Setting Poles!

We had to do a little extra work to build some of the high elements at the Maringa base.  There weren't  a lot of trees in the right places so we had to dig 5 BIG holes to put poles where we needed them.  

The guys digging a hole - notice the red clay.

The soil was really interesting to work in... it was this thick clay that would stick to everything!  The wet clay would stick to the bottom of your shoes and stack up until it was a couple of inches thick.  Made it really fun to walk around!

Eugenio enjoying the work!

Yana checking the depth of the hole and translating.  

It was really interesting to be building in Brazil... we had people who spoke only English and others who spoke only Portuguese.  This could have been a real big issue, but we had some wonderful people who could speak both languages.  It was really cool that some of the translators were kids... they may not have had the building skills, but they sure were helpful in keeping the communication going!!

How many guys does it take to dig a hole?

Transporting poles

 We were totally blessed to have a Christian construction company donate a truck and operator for the day to help us move and set the poles.  Moving and setting the poles could have been done by hand, but the use of a truck allowed us to get all the poles set in one day!  Thank you to the construction company and to God for providing the help that we needed for this BIG task!

Setting a pole in place.

With all the poles set we were ready to start drilling and hanging cable.... which meant more climbing!  YAY for more climbing!!

Building!

You may be wondering what it takes to build a ropes course.  I asked myself this question before I went on this building trip.  I really didn't know if I had the skills to do the job and going with a bunch of guys didn't help much either... needless to say... I was intimidated!!

We spent the first couple of days prepping the site for building.  We organized building supplies and cut down some trees.  One of the great blessings was having lots of help so prepping went quick and we got to building after just a couple of days!

ORGANIZING

Rapid links... put into groups of 5.

Hooks and light rope to make the spider web.

Bolts to connect cables to the trees.

CUTTING TREES

Climbing a tree with only my harness and 2 webbing straps!  A good workout! 

I climbed this tree to tie a rope around it so they could control the direction it landed.  We decided to do this after the previous tree took out the neighbor's fence. 

We didn't hit anything with this tree... yay for us!

Have I mentioned yet that I love to climb?  Well, just in case I forgot... I do love to climb!!


 

Rice and Beans...

Many people ask me about the food I eat in different countries.  Sometimes it's hard to explain the food, but this time it's really simple... I ate LOTS of rice and beans! 

I was at one YWAM base for the first two weeks of my trip.  It was an amazing time there and I will have to say that the rice and beans weren't all that bad.  They had good flavor and I knew that I could count on a hot meal that was gluten free.  My tummy was happy so how could I complain!   

Rice and beans with salsa...

Rice and beans with tomatoes...

Rice and beans with onions, sausage, and manioc root...

During this two week period, I didn't only eat rice and beans... I also had some VERY good BB-Q!  The guys down here love to BB-Q a LOT of meat and just eat and eat and eat!

Made it to Brazil!

It's been a little over a week since I arrived in Brazil and I'm having fun and doing well!

Traveling down here was surely a trip to remember!  We had 4 flights to make it down to Curitiba and some of the connections between flights were a little tight on time and we got to do some running through two of the airports.  To add to the craziness my carryon bag was 70 pounds and my friend Jeff also had a crazy heavy bag!  We got some good laughs at the security check points when we had to heft up the bags to be checked and unload them so they could inspect all the metal pieces we were carrying.  You may be wondering why we didn't check the heavy bags... well, we were each allowed to check two 70 pound bags so we did that and even paid for an extra checked bag. Unfortunately it takes LOTS of heavy gear to build a ropes course so we had to carry on the remaining gear to get it down here.  The two of us brought over 500 pounds of gear!  Whew... glad I get to come back with much less gear... unless I buy a TON of souvenirs!!

We've been building ropes course elements in Maringa for 5 days now and have gotten SOOOO much done, even with a slight language barrier!  I'm amazed at how this gifted crew from Brazil, Latvia, and the USA are pulling together to build the 10th YWAM ropes course!  May God be glorified in this place as they are equipped with a ropes course to share God's love with the community around them!  

I'm so blessed to be a part of this building team!  I'm meeting really great people and am learning a whole lot of new things... Portuguese... climbing... drilling... and so much more!

Wish I could post pictures, but the internet here is really slow.  I'll get some up on here when I can.

Exactly one month from today I'll be heading down to Brazil! (February 8th - March 15th)  I'm really excited about this trip and for all that God wants to do while I'm there.  I know I'll spend a few weeks in a city called Maringa.  I will be working there with a bunch of other YWAMmers to build a ropes course.  I think this is awesome because a ropes course will give the Maringa YWAM base a great tool to use in ministering to their local community.  I'll also spend about a week in Curitiba to get certified as a ropes facilitator.  My goal is to skip level one certification and get my level two certification.  Everyone here says I have the experience and skills so we'll see what happens :)

I'm feeling pretty stoked about this trip and for the most part I feel ready... airline ticket - check... renewed passport - check... Brazil visa - check... gear packed - umm, not yet.

God has been so faithful in providing for me thus far and I'm so thankful for that!  The trip will total about $2,000 and so far I have $1,300 towards that cost.  God has provided for my ticket and visa in amazing ways and I'm believing that the remaining $700 will come in before I fly out on February 8th!

If you are able to help at all with the remaining $700 I would greatly appreciate it.  I couldn't do what I'm doing without the support and prayers of my wonderful family and friends!

Click the donate tab above if you need information on how to send money.

Ropes 2012 Wrap-up!

Well, it's now 2013 so I wanted to do one final post about my 2012 ropes course experience.  It was an amazing time in my life where I learned so much, worked so hard, and met a lot of really cool people.  God is so faithful to use the great outdoors and crazy activities to reach out to people in the local community.  I love how people came here to have fun and left here challenged to make a difference in the world and with a greater understanding of who God is!  I may never know how many people were truly changed on the ropes course, but I do know that they each got touched by the Lord in a special way.    I pray that the 3,766 guests we had will be blessed in all that they do!  

I made a simple slideshow of the ropes season... hope you enjoy it!

Fear Breaking Fear

The other day I was blessed to hear the story of a gal who had a life changing experience on the ropes course.  I was so happy to hear this because I thought she hated the whole experience.

I knew the Giant Swing really shook her up... I was on the unhooking end of the element that day and thought I was gonna have my first puking participant... she was so pale and green!  I remember how shaky she was too, she needed extra assistance stepping down the ladder and over to a tree.  She stayed there a long time, catching her breath and finding her land legs again.  Her first responses to me were how horrible it was and how she wished she hadn't done the swing!  I wasn't surprised after seeing how shaken up she was.

The swing... start 25 feet high...  swing out over the hill to a height of 60-70 feet in the air!

The really cool thing is that I got to hear more about her experience when I ran into her at lunch a few days later.  She shared with me that it took 4 days to process the ropes course experience and in that time God had spoken to her in a really clear way.  God told her that the Giant Swing was the hardest thing that He would ever ask her to do.  She said she never wanted to go off the swing again but that she was glad she did because it brought so much freedom to her and totally broke the pattern of fear in her life!   YAY FOR FREEDOM!!

I love how God works even in the uncomfortable and scary times in our lives... thank you Lord for your faithfulness and for letting me hear this testimony of your goodness!!