Things to ponder....

Today was school picture day and I think is went great. I can't wait to see all of the pictures. I took a picture with the 5th grade and the 6th grade. Then we took a joint one. Then there was the whole school picture and later the staff picture.
 After staff meeting Lauren and I went for a run and to do some exercise. When we were outside wrapping it up there was this little boy on a bicycle riding by. He said something and then I asked him if he spoke English and he kept going. Lauren and I were chatting and we saw him go over to the dumpsters and dig through it. Lauren wanted to go over and talk to him. (Really I did the talking since she doesn't speak Portuguese yet). We asked him what he was looking for and he told me toys and what not. I asked him where he lived and he pointed to this tree I know---it commonly has people living under it. He said that he lives there with his mom and 9 brothers and sisters! Woh! Lauren told him to please stop digging in the trash and that she wanted to give him some food. He said ok. We both went back to our apartments and came back with some things we had. He was grateful. He asked what religion we were. I told him that we are Christians and he said that he is too. That was great. We chatted with him for awhile and then Lauren said she wanted to pray for him. She prayed and then I told him what she said. One part in her prayer was about how this experience can help him to help others and tell them his story. He said, "Like a missonary?" I said, "Maybe." He said, "I want to be a missionary." Awww. He went to the tree where his family was. Lauren and I were saying goodbye when he came back with his puppy. It was a cute, energetic little dog, but it has a swollen belly and felt like it had something wrong with it's fur. Sad. He asked us if we could teach him English and we said yes. The words he did know in English were good, no strong accent. I felt bad for him. He said that he goes to school every once in awhile depending on where they live. Things like this break my heart.
  Please pray that I get more opportunities to talk to him, his name is Isaac. He is a sweet kid. My heart goes out to kids living in situations that they cannot control. I did not get to talk to or see the rest of his family tonight, but pray for them also.
  Por amor de ti, Brasil! (For the love of you, Brasil.) On Saturday I saw lots of people trying to sell candies and gum dragging their kids behind them. Help me be effective God.