Sights and sounds summer '13

Classes start for Brin and the girls in a little over a week.  We've had a crazy, but memorable summer with over 20 visitors spending time with our family.  Our latest visitors, Josh's parents Tom and Connie are leaving today.  In the midst of our activities blogging has not been at the top of our list, but that doesn't mean we haven't anything to share.  We've decided to take advantage of another guest blogger, this time Tom.  The following is a note he posted to his Facebook page...

One of the sure signs you're in a developing country is that, even in the middle of a city, you're going to be awakened by roosters crowing, anticipating the new day.  We spent a couple days this week in a town near the waterfalls a couple hours north of Manaus, where the morning greetings were so close and so piercing that we joked the hotel guy had hired his own personal rooster.

PQQ has its own signature night sounds, far less predictable and varied and untamed, at least to us as visitors.  I'm not jungle-wise enough to identity the hysterical cackling and chattering outside my window, but we are reminded early most mornings that we are not in Hazelwood anymore.

There is a pleasant rhythm of life at PQQ.  The heat and discomfort of the day mostly subsides during the night, and by morning we have pulled the sheet over us.  Even here, almost on the equator, there are sort of seasons--the relentless heat of October and November, the rainy season from December to May--and the rise and fall of the Amazon by 50-60 vertical feet through the year.

We are learning to read the signs and to anticipate what will happen next.  A gentle breeze blows suddenly through the house, and you know a rain shower is imminent and run to see if you have clothes on the line.  A barge steams by out in the middle of the river, and you know in five minutes you will have ocean-like waves breaking on your shore.  Better make sure your boat is securely tied.

Everyone here is anticipating the opening of school.  The girls are excited to have new tote bags, made by Grandma and Abi, which they have already filled with school supplies.  They are all talking about the classes and teachers they will have.  It's inevitable that sometimes they will be taught by their own parent.  This year Gabriella will take Biology with her mom.

Abi (our niece who is living with us for a semester), Gabriella, Ava and Sarah (a short-termer from St. Louis) showing off the bulletin board they helped make for Brin's science class.

Gabriella does not seem disappointed by this turn of events.  The Biology textbook, like most of the textbooks here are sadly out of date, but with jungle all around them and the availability of the Internet, this promises to be a rich experience.  Brin loves to lead visitors on long hikes in the jungle, pointing out unusual plants and signs of animal life.  We have seen deer, monkeys, sloth, and snakes in the wild, and discussed how the Indians made needles from thorns and transmitted messages by beating on the hollow flanges at the bases of rainforest trees.

Brin leading a jungle hike with Caleb and Dave, two of our visitors from earlier this summer.

It's an unorthodox school, to be sure.  Brin says last year the Terra Nova test, the seven-hour, standardized, school-wide test, which provides a significant measurement each year for both students and the school itself, was interrupted last year on one day by torrential rains and water leaking into classrooms and a second day by a snake loose in the school.  But, she says, the students just put aside their answer sheets for a few minutes to move buckets under the dripping places and to help corner and capture the snake, and then got back to their testing.

This is truly an international school, home to missionary kids whose parents come from all over the world, this year including Korea, Peru, and The Netherlands. Many of them have also lived part of their lives in the villages where their parents are working and speak the tribal language of the indigenous people who live there.  They have witnessed the Gospel imperative in action in their own parents.

The level of sacrifice some of these parents make is sobering.  I am thinking especially about a six year old boy who will live in the dorm and attend school here this year.  His parents work in a tribe where it's culturally acceptable for children to touch each other inappropriately.  They do not want him to grow up thinking that's normal and have come to the difficult decision that, at least at this point, it's not healthy for him to remain with them in the tribe. 

Tomorrow we will awaken to jungle sounds in the cool of the morning for the last time.  We'll say goodbye to our kids and grandkids and head back to our air-conditioned home in the suburbs, where roosters do not crow and where my life is considerably more pampered.  But the memories and impressions of this community will stay with me for a long time, as we continue to try to understand and to anticipate what God is doing in the world to draw people from every tribe and nation and tongue to himself.

Tom building a TV cart that will be used in a classroom.

