Colleen Shendow

February 2009

Our group of 50 UVA students arrived in Sao Paulo, Brazil the morning of Saturday, February 28. On Saturday and Sunday, we settled into our home away from home cots in a local church and then we had a chance to tour the area. The ladies of the church fed us our meals of rice and beans throughout the week.

Each day, we awoke at 5am and rode 1 hours to our work site. Most of the students went to work on the house that was being constructed and the remainder went to work at the trade school.

I worked at the house for the first two days doing everything from carrying bricks to build the second story of the house, mixing concrete to patch holes, and mud slinging stucco on the walls. It was hard, hot work but we were able to meet some local people and they were very grateful for our work at the house. Working alongside the other people was also very fulfilling.

On the third and fourth days, I worked at the trade school doing finish work painting, putting up a mosaic in the bathroom, and building a library bookshelves and all. The library was dedicated in memory of the father of one of my co-workers. He was a long time supporter of the Seeds of Hope program.

After work each day, we had the opportunity to go to the orphanage and play with the children for a few hours. Despite the language difference, they were open and anxious for our visits and looked forward to us coming.

One of the girls on the trip had gotten in touch with the organization Gleaning for the World, and they donated 200 pairs of new sneakers. We laid out all of the shoes and took turns fitting each child with a new pair of shoes. This was an amazing experience as we were able to give them the chance to actually shop for something new.

It was an incredible week as we all reconfirmed how blessed we are. These children, who didnt know us and could barely communicate with us, came running to our arms and welcomed us into their world. While we brought them shoes and toys, what they really wanted was a family to love them each and every day.

In addition to witnessing and ministering to the children of the Sao Paulo orphanage, we were able to minister to each other as well. There were several members of our own group who came as non-believers or believers from another faith. By the end of the week, these students had been touched by the work that God had done through us. They returned to the U.S. with the commitment of finding their faith and living it fully.

In all, it was a powerful experience. While I didnt really know what to expect, I am never surprised that God delivers in a way that touches your heart. We returned home on March 8th, but none of us will ever be the same.

Thanks so much to everyone at DMUMC for their prayers and support that made this experience possible.

Hampton Williams

August 2008

Luke 18:16 reads But Jesus called the children to him and said, Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I understood whom Luke was talking about when I first visited the Pequeno Leo orphanage in So Paulo, Brazil. Upon entering the gates, we are always greeted by joyful yells and the pattering of little feet. We have come to help them, but the childrens brightly smiling faces make it seem as though they need no help at all. Look a little closer and you will see. Some of those faces bear the physical scars of abuse and neglect. Some of the small eyes seem to stare at you, as if you are their single beacon of hope for a different life.

Throughout the month of time I spent in Brazil, I grew especially fond of a little six-year-old boy named Wellington. His lively personality, and his big brown eyes and delightfully round tummy make it hard for me to see how anyone could have ever let him go. On our last day at the orphanage, I bent down to my knees and hugged him, just as I had done each day of our trip, only perhaps a little tighter this time. When I pulled a miniature Batman figure out of my pocket and handed it to him, you would have thought I had given him a bar of gold. As he examined his new most prized possession, he leaned absentmindedly against my waist, which the children often do. They crave the touch. Just like they crave the love. I realized they are no different than anyone else in this world.

I looked around the orphanage at the patchy soccer field, the remnants of old kites, the rows of bunk beds, and the clotheslines crowded with colorful fabrics. I know that at the end of the day, our greatest contribution to that place is not our work repainting fences, mixing concrete, clearing trash, and planting flowers. The real help we give them is the stability of our continuing presence, which shows them that we care and will keep on caring. The city where they live is home to millions of people who are longing to be saved as their lives fall victim to immense poverty, violence, and dehumanization. We will only encounter a few of them. I cannot help but ask: what good is our tiny presence, when so much remains to be done? I find peace in knowing that the church, the orphanage, and the trade school will continue to grow and give hopeful futures to hopeless children, even after we are gone. And I smile when I think of that little boy, somewhere in So Paulo, Brazil. He has his very own plastic Batman figure in his pocket and he knows that he is loved. The Kingdom of God surely belongs to such as these.

Gentry Howle

July 2008

It is safe to say that my time in Sao Paulo, Brazil was the most amazing 10 days of my life. Being my first international mission trip, I was beyond excited to go to Brazil. The children at the orphanage were so beautiful. As soon as we entered the gate they came running up to us with screams of joy. Love at first sight! I was worried about the language barriers at first but we all smile, laugh, and love in the same language. It was hard for me to fathom that those beautiful children didnt have families to love them, hug them, and tell them how wonderful they are. When that realization set in, I was heartbroken. I then made it my job to show them as much love as I possibly could.

