The work continues. Still no glass. This Sunday, we may only be opening our doors metaphorically. Please keep praying about that. But good is happening in other areas...
A group of ten people from Park Plaza Church of Christ in Tulsa, OK, arrived yesterday. They have been working hard, helping us finish getting the rest of the building ready. It's great to have them all here, especially Don and Donna Millican, with whom we lived for a couple months while we were "church-hunting".
But the biggest news of the day is that our sign arrived! We now have a huge sign proclaiming our presence to the city. The sign really helps it feel like that place is home. And it works. Once the sign was up, cars kept stopping. People wanted to know about the new church. When rush hour hit, Russ and I were trying to lock up the building and had to escape between visitors! (Yes, good missionaries would have stayed, but we were exhausted and out of invitations.) Our sign is big and bold (beautiful, too, I might add!) and definitely stands out. I can't wait until tomorrow to see how many more people stop!
So that was our day. Well, there was much more to it than that, but it's suppertime, then it's back to work, trying to get our visitor packets ready. And sleep. Glorious sleep!
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Life Imitating Art
Remember The Money Pit? Some of you probably don't, so here's a summary for the younger crowd: Tom Hanks and Shelley Long buy a potentially great house for a great deal but as soon as they move in, things start falling apart. Big time. Hilarity ensues.
It's funny when it happens to someone else!
Our first worship service is one week away. Not only is the construction not done (we're hoping the glass will arrive in time- everyone's making promises but nothing is happening), but things keep going wrong in the building. It's fall now, so it's raining almost daily. With rain comes...leaks! In the newly repaired roof! Fortunately that falls to our landlords to fix. Next problem: a leaky toilet pump. Sounds small. Yet somehow, this one leaky toilet manages to drain our entire water supply on a regular basis. Not cool. Yesterday the men working to fix the roof had to wash their hands off in the ocean (we knew it was a convenient location!).
In the end, it's not really like The Money Pit because these problems aren't costing us loads and loads of money. But they take time to fix and we have a definite deadline. Every day we mark off the countdown, the attacks from Satan get stronger and stronger. Unfinished renovations, self-doubt, not enough time and personal attacks are flying fast and furious. But at the same time, every day, we're hearing from more and more people that are planning on coming. We have no idea how many people to expect. We've heard to expect hundreds. If we top 300, we'll have to use overflow space--an excellent problem to have. So though we're feeling Satan's arrows, we have a clear picture of why. Something good is going to happen one week from today. Something that will help enlarge God's kingdom. Please pray for us (and our building!) in the next few days. We need a whole army to support us in this battle.
It's funny when it happens to someone else!
Our first worship service is one week away. Not only is the construction not done (we're hoping the glass will arrive in time- everyone's making promises but nothing is happening), but things keep going wrong in the building. It's fall now, so it's raining almost daily. With rain comes...leaks! In the newly repaired roof! Fortunately that falls to our landlords to fix. Next problem: a leaky toilet pump. Sounds small. Yet somehow, this one leaky toilet manages to drain our entire water supply on a regular basis. Not cool. Yesterday the men working to fix the roof had to wash their hands off in the ocean (we knew it was a convenient location!).
In the end, it's not really like The Money Pit because these problems aren't costing us loads and loads of money. But they take time to fix and we have a definite deadline. Every day we mark off the countdown, the attacks from Satan get stronger and stronger. Unfinished renovations, self-doubt, not enough time and personal attacks are flying fast and furious. But at the same time, every day, we're hearing from more and more people that are planning on coming. We have no idea how many people to expect. We've heard to expect hundreds. If we top 300, we'll have to use overflow space--an excellent problem to have. So though we're feeling Satan's arrows, we have a clear picture of why. Something good is going to happen one week from today. Something that will help enlarge God's kingdom. Please pray for us (and our building!) in the next few days. We need a whole army to support us in this battle.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
And now, a little break from the obvious
I noticed something about my language research this week. I used the title as a clever distraction from worship service numero um (no, we don't speak spanish). I catch more and more phrases people say as expressions; that is, they cannot be translated literally. One of the first that I learned was "I have a sore elbow," which means that I am jealous ^_^. The reason I keep trying to learn more expressions isn't to fit in better when I talk to others. It is and will always be obvious that I am a gringo and didn't learn Portuguese at home. But the real purpose of expressions is to say things more subtly than saying them outright. If you say that you do not want to come to dinner, it seems much harsher than, "Well, we'll see if we can make it." Lots of times I want to say things without saying them directly, especially in a culture that avoids saying "no." Lastly, the newest giria (expression) I learned is,"That's a good idea." The meaning, which might have saved me some embarassment earlier, is that although the idea is good, I don't agree. Thanks for playing!
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Time's Running Out!
It's hard not to be stressed out right now. Honestly, it's hard not to feel completely overwhelmed. There's so much to do and the perfectionist in me wants to do it right. My eye for detail is working overtime. I know how important this all is. This is the culmination of what we've been working on for four years. Finally, there will be a church.
And I feel so much personal responsibility. Everything we do needs to be just so. I don't want to alienate anyone by our gaffes or oversights. I want to do everything in my power to do my best.
But my best will never be good enough. My task-oriented, pragmatic nature is failing me. I've been focused on getting the job done, but have lost my true focus. Somehow, though He has taught me this lesson over and over again over the past four years, I have forgotten that God will work in spite of me. That is an impossibly hard lesson for a control freak like me to learn. Our church will grow, but it won't be because I made our publications match, our decor warm and inviting and had mastered every new song. It will have nothing to do with the sermons, the refreshments or the visitor packets. It will grow because it's what God wants. It will grow because we serve a mighty God whose greatest desire for every person is a relationship with Him. It will grow because this is part of God's eternal plan. What a relief. I'm just a helper. A tool. He's got a plan and we're all fortunate enough to be a part of it.
So why does my to-do list give me a headache?
And I feel so much personal responsibility. Everything we do needs to be just so. I don't want to alienate anyone by our gaffes or oversights. I want to do everything in my power to do my best.