The following are some other notes Tom posted on Facebook:

july-24-2013-winning-state

july-30-2013-generational-tension

NCF in the Amazon

With much gratefulness, Josh and I hosted a group from our home church, Northfield Christian Fellowship.  Fourteen people braved the heat, bugs, no electricity and spiders to participate in our lives, to see what God is doing in the Amazon and to deepen their connection to us by putting our dirt under their nails.

Let me introduce you to Hillary Shaull, who will guest blog and share her reflections....


Well to tell you a little bit about myself, I am a college student spending a month of the summer here with the Pflederer family. I came down with the team to get my hands dirty with them. The Lord called us and He brought us out of our element and set us in theirs to be used by Him. The week with the team was a week full of growth, sweat, and great fun.

Back row:  Josh, Sam Stuber, Paul Scherer, Dave Wolff, Dave Hillrich and Mark Scott
2nd row:  Rubber Man whose real name is Serverino, Hillary, Barb Scott, Gabriella, Hannah Scherer, Jen Scherer, Heather Scott and Caleb Hillrich and Greg Bolliger
Front row: Brin, Mia, Ava, Jacob Scherer, Dixon Wolff

At the beginning of the week we had  the Vacation Bible School day where we planned singing, a lesson and crafts. Before coming and even on arrival we were uncertain to where it was going to be held. The church in that area had flooded but Oh how the Lord provides! We held the VBS at a building that was being used as a church. This was one of the very many answered prayers throughout that week; it was open to the outside and just had the perfect amount of space to spread out and do the activities. Pass the cups was a big hit among everyone. We came prepared but had no idea what to expect but God had it all in His hands. Everything lined up so well; better than we could have imagined. What a blessing it was to see everything run smoothly and to be able connect with the kids and their families despite the language barrier.

Josh and Brin's teammates, Reginaldo and Andreia are leading some childrens songs.

After VBS was when the real work began. The men got started on the roof project and the expected time to finish was by the end of the trip. Amazingly they completed the roof in just two days. It was evident that God was at work with just the provisions of safety, weather and the different skills that each person could offer to the project. The rest of the time was spent working on the Pflederer's new and old house and then moving them in. I feel so blessed to have served with each and every single one of the team members. I was humbled to see a selfless love,...Christ's love, shinning within each of them. It was Christ dwelling with in His body, the church, and illuminating each of us from the inside out. But its not just in this time or place we can be reflections of Christ; its everyday and every place that we can show Christ to someone else. How in these everyday moments can we be a beacon for Christ and His Holy name?

Josh and Mark and the "moving truck."

One thing that was really fun that I must mention is the visit to the Rubber Man. Yes, I said the Rubber Man; we were just as curious and puzzled to what this meant. Josh was telling us that we would get the privilege to venture into the jungle and see this Rubber Man make rubber. When the time came we went on a short little boat ride and ended up in the Rubber Man's jungle collecting rubber sap from the rubber tree and eventually he formed a rubber ball. It was so neat to see, so if you ever come to visit in Brazil...put the Rubber Man on your list.

During high water season (as it is now), the river comes right up to Josh and Brin's house which provided Dave and Caleb some opportune fishing.


As we were taking the boat ride to the city we came upon the rivers Rio Solimões and Rio Negro. The Rio Negro is the largest blackwater river in the world. These two rivers flow side by side, then eventually join together to make the Amazon River. We swam in two different rivers at the same time; an experience I will never forget.    

 Ava, Brin, Dixon, Hillary and Jacob braved the rough waters where the two different rivers that make the Amazon River can be distinctly seen.

As we were swimming in the river Sam Stuber captured the dolphins that were giving them a great show just on the other side of the boat.

I was talking with Brin earlier that week and she was sharing with me in one of her recent Bible studies they were covering the stories of David and Goliath, Daniel and the lions den, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  How these men expressed remarkable qualities and over came by the power of Christ but without realizing we can value their character too highly. These men were just like you and me but they had the faith and trusted God no matter what the outcome.

Did they tremble?... Possibly 

Was it a struggle and stretching experience?... Yes

Would they do it all over again?... Of course, they experienced a miracle. God used them in an incredible way and by His grace He can use you and me in great ways as well, if not greater! I don't want to limit what God can do through me. Sure this trip has been stretching and difficult at moments but we experienced God moving and working through His people and I would have to say...

