 feet long screw driver. It only took him 30 seconds to open our door with that monster of a tool. We were very overjoyed. He continued to mess with the lock more until he took the whole part out and said he would go make two new keys for it. R$50 later we were happily in our apartment with two new shiny keys. Gilson showed up again right at the end to make sure we got in. I still made Lindsay wait outside the apartment to make sure the place looked clean and the new futon looked good. When she finally came in she shrieked with excitement that we had a futon.

Today, we have been cleaning our apartment after finding some mold in a few places. We have yet to unpack but plan on doing that later this evening. We are at the Alcance right now, Lindsay is getting all of the updates on how her classes have been going and what they have been doing, (Rachel Winzeler has been teaching her classes) and I have already helped two people with computer issues. We do not have internet at our apartment either because we haven’t paid our bill in a month or because our ISP is terrible. Either way we are switching to a more reliable internet service. But, that means we might not have internet for a week to 2 weeks at our apartment. I will be able to e-mail and such from the Alcance but I won’t be able to talk to people over skype.

Well, I think we will head back and finish cleaning and unpacking. I hope you enjoyed hearing about our adventures of trying to get into our apartment.

Jeff & Lindsay's Ministry Open House

Jeff is officially in the USA now so don't forget to come to our open house. If you can't make it please get a hold of us so we can get together with you. 317-215-7093 or Jeffroyturner@gmail.com

Come and hear what Jeff and Lindsay have been up to in Brazil. There will be Brazilian snacks and lots of sharing/fellowship time.

Date:	Sunday, July 26, 2009
Time:	1:30pm - 5:30pm
Location:	Steve & Ann Turner House 9925 E 12th ST Indianpolis, IN 46229

Groups etc.

From Missions Groups 09

I look really sleepy and Amish in this picture. Well, the groups have arrived and I am busy yet again. But, in this case I am very happy to be busy. The teachers have been getting ready for the end of the semester program and the Medical group has been packing medicine in individual bags for the medical clinics. The school program this year is all about the different regions of Brazil. I think there will be dances from all sorts of times and regions.
I have been very happy to realize that I can translate general things for the groups here and help them understand different aspects of the culture and food. I will be filming the program tomorrow and taking pictures, afterward some of us are off to Lagoa de Itaenga for the youth program there.
Please pray for the groups that are here and continue to pray for me as I am still missing Lindsay.

Lonely June

It is coming up on July and that means a break from school and the short-term trips start arriving. I (Jeff) have been a bachelor this month. Lindsay won't come back to Brazil until August 19th. I will be going to the USA around the 21st of July to spend time with my family and be in the US for my sister's wedding. We also really need to raise some more support while we are back.

This month has been rough because I miss my wife like crazy and I have had to teach most of her classes. I finally managed to sit down over the weekend and finish the new redesign of the ministry website. You can check it out at www.wribrazil.com. I put a lot of time and effort into it but I am still open to suggestions. I think I still have a small issue with the menu bar when viewed in Internet Explorer. Anyway, I have been trying to keep myself busy and well feed. I look forward to when the groups arrive because that will help keep my mind off of missing Lindsay. I think this will be the longest we have been apart since we got married over 5 1/2 years ago.

I think I am basically done with all of the big projects I have been working on. I am slightly still setting up a website for the Bible Seminary here. It is finished but just not on the right server. Which I am affraid that trying to switch servers is going to end badly. I think that is why I haven't done that yet.

Both Lindsay and I will be in Indiana from July 21st through August 18th so if you would like us to speak at your church or would like to know more about what we do here ect. we would love to fellowship with you. Like I said before we do need to raise more financial support, so if God is leading you in that way we would love to talk to you and let you know how to get involved supporting us financially and spiritually.

Lindsay going to the USA

*Lindsay is on a plane back to the USA
(Note from Lindsay before she left)

I am going to come back to the US this week Lord willing. My Aunt Pat, my dad's sister, is in the hospital with terminal pancreatic cancer. I was planning on coming back the first week in July to help take care of her, but the doctor is only giving her one more week. I'm just really shocked right now. Numb. I guess I was in denial about how bad things were. She had a big part in raising me. She lives up in northern Indiana on our family's farm alone. She helped care for my dad with my grandparents until they all three died. She doesn't have any children only nieces (3), nephews (2), and cats. So I need to be there.
She has a secure faith in God and so I try to play it down in my heart because I know know I will see her again regardless, but I don't want to wait 50 years to talk to her again in heaven. I need to be there with my family.
I'll try to talk to you again soon. Please pray for her and pray for everyone here. It's really hard to leave, you know, this is home. I feel like I am leaving things unfinished, my responsibilities, but I really feel have to go since I am able. I know I would regret not going for a long, long time. I am just going to change my plane ticket that was for July 8 to this week. Jeff will teach my classes for the remaining 4 weeks of class.

Tennis

From Tennis

The last two Sunday afternoons Jeff has been able to get to Recife and play tennis. Recife it the closest place to play tennis. Jeff is in the process of getting an estimate to build a tennis court at the international school. Which most likely will mean Jeff might be teaching tennis in the future. It was a lot of fun to be able to get to play tennis which just so happens to be right on the beach. This last Sunday David Moraes joined in on the fun.

Redesign

Last time I talked about how I wanted to redesign the official World Renewal Website. Well today you can get your first glimpse of what it is going to look like. It still has a long ways to go but the basic design is done. I also found a really nice RSS flash based feeder for the homepage. The right side is currently blank, but I plan on making a few catchy images that link to things currently going on. Like if it is summer time, have a link to Short-term trips. I haven't fully figured it out yet but I think it will end up looking good.

After looking over the original site and because of the link progression that I setup for the new site. I have a lot of information to add still. If anybody reading this is good at writing I could use some help in this area. Mainly to condense some of the things I already have and to create a few small sections. For example, the history section is giant and needs to be condensed to a size that a normal person would be willing to read.

Without any more delay you can check out the design at http://www.wribrazil.com/wribrazil/

Websites

I (Jeff) have been working this month on a lot of things for the international school. I finally got around to editing the videos from things like the Christmas play. I edited video from 3 different events and uploaded them to youtube. Then I put them up on the Internationalschoolofcarpina.com website.

I am still a novice when it comes to web design so these last few months working on two different websites has been a challenge. I feel like I am learning a lot about CSS and sadly a lot about how terrible Internet Explorer is. Please please use Mozilla Firefox. It is so much better and powerful. Even after making two websites I am not so sure I like doing it. Mainly because I like designing from a visual aspect but it is better to do things from just code. Anyway, the other website I designed with Roberto's help is www.engenho-verde.com. There is an English version of it, you just have to click on the US flag at the top left.

So, I was reviewing the WRIBrazil.com website. Which is the official ministry website. I am going to redesign it. Mainly because I didn't design it and would like a crack at doing that. So, if you have any suggestions let me know in the comments.

I few things that I know will improve the site:
1. Have a RSS stream of the blog site on the homepage
2. Simply the links
3. Have a non blocky design.

Passion of Christ Play

From Passion of Christ Play

On Sunday we went with Roberto, his sister, and Jessica to the Passion of Christ play. It was in a town called New Jerusalem that is 3 hours away in the interior of Northeast Brazil. The whole outdoor theatre is the largest in the world. There is 9 different stages. We got to the town around 1pm and had time to look around and eat. Then the doors opened at 4. They have a statue in the middle of the place of the guy who build the theatre. During the play when you are suppose to move to another location, the statue rotates and points to where you need to go.

It was a bit scary when we moved locations because I think there was around 10,000 people there. Besides the stage all you could see was people.

From Passion of Christ Play

Overall it was a very good experience, but it was a long day and made us tired.

This has been a crazy couple of weeks for Lindsay and I. First Lindsay got the stomach flu that was going around, which then turned into a bad cold. Luckily she only had to miss one day of school. There was some random saint holiday on Thursday so she was able to use that time to recover. Then our internet (which has never been super reliable) went to lower than dial up speeds slow. So, it got so bad that when we called people using skype they couldn't hear us at all. It was really annoying because we were trying to make sure Jessica got all of the right stuff from my Dad to bring back to Brazil. It ended up that they had to much stuff and went over weight and paid a fee of $150. Since they couldn't get a hold of us my Dad ended up paying for that fee (bless him).

I am very grateful to have my father helping from the USA with the Brazil Ministry. He is going to go full time in the ministry this next semester, which is going to be a huge blessing for me and for the overall ministry. This is going to take a lot of faith for him and my mom. It also means that they are going to have to raise support. So, please be praying for them and be asking God is this is something He wants you to help with.

Now I sit and wait for the internet people to come and hopefully make my internet the speed I am paying for.

English Class Outreach

Lindsay has started teaching an English class as an outreach project at the Community Church of Lagoa de Iteanga. We go every Saturday and then every other Saturday we have a youth group program during the evening. Last week we had about 14 people from ages 18 to 30 at the English class.
Please continue to pray for this Church and this outreach.

Washing Machine

Lindsay and I feel so blessed to have wonderful people in our lives. We want to thank everyone who gave us money for our washing machine. It took us a while to finally buy it, because we wanted to make sure we were getting the one that would last for the money that we were paying.

Washing machines here in Brazil are expensive. We finally got our for R$1,025. which is around $450. Most of the washers we were finding before God provided this one were around R$1,400.



We were told that Brastemp was a good brand that will last. We have been taking our laundry to the Alcance every Thursday to was clothes. This has been difficult because we don't have a car, so we had to take a bunch of bags of laundry on the bus with us. Most of the time we ended taking stuff back to the apartment at different times. Roberto has been really awesome and giving us rides home a lot also.

So again THANK YOU for your gifts!

Mini Vacation/ Carnaval

Lindsay and I got a week off of teaching school because of Carnaval. Carnaval is basically Marti Gras also know as Fat Tuesday. Brazil goes nuts for Carnaval, that is why we get a week off for a one day holiday. Generally all of the Christians just hide during the events. So Lindsay and I did the same. On Monday and Tuesday we went with Pastor Ricardo Silva and his family to join the Community Church of Amexias for a camp. Camps here basically mean that people will rent a house either near the beach or away from the city and swim at the pool, play volleyball, and have other activities.

From Amexias Church Camp 09

Amexias had their camp in Caruaru which is a town in the interior of Brazil. It is further inland than Amexias is. The camp was a lot of fun. When we arrived I played volleyball, then we had dinner. At night we had a worship service. A little later that evening we had funny skits. Ricardo had recruited Lindsay and I to help with that. I think he gave me the biggest speaking part there was. It was a little weird and I almost didn't do it because it was all in portuguese. But, I got over my fear and God is good. I was able to do the part just fine and it made it even more funny because of my bad accent.

This is Loraina Pastor Assuerio's daughter. Amexias Church Camp 09

Pastor Ricardo and I relaxing. Amexias Church Camp 09

These guys were crazy. They cooked that pigeon they caught. Amexias Church Camp 09

Lindsay being all cute. Amexias Church Camp 09

Ricardo's daughter Rebeca being all cute. Amexias Church Camp 09

Happy Valentine's Day, America!