But my best will never be good enough. My task-oriented, pragmatic nature is failing me. I've been focused on getting the job done, but have lost my true focus. Somehow, though He has taught me this lesson over and over again over the past four years, I have forgotten that God will work in spite of me. That is an impossibly hard lesson for a control freak like me to learn. Our church will grow, but it won't be because I made our publications match, our decor warm and inviting and had mastered every new song. It will have nothing to do with the sermons, the refreshments or the visitor packets. It will grow because it's what God wants. It will grow because we serve a mighty God whose greatest desire for every person is a relationship with Him. It will grow because this is part of God's eternal plan. What a relief. I'm just a helper. A tool. He's got a plan and we're all fortunate enough to be a part of it.
So why does my to-do list give me a headache?
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Seven Thoughts (or, The Decongestant Speaks)
-It rained today. It's been about three months since we had a good rain. I heard thunder for the first time in over a year.
-We went to our first wedding on Thursday night. You can tell that a lot of American traditions had been picked up from TV and movies. It was for Jaci's son, Douglas, and his girlfriend. She was far and away the happiest bride I have ever seen.
-We're making progress. This week Keith bought our sound equipment. It's not at the church building yet, so the Parkers' TV sounds incredible!
-We finally got to eat at Burger King on Thursday. (It's been open for a while but we hadn't made it down there yet.) It was as good as expected.
-I've got a head cold this weekend. Hopefully this means I'll be healthy for inaugural (which is in three weeks!)
-Tomorrow is our one year arrival anniversary. I'm sure we'll have more to say about that later.
-If you haven't responded to my previous post about belief yet, please check it out. I'm learning a great deal from you guys.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
What Is Faith?
Russ and I just walked in the door from our Bible study. (It’s after 9:30 and we have yet to eat dinner, so this will be a short post!) Several of us have been going once a week to study with a group of “kids” that range in age from 15-22 and are all connected in one way or another. In the girls group tonight I found myself wanting to explain something but not having the words in English, let alone in Portuguese. I know that all kinds of people read our blog, so I’m going to ask for your collective wisdom. Please take a minute and answer this question in our comments section.
What does “believe” feel like?
BTW, we open our doors in one month from today. It's a little overwhelming!
What does “believe” feel like?
BTW, we open our doors in one month from today. It's a little overwhelming!
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Workday
Work on the buiding has begun! Today we had a workday. We had invited all the area congregations, as well as the teenagers we study with on Wednesday nights. We ended up with about forty workers. At one point, as people kept coming through the door, I had to pause to cry and thank God for blessing us with such friends here. Even though there was tons to do, the biggest challenge ended up being keeping everyone busy! We painted, cleaned, peeled, wired, built, dug and made lunch. There's still lots of work to be done before April 2 (and we're only trying to get a couple of rooms useable!) but we definitely made a lot of progress today!
*EDIT* Sorry for anyone who has tried to comment on this post. Problem solved, so comment away.
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Missionary Conference, Part Two
(My apologies for making you wait for part two.)
The conference started Monday afternoon. Our main speaker was Tex Williams, who is the director of World Bible School. He brought us several great messages during the week, about a variety of topics. After his first message and some orientation, we had dinner and spent the rest of the evening meeting new people and reconnecting with old friends.
I’m not going to go into what we did every day, but for those of you wondering what we actually did all week, the daily schedule was:
Breakfast
Devotional
Message from Tex
Men’s/Women’s Classes
Lunch
Free Time
Devotional
Message from Tex
Supper
I enjoyed the classes but for me the greatest part of the conference was getting to talk to all the other missionaries. We had met most of them before but this was a new opportunity—a chance to visit with them as colleagues. It was a blessing to be able to talk to teams that have been here for years about how hard the first year or two is. Think about the first couple of years of marriage: people warn you it’s hard, but once you’re actually married, you are able to relate to what they’re saying, learn from them and be encouraged by them. And that’s what it was for us. A chance to hear someone say, “Yes, what you guys are going through is normal,” “Here’s something you can try when that happens,” and “Don’t worry—it gets better!” Don’t get me wrong—we didn’t spend the whole week in counseling. I also enjoyed spending many hours playing cards with the other women, staying up into the wee small hours of the night.
The other invaluable part of the week were the worship times. I can’t tell you how hungry I was for worship in a large group. In English. Russ got to lead singing a couple of times which was also a blessing. I know he misses doing that (and I miss hearing him do it).
Thursday night was a highlight of the week. Georgia planned a luau-themed banquet. It was a blast. We decorated the hall and gave everyone leis as they came in. Several of the men participated in a hula competition that I am sure everyone will remember for quite some time. Another hysterically funny game was Pass the Banana. We had been looking for luau-themed games online and found this game, only it was using coconuts. But we were in Belo, and coconuts were scarce, so somehow we decided to use bananas. We split into five groups and started playing hot potato with the bananas. In my group, the game evolved and we started throwing the banana across the circle. I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but bananas aren’t a very hearty fruit! After a round or two, we were throwing mush at each other. Fortunately, there was a huge centerpiece made up of fruit so we had an unlimited supply of bananas! I think we ended up using nine or ten bananas. It was absolutely disgusting (we were all coated in banana slime) and incredibly fun. In the end, it came down to me and Randy. We joked that we would determine the team budget based on the outcome. (Thankfully I won!) All the prizes were food items from the US.
Friday was a day of goodbyes and long rides. We were on a flight home with the Porters at 9:55 PM. We shared the van to the airport with a couple of other families. The van ride was bumpy to say the least, and Russ and I affectionately refer to the ride to the airport as “Puke Fest 2006”. But somehow everyone made it to their flights on time and we got home, safe and sound at about 11:30 Friday night. We holed up for the rest of the weekend, recovering from the week.
We are so thankful we got to go to the Missionary Conference and are already looking forward to next year’s conference in Porto Alegre. In the meantime, we have many new friends around the country to keep us encouraged.
