Brazil Team 2017

This came from team member Suzi Kneedler Greeting from Brazil!  A team of six from LA arrived  Friday  and we spent  Sunday  together. Our bus of thirteen attended graduate church, had lunchwith at the girls graduate house, participated in a portuguese language lesson from Pierre, visited with a family at the ranch, had dinner with the kids at the shelter, and returned about  10pm . Whew!  The Graduate program prepares the kids for independant living. At seventeen, they enter the program and live in private housing on the fascilities. They learn to manage  time, money, school, work, church, and relationships. Still considered part of the community, they have freedom to come and go and often have work-study jobs on campus. Gabriel is a a graduate at Hope Mt. in Vitoria. At seventeen, he moved into an apartment on site, works in the office, and manages a daily one hour bus commute into town to finish his high school GED. Gabriel is in love with Jesus. His face lights up and he

Today's blog comes from team member Karri Eggers. The past two days have been a flurry of emotions....I (Karri) joined the group late and they had been to visit a family in the favella (slums).  Well, Giovanni, the 12 year old "man of the house"was brought to Hope Mountain today by the police because they are concerned about trouble he is getting in to and want him to attend classes at Hope.  When class was over and it was time to go home, I was offered the opportunity to ride home with Giovanni...but first a trip to the grocery store.  Giovanni got to pick food for his family (and necessities like toilet paper, toothpaste, etc..). He didn't ask for a thing - we had to ask him "do you like this?", in every aisle.  A cart full of groceries later ($65 US dollars which would have been well over $150 at home) and we were on our way...oh, escorted by the military police (the Sergeant  of the department, no less).  Oh. I digress - before we left, the Presiden

Various team members on the Brazil team are sending information regarding their trip and apparently day two's information reached us before day one's. This blog was written by team member Suzi Kneedler. They are hoping to be able to send photos soon.  Greetings from Brazil ! Tiago met us at the airport and whisked us off to a party at Hope Mt. A talent show was in progress and we were slated to perform. Joyce played her flute and we belted out…``If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands! `` One of the professional courses offered at Hope is Baking and many delicious culinary arts were served…yum! Also offered in the afternoon are career classes in Human Resources, Computer Maintenance, Auto Body and Repair, Cosmetology, and a variety of others according teacher availability.    Resident students aged twelve to eighteen attend a private school in town, but they’re welcomed to take professionals as well. Academic excellence is highly prized and faithfully e

Most of the team arrived in Brazil on Thursday, July 27. This post was written on Friday by Bert Smith, one of the 7 team members. We began our day with devotion time at our hotel and talked about how Satan could distract us by placing obstacles in our way. Within an hour, we learned the devastating news that a member's grandson was critically injured and had emergency surgery yesterday.Phillip met with us before we began our day's journey . We prayed for the family this family and also our staff and youth at Hope Mountain. . Phillip wanted to introduce us to some destitute families with whom the local church has made contact. Before we visited two favela ( slum area) families, we picked up groceries for each group. Without having a car but having to walk a distance for food ( with kids in tow), life for the mothers can be so difficult.  Our first family consisted of a mother and her six children who lived in a brick shack and shared only two beds. The youngest of the family