Another busy week has come and gone. The school days flow like normal now. The International school has more similarities to a high school campus than a grade school. Children have many different teachers that they visit from class to class. The younger kids have a teacher who stays with them, but the older students move about with less help.
We've received about 99% of the books we need for the English classes. It's been a huge ordeal to get all of them and now we are just waiting for the three teacher's manuals.

I could write more, or I could leave you with some pictures.

Pictures it is.
Happy Valentine's Day, in the US.


Lindsay

Jessica, our newest English teacher.

Typical evening

There's a party in my tummy! So yummy, so yummy!

Foundations (all day kindergarten) with their teacher Paula!

Some of our awesome 6th and 7th graders!

So it begins...

The first week of school passed by quickly! Actually, all of January passed by quickly!
We spent the 17th through the 22nd with Jeff's dad and pastors from Community Churches in the US. They spent the week visiting churches and the three new church construction sites. That's right, we have three new buildings being constructed!

Jeff and I rode along a few times to visit the church construction sites and took pictures. Jeff filmed interviews with the pasters of many of the churches to show at BRCC. Someone at the church will be editing them together, we hope to get a copy back afterward and post them here. If not Jeff might just make his own edits and post them later.

This first week of school has been good even though we are still waiting on a lot of the English curriculum books to come in. Ordering books has been a long terrible process each year. This year we have been very blessed to have Emily Taylor helped research and contact the book sellers to find the best curriculum for what we need.

Jeff is now the Informatics teacher and he teaches seven classes. Basically first through seventh grades once per week. The first week went well. He is mostly teaching typing right now, since everybody seem to be bad at it. Third grade is a bit big. There are 13 kids and only eight computers. Jeff taught the older kids today and is enjoying those classes because he can teach a little more advanced stuff to them. Like the parts of a computer.

During the time that Jeff wasn't teaching he was working on the International School of Carpina website. This will be for the parents and people interested in knowing about the school. So it is in Portuguese and the content isn't all in the site yet, but he was mainly working on the layout and design. You can check it out at www.wribrazil.com/escola

Lindsay has kept herself super busy and a little stressed. She has been working on getting the school curriculum with little success. Like we said before Emily has been a big help with this.

Lindsay teaches the nursery class. That is right we teach English to toddlers, two years old in this class. She really enjoys teaching the babies and this year we have a really nice new classroom/playroom for them. Newly this year she also teaches the gradeschoolers a daily English class. The children are divided into two groups, older students (forth grade through seventh grade) and younger students (first grade through third grade). From there we divide children further into one of three levels. We don't want some students to feel slow or dumb so instead of telling them what level they are in we've given names to the classes. For first through third grade there are Otters (Lindsay's class), Moose (Jessica's class - she's our newest teacher from the US for the semester), and Okapi (David's class). For the fourth through seventh there are Heroes (Lindsay's class), Gypsies (Jessica's class), and Pirates (David's class). Lindsay also teaches History/Geography in English to each grades once a week in the afternoons and an English class for the teachers and staff. Since we are short staffed our English teachers plan and teach more than 22 English classes a week!

We haven't started helping in Lagoa de Itaenga yet because Pastor Ricardo is still on vacation. But, that has been good because that means we still have some downtime to "relax" (and plan more lessons)!

Please pray for good attitudes for us and the kids as we are teaching. Please pray for God to use us and protect us from evil (there has been a lot of spiritual warfare since we have gotten our visa).

Apartment Tour

We are all moved into our new apartment located downtown Carpina. It took a while to get everything we needed for the apartment because apartments in Brazil come with absolutely nothing. We had to buy our own seat for the toilet. We still need to buy a few more small things but it is pretty well done. Check out our video tour of the apartment.

Apartment Tour from Jeffrey Turner on Vimeo.
To view an HD version click on the link above.

Merry Christmas!

Feliz Natal!

Priceless

Plane trip to Argentina then to Brazil: $3,500
Lawyer fees to make sure our documents were good: $1400
Mostly hidden fees paid for getting a work visa: $750

God blessing every step of the way and providing what we need: Priceless

BRAZIL!

Jeff & Lindsay are in Brazil now!

We left at 6:30am from Buenos Aires, Argentina. We didn't sleep the night before because we had to leave the house at 3:00 am. We just stayed up and played Settlers of Catan and Dutch blitz. The plane flight was good even though what we thought was a direct flight ended up having 2 other stops. We went to Rio first then to Salvador. Thankfully we didn't have to get off the airplane.

It has just about been 24 hours since we have arrived and so far we have been recruited to run the sound system for the Christmas play on Saturday. We are also helping setup the paintings that the kids did. Jeff has already fixed the internet and a few other problems like a printer issue. So now we are taking time to unpack and organize.

Time for pictures from Argentina.
Burial place of San Martin a liberator of Argentina and other parts of Latin America
This is the Argentina "White house". Jeff is standing with Nate Dunlevy who hosted us in their house.

Jeff and Lindsay get a visa.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!
We got our Work Visa!
God is good!

Isaiah 40:31
But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

PS
Here is a drive around the area in La Plata Argentina.

Brief Update 2

We are still in sunny Argentina, just south of the capital in La Plata. No news from the consulate yet, but like they say no news is good news. If we hear from the consulate it is because there is a problem, so we don't really want to here anything. We'll head back in to BA on Monday and pick up the visa if all goes well!
We have just been relaxing with the Dunlevey fam. or in the empty duplex they rent behind their house. More of their team will join them in a few months, so they are renting this amazing two bedroom duplex. It is sort of serving as a guesthouse, so for now we have all to ourselves. I'll try to get a few pictures posted later... after nap time. :)

We went to the zoo yesterday with the family and had a good time until we visited the last animal of the day. Elle, their four year old, got a boo-boo from slipping on some metal bleachers. She had a pretty sizable gash above her eyebrow, so they spent the rest of the day getting stitches. She's fine now.
"I'll go back to the zoo again, but I'm not going to go back to that other place," she told us.
We hung out with their two year old, Scott and the puppy back at the house while they spend the day at the children's hospital.

We had some major accomplishments yesterday:
playing with dinosaurs
reading
napping
watching the movie Evita
eating icecream

I even had a few spare minutes to work on our budget for bedtime. God is so good, we're really having a great time.

Lindsay

Brief Update

We arrived in Buenos Aires today. Headed to the Brazilian Consulate straight from the airport and spent about 3 hours there. Everything looks promising. They said that our visas will be processed and ready on Monday between 12-1.Just very surreal. God's been working on this for how long? And it's happening. It's hard to take in.

So we went out for Argentine steak, a lovely way to celebrate. Our host showed gratitude that I was no longer a vegetarian.

We are so blessed. Especially to have such a seriously wonderful family, the Dunlevy fam, (thanks Tim for the hook up!) to stay with here in Argentina. God is such a ninja. He's always pulling off the most amazing moves when we least expect him to. Everything going crazy up to the time we left. This week of downtime is really what we need while we wait for our visa to go through. And we thought it was a mistake that our visa was sent here. Ha!

Lindsay

Argentina or Bust

This is going out to everyone! It’s been a while since our last correspondence (again). We wait and wait for something definite to happen, but it never does. We hate to confuse everyone with the long and complicated story (especially before we know how it ends), but it’s definitely time, past time, to share what’s happening.

We are going to Argentina.

Argentina. You read right. We have been trying for 2 ½ years or so to stay in Brazil long term, but now we’re going to Argentina... to get our Temporary Work Visa for Brazil! It is a weird story. Here’s the big picture: six months ago, when we were still in Brazil, we asked the Brazilian Ministry of Labor to send our work permit to the Brazilian Consulate in Argentina. It was going to be easier and cheaper to pick it up there since we were already in South America. Well, we had to come back to the US when our Tourist Visas expired after the last 6 months stay. As Jeff was leaving to pick up the Visa in Chicago last week we discovered some interesting news. The Visa was sent to Argentina. We thought we had changed the pickup location (to Chicago), but there had been a recent change of policy with the Ministry of Labor and they said it couldn’t be done.

Part of the change in policy means that we need to pick up the Visa and be in Brazil before 90 days. Even though there is more paper work to fill out, a work permit is a visa authorization in the eyes of the Ministry of Labor. Our work permit was issued a month ago. That means we have until the 16^th of December to be in Brazil with visa stamped passports. That’s less than two months away!

Woah. It is now going to be more expensive and difficult to get these visas since we are starting out in the US, not Brazil, but, Lord willing, when it’s all done we will have our Temporary Work Visa, which is what we have been working to get for so long.

When it’s all over we can stay in Brazil for 2 years straight, then when the first two years are up, take a 45 minute trip to the Federal Police in Recife and get it renewed for another 2 years. That is 4 years without needing to leave Brazil! Lindsay and I are so very excited about finally being able to settle in at the World Renewal Ministry in Northeast Brazil.

This time around both of us will be teaching at the International School. Lindsay will be teaching English and Jeff will be teaching computers and technology. On top of that Jeff will be keeping up on the WRBrazil.blogspot.com blog site and finding new ways to get the word out about all the amazing things God is doing in this church planting ministry. We also hope to rent an apartment away from the main ministry headquarters in downtown Carpina to learn the language better and be more immersed in the culture. If it works out this will be the first time in 2 ½ years that we will be away from communal living, not in the ministry headquarters “hotel room” and not with family or friends.

We are finally going into FULL-time ministry so we need your help. Our budget needs a kick in the pants with all the new expenses we are expecting. And we have a lot of new startup costs again. It almost feels like we are fundraising for the first time. We are extremely thankful for our supporters that have stayed with us even when we have been back and forth so many times and have been poor communicators with our situation (it’s been tough enough for us to keep up with all the changes). Your support (especially the prayer support) has allowed us to get through this crazy, crazy process of getting our Work Visa. Included in this letter is a copy of our monthly needs and a list of startup expenses that we will mostly be purchasing in Brazil. Please pray about supporting us monthly or giving a one-time gift to help launch us full-time in Brazil.

Jeff & Lindsay Turner

PS Please keep reading our blog – jlbrasil.blogspot.com or find Lindsay on Facebook to keep in contact with us!

Launching Needs
Bedroom Set	$1,000.00
Household items	$1,000.00
Camcorder	$1,000.00
Plane Tickets to Argentina then Brazil	$3,000.00
Total	$6,000.00

Monthly Needs

Total needed after taxes & WRI fees $1,870.00

Current support $1,085.00

Amount needed more $1,300.00

To give send a check to World Renewal earmarked Jeff & Lindsay Turner or you can give online at https://www.usaepay.com/ make sure to put Jeff & Lindsay Turner under the Description section.

