Update

Hi all, it's been a little while since our last post, so here is a quick pictorial update of what we’ve been up to in the July winter holiday.

We rearranged Joshua’s bedroom a little, adding a desk and chair and a coat of paint:

Louissa complained of pain in her forearm, and was diagnosed with tendonitis. After immobilising her arm in a sling for a week, she has been doing exercises and receiving physiotherapy.

Mike, Louissa and Joshua joined an OM-lead team in São Paulo, sharing about Jesus with football fans and visitors during the World Cup.

Louissa is getting ready to start her A-levels next week. We had to order several books from the UK, which have all arrived now, giving her plenty to read up in advance.

Josh has been running, training during the week, and competed in a couple of races.

That's all for now, watch out for our newsletter next week ...

Examination Trek

The month of May is a month of IGCSEs for Louissa. We have made six trips into São Paulo for her to sit her exams in Portuguese, English Language and English Literature. There are seven papers in all, so just one to go!

A pleasant 'playground' at St Francis College

Lou is taking the exams at St Francis College in the Pinheiros district of the city. It's an English language school, that offers IGCSE and Baccalaureate curricula. 

Nearly Time ..

All but one of the exams are in the morning at around 8am so we have to take a bus to São Paulo the evening before, stay with relatives, and then get the Metro at 6.30am to get to the school on time. It's nice to have a game of sardines just after breakfast ...

Yellow Train Arriving

Inside the Yellow Train

We use three different Metro Lines - the Yellow one pictured is the least crowded - even bearable in rush hour. As the exams are fairly early in the morning, we usually get home around lunch time.

  

Back in São José dos Campos

Newsletter - April 2014

We have just sent out our latest newsletter - just click here to read it

Anniversaries!

Adventure Camp Anniversary

Last weekend's Adventure Camp competition in Cunha marks the anniversary of Josh getting interested in such things as biking and running. 

Team 171 during the first biking stage

We were back there again, this year Josh partnering with an older cousin Pedro (actually second cousin once removed!). The course this year was harder, but Josh improved my one position, coming 2nd in his category.

Yes, it's the top of a cliff

This year's course had the usual biking, running and kayaking, but also an abseiling and swimming stage. The competitors had to descend into the water, wade through a waterfall into a cave, and then swim back across the pool, and out the other side. They tell me water was cold - but it was a hot day so they dried out pretty quickly.

2nd placed team - glad it's all over

Wedding Anniversary

This week also marked Mike and Nélia's 20th Wedding Anniversary. In case you didn't see the photos on Facebook, here they are!

Bye for now, and look out for our newsletter after Easter!

April is here!

Time for another update! April is here and we are counting down for Easter, which is fast approaching!

Louissa's First IGCSE

On Thursday (3rd) Louissa took her first IGCSE in São Paulo - Portuguese Oral. She had no problems with the exam itself, and we were able to get used to the route and work out the quickest way to arrive. The exam was in a private international school called St. Francis College, where all the lessons are conducted in English. It was strange to hear lessons going on in English as we were walking down the corridors. So one exam paper done, and six to go! Next one is 2nd May.

Prayer Day
Also on Thursday we had a prayer day at OM. This involved both the staff and the students, and we prayed for many countries of the world, for OM internationally and particularly for OM Brazil. 

Visitor from the UK

This week, we have received a visitor from the UK at OM Brazil: Graham, who leads up OM's international 'Sportslink' ministry is here to talk about the World Cup in Brazil, but also to give us some help as we grow our Sportslink ministry here in Brazil. It's not just about the World Cup and the Olympics, but about reaching people through sport on a continuous basis. Later in the year, we will have a new person joining us to lead the Sportslink ministry in Brazil. Graham will be travelling to Argentina for a couple of days before heading back to the UK.

Rain

Answer to prayer - it's been raining! April showers are maybe more common in England than in Brazil, but we are very happy to be having some imported weather.

News Update

The month of March is almost gone; look out for a newsletter around Easter time, but in the meantime, here's our latest news!

Louissa's Exams

We now have all the dates for Louissa's IGCSEs - we've put the details in our "Pray for us" section of our blog, so you can be praying or thinking of her at specific times. The first paper is her Portuguese Oral exam next week on Thursday 3rd April at 3pm (Brasilia time = GMT-3). We will be taking the bus and metro to a school in São Paulo, so please pray that we will arrive safely and on-time. 

Trip to Maringá last week

Mike had a great time in Maringá at the end of last week, getting to know the OM Teenstreet team better, and sharing plans to grow the ministries of OM both in Maringá and in São José dos Campos.

2 teams = 1 team

OM Students back from Practical

The students have started to share their experiences of their two-week practical mission-trips. We'll have some photos and stories in our next newsletter. But for now, it's back to the classroom for a few weeks, and this week was a special week we all tasted food from different countries and cultures. 

Where's the cutlery?

Yesterday the meal was arabic-style, but not just the food, but the ambience and the way it was eaten - as you can see from the photo above. 

In the afternoon (much to our approval) we all had scones with jam and PG-Tips tea.

March 2014 Update

Thought we would give you an update on some of the articles in our March newsletter!

UPDATE ON RAIN:
Still not much of it! It has rained a few times, but nothing like normal. The temperatures are still pretty high - around 30C by day and 20C at night but there are signs it will be cooling a little over the next few weeks.

Familiar sight this year ...

