I really love the people that we are staying with. So this months sleeping arrangements aren’t exactly ideal, but part of the race is adapting and going with it. So instead of all six of us being in one house we are split up between 4 houses, two girls in two houses and the boys are split up in different houses. Now before any parents who read this get nervous, we weren’t put with random people but rather families and leaders from Life Church and oddly enough each church member that has taken us in match our personalities perfect. For me personally,this month has been the month that I really experienced home sickness. I really just miss my momma and I find excuses to talk about her any chance I get because I love her desperately and daily things make me think, “she would love this”. I also really miss a family that I’m very close to back home, and the family that I was placed with this month reminded me so much of them and I’m thankful for that because it has allowed me to feel comfortable and to really just be myself with them. I really want you to meet Adelson, Etilvina (Vina), and their sweet baby girl Itiel.
Adelson loves Jesus passionately. The bible says to always be ready to give testimony to the Lord and this dude is. This branch of LifeChurch is still very young, having only been started a year ago and one of their main focuses is college campus ministry, and Adelson is crazy passionate about it. He graduated from the University of Eduardo Mondela, and he mentors the students who attend this university with their cell groups. A cell group is what we have as community groups, life groups, bible study groups, etc. They meet once a week and talk about the previous Sundays message and see how it has or hasn’t pertained to the individuals life that week. These are also accountability groups to which Adelson is partnered with the leaders of these cell groups.
One of my favorite things about Adelson is that he is always smiling, he is quick to laugh and always joins me when I dance just to dance. He is 27 and works for the minister of economy and finances, and every morning without fail he is up at 5 am to get into the word and pray before he gets ready to leave for work. Besides his fever for the Lord, my second favorite thing about him is his love for his wife and baby girl, it’s endearing to watch. He and Vina met at college, fell in love and married. He’s attentive to her every need and doesn’t mind at all to be serving his wife. Usually at dinner- which is served no earlier then 830 pm and it has been one of the harder adjustments- he will hold and feed Itiel while Vina eats first. One night, Ryan asked him why he did this and if that was a cultural thing, to which he said no. He said that he didn’t remember his dad ever doing that with him or his siblings, but he did this, loving his family the way he does and takes care for them because he loves Jesus.
Sweet loving, beautiful Etilvina, I absolutely adore this woman. And it’s funny to say woman because she will be turning 24 next October. We live completely different lives but she is without a doubt someone I would definitely be friends with back at home and hope to remain in contact even though I will leave. Vina has the motherly aspect to her, obviously because of Itiel, but she is still enjoying life as a 23 year old. She is incredibly funny and she’ll say something in passing that you wouldn’t expect her to say leaving you cracking up. She’s loves to learn, learn more about God, and more english. Keep in mind that our conversations are mainly in broken english, Spanish, and Portuguese, but it doesn’t not matter at all with her because you simply want to be around her and love on her and her on you. Vina was saved at college when she finally quit fighting God and was tired of being stubborn and eventually started a cell group on campus in her dorm, to which she evangelized through the dorms until she got married and moved out. She is no longer on campus but like her husband has taken on the role of mentoring her old roommate as she started her own cell group. Together Adelson and Vina now lead a young married couple cell group.
Baby girl Itiel, in Portuguese it means God with us . I love this little human, she is such a happy baby. She is always dancing and we have spent dinners making faces at each other until one of her parents forces a break in our gazes. Don’t get me wrong, she is a baby after all, 14 months to be exact, so she will fake cry, but she will dry up the water works quick at the sight of a camera.
I know that you won’t have the chance to meet these people, but these are people that God has blessed both Ryan and myself with this month. On our first night as we drove away from our squad in the crammed buses and our host told us that we would be split up in different houses, I was super nervous. That night Ryan and I fell asleep next to each other, saying that this was going to be good; this couple reminded us both of families that we love back at home. God’s provision isn’t always when we need it and how we expect it. God provided a family to take me in for 3 weeks, to love on me the way I am used to by those I am closest to, to pour into me, to make me feel safe, to make me feel at home away from home. I didn’t know that I needed this, but He did, and I am so glad that He provided this for me this month. I titled this blog Amor because that is what Adelson and Vina call each other every time, every day.
