I watched as my sweet missionary girls left this morning! Through hugs, gifts, and trying to figure out whose clothes were in what bag-they made it out the door.
There is something about young missionaries. They know that they have to go back, but the possibilities for the future are endless. They have been preparing the field for the harvest. They worked extremely hard to help us provide an ideal environment for our students. They were relentless in their vision of starting and completing each assigned task. I really can't wait to see what God does with the school and in each of their lives.
I attended a Portuguese church last Sunday. It was awesome! I recognized several old hymns and new praise songs. I met several girls that speak English and have agreed to help me along during the services! Yay! They are so sweet and eager to help me! I really like the pastor-through interpretation-his sermon was on the Bread of Life. He called us to evaluate our lives and ask ourselves-if we worked half as hard to obtain spiritual food as we do physical-where would we be? Hmm.

I worked with the group this week at the old building-painting, painting, and more painting! It took about five coats per wall! Also-they moved most of the furniture, curriculum materials, and other things to the new school!!! We will have a lot to do on August 5th (inservice starts) in order to get things organized, arranged, and ready for the students. The construction continues :)

These are some pictures from the new school(my classroom) as well as the old one.













There is tons to enjoy here, but the sunsets are completely mesmorizing.









I've been spending a lot of time with missionary kids-and I love them! Say Hi to Brody, Elise, and Melinia


The old building is exciting, amazing, and under construction. I visited twice this week and the changes were amazing :) Everyone is working so hard to get it ready for August 14th!

This week:

The group from Pennsylvania is completely amazing-I love the girls who are staying with me. I am going to be so sad when they leave! They have such a heart for God and the beauty of servanthood radiates from them! I absolutely have had an amazing time working, living, and laughing with them!

I learned how to ride the bus (funny-right?) and I was able to take it home by myself! That's exciting in a foreign country!

I'm not sure of the lesson I've learned with the laundry-all I know is that it is dripping (literally) dry in the service quarters after I have washed them in the machine.....

I'm working on establishing relationships with Brasilians and looking for a Brasilian church to attend!

Prayer Requests:

BIS-school construction, staff coming back, students, and our start date-Aug 14th
Michael and Aundrea Taylor-for their visa!
Mary Wolford-going to South Africa to serve God!
CrossPoint Baptist and Bro. Randy as they pursue serving Richmond and helping people to realize that God is the "God of their city"
Continual patience

Praises:
The walls came down at the old BIS building this week! It's beginning to look like a house!
All the new stuff at the new building!
Forming great relationships!

What can I say?

The lump of joy welled up in my throat as the last plane touched down in Brasilia. I wanted to scream and cry (for joy!)at the same time.
From there, the Boses, Jetter's, and the Livingston's greeted me. I began to put personalities with faces and faces with names.
Brasilia is beautiful-even in the dead of winter. It was love at first sight for me as I breathed the crisp/warm air and began taking in my surroundings. I visited (what is now) the old school and again placed familiar pictures with actual classrooms. The old school does have a wonderful view-just not enough wonderful rooms.
I have yet to explore the new school-I'm sure that will come very soon. We will begin the big move next week after the mission team arrives on Tuesday. I will be hosting 3 young ladies in the apartment-so that should be FUN! The apartment-is simple, safe, and has much character. The windows are HUGE and the rooms carry a breeze quite nicely. The children also brought to my attention that the floor is excellent for playing "skates". I'm sure I will kill myself on the "skating" floor before it is over :)


Prayer Requests:
**For the Missions team from Pennsylvania coming to help with the construction of the new school
**For the construction team and the swift finish so we can start school in our new building!!
**For boldness as I learn to interact with the people and speak their language in order to establish relationships with them.
**For Mary as she is getting ready for South Africa

Praises
**Well, I'm here!
**For wonderful families who are offering to have me over for supper :)
**For the Bose family-they showed me some wonderful hospitality in getting me the things I needed today :)

Newsletter 1

Dear Family/Friends,
I am so overwhelmed by your outpouring of love, encouragement, support, prayers, and gifts. Please know that each comment, card, call, and act of service is deeply appreciated. I recently acquired my visa and didn’t waste any time booking an airline ticket. Finally, after 9 months, I am scheduled to leave on July 17th from Cincinnati.
I attended training in Southaven, Mississippi with about 164 other missionaries and their families.. I learned about teaching, culture, communicating, transitioning, students, and resources-just to name a few. Through the training, God showed me some great things and really prepared me for the next two years at Brasilia International School. I am fortunate to be serving with the Network of Christian Schools.
I carry bits and pieces of you with me all the time. The beginning feelings of joy and excitement are conflicting with sadness as I’m missing you all. Thank you for all of the beautiful memories over the last few months and over a lifetime. I am so appreciative to God and to you all as He worked through your lives to impact mine.
Many of you have prayer cards. The address on these cards is no longer correct. They moved the three single girls into an apartment closer to our new school. I will send you the school address as soon as possible. It will be easier for me to get all my mail there (since I will be there the majority of my time). Thank you for your diligence to pray-God has blessed me immensely. Also, God provided a new school for us! We went from two small houses to a 53 classroom building!!!
I will be communicating through mail on a monthly basis. This will allow me to share what is going on in the school as well as relay prayer requests and praises as they occur. Please do not hesitate to drop me a note or send me an e-mail if there are things that I can pray about. I am definitely excited about staying in touch and hearing about how God is working in your lives. Please drop me notes, pictures, and e-mails telling me how you are doing. I will always want to hear from you. I don’t want to come home at Christmas and not know what is going on in your lives.
In Christ Alone,
Amanda Bolin <><>