UPDATE ON EXAMS:
Louissa has the dates for most of her exams: she'll have one paper at the end of this month, 5 papers spread out through May, and one in June. Her work load is still heavy so please pray for her!

UPDATE ON OM STUDENTS:
The 23 missions students are nearing the end of their 2-week practical. One of the planned locations was changed at the last minute, but everything was (re) arranged on time. We expect plenty of news and stories when the students get back next week. Thanks for praying for them - let's pray that they arrive back safely.

SHORT TRIP FOR MIKE
Mike is travelling with three other OMers to Maringá - where the Teenstreet team is based. They set off tomorrow morning (Thurs 20th) - an 800km drive, and return on Sunday. The OM Base team will be meeting up with the OM Teenstreet team.

HOLIDAY TODAY
Today is a holiday in our city, São José dos Campos. It is "St Joseph's Day"

Thanks for following us - we'll have more news soon ... 

March 2014 Newsletter

Just in case you missed it, we sent out a newsletter at the beginning of the month.

You can access it by clicking HERE

Review of 2013 at OM

A quick review of some of the highlights of 2013!

To access the pdf just click here

Teenstreet Brasil 2014

Phew! We just got back from Teenstreet Brasil 2014. What a week! You may remember Louissa went last year? Well, this year we all four went. We set off on Sunday evening (19th) by coach, arriving in the early hours of Monday morning - a little under 12 hours on the road, and got back home yesterday lunch time (Sunday 26th)

One of the highlights of the week was when we witnessed the sunrise from the side of a hill - some photos below. 

The theme of the conference was "+ More" and based on Ephesians 3:20:

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us ..."

The "Sala do Trono"  (Throne Room)

One of the roles for the OM team was running some workshops - including Logos Hope, Freedom Climb, and The Persecuted Church.  You can learn about these by clicking on the links:

Logos Hope 

Freedom Climb

Freedom Climb (Portuguese)

For the Persecuted Church, check out the "Open Doors" websites - links on the side of this blog.

There are hundreds of pictures on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter - if you're interested - check out the following:

#tsbr2014
@teenstreetbrasil
https://pt-br.facebook.com/teenstreetbrasil

December Newsletter

Read our Family news in our December Newsletter, just click on the link below!

Leal Family Newsletter December 2013

Baptism Next Week

Josh has been thinking about getting baptised here in Brazil, and has recently decided he wants to go ahead ASAP. So it's going to be on Tuesday - next week, that's the 17th December!!

If you are in SJC, it will be at the outdoor baptist pool at PIB, Campus Colina at 7pm.

If you can't be there, please remember to pray for Josh!

There will be photos!!

New OM Video

New "About OM" video below (also on our "About OM" tab)

View it here:

Ballet no Center Vale!!

Oi!

Para quem mora em São José ou perto, vou estar dançando junto com minhas colegas la no shopping Center Vale hoje a noite, e depois mas duas vezes em dezembro!

As datas são:

28 de Novembro 

13 de Dezembro

E o horario é as 19:30!

Website: Center Vale

Ballet - O Corsario

Hello, It's Louissa here. 

A couple of weeks ago it was my ballet performance. After lots of practising - up to 3 times a week, the performance was finally ready. On the 10th of November we arrived early in the morning at the Municipal Theatre in the centre of town for the final dress rehearsal.  Then, we spent some time doing hair, makeup and final adjustments. Shortly after 8 o'clock the curtain was raised and we took to the stage. There was hardly time to rest between scenes, and we had various quick costume changes. I had 4 different costumes! 

Back in May, I took my Grade 5 ballet exam, and received the certificate, just before the performance. We have already started to prepare for the grade 6 exam!

Starting tonight, we are now going to perform some of the dances from the show at one of the shopping malls here in the city as part of their Christmas program. 

HRBC Magazine

For those of you who haven't seen it - I wrote an article for the Holland Road magazine - follow the link below:

HRBC Magazine

Back-ache

Mike writes:
I can just manage a few minutes at the computer - did something odd to my back last Friday, had a lot of pain; off work at the moment - x-ray showed nothing wrong, waiting for MRI scan results. Improving daily, thanks for all the prayers.

Happy Birthday Nélia!

Happy Birthday for yesterday Nélia!

Thanks to all of you who called/emailed/sent etc

Now on Instagram!

We've opened an Instagram account so that we can be more - well - instant.

Just click on the camera below:

Thank you Northstar!

We just wanted to say a quick "Thank you!" to NorthStar Worldwide.

We are currently passing through a period when God is challenging and teaching us about generosity and giving. We are often taught that it is better to give than to receive, and that God rewards generosity.   We have certainly received plenty - often from unexpected sources. Often we receive without asking, but sometimes we have to ask; this can be embarrassing - it can be our pride, or it can be not wanting to put the other person in a situation where they feel obliged to give.

When we do receive something, of course it's good to say 'thank you'. So, we'd just like to mention Northstar Worldwide, which is the organisation we use for Louissa and Joshua's home-schooling. Louissa is half way through her 2 years IGCSE in English Language and English Literature, and Joshua has just started Year 8 English. Northstar is a Christian organisation, and has several other missionary families using its services. As with the schools here in Brazil, we explained our situation as being volunteer workers and asked if they could help us. 

We were very happy that Steve, Lyn and the team agreed to offer us  a special deal in view of our circumstances. We're sure that this generosity will not go unnoticed by God ...

For more information about NorthStar check out their website at http://northstarworldwide.org