Alright, here goes the story of how I got to work in Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil in the Casa Criança Feliz for one year. First of all, in Germany every guy in good health between the age of 18 and 24 has to serve either in the military or doing a social service for one year.
I chose the social service, where I can work in a school, help in an old folk’s home, or in an orphanage, etc. You can also do this kind of service outside of Germany which is what I chose to do right after I left the States in 2006. So I applied for refusal of military service and looked for some organizations that provided a social service in Brazil. When my request was accepted they also sent me a list with all of the organizations that offered work in a social program in other countries. That’s where I found under many others the AEM. I called and asked if they offered work in a project in Brazil and they gave me the phone number of the ETB (Evangelism Team for Brazil). So I called and got some information about their projects in Brazil. They have three stations in Brazil, two of which deal with kids who come from a rather difficult social background but are not orphans. So the Kids in two of their stations come to the crèche everyday after of before school so that they are kept off the streets.
So anyways…I applied and almost immediately was invited to the Langs for an interview. I felt immediately that this was the right thing to do and when I was sitting in my car driving back home I thought: I know where I want to serve this next year. When I got home I prayed for a few days to know if this is really where God wanted me. Then the Langs called and said that I had been accepted! So I told her, that I, too, felt that God wanted me there and that I would me more that happy to serve in there crèche in Dourados.
And now I’m here!!!
