CCC Days 7 and 8

Thursday morning the few, the proud, the brave, joined our resident fitness trainer, Stephanie, on the beach for a 6AM workout out.

Then the majority of the day was spent in classes, Connection Groups, and more time with God in silence and solitude.

But we also made time for some relaxing fun

 

And then on Thursday night it was time to really let our hair down and celebrate the week.  Doesn't Val look lovely in the bows she made from all the gifts that were donated for the missionary women!

 The candy from the states is always a big hit at the end of CCC party.

 

As are the skits that each Connection group puts on.

 

 Friday was our final day with the ladies which meant crunch time for the DVDs we were making of the pictures and the lessons to give to the ladies before they left.  Thankfully the process went so very much smoother than it did last time.

Friday is also a very special time when the team members gather and wash the feet of the missionary women.  It's a time when we show our thankfulness for the service they do for the kingdom and a time when they practice being able to receive a gift of service from someone else (something that does not come easily for women on the field).

 After the footwashing we surrounded the women and prayed over them.  We prayed for the journey home, for their re-entry back into their work, for peace, for guidance, and for them to remember the lessons of God's love that they learned this week.

Before we  knew it, it was time to say goodbye.

I'm so very thankful for the gift of having another year with these beautiful women.  They are amazing warriors for God and full of his love and grace.  I hope to see them all again soon but know that even if I don't we will continue to be connected through this week we have spent together.

 

CCC Day 6

This morning began as Babi sang a beautiful song of blessing to my baby.

And continued with more time of silence and solitude

As well as the women meeting together in Connection Groups to discuss their experiences here.

And because having fun is Godly too, we entertained the women with a flash mob of the Cupid Shuffle during lunch!

And we ended the day in sweet intercessory for one another.

 Being with the women continues to be a wonderful blessing.

 

CCC Day 5

Today we opened the day in praise and worship. What a wonderful experience to sing praises to God with 65+ other women!

And our speaker lead us through the story of Joseph, seeing how God worked in his life so that can  learn how to look back through our own lives - learn to see the fingerprints of the Father in the amazingly good, the unforgettably bad, and the everyday mundane- so that we can trust God as we move forward.

After the lessons, the ladies spent time in Silence and Solitude, to brainstorm through their life and capture five defining moments.

 

They would go on later in the day to share these moments in a short-story format with the women in their Connection Group.

 

During our free time today, a few of us went into town.  It's a big surfer location for many in Brazil.

And we popped into a grocery store to see what we could find.

Getting out of the resort for a bit made it feel a little more real that we are in fact in Brazil!

Many people that drove or walked by looked at my walking mates and me like we had a third eye.  I later told BG (an American who lives in Brazil) about the looks we were getting.  "Well yeah!" she replied. 

"Do we really look that foreign?"

After she finished laughing she let us know we were, for starters, way too pale and way too clothed to be mistaken for local Brazilians.

CCC Days 3 and 4

Sunday we spent time in preparations, rest, and worship together as a team.

 And on Monday morning we took a prayer walk around these beautiful grounds asking God to bless each of the women, praying over their rooms, the meeting center, the connection groups, and more.

And at last!!!! The ladies have arrived!

We enjoyed an afternoon tea with them, getting to catch up with old friends and getting to meet new ones.

And over dinner, connection groups met to begin the process of getting to know each other, and learning how God is working in each other's lives.

We feel so blessed that everyone has arrived safely and we're looking forward to the week of communion and connection with each other and with God.

 

CCC Days 1/2

Last night I boarded a plan bound for Sao Paulo, Brazil with 16 other women, the "team" for this year's Great Cities Missions Continent Care Connection Renewal.

We arrived early this morning with everyone having made it to Dallas in time for the flight, our flight taking off pretty close to on time (a miracle in itself considering we're on American Airlines and a plane was double parked behind us so we couldn't leave straight away), all of multiple pieces of luggage arriving without damage, and with breezing our way through the passport control and customs lines (no one so much as their purse looked at!)

We enjoyed our customary cheese bread (yum!) and coffee while ladies exchanged money,

and met up with our final team member who lives in Brazil.

We've changed hotels this year from what we've had in the past and let me just say that this place is the definition of renewal- what a breath of fresh, beautiful air!

After a bit of lunch, and some downtime around the hotel and on the beach, we began to organize the participants' bags complete with goodies from the states.

 

We're all so ready for them to come Monday!!!

 

Alan Bastyr

It's hard to describe Alan if you don't know him. He's a man I've known since I was in junior high. He's blind. And on most days I'd tell you that he's out of his mind!

I mean let's face it, this 50 something year old man goes around singing songs like Fishcakes and Heads while giving "Head Squishes" and calling young kids "Characters." You just kind of have to know Alan to get him I suppose.

But today, he turned on the serious side and blew us all away as he sang solo in the St. Anne's Church in Jerusalem.

I wasn't there when Dad and Alan were first talking with the fathers but apparently the song Holy City came up and Alan mentioned he had known it, but hadn't sung it since he was 16.  The fathers didn't have the song in braille but they made a copy for Dad and as Dad mumbled the words to Alan, he was able to remember the song.

Here is Alan singing Holy City (he was pretty excited to be able to, as he said, Sing Holy City in the Holy City).

And here is his encore!