I would do it all over again! 

momentous moments on the river

Happy Summertime to all!

Like all teachers across the globe, we simultaneously take a deep breath in April and then exhale with great satisfaction on the last day.  And I have had so many memorable moments and wish the days could slow a bit so that I could savor them a little longer.

First motive for celebration: Ava! She completed 11 years just a few weeks ago; celebrating with a soggy night of camping with her friends. Even the graham crackers were soggy but still utterly enjoyed because they are an imported treat.

And a motive for thankfulness:  Gabriella! She started out her summer graduating from 8th grade, writing and giving a co-salutatorian speech, and then getting baptized by her father in the Amazon River right in front of the school. 

But she doesn't stop there....3 days after school got out Gabriella and I joined a medical team traveling by boat to villages upriver.

Our team was made up of people from all over the south of Brazil who came up to the Amazon Basin to give of their resources and love in the name of Jesus.  We started out by presenting ourselves to one another, which led to a spontaneous gifting of rather unoriginal nicknames. Riri for Rita, Roro for Ronaldo, Lulu for Zularte; these exotic bird-like sounds made me envision our boat turning into the aviary on Noah's ark. Pricilla (Prepre) and I (Bribri) must have been of a similar species. How very fitting for a boat trip in the midst of the Amazon jungle.  But I like human stories best so let me mention a few things that I found inspiring.

For one lady it was her 3rd trip. She shares about how on a previous trip there was no one to be a dental assistant, "I can do that", she admitted, and she went on to explain how she once had a horrendous 3 month job with a disagreeable dentist.  She quit, and brushed the dust (or should I say amalgam powder) from her hands and became a hairdresser having no idea that it was God who gave her that knowledge so that she could participate fruitfully in His work in a little village.  She also gave free haircuts in the village, many people sharing that it was the first time they had ever had a cut by a professional.  She does it because she loves Jesus and His love compels her to give of what she can.

Also participating was a lady who pastors a favela (slum areas in the city areas which are often governed by gangs and, until recently, avoided by police) church in the huge city of São Paulo. She ministers in a drug rehab facility and speaks fluent Portuguese ghetto. She and I were an inverse; I have complete serenity bathing in the river and using the jungle as my "facility" while she finds her comforts walking the slums and searching for drug dependent people needing help.  She admitted her fear of alligators would always keep her in the boat. So what was she doing in the jungle? She asked herself that same question before coming, and upon arrival in the Amazon found out that there is an outbreak of drug use (cocaine, i had no idea it was being made in the Amazon. It is.) among young people in the two villages we visited.  Some as young as 13.  Heart-breaking.  So that is why God sent her to the Amazon.  She is already making plans to come back to help out a local pastor.

Also, my own Gabriella.  She worked doing various things on this trip; dental hygiene teaching, boat clean-up, and participated in a rather unorthodox musical performance involving a rhythmic cup game during the service in which the favela pastor accompanied the beat with an original rap about which I am sure was God.  Her Portuguese stretched my abilities hugely.  Mostly Gabriella worked alongside me in the pharmacy until she could read the doctors scripts just as well as I.  During a quiet moment, she doodled the 5 most popular medications on her leg and we laughed that she now knows how to treat various different types of parasites.  Let's just see where God takes her with that!

The two villages we visited were similar to so many others that I have visited.  The men fished or worked in the manioc fields, bring in the last of the crop; still green so that they won't loose it as the river threatens to flood their fields. Mothers as young as 14 and no one blinks an eye.  I spoke with several women whose babies were born at home and had not seen a doctor (until we arrived) despite having what to me was an obvious syndrome of some sort and also a cleft lip.  Our first patient one morning was an 18 year old boy having a sever asthmatic exacerbation. The doctor told me to draw up some epi, but I couldn't because we were out of IV dilutant.  So we prayed and gave him some oral meds. He sat in my clinic two hours so I could watch him (technically listen). Another one of the young guys on the team sat with him, discussed life with asthma where there are no doctors and prayed for him.

