Friday, December 5, 2014

Pray for 2015

Last night we had a prayer night here at the church. We often will come together weekly when we take a break from our small groups. It seems that our members like it and it is a lot of fun as well as spiritually focusing, both individually and as a church. Well last night we took the opportunity to thank God for some of the blessings we have received from God in 2014 and some things we would like to see in 2015. I am not going to share my personal hopes and requests for 2015, however, I thought I would make a list of some things I hope to see for our church in 2015. Please join me in praying for these things:

  • Spiritual growth! We as a mission team decided that we want to focus on spiritual growth and discipleship next year for our members.
  • Our building project. I want to see us worshipping there next year. Things are moving and I see the light at the end tunnel!
  • For our youth program to get established and grow.
  • We want to give more responsibility to our members next year. For our trust in that process and their willingness and desire.
  • For the Spirit to move through our church and city, combining in a way that can only be explained by the Spirit. 
  • For our Small Group ministry to grow and become essential to our church. 
  • Though numbers don't always signify true growth, I do pray that we grow numerically. I give it to God in terms of how many and what that looks like.
Join me in prayer over these things and thank you so much for your continued prayer over us, our ministry and the church here. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Kelly

Monday, October 13, 2014

Packages and Love!!


We have been blessed in many by ways by our friends, family and churches back in the states. We have received numerous packages from friends and families with candies, seasoning packages and much more! We received a huge envelope recently from the Memorial Road Church in Edmond with numerous blessings, prayers and encouragements. We received a similar package from our supporting congregation, Park Plaza in Tulsa, a few months ago as well. The Garriot Road Church in Enid, OK recently sent us three large boxes full of goodies. We receive emails and text messages from numerous family and friends. Hardly a day goes by without receiving an email, text, or phone call, or using one of the things or foods we have been sent, or reading one of the notes we have received. We feel extremely blessed and encouraged and we want to thank you all. We appreciate your love! And we also know you are constantly praying for us and we appreciate those even more! This may be how Paul felt when he wrote these words in 2 Corinthians 7:4 these words: "...I take great pride in you. I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds." We definitely take great pride in you all and love to tell people about our awesome supporters. Our hearts are full! Obrigado por tudo!

Kelly and Kelci

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Praying in Portuguese

I have recently started praying in Portuguese more. In team and staff meetings, when I study with someone, at dinner with our friends and in my personal prayers as well. I feel like I always apologize before doing so because I know that it will be rough and that I will make some (ok...many) errors. But I still like to try and I have learned, and been reminded of, many things and I thought I would share them here with you all.

Quite possibly the first word that I learned in Portuguese back in February of 2013 when we visited was "obrigado" (meaning thank you). This is a pretty elementary word in all languages and when traveling, it and "hello" are usually some of the first words that people learn. In my Portuguese prayers, it is always an easy word and/or start to a phrase to go to when I find myself stuck. However, it has reminded me of the importance to thank God. Sometimes in my prayer life, it is really easy to fall into a pattern of asking for things. We even often teach our kids and teenagers this as well. Health, safety, assistance and help with our problems/needs, opportunities, and many other things. We ask for a lot in our prayers. This is not at all bad, however, we must remember to thank God as well. I often find it easy to do so in Portuguese and because of this have been reminded to do it throughout my prayer life.

When speaking in Portuguese (and maybe in English too), there are many times when I say something completely wrong, yet everyone understands it still. I will often even say something like "I know I said that really terribly, but you understood, so whatever." Now I do not say that vocally to God, however, I think he knows that is what I am thinking during some of my prayers. However, I have been reminded often times of Romans 8:26 where it says this: "We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans." How cool is that. I know that whatever I say in Portuguese, the Spirit is speaking my heart for me through "wordless groans." We don't always have to have the exact words in our prayers. The important thing is that we are in prayer. That we are presenting ourselves to God and coming into conversation (vocally and non-vocally) with Him. 

When I was growing up at the Columbine Church of Christ in Littleton, Colorado, there was a man by the name of Ray Grahn. He was the guy at your church who had the long prayers. You know you all had one or have one and I will be honest, as a kid, it was hard to pay attention through the whole thing. And since I have preached some in my life, I know for a fact that our preacher growing up was probably cutting stuff out while Ray was up there. Or he would just preach long over and hear all the complaints later. Anyways, as I became a teenager, there was something I always found so neat about Ray's prayers. It was not the length so much, but the pace and relationship that he had with the Father in his prayers. His prayers were on the longer side because he wasn't rushing through it like a fast food meal. He was having a conversation and he realized the unbelievable opportunity he had and we have to be in conversation with the Lord. In praying in Portuguese, I have to slow down or I will get way too ahead of myself and make even more errors and get stuck. I have been reminded that when I pray, I am conversing with God and that I do not need to rush through it every time

It is pretty neat to be able to pray in another language. I am blessed to have this opportunity and to refresh my prayer life this way. It is amazing to think of the thousands of languages that God hears and to know that he understands everyone equally without problem and even more than that, that he understands the words not spoken in our prayers too. 

