Well...

Post by Brin

Some of you have heard me complaining about my water situation. I really think it is worthy of being called a fiasco. When we first arrived back in Brazil we discovered the pump to our well was not functioning as it had been pre-furlough. So we hired someone to descend into the well (75 ft.) and he diagnosed us as needing a new pump. So a new pump was put in. Again we daily ran out of water and Josh determined that the new pump was not put in deep enough. At least we hoped, because that would be an easy fix. Josh tried to no avail to find someone to finish the job, but couldn’t until after the rainy season (June). That is when I started complaining. I really like to have enough water. I live in a rain forest for crying out loud. Sometime later we found a guy willing to go down and fix the problem. And…..he did. And now for weeks I have had all the water I could drink. It was wonderful until yesterday when Josh took a shower and the water smelled like dead animal. We thoroughly scrubbed the water holding tank and filled it with fresh water from the well, and the water still left us feeling filthy after taking a shower. So the only other source could be our well itself, which was still unsealed from the last time.

So here you see Josh, again, opening up the well and pouring a bottle of bleach into the watery grave of a decomposing something. If you could smell us now…

I think that I need to clarify a few things. Yes, our family is still home schooling. We have also put our girls in a school here in Altamira so that they could make some friends their own age and also have the opportunity to learn independence. They go to school every afternoon which leaves the mornings open to home school. It works pretty well. Ella loves Brazilian school, however Ava and Mia are not convinced yet. Ella also loves home schooling now that Chelsea helps me home school twice per week. Chelsea is a new missionary with the Xingu Mission from Columbus, Ohio. She will be working with youth and also involved with music and dance ministries. She herself is a grateful home school graduate and her enthusiasm inspires Ella to want to learn. Chelsea is also a talented musician so at some point I will have her teach Ella music. Right now the only instrument we have is a plastic recorder, so we'll wait a bit. I am so thankful for her. We have all been anticipating her arrival in Altamira since we first found out she was coming in August. Chelsea has visited twice previously, the last visit she stayed for 3 months and conducted a ballet class for all the missionary kids. My girls remembered this small detail and we always referred to Chelsea as the "ballerina." We greeted Chelsea when she walked off the airplane and I am pretty sure that Mia was expecting her to be wearing a tutu and tiara.

Here is Chelsea's blog if you want to know more about her:

http://chelsea-nichelle.blogspot.com/

Celebrate with us! Only 2 months away from being 7, Ava has graduated from Kindergarten. We surprised her with a giant chocolate chip cookie which is a grand gesture since the chocolate is imported.

Everything she needed to know she learned in Kindergarten. Here are some of Ava’s ramblings on the topic of "school”:

• I know how to say honey in Portuguese because my teacher brings it to school and gives it to us at snacktime. Sometimes they bring honey and sometimes pizza.
• Emily teached me reading. Mat M-A-T. Bat B-A-T.
  
• I go to school in brasil and I get nervous and cry. And Mia screams and cried more.
  
• My teacher she barely lets us play. At the end when we go to our moms she gets out the toys. She mostly cares about homework.
  
• Whoever does good at school gets a pencil and whoever obeys gets honey. Only I obey.
  
• We want to make friends and so we say hi and share food.
  
• I have to do Brazilian math.
  
• When I see Mia on the playground, when I leave I get a little scared.
• When I don’t want to stand on the stage I run to Mia. Everyone looks at me. Because of my white face and red curls and because I talk weird.
• I have a babysitter here her name is Cleide. She has sleepovers with us. She takes the lice out of my hair.
  
• My favorite part of school is making friends. Her name is Deborah.
  
• We went to the waterfall and we saw a snake and I was in a tube with mom. Snakes are good, they don’t hurt us but some poison.

Marituba river trip

The girls have been complaining that they haven't been able to go on a boat trip since we've been back from furlough. So finally, this past weekend, we went on a boat trip as a family. Joined by about 10 Brazilians from our church, as well as Chelsea and Patty (2 new missionaries) and Kate, a short-termer.

We returned to Marituba, a community which I had visited last year where my friend Alison's aunt lives. On that visit, a couple of his cousins had expressed a desire to follow Christ. Spending a little bit more time on this visit, we were able to meet with his cousins and a few friends and begin going through a discipleship booklet for new believers.

Discipleship group with guys from the village.

The group of Brazilians we took included some of the young guys I've been working with on youth group events. I am continually impressed by their desire to be involved in the work here. One young man, Souza, and his wife have even expressed an interest in moving to a remote community and living there as missionaries. It's exciting to think about how God is going to use them in the future, and to realize that I may be able to play a small role in encouraging their development as leaders.

