Knife wounds and such

Sometimes I catch myself wondering why I'm here in Brazil. I invariable go back to the time when God made Himself and His desires for us to come to Brazil vividly clear, sometimes even in miraculous ways. The last few days we have been participating in (observing) a pastors conference. Nearly all of the pastors and church workers from all of our churches where in attendance. One of the sessions was a history of our mission on the Xingu River. We heard about how the work here began with a few Brazilian families moving here from Santerem, and then shortly after a few missionary families. Many stories were told about God providing in miraculous ways, especially in the early years. A couple stories stood out to me...
1) When the families first came to the area in1992 they settled in Porto de Moz, a town that was ripe for church work. Within two weeks of arriving and beginning the work, there were already a handful of believers. It so happened that one of the grandkids of one of those first converts, now a worker in one of the churches, was in attendance at the conference. As they pointed this out during the presentation, this seemingly trivial fact - struck me. We've all read in Acts how when some people came to Christ there "whole household" would believe as well. It impressed me how one life turning to Christ 16 years ago would effect generations to come.
2) On a recent boat trip I got to know Naldo, one of our pastors. What I didn't hear then was a story about his first encounter with the church. I guess one night, a drunk man who had just been in a knife fight, with the wound to prove it, stopped by the church and asked to sleep there that night. That drunk man was Naldo. As the story was being retold, Naldo (with a big grin) stood up and lifted his shirt to show everyone his scar. He now is the pastor of that same church, and is working in several other villages to help plant other churches.

I'm sure guys like Naldo wonder about if they are where the Lord wants them to be. I'd also like to think that every time he sees that scar he knows that God has called him out of a life of sin and wants to use him where ever he is. -JTP

Pastor Naldo

Learning Church

Ella taking a break at a local house.

Josh and Ella taking an excursion

Ella and I (Josh) just got back from a trip where we visited some of the work on the river. We went with Bud, Keith (another missionary here) and Clenildo (a Brazilian pastor from Altamira) on a river trip. On the way to the community we were visiting we stopped at a few houses and invited people (at one point one of the guys with us was yelling to people on the shore, inviting them as we cruised by).

We pulled up to a group of houses as the sun was just dropping below the horizon. The other boats out front indicated people had already begun to arrive. Normally they meet in a house, but a larger crowd had gathered, so we met outside. This group of believers usually meets about 2 times a month. A pastor or church worker from another church usually visits at least once or twice a month. The only leaders they have otherwise is a man and his wife who have been believers for less than 2 years. They are hoping to build a church building, and can do so for as little as $1000.

The "Church" service

The church service began with some worship songs lead by a young man who had just learned to play guitar. It appeared as though the congregation, as well, had just learned to worship, when someone began clapping along with the music everyone clapped along in their own rhythm. Ella asked me “are they trying to clap like that or do they not know how to clap?” It made me think how bad they are at doing “church” as we know it. No worship band, no pastor, no building. And yet I had to think that God was pleased looking down on this group of young believers. I saw in them a genuine desire to learn about God. And yet for them to learn, it was almost completely dependant on other people, they have no means to learn themselves. It was a good glimpse of why we are here in Brazil. Bringing the Gospel to “the least of these”, who have very little means and yet possess a great desire to learn about their Creator.

Easter at Belo Monte

This past weekend I was asked to go on an evangelistic trip to a town a couple of hours away. I took Ava and she was really excited about going on a trip with daddy. I knew we were in for an adventure when we arrived and I was told there were no bathrooms at the place we were staying. Belo Monte, the small town we visited, is the home of a small church that without a fulltime pastor has struggled to grow and produce fruit. The twenty-some team members, mostly college age students from Altamira, were eager to give up there own Easter weekend to help a struggling church. I was impressed by the attitudes of the young people on our team, it seems our churches do a really good job of preparing them for service and passing on the value of evangelism.

In the morning, small groups went out and canvassed the town. After lunch, a few of us went to a local radio station (it looked more like a pawn shop from the collection of old amps, mixers and even a record player). A pastor and my friend Beto gave an on-air plug to attend the meetings later that day. I was asked to say something, and even Ava got in on the fun. It had that college radio station feel (yeah this is radio, but is anyone really listening?).

In the afternoon, the team put on a VBS program and later that night, a church program where four people accepted Christ. Before leaving the next day we prayed for the couple who leads the church. This was the first time I saw our mission’s goal of “making disciples who reproduce themselves” so vividly lived out. It was definitely one of the most unique Easters that I have had, but I think also one of the most memorable.

Kids watch as the Brazilian team performs a puppet show

Ava participates in a tug-of-war contest.


Mothers wait for clothing that our group handed out.

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Piranhas

Last week Brin made mention of me and her dad going fishing. I wanted to give a fishing report: we didn’t catch a lot (it’s not a good time for fishing right now with the water up so high), but what we did catch wasn’t your run-of-the-mill fish either. Pictured is a Black Piranha that I caught. I’m holding it with pliers because I like my fingers where they are.

Another Piranha story happened a few days later. We went on a short boat trip with the girls and grandpa. I took Ella out to fish one morning and one of the Brazilians with us handed her a fishing line that had already been baited and thrown overboard. She doesn’t have a lot of experience with fishing, but what little fishing she has done has been with a rod and reel. The Brazilian practice of just using a line was foreign to her, and the look on her face showed it. A few minutes latter, one of the guys noticed her line moving so he started to pull it in and plopped a Piranha in the boat. I yelled, “Get your feet up!” There we were, feet raised in the air with a mad Piranha flopping around at our feet. I’m not sure if Ella will go with me next time…

Feliz Pascoa

Ellie Kubacki assisting Mia with her egg hunting.

Happy Easter to everyone back home!

We went to Easter Breakfast at the Mirante Church this morning. We walked there since Josh had the car so the girls and I wore our hats for a functional purpose this Easter. Later the girls had an egg hunt among the mango trees in Rick and DeAnna's yard.

Papa went home

My dad went home and so now the house is quiet. Not that he is a noisy guy it’s just now we don’t have a reason to have fun. Ella caught on quick that her Spring Break is over. She will have to return to school with a mother not nearly as motivated to teach as she was 3 months ago. “When is our next visitor coming?” she asked with desperation in her eyes.

We were able to go to a waterfall a few days ago with my dad. See Bud’s blog if you want to hear details. http://www.budsimon.blogs.com It was gorgeous. My dad brought a tent down when he came and so Josh and I intend to camp there soon.

Right now Josh is out on the river doing Easter evangelism. Hopefully many people will be able to hear about God’s love for mankind. I think this outreach trip is sort of a training trip for the Brazilians who go to church in Altamira. I really don’t know anything about it so Josh will tell you about it when he returns home.

The pictures are of a recent river trip. The second picture is the girls exploring a school on the river. Completely flooded. Normally the Brazilians take a canoe to get to it, but right now there is no teacher, and therefore no class.