Thursday, September 25, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
Gabriel's First Birthday
Tomorrow Gabriel turns 1. This time last year I was 8 days overdue and very miserable and emotional (i.e., crying all the time). God has blessed us so much with this little boy in our family. He brings us so much joy and he makes us laugh everyday. Granted, we've lost several nights' worth of sleep since he arrived, but it's all worth it. We celebrated his first birthday on Saturday afternoon with the kids from our church. I know Gabriel won't remember his big day, but we wanted to celebrate this milestone with our new friends and thank God for His blessing.
The birthday boy wakes up from his nap just in time for his party.
The party table. No, I didn't make any of the food. The plate on the left of the cake is filled with salgados (little pastries stuffed with meat and cheese), and the plate on the right is filled with doces (chocolate and coconut sweets).
Family picture ... Daddy picked out the colorful cake.
The church kids who came to celebrate with us. The American kids are Jon and Jenny Reiner's children -- the missionaries we are working with here in Joao Pessoa.
Blowing out the candle with Mommy's help (and careful observation from Jonas on the left and Davi on the right).
Gabriel with Lissandra, one of our teens who really loves Gabriel.
Yummy lollipop, and I think it's about time for another milestone -- first haircut.
Baby André, the little boy who was born shortly after we arrived, and his mother Conceição.
Taking the first bite of his cake.
This was just the beginning of the sticky mess, but he loved it.
The birthday boy wakes up from his nap just in time for his party.
The party table. No, I didn't make any of the food. The plate on the left of the cake is filled with salgados (little pastries stuffed with meat and cheese), and the plate on the right is filled with doces (chocolate and coconut sweets).
Family picture ... Daddy picked out the colorful cake.
The church kids who came to celebrate with us. The American kids are Jon and Jenny Reiner's children -- the missionaries we are working with here in Joao Pessoa.
Blowing out the candle with Mommy's help (and careful observation from Jonas on the left and Davi on the right).
Gabriel with Lissandra, one of our teens who really loves Gabriel.
Yummy lollipop, and I think it's about time for another milestone -- first haircut.
Baby André, the little boy who was born shortly after we arrived, and his mother Conceição.
Taking the first bite of his cake.
This was just the beginning of the sticky mess, but he loved it.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
God's Spirit
I write from an encouraged and challenged heart in evangelism. Currently Sharon and I are doing a weekly evangelistic Bible study with one couple and I am doing a study with two teenage friends. I confess that my heart is never as excited before we begin the study as it is when we have finished, yet I pray to that end. May this report encourage your heart and challenge your faith!
The two teens, Junior and Kelvin, began attending our services on Sunday evenings - which is the equivalent of the Sunday morning service in America. Fernando is a teen in our church who has been faithful to invite them. Their usual pattern is to show up 15 minutes late and like many of your churches, the only available seats are at the front. To my amazement, they never hesitate to take those seats. After the service they hang around and we always have a chance to talk a bit. To Junior it is all new, but for Kelvin, he attended the church when he was a child. I'm not sure what has brought him back - potentially his parents separating recently. Nonetheless, we are meeting weekly at Kelvins house. This past Thursday, the lesson was about sin - what it is, how did it come about, who is a sinner, what are the consequences and is there a remedy? I was delighted to see these guys ask question after question looking for Biblical answers! Obviously we read many verses, and though I know the spirit blows where it wills, I felt as though I could almost see the Spirit of God opening their eyes to the truth. (II Cor. 4:6) Their questions were accompanied by moments of silence that spoke just as loud. The realities of sins consequences and even hell, seemed to humble their hearts. May God grant them repentance and faith for salvation! I will tell you that when you actively engage in evangelism, your heart begins to long for the salvation of the lost in a new and fresh way. Your attitude is one of concern and strong desire for eternal well-being, something that tends to vanish in our moments of selfish living or unsatisfied spiritual appetites.
