Project Go Ye -- Southern Brazil

From April 28 to May 1 I was able to participate in the 3rd Project Go Ye in southern Brazil. These Projects were started by people who had gone on the Project Go Ye that Asas coordinates every July in the northern half of Brazil. They have orgainized several churches of several denominations and are doing Projects in their region of Brazil. And since they were not so far from home (about 2 hours), they decided to take their children along to help with the Project! It was a great experience and I gained all sorts of ideas and experience that will be helpful in organizing the children's ministry for the Project in July in Central Brazil.



This is the church plant where the Project was based . It is a small country church started and supported by a Menonite church in Curitiba. (The Menonites in Brazil are not as conservative as in the US) The community is called Jacuí and it is nestled in the mountains. The church is actually perched on top of a mountain!

Here is the team for the 3rd Project Go Ye -- Southern Brazil. Can you find me?

Jacuí...the road to town

This is the bridge we had to cross to get to the closest small town and this is the truck we used to get to the town. The "town" consists of a grocery store, a utility store, and a clinic. I rode in the back to make sure I could fill all the bumps in the road! Monica and the dentist that had been attending at the clinic road in the back with me and we vibrated all the way back to the church! It took the truck about 45 minutes to get to town. I am sure it would be much quicker if the road was straight and level, but the road turns and twists as it goes up and down the mountain range.

Jacuí...the homes

Instead of the brittle red bricks, this region of Brazil has homes built from wood. I was impressed by how nicely the yards are kept around even the very simple homes.

Jacuí....the view!

The community of Jacuí is located in a mountainous region in Southern Brazil, about 2 hours by car from Curitiba. The church is on the top of one of this mountains and the view was wonderful! The people in this region either raise cows and goats or work in rock cutting. This region has huge boulders that are cut and used in highway construction. The people are very poor and live isolated due to winding dirt roads that are at times impossible to travel on, the distances between houses, and the distance to the nearest town.

Cakes!

Oh yeah! This was my kind of Project. One of the churches in Curitiba sent along 20 sheet cakes for the team to eat and to share with the community for a mid-afternoon snack! Did I mention that it is a Menonite church with a strong German background...which means these ladies know how to bake a cake! Makes you wish you had gone with me, doesn't it?! (smile)

Electricity class

Victor was a mechanics specialist in the Asas training program. He and his wife, Monica, are currently raising support and getting ready to move to the Asas base in Manaus. Victor and Monica are living in Curitiba until July and their church was one of the churches that were involved in the Project. Victor got creative in finding a way to minister to the people in Jacuí and decided to offer classes on electricity! The men in the community were very interested in his class and commented on how much they were needing this type of help.

"I'm not a spy!!!!"

My main reason for going on the Project to Jacuí was to see the children's program in action. The lady who coordinated the children's program, Juliana, is the same lady that I have been working with in writing a curriculum that all of the teams will use in July. We have been working on this through email and talking on skype, so I felt is was very important to see how the curriculum really works and if there are any changes that need to be made for the 10 day Project in July. It turned out to be a very good thing that I did go because there are a few things that will need to be modified for the number of children we will be working with. The funny thing is that those who were on the Project seemed to think I was some kind of spy that Asas de Socorro sent to see if they were doing everything right! I kept trying to put them at ease, but it wasn't until the end that I think they really believed me!

One part of the curriculum that I asked Juliana to add was a class specific for the 1-3 year olds that teaches to their level. We have done this on the local Projects that I have been working with, but this was new to Juliana. She did a great job in writing that part of the curriculum and the teacher of this group was very creative as she made "fruit" out of balloons! I made sure I got a private lesson on how to do this before I went home!

This is one of the things that will need to change for the July Project. We had 15-25 children in each of the workshops and in July we will have 50-60 in each workshop! Working with paints, brushes, water, etc. would be way too stressful with 50-60 kids! I'm suggesting that we do a mosaic technique instead of using paints.

We had more children show up each day of the Project and on the last day the church was full! The older kids really enjoyed the program as well and had different activities in their workshops that were more age-appropriate. I am really excited about using this curriculum in July!

Crafts for the Ladies

Every afternoon the ladies had a time to learn new crafts. The first day they worked on making scarfs from wool. Since this region of Southern Brazil does get quite chilly in the months of June and July, this project will be very useful to them! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to learn how to do this craft! They used the tool in the second picture in making the scarfs...but I can't explain to you how it was done! The second day was spent finishing up the scarfs and starting in on what we call "fuxico". I don't know what it is called in the US. You cut pieces of fabric in a circle and then sew around the edge of it in order to pull the thread tight and the outside of the circle then closes up and makes a flower-looking thing. Okay, that discription is awful. Sorry! You can then use these little fabric flowers to decorate shirts, purses, and 101 other decorations ideas such as making the "fuxico" around a bottle cap and then make hot pads to put on the table. The last afternoon of the Project, Môncia and I went to where they were having the clinic (45 minutes by truck) and we did "fuxico" with the ladies as they were waiting their turn to see the dentist. It is a great way to get conversation going among the ladies!

Free Haircuts

There were three ladies cutting hair in one small room that is usually the Pastor's office. There were long lines all day, every day for a haircut!