October 2011

Update on Rachel's Status

Dear Friends,

This past May, Rachel and I came home for a short visit. But coming through Customs, we found out that Rachel wouldn't be able to go back to Brazil with me.

Rachel has a Green Card, meaning she is a resident of the USA, but because Rachel is not a citizen, she is not allowed to stay outside of the USA for more then 6 months out of the year. We had no idea that was the case, until the Immigration officer gently informed us that would be a good idea for her to stay home here for the rest of the year. Apparently this was recent change in the laws within the last few years.

So with all that said; Rachel cannot go back to Brazil or go anywhere for that matter, for the time being. And she is now in the process of applying for her citizenship.

Just keep us in your prayers, as we go through this process; which can take up to 8 months for her to get her citizenship.

Meanwhile, I'm back in Brazil as classes have resumed and you will hear more about that very soon.

Grace and Peace!
Roberto Pena & Rachel Pena
Seeds of Hope

August 2011

Issue No.6

Hello everyone! Grace and Peace.

It is hard to believe that summer is almost over. Here, in Brazil, winter is just ending, and the newness of spring is right around the corner. It will be fun to see how we grow with the spring.

WHAT'S HA-PENA-ING.

The month of June was blessed with the presence of Sarah Munford, a wonderful volunteer.

Sarah is a UVA graduate that has returned four years in a row with the UVA Spring Break trips. This year, Sarah returned for the entire month of June. While here she taught English, and showed love to the kids in a beautiful way. Thank you for your time Sarah. Best wishes to you as you explore your new life in Boston.

NEW GROUND!

Work on the community center in the Vermelhão Community, located about 20 minutes from the S.O.H. school, has continued to progress. Construction began at this new site in February, with the UVABrazil2K11 team. God has blessed us with daily progress, and recently with additional help from the members of the community. Their contributions are becoming stronger and stronger. When I walk around the area, most of the residents recognize me, and are aware of why I am there. Relation are forming!

NEW SEED!

We also have a soccer clinic that is meeting every Tuesday afternoon and Saturday morning at the Vermelhão Community soccer field. 140 boys meet, creating an opportunity for these relationships to grow, and trust to build. We hope to begin our first English class with some of these boys soon. It has been fun to see the kids opening up more and more as the new building is also growing.

English classes at the school have also continued to expand. The kids verbal and written skills are progressing each week.

The Saturday college prep class now has 28 students that meet for two intense hours. I can't wait to see some of these kids attend college, creating opportunities for change and success in their futures, and the futures of their families as well.

NEW WORKER!

In the beginning of August our new volunteer arrived. Katie Reynolds is dear friend from Virginia that has heard God's call in her life and is here to serve with us until December.

Katie has her own apartment at the school and is beginning to know the kids through teaching daily English classes. Thank you so much to all of you that have prayed for Katie's time here, and have supported her financially to help make this happen!

God is good!

Rachel is back in the USA. She is working on her Citizenship papers and taking care of herself. Please continue to pray for her and God's speed in her life.

Rafael is growing as a young man of God. He has recently received a large amount of welding jobs in the area, and is so excited to earn his own money through these new trade skills. It is amazing to witness his daily success and growth.

Life is very busy here at the school. Each week seems to fly by. We are now in our 18th month of serving in Brazil, and are currently planning the teams that will come throughout the summer of 2012. Please keep this in your prayers. The work accomplished with these teams is so important.

Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and your financial support. This would never be possible without God's blessings and without you!

"but with Christ all things are possible!"

Roberto & Rachel Pena
Seeds of Hope Brazil

 

PRAYERS NEEDED:

• Rachel's health & citizenship
• Work in the new community
• Progress & growth with students
• A continual flow of workers
• The rent of our Richmond House

OCTOBER 2010

ISSUE No.3

Sisters and Brothers,

It's finally getting warmer here in São Paulo, and though we will miss Virginia's falling Autumn leaves, we are not particularly sad to see the cold days and cloudy skies of Brazil's winter quickly disappearing. With spring now fully underway, October has been a very busy month- we have been encouraged by the work and presence of a number of groups from the states, and are excited to see some major steps forward for the ministry!

