All Work and No Play!

Hello everyone.

Pastor Ivanildo blogging here.

This is the end of a long day with me not feeling 100%. I got a stomach bug and have felt very weak today. I am sure it was the taco sauce I ate last night. I felt it right away. Note: it was food we brought from Wooster. Granted, Jeana just informed me that the bottle was open when she got back for dinner, so she put in the refrigerator right away. Who knows? I felt like I was not on solid ground all day long, and even now sense the tumult rising up inside of me... may God have mercy on us all. Please pray that this stuff stops and I am able to continue teaching tomorrow.

I am going to try to put some pictures here in a little bit, but wanted to give you a recap of yesterday. Everyone except me worked on the construction project. In addition to this, Beth and Jeana made a trip to an orphan care group and worked at the AIDS clinic, as I told you yesterday. At our sharing time, Jeana shared these words: "We are the body of Christ. We have the opportunity to exude Christ and let him be shown in an amazing way through us. Today I had the opportunity to wash many orphans’ feet, with a basin of water and a bar of soap, looking at them in the eye to see the person whose feet I was washing. 'It’s just like washing Jesus,’ feet,' remarked Ernie, one of our translators and culture expert.

The thing that was touching was how Jeana wanted to wash not just the feet, but the whole leg, the arms, and she was doing it with such gentle love and care, carefully holding their leg, their arm, side of the face, touching them in the arm to let them know when she was done. She encouraged us to be Jesus to the ones we are serving. Yes, at times the needs here are so overwhelming, but if you look at one person at a time, we can make a difference in the life of that one person. I was so encouraged to hear those words.

And if you ask me, that makes it all worthwhile. Team members are complaining (in a good way) of sore back and bodies that are feeling the weight of the work. We are all working so hard and I am very proud of our team. I have slept an average of four hours since we got here. Some other team members are the same. We are beginning to feel the effects of our sleep deprivation, but the Lord has been so gracious to us in granting us some incredibly mild weather so far. We are staying close to the river, so we are able to enjoy a nice breeze. There is no price you can place on a nice cool breeze in the middle of the day here. God is helping us conserve some energy in other ways. Praise Him!

I am going to try to put some pictures, but beware: it's dark here and the connectivity is slow.

And please, keep praying. I hope to write something more than daily updates soon as my heart and mind are full of so many unbelievable impressions from the Lord. But writing more will probably have to wait until after I am done with my classes. The schedule is incredibly demanding.

God is working and your prayers are being answered!

Pastor Ivanildo C. Trindade
itrindade@woostergrace.org