No Place Like Home

We're back in Canada!

Thursday morning saw us packing up to leave for the last time. Our flight didn't leave till the afternoon, so Joseph led us on a walking tour of Ibirapuera Park, where there was a museum of African history and art and places to find lunch. Next we toured the Estaciao da Luz, Sao Paulo's old-fashioned train station, where we found a piano in an open area and did a sort of flashmob, singing a few songs and ending with 'O Canada'. Across from the station is the oldest park in Sao Paulo, where we took another walk. Joseph pointed out various trees, like strangle-figs, jackfruit, and what is called an Amazonian telephone tree, used to send signals across distances. We tried to find the sloths that apparently live in the park, but were unsuccessful. A man-made rock formation held caves in which we found aquariums with Amazonian fish.

Saying goodbye to Joseph, we disembarked at Sao Paulo airport. Our check-in wasn't for a while, so we held our last choir meeting and then went to find food. The flight we caught to Toronto was held up at the start, so we missed our connection to Edmonton, but were all thankfully put onto the next flight out. We arrived in Edmonton Friday morning, tired and happy to be home.

As a choir, we've seen a lot of growth over this trip to Brazil. We've experienced a bit of the world, especially for those who haven't had the opportunity to travel much before. We've seen some of the wonders of God's creation, especially in places like Rio at the Christ Redeem statue, where you see the work of man pointing to God and then can turn and see God's work all around in glorious panoramic views. And we've come down from that mountain and witnessed some of the poverty and problems in South America - homeless people sleeping on the street or digging through the garbage for recyclables, barbed wire, gates and fences to keep people out. We've struggled to reconcile the two. We've brought our music to the people in Brazil, and they welcomed us with warm hearts and hugs and smiles. Music is one of the ways we can reconcile those two clashing worlds - we were able to bring Jesus to our audiences, and that is one of our major goals as a choir. We try to be "servants for Jesus' sake."

Many thanks to our leaders, our families and friends, those who supported us throughout the year, all those who showed us such amazing hospitality and generosity over the past two weeks, and all of you who have been following our adventures, praying for and thinking about us. We could not have done this without you. Muito obrigada - thank you so much.