The conference started Monday afternoon. Our main speaker was Tex Williams, who is the director of World Bible School. He brought us several great messages during the week, about a variety of topics. After his first message and some orientation, we had dinner and spent the rest of the evening meeting new people and reconnecting with old friends.
I’m not going to go into what we did every day, but for those of you wondering what we actually did all week, the daily schedule was:
Breakfast
Devotional
Message from Tex
Men’s/Women’s Classes
Lunch
Free Time
Devotional
Message from Tex
Supper
I enjoyed the classes but for me the greatest part of the conference was getting to talk to all the other missionaries. We had met most of them before but this was a new opportunity—a chance to visit with them as colleagues. It was a blessing to be able to talk to teams that have been here for years about how hard the first year or two is. Think about the first couple of years of marriage: people warn you it’s hard, but once you’re actually married, you are able to relate to what they’re saying, learn from them and be encouraged by them. And that’s what it was for us. A chance to hear someone say, “Yes, what you guys are going through is normal,” “Here’s something you can try when that happens,” and “Don’t worry—it gets better!” Don’t get me wrong—we didn’t spend the whole week in counseling. I also enjoyed spending many hours playing cards with the other women, staying up into the wee small hours of the night.
The other invaluable part of the week were the worship times. I can’t tell you how hungry I was for worship in a large group. In English. Russ got to lead singing a couple of times which was also a blessing. I know he misses doing that (and I miss hearing him do it).
Thursday night was a highlight of the week. Georgia planned a luau-themed banquet. It was a blast. We decorated the hall and gave everyone leis as they came in. Several of the men participated in a hula competition that I am sure everyone will remember for quite some time. Another hysterically funny game was Pass the Banana. We had been looking for luau-themed games online and found this game, only it was using coconuts. But we were in Belo, and coconuts were scarce, so somehow we decided to use bananas. We split into five groups and started playing hot potato with the bananas. In my group, the game evolved and we started throwing the banana across the circle. I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but bananas aren’t a very hearty fruit! After a round or two, we were throwing mush at each other. Fortunately, there was a huge centerpiece made up of fruit so we had an unlimited supply of bananas! I think we ended up using nine or ten bananas. It was absolutely disgusting (we were all coated in banana slime) and incredibly fun. In the end, it came down to me and Randy. We joked that we would determine the team budget based on the outcome. (Thankfully I won!) All the prizes were food items from the US.
Friday was a day of goodbyes and long rides. We were on a flight home with the Porters at 9:55 PM. We shared the van to the airport with a couple of other families. The van ride was bumpy to say the least, and Russ and I affectionately refer to the ride to the airport as “Puke Fest 2006”. But somehow everyone made it to their flights on time and we got home, safe and sound at about 11:30 Friday night. We holed up for the rest of the weekend, recovering from the week.
We are so thankful we got to go to the Missionary Conference and are already looking forward to next year’s conference in Porto Alegre. In the meantime, we have many new friends around the country to keep us encouraged.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Missionary Conference, Part One
We started our trip Monday morning. It qualifies as Monday morning because there was an "a.m." after the time, but it sure seemed like Sunday night to me! Our flight left at 6:15, meaning we had to be at the airport at 5:15 and leave the house at 4:30. Despite my best efforts, I didn't fall asleep until after midnight and then work up at 3:00, so I wouldn't catagorize it as a good night sleep. But God supplied me the energy to get through the day. Our taxi arrived ten minutes early; fortunately we were pretty much ready at that point. We rode through the abandonded streets of Salvador, making it to the airport in record time. (Though I've noticed a cab ride to/from the airport is always around the same price, traffic or no.)
We knew we were going to beat the rest of the team to the airport (everyone but the Porters were on our flight; they had gone down on Friday for some vacation) so we checked in and had some breakfast. And coffee. Quick Portuguese fact for you: the word for breakfast is the same word as the one for coffee. So you say "I drank coffee" and it can mean "I ate breakfast" or just "I drank coffee". Sounds confusing, but it makes sense most of the time. When we finished our coffee, we found the rest of the gang, in various stages of awake. Some people hadn't woken up until 5:15, which is when their taxis arrived, so their mornings were a little more harried than ours.
We all made it on the flight without incident. It's a short hop from Salvador to Belo Horizonte, only 90 minutes. (It would have taken 12 hours to drive it.) With the time change, we arrived just before 9:00. Vans had been hired to meet us and take us to the hotel, but since the earliest we could check in was 2:00, we arranged to rent a van for the day and putter around town. Randy and Jenn were going to meet us at the airport, return their rental car and spend the day with us. We hooked up with our van driver without any trouble, but Randy and Jenn were AWOL. Alicia and I stood in the arrivals area forever but they didn't show. Messengers kept getting sent from the van to let us know the driver really really needed to get on with things, but we didn't have any way to get a hold of them. Just as I was getting ready to send the van on without me, Alicia spotted Randy and Jenn across the airport. They had made a wrong turn and spent an hour lost in downtown Belo Horizonte. When I got to the van, I discovered the reason the van driver was so antsy- he wasn't our driver for the day. He was going to take us to the "grocery store" and we would meet our other driver. But, he kept asking, why do you want to go to the grocery store on the other side of town? There are lots of closer stores. We didn't back down. The grocery store on the other side of town was Wal-Mart. There was no way we were missing that!
We spend a couple glorious hours at Wal-Mart (which, for the record, is still mostly full of Brazilian stuff) and then crossed town again to eat at TGIFriday's. It wasn't one of my favorite restaurants in the US, but we were all thrilled to eat tater skins and buffalo wings. Heavenly. The restaurant was empty but we completely overwhelmed it. Our waitresses spoke English, and said they'd had Americans come in before, but usually just a couple of businessmen. I hope they enjoyed us as much as we enjoyed our time there!
After stuffing our faces, we loaded up one more time to go to the hotel. It's a "farm hotel", so it was a ways out of town. Quite a ways. Down windy, bumpy roads. Somehow, even with our full tummies, no one got sick. (There wouldn't have been room for anyone to get sick- the van was stuffed with suitcases and people.) But we made it on time and were eager for the conference to start.
