We traveled to Curitiba Brazil on 23 January 2007 for a seven week stay. Gail and I were part of an 8 member team consisting of Youth With A Mission (YWAM) members and volunteers on a mission to teach English to Brazilian pastors and missionaries.
Initially we taught English (Gail taught beginners and I taught intermediates while there was an advanced class as well) at a Four Square Church retreat center 56 km south of Curitiba. There were 40+ students in all. It was truely amazing to see and hear how much they all learned, especially the beginners. Most could not even speak one English word when we met them and in only 3 weeks they were truely conversing. I taught The Purpose Driven Life to them and they received the Christian truths readily. It really made a difference in their lives.
Secondly, we taught at the YWAM base in Curitiba. We had to wait a few days before beginning due to 8 or so killings just outside the base walls. Once Gail and I joined in teaching we were blessed by their response as well. Gail was very effective teaching phonics and again I taught The Purpose Driven Life. The students could not have been more appreciative.
The third part of our trip was the sightseeing portion. Many of our initial students drove us all around Curitiba. We also spent the night at Caieiras beach near the town of Guaratuba. To us the beach was beautiful eventhough the locals call it an ugly beach by comparison to Brazil's beautiful northern beaches. We flew to the Falls at Iguacu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iguazu_Falls on the Argentina-Paraguay-Brazil border. The falls were beautiful and massive. We shopped in all three countries during our stay at a beautiful hotel and had a great 4 day stay there.
