Grades

I just got my grades back for this last term. The average GPA is 2.68 which is around a B-.

I think I can be happy with my grades. Thanks again for all your support. As I promised I still will write a article on forgiveness. 

But till then I wish you a blessed Christmas season. 

The finals

The season of the final exams is here. I'll be writing my first two finals tomorrow the 10th and then I'll have an other one on the 12th and the last on the 13th. Thanks for keeping me and the finals in your prayer. I'll post as soon as I know the results how I did.

Thanks and enjoy your advent season

Be blessed 

Almost break-time

This next week it will be my last week of school and then I'll have a week of final exams. It is crazy how fast this time past by. If I look back to the day of my arrival in August it just seems as if it was a month ago. How ever, I don't mind that time is flying by. As mentioned before I'll be writing my finals in the week of the 9th till the 13th of December. So far I'm doing good at school. This week I got an A+ back in a project that I had to do for Education. So far this A+ was my highest grade.
At work everything is going really good as well. Throughout this time I got the opportunity to talk to a few of the CLBI students and I had the chance to share my testimony with them. It is interesting how my life and all what I experienced with God fascinates the students. Many of the students didn't experience God in the way that God has revealed himself to me. So the fact that I can share all of this and help them with my story is quit challenging but at the same time also really encouraging. Right now I'm too learning new things in my spiritual life. An with each step I'm taking and learning I also can pass it on to others. I could talk for a long time about this and go into details about what God is teaching me but this would take to long, but I'll talk about it an other time. How ever one thing I want to say,  forgiveness is way more complex then I thought.


Well this is it. I don't want to keep you long away from your duties. Thanks for your time and support. May our LORD continue to bless you.

Future

It's already been two weeks since my last post and a lot has happened in my life. I had an exam that I had to write and I got exams back. The first exam that I got back was actually a paper and it was an English Literature paper in which I got a "C". For my first paper I can be satisfied with it. According to my Professor the context was actually around a "B" or an "A" but the whole point of building up a thesis and opening sentence / closing sentence is what brought me down. Today I also got my English Literature Mid-Term back. In this exam I got a "B" which I'm really glad for. I also got my first Education paper back and also there I did a good job. The grade is a "B/B-". Last week I had to hand in my second Philosophy paper and write an exam as well. I'm still waiting for both results. Right now I'm working on my novel paper for English Literature. I'm writing about Mary Shelly's novel "Frankenstein". And I'm writing a Sociology paper together with two of my classmates on poverty.
Now to the topic about my future. I was never really sure when I'll be going back to Switzerland. Well now I know. I'll be staying in Canada till the end of 2014. This is due to courses that I couldn't get in at King's and because in this first semester I was quite overloaded and this just with four courses. It would be really hard to do 5 courses during the next semester. So I decided to split my second semester into two semesters. This way I can take more courses and also courses that interest me more then what I'm taking now. And I can still keep supporting the mission PróSERTÃO in Brazil.

3 premieres

This post will be about three premiers in my life.

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1. On the weekend of October the 25th we had a Welcome Back Weekend here at CLBI. All the Alumni's could come for the weekend to CLBI. And as it is a tradition the current students played football against the alumni's. This year was the first year for the current students to win the game, and had my first touchdown of the game as well as of my life. This is the premiere of my life. It was a huge deal for me, this because I played this game now for three years in a row and I never had the chance to do a touchdown, actually to be honest I don't think I ever touched the ball in the other games. 
2. On October 29th I had a health incident. I was cleaning my ear and by doing that I scratched the inside of it. By seeing the blood coming out of my year I started to feel wird and suddenly the next thing I know I was laying on the floor. I went to the hospital get checked and the results where good. It was only a scratch in the inside and nothing more. How ever the premiere was my first time fainting.

   

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     It was an interesting experience to wake up on the floor and not knowing what happened. You stand up and you see all the stuff you through of the shelfs and what ever was around you when you fell. 
3. It was time for me to get a haircut. So I thought that I need some kind of a new look. So I went to the hairdresser and told her to do what ever she thinks would look good on me. She explained to me what she would do, and I just agreed. If it wouldn't look good I still could cut everything off.Well I never did that before and so it was kind of a risk. But it was a risk worth taking.