One adventure that we experienced showed me once again the dangers we face here, and how fortunate we are to have so many of you praying for our family. The community we visited sits on the west side of the river at a location where the river is wide (8 miles). The good news of this particular sight is the constant breeze blowing across the river keeps the mosquitoes away, the bad news is often storms approach quickly and the waves can be quite treacherous. To make matters worse, the beach has many hidden rocks scattered about just under the waters surface. In this situation, we usually anchor the boat off-shore and take a canoe to shore (I really wish we had a dinghy, I'm not sure what a dinghy is but if an situation called for a dinghy, this would be it). It had gotten late the night we were having a home group meeting, so Brin returned to the boat so the kids could sleep. They were fast asleep when a storm suddenly blew up from across the river. With no warning, the captain was unable to start the motor and move the boat out further from shore before the wind blew the boat and dislodged the anchor. By that time our church service was over and the rest of the group was heading to the boat, the same wind made it hard for us to even reach the boat. When it appeared that we had reached the boat, I realized it wasn't because we had made it any further from shore, it was because the boat had blown up on shore. All of this happened very quickly; amid complete darkness and a lot of yelling. We were able to get all the ladies on the boat while the rest of us tried to dislodge the boat from the sand. Fortunately the boat did not hit any large rocks, but it was stuck fast. The danger is that wind and waves heave the boat onto shore (it gets turned parallel with the shore), and if the waves are big enough they can actually flood the boat and sink it. This happened years ago to this boat and while no one was hurt, it did cost a lot to get the boat seaworthy again. Finally, using another boat, we were able to pull the stern free from the sand, and back the boat away from the shore.

At one point I told Brin to be prepared to get the kids off the boat if the boat began listing. She pulled Ella from a deep sleep in her hammock, gave her a life jacket and waterproof flashlight and told her that if she finds herself in water, not to worry because she can probably touch, but if not, just use the flashlight to look for the shore. Normally a worrier and compulsively safety conscience, Ella should have been freaking out. However, 3 minutes after Brin left her she found her back in her hammock sleeping.

Augustino, from our church in Altamira, and his sister
whose house we used to hold the church service.

Brin holding a boa constrictor that the villagers had recently caught.

Beto sharing during the meeting.

Ava showing off her canoeing skills.

Return to Surubim

I just returned from a trip to Surubim. Some of you may remember this community where I have been involved in the church planting we are doing there. I drove my truck and the main church planter, Ronaldo, rode his motorcycle. For those of you that know him, we were excited to be joined by Beto, who is home for a visit from the University where he studies down south. The seven of us where planning on a 2 night stay, during which we would visit neighbors, spend some time with Zecateca (the main leader), and have a church service.

I was especially impressed with Zecateca, a man that I first wrote about before he had become a Christian. In a blog from over a year ago, I noted that he would make a great pastor. Today, after less than a year as a believer, he has grown tremendously and is excited and eager to learn and grow more. Ronaldo, and his wife Rosanah, have poured a lot into him and it shows.

Here is a video that I made of our trip. I hope it gives you a better taste of what it's like to travel to and visit a remote community like Surubim...

refreshing changes

River village built completely on stilts

This is Brin here. I am back from my trip up river. I helped lead a team from the Vineyard Church of Delaware County (Ohio) as they visited churches and villages in a region close to where the Xingu River meets the Amazon. It was a serious treat for me. First of all, I needed to get away. But in my jungle town there just isn't anywhere to go. So when I returned I was refreshed and much more appreciative of my husband and eager to be a better mother. Also, this team was made up of such quality people 10 days was just not long enough to soak them up. I miss them, which is weird since I just met them.


We spent the weekend in Porto de Moz, a small port town, and the rest of the time traveling up and down the rivers, stopping in now and then at people's homes, sampling their buffalo cheese, talking about God, and putting on services in the evening. Tim, a missionary and also MD did consults along the way. I sat alongside him and acted as a glorified pharmacy tech. I loved meeting people's medical needs and it flows naturally into meeting spiritual needs as well. I was surprised at how poorly I understood the language. I thought I was doing great in Portuguese until I tried to understand the river people with their thick accents, poor grammer and missing teeth.

On the way to school

So now that I am back and getting back into a routine, Josh promptly left for a mission to the interior to a location called Suribem which is close to his heart. On Wednesday night I got a phonecall that the girls were to start school the next day. I was given less than 24 hours notice. I am not sure if that is normal or I was just forgotten. What a contrast to North American schools that have the graduation date on the calendar even before school starts. So I sent my babies off to school. They are the first foreigners to attend this school which was evident when the teachers could not make heads or tails of their immunization records and laughed at the funny names on their birth certificates. Had I had the liberty, I would have cried over the realization that my babies are no longer babies. And also that I had sent them into a lot of unknowns. But I had other commitments so I ignored the tender spot on my heart. When I went to pick them up Ava was the most enthusiastic, contrary to her worried statements prior. Statements like, "I wish I could paint my skin brown so I could make friends." Ava's favorite part was buying a popsickle for 25 centavos. She also referred to her classroom as her "hotel room." I am sure wires got crossed in translation somewhere. Mia was pleased that she got to wear a "costume" (uniform) but then at the end of the day was not happy because they did not use the playground. Ella was originally concerned because there are not doors on the bathroom stalls, which indeed there are not. She deliberatly studied her classmates, teacher and classroom and concluded it will be harder than she thought. She also stated that her classmates did not treat her any different until one of the teachers made a speech about children from other countries that look different and speak different but are still children just like them. That was when she got stared at the first time. She also gained a little unwanted attention for bringing prunes and apricots (an imported treat) for snack instead of cookies or crackers. She told them her mother was a nurse and they empathized with her.

Mia and her classmates