WORLD RENEWAL
P.O. Box 399
Greenfield, IN 46140
(317) 467-9899
fax: (317) 467-4615

Personality Test

So I (Jeff) took a personality test online that was recommended to me by a friend. I didn't really like a lot of the questions and didn't think it was going to be very accurate. Then I saw what careers they said I would be good at. This list is just freaky to me because it is almost like looking at my resume. I have been working in Social Service industry for 4 years of my life as a Direct care provider. I have been in school for Religious Education and of course am exposed to that a lot in Brazil. I will be teaching come January at the International School in Brazil. I will be teaching Technology and computer classes. Which leads to closer to the bottom of the list. I was a Tier 2 Desktop Support technician at Roche Diagnostics for a year which is like combining the Customer Service and Technical fields. Then the big job I do in Brazil is Graphic Design and communication. I can assume I will be doing a lot of translation once I learn the language better.

This was a very weird look into my life through a simple personality test.

YOUR TYPE
I	S	F	J
Strength of the preferences %
33	38	6	44

Career Social Service Social Work Religious Education Education Child Day Care Management Health Care Health Care Administration Medical Records Administration Nursing Radiologic Technician Customer Service Customer Service Specialist Real Estate Broker/Agent Secretary Paralegal Art/Technical Translator Computer Programming Design Graphic, Industrial, Interior Engineering Famous people of your particular type Jimmy Carter, Frederic Chopin, Jane Fonda

Work Permit

We officially have our work permit now! Praise God! Now It gets sent to the consulate in Chicago and we can apply for the work Visa.

The Long Wait

The depression set in once we arrived back in the USA. It seemed that every other day one of us was feeling it. That is part of the reason I have no posted a single thing since Lindsay and I have been back. I wanted to wait until we actually had some news for you. So, here comes the news:
We were able to get the reference documents legalized by the Brazil consulate and off it went to Brazil. Then we got a bill for all of the translations that they had to do for all of our documents. Shortly after that we heard that all the documents were in the right hands. I just got off the phone with Emily Taylor who is in Brazil and the rumor is, that we will hear on the 16th of this month if we get the Work Permit. Then all we would need is to take that document to the consulate in Chicago and get the Visa.

What we are doing now:

Lindsay is at IUPUI going for an English major. This was always part of our backup plan if we came back to the US this time around. Lindsay is also working at Maria's Pizza part time.

Jeff has been doing odd jobs and helping his parents. He has been applying for I.T. jobs like mad, mainly places in Indianapolis. He has applied for 3 positions at IUPUI and 1 at UofI. So far no one has gotten back to him.


Please pray for the outcome on the 16th and that God will provide a job for Jeff if that is His will.

Saudades do Brasil

It’s 6:30am. I can’t sleep. I’ve been awake since 4:30 and there is probably no going back now. About 40 teens here right now on a short-term mission trip. It’s been a lot less noisy than I feared – and a lot busier. And we have kept them busy right from the start – so I’ve been pretty occupied also. Mostly sorting gifts for Brazilians and prepping for English Camp. It starts in about 2 hours. All I think about is English Camp, but I’m trying to make sure I have time to pack, too.

I don’t really know what to think. Things change so drastically so fast. Last week we didn’t know what we were doing next. Now we know we have to go back to the US. We'll be going back next week thanks to an awesome flight deal from my cousin. I’m heartbroken, nervous, a little excited (about seeing loved ones), and trying hard to remain a hopeful. We’re going back a little more visa savvy this time. We know that it might still be a while before we get this work visa. We know there are still mounds of red tape. We aren’t even sure that this work visa will go through. We’ll be living out our contingency plan (see the post on July 06, 2008), meeting up with family, visiting our supporters, and trying to recruit some new English teachers for the school.

We do still believe that God wants us to serve Brazilians. We feel like we fit in here more and more. We feel like we have a place here and that they need us. We’ll be back. It might be one month. It might be one year, but we’ll be back.
So, see you soon.

-Lindsay

Update #4

Etc. (The Beach)

A couple of weeks ago was a holiday called São João (St. John the Baptist day). Saint John festivals are a big deal around here; they’re a country-style harvest party where dishes made with corn are served. The best part is school is out for two days. Perfect time for a road trip to the beach, right? We thought so. Tele let us (Roberto, David, Alyssa, Emily, Jeff and I) visit his parent’s beach house for a few days.

When we arrived the electricity was out. We were fine with our food situation; the neighbors let us keep food in their fridge and stoves in Brazil are all propane. We bought candles and made a fire on the beach at night. We might have had more fun because there was no electricity. Jeff and I slept out on the beach beneath the stars each night and I got up to watch the sunrise each morning. One of the highlights of the trip for me was watching monkeys in the wild! We saw them at the neighbor’s house two doors down. It was pretty cool, until they came to watch me…

The last day of our trip, while everyone else was at the beach, I stayed back to take a shower. I was almost finished when I heard some mysterious scratching. I looked up to see a monkey looking back at me. I screamed grabbed my towel and belongings, and ran to the next room, where there were two more monkeys in the rafters watching me. I finally found a room that was monkey free, so I locked the door (monkeys can totally open unlocked doors) and changed quickly. It was on my list of things to do before I die. See monkeys in the wild. Check.

Back to the USA

Our last documents we sent to the lawyer were rejected because they were not "legalized" by the Brazilian consulate. This news gave us our answer about wither we needed to go back to the USA or just wait and see if we can get our visa soon and take a less expensive trip to Argentina and get the Visa.

I really like the reaction from my good friend Jon when I told him the news. He said "it seems like you probably should have everything legalized, notarized, blood sealed and consecrated to several different gods in order to make sure everything is setup ok". We have in no way given up on staying in Brazil and we will be coming back here as soon as we get this visa. But, it is nice to have an answer from God about where we should be right now. Even though this answer is frustrating we are looking forward to see how God uses us back in the USA for a while.

We don't have tickets yet but we should be coming back early August.

Update #3

Ministry

July is a busy, busy month for the ministry. There are a lot of outreaches that happen through out the year, but July is the biggest month because of the short-term mission groups that come from the states. The first of the three groups have already arrived two woodworkers and Jeff’s dad. The second trip arrived on the fourth, a medical team, and the third group (40 some teens and adults) will arrive on July 15^th. Jeff’s dad comes every summer to coordinate the groups. We have really been enjoying having him around. If you want more info on what’s going on in ministry you can always check out the ministry blog, wrbrazil.blogspot.com.

New drug ring or medical mission trip?

Update #2

Life

Jeff and I are gypsies. Ok, maybe we’re not real gypsies, but we are really starting to feel like we can’t stay in one place for more than a year or so. Here six months. There a year. Here six months again. Living with my parents, his parents, my brother, at the ministry building, in a tree, on the moon. Where are we going next? What are we doing next? What are we even doing for dinner tonight?

We still don’t know. We still don’t have a permanent/semi-permanent visa to stay in Brazil. We’re trying every avenue we can. We are still working with the same lawyer. He still says it will happen soon. He says that the judge has all info he needs now, hopefully. We’re also trying to pull some strings with some political connections Tele has. In Brazil sometimes it is all about “who you know” to get things done. We’re also going to give the case number for our visa to a friend who’s in law school. He’s studying international law, labor law, and immigration law and he thinks he might be able to help work things out. It’s all still taking time. If things pan out soon we’ll go to the Brazilian Consulate in Argentina to pick the visa up, because we found out for sure that we have to be out of the country to get the work visa.

If things don’t pan out before August 10 (the date our tourist visa runs out for the year) we’ll be headed back to the States. I applied to go to school at IUPUI as a contingency plan if all of our visa arrangements fail and Jeff has some possible job prospects back in Indiana, too. Whatever happens we know that God is with us and that he has a plan for us. No matter how mysterious and nomadic our life seems to be, we continue to trust him with our future.

Lindsay

Update #1

Jeff does a great job as the communications link to Brazil, but when it comes to my contribution to the blog sometimes I get caught up in daily life and procrastinate for weeks on end. Jeff asked me to write a post about three weeks ago and I’m just now doing it. Oops. We have been finished with all school business since Tuesday. Now, since I have even more free time on my hands and I am out of excuses, I’m writing several posts to try to get on his good side again.

In the next few posts will hopefully catch you up to speed with school, life, ministry, etc.

School

There were two end of the semester programs to prepare for and present the last two weeks of school. Since I mainly work with the preschoolers the last two weeks were filled with repeating the same songs and dance moves, over and over again. The first program’s theme was focused on Pernambuco (the state where we live here). The international school kids presented special projects, sang songs, and performed skits. I learned my first full song in Portuguese as a result of helping the preschoolers with their presentation!

The preschoolers singing for the first program

The second program was a fund raiser event called “Nations’ Celebration.” The children performed dances from around the world and then sampled international food with their parents. We even held an “art auction,” selling the paintings the children made in their art classes this semester. The event raised around R$1,800 for a children’s hospital in Recife. I contributed by helping guide the preschoolers in their South African dance and by making chocolate chip cookies for the American food booth.

Joyce, one of our preschoolers, and her mom dressed up
for the Nations' Celebration

We completely wrapped up the semester with parent-teacher conferences last Friday and a teachers’ meeting on Monday. At the teachers’ meeting Emily Taylor and I presented a new English program that we formed to create a bridge between Portuguese subjects (ex. Math, Science, History) and the English language. We’re really excited about starting the program next semester!

Emily & I being awesome at the beach

-Lindsay

Dia De Namoradas

Happy Valentines day!! Well at least the Brazilian version which actually translates to "Day of the Girlfriends/boyfriends".

Well for every concerned friend of Lindsay, don't worry I am taking good care of her and giving her plenty of chocolate and goodies. She wanted me to take pictures of her and her presents so that other people can see how happy she is.

School is almost out and my Dad will be arriving on the 24th! I am pretty excited. If all goes well we will be going to the Beach house with Tele and his family this weekend. Please continue to pray for the Visa situation.

The Fundemental Elements of waiting

We still don’t know much about the status of our work visa and our Tourist Visa only lasts until August 10^th. We currently don’t have tickets back to the US or to anywhere. These things have been stressing us out like crazy. But, it has been becoming very obvious that God wants us to wait and trust in Him.

The past couple of weeks have been busy for me (Jeff) because I have had to help out with the Learning Centers in the afternoons. I usually help out with that one or two days a week, but recently I have had to do it every afternoon. I really haven’t minded it that much. Most of the time I am in Learning center with Lindsay which is nice and I think we work well together in those situations. I have been struggling a little with trying to figure out what else I should be doing here to keep people informed and it has been a slow month. I think with the start of Summer in the US that not as many people check the blog site and such. Plus up until a few days ago we didn’t have a memory card for our camera. Ours broke about 3 weeks ago. Thanks to Roberto’s friend we have a temporary card until my dad arrives with some new cards.

I think the whole theme behind this post is that Lindsay and I need prayer for guidance and that we will not just do what we think is best but wait on God for direction. I am really thinking the smart thing for me to do is go ahead and buy plane tickets now because they will be more expensive the longer we wait. The problem is, I don’t think that is from God. I just think that is the best choice in my head.