The children watched while we turned this home into a temporary doctor's office.

One family brought Gabriella and I some abiu fruit from their yard. 

In the second village we were able to use a multi-room school for both triage, medical clinic, pharmacy and the dentist room.

Gabriella got to know the Asas stock of medication and how to say them in Portuguese. 

After going to triage, patients sat in this "waiting room."  Which makes for a good time to do oral hygiene teaching or just chat.

Everyone gets a little cup and toothbrush and a demonstration on how to brush properly.  Much needed teaching as evidenced by how many teeth get pulled.  One little 8 year old boy had 3 teeth pulled as he sat alone on a hard wooden bench. And with gauze still in his mouth, and with thankfulness to have his pain relieved, he climbed into his canoe and paddled back home all by himself.

The first village had a one-room school house that we turned into both a pharmacy and the dentist room.

A church served as the triage station and our team did games, songs and stories while the children waited with their families.

Gabriella organizing and chatting with an observer.

We bring large plastic barrels filled with everything we need for clinics; transportable dentist chairs, overhead lights, batteries, trays, medications, medical forms. 

In this picture, Luce is troubleshooting a problem with a piece of dental equipment. Luce is an RN and the missionary with Asas that coordinates all the medical trips into the interior.

I got such joy on the trip. Joy in serving alongside my daughter. Joy in having the privilege of being God's hands and feet and meeting such a basic need of healthcare. I delivered no babies, I saved no one's life and I often repeated myself several times when I give drug information because I know my Portuguese seems like another language to them and I really want them to understand.  Understand how to care for themselves and their family but also understand that it was the love of our Father that brought me to them and that when all accounts are settled, it is God who heals and God who cares.

A change of scenery

Waiting to board the plane while Tim completes his preflight inspection.

For those long time followers out there, you may have noticed an absence of Josh authored blog posts.  I've sat down to write a few times, but not much came from it.  Since changing ministries in 2011, I've found it harder to find topics to write about.  It's not that my life is suddenly boring, I really enjoy what I do.  But who wants to read a blog on the latest Annual Inspection we've done at the hangar?  Me either.  The other day I got the opportunity  so I loaded up my camera and jumped in the plane...

It was just a day trip, a quick stop in a couple villages that our leadership is evaluating as possible locations for us to begin visiting with Health Clinic Teams in our mission's boat.  It reminded me of the many survey trips that I had made with fellow missionaries in the past.  Traveling by plane did make the trip a bit different in one regard - in less than 3 hours of flying we covered what would have taken over 40 hours in a boat.  

I was able to see a side of the ministry that I usually miss out on when my head is under the cowling of an airplane.  Here are a few pictures that I took and some things that impressed me:

Arara, the first community we visited, was well developed by Amazonian standards. The two main streets were actually paved even though a car had probably never driven on them.

You don't arrive in a river community in an airplane unnoticed.  The young boys especially were very interested in the plane.  I told one boy that he should stand right behind the plane when we start up and he would feel a blast of air, he followed through on my suggestion and wore a big grin the whole time.

Marco (with backpack) and Eunice (blue shirt to his left) are both leaders in Asas, they spent most of the time talking to leaders of the communities, pastors, and health workers trying to get a feel for the needs and welfare of the residence.

At the community's health post we found this all too common scene,a boy laying on a cot unresponsive, his parents the only people at his side.  No doctor or nurse in the village meant that he would have to be transported to a staffed health post several hours away by boat.  

As I walked around the community I met a boy named Allison, the name of my friend from Altamira who has joined me on many trips to the interior over the years.  I missed my friend so I bought little Allison a Coke.

The second community we visited was more what I was used to, about 12 families living on the bank of a river in a region that seems to offer very little.  Welcome to Novo Sonho (New Dream).

The only income in Novo Sonho was day wages from a local rancher when he needs the help. They say it is nearly impossible to grow crops because of the cattle grazing. 

 I'm not sure if Novo Sonho was the dream that its residence had hoped it would be.  From the looks on their faces they appeared to live a hard life.

