Day 17 - May 25 - Friday

Today was a very Catholic day. We started of our morning with a performance at a Catholic school, then we took a really long drive to see the Basílica de nuestra señora Aparecida, which I think is the largest Catholic church in Brasil. The church contains a museum where the walls are covered with pictures of people who prayed to Mary and had some great thing happen in their lives because of it. The museum is filled with little trinkets and trophies sent in gratitude for answered prayers, and ribbons and banners hang everywhere praising Mary. It was a very disturbing visit, but also a very sad one. The weight of all these people who are so totally lost from the love and mercy of Jesus hung heavy on the hearts of the entire team. What a concrete reminder, though, of why we are here doing what we do. We can only pray that the worshipers we saw here today will find the love of Jesus.