I have been in Portugal for 5 weeks now! I am becoming more and more comfortable in my surroundings, although, my language is still lagging behind. My love for Portugal is becoming stronger with each day I am here. I love the lifestyle here! People are so relaxed in a way and find relationships and community to be very important. I love being able to walk to market and by fresh produce and bread that is right out of the oven. If something isn't within walking distance then public transportation is easy and always close to where you are.
Every Monday I have an evaluation with the Fairbanks and this week Ron asked me what I am thinking about Portugal. I told him that my love for the country is growing more and more everyday and he responded by asking if I thought that my call to Portugal was being solidified by being here. This made me think, I mean I love Portugal....I am pretty sure that I love Portugal more then a quad white americano on the rox from the Cherrybean! I love the culture, the mindset, and the people in general. I am always confronted with the need for something for youth here and I am beginning to understand the difficulty in helping start a youth ministry. I can't wait to return to Portugal full time after I graduate and be able to dive into ministry full time here. However, currently I am working in the Lisbon area and although I love this area I don't think this is necessarily where God wants me to work full time. I have always felt that God has wanted me in the north. Many districts in the north have no evangelical presence and that to me is disturbing. The mindset to evangelical Christians in the north is very different then here in Lisbon. Here in Lisbon people are very open to what ever religion is being talked about for the most part but in north the Catholic church still has a very strong hold on the population. I have heard stories of the priests telling their congregations to ostracize an evangelical Christian and especially missionaries. I will get the chance to experience this closed door society in about a month when I spend a week in the north with a missionary there. While I am in the north I hope to get further conformation that Portugal is where God wants me to be.
well that is all I got now....
Peace out!
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