Lions, Soccer, and Brazil

As so many of you have responded positively to our adoption puzzle fundraiser, here's an update!  We're at 68.8%!  We're humbled by the sacrifice many of you have made for us and our kiddos.  Among the donors to our puzzle are people we've never met, other adoptive families, anonymous folks (I stick a Bible verse on their puzzle pieces), hi-school students, grandparents and great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, people that know Jesus, some that don't, folks in seminary, people living internationally, old friends, new friends...  I'm overwhelmed by people's willingness to show love in such a tangible way.  Some pieces were even given as a gift in honor of someone else.  How cool!  :)
Here's a pic of our puzzle as it is this evening:

For those of you that are a part of this, thank you from the bottom of my heart!

This morning in church, we had a missionary come speak about what God is doing in Brazil.  Juca was a professional soccer player who left professional sports to work with kids and share the Good News of Jesus through sports ministry.  He challenged us to see people as precious to God, and not be stand-off-ish because they look or speak differently than we do.  He shared how so many Christians in the U.S as well as Brazil have "too big of a halo" on their heads and it keeps them from reaching out to the lost and broken people around them.  Many of the kids that he works with are street kids, and if they are not reached for Jesus, they will be reached with the drug culture around them!  

Juca also challenged us to remember that God can use even the small things for His glory.  He reminded us of the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000+ people with only a few loaves of bread and fish.  This young boy's lunch was small, but Jesus did great things with it.  

At the end of his time, he took out two small soccer-ball piggy-banks and offered them to anyone that would be wiling to set aside a little bit of money for the ministry in Brazil, to be collected when he and his wife come back next fall.  I jabbed Philip in the ribs and made sure we got one.  So, my kids have a missionary project already, and they are not even home yet!  It occurred to me afterwards that they might be a bit young to understand, but, then, kids are NEVER "too young" to serve God.  Hey, who knows how much they might retain?  And it is important to me that, even though we might not be able to "go" and serve internationally at this time in our life, we are mindful of those that do and we uphold them through prayers and giving, even if it is a small amount!  

My kids' missionary bank on their changing table

Please continue to share our puzzle opportunity on your FB pages and with your friends!  It really does mean a lot!  

Also, if you want to learn more about Juca's ministry, 

This is the ministry FB page:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/YMI-Brasil/277297338967284
His personal FB page: https://www.facebook.com/jucacerpe
The U.S. site for the ministry:  http://www.ymimissions.org/
and the YouTube link highlighting some of Juca's soccer carreer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwHwksgXoyw