The Methodist Church in Brazil has already established several service projects that you can help support. 

These include:  

• The Semeador Project for the Disabled
• The Tapepora Mission - ministries for women and children
• The “Mechanical Cow” - Program to turn soy beans into milk that is distributed to the community (Advance #714505)
• “Green Medicine” - Program to teach indigenous people how to use plants and herbs to produce natural medicine.
• Dental Care Outreach Program- Program to provide dental care to indigenous communities
• People’s Central Institute - center for caring for the children of Rio de Janeiro
• Sports and Recreation Programs - sponsors soccer tournaments several times a year, acts as a self-esteem building tool and is an incentive for kids to stay in school (can participate only if they’ve been in school)
• Niteroi Community Center - serves street children and abused adolescents, provides shelter, education, after-school programs, and physical therapy
• Ana Gonzaga Complex - includes children’s homes, home for elderly women, and an ecological center    

Typical Foods and Meals:  

These recipes can be used for church functions, potlucks and even as a fundraiser on Mission Sunday:  

Brazilian cooking is colorful and varied, often utilizing a plethora of fresh fruits and vegetables.  The national dish of Brazil is Feijoada which is a dish made of beans and assorted meats.  It is extremely popular in Brazil to the point where in some areas it is only prepared on certain days to allow time for the lengthy preparation time and still feed the demand.   

Feijoada  

INGREDIENTS
1 lb of varied pork sausages (prefer smoked sausages)
1 lb of pork tenderloin some slices of bacon
1 can of black beans (15.5 oz)
2 Tbs vegetable oil
salt, garlic, chopped onions and bay leaves (bay leaves give a special taste to feijoada)

PREPARE 
Feijoada is made with black beans and pork meats. You can use a can of beans already cooked or dried beans. Add black beans to a medium-sized pot with 2 Tbs oil, salt, garlic, chopped onions and about 6 bay leaves.
Cook for about 15 minutes in med heat and set aside.  

In a separate pan fry, cook cubes of pork tenderloin and slices of bacon with salt, garlic.
Add all the sausages sliced and stir medium-heat until the water evaporates.
Add the cooked meat to the pan with the black beans and your feijoada is ready!
Cook feijoada an extra 10 minutes to allow meat soak in the black beans. You can add some pepper sauce to the feijoada at this point.  

Hint: to make the feijoada creamy, liquefy 1/2 cup of black beans in the blender and add to the feijoada.
Feijoada is a main dish frequently served with white rice, collard greens and seasoned manioc flour (farofa).
To follow the "Feijoada," serve orange segments as a dessert.
Yield: 6

Collard greens (couve refogada)

2 tablespoons canola oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 bunches collard greens, washed, shredded
1 teaspoon salt

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and saute the garlic untillight golden brown. Add the collard greens and salt. Stir-fry overmedium-high heat for 3 minutes or until greens are tender; do notovercook.
Yield: 4-6

Moqueca de Camarao (Shrimp Stew, Bahian style)

Moqueca always includes coconut milk, dendÍ oil, and is served with malagueta pepper.
30 Shrimp, 21-25 count headless
3 tablespoons Fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon Salt
3/4 cup Thin coconut milk (see recipe)
1/3 cup Olive oil
2 large Onions, halved and thin sliced
1 large Garlic clove, crushed and minced
1 medium Green pepper, seeded and sliced
3 medium Tomatoes, seeded and sliced
2 tablespoon Tomato paste
3 stalks Green onion, sliced thin up to the green
1-1/2 teaspoon Fresh parsley, minced
1/3 cup DendÍ oil

Peel and devein the shrimp. Place in a small bowl and sprinkle with lime juice and salt. Marinate while preparing the other ingredients. Heat olive oil in a saute pan. Add onion, garlic and peppers. Saute until the onions are almost translucent then add tomatoes, tomato paste, scallions, and parsley. Cook until soft then add the shrimp and lime juice. Continue cooking until the shrimp are done (2 to 3 minutes).
Add the coconut milk and dendÍ oil. Return to almost a boil for a minute. Adjust seasonings. Serve over white rice or rice cooked in coconut milk.  
Yield: 6