Thank you for your prayers and know that you all are constantly in our prayers as well. 
-Kelly and Kelci

Friday, August 22, 2014

Pray Over Our English Course

As we have discussed greatly on here and in many other ways and with almost everyone we have talked to on the phone or on Skype or in text messages...learning a language as an adult is both fun and quite difficult. However, as Americans who speak decent English...we have a great opportunity to meet people and teach people who want to learn English, practice English or improve their English. In doing this, we can read the Bible together and both study the Bible with somebody and help them with their English.

Well tomorrow we will start our English Classes back up. We have revamped them, we have advertised them more, the church passed out flyers last Saturday and we have been hyping it and talking about it more with our members. We are very excited for tomorrow and really do not know what to expect. We have had already had about 20 people sign up and we could have a lot more show up tomorrow or in the coming weeks. Please join us in prayer in the following ways:


  • We are asking that the people searching for God come our way.
  • We are praying that we will be able to make relationships with whoever comes our way and...
  • That we are able to turn those relationships towards God.
  • We are offering one-on-one English Bible Studies.
  • For wisdom and boldness.
  • For our church to participate in these classes as well and that they ask their friends to join.
  • For God to be at the center of this course and for us to point everything towards Him.
We are all anxious, nervous, hopeful and excited to get these classes going! Thank you for joining us in prayer over our English course!

Kelly and Kelci

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

6 Months Already!? Wow!

Wow is right!

Well first of all...this is probably the 3rd time that I have "returned" to the blog world. I often think about it, but it gets pushed aside. This is also probably the 3rd or 4th or 5th or whatevereth time I have said this...but...I wanna do it more. Gonna try it again! If at first...you don't succeed...try...try again! Right? Ok cool then.

So today, August 19th marks 6 months that Kelci and I have lived in Brasil. What a whirlwind it has been. We can't believe it has already been 6 months. It seems like just yesterday that we were making the rounds from Dallas, to Edmond, to Colorado, to Tulsa and many more places to say goodbye and to raise support and funds for this amazing work here in Niteroi. But alas...we are here. And we could not be happier about how it has all worked out.
When we went out to dinner last night with Chad and Micah we talked about the things about Brasil that we are still getting used to, the things we have grown to love about Brasil, the things we miss from the states (mostly the 3 F's: Food, Family, Friends...maybe in that order...kidding), the days we have had here where we just wanted to cry or yell or whatever, and the many many joyous days and successes we have had. At the end of dinner, we all realized again just how blessed we were and how much God has taken care of us and gone in front of us and how we have had many more victories than difficulties. We attribute that all to God and to your prayers, we thank you all so very much! Please continue to pray. It is a continued encouragement to know that you are praying for us.

Another success came today. The four of us had to get our Temporary Brasilian Identities renewed. Up to this point, our only real Brasilian Identity has been a piece of paper with a stapled on picture of us. It works, but it is not very official at all. We went knowing that in all likelihood we would just be given another one of these. However, there was a chance (in my mind a 1% chance) of getting our Temporary Identity Card. Just to show how difficult this process can be, one of our team members still only has the paper identity...he has been here for 5 years. Now you know why the chances were slim. But...some how...some way...all four of us left with Temporary Identity Cards and we were the first ones to leave the office. When we did this in February, it was almost a full day event. This time it took us a little more than an hour. Just another reminder of God leading our way and the power of prayer. We love you all!

Kelly and Kelci




Friday, June 20, 2014

Adjusting to Culture Part III

Well I have been meaning to write this for a while and I have known what I was going to write about too. But I got a little sidetracked by this little thing known as the World Cup! It has been quite an experience for sure the past couple weeks. I want to write more about that later. So I will leave it for another day.

Today I wanna talk about probably our most difficult adjustment...language! Since arriving on February 19th, we have had many good moments with our new language and many frustrating moments. We have had some nights and days where all we wanna do is try and speak Portuguese and other nights where we did not want to see another Portuguese word, let alone speak one. It is both a fun process and stressful process all in one.

Some nights we study flash cards.
We both like using flash cards.
Perhaps, my most frustrating moment was one night when we were trying to go to this store that we have frequented much to often (it's a  home furnishing and decorations store). We were returning a curtain rod (not the easiest thing to carry around everywhere) and I had attempted to call for a Taxi. We were waiting on the taxi, curtain rod in hand, and then it started raining...hard. I then received a call from the taxi service saying that they were not going to be able to send a taxi (I think), but honestly I am still not entirely sure. We waited a little longer and then we thought we would walk until we found an open taxi, which in the rain, is extremely difficult. Finally we found one, were about to enter and then he said something to us in Portuguese and the message was basically "you can't get in." Evidently he had arranged to wait on someone or pick someone else up. At this point, we were soaking wet, carrying this curtain rod around and looking for a taxi. In truth, I don't think all that is what did me in. I think I was just kind of over it all that day and so we turned around, went back home and didn't think about Portuguese one more time that night. We knew there would be days like this.

