The 2008/09 Brazil 2 Action Team reports on their first week in São Paulo, and their experiences of getting to grips with Portuguese:
“We have settled in at the BMS house and have had our first week of Portuguese lessons with our teacher, Hadassa. Subjects include family, numbers, animals, Bible verses and enough body parts to sing head, shoulders, knees and toes! Today we went to church in the evening, where we sang ‘this is the air I breathe’ in Portuguese, and Lianne gave her testimony. Although there was only about 20-30 people present, the energy and spirit of the church was marvilhoso (wonderful) and the people were all very welcoming and great to talk to. It was a great day for all and a good first experience of working with people in the church.”
Lianne describes her first experience of public speaking in a different language:
“Reading my testimony in Portuguese was an interesting experience for me. There was no translator so I had to do it all myself! It was a little bit scary but so rewarding! There was one word - relationship (‘relaçionamento’ in Portuguese) that I struggled to pronounce, but the congregation just laughed when I eventually managed to say it! I asked people afterwards if they had understood me and they said yes, which was so good - having to give my testimony in front of the church really helped my confidence in speaking the language.”