Farofa (accompaniment to many meat and seafood dishes)
2 cups Manioc flour
2 tablespoons Butter
pinch Salt

Melt butter in a heavy saute pan. Add the manioc and slowly cook over low heat until a light golden brown. It will resemble buttered bread crumbs. Add a pinch of salt. Serve as an accompaniment from a ceramic bowl (farinheira). Farofa is frequently prepared with one or more added ingredients such as raisins, onion, olives, sausage, hard cooked egg, parsley, etc. In Bahia, the manioc is sauteed in dendÍ oil giving it a yellow color.  

Dessert Recipes:

Lemon Pie (Torta de Limão)
Make a "graham cracker" crust with 1 C. crushed or blended biscoitos Maria 2T. sugar, and 1/3 C. of butter and line the bottom of the pie plate. (cut out pie crust recipe)

Pie-Filling
1st layer
1 can condensed milk
¼ C. lime juice (add more if you prefer)

Beat well.
Pour onto crust

2nd layer
2 egg whites
2 T. sugar

Beat until peaks form.
Smooth over 1st layer.
Bake until golden on top.

Creme de Papaya
1 can creme de leite
1 can leite condensado
1 mamão papaya
2 leaves of unflavored gelatin melted in ½ C. boiling water (Not a necessary ingredient. Add this if you want a firmer dessert.)

Beat and refrigerate. Sometime we freeze this for an ice-cream type dessert.

This basic recipe can be altered. If you want mousse, replace the creme de leite with 3 or 4 beaten egg whites. Fold them in at the end and refrigerate.

You may replace the mamão with maracujá juice to make creme de maracujá or mousse de maracujá _ (Choose 5 heavy maracujás. Blend with a cup of water and strain to make juice. Reserve some seeds for decoration and to add a crunch), a bottle of leite de coco (coconut milk) to make creme de coco or mousse de coco, or lime juice to make creme de limão or mousse de limão. I like to serve these deserts with tea cookies (biscoitos amanteigados). The store bought kind. Really.

Chocolate Truffle (From the makers of creme Jundiaí)
250 g. creme Jundiai
2 T. Cognac
500 g. Bittersweet Chocolate
Powdered Chocolate

On the stove-top, mix the creme Jundiaí and the cognac. Mix until it boils. Turn off the flame and add the chocolate pieces. Mix well until dissolved. Refrigerate overnight. Make small balls and refrigerate them for ½ hour. Roll in powdered chocolate and place back in the refrigerator to dry.

Tatiana's Famous Chocolate Pudding
1 egg yolk (put through the strainer)
1 liter of milk
1 can of condensed milk
1 can of creme de leite
Powdered Chocolate
Corn Starch (Maizena)

Place the egg yolk, the milk, the condensed milk and the chocolate in a pan and mix well. Dissolve 3 T. of cornstarch in some milk and add to the pan. Bring to a boil, always mixing. Add more corn starch as needed to thicken it as you like. Let rest a little. Beat this with a can of creme de leite. Refrigerate before serving.

Children’s Cultural Activities  

A Brazilian Birthday:   
In Brazil birthdays are celebrated much like they are here in the United States.  Entire families come together to celebrate the birthday even serving a birthday cake with candles!  A Birthday party is not just reserved for children even grandparents get parties. At the party appetizers are served (called salgadinhos) and small deserts called docinhos.  
Teach children the Birthday song in Portuguese.  Lead children in a Brazilian birthday celebration, whether in Sunday school for a classmate, as a cultural experience in Vacation Bible School or at Christmas time for Jesus.  Use the recipes below to make docinhos or help the children make them.  

“Happy Birthday to You” in Portuguese  

Feliz aniversario.
(Happy Birthday to you,)
Feliz aniversario.
(Happy Birthday to you,)
O feliz aniversario caro "amou um."
(Happy Birthday “dear loved one”)
Feliz aniversario!
(Happy Birthday to you!)

Brazilian birthday sweets.    

Brigadeiros(Brigadiers)  
Ingredients:
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 stick of butter or margarine (you can use only 1 Tbsp and it will still work out)
2 heaping Tbsp of Nestlé Quick or 1 Tbsp of Quick and 1 of Hershey's Cocoa.

In a heavy saucepan mix chocolate with condensed milk and add the margarine. Cook in low heat stirring constantly until you can see the bottom of the pan. Continue to stir for another two minutes. Pour onto a plate and let cool completely before you form the little balls. Butter your hands slightly to form the little balls. Roll the balls in chocolate powder or jimmies and put them in small paper cups.

Docinhos de Nozes (Walnut Candy)
Ingredients:
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 lb finely chopped walnuts
2 Tbsp of unsalted butter or tub margarine (you can use only 1 Tbsp and it will still work out)
2 heaping Tbsp of Nestlé Quick or 1 Tbsp of Quick and 1 of Hershey's Cocoa.

In a heavy saucepan mix chocolate with condensed milk and nuts and add the margarine. Cook in low heat stirring constantly until you can see the bottom of the pan. Continue to stir for another two minutes. Pour onto a plate and let cool completely before you form the little balls. Butter your hands slightly to form the little balls. Roll the balls in chocolate powder or jimmies and put them in small paper cups.

Games:

In Brazil, children only attend school approximately 4 hours a day.  In their free time they must entertain themselves.  The most famous sport in Brazil is soccer, called futebol.  Children often entertain themselves by playing a game called Queimada, which is similar to Tag in the United States.  

How to Play Queimada

To play this game, you form two teams. Each team has a field and there is a place called the cemetery. One person from each team starts in the cemetery, so he's dead. The rest of the team starts in the field. The person who is in the cemetery always starts the game by throwing a ball to the opposite side where his partners are. The "living people" from this team have to catch the ball and throw it against the other team. If someone from the opposite team touches the ball, he is burnt, so he is dead. The "dead ones" go to the cemetery, and the game finishes when every "living person" from one team dies.

Popular Expressions in Portuguese

Teach children these expressions for bilingual fun!

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” ~John 3:16 (New International Version)
"Pois Deus tanto amou o mundo que deu o seu Filho Unigênito para que todo o que nele crer não pereça, mas tenha a vida eterna.”  ~ João 3:16 (Nova Versão Internacional)

Hello - Oi  

Hello, how are you? - Oi, tudo bem?

Good morning - bom dia

Good afternoon - boa tarde

Good evening - boa noite. Boa noite is used when entering or leaving.

Please - por favor

Excuse me - com licenca

Thanks - obrigado

Where is the toilet? - Onde e o banheiro?

How much does it cost? - Quanto custa?  

God Willing- Se Deus Quiser

Legends and Fables

These legends and children’s stories can be told to children during the children’s sermon, Sunday School, or Vacation Bible School to help the children better experience Brazillian culture. 

The Legend of "Guarana"
Long before guaraná became a soft drink, the  Indian  tribes  of the Amazon gathered seeds from the  guaraná  plant. They  used  the  rough  tongue  of  giant piracuru, a native fish, as a sanding tool to make a fine powder from the seeds. The Indians say this powder can cure many diseases. Because the guaraná powder became such a powerful medicine for them, they have a myth about its origin.     
Many  years ago, deep  in  the  Brazilian  jungle, there  lived  two  Indians - man  and  wife. They were the happiest couple in the tribe. They were beloved within their tribe and worked hard for the well-being of everyone. But they had one great unhappiness. They had no children.  
The great  Indian  god, Tupã,  took  pity  on  them  and  gave  them  a beautiful son. His gift made the couple even happier, more respected and more hard working than they had been already. Their son grew up and became one of the best young  men  in  the  tribe. He was among the strongest and cleverest, good with the  bow  and  arrow and the tribe’s best tracker. He was admired by all because his heart was full of  goodwill. When he wasn’t out learning the secrets of the jungle, he would assist his mother with her daily tasks.     
He  helped  his  father  fish and hunt, although he did not like to kill animals except when the tribe required food. The boy soon learned almost everything about the Amazon jungle. Members of his tribe swore that he could talk to the monkeys, sing with the forest birds and even trick the snakes. He knew all of the habits of the animals better than any other Indian boy in the tribe.     
There was just one thing he never learned. He never learned about Jurupari, the evil spirit who lurks in the heart of the jungle. In fact, he couldn’t  learn  much  about  Jurupari  because  the elders believed he was still too young to hear such terrible tales.     
The Indian  boy’s  skill  in the forest became so famous that even Jurupari himself heard about it. The evil spirit was furious seeing  that such a young boy was so respected by men, animals and birds. So Jurupari decided to take his revenge. "I cannot allow a boy so perfect to exist," he muttered, as he made his plans.     
The Indian  boy  adored  picking  exotic  fruits, and  he often went out alone to climb the tall trees and bring home a large basket for his mother. Jurupari saw his chance. He transformed himself into a snake and waited high up in a breadfruit tree on an afternoon when the boy when out to gather fruit.     
Since the young boy had no fear of snakes, he did not worry about the large serpent he saw as he climbed to  pick  the  breadfruit. Jurupari struck out and sank his fangs into the boy’s arm. Paralyzed by the powerful spirit poison, the boy fell dead from the tree.     
When the boy  did not return at dusk, his usual hour, the men of  the  tribe organized a search. It was not long before they found his body below the giant  breadfruit  tree with the marks of a snake bite. At first the elders could not believe it, because they knew the boy was very wise about all of the snakes in the jungle and he never would have let himself be bitten. But, after they discusses it for a while, one of the elders concluded, “It had to be Jurupari. That was the only secret of the jungle he did not know. We never told him about it”     
The  whole  tribe, and  the  neighboring tribes too, were very sad. The great Indian god Tupã was deeply saddened too. Great rolls of  thunder  were  heard  although there were no clouds at all in the sky. Only the boy’s mother was able to understand the message Tupã was sending to the whole tribe. “It is Tupã,” she said. “He wants to comfort us for  the  loss  of such a wonderful son. He says we should plant his eyes in the jungle soil. They will grow and become a miraculous plant which will heal many of our ills.”     
It was done. The boy’s eyes were carefully planted in the jungle soil, and it did not take long for the new plant to sprout.     
The  Indians  called  it  "guaraná," which  means, in  their   language, "fruit  like  the  eyes  of the people."The Amazon people still use the powder of the guaraná plant as a medicine. It is considered one of the best plants in the Amazon jungle.

Saci  Perere
Saci Pererê is a very playful character in Brazilian mythology. The color of his skin is black and he has only one leg. He is always depicted smoking a large pipe. He wears a red pointed hat, which gives him magical powers like the ability to appear or disappear whenever he wants to.  He loves to play pranks like distracting people who are cooking so that the food burns on the stove. Some of his other pranks are to hide kitchen utensils, bang doors or letting animals penned in corrals loose. Another favorite of his is to startle travelers or hunters who venture alone in the forests, by whistling loudly in their ears. After this, he appears to them in a cloud of smoke, asking them to light his pipe. During full moon nights, he hops onto a horse and gallops merrily around the countryside. According to legend, inside every small tornado that raises dust and sweeps everything it finds in its way, there is a Saci Perere. People say that if someone throws a rosary made of seeds inside the tornado, Saci Perere can be captured. By taking possession of his hat, the person can have any wish fulfilled.