We knew we were going to beat the rest of the team to the airport (everyone but the Porters were on our flight; they had gone down on Friday for some vacation) so we checked in and had some breakfast. And coffee. Quick Portuguese fact for you: the word for breakfast is the same word as the one for coffee. So you say "I drank coffee" and it can mean "I ate breakfast" or just "I drank coffee". Sounds confusing, but it makes sense most of the time. When we finished our coffee, we found the rest of the gang, in various stages of awake. Some people hadn't woken up until 5:15, which is when their taxis arrived, so their mornings were a little more harried than ours.
We all made it on the flight without incident. It's a short hop from Salvador to Belo Horizonte, only 90 minutes. (It would have taken 12 hours to drive it.) With the time change, we arrived just before 9:00. Vans had been hired to meet us and take us to the hotel, but since the earliest we could check in was 2:00, we arranged to rent a van for the day and putter around town. Randy and Jenn were going to meet us at the airport, return their rental car and spend the day with us. We hooked up with our van driver without any trouble, but Randy and Jenn were AWOL. Alicia and I stood in the arrivals area forever but they didn't show. Messengers kept getting sent from the van to let us know the driver really really needed to get on with things, but we didn't have any way to get a hold of them. Just as I was getting ready to send the van on without me, Alicia spotted Randy and Jenn across the airport. They had made a wrong turn and spent an hour lost in downtown Belo Horizonte. When I got to the van, I discovered the reason the van driver was so antsy- he wasn't our driver for the day. He was going to take us to the "grocery store" and we would meet our other driver. But, he kept asking, why do you want to go to the grocery store on the other side of town? There are lots of closer stores. We didn't back down. The grocery store on the other side of town was Wal-Mart. There was no way we were missing that!
We spend a couple glorious hours at Wal-Mart (which, for the record, is still mostly full of Brazilian stuff) and then crossed town again to eat at TGIFriday's. It wasn't one of my favorite restaurants in the US, but we were all thrilled to eat tater skins and buffalo wings. Heavenly. The restaurant was empty but we completely overwhelmed it. Our waitresses spoke English, and said they'd had Americans come in before, but usually just a couple of businessmen. I hope they enjoyed us as much as we enjoyed our time there!
After stuffing our faces, we loaded up one more time to go to the hotel. It's a "farm hotel", so it was a ways out of town. Quite a ways. Down windy, bumpy roads. Somehow, even with our full tummies, no one got sick. (There wouldn't have been room for anyone to get sick- the van was stuffed with suitcases and people.) But we made it on time and were eager for the conference to start.
Sunday, January 08, 2006
Where Does the Time Go?
I cannot believe that it's already January 8. In two months and five days we will be celebrating the first anniversary of our arrival in Brazil. It's incredible.
But before I start getting all sappy, I'll fill you in on what we've been up to:
We had a great time with the Quireys. We took them all over town, out to see the sea turtles, to the beach twice (including the day they left!) and to several great restaurants. We also had some wonderful meals at home. It was awesome to get to gather around the table with them. Their visit really filled our hearts (and pantry!). There's been a lot of people here, but there are no visitors like your own family! We've almost got the apartment back to normal.
Our church building is now a done deal. We have keys and everything. I have to confess that I was holding my breath until we had the keys in hand. But now it's official and the task of fixing it up is now before us. As one of the "budgeteers", I have to make a lot of judgement calls- money is tight and we can't do everything at once. As anyone who has done any renovating knows, it doesn't take much to eat up a budget. Please pray for widsom as we try to determine our priorities.
We have to get up EARLY tomorrow morning to catch our plane to the missionary conference in Belo Horizonte. I'm very excited for the opportunity to hang out with the other missionaries, pick their brains a little and have some fun.
When we get back, visitor season continues. Randy's parents and Travis' dad will be with us. (I forgot to mention we've had Mary Virginia's parents here this week.) The steady stream of visitors has meant a steady stream of marshmallows, but now it will also mean more hands to help with the building.
Thinking of marshmallows, yesterday Russ and I made s'mores with marshmallows that the Maberys brought, graham crackers that the Quireys brought and FRESH Hershey's chocolate that two of our supporters, the Duncans, sent with the Quireys. Now that's teamwork!
Well, off to pack. It's our first trip since we got here, so I'm a little out of practice packing. It's been a nice change from living out of suitcases like we had been, but I don't know where we stashed all our travel stuff. Please pray for the team as we travel!
But before I start getting all sappy, I'll fill you in on what we've been up to:
We had a great time with the Quireys. We took them all over town, out to see the sea turtles, to the beach twice (including the day they left!) and to several great restaurants. We also had some wonderful meals at home. It was awesome to get to gather around the table with them. Their visit really filled our hearts (and pantry!). There's been a lot of people here, but there are no visitors like your own family! We've almost got the apartment back to normal.
Our church building is now a done deal. We have keys and everything. I have to confess that I was holding my breath until we had the keys in hand. But now it's official and the task of fixing it up is now before us. As one of the "budgeteers", I have to make a lot of judgement calls- money is tight and we can't do everything at once. As anyone who has done any renovating knows, it doesn't take much to eat up a budget. Please pray for widsom as we try to determine our priorities.
We have to get up EARLY tomorrow morning to catch our plane to the missionary conference in Belo Horizonte. I'm very excited for the opportunity to hang out with the other missionaries, pick their brains a little and have some fun.
When we get back, visitor season continues. Randy's parents and Travis' dad will be with us. (I forgot to mention we've had Mary Virginia's parents here this week.) The steady stream of visitors has meant a steady stream of marshmallows, but now it will also mean more hands to help with the building.
Thinking of marshmallows, yesterday Russ and I made s'mores with marshmallows that the Maberys brought, graham crackers that the Quireys brought and FRESH Hershey's chocolate that two of our supporters, the Duncans, sent with the Quireys. Now that's teamwork!
