Over the last 2 weeks I have been stretched more than ever before and at the same time experienced God's faithfulness on a whole new level.  These last few weeks - days, really - leading up to the start of the program has been a beautiful testament to God's perfect timing.  

(A sneak peek into the days leading up to our Welcome Meeting!)

Two Thursdays ago we went out to meet families and start inviting kids to the program.  For various reasons, though, all of our meetings fell through and I felt really confused and discouraged.  I had a sense of uncertainty about everything, like maybe there wasn't actually a need for what we were planning, I had misunderstood God's vision, and the doubts just spiraled!  We took some time to pray about everything, then met with Charles, to have everything we had worked toward reaffirmed - we were back in business!  From there Heather and I dove in head first!

We went out the following week with a renewed excitement and assurance.  Blessing: We invited our first kid - Josset!

Josset's mom is a teacher!  Ernestina, Josset's mother, also knows another woman, Maciel (fun sidenote: I had met them last summer when Lindsay and I learned folklore from them!) and her son, Jordan, who have backgrounds in teaching.  I had prayed about who would help me once Heather left and I couldn't have asked for a better answer!  We soon learned they help with a neighborhood program that has 20-25 kids (at this point we have 3 potential students) at the age of 3-5, possibly without a school or daycare and they would be willing to take us to meet their families!

The next day they met us and we added 10 more kids to our list!  Meanwhile, we had asked another woman from the community (Gladys) for help, but our meetings with her had been falling through so we weren't certain if she would be able to help.  However, the same afternoon we added 10 kids to our list with Ernestina, Gladys gives us a list of 15 more!  At this point, we have an abundance of kids and are overwhelmed by God's hand in everything!

There were so many emotions in those 2 weeks and so many stretching points that I wish I could share, but I'm still searching for the words for what God did in my heart those couple of days.  Faithful is the strongest word that comes to mind.  We serve a faithful God and this will forever be a life point I go back to as a reminder!

We were ready for our Welcome Meeting with invitations in the hands of 21 (because we actually had to make a waiting list!) Pantanal families and much preparation and planning behind us.  

Welcome Meeting: Families came and we officially signed up 10 students!  The meeting was an absolute success with the help from so many people! 

Also, Heather and I led the entire meeting in Spanish without using translators!  I couldn't tell you what I said, but we were told it made sense, so I'm happy with that!  We had also asked Gladys if she would close the meeting in prayer and, for me, that was really special.

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To end the meeting we practiced again walking back to the entrance.  It's kind of a far walk and we have to go up a hill so we came up with the idea to walk with a rope, each child has their own loop to hold, and it worked great!

My heart is overflowing with excitement as tomorrow is our first day of class!  God gave us a vision for this program and in incredible ways He is making it come to pass.  Pray with us tomorrow as we lead the kids to their first, of many, fun-filled days!

Until next time...

Much love!