Those were my three premieres

Thanks for your prayer and support

Mid-Term exam

So now my Mid-Terms are already over. And the way I see it, I didn't do to bad. I already got the first exams back and my GPA is on 2.7. I'm still waiting for the rest but I don't think that my GPA will change to much.
Beside the school I'm doing good. I was close to be sick but never got sick. I'm doing better now and I'm back into my normal life. I love my work here at CLBI, it's just so good to be around the people here and work along side of them. I'm also involved in a church helping out with the sound and what comes along with that. At the same time I'm still helping out the mission PróSERTÃO in Brazil. This way I always have something to do.
The weather here in Canada is being crazy the last few weeks. It's way to warm for this time of the year. But that's ok with me, even though I can't wait for the winter to come.

That's it again. I thank you so much for all your prayer support. I thank the Lord everyday new for his provision and his protecting hand over me.

Be blessed

The Start

Slow but for sure I'm getting used to the life at university. I had my first quizzes and the mid-terms are coming up in October. For this I would be really glad if you kept those in your prayer. 
I had the chance to get to know some new CLBI students and connect with them. It's so good to be back on this campus. Life here is so calm and relaxing. I'm always glad to drive back after school in Edmonton and recharge my batteries here. The people here a gift of God.
My work here was defined now and one of my major area is the IT work on the lab-computers. I have to make sure that they are running and clean them up once in a while. The other jobs that I have is to help out with sound and to train new students to run the sound system. As soon as the winter is here I'll be helping out with shuffling snow and cleaning up the sidewalks.

PS. I actually got my first quiz back and I got a 9.5 out of 10 :)

First Impressions

So it's been a few weeks since my last post. I adjusted myself good to the life back here in Canada. The life at university is hard and I need to get used to this student life again. This semester I chose the following courses: Sociology, English (Litarature), Philosophy and Education.
I had to do an assessment Test for the English course. It looks like I didn't to bad and that I can keep going with this course. For the Education class I need to go and visit some Elementry / High Schools in Edmonton. So far the English and Education classes are my favorites. I drive each Monday evening from Camrose, AB to Fort Saskatchewan, where I can stay at my friends place. On Tuesday I drive to School in Edmonton.
In Camrose I had the chance to do some work for CLBI. I don't know the details of what I'll be doing exactly but I should be informed pretty soon about my tasks at CLBI.
Well I think this is all the imporant informations. I thank God for everything (big as wells as small) that He has provided for me.

Thanks so much for your interest.

The first few days back in Canada

Well I'm back in Canada now. The trip was great. I arrived in Calgary with a short delay, but beside that the flight was good. The first night back in Canada I got to spend at a friends house down in Calgary. The day after my arrival I had my connection flight to Edmonton. It was a interesting flight because I traveled up to Edmonton in a propeller airplane, which I never did before. In Edmonton a friend of mine was already waiting for me. Now I'm staying at his house for the first couple of days.

Today I went to King's University to check it out, because that's where I'll be studying during my next year. It looks like a great University and I'm really exited to start my last year there.

Sunday or Monday I'll be leaving for Camrose (see map) to help out CLBI where ever I can. 

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I'll be traveling back and forth between Camrose and Edmonton, that because King's is in Edmonton. In my first semester I'll be driving up to Edmonton twice a week. The route that I'll be driving you can see right below.


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Ok. I think that's it for now. I'll be posting more information later again.
Thanks again for all you prayer.

Summer review

So my time here in Switzerland is almost over. I had a very great time as well as a very blessed time here in Switzerland. I had the chance to work here for 14 weeks and with that to get the money together for my last year of studies in Canada. I thank God for His faithful provision and guidance. I also had a blessed time with my family and friends and with that I had the chance to reenergize and get ready for an other study season. I want to thank all those who help me in what ever way he/she could to make this time here in Switzerland to be such a blessing. Without you this time here wouldn't have been such a blessing.
I'll be flying out this Tuesday the 20th of August back to Canada. My flight will be leaving 12:15pm (local time) in direction Frankfurt (Germany). There I'll have a 1,5h layover to get my connection flight to Calgary (CA). I'll be landing in Calgary at 5pm (local time).
I would be really glad if you could keep this trip in your prayer, there is always some unexpected things that happen on such a trip.

I wish you all the best and God's richest blessing. May our Lord be always with you and may He be your guid.

Ps. I'll post sometime in the next two weeks more details about my stay in Canada, but till then I wish you all the best.

