Bethlehem Lutheran Church

My son Mike and I agree the trip was one of the best things we've ever done, and it still feels good.  Mike would go back in a heartbeat if we let him...  

My strongest impressions of our time in Brazil include:  

• getting to know so many people--families, clergy, bricklayers-- who cared about each other's well-being and worked together with a common purpose
• working side by side with Americans, Canadians and Brazilians to move dirt and raise the walls of needed housing for hard-working young families
• observing how relatively satisfied people are who have less than we do--and seeing up close how blessed they are--and we are
• eating a huge lunch prepared for us each day at the worksite by the local women in the tiny open-air church kitchen
• listening to live music and minister's wife singing at noon in our Habitat neighborhood
• watching the kids from the neighborhood play together with nothing more than a beat-up ball, kicking it and having a good time
• feeling revived by the hotel shower each evening after  a day's work
• knowing I could put in a day's physical labor--5 days, actually
• leading and taking part in devotions every evening to reflect on the day's events
• eating really well every evening in fun and interesting restaurants, including obscene amounts of meat
• having lots of opportunities for sightseeing, including to Canela and Gramado, two very European towns in the mountains near our host city
• being really, really impressed by Carol Pfleiderer's command of the Portuguese language and her ability to keep track of a million details--and all of us!  

Seeing the immense contrast between the wealthy parts of the cities of Brazil and the incredible favellas that stretch along the highways in and out of towns and cities--shacks and muddy dirt roads up and down the hillsides--leaves you feeling thankful for what we have here and sad for the inequities among people and parts of the world.  Having an opportunity to experience this trip with people I trust and enjoy is priceless, and I would recommend it to everyone at some point in their life.  Carole Peterson