Eilton and Lucimara have two daughters (Luidjia and Cathlyn) and live practically next door to the church. Sharon and I met Lucimara one evening we had gone out to evangelize. I remember our frustration as it was getting late, and we hadn't had a real good opportunity to share the gospel. Lucimara stood at the gate and listened quietly. We asked about a return visit and she agreed. Upon several attempts, we almost gave up going back. About a month ago I suggested we try again. This time her husband Eilton opened the gate and we had a lengthy conversation. He was adamantly opposed to evangelicals for reasons of hypocrisy. His persistent stories even made it difficult to transition into the gospel message. After our persistence I simply said that there is not one of us who is unaware of hypocrital evangelicals, but that the hypocrisy speaks of people and not the evangel (gospel). Eilton heard the gospel that night and as we left, he accepted a return visit for a study. I was sceptical, but we went. We have now had 4 studies and they just seem to get better each time. As he reads, he inquires about the verse and surrounding phrases. He has already said that he is a sinner and that without Christ he will spend an eternity in hell. When an unbeleiver begins to disern these things - my heart leaps, because this response is not evident in all or even most that we evangelize. Last night we found out that this man used to live within blocks from where my wife grew up - just another neat coincidence. But what caught my attention about last night the most was to hear him say that we are the first people he has ever let come into his house for a Bible study. His normal response was a swift bashing and a boot! This is evidence of the work of God's Spirit! I am grateful to be able to have a part in proclaiming and you should as well. Try it if you haven't - it will bring you much joy!
The two teens, Junior and Kelvin, began attending our services on Sunday evenings - which is the equivalent of the Sunday morning service in America. Fernando is a teen in our church who has been faithful to invite them. Their usual pattern is to show up 15 minutes late and like many of your churches, the only available seats are at the front. To my amazement, they never hesitate to take those seats. After the service they hang around and we always have a chance to talk a bit. To Junior it is all new, but for Kelvin, he attended the church when he was a child. I'm not sure what has brought him back - potentially his parents separating recently. Nonetheless, we are meeting weekly at Kelvins house. This past Thursday, the lesson was about sin - what it is, how did it come about, who is a sinner, what are the consequences and is there a remedy? I was delighted to see these guys ask question after question looking for Biblical answers! Obviously we read many verses, and though I know the spirit blows where it wills, I felt as though I could almost see the Spirit of God opening their eyes to the truth. (II Cor. 4:6) Their questions were accompanied by moments of silence that spoke just as loud. The realities of sins consequences and even hell, seemed to humble their hearts. May God grant them repentance and faith for salvation! I will tell you that when you actively engage in evangelism, your heart begins to long for the salvation of the lost in a new and fresh way. Your attitude is one of concern and strong desire for eternal well-being, something that tends to vanish in our moments of selfish living or unsatisfied spiritual appetites.
Eilton and Lucimara have two daughters (Luidjia and Cathlyn) and live practically next door to the church. Sharon and I met Lucimara one evening we had gone out to evangelize. I remember our frustration as it was getting late, and we hadn't had a real good opportunity to share the gospel. Lucimara stood at the gate and listened quietly. We asked about a return visit and she agreed. Upon several attempts, we almost gave up going back. About a month ago I suggested we try again. This time her husband Eilton opened the gate and we had a lengthy conversation. He was adamantly opposed to evangelicals for reasons of hypocrisy. His persistent stories even made it difficult to transition into the gospel message. After our persistence I simply said that there is not one of us who is unaware of hypocrital evangelicals, but that the hypocrisy speaks of people and not the evangel (gospel). Eilton heard the gospel that night and as we left, he accepted a return visit for a study. I was sceptical, but we went. We have now had 4 studies and they just seem to get better each time. As he reads, he inquires about the verse and surrounding phrases. He has already said that he is a sinner and that without Christ he will spend an eternity in hell. When an unbeleiver begins to disern these things - my heart leaps, because this response is not evident in all or even most that we evangelize. Last night we found out that this man used to live within blocks from where my wife grew up - just another neat coincidence. But what caught my attention about last night the most was to hear him say that we are the first people he has ever let come into his house for a Bible study. His normal response was a swift bashing and a boot! This is evidence of the work of God's Spirit! I am grateful to be able to have a part in proclaiming and you should as well. Try it if you haven't - it will bring you much joy!
Monday, August 25, 2008
A Glimpse into Brazilian Mentality
It's been a while since we've posted a blog - we apologize! We have got into the routine of daily life here in Brazil, and there's not always much different going on to inspire a new post.
