Friday, despite the sunny skies in the morning, the team was nervous due to the high percentages of rain forecast in the afternoon. The Portuguese are typically very rain averse and will not do most things outdoors during rain of any kind.
We continued to pray for the rain as we enjoyed a morning off to sightsee Belém. We enjoyed delicious Pastéis de Belém, a traditional Portuguese pastry. We saw a beautiful monastery and chapel, a monument to Portuguese discoverers, and the fortress each of their conquests was launched from, with honors and recognition from the monarchy.
After a quick lunch, we began to prepare for the carnival in São Marcos, but were dismayed when a heavy rain began. We had a back up plan to be inside the local church, but also went ahead with setting up the activities outside when there was a reprieve.
Despite another heavy downpour of rain just as we were beginning a soccer game, enough of the kids stayed behind to play. After a few minutes the clouds subsided almost entirely and both the football pitch and the activity booths were busy and full until the end of the event.
It was above and beyond anything we could have hoped for. The amount of families interested and eager for community and connection was astounding to both the short term and long term teams. This is a huge praise!
Pray that the church would continue to be successful in building relationships with this community, that evangelical believers in the area would learn of the church and be connected, and that the long term teams would be encouraged by this event to continue pouring into this community.
Portugal Day 7