US: RECENT HA-PENA-INGS

Life has certainly been hectic for us, lately: With one intern leaving, another arriving, our son visiting, and two small teams from Richmond and Tampa, we have certainly stayed busy! Hosting teams is often a draining experience, but the individuals and teams who have been with us over the past month have been wonderful! It was a great encouragement for us to be able to have so many enthusiastic people around our house during this. Still, we are eagerly looking forward to spending Thanksgiving in the US!

In the meantime, we continue to adjust to the unique challenges of life in Brazil. Although it has sometimes been difficult to learn patience with the often frustratingly slower pace of life, we are enjoying feeling a deeper sense of connection to the community and our ministry. Our neighbors around the school now recognize us and greet us by name, and we have enjoyed getting to know many of them.

We have seen the school becoming a community center and a place for the kids to hang out. They love to come to the school early to use the computer and to play ping-pong. We are becoming a very tight youth community! While we spend much of our time in lessons and classes, providing a safe place where our students can experience the love of Christ is an essential underlying element.

THEM: THE TEAM IN TRANSITION

Early this month, we were sad to have to say goodbye to one of our interns, Wilson "Oz" Oswald, who headed back home to Atlanta after two and a half months in Brazil. We had a special day of games and fun with the students to send him off, and his enthusiasm and energy will certainly be missed. We were also excited, though, to have our son, Isaac, arrive the very same day that Oz left!

Isaac visited for almost two weeks, during which he was a key part in several construction projects, and also spent time re-adjusting to using Portuguese, hanging out with the students and playing soccer in the neighborhood. Several days after he arrived, we were fortunate to be joined by Estelle Wolfman, a friend from Tampa, who came to help us develop our English curriculum. Drawing on her own extensive experience in public education, Estelle was able to provide some excellent suggestions for how our program can grow. She and Rachel also did a major reorganization of the class room to allow it to accommodate our ever-increasing class sizes.

The party continued to grow when four "young" Richmond guys fromWEAG (David Defoggi, Charlie Clough, Bill Swift, and Waymon Sanders) joined in. Although they were here for less than aweek, these workhorses labored tirelessly to complete the roof! Working with elevated scaffolding, ladders and harnesses,they welded the remaining steel purling and then drilled in all of the plastic roofing tiles, which now protect the previously-open top floor from any further weather-damage! Not satisfied with just this, they also managed to secure an external hall way by building and attaching a railing. What a blessing it was to have all of them here serving with us!

The final addition to our merry group was our new intern, Andy Palmer! Andy comes to us from Mosaic Church in Orlando, FL and will be with us for the next six months! Along with helping to make adjustments to the school building, he will be helping to get Bible and computer classes up and running! Jonathan Yagel is also still here, and has continued to teach English classes, engage students, help around the school, and keep us laughing.

God has truly blessed us with great helpers!

THEM (AGAIN): THE INTERN REPORT

Another month, another intern! Despite Oz's departure, Yages is still here, and we've added a tall Floridian to our ranks... Please put your hands together for Andy "Andy" Palmer (we don't have a clever nickname for him yet)! Andy was actually born right here in SP, but has lived in Costa Rica, Orlando, and recently spent a year in the mountains of western North Carolina. He will be here until next April, and is our newest Guinea Pig! Because he is so big though he can't ride in the car and has to sit on the roof like Clifford!

Hosting short term teams definitely changes the pace of life around here, whether it's adjusting to different sleeping and eating schedules, or the simple fact that more than 5 people means more than one trip for the Humming Bird (Pena-mobile) to and from the school each day. Roberto has dutifully played the role of chauffeur, but we're looking into the certifications necessary to allow us to take that over for him. If we ever get over the terror of the sheer chaos of Brazilian traffic, that is.

