A Weekend with Friends

Last weekend we had the pleasure of hosting some friends of ours who are missionaries in Itú, a lovely town just outside of São Paulo. Back row, right - Mark and Ali Kaiser. I have known Ali for more than ten years, back to the days when I was doing Let's Start Talking in Itu and Ali was the "activator" of the church youth group where her parents are missionaries. We got to meet Mark for the first time earlier this year at the missionary conference in Canela.

Back row, left - Carol and Amanda, missionary interns in Itu. They came to POA last year as part of the Aggies for Christ team that helped build the chácara dormitory. Unfortunately, it rained most of the weekend, so we didn't get out a whole lot, but we did have some fantastic conversations about life, and we go to spend some quality time at the chácara! Mark & Ali recently encountered a place called Sitio Shalom in Itú that is similar to the chácara, and they would like to start helping with that work. So we took them out to our chácara and let them meet the guys and soak in the atmosphere of spiritual transformation. Mark even stayed out there a day and a night to get the full immersion experience.

We did a Saturday night on the town, hitting a Brazilian steakhouse for some great food, folks and fun, complete with a music and dance show. (Mark is acting like he's only going to take one piece of meat here, but he really wanted the whole skewer!)

Waleska and Amanda are really digging the barbecue beef! These are my favorite types of restaurants - an all you can eat meat buffet, what more could you ask for? The Brazilians know how to do it right!

We miss you guys already, Mark & Ali, Carol, Amanda! Come back anytime! :>)