When I found out we would stay with host families while in Brazil, I was super excited. I loved the idea of being able to completely immerse myself in a culture by staying with native Brazilians. Along with this, I was excited for the familial aspect that it would bring to the trip. My family back home is super close and I knew that would be something I would miss, so I was looking forward to having a similar feeling. These past couple days, especially Sunday, have proven that excitement to be valid. Mine and Sophia’s host mom is super close with her sister and her family, whom Connor and Luca are staying with, so we spend most of our days there. It has been such a blessing to be able to see a family who loves each other so much and wants to spend time with each other.

Since there is a language barrier for most of the family members, it has been interesting to communicate with them. We have used a ton of Google Translate (I highly recommend downloading the app if you go to a foreign country). However, both sides understand enough of each other’s language that we’ve been able to teach each other new words. Our host sister, Sarah, has been very helpful with this, as she understands English very well. When we went to church on Sunday night, during the sermon time we wore headphones and someone translated to us in English. This was a super interesting experience, as it was the translator's first time translating a service and the technology aspect was difficult.

One of my favorite experiences of the trip so far was going to church on Sunday night. My usual church services are in the morning, and I usually spend several hours there due to volunteering and my dad being the pastor. Going to our host family's church, Além do Véu Santo André, was a super cool experience. The church is massive, with over 1500 volunteers and 4 services spread through the week. My favorite part was the worship set. I was familiar with the first two songs, "Praise" and "I Speak Jesus", as well as some of the tags like "Worthy is the Lamb" and "Agnus Dei" which made it easy to be able to worship with them. Even though I didn't know the other songs or what all of the words meant, I found it super easy to enter into the worship. As I was listening and seeing others praise the Lord, I couldn't help but be moved by how good God truly is. There were hundreds of us all in one room, some of us not able to speak Portuguese, and yet we were all able to worship the same God. I think it's truly beautiful how God's love and salvation transcends any cultural barriers we may have. I stood there in awe of His greatness and how blessed we are to be able to freely worship Him. I'm excited to go back next week and experience it again!