In the meantime, we've been doing a lot of painting, carrying, and practicing ping pong so as not to lose too much dignity when playing the students, who have become alarmingly skilled in such a short amount of time.

YOU: SUPPORT REQUESTS!

Certainly the most important thing you can be sharing with us is your prayers: as we continue to work here, we know that it is the Lord's grace that sustains us, and it is only through Him that our efforts can come to fruition. Please continue to remember us and lift us up- it makes a difference every day.

We would also like to ask you to get involved in another way: Our most urgent need remains transportation for the students: we cannot consistently and safely teach the children in the slum communities if we cannot bring them to the school. Unfortunately, a 15-passenger van in Brazil costs R$112,000 (Brazilian Reais), which comes to $65,000 (US Dollars). Although, purchasing the vehicle in the US would certainly be much cheaper, Brazil only allows new vehicles to be imported, and when shipping costs and taxes (generally about 150%) are included, buying the van here is probably cheaper. The Seeds of Hope group at the University of Virginia has set up a designated website to raise funds for the vehicle, and we hope that you'll check it out: http://www.skyraise.com/vanforroberto

Though the school is finished in some ways, we still need some building materials and school supplies. As the temperature begins to rise, so does our need for windows on the top floor, and ceiling fans for the main rooms.

We are currently working on our website to make updates on these needs more easily available, so please check back for more information at http://www.seedsofhopebrazil.com/

Thanks, again, for all of your support! We love you!

Graça e paz,

Roberto Pena & Rachel Pena
Seeds of Hope

 

PRAISE REPORT

• All of the willing volunteers and helpers who have been with us this month
• The completion of the roof!
• English classes are settling into a regular routine, which has helped to demonstrate the improvement in each of the students
• Our continued health and safety

PRAYER REQUESTS

• The Brazilian presidential election it was weekend
• Pray for wisdom and honesty and character for the new executive of the nation.
• English classes
• Patience and perserverence in preparing lessons that will apply and appeal to our students
• Safety and health
• Protection from the many dangers in the areas where we work

September 2010

ISSUE No.2

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We pray that you and your family are under God's grace and peace!!!

As the seasons begin to change and the Unites States is experiencing fall, Brazil enters its spring. Indeed, we are so grateful for the rich harvest the Lord has already granted us: the school's doors are open and we have seen kids coming every day who are excited about learning and gaining new opportunities to succeed in life. As we have shared the Good News, we have already had the chance to witness eight kids accept Christ as their Lord and Savior!

Although we are encouraged by this, we continue to work to plant new crops. As we look forward to God's plans for us in 2011, we continue to ask Him for the fields in which to sow: we continue to pray earnestly for a 16 passenger van that will allow us to bring children to the school as well as take them on short trips from the school. And, as we continue to expand, our petitions to our Father for the lot next door to the school also become more urgent, in order that we may accommodate our new classes and new students. The house that we are living in now is for sale by the owner and our prayer is that the new people will continue to rent to us. It is a very large house, which has allowed us to host the teams that have come this year.

Please join us in lifting these requests up to our Father! As Paul beseeched the Colossians, "pray for us, too, that god may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ"!
What's Ha-Pena-ing

This past month we had the opportunity to return briefly to the States and spend some time with our children and friends at home. It was great to be at church and to able to see and hug so many of you that we appreciate and love.

Serving the Lord in Brazil continues to be an adventure! As we continue to wait for the shipment with our belongings to arrive, we have been reminded of the importance of living from the basics- a fridge, a stove, some mattresses, and a few kitchen items! :)

We continue to adjust to our new lives here, as we face the "The Brazilian Life Style Monster." Please pray that God will continue to teach us how to be patient with the slower pace of things here. Still, we are enjoying doing ministry every day and we love being involved in the lives of the people here. We are truly blessed to be able to share in the Lord's harvest!

THE TEAM

Rafael, our resident student, is doing well, even exceeding our expectations. He is really plugged in with a local church here- he's been serving, singing and even acting in some skits!
It's been a wonderful demonstration of God's love and His power to transform people's lives. We want to praise God for this miracle and for the privilege of having this opportunity to be tools in His hand, here in Brazil.