Well, off to pack. It's our first trip since we got here, so I'm a little out of practice packing. It's been a nice change from living out of suitcases like we had been, but I don't know where we stashed all our travel stuff. Please pray for the team as we travel!
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Sorry, Folks!
If you're coming looking for updates you'll have to wait a few days. Russell's family is visiting and I'd rather spend my time with them instead of updating the blog. I'll add some pictures to Flickr as I get the chance so you can see what we're doing, but you'll have to wait for the narrative.
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Update
Yesterday the owner of the building we have been looking at accepted our (rather low) offer. The walkthrough will be done next Monday. We will be signing the contract on January 2. In a nutshell, WE HAVE A CHURCH BUILDING!!!
In a couple of weeks I'll post some pictures of the space. Until then, just know the following:
-it's bigger than we could have possibly dreamed
-it has space for worship, classes and offices
-it's already outfitted with awesome bathrooms
-we have great landlords who are very supportive
-it's across the street from the beach
-it's located on Rua Espirito Santo (technically named after a Brazilian state, but literally means Holy Spirit Street!)
This building is an answer to prayer. We did not think this building was even a possibility but God has cleared every obstacle in our way. We praise Him for providing so abundantly! Please keep praying until the contract is officially signed. But mostly, we invite you to rejoice with us. Our visions of our inaugural service and the future church are becoming clearer and clearer now that we know where we'll be meeting.
Thinking of that, we have our first small group meeting tomorrow night. It's thrilling to be launching that ministry. With God's help, we will already have a great core group of believers when we officially open the doors of the building on April 2.
In a couple of weeks I'll post some pictures of the space. Until then, just know the following:
-it's bigger than we could have possibly dreamed
-it has space for worship, classes and offices
-it's already outfitted with awesome bathrooms
-we have great landlords who are very supportive
-it's across the street from the beach
-it's located on Rua Espirito Santo (technically named after a Brazilian state, but literally means Holy Spirit Street!)
This building is an answer to prayer. We did not think this building was even a possibility but God has cleared every obstacle in our way. We praise Him for providing so abundantly! Please keep praying until the contract is officially signed. But mostly, we invite you to rejoice with us. Our visions of our inaugural service and the future church are becoming clearer and clearer now that we know where we'll be meeting.
Thinking of that, we have our first small group meeting tomorrow night. It's thrilling to be launching that ministry. With God's help, we will already have a great core group of believers when we officially open the doors of the building on April 2.
Monday, December 12, 2005
Shopping Spree
For those of you keeping score, the air conditioner count has doubled to two. We are frantically preparing for the Quireys' arrival next Monday. And while the weather in Blackwell can be "nice" at this time of year, their bodies will not be ready for our summertime. So today Russell and I headed out to do a little shopping. We're finally doing all the shopping that we should have done when we first arrived. We bought the least we could get away with, and while the two of us can get by with only two bath towels, having four houseguests forces us to actually buy more.
So we went to the electronics store and picked up a couple of air conditioners. After all the problems we had getting the first one installed, we had carefully measured the holes. It made shopping really easy because the small dimensions of our holes ruled out almost every AC in the store! Confirming that they were a good price, we ordered two of them. Fortunately they had them in stock so we were able to bring them home today.
Next we crossed the street to the hipermercado (the closest thing I can compare it to is SuperWalmart). We grabbed pillows, towels, bedding and all kinds of odds and ends to make our place more liveable. As I paid the cashier, I remember why it was that we hadn't yet bought all this stuff. It adds up!
Late this afternoon, Russ opened up the hole in the wall to install our air conditioner. And it was done! It's a funny feeling--everything else we've done has taken so much time. I was glad, though, because I've got quite enough on my plate this week. We'll install the other AC soon, but we have to figure out how to take the glass out of the window. (Russ didn't accept my offer to open it with the hammer and chisel like he did the wall.)
Tomorrow may be an adventure. I'm borrowing Keith and Stacey's maid for the day to help get the apartment ready. Most families on the team have maids but Russ and I have decided we'll wait to get one. But we've enjoyed our friends' stories of all the miscommunications they've had with their maids. Hopefully tomorrow will go smoothly, but I know the potential exists for some great stories. (Should anything worth telling about happen, you guys will be the first to know.)
In other news, tomorrow Matt and Mary Virginia are headed to Recife to get some visa problems resolved. It's a silly problem, but it's got to be handled. Please pray that everything goes well for them, that the government officials have open minds and open hearts, and for safety in their travels.
So we went to the electronics store and picked up a couple of air conditioners. After all the problems we had getting the first one installed, we had carefully measured the holes. It made shopping really easy because the small dimensions of our holes ruled out almost every AC in the store! Confirming that they were a good price, we ordered two of them. Fortunately they had them in stock so we were able to bring them home today.
Next we crossed the street to the hipermercado (the closest thing I can compare it to is SuperWalmart). We grabbed pillows, towels, bedding and all kinds of odds and ends to make our place more liveable. As I paid the cashier, I remember why it was that we hadn't yet bought all this stuff. It adds up!
Late this afternoon, Russ opened up the hole in the wall to install our air conditioner. And it was done! It's a funny feeling--everything else we've done has taken so much time. I was glad, though, because I've got quite enough on my plate this week. We'll install the other AC soon, but we have to figure out how to take the glass out of the window. (Russ didn't accept my offer to open it with the hammer and chisel like he did the wall.)
Tomorrow may be an adventure. I'm borrowing Keith and Stacey's maid for the day to help get the apartment ready. Most families on the team have maids but Russ and I have decided we'll wait to get one. But we've enjoyed our friends' stories of all the miscommunications they've had with their maids. Hopefully tomorrow will go smoothly, but I know the potential exists for some great stories. (Should anything worth telling about happen, you guys will be the first to know.)
In other news, tomorrow Matt and Mary Virginia are headed to Recife to get some visa problems resolved. It's a silly problem, but it's got to be handled. Please pray that everything goes well for them, that the government officials have open minds and open hearts, and for safety in their travels.