We have been able to do some fun things while we are here. We went to the beach with Roberto and Emily Taylor because Emily had yet to go. It was a good time even though it is starting to become the rainy session.

Yesterday was a holiday. We went to Recife and were able to watch the new Indiana Jones movie. We also ate at Burger King. It was a very American day for us.

We still don't know anything with our Visa and Tele is sick right now. We need to have Tele call the lawyer and see about going to Brasilia to get this taken care of. At this point I don't see anything else we can do to speed up the process. I am finally at peace about the whole thing. If we end up going back to the US I will be fine with that and I know God has something for us there. I think if we go back to the US we will stay for a while and Lindsay will go back to school. If that is God's will that is. We have thought about a lot of things. We just want to do what God wants us to do.

Iron Man and Visas

Last Thursday Lindsay and I renewed our tourist visa for 3 months. It went very smoothly and afterward Tele wanted to go to a Money conference so he dropped us off at the mall for a few hours. We had a wonderful time together. We ended up finding a Donut place inside the mall which you can't find to often. So we sat down together and enjoyed a banana and cinnamon donut. Lindsay said it was the best donut she had ever had. I think I would agree with her, it was pretty amazing. We also went to see a movie, since there was a cinema in the mall. We got to see Iron Man which I had been wanting to see. It was an amazing super hero movie and I think they did a perfect job on keeping true to the origins of Iron Man. Overall it was a very good trip to Recife. I even ran into somebody I knew there, which is really weird when you actually know so many people in a foreign country that you can bump into people almost everywhere that you know.

The Work Visa situation is still really up in the air. We are in Brazil for another 3 months for sure but are uncertain what will happen after that time. We got a call from our lawyer telling us that we would have to leave the country in order to get the work visa and we told him to send it to Argentina if it comes. That way we only have to spend about $300 on plane tickets to leave the country get our visa and come back. But that is only practical if it comes in the next 3 months. So, we still need a ton of prayer about this.

Also, because of this stress and being in ministry we are getting attacked emotionally at lot by Satan. Please pray for Lindsay and I's emotional states and stress. Even though we had a fantastic Thursday the weekend was the most depressing and emotional weekends for us. Maybe it was because it was Mother's Day weekend, who knows. We just could really use your prayers about stress.

15 Years of Ministry

World Renewal Brazil is celebrating 15 years of ministry and it is very weird to think that I have been coming down here for 14 years of that. I first came when I was just 10 years old on a short-term missions trip with my family. I guess that is what happens when a family does stuff for God together.... God uses you for His glory. So beware parents if you send your child on a short-term missions trip they just might get involved with missions and furthering God's kingdom.

To celebrate the 15 years the Churches held a Forum where several Pastors talked about different areas of ministry and everyone shared about their experiences. The last one was Pastor Ricardo Silva and he was talking about the Unity of the Community Churches. The example he used was getting all the strong, big guys to circle up.

Then he had Duda (the all around handyman at the Alcance) pretend to be a "problem" or "difficulty". His job was to get inside the circle.

It was awesome to watch and even though Duda gave is his best, he didn't manage to get in the circle.

The whole forum was amazing to be apart of and was so uplifting to have so many of the Church Pastors around to share about their Churches and experiences. Gary Wright came from Indiana for the celebration and he started it off with a sermon on Jesus movements.

Holiday & Boxing

This weekend was back to Lagoa De Itaenga!! But I (Jeff) was sick. It was very frustrating because I really wanted to go and help out but my stomach was bothering me a lot. That morning a group of people from the Alcance went to a lake in Paudalho and had a picnic for Karine Moraes. She will be leaving soon to go to England and then to Word of Life Hungary in August. But, I was not able to go to that either. I am feeling better today but please pray for health. I haven't been nearly as sick as everybody else has been recently so I most likely got the tail end of the stomach virus thing going around.

Lindsay and Emily were still able to go to Lagoa De Itaenga. They were 20 mins late so they only had 4 kids at the English class, but the class went really well and they have decided to do it every Saturday now.

Lindsay & Emily teaching the English class

The Youth program will still only be every other Saturday. By having the English class every Saturday it will help a lot more with the comprehension of the kids. It was just to much time in between classes to retain English that have no other outlet of learning it.


At the end of this month Gary Wright the president of World Renewal Intl. will be coming to Brazil. The month marks the 15 year anniversary of the Ministry in Brazil so Gary is coming down to be apart of the celebration. He is also bring some things down for us, which will help a lot. The current internet here is really bad with only 15kps download speeds which is about 3x faster than dial up. Then there is usually about 5 or so people online at one time which makes the internet nearly impossible to navigate. So after talking with Tele we are hopefully getting better internet this week. It should be going to about 60kps download speeds and then Gary will be bringing down a Bandwidth control router with him. Basically it will be able to set programs on a priority list and gives more speed to the things higher on the list. So I will be putting things like Skype on super high priority and downloads as a low priority. This should solve most of our internet problems.

When Little Kids paint.

Lindsay has her hands full sometimes with these young artists.

We are doing well here and it has been a big blessing to have Emily Taylor here now. Lindsay and Emily are becoming friends fast, as for me I am happy to have another Settlers of Catan player. The school schedule is changing a lot because of Rachel Winzeler leaving at the end of the month. Emily has taken over David's classes and David is taking over Rachel's classes. It all is a bit weird, but the transition seems to be going well.

We will be going back to Lagoa de Itaenga this Saturday to teach an English class and help with the youth group. This time I will bring the camera! Pray for this time, that God will bless it.

Sickness & Work

So, it seems that some type of stomach virus has been going around and has made people like Tele not eat for a long time. The funny thing is, neither Lindsay or I have gotten the stomach virus. But, Lindsay did get sick. It is more of a bad cold. This is partially why I haven't updated this blog for a while. Too many sick people making me feel down also.

I have been working on the Brazil website and it is pretty much done for now with the content part. I just need to get the outreach section complete which is actually going to be called Church Planting Strategy... section. This last Saturday Lindsay, Emily Taylor, and I went with Ricardo to Lagoa de Itaenga (The town which has one of the newest church plants in it) and we had an English class for the youth there. We also helped with the youth group later on that night. It was awesome to finally be able to use my Nintendo Wii for the ministry again. We really tried to get the youth group going with the Acacias church here at the Alcance but only one kid ever showed up. Anyway, the weekend went really well and the kids loved both the English class and youth group. We had one kid that was new who was very interested in the Wii and then came the next day to help out with a street market sale the Church was participating in. He also showed up to Church that evening.

It was good to see the Church raising money to make it a more Church like building. Right now the Church is a house that they are renting and it is pretty small. The Church sold about R$85 worth of clothes and items at the Street market, which is a huge deal for them because most of the Church members are not employed and they only give about R$6 a month in tithe.

Easter is coming

This last week went by really fast. My work with the website was slow but steady and on Friday at Brookville Road Community Church, they had a fund raiser for the summer trip which they had information about the website. So, even though the website is not complete it is getting foot traffic. That is ok with me. I am pretty sure they told everybody it is still a work in progress.

We had a big scare with the graphic design computer on saturday. The power in the graphica dropped a little which made the converter not put out enough volts and shut off the computer. When we turned it back on, it said it had shut down because it overheated. It also wouldn't boot into windows from there. So, we opened the computer up to see the fan that keeps the processor cool completely caked in dust. It was really bad. We did our best to clean it out without having a can of compressed air. When we went to turn it back on the picture wouldn't come back up. So, through all of this Roberto was freaking out a little that he had lost all of the graphic design data. Which despite me reassuring him that the data was fine, he still was worried. Anyway, I basically let the computer sit over night and cool down some more, then in the morning I turned on the computer and got into the bios and from there everything was fine. This morning Roberto came back to the graphica was a PC that is working like normal.

This weekend we also stopped at a new grocery store that I hadn't been to. It is called Tudo Dia which just means "all day". It is the newest grocery store in Carpina and also just so happens to be owned by non other than WALMART. Thats right walmart of all places have invaded Brazil. It was creepy walking into that place because it really felt like a mini walmart. I guess it is good for that town a little, since they do offer lower prices on a lot of their stuff. But, Lindsay and I really can't stand walmarts business practices. I doubt we will be shopping there much if at all. The good news is they have a atm at there store that I bet we will be able to get money from. The other banks in town used to have an atm that worked internationally and we would get the official exchange rate which is better than the underground rate right now. But, this trip we couldn't find any atms that would work. That meant we were giving Tele a check to exchange for us and that is just one more thing Tele had to do. We are all about helping him and not adding more things to his plate.

Ok, I have gone on for too long now. This week is a holiday week because of Easter. That means we only have two days of school!! Happy Easter.

A Fun Weekend

Since it doesn't have a single thing to do with the ministry I will briefly mention that we went to the beach this weekend. We went to Porto De Galinhas. It was a lot of fun and now we are burnt a little. Ok now back to work.

Post by Jeff

Lindsay

Jeff really wants me to post a little about what school is like for me this year. It has been quite a bit different from my teaching experience back in 2006. There were only a handful of students and I taught a variety of ages. Back then we had 2 preschoolers, 4 kindergarten kids, and an afternoon English tutoring program for around 7 kids. This year I have an English nursery program for 6 toddlers (ages 18 months to 2 ½ years) from 8-10am, an English class for 5 Kinder One (preschool ages 3-4) from 10:15-11:30am, and Learning Center* for 1-2 grades in the afternoons on Monday, Wednesday, Friday. In some of the in-between times I’m a hall monitor, playground supervisor, girl’s shower overseer, and 4-5 Grade Learning Center overseer. It sounds like a lot written down, but I actually feel like I have tons of spare time.

At 4pm things slow down for me. I do some lesson planning on Saturdays and prep a little in the afternoons. Unless Jeff and I are practicing Portuguese that day, I have my evenings free. There isn't a lot of paper grading for babies and preschoolers. I feel pretty lazy (especially since we got our hammock put up).

I'm really blessed with the opportunity (and free time) I have, but like most jobs or ministries it has ups and downs. Some days I think my students are the most gifted and brilliant little toddlers on the planet. There are also days I daydream about tying them to their chairs.

Alright, enough gibber-jabber. Here are some pictures from yesterday. We talked about healthy foods with the younger kids and shared a fruit salad snack. Here they are with their fruit masks.

Adorable aren't they?
Keep them in your prayers. Especially this last one:




















She's got a major problem with biting! She's bitten everyone in the class (including me twice) and bites every new kid who comes in the class. It seems to be a security thing half of the time and jealousy/anger issues the other half. She bites pretty hard.
Please be praying for change in her and for the safety of the rest of us!

I'll write more on school and the kids some other time.