We recently went to a "fair-like" party
here in Niteroi with some friends. We tried some
new portuguese foods, spoke portuguese and had a blast. 
Through the frustrating times, there have been many many good times and moments as well. Many moments of celebration and joy. For example, a couple weeks ago, we went shopping for some things we needed and while shopping that day we only spoke to each other in Portuguese...and we understood each other!! It was quite cool! There was another day a month or so ago where we went to the bank and were able to make many changes and find out a lot information with our account by ourselves (all in Portuguese). Then we went to lunch with the bank manager, it was an all Portuguese lunch (and day) and afterwards we felt very good about it all. We hoped there would be days like this and are glad a few have graced us with their presence.

I often tell people that if I can control the conversation with people, I feel much better about things. However, the truth is I cannot always do that. We will have many more days in the coming months of both joy and frustration. We will have days where we feel like we learned a lot and days where we don't want to learn anything. We will have days where Portuguese comes easy to us and many where it just doesn't click. But we will continue to work hard, study hard and try. We both feel more confident every day and we know that is due to the power of God and prayer. Please pray for us as we continue to study Portuguese. Pray specifically that we be bold in trying to speak our new language. Pray also that we continue to have many friends here that help us. We have been blessed so far with many people who have been very patient and helpful with us as we learn Portuguese. We believe in the power of prayer and we very much appreciate everything you continue to do for us. Obrigado por todos!

- Kelly

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Adjusting To Culture Part II

If you visit Brasil...
Have a "Salgado!" Trust me!
We have now lived in Brazil for a little more than 3 months and we are loving every second. We have enjoyed getting to know the people here at the church as well as many others in the community. Some of the questions that people often ask us both here and back in the states regard the food. "How is the food?" "What is the food like?" "Do you have a favorite food yet?" "How about a restaurant?" The answer to all of those questions is something similar to..."I like food, so yes." The food here is very good. However, it has taken some getting used to (I'm sure that anytime you almost completely change your diet and the things you eat...it takes some getting used to).

"Por Kilo" restaurants here are very common, maybe the most common of any type of restaurant here but I won't say that with certainty. It is a buffet style of restaurant but totally different at the same time. There is a buffet bar, however, instead of paying one price and being able to eat as much as you want for virtually as long as you want, you grab a plate and get what you want and put it on a scale to see how much it will be. So, you can have a small amount or get things that are on the lighter side and spend little or you can get a lot and spend a lot. All depends on what you want. There are also many differently priced restaurants like this. These types of restaurants make for good opportunities to try many different new types of food. However, it would help to know what we are reading on the name plaques next to each dish. We ARE getting better at this!

Found these import gems...but they were a bit too pricey.
None of them were important enough for us to buy.
One thing that is still a bit difficult is the price of many of the foods. Some things seem to be relatively close in price as to what we are used to. Some things seem cheaper (fruits and veggies especially...which is awesome). However, many things are more expensive. We expected this, but it might take a little more time for us to be used to it. I am used to paying $1 or a $1.50 for a 2-liter of coke, however, I am getting used to spending closer to $2 or $2.50. There are just a few items like this and with some of them (like coke) it's not a big deal. With others though (like ice cream), it's taking us a little more time to get used to. But we all gotta eat and sometimes we even need a little ice cream!

Eating with a napkin...I will master this art!
The other thing that has taken some getting used to is the difference in the way people eat here. Kelci does a lot better than me with this. I still often forget. People rarely eat using only their hands. If they are eating a hamburger, it is with a napkin around it. If they are eating a subway sandwich, they hold it with the paper. Many things that we are used to eating with our hands, they use toothpicks or napkins. Honestly, when you think about eating this way, it makes a lot of sense because our hands are very dirty. But if you did not grow up that way, it can be difficult to do and difficult to remember to do. The first time I tried eating a hamburger with a napkin, it was an utter failure. I often joke that we americans eat like cave men, but in reality it is just another different thing about each culture.

I would be lying if I said that I did not miss some of the food back in the states. We for sure miss some things. However, I know that there will be day when we are very old that we miss the food here too. Both places have great food, in my opinion. And like culture and like everything else with culture, it is just a little different! We are having a blast trying new foods and restaurants and everything. We welcome new things and know there will be many more to come.

- Kelly and Kelci

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Adjusting To Culture Pt. 1

Kelci and I have now been here in Brazil for a little more than 3 months and we have already adjusted to some of the cultural differences here. We know there will be many more adjustments to come as well. There is no way around culture differences, however, Kelci and I have tried approaching every difference as simply just that...different. They are not bad and there is nothing wrong with the way that we do things or the way that people from other cultures do things. Different is simply different. In three installments, I am going to discuss some cultural differences that Kelci and I have adjusted to, are adjusting to, or are having difficulties adjusting to.

