Is Brazil as bad as they say?

As we prepare our 2014 JEMS teams for volunteer service in Brazil this summer, we recognize the need to prepare parents for the inevitable bad press that is coming out in advance of the World Cup. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/05/world/americas/the-world-cup-is-bad-for-brazil-many-brazilians-say.html

Sadly, Brazil is painted in a bad light with a magnifying glass focusing on crime, poverty, joblessness, failed infrastructure. What parent wants their child to go there? 

http://news.yahoo.com/protests-hit-brazil-eight-days-world-cup-005229845--sow.html

And yet, as I read just now about the mass shooting at Seattle Pacific University, one must ask, "Where is safe?" 

A Mashable article reports that there have been 74 school shootings in the United States since Sandy Hook (December 2012).

The map associated with the above article graphically depicts that school violence isn't limited to particular areas or known trouble spots. (click map to enlarge)

Whether at home or overseas, whether San Francisco or São Paulo, we are completely dependent on the grace of God to see us safely through our day.