Waterfalls, pigs and big churches

Bright and early next morning, we were back on the bus and on our way to the waterfalls at Foz. It was a nippy morning, and I soon discovered that choosing the seat next to the missing window (to afford a better view) was something of a mistake as by the time we reached the start of the walk, my body temperature had dropped to somewhere near 0’C. It was worth it however. Separating Argentina and Brazil, the falls stretch 2.5kms and were truly a spectacular site (perhaps more so than Niagera, in my humble opinion…).

After walking around the falls, we returned to our bus and set off toward Londrina. We stopped for lunch at a roadside café which wasn’t dissimilar to a Happy Chef, except they don’t usually have a man carving up a whole roast pig at the buffet table.

After lunch, we continued on our journey. We were headed for an intermediate destination called Maringa. We were hoping to catch a church service there. Thankfully, we arrived just in time. We managed to get the last remaining seats in the building, up near the front. I’m told there were about 650 people in the building that evening, and that was the third service of the evening! The worship was, as per standard, lively, loud and heart-felt. The preacher delivered an animated and enthusiastic sermon (which Sylv translated for me) and then we shared communion. Yet another fantastic service and another great example of Christianity thriving in Brazil.

We returned to our bus and continued on to Camp Shalom, arriving late in the evening. After a light supper, we returned to our beds. The weekend had been a much needed break from the hard work of the first week and left us rested and restored for the second week of our stay in Brazil.