The Before The After

Yes this means we have our air conditioner installed now. It is working great!! Lindsay and I don't like the cold very much, we are very glad we are missing the bad weather in Indiana about now, so it might seem strange that we got an air conditioner in the first place. The main reason we got it was to protect our electronic equipment from overheating and also from moisture. That isn't much of a concern right now, but come rainy season it will be. During the day we keep the doors open and let the breeze cool our room. Then when it gets dark we turn on the air conditioner. Here is the funny part, we keep the temperature set at about 27 degrees C. That works out to be a little over 80 degrees F. Yep, we love the heat.
We ended up rearranging our room again. Also, when they put in the air conditioner, they saw we had a hammock and hooks for the hammock, so they went ahead and put up the hammock for us. Hammocks are awesome!! To have one in our room is even more awesome. I feel so spoiled now with these two things.
Here is our little kitchen area that we setup. There is a stove just down the hall from us that we can use. They also have a microwave in the main kitchen. All in all we really like how we have things setup now. We could use some kind of surface with maybe shelfs or drawers below but we are really happy about our room. God is really blessing us here. Now I just need to get Lindsay to tell you about her classes and the biting kid.

Leaving you with one last picture. We moved the computer closer to the air conditioner.

Culture prevails

We are starting to settle in a bit now. Lindsay and I took some time to unpack and make our room a little more livable. We still need to purchase some things like another cabinet thing for our clothes and books, but Lindsay is very creative and has used our luggage crates as books shelves and a desk.The crates are in the same corner together because we were making room for the guy who will install our air conditioner. Ahh yes the air conditioner which was suppose to be installed today but isn't getting installed until Wednesday now. Actually, I am pretty impressed that this whole thing isn't taking much time at all. It did remind me about the Brazilian culture of putting things off and always showing up late. I guess I am putting that a little negatively, but in all actuality it is nice to live in a culture that is more laid back and not rushed. It does have its frustrations that I am sure I will be encountering and sharing on future posts, but for now I have adjusted rather well with this cultural habit.
Here is our huge hole in our room that is ready for an air conditioner. The funny thing about this is that the type of air conditioner that we are getting installed won't actually use this hole. We bought an expensive air conditioner that is super energy efficient and silent. I am all about saving money for the ministry even if that means we spend a nice sum up front. One of the Alcance's biggest expenses is the electricity bill, mainly due to old air conditioners in the classrooms. Currently there are two other energy efficient air conditioners in the two learning center classrooms. I think there are at least 4 maybe 5 other classrooms with normal electricty hog air conditioners. The ultimate plan is to replace them all.

More Pictures of our humble abode

I am pretty happy about our living situation and am very thankful for a wife that does amazing things with very little.

So, in the middle of writing this post our network went down and I spent about an hour fixing it. I feel like I haven't gotten much done today because of all the little things that keep happening. Maybe I shouldn't always be in the grafica (graphic design shop) because so much happens here. This way I also get to practice my Portuguese.
Well, I should conclude now and maybe in a few days I can get Lindsay to tell you about teaching at the school and how the school is going.

Post By Jeff Turner

In Brasil now

Lindsay and I have arrived safely to Brasil with our entire luggage. Thank you for all the prayers. Going through customs was easy because all they did was take our "nothing to declare" paperwork and waved us on.
It has been a bit overwhelming being here and seeing the ministry again, because it has grown so much this past year. It is a huge difference going from 15 students at the International school to 57. That also means that the Alcance (where we live) seems so much busier. The ministry has a whole has grown because of the money that the school is bringing in, but it is still difficult to pay for the upkeep of the Alcance. They still make sure they are supporting other parts of the ministry though.
Well, I really feel good about being here and I have had assurance from God that this is truly where He wants us to be. Please pray for Lindsay right now, she is sick with some stomach problems. I think she got it before she came, but the transition hasn't helped. She has begun to feel better this afternoon. I have been doing fairly well, but I know I internalize things. I had some problems with stomachaches and acid reflux on the airplane. They only real time I almost lost it and cried my eyes out was when I gave Nathan (my brother in-law) a hug goodbye. Nathan and his wife, Joanna, have been amazing and have let us live with them at their house these last 6 months or so. We only had one vehicle and so did they, so we were really able to help each other out a lot with rides. I am so thankful for them.

The Christmas update we never posted.

This past year was so very different than what we expected. We thought we would be back in Brazil before March. It feels like we spent a year waiting in anticipation for our return to that country! It’s not until we’ve sat down and really looked at what God has done this past year that we have seen a purpose for us being in the US. God has given us innumerable blessings through unusual and trying circumstances. We can’t give ourselves any credit at all for how He has provided. We want to give Him the glory by sharing a glimpse of what He has done for us with you, our friends and family.

• November/December ’06 – We returned from Brazil and stayed with Jeff’s parents for the month of November while we shared our experiences at various Community Church mission conferences. We then began living with Lindsay’s parents while we applied for a visa through Lindsay’s credentials. A good friend recommended Lindsay for a seasonal job working part time at Go Fish (a missions based clothing and jewelry store).

• January/February - Lindsay’s work permit (a precursor to the visa) was denied. Jeff was offered a job by an another good friend to work at Roche Diagnostics in their IT department. Lindsay started working full time at Go Fish as the assistant store manager.

• March/April/May- We decided to apply for a visa through Jeff’s credentials. Jeff studied for the A+ test (which was paid for by Roche). Roche began donating laptop and desktop computers to World Renewal. Jeff had a rough bout with the flu that landed him in the emergency room and added to his stomach problems for the following months.

• June –After Jeff took the A+ test in May we began to apply for a visa on our own with Jeff’s credentials. We moved in with Lindsay’s brother & his wife. Lindsay quit her job at Go Fish – in anticipation of returning to Brazil shortly.

• July/August – After having no success getting visas on our own we hired a Brazilian lawyer to help us with the process. The lawyer told us it would take 30 days to produce a visa. When Jeff was hired at Roche it was as a temp; his contract was up so we headed to California for a vacation to visit Jeff’s grandparents.

• September/October/November/December – September rolled around and still no word from the lawyer on the visa. Jeff was offered another position at Roche and Lindsay was offered an administrative assistant job at Hugabug Family Entertainment (a friend’s entertainment business) in November. Jeff went to the doctor after continued problems with an upset stomach and was diagnosed with acid reflux. His insurance at Roche paid for medication to treat it.

We can’t thank God enough for all He has done for us. We have been able to encourage some of our friends through some rough times this past year and they’ve helped us immeasurably through this confusing time as well. We continue to pray about our return to Brazil and we do have confidence in this:

“… I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” – Jeremiah 29:11

Back to Brazil

Yup. Really. No joke. We're going back February 11. After 13 long months we're going, but our situation is complicated.

Why so complicated? Well, we aren't sure about how long we'll be there. Honestly, there has been no joyous uproar about returning, because we still haven't gotten our long-term visas. We are working with our lawyer on a visa, but it hasn't happened yet. Five months ago we were told by said lawyer that we would be back in Brazil in a month, but we're still filling out paperwork and trying to get through maze of red tape.

So, what to do? We're praying and instead of just waiting here twiddling our thumbs, we've decided to go back on short-term visas. We'll be staying for six months again, or if our long-term visa gets through 2-4 years.

So everything is up in the air again, or maybe it's still - Everything is still up in the air again. Things are complicated, and to be honest I'm afraid.

Life is great here right now. It's safe. We have our family around. We're happily living with my brother, his wife, and a dear friend. The house always busy with friends. Our Christian friends are loving and supportive of us. We have an awesome new church family. Great jobs. Savings set aside. A soft bed. Fast internet. Health insurance. Taco Bell. Comfort. Ease.
Returning to Brazil stirs mixed feeling inside of me. I feel great joy and excitement about returning to our friends. I have missed so many people so much!I can't wait to teach again. I want to see how things have changed! I want to get back, but but I guess the long wait has stirred up fear.
I'm constantly running through the 'What Ifs.'
What if I feel out of place? What if we don't raise enough support? What if I am really a horrible teacher? What if I never get to finish all the schooling I want? What if we dry up all the savings?

What if we end up back in the US again in 6 months?



Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7
Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. - Psalms 37:5
Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you... -Psalms 55:22

As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God! - Psalms 40:17

-Lindsay

Hello October, Goodbye Summer

Perhaps you’ve noticed that we have been putting off another communication. We had hoped that this message could deliver exciting news about our visas, but now we are fairly certain that we won’t be back in Brazil for a while. We still aren’t sure how long “a while” will be. It may be two months, six months, or two years before we are able to return to Brazil.

Here’s the skinny on where we are with things.

What’s with our visas? We are still trying to obtain work visas with a Brazilian lawyer. We were originally told that it would take 30 days to get our visas; it’s been about two months and we still haven’t gotten them. We have just learned that the Federal Police have had strikes on and off for the past 9 months or so. Any visa other than a tourist visa must first go through the Federal Police so we are left to wait. They are in part striking for structural reform that will help ease the process of issuing visas, but reform takes time. We are still being asked for more information so there has been no denial of our visas yet.

Lindsay with an old pal, former exchange student, Fernanda

What have we been doing? Before visiting Jeff’s grandparents in California we quit our jobs believing that we would leave for Brazil shortly after our return. Since we’re still here we’ve found ways to keep busy. Jeff has worked on various ministry projects and continues to do freelance work fixing computers. We’ve also spent a lot of free time visiting with out of town family and friends.

Jeff helping Lindsay's brother rebuild his deck.

What are we going to do now? Returning to Brazil may not happen immediately so in the interim we are hunting for jobs. While there is still a good chance that we will be going back soon, we want to be prepared for being in the US for a while. If we do have our visas denied, we will need to go back to school. We are hoping to find jobs at universities or jobs that offer tuition reimbursement.

What are we praying for? Please join us in praying: We are praying that God will continue to lead us and open the doors that he chooses to open. We are praying as we search for the jobs that God has planned. We are praying that we will continue to trust God as we wait to hear what will happen. Pray that we will feel at peace with what God is doing in our lives.

Jeff at the Cart Family Farm

In God's Hands

Well we have done everything we can on our end for the Visa and now the lawyer in Brazil is working on getting our visa for us. We haven't heard much from the lawyer at all so I guess no news is good news. Please continue to pray for the process.
We did just get back from a trip to visit my Grandparents who live in Southern California. It was a really great trip and we were able to spend a lot of time with my Grandparents but we didn't wear them out. We were able to do a lot of really cool things while we were there, including a trip to the San Diego wild animal park and a visit to the Aquarium of the Pacific. Lindsay has some picture up on her Facebook site . Check it out here.

Legalized

After having to take another trip to the Brazilian Consulate in Chicago, we finally have all of our documents "legalized" by the Brazilian government. Basically meaning we can give all the documents to the lawyer and we should have our visa within a month.

Praise God

Things have gotten rather complicated with the Ministry of Labor and they are giving Tele the run around. The good news is that through researching the requirements for the Visa, Tele ran across a lawyer that knows the process and can get us our Visa.
So we have hired the lawyer and now all we need to do is go to the embassy in Chicago and get our credentials certified. The Brazil government does trust documents that haven't been certified by a Brazilian.
We will take a trip to Chicago on Tuesday June 19th. Please pray that is process goes smooth.