Updates

I just want to give a quick update.
I'm working this summer as a car mechanic in the shop where I once did my apprenticeship. I'm really glad to be back and to have this opportunity to work there again.
At the end of May / beginning of June I sent of my application for my study visa for Canada. Well around 3 weeks later I got accepted. Now I can stay till July 31st 2014 in Canada. I'm still waiting to get accepted by King's University in Edmonton, AB.
I'll be working till August 9th, so I can pay my studies in Canada.

I want to thanks again with all my heart for your support. It means a lot to me, to know that there are people praying for me and who are supporting me with what they have to give. That's why I pray that God my bless you for all what you did to me.

Further updates may follow at the end of July or beginning of August.

Switzerland

It's a long time ago since the last post. I'm already a month in Switzerland. My parents and I left Brazil on May 6th and arrived on May 7th in Switzerland. For me this flight had something unique, for the first time in my life I celebrated my birthday over the Atlantic.
The week after my arriving I already started work. I have to opportunity to work for the shop where I did my apprenticeship. This way I can get all the money together to finish my studies in Canada. It is a gift of God and his providence that I have work for the whole summer. It is great how God looks after each detail in my life.
I already have my flight booked to Canada. I'll be arriving in Calgary on the 20th of August. Right now I'm in the waiting process for my study permit.


Review:
Here a quick review on my internship. It was a great year. I had the chance to experience, learn and to be challenged. I was in two main areas and a few side jobs involved. The first main area was the sports youth ministry in which I could learn a lot and also contribute. I'm convinced, that through sports we can reach today's youth and kids. I know that I still have a lot to learn in this area.
The second main area was the IT work for PróSERTÃO. Here I also had the chance to learn a lot from Simon. My job was to maintenance the PróSERTÃO homepage as well as to spread PróSERTÃO through the social networks.
The side jobs included small group work as well as divers small jobs in the local church.
Something that God was and still is teaching me is "patience" and "trust". This two things go well together. I need to trust that the Lord has the right plans for me and then I need to be patience that one time this plans will be realized.


So I think thats it. I finished my chapter in Brazil even though I'm still doing some little stuff for PróSERTÃO. I guess that in the next few weeks I'm not going to be posting that much anymore. If you have any questions or you want to hear more then just email me.


I want to thank you for you interest in my stories through out the last few months. May our LORD bless you richly.

Sertão Meeting

My last ministry trip here in Brazil is almost done. It was a blessed time in which we could learn a lot about the Sertão and the reality the people face here. The meeting was held in a way so that everybody had the chance to ask the speakers after their presentation and in that way each individual could learn more about her/his problems that they face in their ministry.
We had the chance to hear a lot of testimonies and their hard but blessed work in the Sertão. Beside the presentations we had the chance to connect with a lot of other organizations and in this way to win more partners so that all of us can reach the Sertão more efficient.
I thank you so much for your prayer, it was really a blessed time with a lot of people that have a heart for the Sertão.


Ps. The pictures will come soon.

My last trip

Well it's time. April 29th I'll be going on my last trip here in Brazil. I'll be going going first to my parents place and from there we will leave on the 30th to Sousa.


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In Sousa we will be part of something like a congress. All sorts of speakers will have presentations about the reality we face here in the Sertão. It will be a very interesting week and I'm exited to see what this trip will bring. We will be back late afternoon or early evening of May 4th. So my parents and I have the 5th to finish packing and getting ready for our trip to Switzerland on the 6th of May. So as you can see there is still a lot of traveling ahead of me, which I really like.
The last few days here with the Reifler family was good. I didn't have that much to do anymore, which was good. In this way I had the chance to pack my stuff and say goodbye to people here. It was a great year and I'm really glad that I had the chance to serve here in Barão.
Well I think that's it. Maybe I'll blog a last post before I leave to Switzerland, if that's not possible my next post will come from Switzerland.
Please check out my prayer request before you close this site. I thank you so much for all your support.

The last few weeks

Sorry, sorry. I have't blogged for awhile and I'm so sorry about that.
Well, the conference was very good but too it was very tiring. I got asked to lead the kids program during the conference which I ended up doing. I had help from two german interns, which I really appreciated. We just had five kids but we had a lot of fun. (Here some Pictures, us having fun in the pool)


This was the road we took to go to the conference. We drove all of this in one day.


