The last Wednesday evening and Thursday during our stay in Recife were spent at the Zoë Project in Chã de Cruz. This is a sister project to the work in Tejipio and is where most of the young people we met at camp during our first week live. It is a particularly poor area with families of up to 12 sleeping in one room. However family is really important and despite the difficulties it was heartening to see brothers and sisters helping each and bringing each other along to the church.
On the Wednesday evening we quite literally took up our mats and travelled on the metro and the bus up the windy hill out of the city. The church were holding a special praise service for the camps which had taken place over the summer which included the last camp that we had helped out at. The service was very moving with praise that we recognised - we almost kept up with all the actions this time - and inspiring talk by the Pastor. Karen, Jenefer, Barbara and Rebecca were asked to sing their rendition of 'The Lord's My Shepherd' which they had perfected earlier in the kitchen. There will be X-factor appearances for them!
On the Wednesday evening we quite literally took up our mats and travelled on the metro and the bus up the windy hill out of the city. The church were holding a special praise service for the camps which had taken place over the summer which included the last camp that we had helped out at. The service was very moving with praise that we recognised - we almost kept up with all the actions this time - and inspiring talk by the Pastor. Karen, Jenefer, Barbara and Rebecca were asked to sing their rendition of 'The Lord's My Shepherd' which they had perfected earlier in the kitchen. There will be X-factor appearances for them!
During the service the young people were able to relive their camp memories through the various photos that came up on the screen. Karen and Jenefer were disapppointed to be the only members of the team not to feature... but then they were probably working hard in the kitchen.
We learned the meaning of 'close fellowship' that night as all 10 of us, Emma the Latin Link worker and our new friends Everton and Pedro, all settled down to sleep on the cold church floor. While we didn't enjoy our cold showers in Tejipio, suddenly with only one basin between all of us, we realised that we had been living in the lap of luxury.
We had an early start on Thursday as the children and young people arrive at the project before 8am. We had been asked to lead their 3-hour programme morning and afternoon, with around 350 children. As a team we had our concerns about our ability to do this - it is hard enough to carry out a programme in your own country and in your own language without trying to do the same half way round the world.
Following on from our Bible study experience in Chã de Cruz we had developed a programme with a number of different stations. This time prayer was not the focus but English language and skill and sports games. We felt that this would make the large numbers more manageable by putting them into smaller teams. We also had tuned into the fact that Brazilians are very competitive and would enjoy the team element.
On arrival the children had breakfast - for some it would be their largest meal that day. Our programme began with some songs and Bible teaching once again focusing on the Lost Sheep. The older young people were treated to a drama on the Prodigal Son. Through this we wanted to remind the children and young people that they are very special to God.
Sometimes the best laid plans go awry and when the heavens opened we temporarily panicked. However God was on our side and as a team we managed to work together and think on our feet. We were able to run the language stations in the church and the sports stations in the covered refectory area. The morning was a great success with everyone thoroughly enjoying the variety, and of course the competition! We were exhausted and we were only half way through!
Lunch was an opportunity to share with some of the project workers and to find out a little bit more about the area. We even managed a conversation about the World Cup and Thierry Henry's interesting tactics against the Republic of Ireland. Some of the project workers had been participants in the past and have now learnt skills which they can now use to support themselves financially.
The afternoon brought even more children many of whom were younger and we were concerned that they would not be able to concentrate on the planned activities. However again we were surprised and realised God's hand with us as the majority of them worked together to have a really fun afternoon. We gave some of the older young people leadership responsibilities and we could literally see them blossoming under the challenge.
As we walked away from the church to catch the bus back to Tejipio it was with a mixture of relief, excitement and sadness. We appreciate all the prayer support back home and firmly saw God's hand at work with the team during those manic few hours.
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