Saturday, December 10, 2005
The Christmas Party
Last night we celebrated Christmas as a team. As we looked at the month of December, we realized that we only had a small window of opportunity in our flood of visitors to share the holiday as a family. And we wanted to leave every family free to do what they wanted for the holiday itself, celebrating or creating their own traditions. But one evening wasn't enough to do everything we wanted. So the idea of the Christmas sleepover was born.
First on the agenda was Christmas dinner. Everyone contributed to the feast. We had turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, corn, rolls, and, courtesy of Alicia, perogies and (fake) sour cream. Delicious.
After dinner, we gathered in the living room. Mary's family always reads a poem that her dad wrote, so we passed it around the room and all took turns. Then Matt and Randy read the real story of Christmas and Keith led us in some carols.
We took a break to clean up the kitchen, eat dessert (pecan pie, pumpkin pie, shortbread cookies, molasses cookies and my pictured gingerbread cookie tree) and then reconvened to play Dirty Santa. We had a White Elephant theme this year, so the gifts were pretty funny. Russ and I walked away with a cell phone car adaptor and some Avon aftershave and body powder. Even still, we did better that some people, but, to protect the not-so-innocent, I won't go into detail. (Nothing really bad, I promise--there were kids playing with us!)
The rest of the evening we just visited, watched Elf and A Christmas Story and ate. And ate. I have no idea when the last person went to bed, but it was some time after 3 AM, I believe.
This morning we got up and ate a big breakfast. Then it was time for the real gift exchange. We let all the kids open their presents first (they'd been dying to all night!). Then we revealed our secret pals. I used the opportunity to re-gift my new aftershave lotion, throwing it in the bag of presents I was giving Travis.
Russ and I headed home at around 1:30 PM. Everyone else was still going strong but we were tired. Guess we're getting old. But we were glad to have this chance to start a new team tradition and to celebrate with each other. I can't imagine how hard it must be for missionaries who don't have teammates to help them through the holidays!
*********************************
While we were opening gifts this morning, we received a call from the owner of the building we are trying to rent for our church building. A meeting has been set up on Tuesday for what could possibly be our final round of negociations. Please pray that everything goes well and that we can get this building nailed down soon. I haven't said much about it on this blog, but it is a wonderful facility and would be an excellent tool in our work.
First on the agenda was Christmas dinner. Everyone contributed to the feast. We had turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, corn, rolls, and, courtesy of Alicia, perogies and (fake) sour cream. Delicious.
After dinner, we gathered in the living room. Mary's family always reads a poem that her dad wrote, so we passed it around the room and all took turns. Then Matt and Randy read the real story of Christmas and Keith led us in some carols.
We took a break to clean up the kitchen, eat dessert (pecan pie, pumpkin pie, shortbread cookies, molasses cookies and my pictured gingerbread cookie tree) and then reconvened to play Dirty Santa. We had a White Elephant theme this year, so the gifts were pretty funny. Russ and I walked away with a cell phone car adaptor and some Avon aftershave and body powder. Even still, we did better that some people, but, to protect the not-so-innocent, I won't go into detail. (Nothing really bad, I promise--there were kids playing with us!)
The rest of the evening we just visited, watched Elf and A Christmas Story and ate. And ate. I have no idea when the last person went to bed, but it was some time after 3 AM, I believe.
This morning we got up and ate a big breakfast. Then it was time for the real gift exchange. We let all the kids open their presents first (they'd been dying to all night!). Then we revealed our secret pals. I used the opportunity to re-gift my new aftershave lotion, throwing it in the bag of presents I was giving Travis.
Russ and I headed home at around 1:30 PM. Everyone else was still going strong but we were tired. Guess we're getting old. But we were glad to have this chance to start a new team tradition and to celebrate with each other. I can't imagine how hard it must be for missionaries who don't have teammates to help them through the holidays!
*********************************
While we were opening gifts this morning, we received a call from the owner of the building we are trying to rent for our church building. A meeting has been set up on Tuesday for what could possibly be our final round of negociations. Please pray that everything goes well and that we can get this building nailed down soon. I haven't said much about it on this blog, but it is a wonderful facility and would be an excellent tool in our work.
Monday, December 05, 2005
Bean Supper
(It took me a while to get around to posting this, my apologies.)
When we were at Mayfair, in Oklahoma City, the Tuesday before Thanksgiving was a church-wide bean supper. The food was made and served by the men. Really, it was served by a handful of men in particular, who had started this tradition many years earlier and continued.
We didn't have Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving day (since we'd had it on our team retreat and since Russ and I represent two different countries that can't agree on a date for the holiday) but Stacey and I decided we needed to have a bean supper. We spared Russ and Keith from having to cook the food themselves, so we prepared the beans and cornbread. The way our schedule ended up, the bean supper was sandwiched between a team meeting and Brock's birthday party so the entire team joined us for the meal. It was a little way to feel united with our old church family.
One bittersweet note: as we we getting ready to eat, Keith received an email that one of the men that was responsible for the bean supper when we were at Mayfair, Bill McIntosh, had passed away that morning. Bill was an incredible servant of God and had been a huge supporter of missions. He and his wife Bonnie were so encouraging of all our endeavors, from the college Mexico trip to Russell's first trip to Brazil with Basil to our plans to move here. We are grateful that God blessed him with such a long life so we could know Bill, and Bonnie remains in our prayers.
When we were at Mayfair, in Oklahoma City, the Tuesday before Thanksgiving was a church-wide bean supper. The food was made and served by the men. Really, it was served by a handful of men in particular, who had started this tradition many years earlier and continued.
We didn't have Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving day (since we'd had it on our team retreat and since Russ and I represent two different countries that can't agree on a date for the holiday) but Stacey and I decided we needed to have a bean supper. We spared Russ and Keith from having to cook the food themselves, so we prepared the beans and cornbread. The way our schedule ended up, the bean supper was sandwiched between a team meeting and Brock's birthday party so the entire team joined us for the meal. It was a little way to feel united with our old church family.