Good News

Tele went to the Ministry of Labor and they like my credentials!! So now Tele has to write a employee contract and get it approved by the Ministry of Labor. More news soon.

So much time

Sorry we haven't posted in forever. It has been a weird but wonderful time here in the US. Yep thats right we have been in the US since November 06 because we have had trouble getting our work visa to go back to Brazil. The Brazil government pretty much said that we didn't have enough schooling to be qualified to teach at the International school. So, I (Jeff) have been studying for the Comptia A+ computer certification exams because the Brazil Government has said if I have a computer certification they will give us the work permit. In the course of starting to study for these exams a good friend of mine offered me a job in the computer field that would also pay for my exams (they are about$158 each). So the last couple of months I have worked for Roche Diagnostics in there IT department and have been studying like crazy for the Comptia A+ exams.
Well, the LORD is faithful and I have passed the exams!! Which means I am official a Comptia A+ professional, translation= I know a lot about computers and could work as a general computer repair guy. So, as I write this I have been getting my resume updated and I will be getting my college transcripts and sending them all to Brazil in hopes of getting a work permit so we can apply for the work visa!!
Keep us in your Prayers

Another way to get a Visa

A+

Well the newest way that we are trying to get our work visa is now through Jeff. Tele has been in communication with the ministry of labor and they didn't approve our visa through Lindsay.They did say that if Jeff had a computer certification that they would give him a Visa to teach computers at the International school.
So, this means that Jeff has started to study a ton in order to take the Microsoft A+ certificate test. It is two tests one hardware and one software. Please be praying for Jeff as he is studying for these tests and will take it in a couple weeks once he feels secure that he can pass.

So Lindsay and I have been living with her parents in a two bedroom apartement for the past 2 months. We have really enjoyed living with her parents and like the apartement also but sometimes wierd things happen there.

Like the other night it started raining inside the aparetment.
So it turned out that the new neighbors upstairs didn't have toilet paper and one of the girls thought it would be a good idea to use paper towels. Yes that is right it was raining toilet water down upon us. Luckily it was only in the two bathrooms that it happened.

Still in Indiana

Yes we are still here but things are looking good for getting the work Visa and heading back down to Brazil.
The International School now has the government number from the IRS of Brazil that will make it possible for us to get a work visa. We are praying that everything will be processed fast and that we will be in Brazil in March!

Keep Praying for us!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from Jeff and Lindsay Turner!

It was exciting to start off the year by adding a new member to our family. No, we haven’t had a baby – someone had a wedding. Lindsay’s brother Nathan married Joanna (Krasnichan) on St. Patrick’s Day. Lindsay was the Matron of Honor and Jeff was a groomsman.

This year was also good for us personally as we reached goals that we set when we first got married. We were finally able to move down to Brazil, South America and begin serving in ministry with World Renewal Brazil. Jeff works at a ministry print shop/ graphic design center and Lindsay teaches children English.

You can get all the Brazil updates you can handle by reviewing our posts for the past six months at our weblog (www.jlbrasil.blogspot.com). It reflects on how blessed and honored we feel to be serving God at such young ages.

Our hearts are in Brazil, but Christmas and Thanksgiving with our families has really been wonderful. We returned to the States on November 2^nd to participate in missions conferences. We had hoped get new visas quickly, but it is not moving smoothly. Lindsay’s tourist visa expired in November, so returning to the US has been all about trying to get two-year work visas. The process is time consuming and difficult.

Pursuing visas does not take up all of our time, so we have both sought ways to bring in some money. Jeff has kept busy by helping people fix their computers and Lindsay got a seasonal job at a Christian store called Go Fish in the Greenwood Park Mall. God has really blessed us with some interesting connections through Lindsay’s work. We are praying that these relationships will benefit the ministry in Brazil.

The when and how of getting back to the country seems to be up in the air for the time being, but we still serve the ministry as much as possible from long distance. We try to stay on top of the news from Brazil and update the World Renewal Brazil blog (www.wrbrazil.blogspot.com).

Please continue to pray for us as we trust in God for the plans that He has for us.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)

Lindsay has taken a part-time job at a store in the Greenwood Park mall called Go Fish. If you are in the area please stop by.

We are still working on getting a work Visa to stay in Brazil for 2 years. Please pray that the process will go smooth.

Tele is only here for one more week and we have been all over to the different community Churches. Thanks so much for all the churches that have let us speak and be apart of their mission conferences! After things settle down and while Lindsay and I are trying to get our new visa, we might be taking part-time jobs. We also still need to raise some more support before we go back to Brazil.

Please be praying that we will get our visa in a timely manner and that we will be able to raise more personal support.

We made it safely to Indiana!

We will be going around with Tele visiting different Community Churches and talking with people about the Brazil ministry. We are very excited to see people and look forward to the big group that will be at the Reunion next Saturday.

If anybody would like to get together with Lindsay and I our Cell phone # right now is
317-508-1960

We leave tomorrow at 6am. It doesn't quite feel possible that the time as come already for us to return to the States. Things feel a little uncertain. We don't know for sure about our visas. We don't know how long we'll be in the States. We don't know so much. I guess it just gives us a great chance to trust in the Lord. God has been so good to us and provided for us this far - we know he will continue to do so.

Please pray for a safe trip for Jeff & I and for Tele.
See you all very soon!

Lindsay

By the way - today is Jeff's Birthday!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEFF!

Lindsay and I are starting to pack our things and figure out what stays and what goes. It is a very emotional time and if we had a choice we would stay.

On the bright side of things! We got a lot done for the Ministry like the Short-term Missions Brochure and a General Ministries Brochure that describes all the various parts of the World Renewal Brazil Ministry. ( all the links will lead you to PDF versions of the Brochures that you can download)

We also have finally finished the Brazil Broadcast for the fall session. ( This is also a PDF version of the Broadcast that you can download.)

Jeff and I can hardly believe that only a couple of weeks remain until we leave for the States. Where did the time go? This past month has been a busy one. We've been working on wrapping up a dozen projects, as well as trying to keep up with our normal routines. Life is rich and full.

Things are busy at the International School. I've been working on teaching the Kindergartener's how to read in English with the help of a really great Phonics Book called Systematic Sequential Phonics. They are picking it up fast, often having to learn the meaning of a word as they are learning to read it. We also had a huge event on Wednesday for Children's Day. If you want to know to know more about that, I'm afraid you're going to have to pick up a copy of the latest Brazil Broadcast... it will be out in about 3 weeks. :)

ok here's a couple of pictures from big bash at least - to tide you over for the Broadcast

Jeff's main focus has been on projects we need to finish for Mission Conferences in November. Like we've said before, it is less expensive to print things here. So, we have stacks of brochures and the Brazil Broadcast Fall 2006 to finish laying out, collating, and printing!

Please pray for us as we try to finish these tasks and as we continue to work out long-term visas. Right now Tele is working on registering the International School with the Brazilian government. After he does that we can get a volunteer Visa through the school.

Anyway it's all taking more time that we'd like it to and we could use the prayers for patience and for the process.

post by Lindsay

Brazilian Food

Food in Brazil is not really like Mexican food, with the exception that we eat a lot of rice and beans. You can't find refried beans or tortillas here. We eat normal Brazilian food for lunch most weekdays. Normal food is usually rice, beans, and some kind of meat dish (like baked chicken or meatballs, etc) They don't really use a lot of spices here with foods, mostly just cumin.
Here are some pics of some of the other food that Jeff and I like to eat in Brazil!

This is a coxinha
It is fried and breaded with chicken and cheese or shrimp, etc. inside. Jeff really likes these.This is my favorite that Cafe Impresso (the ministry's coffee shop) sells. It is an empada. It's smaller than the coxinha and less filling. It is like a little crusty, flaky pie thing. It can have cheese, or shrimp, chicken etc. inside, but it also has a little olive inside. Yummy yummy! They also have desert ones that rock my socks.This is Tapioca - not like the bubbly pudding though. It is made from the manioc root and is fried. You make it kinda like an omelet in a pan. The outside is a bit bland, but inside people put fillings like coconut, cheese, and different jellies - yummy!we also eat a lot of yummy fruits that you can't get in Indiana, like graviola & acerola. The graviola looks creepy, but makes amazing juice & ice cream.Fejuada is the most typical dish of all Brazil. I like it ok, but it make's Jeff's stomach upset. -probably because it has crazy random meat in it

What did I want to be when I grew up? I always had a long list of ideas. I wanted to be a basketball player, a photographer, a journalist, and a teacher – all at different ages/stages of my life. I always wanted an adventure in life. God delivered! It is not because I am living in an exotic country. I am on an adventure because He is my guide. My life is solely in my Creator’s hands. If he wants Jeff and I to live here, I say great! If He has other plans for us, then I say great again!

I have asked God, what will my life be? Where will I go? What will I do? Yet, I know that neither where I go nor what I do really matters. I cannot be content in going and doing. No one can. I will never find my reason for living in anything, anyone, anyplace. I need God to sustain me and give me joy. I enjoy teaching; I enjoy living in Brazil; I enjoy my life, but I know that it is not these things that give me contentment.

If I wander and search for some other contentment, it would only be in vain. It would be a pining after a phantom, an idea that does not exist. I can never find fulfillment outside of Him.

Teaching English and learning Portuguese is what my life consists of right now. Our preschoolers are on their fifth section of the Teaching English with Ace & Christy. They are two bright little girls. They are at a stage where they merge their Portuguese with their English in everyday conversations. Some of their favorite words are father, nice, listen, teacher, and of course NO (every preschooler’s favorite word).

The kindergarteners are learning quickly as well (we have four). They are in a stage where they start every sentence with the word “and” (ex. And I go to the bathroom, Teacher?). They form choppy sentences on their own now. I’m so proud!

The afternoon class is learning quickly, but they can difficult to discipline at times. They all attend other schools during the day, so they don’t take our class as seriously. Please pray for them as we work to encourage them in their Christian growth.

This last picture is of the burning of the sugar cane. They do this to get the snakes out before harvest.

post by Lindsay

I got my laptop back from the shop today and it is BROKEN still. They said the motherboard was bad which means no more laptop. So, please be praying that I can raise the money to buy a new laptop.
If you would like to contribute to the purchase of a new laptop you can send a check to

World renewal
P.O. Box 399
Greenfield, IN 46140
Earmark (Jeff Turner laptop)

WE CAN STAY

The trip to Recife went well and we can stay in Brazil until November. While we were getting our Visa renewed we met a family from South Africa who had a yacht and were sailing all around South America. They were pretty neat people and seemed to really know how to do the whole "sailing the world" thing.

While in Recife we also dropped off my broken laptop to be fixed. They said that it could be a simple fix so please continue to pray for that situation.

Brazil's Independence Day is Thursday and Carpina's Independence day is Monday so Lindsay has a big break from school. We are trying to see if we can get away to the beach over the weekend. It is nice to have breaks. I think Lindsay really needs this right about now.