Most of you who read our blog are familiar with Brazilian culture, but I wanted to share a few incidents that illustrate the Brazilian mentality. A couple weeks ago, we got into the car and drove up to the back gate that opens onto the road (our only way out). We were shocked to see the entire street had been dug up and the dirt and cobble stones were piled at least a meter high all the way across the entrance to our gate. There was no way we could get out with the car. David asked to speak to the man in charge of the operation and he told him that we had to leave because we had somewhere we had to be. The workers around us laughed and one of them said, "well, there's nothing we can do about that." David told them that they needed to advise the residents before digging up the street and blocking exits. (we ended up calling someone to give us a ride)
The road has been in a semi-drivable state since then until a few days ago when they dug things back up. Thankfully, our neighbor across the street was smart and befriended the workers, giving them water and such. He asked them to fill in part of road with dirt so he could at least drive in and out of his drive way. This benefited us too, as well as our church members who would have no other way to get their cars onto church property.
Today we left our house for a few hours and when we came back, wouldn't you know that things were dug up again and we couldn't get inside our gate. David called a worker over and explained our situation and after a few minutes, we had a path we could use to get inside. Who knows how long this will go on because Brazil is notorious for taking their time with such projects. As David told somebody recently, "That's Brazil for you. If things were any different, it wouldn't be Brazil."
Here's another story. Because of problems we've been having with people jumping over our wall and stealing our stuff and beating up our dog, we had an electric fence put up all the way around the walls surrounding our house. That was a situation in and of itself that I won't go into. After it was put up, we still had the problem of our gates being too short since the walls were raised for the electric fence. The space between the gate and the fence was too big and somebody could get through it, so we hired a guy to lengthen our gates. (in case you're wondering, our other gate isn't big enough for a car to get through -- otherwise, we wouldn't have the problem or getting in and out of our house) Back to the gate guy, David paid him part of the fee in advance at least two weeks ago. Everyday, the man would say he would be here at such-and-such an hour and everyday, he wouldn't show up. The one day he did show up, it began to sprinkle slightly and he said he couldn't work in the rain so he left and, you guessed it, didn't come back. I guess David went and talked to him and was pretty firm with him about finishing the job because yesterday morning, a few minutes before church, I heard loud banging on our front gate. It was the man with two of the gate extensions which he had brought over on his bike. I told him we had church in a few minutes and wouldn't be back until later. He said he wanted to go ahead and get started on the job since David was "aperriado" (annoyed/frustrated) with him. This was two weeks after he was supposed to do the job! So he left the gate extensions in our yard, promising to be back later on in the day. He finally showed up this morning and got the job done. Who knows how long he would have taken had David not kept after him.
I could tell you more stories, but then this post will get too long. :) It's not the easiest thing to live here in Brazil as adults responsible for our home and our family. We were just talking today about how we didn't realize a lot of things about Brazil when we were here as kids growing up. We still love it here, but we're still learning things about this country we now call home. Keep praying for us.
Most of you who read our blog are familiar with Brazilian culture, but I wanted to share a few incidents that illustrate the Brazilian mentality. A couple weeks ago, we got into the car and drove up to the back gate that opens onto the road (our only way out). We were shocked to see the entire street had been dug up and the dirt and cobble stones were piled at least a meter high all the way across the entrance to our gate. There was no way we could get out with the car. David asked to speak to the man in charge of the operation and he told him that we had to leave because we had somewhere we had to be. The workers around us laughed and one of them said, "well, there's nothing we can do about that." David told them that they needed to advise the residents before digging up the street and blocking exits. (we ended up calling someone to give us a ride)
The road has been in a semi-drivable state since then until a few days ago when they dug things back up. Thankfully, our neighbor across the street was smart and befriended the workers, giving them water and such. He asked them to fill in part of road with dirt so he could at least drive in and out of his drive way. This benefited us too, as well as our church members who would have no other way to get their cars onto church property.
Today we left our house for a few hours and when we came back, wouldn't you know that things were dug up again and we couldn't get inside our gate. David called a worker over and explained our situation and after a few minutes, we had a path we could use to get inside. Who knows how long this will go on because Brazil is notorious for taking their time with such projects. As David told somebody recently, "That's Brazil for you. If things were any different, it wouldn't be Brazil."
