Requesting Rain

Woke up this morning in our old bedroom, the last thing we built before we left. How I missed this room when we left 4 years 4 months ago! So good to see the sunlight dancing on the wall like it used to. And how kind of Raniela and Edilson to move out and their kids out of my old office so we could be in those rooms again - not at all what I was expecting.

Went to a group at Antônio da Rocha's last night. They have a brick house, with a white tiled floor and electric lights; hard to take in after years of seeing them in a small dark mud hut. Quite reassuring to see their pig still wandering through the meeting. There were over 25 folk there - mostly young folk, some of the kids we remembered turned into adults...

Walking there, couldn't get over the night sky - felt stuffed with bright stars - had forgotten how beautiful it was.

So many emotions; so much love; too many hugs to count; laughter and tears; and all the admiration I've always had for these people - so tough, so beautiful, so courageous...

And a request to any of you who pray - plead for rain. No good rains since we left; no harvest for five years; everything is so dry; so many trees have died; the animals are skin and bones; it is awful to see. It would be just so wonderful if the rains could start before we leave...