Ciao Sao Paulo

So to sum up for our visit to Sao Paulo, we really had a great time.  When had no plan, no place to stay, no idea what we were in for, but God took great care of us.  We prayed and watched great things unfold for us there.  We just went in faith and doors opened up for us.  And yeah it was great to see the city and some of the historic sites and touristy things, the thing we enjoyed the most was the people we got to meet.

First off were the people we met with Okupe Hostel.  The staff was kind and patient with us.  They tought us some basic Portuguese.  Bom Dia!  They were our source of all sorts of information about the city. So we give them an A+ for service.

Okupe - Our SP Home

Secondly we really loved meeting the other travelers staying in Okupe.  We met Brazilians, Colombians, Israelis and a Dane.  We had great conversation in the kitchen with many of them. The Brazilians gave some great tips like how to ask for medicine, how the phone system in SP works, what foods we needed to try, good stuff.  The Israelis (there were quite a number of them at this hostel, just traveling through) were telling us about their treks throughout North, Central, and South America. That's when we realized we're not the only ones going on extended trips to foreign lands.  The Dane was our roommate, Lars.  He was great to talk to. He's studying to become a Portuguese translator and is also quite interested in the English language as well.  It was nice talking about all manner of things with him through our stay at Okupe.  We felt like we learned so much from the travelers and realized that as we travel along we'll meet some other newbie travelers that we can help out too.

Lastly we were very much impacted by the church in SP.  They are a huge church so they meet in smaller groups. We met with the Sector Metro Sul group, closest to Vila Mariana.  We looked them up on Disciples Today and mapped the location.  As soon as we got close to the meeting place (a small banquet hall) we knew we'd found it. Hugs all around, women talking outside with that love that is hard to describe.  We come in and hear the singing. We get hugs, get ushered to the front and they found a brother that knows English to sit us next to for translations (that's Biblical friends: look in Corinthians for interpreting tongues.) His name was Klecio.  He translated the whole service for us. We sang songs in Portuguese thanks to a song book that was handed to us. We actually tried to sing the words (no watermelons here) but we kept the volume low.  The message was about Jesus coming back.  I forget the name of the brother who shared the message but he wouldn't let us forget, Jesus Is Coming Back.  Afterwards Klecio introduced us to his family and another English speaker, Liliana.  We all piled into Klecio's car, He and his wife in the front, Liliana, Mu and myself in the backseat, and Klecio's two lovely little girls in back (it was a station wagon of sorts).  They took us to this great place to eat and we just talked, and talked and talked and talked.  It was great meeting them, being encouraged by them and having the opportunity to encourage them as well.  Our brothers and sisters in Sao Paulo truly know what it means to be hospitable.  

Friends we made in Sao Paulo

We are so grateful for God's plan in allowing us to learn so much in just a short 7 day stay in SP.  Next up Brasilia.

Goodbye Sao Paulo!!