Missionary Feature Story of the Month: 6-27-2002
Matt and Thea Lehmann, missionaries enroute to Mozambique
Dear Friends,
Tudo Bem?! You reply, "Tudo bem, e voce?" We then say, "Tudo bem!"
Make sense? Not really, but then you'd be wise not to try to understand Portuguese through
an english grid. Believe me, you go crazy trying to do so! Nevertheless, greetings in the
name of Jesus Christ, from the 23rd floor in Sao Paulo! Yes, after five weeks of living
with our dear co-workers, Anthony and Jenny Chee, and wandering around town looking for a
place to live, we are finally settled in our own apartment. Many of you have prayed for
this and man, you should come down here and see the answer to your prayers!
Last week, the Lord blessed us with a nicely
furnished, three bedroom apartment...
that came with a terrific view of this endless
city. And the amazing thing is, that it is within our budget. Comparing it to other
apartments in this neighborhood, we definately got a deal. (Steve, you'd be proud.) Though
it became frustrating at times trying to find our own place, this was definately worth the
wait. As we remenisce a bit over the last five weeks we are so aware of...
Continued from our prayerletter...
...God's abundant
blessings bestowed on us as we adjusted to life here in Brazil. We had wonderful friends
to show us 'the ropes' of living here in Sao Paulo, an excellent caretaker to take care of
Corrie and Joseph while we are at school in the mornings, and now this great apartment to
call 'home' for a year. Thank you for praying.
Well, we have about four and a half weeks of formal
Portuguese learning under our belt and even though I still see it as an informidable task
to learn this new tongue, our stubborn brains are slowly making some room and filing some
of these new sounds. Thanks to our 3 dynamic teachers and small class size of only seven
students we are finding the classes to be quite enjoyable and beneficial. On week days we
usually leave the apartment at 8:00 am with Corrie in the stroller and Joseph in the
backpack. We walk 15 minutes to the Chee's apartment, drop off the kids, and continue on
for another 35 minutes to school for our 9:00 o'clock class. We have three hours of
classes and then go home the way we came. So, to Thea's delight, we get about 2 hours of
walking in each day. (And when you're walking with my wife you're not exactly just
strolling along...). Our afternoons should ideally be spent exposing ourselves to as much
portuguese as possible either by way of media or people, but getting settled in has taken
the bulk of our 'after school' hours so far.
Slowly, we country folks are adapting to life in the
city. One soon gets used to the landscape of one high rise after another, the constant
blare of too many cars on the streets, and the putrid smell of exhaust fumes they emit.
Even trying to beat oncoming traffic at intersections becomes second nature after awhile
as well as weaving your way through a mass of 17 million people to get from place to
place. A noise that is still difficult for us to get
used to here however, are the bombs that go off during soccer games here. Well okay,
they're not exactly bombs, but the volume these celebratory fireworks produce sure give
you the impression that the city is under attack! We
continually remind our startled Corrie that people make these ear shattering noises
because they're happy. She can't seem to make the connection though. Yes, this country
loves soccer and being in the middle of the World Cup is definately a cultural experience.
Brazil plays Costa Rica tonight at 3:30 am (our time), so we are in for a long night.
We sure have been grateful and refreshed by your notes that have come our way. Living in a
foreign land sure makes you appreciate hearing from folks on the homefront. Many of you
are praying for us and we are so thankful for the support team that the Lord has raised
up. Thanks for partnering with us every step of the way as we head to Mozambique. Find
below some prayer requests and our new mailing address and phone number.
Until all hear,
Matt, Thea, Corrie, and Joey Lehmann
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Address:
Contact Jason if you wish to write the
Lehmanns
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Prayer Requests:
