Today was our last day in Brazil, and we have all had an amazing trip, but are also ready to get back home! We started at a jungle museum, headed to the mall for some lunch and shopping, chilled at the hotel a bit, then went to Brazilian BBQ for our final meal. Before dinner we were surprised by our Amazon Hope translator, Elias, who showed up with his mom to say hi, give us some gifts, and come to dinner with us! It was so special! We finished the day with a great final devo led by Mr. Rugg, encouraging us to listen to the Lord in whatever he has for us - Mr. Rugg, as a teen, could have never anticipated living out of the country for most of his career or primarily speaking another language in his household, but that’s what happened when he was faithful to what God was calling him to do. He also encouraged us all to pick one thing we might want to change going forward from this trip - for some, it was being more bold to share their faith, for some it was spending less time on social media, for some it was seeing & loving others as Jesus does. We have been blessed with a group of students who have a lot of skills, are leaders, and have a strong relationship with the Lord… we are believing that all of them will be used by God going forward to impact not only our campus, but any sphere they are involved in as they come back from this trip!
JUNGLE MUSEUM
“It was super cool going to an outdoor jungle museum. We had a great tour guide and he showed parts of the museum and explained a lot about the various plants and animals in the rainforest. We saw wildlife such as snakes and electric eels, there was also a Lilly pad pond with HUGE Lilly pads. We walked down the trail a bit until we made it to the observation tower. We climbed 13 stories up it to get the most breath taking view of the Amazon rainforest. It was such a great experience.” - Peyton
MALL VISIT
“We spent about two hours at the mall eating and shopping. We walked around and explored new stores that we have never seen before. Most of the stores in the mall, I have never heard of, so it was cool to see the different stores in a different culture than we are used to.” - Rylee
One of Ms. Clausen & Wilson’s highlights from the mall was that as we were sitting there talking & it was raining outside we saw a huge explosion! Wilson & I thought it was a bomb or something, but turns out a power line blew! I guess that happens a lot here when it rains, which makes sense since nobody else was alarmed!
POOL TIME
“In our free time, most of us decided to hang out at the pool in hopes to get any last minute tanning in. We all were laughing and joking at each other when Wilson decided he wanted a coke. He then went up to the Portuguese speaking woman at the stand, asked for three drinks (one for him and two for any others), and put down a 50 real bill. He then proceeds to say- “keep the change”. Then after a while of hanging out some more he asks if anyone else wants a drink, to which multiple people say yes. Then Wilson goes up again, asks for more drinks and when she asks for money, points to the 50 still on the counter. After this he proceeds to get 3 more drinks and use the entire 50 real.” Juliette.
BRAZILIAN BARBECUE
“We were taken to an all-you-can-eat Brazilian barbecue restaurant where those who had enough guts were given the opportunity to try chicken hearts and massive cow tongues! The waiters would circle around the table carrying towers of meat for us to take from, and the roasted fillet was one of the tenderest and finest delight some of us have ever had.” - Sam
JUNGLE MUSEUM
“It was super cool going to an outdoor jungle museum. We had a great tour guide and he showed parts of the museum and explained a lot about the various plants and animals in the rainforest. We saw wildlife such as snakes and electric eels, there was also a Lilly pad pond with HUGE Lilly pads. We walked down the trail a bit until we made it to the observation tower. We climbed 13 stories up it to get the most breath taking view of the Amazon rainforest. It was such a great experience.” - Peyton
MALL VISIT
“We spent about two hours at the mall eating and shopping. We walked around and explored new stores that we have never seen before. Most of the stores in the mall, I have never heard of, so it was cool to see the different stores in a different culture than we are used to.” - Rylee
One of Ms. Clausen & Wilson’s highlights from the mall was that as we were sitting there talking & it was raining outside we saw a huge explosion! Wilson & I thought it was a bomb or something, but turns out a power line blew! I guess that happens a lot here when it rains, which makes sense since nobody else was alarmed!
POOL TIME
“In our free time, most of us decided to hang out at the pool in hopes to get any last minute tanning in. We all were laughing and joking at each other when Wilson decided he wanted a coke. He then went up to the Portuguese speaking woman at the stand, asked for three drinks (one for him and two for any others), and put down a 50 real bill. He then proceeds to say- “keep the change”. Then after a while of hanging out some more he asks if anyone else wants a drink, to which multiple people say yes. Then Wilson goes up again, asks for more drinks and when she asks for money, points to the 50 still on the counter. After this he proceeds to get 3 more drinks and use the entire 50 real.” Juliette.
BRAZILIAN BARBECUE
“We were taken to an all-you-can-eat Brazilian barbecue restaurant where those who had enough guts were given the opportunity to try chicken hearts and massive cow tongues! The waiters would circle around the table carrying towers of meat for us to take from, and the roasted fillet was one of the tenderest and finest delight some of us have ever had.” - Sam