Last day of 2011

Porch looking back to the edge of the 'hood'

Waking up at 8 o'clock felt like getting out of bed at 1 am with the time change (even with a full night's sleep.)  I'm not sure how my awesome brother in India does it with his short stints back to the US. However, the unexpected and delightful surprise of having a coffee maker at the house helped me get through the jet lag, along with some excellent reading.

My goal was to finish "When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor... and Yourself" before starting work next week - though I'm finding it more helpful to work slowly through it (as it comes with thoughtful questions at the ends of chapters.)  Dr. Roskos, thanks for the recommendation!  I agree that it is a book I would recommend to all Christians feeling called to do good work whether it be overseas or inner city.  I brought my Brazilian Portuguese Bible to help acclimate to the language, and am going through different verses from the book in Portuguese.  The book is a great summary of why I'm here, in how it describes the four kinds of relational poverty at work in the world that affect what most people commonly try to treat in material poverty *spoiler* which are: poverty in lacking relationship with God, poverty in relating to self, poverty in relating to others, and poverty in relationship with the rest of creation.

Home for the next couple months

 Here's why I love studying in different languages, because sometimes different expressions help me grasp important concepts.

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us.  And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.  If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity for him, how can the love of God be in him?  Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue, but with actions and truth."         1 John 3:16-17

"...Quem tiver bens de mundo e, vendo o seu irmao necessitado, cerrar-lhe o seu coracao, como estara nele o amor de Deus?" (I John 3:17)  or "Whoever has goods of the world while seeing his brother in need, and closes his heart, how can the love of God be in him?"

Feliz Ano Novo!!