I wonder what the people thought as we swooped in with our questions and cameras and left just as fast.  I am sometimes cynical about short term trips that just seem to offer a bandaid to a problem so much more complex than we can imagine.  But then our pilot Tim shared with me about a nearby community that we had been working in for several years.  A church from a large city in southern Brazil who had been partnering with us decided to adopt this community as their ministry.  They sent several teams to help with health needs, build a church, and do other outreaches.  A woman from one of those teams decided to move to that community and work with them full time.  She now teaches at a community school, works with church leaders and is reaching out to several other communities in the area.  An intern from the sending church went to help her this past year and now the intern just recently committed to staying long term to continue the work as well.  And the catalyst was a short-term trip from a church with long-term love.

So I suppose we can look at the little we are able to do and throw up our hands saying it's not going to change anything.  Or we can continue to give what little we have and watch to see how God multiplies that.  

I think I'm going to stick with working on airplanes, but it was refreshing to see that although the problems seem insurmountable, we have a God who is bigger - but more than that, He chooses to use what little we have to further His kingdom.  Whether that is turning a wrench, visiting a needy community to offer temporary relief and hope, or leaving our home and family to work permanently among the "least of these". 

When you think of the tropics, you probably think of the lack of seasons.  Hot and wet all the time.  In some ways that is true.  The average high temperatures from January to July is 87 degrees, from August to November it jumps up to 92 degrees.  We're talking a 5 degree swing.  That surely does not qualify as a season does it?  I grew up in the midwest where the high temp average in January is 45 and in July 90.  That's what I call a season.
Seasons are more than just temperature change.  I can still hear the neighbor kids laughing and playing outside in the summer  twilight, while I laid in bed because my 9:00 bedtime had arrived.  Here where we live 3 degrees from the equator, sunset fluctuates about 30 minutes throughout the year.  But I'm beginning to understand that the

My office window borders jungle on 2 sides. And besides the dusty spiderweb curtains it is a cheerful view Birds chirping, bugs buzzing, and occasional monkeys hooting and screeching   I will stop work to watch the monkeys. And I used to have an iguana that frequented a certain tree. But what really distracts me are the butterflies and unfortunately I have a lot. Not to brag or anything. And in my 3rd science class, on the topic of botany, we refer to those guys as visitors. They are the unwitting couriers of pollen from one plant to another.
I am a courier too. Sometimes I bring hope when I point out that a dim, dreary unknown might actually be God blowing refreshing winds of change. Or maybe I bring joy when I give in to the girls and play with them in the rain.  Maybe I make people laugh, although that is usually Josh. Hold up- I am not saying I did any of those things. But I am pretty sure I cuoureid envy. And I courried trouble to others that really was my own making. I dream utterly unattainable results and then courie expectations that others simply cannot fulfill.

As us humans go throughout our days, I would venture to guess that the majority of communication is superficial, work related, small talk, making fun of our friends' Harlem shake dance. Things like that. We flit about from one person to another sucking up nectar from each other, maybe sweet from the person whose sunny dispostion brings warmness to the room. Or maybe the nectar is watered down or bitter, from the person who casts a gloomy shadow. And leaving our own pollen, which could be sarcastic because the last thing we spent 10 solid minutes reading were smartypants jokes on Pinterst. Again, I am not saying that was me but seriously, "Dull women have immaculate houses. And honey, I come from a long line of fascinating women." is right on. And we can leave a dusting of respect like when we don't just tolerate each others differences but actually appreciate them. And a dusting of Godly truth mixed with Godly love.

For sure, those deep meaningful conversations have significant implications, but these fluttering butterflies visiting 10 flowers in a minute

Just so we are clear, I am pretty sure both the monkeys and the birds bicker. And they do it at 5am.

Twas the month after Christmas

~post by Brin

I really intended to write a blog starting with Merry Christmas! And then I had to push it back to Happy New Year. I give up.

Christmas tends to be a popular time for expats to be homesick. I think it is the no drinking of eggnog with family and ugly sweater parties unattended and Mia who every year informs us that she has never seen snow that makes it hard. To take the edge of our nostalgia we were able to spend Christmas with our friends who actually are unrelated family.

   Allison & Cleide and Haley

And we did the same things your family probably did.

