Island Adventure

Last week I took our seminary puppet team (Amiguinhos de Jesus) and our puppet school (Cidade Feliz) to Treasure Island, where they worked at a camp for (mostly) underprivileged kids administered by missionary colleagues Doug and Renate Reiner.

In one word, the week was awesome! The four seminary students that went with us did an outstanding job, and Cicero and Nice were indispensable in their work with the crafts and filming. They also administered a puppet school in Petrolina (the closest city to Treasure Island), and I will talk more about that in a future post.

As we arrived at the island late on Tuesday afternoon, we were treated to this view of the rocks, bathed in the glow of the setting sun.

As we docked and unloaded the supplies, the sun continued to set. One of the people there took this beautiful shot.

Our first order of business was to set up our equipment. It was then that we discovered a minor tragedy–our curtain had stayed back on the mainland. By this time, however, we are experts at improvisation, and after patching together several blankets, this was the result. Most agreed that it looked even better than our original, blue curtain. In the picture above, Laranginha makes his hesitant entrance.

Renatinha was in charge of the competitions. Here two young ladies prepare to see who can eat a tomato on a string in the shortest period of time.

In another one of Renatinhas games the object was to spin around ten times, and then try to score a goal. It is a testimony to Brazilian soccer prowess that both people who participated in this competition scored on the first try–and then fell down like drunken sailors.

Our puppeteers were in charge of the chapel session, and they did an outstanding job. Here Mikey “helps” Misael and Laranjinha lead a song.

The island provides many unusual recreational activities. Here Misael takes his campers for a ride in a donkey-drawn cart.

Of course, what fun would an island be without swimming?

Nice (prounounced NEE see), one of our partners in the Cidade Feliz project, led the campers in two craft projects that involved (surprise surprise) puppets. This is my own creation.

By far the best part of the week was seeing these six young people (here shown with their counselors) make decisions for Christ. This is what makes all the preparation, expense and hard work worthwhile.

The retreat was over all too soon, and we had to pack our bags and head for the mainland. We were thrilled with the opportunity, however, and are very excited with the results.

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