Doug and Nicci arrive and meet Alice

It was the first trip for Nicki and Jonah but Doug had been here once before 15 years ago. On that trip he came with two members of the Mission Committee. While here he vowed to return one day and bring his wife. It was while he was here that he got the news from Nicki that he was going to be a Daddy. Jonah is now 14 and old enough to accompany them.
Here are his impressions of what he and his family saw this trip. – Mike

We had such a wonderful time during our two weeks in Brazil. I can hardly believe how fast the time passed. Brazil was a beautiful country with such beautiful people. That was our favorite part of the trip… meeting the wonderful people. We already knew how special Mike, Aureni, Josh and Livia were, but it was so great to meet so many special Christians working, serving, worshipping and loving in Recife. Of course, getting to spend time spoiling baby Alice was pretty wonderful also!

We had many other special moments as well. We spent some time visiting with the staff and children living at Lar Mana, the church sponsored orphanage. We would like to have taken all of them home with us, but it was so touching to see how happy and secure the children were in that environment. This is a great work that the church is doing. Those children will have a chance at a full, safe life because of what is being done there.

We had the privilege of visiting and preaching at a number of congregations in the greater Recife area. The congregations all seemed like they were growing and getting stronger with each passing Sunday. We wish we could bottle some of their enthusiasm and passion and bring it back to a few American churches we know! Sometimes in the states, churches can be on the “cool” side with their displays of brotherly love, but not in Brazil! It was wonderful to be greeted by our brothers and sisters with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Makes us long for the fellowship all of us will have in Heaven.

One of our other favorite things was helping with the English Bible classes at the School of the Bible. All of the students got a big kick out of our Portuguese (or lack thereof). We are glad it broke the ice and made everyone feel more comfortable speaking English to us. They worked so hard to impress us. Their English was much better than our Portuguese!

Jonah had several interesting experiences. His favorite Brazilian food was pizza and Aureni’s spaghetti. Those are Brazilian foods… right? He also found the best sushi at a gas station! He actually ate it after he had been to the downtown market where they have an open air seafood stand with no refrigeration. I think he saw and smelled things he had never seen or smelled before!

We were so blessed by this trip, and so thankful to all of the Pruitt’s for taking such good care of us.

Doug, Nici and Jonah with School of the Bible students

The Austins get to know students