Corcovado

Today was dewey like the springtime in NYC-reminiscent of my past life, when I was something empty dressed in pollution and graffiti. Rio was really something-what a view, mountain tops sprinkled with favelas and Christ suspended with arms stretched out wide overlooking the whole world. Corcovado-Christ the reedemer. There is only so much you can learn of the soul of a city in a week, but I sure got some great pictures. From the nightlife of the bohemian village underneath the aquaducts of lappa to the beautiful ipanema beach stretched around the city-Rio is to die for. We stayed in this beautiful two story mansion with this couple from Brooklyn who takes pictures for Mike, the owner of the house. The place was supervised by Mikes partner John, who was sadly sick for half of the time.


This week we ran around like crazy seeing sites, trying new foods, nw beaches, meeting new people and going to meetings with different doctors. The climate was nice and cool over here, so I slepty better than Ive slept in all of my vacation. Im talking that 10/11 hours kinds a sleep. Yea, I indulged.

I wanna start by talking about the religious side of Rio, corcovado is like the catholic capital of the world-everybody recognizes that image in the sky as a practical symbol of Brazil. It is true that the country is majorly catholic, but evangelics are on the rise. It is interesting to observe what christianity is here. It takes on its own color and character which is uniquely Brazillian. You have the same bible stories, symbols, saints and prayers-but there is something uniquely open about this christianity. My friend invited me to her Baptist church once and told me I could choose between the regular one or the reggae one. I looked at her like she was crazy but she didn´t flinch, she really goes to a reggae church man-thats boss.


There is something alive in their love of God. There is some real genuine connection between their words and actions. When the speak of God, it doesnt feel like hollow words echoing through a hallway-there is something personal in it that I have never seen before. Here, I have gone to church once or twice only, but I have to say I have prayed more than ever in my life. I work at an adventist organization and we pray once with the children and then with the staff. Every day we pray for the health and safety of the children. When I leave to walk out of Terra Vermelha every day and hear "Fica com Deus" or "stay with God"-there is not judgment or hesitation in the voice that says it-it rolls of the tongue like saying, be careful, or watch yourself out there. We pray for the best and we need it. Its not a joke or a motion-they could use all the help they can get.

This was an interesting little performance Caleb, Geli and I stopped to see by this young girl from Georgia who came to Rio to spread the word of God. It was a cute little short story about a young girl who had a whole in her heart that she tried to fill with money, drugs, men and technology and finally tried to kill herself. Nothing was enough to fill her whole. Then she talked about how the narrow path to God as the only way to fill that whole. The woman on the left is the Brazillian translator. It was a really cute story that she wrote with love, and Rio was the perfect spot for this little church group.

At the end, they asked if anyone was saved today by learning the words of God, and this character down here was the only one who raised his hand. Chillin on the floor listening to this woman talking about salvation while looking at Corcovado high in the cloudy sky-what a view homie had.