One bittersweet note: as we we getting ready to eat, Keith received an email that one of the men that was responsible for the bean supper when we were at Mayfair, Bill McIntosh, had passed away that morning. Bill was an incredible servant of God and had been a huge supporter of missions. He and his wife Bonnie were so encouraging of all our endeavors, from the college Mexico trip to Russell's first trip to Brazil with Basil to our plans to move here. We are grateful that God blessed him with such a long life so we could know Bill, and Bonnie remains in our prayers.
Sunday, November 27, 2005
Should I Eat It or Dive on Top of It?
This little grenade-like fruit is called a pinha here in Bahia, which is not only confusing for Spanish speakers (because that's the name of a pineapple), but for Brazilians as well. In southern Brazil, the fruit is known as a fruta do conde. It has a leathery skin, and each bump includes a seed surrounded by white flesh that is the consistency of yogurt when it's ripe. Although it is a chore to eat, it is very sweet and tropical. Thus endeth the fruit lesson for today. I did do some research online for what constitutes tropical fruit. Apparently in North America, a basket of apples with an orange and a banana thrown in will count as tropical. Oh well, here's to you, grenade fruit!
Monday, November 21, 2005
Back to School
This weekend, a new feeling hit me. We are ready to go back to school. By that I mean it feels like we have been living in a new city during summer break (which is ironic because every school here is about to go on summer break). But summer's over (metaphorically speaking) and it's time to start our real lives. It's time to get to work. Even though our learning process has been hard, it doesn't compare to actually being among people as we make them part of our lives. This is what going back to school means.
We have to take all of our words, all of our fears, time and energy, and jump into ministry here with both feet. If we hold back and wait for a good reason to change our routines, we will never find one, and our lives will look like a permanent vacation in a very nice place. But God is giving us the opportunity to go meet the people he has already met; people who want to give everything to Him. We will give our lives to them as well, and in the process, get to see a very real part of what God is doing on Earth today. Every chance "bom dia" is another chance to change two lives forever.
One of my friends told me that he hoped I would make more Brazilian friends than American ones. That's the key to going back to school. You can bring people into your world, or you can join them in theirs and affect it forever. We are ready to begin.
We have to take all of our words, all of our fears, time and energy, and jump into ministry here with both feet. If we hold back and wait for a good reason to change our routines, we will never find one, and our lives will look like a permanent vacation in a very nice place. But God is giving us the opportunity to go meet the people he has already met; people who want to give everything to Him. We will give our lives to them as well, and in the process, get to see a very real part of what God is doing on Earth today. Every chance "bom dia" is another chance to change two lives forever.
One of my friends told me that he hoped I would make more Brazilian friends than American ones. That's the key to going back to school. You can bring people into your world, or you can join them in theirs and affect it forever. We are ready to begin.
Saturday, November 19, 2005
Thursday, November 17, 2005
My First Portuguese Lesson
Last Sunday, we took a bus with Travis, Alicia and Randy about an hour from our house to the edge of the city. If you've seen the size of the bay we're on, you will know how far it is to the inside corner of it. That's where we went, to a bairro called Alto de Coutos. One of the younger Churches of Christ asked us to come and speak to them once a month over the next few months. We thought it was a great idea, and I took the first month. The church recently moved from a rented building into the patio of one of the members. This was a great blessing to them, because their facility is free. It was also a blessing to us, because we got to be in the most beautiful front row scene I have ever laid eyes on. I know, I know, a lot of us grew up staring at the paintings above the baptistry, but this was the real deal. The only downside was that it was raining sideways at the time, but the break from the spring heat was very welcome.
There is not much else that I can really say. Travis taught the class before I spoke; he did a fantastic job of introducing the book of 2 Timothy. I spoke on chapter 1 verses 1-7. I had all of my words written in front of me, which alliviated most of the stress that I felt. It was about ten pages double-spaced, and I mostly read it with my typical emotive flair. I strayed from my notes occasionally, but just to gauge the involvement of my audience of about 20 adults. They were very gracious and had prepared a lunch of cachorro quente (hot dogs) and soda for everyone. I can't wait to go back and improve my vocabulary and comfort level. I did it! but not without a lot of encouragement and careful translation help from Valerie. Thanks for all your prayers.
There is not much else that I can really say. Travis taught the class before I spoke; he did a fantastic job of introducing the book of 2 Timothy. I spoke on chapter 1 verses 1-7. I had all of my words written in front of me, which alliviated most of the stress that I felt. It was about ten pages double-spaced, and I mostly read it with my typical emotive flair. I strayed from my notes occasionally, but just to gauge the involvement of my audience of about 20 adults. They were very gracious and had prepared a lunch of cachorro quente (hot dogs) and soda for everyone. I can't wait to go back and improve my vocabulary and comfort level. I did it! but not without a lot of encouragement and careful translation help from Valerie. Thanks for all your prayers.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Oops
I've been slacking lately. Sorry about that.
Actually, I haven't been slacking in "real life", just in terms of updating the blog. I spent most of last week (Tuesday-Saturday) down with a virus. The first couple days of it, I was quite literally down, flat on my back, watching movies my dear sweet Russell rented for me. It may seem like I've been sick a lot since we've been here, and compared to the last few years of my life, I have been, but it's pretty par for my life. My immune system is not the most cooperative in the world, so by moving somewhere new, with all kinds of new bugs, I'm like a kid starting daycare--I'm going to pick up everything. At least once. But I'm feeling quite a bit better now, though I've got some symptoms that are still kicking around.
Sunday was my big day to emerge from the apartment, and I jumped back into life with both feet. I'll do a separate post about it (or better yet, get Russ to do it), but here it is in 30 words or less: Russ preached his first Portuguese sermon in a little upper room overlooking the Bahia de Todos os Santos (All Saints' Bay) while I sat shivering.