Post by Jeff Turner

Bad and Good News

The big day is here. We have to go to Recife tomarrow and get our Visas renewed. If they decide not to renew them we will be kicked out of the country. Please pray for this. We aren't too worried about it. We haven't heard of anybody that hasn't gotten this type of visa renewed.

While we are in Recife we are going to see if my laptop can be fixed. That's right my trusty laptop stopped working on me completely. It won't even start. This has completely messed up my normal Job down here because I do about everything on that Laptop. Thankfully There is a Dell laptop that was donated this summer that I can use for the time being. The Problem is I can't do to much of my graphic design stuff on it, so If I can't get my laptop fixed I will need to raise the money to buy a new laptop. Please be praying about this situation and if you feel lead to give money toward a new laptop you can send a check to:

World renewal
P.O. Box 399
Greenfield, IN 46140
Earmark (Jeff Turner laptop)

We don't have very high hopes of fixing my current broken laptop but I will let you know what happens tomorrow.

Other than those scary events that are going on, we have had a big group from Word of Life come live at the Alcance, where we live, for a while. This group is a drama/singing group that goes around all over Brazil to present the gospel. So, they are staying with our group for about a month while they go out on the weekends to different town in the Northeast. There is an American family with them and lots of Brazilians to practice our Portuguese with, so it should be a lot of fun having them around.

This Post was sent out to the people on my Brazil E-mail update list if you would like to be on that list, please e-mail me at JeffroyTurner@gmail.com

Working at the Café Impresso Print Shop is a wonderful experience and it really feels like God custom made this job for me. I work there with Roberto Conçalves. He is an outstanding Christian guy who is dating Tele’s oldest daughter, Karine. He speaks English fluently allowing me to be a lot more useful until I learn Portuguese better.

We are open at the Print Shop Monday – Friday 9am to noon, closed for lunch, and open again from 2pm to 6pm. Saturday we are open from 9am to noon.

So, what do I actually do for seven hours? Most of my day is usually spent working on projects for the World Renewal main office, the International School, or other ministry projects. Obviously I don’t work on ministry things all day, everyday.

Part of what the print shop is, is a business open to the public, a way to earn money for the ministry. I have been able to put together brochures, fix up old photos, and make Catalogs for small businesses. The photo to the right is the front cover of the latest catalog I made that contained 30 varieties of products. Below is another catalog that had mostly cleaning supplies in it.

One day we came to the print shop to find a lady was waiting for us to open. She said that she had just talked to Tele and wanted to see if we could change a picture of her two sons. The photo was taken in her backyard and she wanted the boys at the beach instead. Tele’s comment to her was, if Jeff and Roberto can’t do this for you, then you won’t find anybody else in town that can. Once Roberto explained to me what the women wanted I turned to him and said “You’re kidding right? This is so cool; I love this job!” I can’t believe that I get to do fun things in Photoshop while making money for the ministry and doing God’s work.

I love that we are here to get the word out about God moving in Brazil.

Lindsay & I have a wonderful support base in the US that allows us to live here, tithe to a local church, serve people, and even earn more money for the ministry! I get to bless others, by doing what I love!

Deus é forte!

Jeffrey Turner

Another August Update

Jeff & I were walking around downtown Carpina today - shopping, getting out our monthly money at the bank, etc - when I looked up and everything suddenly felt completely normal. The streets, people, and shops looked as familiar as those in my hometown. I still feel like I am in a bit of a bubble sometimes, but everything isn't as exotic. That is how it feels here now; everything feels normal. This is not in a boring way, but in a "I know what to expect" kind of way. It is nice.

(Carpina downtown)

There have been changes here and there in our lives, but life remains steady. One thing that I would like to change very much is my health. I have been sick with a head cold/ cough/ throat problem for about 2 weeks now. It is quite frustrating. As soon as I think that I am well again my health takes a turn and get more sick. I am on antibiotics that seem to be helping, but I will probably pay a visit to the doctor on Monday. I have been able to teach and have only had to take off 1 day. Pray for me to have patience with my body - I get frustrated when I can't do all that I want to do.

Jeff is taking great care of me. He's discovered that the best medicine is chocolate. At the Grafica, he has been creating some very interesting projects for people recently. Roberto is giving him more and more challenging assignments. One week he had to create a catalogue for a man who sold school products. He is now working on a logo for a motorcycle delivery service. On Thursday he managed to get out of the Grafica and go to Amexius to see the property that was purchased for the church there. Pastor Assurio just returned from South Africa and he and his family will be taking over at the Ameixas church. They plan to serve there for at least 8 months.

(the view in Ameixas)

post by Lindsay

Jeff & I had our first double date last Saturday the 7th with Roberto & Karine, Tele’s daughter and her boyfriend. We visited a castle. Seriously, there really is a castle in Brazil. Who would of thought? It isn’t medieval built, but its still pretty impressive. It was built by an eccentric old rich guy who probably saw Brave Heart a few too many times. They it chocked-full of antiquated weaponry, tapestries, and very old oddities. Jeff & I hadn’t really had a date since coming down so it was nice for a change.

It was much needed after a busy month of short-term groups and after the first week back to school. School really couldn’t have started better though. God is so faithful! The Holy Spirit was unquestionably leading me through. I have really enjoyed putting together lesson plans and working with the children. It is so rewarding to see them try to communicate with the words that I teach them.

It is so amazing to see them really learn. One example of such happened last week. We reviewed family members from a previous lesson with our preschoolers. After school on Friday, we noticed that a girl’s father was about to leave without her. Karine said in English, oh no look her father is leaving. The little 4 year-old looked and said quickly with concern, “Meu Father!?” - combining her first language (meu is my in Portuguese) with English. They comprehend more and more all the time!

On a completely different note, I saw my first giant cockroach “in the wild” yesterday! It was nearly as big as the palm of my hand and white in color! I’ve only seen ones like that at the Cincinnati Zoo. –The Moraes’ said they’ve never seen one like ever before either (except on Animal Planet), so not to worry if you plan on taking a visit to see us! I think it must have just climbed down from the Amazon jungle (three very large states away). If a cockroach can come down from the Amazon, then a monkey should be able to as well. I do hope to see a monkey in the wild!

It can be such an adventure here. Keep praying for us, especially to learn Portuguese quickly. We haven’t had lessons in longer than a month (on account of the short-term groups and our teacher going out of town).

Lindsay

I Loved seeing the Castle. I was big into castles as a kid and this is the first one that I have ever seen. I hope we get a chance to go back and see it again.

Jeff

Please Pray for Lindsay because she is sick today. I was sick all last week and it was no fun at all. I am afraid that I have given Lindsay what I had. I had a bad fever and my throat hurt. I woke up in the middle of the night last week, shaking and not being able to stop. But, I am ok now I just don't want that for Lindsay, especially since she started teaching this week and tomorrow is her first full day of teaching.
As for me the transition between the groups leaving wasn't that difficult because my head was pretty cloudy from being sick. I got sick the last day the big group left. It is nice to be back at the Print Shop working on projects and on the World Renewal Blog site. I hope to be able to go around to the different churches soon and report on them.

Post by Jeff T

Wow! July went just way too fast!

The 2006 short-term mission trips started early July and the last of the other Americans will leave on Monday (Rachel & Anna Winzeler)
There were Americans trickling down just about each week of the month.
The first group held medical clinics. The last day they held one in the Carpina Dump. The level of poverty and the faces of the children touched the group deeply.
The second group was mostly a group of youth. What a group of 1 Timothy 4:12 young men and women. They really shined God's love and peace even through a language barrier.
Things get back to normal soon. Tuesday the second semester of school starts and I'll be teaching English alone for the first time. I am nervous, but excited. I know that I'll be relying on the Holy Spirit daily, especially that first week.

I also turned 22 last Tuesday. We celebrated by going out for Pizza! Yummy!

Please keep Jeff in your prayers - he has been sick since Monday. It started out as just a cold, but it moved into his chest.
He is on antibiotics. He will be back to posting regularly soon.

Lindsay

(me & Stephanie, a college student from Kansas
who came down for the month)

Lindsay and I haven't posted in a while because it has been so very busy this month.
Since the short-term missions groups have been here it has been a big blessing and also a very busy time. The medical trip team was a very close group and touched many peoples lives while serving at Lagoa De Itaenga and the Dump. Lindsay went to the Medical clinics a couple of days to take pictures and help out. I only got to go one day because we have been very busy at this Print Shop.
When that group went to Recife to Shop and eat at the all you can eat steak house Lindsay and I stayed back because there wasn't any room to go. Well we didn't really mind and it turned out to be a blessing because we were the first ones to see Rebeka, Pastor Ricardo's and Kattia's new Baby.

I think Rebeka looks a lot like Ricardo

It was sad to see most of the Medical Team leave but 3 of them did stay for English Camp. This new group that came in was a bit overwealming at first because it is a group of about 31 people mainly Youth. But, it has been a big blessing to have them here and you can tell they are very on fire for God. Most of the Youth I know from working with the High Schoolers at BRCC.
Well the Youth Conference Started today and Lindsay and I will be helping with the games and of course taking pictures and the like.

Post by Jeff

For some reason I still think I can play soccer without shoes and not get hurt

The new World Renewal Brazil Blog is now up and running please check it out to see more pictures and stories from people down here!

wrbrazil.blogspot.com

Best Day of My Life

I will never forget July 4, 2006 for the rest of my life.

I have had four days that I can really say have been the best days of my life. There is the day in high school that God straightened me out and reminded me who He had called me to be. I don’t have that date memorized; I can’t even remember if it was in February or January. Then, there is the day that God put Jeff and me together. Again I can’t remember what exact date that was. God didn’t gift me with a memory for dates.

The other two wonderful days are easy to remember: my wedding date, New Year’s Eve 2003, and now July 4, 2006. July 4^th God gave my family a new hope. July 4^th God informed us that Huntington’s Disease had been cured in a mouse.

When I got the bulletin that the HD Society of America emailed I was completely stunned. It had been discovered sometime in June, but I was just getting the email. CURED! Even now I want to jump for joy. It is just completely unbelievable. For years the doctors have been saying things like “we’re coming along with studies” and “we really expect some progress soon.” What do vague promises like that mean to families like mine who face a devastating disease? But now, they are saying the word cure. Cure. It’s just so unreal.

So I immediately googled everything I could find on the news of the disease and I found two other articles from scientific journals that confirmed the results. They genetically altered a mouse to have HD and then they cured him. The articles said that they now know what to do and that all the doctors around the world who study the disease can focus on this finding. One of the articles said that with in five years they expect to start trials in humans.

I never really expected see them saying this to one day. There was always something in the back of my mind saying if I get it that’s fine and I know God will use me anyway. There was never really the thought “if I get this God will cure it.” I know that it is not completely certain that there is a cure for humans, but for the first time in my life God has given my brothers and me a real hope of life without HD. Life with HD has been such a part of my thought process; this news is just so amazing that I can’t even describe how it changes me.

