This last July that just passed we had the chance to travel to Holland once again after a long year and a half. We spent 4 weeks of holidays with my (Dot) family; far from work, stress and rush hours; a time that we could rest, see the family and friends and do some presentations on our work with children at risk for ABBA in São Paulo. We enjoyed a lot the rest we had ´cause we definitely needed it so we could gain some new energy. Here are some small impressions of our time in Holland:
As always, it was great to be in Holland, my home country, being able to speak in Dutch, experience my own culture and get back to live with my parents again, just like in good old days.
A day of fun and laughter at the rollercoaster park with my siblings!
We visited the little old city called Quotshausen in Germany where my mom was born and from which we have many good memories of the holiday’s we would spent at my grandma´s house when we were kids. Such a special day.
For one whole week we traveled around Switzerland with my parents, a week of total retirement with no responsibility, no time schedule and a lot of opportunities to enjoy such a beautiful country. We walked a lot for sure.
During our stay in Holland we also invested time in meeting people who have been helping and supporting us during all this time we´ve been in missions. We had the opportunity to do two big presentations about our work in churches; besides that, we organized something smaller for our group of faithful supporters so we could thank them in a more personal way and also share our plans. We also visited some people who have shown real interest in us. It was extremely encouraging to see all this care, interest and support from all these people around us. This helped us a lot and for sure was a good way to recharge our energies for the work.
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| Presentation in Dot´s home church |
Here in Brazil we had been through some difficult situations because of our local church. We haven´t seen much interest and support from their part, so it was really important to see how many people in Holland have a real interest and actively support us. People have no idea how important this is for us. That´s what gives us courage and motivates us to keep working here in Brazil. So, thank you, everybody who was and is a part of this group that care for and support us.
And then, after 4 weeks, we returned to Brazil with full suitcases (how good it was to buy things that I Iove from my country! H&M, decoration supplies, and books, books and more books). As Caio said when we were flying over São Paulo, seeing this huge city beneath us: “Ok, now we are back to chaos.” And that was how we felt. It took us a while to adapt to everything again because it´s so different than Holland. But that´s the same when we go to Holland, we also need some time to get used to life there. I feel like Brazil is getting more and more like my country, the place where I feel at home. And I believe it´s good how this is working for me. But still, all these changes from one country to another are not an easy thing to do.
Now we are all well settled and started the work at Casa Semear at full power. In a next post we will tell you more about it.
May God bless you!
Love,
Caio & Dorothee