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After the conference we had a missions congress in Teresina. For this congress we had speakers from all over Brazil. My task was it to take care of the multimedia during the congress, this would include to take care of the bands and their wishes as well as prepare for each night the powerpoint presentation. Beside that I was also responsible for the presentations of the speakers. I loved what I did and it went mostly well. The congress wasn't that good attended but beside that it was very good. All the messages and the lectures where great. Everybody that wasn't there just missed something.

Well after the congress I got asked to stay for two more days in Teresina to meet with a web designer. The mission PróSERTÃO got to their limits with the website they have now, so they need a new one. But the web designer didn't show up. So I guess that PróSERTÃO has to wait a bit more with their new website.

On April 16th I finally got back to Barão. I'm staying here till April 29th. Then I'll be traveling to an other congress in Souza, PR and from their I'll be traveling to Switzerland. I'll post later something about this congress in Souza.

So, I think you are up to date again. I thank you so much for your interest.

Trip to the amazon area

I totally forgot to write about my trip up to the amazon area. Well I'll be leaving today and be traveling for the next two days. I'll be traveling for around 1000km this next two days. I'll be attending the annual conference of the mission up there. Please pray for safe travels. Further information I'll post shortly.

Motorbike tour - Picures

Here is now the link to the long promised pictures about our motorbike tour that we had in February

To get to the pictures click here.

Trip to Sento Sé

Well now I'm back from my trip to Sento Sé, BA. The trip began for me in Floriano and went till Remanso and from there to Sento Sé.

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How I mentioned it a few weeks earlier I went with PróSERTÃO to Sento Sé to help out at a Congress to train leaders that would work in the area of kids ministry.
We had a good and save trip. Till Remanso we drove with our car and from Remanso to Sento Sé we had to take a boat across the river.
The Congress was a success. We had around 50 leaders or people that wanted to be trained in it. We had the chance to teach a lot to them. The local Pastor wants now to start or improve the kids ministry and use all the knowledge that this leaders have now.
In this region it is really dry, they are now in the rainy season but it didn't rain since January. The river or better the dam is really low. You can see now the water towers from the old city that got flooded as a consequence of the dam. A lot of trucks come to the river to get water to deliver it to the villiges in the interior of the country that are suffering because of the lack of water.

Here are some pictures from the Congress as well as from this dryness.

Now I have a lot of work to do till the end of March. I have two assignments that I have to send to CLBI. One is a research project involving the drug problems here in Barão and the other is a learning project involving the soccer school. These means that I have a lot of work before me. 

I thank you very much for your support in prayer.

Church's Birthday

The last weekend was really stressed. But before you make any wrong conclusions let me explain how it went.
Everything started Friday morning, Friday the 22nd of February. It was the inauguration day of the PróSERTÃO and CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship) office in Teresina. This ment that the swiss missionary Simon Reifler, the local Pastor and his wife - Pastor Valter and Rozi and I had to go up to Teresina. Simon had that day too a meeting with the PróSERTÃO leadership, this ment that we had to leave Barão 6am. When we arrived in Teresina Simon went straight to the meeting and I helped out with the last preparation for the inauguration party in the evening. The evening went well and it was a very nice service. (For picture please visit the PróSERTÃO Facebook fanpage)
Well now comes the reason why this weekend was so tiering. Because our church was celebrating on the Saturday as well as on the Sunday the second birthday we had to get back to Barão asap. The first event started 8am on Saturday morning. So we left right after the inauguration in Teresina and we were back in Barão at 1:30am on Saturday morning. The drive back was 100% in God's hand. We were at least twice close to a bad accident during our drive back home. So that night we didn't have that much sleep. 8am Saturday morning we left for a bike trip through the interior of Barão. It was a great time with the youth that came along and here to God protected us, because all of us fell at least once with the bikes but no one got injured. (Pictures from this event will be posted later)
Well the programs that were scheduled for this weekend went on. Saturday night we had a public service where a singer (DFAM - youtube / facebook) was leading worship.
Sunday morning was more relaxed then Saturday. We started with a putlock breakfast and went on with a small devo which ended with the washing of each others feet. (Here are the pictures to the preparation work and Sunday)

Well now some words to myself. I have my flight booked to Switzerland. I'll be landing on the 7th of May in Switzerland. My plan is to stay there for approximately three months, to work and get my money together to pay my last year of studying in Canada. My plan is too, to get back to Canada on the 21st of August to finish my CLBI degree. By finishing this degree I'll have the BACS (Bachelor of Applied Christian Studies). Hier is a document explaining the requirements as well what it is.