Russ and I stopped at the mall on Monday morning and discovered that Christmas has arrived in Bahia. The Christmas decorations are out in full force. On display anyway. There's not very many for sale, and the ones that are for sale are either outrageously expensive or embarrassingly cheap. We generally opt for cheap. The most well-stocked store, Lojas Americanas (which literally means American Stores), is the closest we have to WalMart, though it doesn't really compare to WalMart. (For the Canadians, I would compare it to Woolco.) The Christmas section was absolutely insane; it felt like WalMart on the day after Christmas. People were buying decorations like they might not be there tomorrow, and unfortunately we caught the fever and ended up picking up a couple of things.
I spent Monday afternoon working on our team/church budget with Randy. It was, to say the least, a challenge. We had to create a budget for a church that currently has only ten adult members but hopes to, within the next year, have a youth ministry, a children's ministry and a church building! I definitely sent up a lot of prayers about that budget. We resisted presenting it to the team in the form of a budget Sunday and opted for last night's meeting instead. Hopefully we'll get the figures nailed down within the next week so we all know what we're working with. Especially since...
...the search for a building has begun! Actually, it's been going on for a couple of weeks. We've got several different realtors on the case and every major street in our neighborhoods has been scouted. We've got one property that looks good, but there's a lot of legal work to be done before we're ready to sign a contract, so we're cautiously optimistic. Fortunately, we have all seen God's hand provide for us repeatedly and know that even if He doesn't give us our first choice, He will give us just what we need. The process of getting to Brazil left us all with such confidence in the faithfulness of our God that we have no doubts that we will be in a building for our inaugural service on April 2.
Other than that, there's just a whole lot of running around going on right now. We're spending the next three days in training on our evangelistic Bible studies that Travis, Randy and Mary Virginia have written. We've got another wave of visitors coming, starting with Matt's parents, the Maberys, on Sunday. They'll be here for a week and will be followed by Georgia Freitas and Donna Millican in early December. Donna is a trustee for Continent of Great Cities and her husband, Don, is an elder at Park Plaza, the Parkers' sponsoring church. The Millicans graciously let us live with them for a couple of months last year when things were looking bleak, so we're looking forward to her visit. Finally, Russell's folks will be here in just over a month. His parents, brother and grandmother (Nana) will all be staying with us, so we're working hard to get our apartment ready for them. With all those visitors, it means that we, the Maberys and the Parkers are all making frequent trips to the store to buy paint, towels and whatever else we've been putting off buying. I can't wait though. Any family's visitor is a visitor for the whole team, especially parents. We were fortunate enough to get to know every team member's parents before leaving, so we look forward to seeing them again. Please keep all the travelers in your prayers.
Actually, I haven't been slacking in "real life", just in terms of updating the blog. I spent most of last week (Tuesday-Saturday) down with a virus. The first couple days of it, I was quite literally down, flat on my back, watching movies my dear sweet Russell rented for me. It may seem like I've been sick a lot since we've been here, and compared to the last few years of my life, I have been, but it's pretty par for my life. My immune system is not the most cooperative in the world, so by moving somewhere new, with all kinds of new bugs, I'm like a kid starting daycare--I'm going to pick up everything. At least once. But I'm feeling quite a bit better now, though I've got some symptoms that are still kicking around.
Sunday was my big day to emerge from the apartment, and I jumped back into life with both feet. I'll do a separate post about it (or better yet, get Russ to do it), but here it is in 30 words or less: Russ preached his first Portuguese sermon in a little upper room overlooking the Bahia de Todos os Santos (All Saints' Bay) while I sat shivering.
Russ and I stopped at the mall on Monday morning and discovered that Christmas has arrived in Bahia. The Christmas decorations are out in full force. On display anyway. There's not very many for sale, and the ones that are for sale are either outrageously expensive or embarrassingly cheap. We generally opt for cheap. The most well-stocked store, Lojas Americanas (which literally means American Stores), is the closest we have to WalMart, though it doesn't really compare to WalMart. (For the Canadians, I would compare it to Woolco.) The Christmas section was absolutely insane; it felt like WalMart on the day after Christmas. People were buying decorations like they might not be there tomorrow, and unfortunately we caught the fever and ended up picking up a couple of things.
I spent Monday afternoon working on our team/church budget with Randy. It was, to say the least, a challenge. We had to create a budget for a church that currently has only ten adult members but hopes to, within the next year, have a youth ministry, a children's ministry and a church building! I definitely sent up a lot of prayers about that budget. We resisted presenting it to the team in the form of a budget Sunday and opted for last night's meeting instead. Hopefully we'll get the figures nailed down within the next week so we all know what we're working with. Especially since...
...the search for a building has begun! Actually, it's been going on for a couple of weeks. We've got several different realtors on the case and every major street in our neighborhoods has been scouted. We've got one property that looks good, but there's a lot of legal work to be done before we're ready to sign a contract, so we're cautiously optimistic. Fortunately, we have all seen God's hand provide for us repeatedly and know that even if He doesn't give us our first choice, He will give us just what we need. The process of getting to Brazil left us all with such confidence in the faithfulness of our God that we have no doubts that we will be in a building for our inaugural service on April 2.
Other than that, there's just a whole lot of running around going on right now. We're spending the next three days in training on our evangelistic Bible studies that Travis, Randy and Mary Virginia have written. We've got another wave of visitors coming, starting with Matt's parents, the Maberys, on Sunday. They'll be here for a week and will be followed by Georgia Freitas and Donna Millican in early December. Donna is a trustee for Continent of Great Cities and her husband, Don, is an elder at Park Plaza, the Parkers' sponsoring church. The Millicans graciously let us live with them for a couple of months last year when things were looking bleak, so we're looking forward to her visit. Finally, Russell's folks will be here in just over a month. His parents, brother and grandmother (Nana) will all be staying with us, so we're working hard to get our apartment ready for them. With all those visitors, it means that we, the Maberys and the Parkers are all making frequent trips to the store to buy paint, towels and whatever else we've been putting off buying. I can't wait though. Any family's visitor is a visitor for the whole team, especially parents. We were fortunate enough to get to know every team member's parents before leaving, so we look forward to seeing them again. Please keep all the travelers in your prayers.
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