We currently have two interns, Jonathan Yagel and Wison Oswald (who goes by Oz), who are serving as the first volunteers for the new Seeds of Hope Intern Program. Jarrett Benavidez is another American who is working in São Paulo, and comes to hang out with students on Saturdays.
English! Yeah!

Jonathan and Oz teach two classes a day, a morning class for the younger kids (ten to twelve years old) and an afternoon class for the older kids (fourteen to seventeen years old), Monday to Thursday. Because Jarrett is a fluent Portuguese speaker, he does a bi-lingual review of the week's lesson with the students when he comes on Saturdays.

We also want to thank YOU for your involvement! Words cannot express our gratitude. We greatly appreciated your prayers and financial support, and we thank you so much for your partnership.

 

Intern Report

Welcome to the SoHIP column!

EXHIBIT A

We, Jonathan "Yages" Yagel and Wilson "Oz" Oswald, are the guinea pigs for the Seeds of Hope Internship Program. As we run around in circles and are subjected to all sorts of horrific experiments for the greater good (see Exhibit A), we'll be sharing some of our thoughts and experiences through this section of the newsletter. We hope you'll enjoy getting a bit of our perspective on what it's like for long-term volunteers with little Portuguese but lots of enthusiasm to live in São Paulo, stay with the Penas, and work at the Seeds of Hope School

 

EXHIBIT B

Although we stay busy with a wide variety of activities (see Exhibit B), our main task has been organizing and running English classes at the school! Although we both attended The Best School in the World (UVa, class of '09! Wahoowa), neither of us has had much (okay, any) training in how to teach, much less how to teach English as a second language when you don't speak your students' first language, so the experience has definitely been an adventure. God is faithful, though, and it has been incredible to see Him work through us in the lives of the children we teach every day. They have already made impressive progress and always keep us laughing with how they apply the things they are learning: "What do you like?" "I... like... Justin Bieber!" or, "Where are you?" "Que? Where are you, Scooby Doo?"

Though, sadly, we can't stay in Brazil forever (Oz will be leaving in mid-October, Yages will be here 'til next spring), we hope that our work will help to prepare a path for other long-term volunteers who might carry on our work (and this column). It is an honor and a blessing to be able to be part of God's work in São Paulo, and we are excited to be sharing in this ministry with you!

With love,
The SoHIPsters (Yages and Oz)

Thank you once again for your support, your love, and your prayers!
We love you and thank God for you!

Graça e paz-

Roberto Pena
Rachel Pena

 

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AUGUST 2010

ISSUE No.1

Hello,

It's has been a long six months since January, we finally finish the electrical work at the school building, it only toke us three years to finish, we had to put up some metal bins on the third floor, so we can put on a roof as soon as we can, and hopefully no more leaking at the library. We finally started the English classes everyday and it has been a great thing to see the kids coming everyday excited about learning English and to spend time here at the school.

So far we have received four teams since January, the UVA, the Woman's Ministry from WEAG, the Crossing Church from Tampa, Fl. and the Youth team from WEAG, we have our last team for the year coming in August 11th from Clover Hill Assembly of God to work at the school.

We thank God everyday for all the people that have invested in our lives and in our ministry in Brazil, it would never happened with out people pouring their love and their resources in to our ministry here in Brazil. God is good at all times! It has been a bitter sweet seeing all this teams arriving and leaving, we miss our kids, friends and our church.

 

PLEASE PRAY FOR:

• For our kids, as they continue to live in the USA and adjust their lives away from us.
• Safety as we work teaching English and minister at the slum community every week.
• Financial resources so we may purchase a 16 passenger van, so we may transport the kids from the slum and orphanage to the school and back.
• For God to continue to send us volunteers to work with us.
• For students sponsorship as we continue to have more students registering daily.

Much love,
Roberto and Rachel

 

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