The happiness I have because of a possible cure for HD, a disease I might experience on earth, is nothing compared to the happiness I have because of the God. He saved me from pain and sin. He has showed me that I have purpose in life because of Him. He showed me the only cure for the hole in my heart.

He has saved me. He has given me a new hope that I can see. He has given me hope that is real and tangible. My gratitude to God is so very vast. I feel like I did on that night in high school when He drew me back to Him.

I’m a little scared that this cure might not work, all of the best days are a little scary though, but I know that He is in control and He wants to save me. He wants me to have hope.

I read this just a few days ago:

Romans 5:1-5

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we gain access by faith into this grave in which we now stand. And we rejoice in sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

I am so in love with my Savior.

I didn’t give much background on this – Huntington’s is the disease that my father died from and that I have a 50% change of having.

post by Lindsay

3 WEEKS

Three weeks. We’ve been here three weeks – sometimes it feels like we just got here and sometimes it feels like we’ve been here for ages.

This week we mostly had practices for the program. I was grateful that I didn’t have to help teach much, because I got pretty sick on Wednesday and spent the day in bed. I feel like I’ve adjusted to the school just in time for it to let out.

I can’t help but wonder what next semester will be like, when the English classes are really mine. I’ll have another Brazilian teacher in the classes with me, but I’ll be doing the teaching. I feel confident. The curriculum is great. I know what changes I want to make and I know generally what I want to do with the daily lesson plans.

I know a few phrases that will help me in classes. “Senta” (sit down), “Esta Feio” (that’s ugly – teachers use if a kid has some “ugly” behavior), “Chega” (that’s enough), “Muinto bem” (very good), etc. And the kids know a few phrases in English about obeying: look, listen, close your mouth, very good, etc.

The kids are really pretty good and they are excited about learning English. Today was our program. We did the “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” Here are some pictures.

- Lindsay

Celebrate!

It has been especially exciting to be down here during the World Cup. All of Carpina stops for 90+ minutes every time the Brazilian team takes the field. Everyone watches the games. The shops, grocery stores, and restaurants close, unless they have a TV. I really mean everyone. Even the police vanish. The crime rate goes pretty much down to zero so it’s ok. We had to even let out our afternoon class at the International School early for one game and cancel it all together for another game. The day before each game the kids color all of their activity pages green, yellow, and blue (Brazil’s colors). Yeah, Brazilians like soccer.

Brazilians really like to celebrate, not just for soccer. Take for instance this holiday they have Saõ João (celebrating the apostle John). The holiday was actually yesterday, but they had been celebrating it for about a month before we arrived!

It’s remarkable how the Community Churches come together for these different celebrations. Often all these celebrations can really damage the family. Some people make them excuses to go get drunk and party hard. Community Church makes everything family oriented instead.

It seems like Brazilians are looking for something “more” to fill their lives, something to get excited about. You and I know, God really wants to give them something to be excited about even after they put away the decorations. It must feel so empty to not have any hope to celebrate every day. I pray that those who are lost around us here can see the real reason that we have for celebrating. Our salvation is our real joy and the churches here really know how to show it.
They really live out Philippians 2:1-4

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

They love through their actions. They show that they care about the conditions of families. Everyone takes turns serving each other. They aren’t perfect, but the pastors and leaders here are striving to have the same love and are “one in spirit and purpose” to reaching others for Christ.

Some Goodies from the Internet Cafe

Already Burnt??

We have been here less than a week and I already burnt my feet.

Ok so I burnt them while I was fishing in the ocean on Sunday morning.

That's right the first Sunday here I went fishing and Lindsay slept in.
The Community Church holds church on Sunday evenings here.

Fishing was really fun and I caught a huge fish. Ok so maybe it was a small fish

Things have been going great with helping the Ministry so far. I have spent most of my time these last few days at the Cafe/Print Shop downtown Carpina (about a mile away from where we live). I was able to bring down my desktop computer and my laptop so we are using them in the Print Shop.

Roberto (the guy who runs the ministry Print Shop) and I spent a lot of time making the place look proffessional by getting the computer ready for the Print Shop to use. The Print Shop is also a Internet Cafe. Tele said that it is the only one in Carpina with laptops and a wireless network (we brought one down with us)!

The Cafe Impresso/Print Shop is a new ministry about 4 months old that has already been a huge blessing down here. Tele and workers here are able to witness to the customers and it is also a blessing for communication with churches in the US. They have high speed internet so we can use a program called Skype to call telephones in the US from our computers for cheap. You can also call computer to computer. If you want to talk to us get www.skype.com. Our user name is JeffRoyT or just search for Jeff Turner.

Lindsay has been helping out at the International School and will be taking over for Rachel Winzeler in August as a full time teacher there. She has been enjoying it a lot.

Both of us our starting Portuguese lessons this evening. After Brazil wins their first game of the World Cup (playing right as I speak)!

post by Jeff

Location: Carpina, Brazil

Well we're finally here!
We left Wednesday at 2:30pm and arrived at 1:50pm on Thursday.
It was a pretty long exausting trip, but worth it. We went a different route this time, but it didn't end up being any shorter of a journey.

We kinda did a hop through the north of Brazil.
We stopped in Manaus then went through Belém, then on to Fortaleza where we had a 4 hour layover,

(Jeff napping at the airport)

and then finally switched planes to go to Recife. Then we drove 45minutes inland and we were in Carpina.

It was all a bit overwhelming. We both were doing just fine, until we got off the plane.
I (really just me - Lindsay) crashed just a little. I guess I hadden't really had time to adjust. I was fine and all of a sudden I realized what we were doing. I started to miss family and friends a bit.

(a group of our friends at a favorite pizza place in the US)

That lasted a couple of hours until I ate some sticky sweet bread - and I remembered that Brazil wasn't so bad! :)

Today was great. I met our afternoon class at the International School. They are a really bright bunch and ages 5 to 10. They come in the afternoon after school to learn English so that they can start school in the next semester.

(some of the kids in the class with Karine, Rachel, and Rachel's sister Ana who came down with us from the US)

Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.
- I Chronicles 29:13

Saying Farewell

We have our plane tickets in hand and we are repacking our stuff to make sure nothing is over 50 pounds as per the airline restrictions. Then off we shall go to BRAZIL on June 7th. We are having a final farewell party at Brookville Road Community Church this Sunday June 4th between 2pm and 5pm Please come and see us. *Edit Thanks to everybody who came to say goodbye to us!!

Prayer Requests
Safe Travels
Packing
Our hearts being prepared to leave
For Family left behind

Stuff for Sale!

Jeff & I have moved out of our appartment and are now living with Jeff's folks until we leave for Brasil June 10th. We had to get rid of a lot of stuff, some of which we will sell at a yard sale next Saturday, May 6. It will be at Jeff's folks' house, if you want to stop by and need directions let us know.
Here's a list of some of the larger stuff & some textbooks we have for sale - if you're interested in any of them leave a comment, give us a call, or email Jeff!

Game Systems:
Super NES with 2 controllers and 5 games (X-men, Toy Story, NBA Jam, Scooby Doo, and Super Mario World)	Sega Genesis with 2 controllers (I think the cord is a little screwed up - I remember having to position it just right to get it to work) with Sonic 2 and Comic Zone.	Sega Dreamcast with 2 controllers, memory card, and rumble pack with 6 games (Seventhcross Evolution, Grandia II, Evolution 2, Bass fishing, Crazy Taxi, and Soul Caliber.)
I also Have a NES without any cords

Books (mostly textbooks, all are used)	Appliances / furniture
Epistle to the Romans (Pillar NT Commentary)	Iron & Ironing Board - $15 (1 yr old)
A History of the Ancient World	Blender - $10 (2yrs old - not used much)
The St. Martin’s Guide to Writing	Electric Mixer - $15 (2yrs old – not used much)
The Art of Public Speaking (W/ TOPIC FINDER & CDROM)	Mickey Mouse Toaster (sings it’s a small world – not used much) - $20
Jesus Under Fire	Microwave – (old – used a lot – works well) $15
Education that is Christian	Two tall & Skinny five-drawer dressers $45 for both
Practicing College Learning Strategies (very used)	DVD Rack - $15
Missionology	Black & White Dish Set (from Target): 2 serving bowls, 4 regular bowls, 4 square plates, 6 large plates, 6 small plates (one has a chip), 2 mugs - $45
Balancing the Christian Life (Ryrie) (very old copy)	Cordless Phone - $10
From God to Us: How We Got Our Bible	three large square pillows $6 each (still in wrappers)
The Battle for Truth	black metal CD Rack $10
“Getting the Most From Your New Strong’s Exhaustive Bible Concordance”	Five glass casserole dishes. I think they are all Pyrex, but I can’t remember. 2 are Teflon coated. If you need more info or dimensions just email me and I will dig them out of their boxes. $25
The Gospel Reloaded	1 large woven clothing hamper $5
Share Jesus Without Fear	digital camera 1.5 mega pixel $20
Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans
What Should we think of the “Carnal Christian”
Stepping Stones (A Journal)

Daffodils

Jeff & I went
to the Link Daffodil Garden
after church on Sunday.

I'm a big fan of daffodils.

Here are some pictures from our excursion.

-Lindsay

2 1/2 months and counting...

Well, time sure is flying by now.
Jeff & I move to Brasil in 2 1/2 months.

It has been really encouraging to meet with so many people recently.
Getting together with families from the church I grew up in has been especially nice!
All the kids I used to babysit for are getting really big.

- Lindsay


The reality of this life changing move has been becoming more real in the last week. We have decided to only stay in our apartement for the month of April then we will be living with my parents until we step on the plane to Brazil. This will make it a lot easier to sell off a lot of our possessions and start packing.


- Jeffrey

Please keep us in your prayers as Lindsay is finishing up school during the time we will be moving out of the apartement and we continue to meet with people and churches about supporting us.

HERE WE GO!

So we're going to Brazil in June, huh? Guess we better get really serious about this support raising thing then.


Jeff recently attended a BodyBuilders personal support raising Boot Camp and so we are off and running on this thing. I must admit it's pretty scary, but I have full confidence in my husband and in even more so in my Lord. I know that if He wants us in Brazil, He'll get us there.

I guess you might say I'm scared, yet sure. Scared about how this is all going to pull together, yet sure that God will lead us where He wants us.

Ok I guess I better get going - I have some projects to do...

-Lindsay

Living Stones Project

Jeff created a website about Living Stones for his final project in his Web Development class. You can see it at http://www.cs.iupui.edu/~jefturne/whatislivingstones.html
We would tell you what living stones is but that is what the website explains.

My other blog is a xanga.

Like we said in our first post, we won't be posting here much until we move to Brazil. You can find some wacky posts about our life at our xanga site.

Our Blogger First Post EVER!

We're not in Brasil full time just yet, but we will be soon (tenitive moving date June 2006)!

Keep us in prayer as we study at school, work, and prepare for the adventure God has for us.