This picture has nothing to do with this story...
But oh well...
This past Friday was a friend of mine's birthday. His brothers had told me a few days prior to it that they were planning to do something for his birthday and that they would let me know what the plan was, where it was going to be and when it would be. All week, I was waiting for them to text or call me with the plan. However, I got nothing. Friday rolled around and I had assumed that either nothing was happening or that I was not going to be a part of it. I had texted them and tried calling them to see what was going on, however, didn't get a response. So Friday night at 8:30, Kelci and I were about to have dinner as we assumed nothing was going on until the phone rang. They had just made a plan and were heading to dinner at a restaurant nearby. I am not ready to say that in the states a plan would have been made days in advance, because certainly there were many instances where that was not the case. However, usually when it came to birthday parties...plans were passed along a little earlier than minutes before. That is just a cultural thing here in Rio though. Time is not as pressing. Schedules are not set in stone and are always very flexible.

That was not the only cultural difference we came across that night. When we arrived, there were probably 8 people already there and we figured that the was the whole group. However, going along with the difference in schedules and plan-making here...people show up to parties and events kind of...whenever. I think it is just assumed that most people will be a late.

Likewise, Kelci and I are used to ordering our own meals at restaurants pretty much every time. I would say that is pretty normal in the states. However, for dinner that evening a plate of chicken tenders and two plates of cheese fries were ordered for everyone (10ish people) while we were there. Smaller dinners and bigger lunches are common here so we found that to be pretty typical. However, Kelci and I are still getting used to that. Lastly, we are used to going out to dinner and then going to a movie afterwards or going back to someones house to watch a movie or play a game or something. However, the expectation at dinner this night was to just stay at the restaurant and be together and talk and hang out. We loved it! However, there were some added difficulties because of the whole language thing (helped by the fact that a couple of the people spoke very good English).

Culture can be tricky thing and as you can see there were some differences that we encountered this evening. Like I said, none of them are bad but we are still adjusting to some of them. We actually like many of the cultural differences here and will continue to encounter many more over the coming months and years. We look forward to every adjustment, because that only brings us closer to our friends and our community here.

-Kelly and Kelci

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Cook John Kelly

About a month ago or so, I posted on Facebook about a experience that Kelci and I had going to the supermarket here in Niteroi. It was quite an experience. It was our first time going shopping for everything that we needed and we needed a lot. You rarely need to buy things like Vanilla, Seasonings, Baking Powder and the like...however...when you move somewhere and don't have those things. You do! It isn't such a big deal when you can read the language or communicate with people in the same language. However, when you can't do those things very well..it can be a bit frustrating.

Kelci and I have gotten a lot better at shopping and we go to the store here probably 2 times a week (at least) and now know where things are and feel a little more confident in asking people for help. Everyone is always willing to help. But going shopping is always an experience at this time in our life.

In the states, I rarely cooked. Kelci cooked and makes very good food, however, she would admit that it is not something she necessarily likes to do. My idea of cooking was usually fast food, frozen pizzas, pasta, or tacos. I am also pretty good at making eggs. I am opposite of Kelci I think. I actually kind of like to cook, but don't do it that often because I am not very good at it, not very creative with it, and don't have a lot of food ideas. That is all changing here. We don't have as many fast food restaurants or frozen foods and we don't have taco seasoning (though Kelci's friends did send us some and that was awesome!). Therefore, I am having to learn to cook more and I am enjoying it. I'm not very creative yet and still search for ideas and recipes online. I'm also pretty sure the things I have made have not turned out nearly like they were supposed to. But I haven't ruined anything yet and you gotta start somewhere. I plan on making pancakes soon without the "Just Add Water" Box. I am going to make a Spaghetti Chicken Casserole soon (which I guess is really popular in CofC potlucks though I don't remember having it). I am by no means a chef. But it is somewhat fun learning to cook. Now all I need is a dishwasher because I don't love to clean up what I cook yet...much to the chagrin of my wife. Maybe that'll come with time!

-Kelly (If you got an easy recipe that you feel I need to try, let me know. Note though...there are many things that you can easily find in the states that are not here.)

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

The Sport Of The World

Sports have always been a part of my life. Ever since I was a kid, I have loved sports. I have often wondered why sports has always been such a large part of my life as my family likes sports, but not to the degree that I do (though my Uncle and I have always bonded over sports). When I was a kid, I even bought a small 10inch black and white television at the Flee Market to put in my room so that I could watch Rockies and Nuggets games on basic channels. That was when professional sports were often on non-cable TV. I can remember sneaking a radio into my bed to listen to radio broadcasts of games and falling asleep with those sounds in my ears. I played sports throughout my childhood and my summer days were filled with basketball games, hockey games, home-run derbys and every other sport or sport-like game in between.  Needless to say, I was and still am a little obsessed.

Like many other children in the US, the first team sport I played on and was a part of was soccer. I loved it and I wish I never would have stopped! However, for many children in the US soccer becomes a secondary sport and football or baseball or softball or volleyball or basketball takes over. But I always liked watching and playing soccer. Kelci and I even played indoor soccer together for a few years before moving here. BUT...you will never understand the game of soccer until you
live in a foreign country. Especially a foreign country that likes its soccer as much as Brazil!

