The Tribes of Jampa

Hi everybody!

This is Ronã. Long time, no see! I feel better writing the blog now, since I know who all of you are.

I wish you guys could visit us and see our new city. We definitely love our new place. It’s completely different from my small hometown in the middle of the Amazon. They speak with a different accent and use different expressions. The sun here rises much earlier, the roads are better, and the ocean isn’t far!

Sunset in Jampa (Nickname for João Pessoa)

 

 

Since we arrived here, we have been having church every Sunday at the Snell’s. We are a small group of around four families. Once a month, instead of having a service, we go out and pray for people on the streets.

Some of our church family

 

We also try to connect with the people around us in our daily life.

Allison has been doing the hair of practically every women of our building, and two of our neighbors asked if we could teach English for their kids. The kids are Natan and Sophia. They are very smart and are learning very fast. We feel good that we can bless our neighbors. Especially for those 2 kids that don’t have a present father.

Teaching the kids in our building

One of my favorite places in my new city is this studio at the Cultural Center.

Studio Made in PB

It’s called "Studio made in PB". I have drawing classes here every Monday and I have met some very interesting people. I call them the comic tribe. They take comics, cartoons, and super-hero movies very seriously. Don’t dare say anything bad about Batman or Thor in front of them! Many pop culture artist in the city studied here. I had the pleasure to meet some of them, and their art is just stunning!

 

 João's Digital Paintings

My teacher is named João. He was also a student at "Studio made in PB" before becoming the teacher. He is a great teacher. He has taught me many things and also motivated me to publish my first comic story . João will be a father next month. His wife is eight months pregnant with a baby boy!

João and I at the Cultural Center

 

"Studio made in PB" has allowed me to use their space to do an Alpha course. We are just waiting for the right moment to start. The Alpha will be an opportunity to tell the story of the super-hero of the real life, Jesus Christ. We are also talking about the possibility of me teaching English classes there. They are supposed to offer classes for free for students from the public school, but they lack teachers. Join us in prayer for how God wants to use us in this place.

The other tribe I have been connecting with is the ‘no pad football’ tribe. Yeah, you read that right; they play american football with no protection at the beach! There are about 8 teams in their league. The Carcarás, The Bolados, The Devils, The Jaws, The Punishers, and The Vikings are just a few.   There are even The Witches, a team of women who love football. They all have the dream of being the second full pad football team in the city. They are inspired by the João Pessoa Espectros, the city team, which were the Brazilian champions few years ago.

No Pad football players

Espectros Football Team (Black and Red)

Don’t you worry, I don’t plan to play with them in the league! However, it has been a good experience helping them out with the football materials that some of you guys donated to us.

Before saying good bye, I'd like to let you know that I also started a new quarter in VI. This time I picked the course Biblical Meta-narrative by Bill Jackson. It's a course I've always been interested in taking. It goes into the details of the Bible, considering the cultural context in which it was written as well as revealing the big picture story of the Bible. I’m learning a lot.



Prayers requests:

-That we be witnesses of God among the people we are meeting and building relationships with;

-Financial Support: Our support went significantly down last month and the exchange rate is currently dropping here in Brazil. We also want to raise a fund to pay for Ollie’s studies next year;

-Our family and marriage

-Brazil's current political situation: We are in the middle of an economic crisis, the country is polarized, and the future president will have a lot to do.

We love you all so much and we thank you for absolutely everything you have done for us.

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Lots of Love!
The Moura Family