So that was it, the next post will probably be after my trip to Sento Sé. (for mor informations about Sento Sé, please the last article)

Carnivals Camp

Well the carnival is over now and life should get back to normal here in Brazil.
The time in our carnivals camp was great and very blessed. We had three youth that joined us from our church here in Barão. All of them were already part of our youth group but never made a decision for Jesus. After the four days of camp all of our youth and some from other churches have made the decision to follow Jesus. We are very happy to have three new young guys in our family.
The theme for the camp was "Ice Age". The thought behind it was that we are living in a spiritual Ice Age and that we as Christians don't do what God has called us to do. We became cold and maybe we are even immune towards the World. I took some pictures throughout the camp, you can check them out on my Picasa account (to get to the picture click here).
I'm not doing a 100% good. I have a slit cold and with that I can't do are help everywhere, especially not now with all this rain. Last Friday the 15th of February we had a heavy rain here in Barão/Floriano. It was so hard that even the streets where flooded. I took two video clips with my cellphone and posted them on my youtube canal, there you can see how it was (here you'll get to the first video clip and here to the second one).
Well what will I be doing now?? The upcoming time I'll be more around Barão. I will work together with the two boys that made a decision during the camp and help them in their spiritual life. I'll also be helping with the stuff that I was so far.
Beginning of March I'll be traveling with my parents to a city called Sento Sé (Bahia) to help out with a Congress that we will have there.

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Till then, I'll be helping out here in Barão and serving PróSERTÃO were ever I can.

I want to thank you for all your prayer and your interest. May God bless you.

Month of January

Yes, the month of January was once again a full month. In the beginning of the month I was with my parents and helped the a bit with the CBT (a basic theology course). On the 10th of January I went back to Barão to be part of a missions congress. During the congress a band from São Paulo lead the worship (On my youtube channel you can see two short video clips). I already wrote a bit about this congress so I don't want to spend to much time write more about it but I just want to say once more that it was a great congress and that it opened my eyes to a lot of new things.
After the congress I stayed for a few days here in Barão with Reifler's. But it didn't go to long till I got a call from an other swiss missionary to come up to Teresina to help him with a construction fro the PróSERTÃO. After talking with CLBI and my supervisor here in Brazil I got the permission to go to Teresina for one and a half week. So I didn't spent to much time here in Barão but more up in Teresina and at the Ranch with my parents. It was a great time and I could help them in many ways. But now I'm happy to be back in Barão so I can help the ministry here. This upcoming week Brazil celebrates Carnaval. This means that the churches have to organizes a retreat or camp to get the christians out of the cities. We too will be doing this and we will be joining two Baptist churches from Floriano. I'm exited for this retreat and for a long weekend even though it means a lot of work. I hope to that this time will be a great time and a time of blessing.

Ok. This was already January and a bit of what's to come in February. I wish you all the best and God's blessing for your life.

Our team

If you want to see the people I work with, then click here.

Pastor Simon is from Switzerland and the rest are Brazilians. Pastor Valter is from the same state as we are living in and Natalia is a university student that comes from southern Piauí.

The switch

So it has been a while since I posted the last blog and a lot of things happend, even the year has changed. :)
The last time I blogged, I wrote about our soccer tournament and the Christmas service. Well after that stressful time I went back to my parents place to celebrate with them Christmas and New Years. We had a great and nice Christmas time as a family. After Christmas my parents and I drove down to the town where I grew up and spent my childhood. The church was waiting for us already when we got there. It was a great time seeing all my childhood friends again and spending time with them. We were really glad to spend the switch from 2012 to 2013 with the church their and to start the New Year together. On the 1st we already had to leave again because our Bible school would start on the 3rd and we needed to get stuff done before it would start.
It was planned that I would return to Barão on the 14. of January but because there was a missions congress happening from the 10th to the 12th I went earlier so I could be a part of it. It was a great time with good speakers.
And now it's already Monday again and a new week has started and with this also a new semester. What I'll be doing in this semester I don't know yet. I guess it will be simular to what I already was doing but one big event that's coming ahead is our carnival retreat in February. Beside that everything will keep going the way it was.

shortly

It's a long time over due. I should of written a long time ago my last blog but I'm really busy right now. I hope that I can post the next updates in this week. But for now I wish you a blessed New Year.