Brazil loves its soccer and it's such a cool experience to be a part of. You always know when soccer is on because noise reigns throughout the city when a game starts and favorite teams score. One of my favorite questions to ask people right now is "What soccer team do you like?" and it almost always a conversation starter because soccer is not just a sport here...it is a part of life. It is a part of the culture. It helps define Brazil. Football and basketball may have the US, but soccer has the world and it is clearly evident when you live abroad. Everywhere you go and almost everybody you talk to knows soccer. I obviously knew before we came that soccer was THE sport here, but I don't think I ever could have been prepared for just how influential, important, and emotional soccer is here. It is a unifying force and we are glad to be a part of it.

-Kelly

Monday, May 5, 2014

New Friends...New Relationships

Kelci and I are blessed with some very special friends. Many of my friends I have known since before college and most of the rest I met in college when friendships become life-long relationships. Kelci, likewise, has been blessed with some friends that are more like sisters. It is important to us to have good friends of which we can share life with. Our friends in the States will always be a part of who we are, we still talk to them and love 'em. 

Before leaving we often discussed how much our friends meant to us and how important it would be for us to make new friends here. It was definitely something we prayed about. We wanted to make friends with people at the church here. We wanted to make friends with people from the community. And we knew that we needed friendships to help us adapt. Obviously, there are some new aspects to our friendships here. The obvious one is language, however luckily for us, all our friends are patient with us and some speak a little english too. Culture and life experiences are a couple other new aspects for us, however, we truly have not had too much difficulty and we know that God has been preparing the way for us before we arrived. 

I used to tell the youth group at Edmond that life was all about relationships. I used to say that the Bible is all about relationships too: the relationship God desires to have with us and the relationships we have with each other. We have made some very good friends already here in Brazil and we are excited to see who God brings into our path next. Our prayers have been answered thus far as our new friends here have helped us to adapt, we are blessed to have them. We have also grown our friendships with the team here which has been a blessing too. Our prayer is that we continue to make friends here and that those relationships bring us closer to God and that we can bring others closer to Him as well. That truly is what life is all about. The past few months have been awesome and Kelci and I attribute a big part of that to our new friends here in Niteroi! The coming years ought to be fun!

- Kelly and Kelci

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Been Too Long...

A Taxi-Ride selfie after receiving the keys to our apartment!
Recently one of our good friends in the states messaged us and mentioned how we need to be blogging more. She had been a missionary before as well so she knew a few things about blogging while being a missionary. She knows how you all back in the states want to know what is going on with us. She knows also how things can become busy and blogging can go to the "back burner" of life. Most importantly maybe, she knows what it is like to look back at every blog article after leaving the mission field and remembering special moments, recollecting feelings that she had during stressful and joyful times, and the cultural adaptation she went through. So...after we messaged back and forth for a bit I have re-committed to blogging more. I really do like to to it. I think it is fun and I think it is a good way to keep you all informed. However, it is also very much for us. There have been many times in the past few weeks that I have though about something and thought that it would be good to blog about, but did not because I was not sure anyone would care. But I want to be able to look back on these moments after we leave and be reminded about them. Therefore, to catch up on things I am going to try and blog every day this week. I want to catch you all up on our past month or so. We appreciate you all so much and your prayers and support. It is only fair of us to catch you up some. 


They had to take our door off to get our
refrigerator through the door. 
I am sure you saw pictures or heard from someone, but we did find our apartment and have now lived here for a little more than a month. It was quite a process to get to this point. We love our new place and will love it even more when it is complete and furnished. We have purchased mostly all of our furniture but have only received our bed, TV stand, TV, a dresser we bought used, another bed we bought from some friends for our other bedroom, our stove and refrigerator. We stole (borrowed with approval) 2 chairs from the church here to have something to sit on. They are good chairs for church but not the greatest chairs for life. We have told numerous people here how we will have them over to our apartment for dinner or a movie or something once our apartment is closer to being ready. However, it could be a bit longer as almost everything we have bought has been coupled with the statement "35 dias úteis" which means 35 business days. We believe we will receive our couch this month which we look forward to very much. However, we feel very blessed to have an apartment and we know it will be a great place to connect with people, serve our friends, and develop deep relationships that we pray become Kingdom relationships! We look forward to those days! Thanks for everything you all do for us!


- Kelly and Kelci

Monday, March 17, 2014

What A Weekend!!

We had a great weekend here in Niteroi and at the church here! It started Friday when we had a "Festa de Familia" or a Family Party/Night. We set up a Photo Booth with costume props. We decorated the church building and had some really good food. It was a potluck type of meal, so we were able to try a lot of new dishes and for the most part we liked it all! The party was mainly to send off the McGee's, one of the team families here, as they are head back to the states on Wednesday. Kelci and I knew them before they came to Niteroi through OC and Edmond and we appreciate them so much. The work they have done here in Niteroi has impacted us quite a bit and we are excited to see how God uses them in the future. It was a great party for them!





