Papa time

My dad is in Brazil for ten days and we are having fun sharing our world with him. Today we had a Brazilian family over for lunch and we listened to stories about hunting and fishing. Of course it all had to be translated so who knows how much we missed. According to our guest, named Chocolate by the way, to hunt turtle you drive the boat in a big circle until you see turtles surface, then you jump in and swim until you find one and then wrestle them into the boat. So this afternoon they are going fishing. We'll see what they get.

By the way, Josh did get his money from the ATM, well over a week later.

Delousing

I feel a little guilty that so many of our posts are about our selves. I really wish that we could be talking about all the amazing work that we are doing . But we just aren’t there yet. Sometimes, we meet someone new and get a little glimpse where God might choose to use us, but often we are just living. Attempting to learn Portuguese even though we often find it discouraging, keeping our kids clean and healthy, as you can witness yourself with Cleide delousing Gabriella. I laugh at how I would have responded to a lice infestation just five months ago. At this point Ava and I are on a second round of antibiotics, Mia had been throwing up all morning. So a little lice is a welcome diversion from all the microbes, at least they can be picked out.

AlTaMira

Have you ever been standing at an ATM as the thought enters your mind “what would I do if my money doesn’t come out, but the machine debits my account”. I’ve always thought it would be hard to explain to a bank manager, and he would probably just think I was lying, or stupid. Well, come to find out, that’s exactly what happens! In fact, you look even more stupid if you are just learning the language…

The other day I was at the bank withdrawing money from an ATM. I heard the machine flipping through the cash as it counted it, but the slot never opened. The ATM was outside the bank, and the bank was closed, but people were still milling around inside. I knocked on the door and got a security guard’s attention. He finally got the bank manager and they were both standing there as I desperately tried to explain what happened. I realized I was getting nowhere as I saw that all too familiar look that says “I see your mouth moving, but I really don’t understand a thing that is coming out of it”.

It’s now been almost a week; I’ve confirmed that my account was debited for the withdrawal. After being back to the bank twice (with an interpreter), I’ve been assured that on Monday I will get my money. Things move slowly here. At least I didn’t have to stand in the hours-long line that most people must wait in to make a simple transaction. The banks are excruciatingly inefficient and slow here. But at least now I know what happens, as long as you don’t need your money right away it’s not that big of a deal!

A Link to the Past

The other night we were invited over to one of Brin’s student’s house for pizza. Paulo, one of the more serious students, is a chemical engineer that teaches at a university. We enjoyed talking with him and his wife. During our conversation we learned that they are from Santerem, a Brazilian city that I visited on my first mission trip here in 1991. He of course had heard of PAZ, the mission we had worked with while there. It was also interesting to learn that as a teenager he attended one of the first home churches that PAZ held when Luke & Christine first moved to Santarem in the late 70’s. Luke is one of the people that influenced me and encouraged me to pursue missions when I was younger. So it was interesting that we had this connection. Luke died in a plane crash in the mid 90’s, his dream of evangelizing every corner of the Amazon is now being carried out by people like me. It’s quite humbling to think that God would choose to use someone as incomplete and broken as me for such a noble task.

Burnt Noses and Birthdays

Today we celebrated Mia's 3rd birthday. I guess it's another reminder that life just seems to go on, whether we are ready or not. We had a fun little party that Ava and Ella were probably even more excited about than Mia. See more pics here.
One prayer request we do have is Brin's nose. That's right, her schnoz. If you noted on a previous post she got a sunburn. Evidently her nose turned into a second degree burn. It is very swollen and blistering and appears now to be infected. We did get some medication for her today, unfortunately our missionary docter (Tim) is out of town. Please pray that it heals quickly and there is no scaring.

A substitute teacher

Here is Ella in her homeschool "corner". With her is Chelsea who has just started coming over on Mondays to assist in schooling Ella. Ella loves the change of pace (what kid doesn't like a sub) and Chelsea's easygoing and fun attitude. I like that I can run errands or go out with Josh for a date knowing Ella is still doing her schoolwork, and enjoying it too. Chelsea is from Ohio and friends with the Kubacki family. She is only here for another month and while here she is simply helping out where needed, which includes giving ballet lessons to the missionary kids. Pretty cool.
Josh and I would also love to host anyone who, like Chelsea, has a desire to travel and get first-hand glimpses of the work here in Brazil. There is also the potential need for the mission to acquire a teacher for longer terms, if you know anyone interested.

Teaching English and Learning Portuguese

On Monday and Wednesday evenings I teach English to adults at the school the Xingu Mission operates. When I was first asked to teach it brought back memories of teaching English to teenagers in Romania last summer. Teaching English in Romania involved about 30 minutes of actual English instruction and a lot of games and fun. I loved it. Here it is a little different. I actually have to prepare lessons, formulate and grade tests and worksheets, reprimand the students for being late. The normal teacher stuff I suppose, but it is not nearly as much fun as just singing silly songs and playing “Guess the celebrity.” I do learn some Portuguese and also learn how not to pronounce Portuguese words when my students laugh at my speech. The best part is meeting Brazilians who are not associated with our churches, which is most of the other people I hang out with. ~bzp

You Missed a Spot

Here is what happens when you play outside at noon 3 degrees from the equater. Oops. Later in the afternoon we played volleyball in the rain with some of the youth from the churchs here in town. We are really enjoying hanging out with the youth and are happy with the relationships that are starting to form.