Date: Thu, 12 Dec 2002 23:33:21
Subject: Wrapping up

Praying Friends,
    As you probably know, my time here in Brazil is coming to a close.
However, that does not mean the work is finished.  I have been as busy
as ever wrapping up the semester and taking care of practical details
before I head back to the States sometime around January 15th.
    The month of November was a little bumpy.  I missed almost two weeks
of Bible studies due to a lung infection.  I visited the doctor twice
and took two courses of two different antibiotics.  At the time I was
pretty discouraged about the whole situation because I was missing
precious time with the young man I am discipling.  Yet I recognize the
sovereignty of God and I know His ways are higher than mine so I remain
very hopeful.  Thankfully my body and spirit are now better.  At the end
 of the month when we took a few days off to celebrate Thanksgiving.
Last year we went to the beach at Caraguatatuba
(http://www.keyspace.org/thanksgiving2001.html) and we had such a good
time that we thought we should return to the beach but this time in
Florianopolis (http://www.keyspace.org/thanksgiving2002.html).  We had a
 great time of thanksgiving to God and fellowship with friends.
    December marks the end of the semester for college students here.
That being the case, our schedule has been a bit abnormal.  Due to
finals our time with the students has been limited.  However, we had a
great time of praise at John Marshall's house with the students from the
 law school one Sunday, and we were also able to wrap everything up at
the law school with a final meeting where we observed the Lord's
Supper.  Tonight we finalized the semesters work at the main USP
campus.  We invited the group over to our apartment for fellowship
and an "American" dinner.  It was lots of fun and turned out much better
than expected.  All of the students are excited about reuniting next
semester, even the non-Christian ones.

    Most pressing prayer needs
        Wrapping up with all the students
        Taking care of practical details before I come home
        The counter-culture shock I will experience in returning home

Justin