Then yesterday, the church here celebrated its 4th Anniversary. It was a fantastic day and fun celebration as we celebrated the church and everything that has gone on here in the past 4 years. We celebrated the God we serve in worship and thanked Him for working through the people here in Niteroi. Kelci and I look forward to many more anniversaries and weekends like the one we just had.


We are fervently praying for the McGee's as they transition back to the states. We know they are going through a roller coaster of emotions at this time. Please join us in the prayer over this wonderful family. Thanks so much for reading and caring about us!

- Kelly and Kelci

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Our First Date Night On The Town

Kelci and I had our very first date night in Niteroi last night and of course...we had a great time! Our plan was to take a bus down to the mall and just spend some time at our new mall, get some dinner somewhere near there, and then maybe see a movie.
We got on the right bus and got there with no problems. We had a Churro (pronounced shoo-hoo here) before going into the mall...and it was fantastic! Then we walked around at the mall some, had a great dinner with some really good food...some of the best garlic bread I've ever had for a starter, Kelci got pasta with shrimp and chicken and I got a steak with fried bananas and rice with broccoli...and then we headed for the theatre. The only time I have seen a line at a movie theatre like the one we saw last night was when Twilight, or The Hunger Games, or Harry Potter or some other movie like that was being released. We waited in line for 40 minutes to get tickets and got to the front only to find out that the movie we wanted to see was sold out and the next showing was at 9:30 (2.5 hours later).
I am sure that was said in the two announcements that were made while we were in line, but we didn't understand. We commented to each other a couple times while in line that it was crazy to think we could have a full conversation in English with maybe only 5 people around us. Since it was raining outside, we decided to come back and watch a movie together on our laptop like we were in college again. One of the best (for me) and scariest (for Kelci) taxi rides brought us back to where we are staying and we did just that! It was a fun evening and we were able to get to know our city, community, and our mall better. Looking forward to many more!

-Kelly and Kelci



Thursday, March 6, 2014

Takin' The Bus

Yesterday we rode the bus for the first time on our own! We didn't get lost, and it was faster than we expected! It was a great experience and we are ready for many more!
-Kelci

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Cheeseburgers In Portuguese Paradise

Do you like Cheeseburgers? I sure do! To me...the cheeseburger should have its own food group. I like cheeseburgers with bacon. I like cheeseburgers with jalapenos. Ketchup and mustard on a cheeseburger is an obvious classic. Cheeseburgers with egg are fabulous! And yes...I have had a few cheeseburgers with peanut butter on it and I very much enjoy them.

Last night, Kelci and I had a traditional Brazilian Cheeseburger! It had...bacon, cheese, mayonnaise (which is their #1 condiment), corn, peas, tomatoes, ham, egg, and maybe a couple other things too. I forgot to take a picture because I was too hungry, but here is one I found online. They also brought mayonnaise mixed with garlic to add as well and it was very good. Long story short, it was a little different but I loved it! It was quite yummy. Kelci for the most part liked it...though she would rather have her usual with cheese, tomato and mayonnaise.

The best part about dinner though was who we were with and the experience we had with them. Flavio França, the hired Brazilian evangelist, and his wife Fernanda took us and we had such a good time with them. Flavio speaks some English and Fernanda does not speak any English. However, we mostly spoke Portuguese at dinner. There were only a few times when we either had to move onto a different conversation because nobody was getting it or we had to use Flavio's translator on his phone. We talked about music, family, hobbies, and a lot in between and walked away knowing the França's much more. It was a great evening and a success for Kelci and I. It helped show us how God has already begun breaking the language barriers that we arrived with. And we look forward to many more meals, conversations, and the simple sharing of life with our current friends here and many new friends to come! Thanks for reading and everything else you do to support us!

-Kelly and Kelci

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

It's Just One Of Those Days...

I wanna start by saying that there are days like the one we had today everywhere you live. We all have "bad" days. So by no means am I complaining about the day we had today or saying that we did not expect there to be days like the one we had today. As a wise man once said..."Momma said there'd be days like this!" What I am trying to accomplish with this post is to simply let our friends and family and prayer warriors know how things can go sometimes. We are good, we by no means feel conquered or defeated, it was just one of those days! (Remember this song by Daniel Powter? I could never decide if I liked it or if it was just catchy.)

Anyways...today our plan was simple: look at apartments. We were hoping to look at 3 or 4 and then maybe walk around and see if we saw any others for rent that we had not seen online. We ended up seeing 1 and we didn't see it until close to 5pm. We went to the first place to get the key to a apartment we liked online and things seemed swell. It was available, we got the key and we headed to the complex. However, when we got there the guy at the gate said that we had the wrong key and sure enough he was correct. So we drove the 25ish minutes back to get the correct key only for them to tell us that they did not have the key and that another office (further away) did. So we decided to look a couple other apartments closer to where we were first. However, that didn't work for a myriad of reasons.

Our next decision was to go and get the correct key to the first apartment we wanted to look at. We called and it seemed promising, however, when we got there they had just given the key out to someone else. The key wouldn't be back for close to 2 hours, so that was out for the day. The next thing we did was to call on a different one (this was the first time we were able to talk to someone on the phone about this one). They said to come on by and get the key. We headed there, found a parking place (finally), started walking there and called again as we were walking there to confirm. However, they also had just given the key out to someone else and would not be back in time. So that also was out for the day.

