Today after breakfast Rita led us in devotions: try to have a servant’s heart. We informally studied a map of Brazil, sharing facts we had learned about the places we are visiting and more. The rest of the morning was spent planning our program for Sunday and preparing for the afternoon. After a delicious lunch of Brazilian black beans and rice and other good food we met our tour guides for the afternoon, Margarida and Demetrio. We climbed into our big van and headed for the center of Sao Paulo. Along the way we took in the sights, the buildings, the traffic, the people, the street vendors, including a young man selling soccer balls and one pushing a two-wheeled cart full of jacuticaba, a dark black fruit about the size of a grape that grows on the side of a tree.
We walked up a lively market street to our first stop: Banespao, the former Bank of the State of Sao Paulo. On the 35th floor we took in the 360 degree view of the city. On the street again, we walked along the pedestrian avenue to the city square and the Catedral Metropolitan de Sao Paulo (St Paul’s Cathedral), one of the biggest new gothic style churches in the world. Along the way we observed a microcosm of life in Sao Paulo: people strolling in and out of shops, indigenous musicians from the Andes playing their native panpipes, a crowd listening and dancing to Brazilian music, homeless people resting in the shade, and more. The Catedral is in the midst of it all, a place of peace and respite, and a center of social action helping those in need.
Next we passed through the Liberdade district, the largest Japanese community outside of Japan, and stopped for a rest at the Methodist Church, the former national headquarters. Brazil has eight regions, rather than conferences as we have in the U.S. This church has about 400 members and is home to the Bishop of the 3rd region. It also has many social projects, including an important one for the homeless. At their shelter’s location inside a bridge they offer a place to sleep, take a shower, and help getting IDs, etc. Demetrio surprised us by giving each of us the gift of a Portuguese Bible which includes history of the church. Obrigada to Demetrio and the church. We stood in front of the alter for a group picture. Above it is the verse “Jesus Cristo ontem e hoje e o mesmo e o sera para sempre.” Hebrews 13:8 (“Jesus Christ yesterday and today is the same and will be forever” – loose translation!)
We returned to the van to make our way to the Municipal Market, talking excitedly about all our experiences. Then Lee noticed a young girl in a t-shirt and shorts come down the stairs of a cheap hotel and lean against the doorway. Our eyes have been opened to the possibility of what she might be doing and we realize there is much work still to do.
Our last stop before dinner in the mall was at the Municipal Market where the welcoming fruit vendors and our wonderful hosts, Teca and Rosangela, presented us with the opportunity to feast our eyes and our taste buds on fruits and other foods new to all of us: fruta de conde, cacao (yes, the same one whose seed is made into cocoa), a variety of dried fruits, peanuts with soy, corn juice and a study of the interesting shape of caju (both the cashew nut and the fruit). We returned down Paulista Avenue, the most expensive piece of real estate in Latin America, with its banks and stores and consulates. Our evening concluded with devotions led by Jesse, who had us each share a rose and a thorn of our day, much of which is included here.
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