On Mission in Portugal: an Update from the Pearsons

Justin and Julie Pearson are Partners at The Paradox currently living in Lisbon, Portugal.

We are continuing to adjust to life here Lisbon. Pretty much everyday is a new experience, some are good and some are hard. Thankfully God has blessed us with lots of people who have been willing to help.

We are about to finish our second month of intensive language study, which has been a challenge but also fun! We are experiencing a good mix of having to laugh at our mistakes and how little we understand as well as seeing how much we're progressing. We've stopped having someone translate for us in church, not necessarily because we understand everything, but because we want to try to understand the Portuguese better. It is amazing to listen to God's word and sing His praise in a new language.

God has really blessed us by helping us find a place to live so quickly and with great neighbors. They all love Luca very much and have been very welcoming to us all! Luca is constantly growing and keeps getting bigger and more active. At this point he is saying more words in Portuguese than in English. He has a sweet young woman from Angola ,who speaks Portuguese, look after him while we're in language school. Most of our days are busy with language school and studying Portuguese, but we have also been able to explore Lisbon some. There is so much history here and so many beautiful old neighborhoods and views of the river from one of the city's many hills.

We're beginning to build relationships with the people in our church, but we definitely are missing the community we had at the Paradox. We miss you all very much. We can really see the need for Jesus in and outside the church. Just as we had read, we can see how deep the catholic roots are in the culture, but we can also see how secular the culture is and how far away most people are from God. There are a few, mostly very small, local churches that are working to advance the gospel, but the need for love, truth, and hope here in Lisbon is very real.

Thank you all for your continued prayer and support!Love you all,Justin, Julie, & Luca PearsonIf anyone is interested in finding out more you can go to our website, Life in Lisboa. We also keep update prayer requests on the website.