30 classroom presentations & an American Pizza Party

This morning we completed our 30th classroom presentation! God has been so faithful in giving us favor to share about our lives in America & some about our faith while in the classroom. Bekah, Cassidy & Megan are doing a wonderful job sharing their "lifestyle talks" and even experienced having a translator. They are interacting with the Portuguese students & doing a great job sharing about their faith in God. Our son Jacob has been our "Simon Says" game leader & we've all had opportunities to share our photo books and interact in small groups with the Portuguese students. The administrators & teachers at the schools have been so generous & kind. In between classes we are showered with snacks & drinks (quite tasty!) from the "bar" at school. Just walking around campus we draw a crowd, mostly because of Isaiah's blond hair(and the beautiful American high school girls, of course). We opted not to use the potential babysitter after we saw what a great gatherer little Isaiah is. We literally walk on campus & have circles form around us and students want to practice their English and take photos with the kids. It's fun to hear them say "hello" & "goodbye" with a Portuguese accent. After each classroom presentation we invite the students to a party to eat, play games, dance, hear more about American life and learn about Connection(Student Venture here in Portugal). Last night was our first party, an American Pizza Party. About 80 people showed up & it was a blast! Jacob & Levi were the stars of the dance floor. Shawn shared a talk using various props about how we try to fill our lived with different things, but we always end up empty without a relationship with God. The American high school students & staff talked and played games with the Portuguese students late into the night. We didn't get to be until 12:30am(our kiddos too!) as the culture here enjoys late night meals and parties. It was fun!! Smoking is more acceptable here & legal at 16, so quite a large number of students at the party were smoking. Heidi was able to share the Gospel with three girls while they smoked and used a combination of Spanish, English & Portuguese. She has plans to go out with one of them tomorrow, go to the beach with them next week as well as have dinner in one of their homes. We're excited about these opportunities! Megan, Bekah & Cassidy are looking forward to getting to know the students more & spending more time with them. Jacob & Levi really like Portuguese food, especially their "hamburger", ham & beef with an egg on top, eaten with a fork. We have another party tonight across town and a "hot dog" party tomorrow night. Please pray that many students would come and have hearts ready to hear about Jesus' love and forgiveness. Tomorrow during the day we are going to a local park where we've invited to students to join us for American football, frisbee & volleyball. Jacob, Levi & Isaiah have been invited to a child's birthday party at the same park. Fun!! This project is going really well & we are trusting God for great things!!

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