Here's another story. Because of problems we've been having with people jumping over our wall and stealing our stuff and beating up our dog, we had an electric fence put up all the way around the walls surrounding our house. That was a situation in and of itself that I won't go into. After it was put up, we still had the problem of our gates being too short since the walls were raised for the electric fence. The space between the gate and the fence was too big and somebody could get through it, so we hired a guy to lengthen our gates. (in case you're wondering, our other gate isn't big enough for a car to get through -- otherwise, we wouldn't have the problem or getting in and out of our house) Back to the gate guy, David paid him part of the fee in advance at least two weeks ago. Everyday, the man would say he would be here at such-and-such an hour and everyday, he wouldn't show up. The one day he did show up, it began to sprinkle slightly and he said he couldn't work in the rain so he left and, you guessed it, didn't come back. I guess David went and talked to him and was pretty firm with him about finishing the job because yesterday morning, a few minutes before church, I heard loud banging on our front gate. It was the man with two of the gate extensions which he had brought over on his bike. I told him we had church in a few minutes and wouldn't be back until later. He said he wanted to go ahead and get started on the job since David was "aperriado" (annoyed/frustrated) with him. This was two weeks after he was supposed to do the job! So he left the gate extensions in our yard, promising to be back later on in the day. He finally showed up this morning and got the job done. Who knows how long he would have taken had David not kept after him.
I could tell you more stories, but then this post will get too long. :) It's not the easiest thing to live here in Brazil as adults responsible for our home and our family. We were just talking today about how we didn't realize a lot of things about Brazil when we were here as kids growing up. We still love it here, but we're still learning things about this country we now call home. Keep praying for us.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Camp
God blessed us with two excellent weeks of camp. A group of 14 came from West Cannon Baptist Church in Michigan. The theme was "The Rules for Life" based on the Ten Commandments. Pastor John Nixon's messages were excellent placing emphasis not only on the Ten Commandments, but also the practical implications of submitting to these commandments as God's authority and for our greater good. Many children and teens recognized areas of weakness and sought the Lord for help in specific areas. This past week, Bia repented of her sin and trusted Christ for salvation! Pray for her as she lives with her grandmother - a staunch Catholic. Many times she will not allow Bia to attend church. May Bia follow the Lord as a testimony of the grace of God.
You may know that we have a particular interest in camping ministry. These two weeks were good for me. I learned many things as program director, one of which is that I am only one person. It is really impossible to do it on your own, and to go that route is nothing short of absurd. God gave me a good group of counselors and musicians who took their role seriously. They were servants of the Lord and worked hard without complaints or issues. In fact, the look on the faces of the three girl counselors after they dealt with Bia was priceless. They were amazed with the power of God. They even offered Bia something in the canteen if she would rather not become a Christian. She refused it all and made herself clear with the desire to follow Jesus. The grace of God combined with the power of His Spirit is indescribable!
I am also extremely grateful for my wife! She has been a faithful help meet as well as mother and assistant to many of my needs at camp. She is ready and willing to give of herself and her ability an any role necessary. I am indebted to her and I thank God for 4 years of marriage as of this past Thursday.
Thank you all for praying as we have taken some follow up measures with the teens this year. They all jotted down a few things they learned during the week and placed them into an envelope and labeled it to their home address. I plan to mail those out in a few months as a reminder and encouragement to them! My prayer is that they will come to camp in January having had spiritual victory and maturity!
We currently do not have a camera, so if you would like to see some pictures and a running commentary of the two weeks, you can go to: http://stepbrazil08.blogspot.com/ This is West Cannon Baptist Church's group blog.
You may know that we have a particular interest in camping ministry. These two weeks were good for me. I learned many things as program director, one of which is that I am only one person. It is really impossible to do it on your own, and to go that route is nothing short of absurd. God gave me a good group of counselors and musicians who took their role seriously. They were servants of the Lord and worked hard without complaints or issues. In fact, the look on the faces of the three girl counselors after they dealt with Bia was priceless. They were amazed with the power of God. They even offered Bia something in the canteen if she would rather not become a Christian. She refused it all and made herself clear with the desire to follow Jesus. The grace of God combined with the power of His Spirit is indescribable!
I am also extremely grateful for my wife! She has been a faithful help meet as well as mother and assistant to many of my needs at camp. She is ready and willing to give of herself and her ability an any role necessary. I am indebted to her and I thank God for 4 years of marriage as of this past Thursday.
Thank you all for praying as we have taken some follow up measures with the teens this year. They all jotted down a few things they learned during the week and placed them into an envelope and labeled it to their home address. I plan to mail those out in a few months as a reminder and encouragement to them! My prayer is that they will come to camp in January having had spiritual victory and maturity!
We currently do not have a camera, so if you would like to see some pictures and a running commentary of the two weeks, you can go to: http://stepbrazil08.blogspot.com/ This is West Cannon Baptist Church's group blog.
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