Next, we walked to another office to get another key, got the key and we thought that we would finally see an apartment. It was probably close to 4 at this point. We drove to the area where this complex was, parked, walked to the apartment and they said they needed a paper from the realtor saying we were there to see the apartment. This was after we asked the realtor three times if we needed a paper and they assured us that we would not. They even said that there was no need to worry. We called the company and they sent "a thousand sorry's our way (their words in Portuguese of course)." We appreciated that, but it didn't do us much good at the time. But they said if we came back, they would have a paper. So we went back to their office, got the paper and we finally saw an apartment at close to 5pm!

However, we did have Domino's Pizza for dinner (it's buy one get one free on Tuesdays here). I was able to play basketball tonight and if you know me at all, you know how exciting that was for me. I met some new friends at basketball. And we were able to meet a lot of new people as we ran from office to office to office today! Better luck tomorrow! Thanks for everything guys! Love you all!

-Kelly and Kelci

Sunday, February 23, 2014

The Hunt

Hey everyone! By now, I am sure you have seen a few of our posts on Facebook and Twitter and you know that we did arrive safely to Niteroi and are doing well! On Friday, we became official Brazilian Residents which is very exciting because it was quite the process. We spent all day Thursday gathering documents that we needed and the hope was to get the two documents we needed that day. However, Brazil had other ideas. Long story short, we visited 4 post offices, many government offices, the "policia federal" office many times (which btw is in a mall and Kelci never bought anything in the mall, there is a first for everything), a few banks, and a few other offices before we got our official documents on Friday. But we are good to go for a year and then we will have to re-apply. More on that
next year.

Right now, I would like to update you on The Hunt! And no...I am not talking about the hunt each night that we have as we search for mosquitos and other bugs to kill with are cool tennis racquet bug zapper thing (see picture). That hunt can actually be quite fun! I want to update you all on our apartment hunt. Up to this point we have seen 7 apartments. We saw two on Thursday after we did everything we could do document wise. Then on Saturday morning we saw 5 different apartments.

A quick synopsis on the apartment hunt in Brazil. We have been looking for apartments on websites here, that is the easiest way. When we find one we like, we take notes on it or write down the code for it so we can find it later. Also, that code or information will be needed to tell the real estate company which apartment you want to look at. Most times thus far we have had to visit the real estate company and get the key to the apartments we want to see. Sometimes they will give you all the keys you want, and sometimes they will not. It is then upon us to go look at the apartment(s) we want to see and typically there is a 2-hr limit to having the keys. So getting to see 5 apartments in 2 hours on Saturday really was some kind of miracle. The apartments are not always clean and they do not try to "sell" you on them nearly as much. Which is good in some ways but also bad in some ways. I do not think I can completely explain how different looking at apartments here and in the states is, so I'm not gonna try. It is not bad, just very different!

Needless to say, our apartment hunt in Brazil has been an experience. It is fun in a lot of ways, but it is also exhausting and frustrating in some ways. We have mostly enjoyed it but are ready and hopeful we will find our new home soon! Please continue to pray for us and our apartment hunt. Up to this point we have found 2 that we like, however (and very unfortunately) paperwork has already been submitted on both meaning that unless the paperwork is denied...we missed our chance on both. However, we have a list of other ones to go look at and we are confident we will find our new home soon. We will be on The Hunt tomorrow!

Love You All,
Kelly and Kelci

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Help Wanted!! Puzzle Master Needed...

I can remember a few years back when school and work was cancelled for virtually everyone in the Edmond/OKC area because of weather. For like 3 days there were about 12 people holed up in our tiny apartment and we had so much fun! We played games, the guys played video games, we watched movies, we ventured outside some, we cooked big meals, and the patient people of the group did puzzles. If you know me and my friends at all, you might expect that the puzzle group was a small group. Not many people participated in the putting together of the puzzles that we had. My question the whole time was "how or when did we get puzzles?" I know I didn't buy 'em!

Kelci and I have started packing and we are in need of a Puzzle Master! We cannot pay much. We do not offer benefits. It is a seasonal job and there is no chance for the employee to stay on past the 18th of February (4.5 days!!!). Many people have asked if we are shipping anything over to Brazil and the answer is no. It is quite expensive and really not worth it unless you have really nice stuff which we do not. However, there is stuff that we want to take obviously. Some is sentimental to us. Some of the items are poorly made or very expensive in Brazil (like small kitchen appliances). And some we just gotta have (unfortunately my golf clubs do not fall in this category).