The first few days we worked at the orphanage and my group and I spent most of our time painting a chain link fence with smelly, sticky, blue paint. I honestly loved every minute of it. Yeah, the paint was gross but I loved being in Brazil and being surrounded by Gods beauty, and working for Him.

On Monday I was really excited to go to the Seeds of Hope school to work! I had heard so much about the whole Seeds of Hope Brazil organization since I started going to WEAG, and now I was seeing, and working on it for myself! My job was painting, again and still, I was blissful. As I was painting the dorm rooms I would think about the kids that would move in there soon and couldnt help but feel excited for them and how big an impact this school would make in their lives!

Leaving Brazil was bittersweet for me, as Im sure it was for the rest of the team too. I was looking forward to sleeping in my own bed and taking a warm shower, but I fell in love with Brazil and didnt want to leave. I left my heart in So Paulo. God has blessed Roberto with such a beautiful vision and God is blessing Seeds of Hope in so many ways! My heart overflows with the fullness of Gods joy whenever I think about Brazil and Seeds of Hope. I cant wait to go back next summer!

Sarah Munford

April 2008

The more I flip through my pictures and journal entries since I’ve been back from Brazil, the more I realize how impossible it is to capture the taste of Brazilian rice and beans, the adrenaline of passing 40 cinderblocks in a minute, or the feeling of an orphan’s embrace. Brazil impacted me more than I ever thought possible in 7 short days, and the orphans certainly settled into a permanent home in my heart.

Without words to help us, our group relied on every smile, laugh, and hug to show Christ’s love and to instill tiny bits of hope in the Brazilian children. To be faced with an opportunity to give them just a bit of inspiration was both a humbling and rewarding experience, one that left us all replete with joy.

I learned that the kingdom of God is not built by cinderblock-scratched hands, but by hearts that forge relationships and encourage one another. I will never forget that Brazil is a place where this is so beautifully manifest; you’ll only need one afternoon with an orphan to tell.

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Jeremy Woltz

January 2008

Brazil is an amazing place. The important part for me isn't the location or the tourism, but is definitely the people. These people are so loving and, honestly, they take better care of us while we are there than we do of them when we are building them these school. The friendships you make in the short time you are there, regardless of how many miles separate you, are invaluable. But these are just the emotional things.

Spiritually, nothing could be better for you. The first time I went, I was in no shape to be witnessing to any one. I was in a period of my life where I hadn't really seen the power of God, or how He can truly affect our lives. I was spiritualy immature going into that trip, but I came back to the states a totally new Christian. My love for God had grown exponentially, and I knew I wanted a future in missions. It's hard to pick out the one thing that affected me so much because everything affected me.

The orphans we played with cried every time we left them, the family we built the house for could not have been more greatful, and the people we stayed with could not have been more loving and excited to have us there. God is blessing Seeds of Hope in Brazil, and He is blessing all of us who have been. It's evident not in the work we have done there, which will undoubtedlyhelp countless people secure a hope-filled future, but in the people that are brought into our lives while we are there.

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Ryan Pendergraph

September 2007

Over the past nine years I have had the privilege of seeing first hand emerge from a vision that God place on one family's heart into a blossoming ministry that is reaching "the least of these". On a youth mission trip to Belize in 1998 Roberto Pena shared with me his heart for the orphans and street children of Sao Paulo, Brazil. After hearing what God had placed onhis heart I said to myself "What a vision! I don't know he is going to pull it off." Nine years and three trips to Sao Paulo later I am now saying "What a vision! By the grace of God it is becoming a reality!" Since 2005 I have been on two trips that focused on the construction of the technical school that will provide vocational training and Christ centeredteaching to orphans and disadvantaged young people in Sao Paulo. While on these trips my life has been impacted in immeasurable ways. It has been a huge inspiration to see God provide the resources to get to this point and I am excited to be coming back in July of 2008 with a team of High School students from Asbury United Methodist Church in Raleigh, NC. Although the congregation at Asbury (to this point) has only heard a portion of the story of "seeds, there is already a sense of excitement and anticipationabout what God is doing in Sao Paulo. My prayer is that in the coming months we will see the resources necessary to complete the technical schooland we can begin to see God's children experience HIS LOVE and realize HISplans for them.

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