We ooohed and ahhhhed over the newest addition, Haley, 10 months. We studied the geography of her face, pointing out what she pulls from her dad, but unsure of what she got from her mother until she roared at the dinner table and we concluded she got her mother's fiery spirit.

We attended a Christmas Pageant.  We arrived an hour and half early and sat on very hard benches to see "Un Sonho de Natal," an elaborate Christmas presentation put on by a big Baptist church in the city. I would have sat on concrete to see it, which those who only arrived 30 minutes early had to do.  Also, Cleide and the girls put on their own play. Not the Nutcracker nor A Christmas Carol, just lots of dancing and (lip) singing. Talent might have been lacking, but everyone in the family applauded their enthusiasm. 

We cooked together. Donuts, fish, but not at the same meal.

We fixed something together. Our fridge has been frustrating for a while, Allison's expertise helped solve some problems. Although not all of them, so as I suggested earlier, a pretty accurate family Christmas. 

We shared traditions. We taught them our family's (and every other American's) tradition of stockings. 

We took a little outing.  Josh, Allison and Gabriella jumped on Pastor Benny's float plane for a day of fishing in the middle of nowhere. Besides fish, they came home with a broken part off Benny's kerosene refrigerator to repair. I think they brought it home just to secure a "second date."

We played out in the snow. Or at least our tropical version of snow which is copious amounts of rain. We taught Allison and Cleide how to kneeboard and waterski. Isn't that what you all did on Christmas day too?

We put up with each others prickliness. It seems, painfully, the closer I live life to others, the more aware I am of my own prickles.

We reminisced, exchanging stories and memories about our old life in Altamira. I introduced Cleide to my friends in Manaus, making a point of telling them she showed up at my house my 2nd day in Brazil. And never left my heart.  

And we were thankful. Thankful that God brought us together for Christmas, that He has put dreams and hopes in each of our hearts, and maybe someday we will live closer to each other.

When we became missionaries, pretty much everything changed, including our traditions.  Donut making has become our ritual and this years donuts were the best so far. We also tend to have themes of sickness (Josh's dengue bout and this Christmas Mia had the stomach flu) and also kneeboarding. None of them planned, over the 6 Christmas' we have had in Brazil, they just evolved.

Another tradition starting: Nova Batista's production of "A Christmas Dream." 

 One evening our kitchen cabinet said goodbye to it's wall called it quits. It raucously crashed to the ground and gave us a momentary fright. I was thankful for 2 things, that even if I lost all my eggs, sugar, coconut milk, and broke the few glass dishes I own, little Haley was nowhere near. And thankful that it occurred 40 minutes before we lost electricity so that we could clean up the mess before the ants showed up. And of course, the next morning Allison and Josh had another project. Because that is what families do.

Cute as can be and happily taking 5 baths a day in a little plastic  bowl. My bathroom was always a wet mess but somehow it was a more pleasant mess when Haley made it.

Ava had an extra stocking that matched her stuffed animal and she could not wait to give it to Haley. Nothing sounds sweeter than to think of Haley growing up with that each year. 

Josh, Ella, and Allison with their haul.

Can you relate to our Christmas?  I bet you can. Did you have moments where you were deeply grateful for family, but a minute later wanted to run into the jungle for some peace? Were you disappointed in yourself that in the hustle and glitter of Christmas, you might have missed the sacredness of God becoming man. To be honest I don't have glitter, my version of tinsel is an abundance of mold, cobwebs and bug carcasses on my windowsills that distract me from giving time to God. I am thankful that Christmas here is stripped of it's commercialism.  My kids did not see a single flier or commercial  and have no idea what toys they are missing out on. That is until our next furlough, which is quite a ways off but that did not keep us from dreaming of a white Christmas 2014.

Since I didn't send out any Christmas cards,  I will use my blog to thank our Father for allowing us to participate in what He is doing in the Amazon. And what we do takes a team of people, doing a variety of different things and if you reading this and are on that team, please know, I give God thanks for you.  

Also, on a side note.... I may be late in giving a Christmas update. But so are all of you! I have not received a single Christmas card yet, so I guess I will get to celebrate a little of Christmas in February. Because you all sent one, right?