So we have 8 plastic Rubbermaid Action Packer Crates/Tubs and 2 large suitcases. These will carry
our livelihood overseas. It is quite stressful, quite intimidating, and quite frustrating at times. It is like a puzzle. We are trying to make everything fit and so we end up packing...and unpacking...and packing...and unpacking. We will have to do this until we either get everything to fit or until we realize that it won't all fit and then we will have to cut some stuff! It is like ONE GIANT PUZZLE! And for someone that is not a Puzzle Master, it's annoying. Luckily for me, Kelci likes puzzles and is good at them. We will get it all done, I know. But I'd ask that you please pray that I have patience with the process and that Kelci has patience with me. And if you just happen to love puzzles and are searching for a very short part-time job, let me know! Thanks so much everyone!

-Kelly

Friday, February 7, 2014

Brazil, Here We Come!

We finally got our visas! We are so excited that we are going to be on our way to Brazil on the 18th! We found out yesterday that our visas were approved, and we obviously had mixed emotions. Our first thought was mere excitement! We have been longing for this moment, praying for this moment, and anxiously awaiting this moment. After we had our moments of smiling from ear to ear, reality started sinking in. I know this journey started several months ago, but now we are so close to making our move to Brazil. Of course I started freaking out a little, realizing everything we have to get done in just a short week and a half. We have to finish packing, buy some last minute things we want to take (like Peanut butter and Dr. Pepper), say more goodbyes, and everything else that comes with moving to a different country!

We ask that you continue to pray for us as we continue in this journey, and all of our stress. I also ask that you pray for Chad and Micah Baker (the other couple going with us) and their visa process. They are supposed to leave the same date as us, and they have still not received their visas. Thank you all so much for your support, prayers, and love thus far in our journey! GOD IS GOOD!

-Kelci

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

You've Got A Friend In Me

Kelci recently saw the newest Disney movie, Frozen. She liked it...said it was good. However, she did say that for her it wasn't a Disney Classic. We began discussing some of the Disney Classics and some of the obvious ones came up: The Lion King, Aladdin, The Jungle Book, and of course Toy Story! There were many more. But for me, those ones are special. They are the Disney Classics I grew up on, loved as a child and still love to this day. 



For the movie Toy Story the song "You've Got A Friend In Me" was written by Randy Newman. This song is just real good. It might even be a song that emotionally stirs you in the right context. I have no shame in admitting that I have this song on my iPod and listen to it regularly. I would recommend you getting it too, it is just a perfect song. Here are the lyrics to the song. But go find it on YouTube or something and give it a listen.



You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
When the road looks rough ahead
And you're miles and miles from your nice warm bed
You just remember what your old pal said
Boy, you've got a friend in me
Yeah, you've got a friend in me

You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got troubles, I've got 'em too
There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you
We stick together and can see it through
Cause you've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me

Some other folks might be
A little bit smarter than I am
Bigger and stronger too
Maybe
But none of them will ever love you
The way I do, it's me and you boy

And as the years go by
Our friendship will never die
You're gonna see it's our destiny
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me 

Kelci and I are blessed to have some really good friends (and that includes our family). A week or so ago, some of our friends put on a going away party for us. It was the last time that we were going to be in Edmond and it was so good to get together and feel our friends' love, encouragement and support. It means the world to us to know that our friends are behind us in this new journey of our life. There is no way we could be embarking on this new chapter without you and we hope you know that.


We hope that you are as blessed as us by the friendships you have. This song has been coming to my mind over the past couple weeks because it really does hit home for us right now. I cannot stress enough how important our friends are to us. We may be miles and miles away from you...but we KNOW that we have a friend in all of you. We KNOW that you all are praying for us and thinking about us. We KNOW who we can call on when things get rough. We KNOW you would do anything for us. And we KNOW that our friendship will never die. We love you all! Thanks so much for blessing us with your relationships. We can only hope and pray that we find friends as special as you in Brazil.

"There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship." - Thomas Aquinas

- Kelly and Kelci


Monday, January 13, 2014

Those Pesky Visas

We are drawing ever closer to our February 18th flight date. A little more than a month from now, we hope to be on an American Airline Flight from Dallas to Rio. Things are about to get crazy. We are spending some time with a couple churches that are supporting us over the next couple weeks and then will be heading to Colorado one last time to be with my family. We are looking forward to that.

This morning, however, we wanted to ask for your prayers. We have made our flights as I mentioned above. We are very close on our funding for 2014. One last thing remains...those pesky visas! The visa process for Brazil is tricky. We had no problem getting our tourist visas last year when we visited. But it is a totally different ball game when applying for a long-term visa. Our prayer is that we get our visas before February 10th. If we do not have our visas by then, we will be forced to discuss moving our relocation date and we REALLY do not want to move our date back again. I could go into how the Visa process works, but it will most likely just confuse you more. Just know that it is tricky and stressful. (To shed some light on its craziness...I had to create a Minister Ordination Certificate, have it signed by the elders at Park Plaza and turn it in with my application.)

So...please pray for a few things. Pray that we do in fact get our visas by February 10th. Pray that we do not have to move our date back again. Pray for the man who will be looking over our visa application and that his heart is softened towards us and our application. We could not be going to Brazil or be where we are now without your prayers, so thank you! We appreciate every one of you.

-Kelly and Kelci