As you can imagine, our expenses here do not change much from month to month. However, occasionally some of you (or a church) may give an extra gift. As money comes into our fund, above and beyond our needs, we are blessed to be able to pass that on to those in need. We are learning that the needs here are so great. The average Brazilian makes about $150/ month. It is not uncommon to hear that a church family is without food. More than once Brin has gone into our cupboards to give away food. The other day we helped a woman get dental work done that she never could have afforded on her own. We have been blessed by many of you, and in turn we have the opportunity to bless others. We can’t pass on every story, but one recent experience stands out:
Every year in Brazil the Christians brace themselves for the celebration of Carnival, a celebration like Marde Gras. One of the ways the church has responded here is by putting on a retreat for young people called “Christoval”. There are four churches in Altamira that joined together this year for their Christoval retreat, held at a retreat facility we are building outside of town. Each church was allowed a certain amount of participants, each who had to pay the $15 for the 3-day retreat. One of the churches is from a particularly poor part of the city. I asked the pastor of that church if he had any students that needed help. He shared with me that they were thinking about dropping out and doing their own mini-retreat at the church because he had so many kids who couldn’t afford it. I used to be a youth pastor, and before that a youth, so I knew that the “retreat” held at the church would not be nearly as effective (I think the whole point of a “retreat” is the leaving). I told him I wanted to help out. We devised a plan that would satisfy even the staunchest conservative, we made all the kids work for a day to “earn” their way to the retreat. Below is a picture during the retreat. I didn’t miss leading the cheesy retreat games, but I was thrilled that I could play a part in helping some of the kids attend.
We’ve been without internet for several days, so we are trying to catch up with everything…
This weekend we got a bike for Ella. I found a used bike at a bike shop and Ella loved it because it has a basket on the front and a rack on the back. When we went to buy it the guy kept going on about the “documents”. I’ve learned that documents for vehicles are very important. They are basically the registration for the car, but if you get stopped by the police and don’t have the documents the car will get impounded. But I wasn’t sure why I needed to worry about documents for a bike. So as I’m loading the bike into our truck, the guy from the bike shop asks if we can give him a ride to get the document. We thought it sounded important so we went along. After driving across town, and meeting his “boss”, we were confounded when he took off on another bike (seemingly produced from nowhere) riding away in search of the missing document. We questioned if it was even worth waiting for something that we didn’t know we needed. In the end, he couldn’t find the document, but we were promised that we would have it next week. Later, we talked to another missionary and learned that documents for bike are in fact important. The police also confiscate bikes if you can’t produce the documents. If I ever witness the police apprehending a bike from a document-less 8 yr. old, I’ll be sure to get a picture for you.
Joanna brought us treats from America, like peanut butter and Hershey's kisses. So it is only fitting for us to share our bounty with her. The above photos is us drinking Acai, no english equivalent that I know of. It is a berry of sorts. It looks like gritty blueberry pulp. And without a lot of sugar, it tastes and smells like mud in my opinion but the Brazilians love it. We also made acerola juice and cupacu, which is nothing that I can compare to back home so if you are curious about what they are like you will just have to come for a visit too.
Yesterday, Joanna Geyer, a close friend from Tremont, came to visit. She arrived safely with her 11 mo. old son, but her luggage did not. We were told it would be arriving on the first flight this morning. The morning came and went. No luggage. Tonight, after the kids were in bed, to our delight it arrived. Brin let out such a squeal that Ella got out of bed. We knew some people had sent us some things, but when we started going through the box we were overwhelmed. We remember packing boxes for missionaries, but I don’t think we comprehended how much a simple act can communicate. Thank you so much for those of you who sent something. Oh yeah, and Joanna has her clothes. 
I’ve been working on building bunkbeds for the girls in their new room. The room is small so we tried to conserve as much space as possible. Last night, the first night in their new beds, they actually asked if they could go to bed. The room they had been using will now be our storage/ guest room.
My sister-in-law Sonya is reading a daily devotional called Voices of the Faithful and is praying through the book with me in mind, specifically. I had already read the book a year before and it wasn’t entirely meaningful to me, but it is now. Several days ago Sonya told me her reading for the day was teaching precisely what I was dealing with. Namely confusion, and how I am going to cope with it. Part of me wants to withdraw from people who think I am stupid because I can’t understand what they are saying yet. I also don’t know what to do with others who may have questionable motives behind what they ask of me. So sometimes, I just don’t know what to do.
Here is what the book said; “Sometimes I am confused by language, sometimes by culture, sometimes by tradition, and sometimes I am just plain old confused. In any given situation, there are many right answers and approaches, and there are just as many wrong ones. When the chaos reaches maximum proportions, I am tempted to quit. So why stay? The answer is simple. God has given us a glimpse of His vision clearly stated in Revelation 7:9: ‘After this I looked and there before me was great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.” It is the power of God’s vision and His grace that sustains us, renews us and keeps us focused on our calling.
So whether your own personal chaos is two little Ethiopian children that won’t let you sleep, like Dave & Sonya. Or maybe your chaos is a life that whizzes by so fast that you are too exhausted to put effort into the very things God says are most important. I am going to try to look for glimpses of God, rather than try to piece together a two-year picture. At least that is what I need to do for now.
[Typical river village, we passed hundreds on the way]
After almost 8 days in a boat, I’m back. Brin and the girls seemed to do well in my absence. There were 9 of us on the boat, 5 Americans and 4 Brazilians. The slow, (between 6-8 mph) monotonous journey allowed plenty of time for talking and reflection. I wonder how N. American life would be different if it took 10 hours to go 60 miles. It certainly helps to explain the importance of relationships in this culture.
Overall, we’ve concluded that the trip was a good first step. Our goal is to have a new base location selected by the end of the year, so that leaves plenty of time. Of the two towns, Portel was the most livable. A clean town situated on a peninsula at the headwaters of three clean rivers (in contrast to the dirty Amazon at Breves). After spending a half day in Portel, talking to pastors, towns people, and boat captains, we decided we needed to get a better look at the rivers. We found several well established churches in the town of about 25,000, but our mission specifically targets the hidden villages and communities which have no church, so we really wanted to find out how evangelized the rivers were.
[In Portel a few of us rented scooters to see the city]
We traveled up the Anapu River for about 5 hours, we stopped at a random house and asked if we could dock there for the night. We talked with the family, a Catholic family who were very kind and eager to help. The family had no food, so we gave them what we could for dinner and invited them to eat breakfast with us in the morning. Through our conversations with them, it seemed that stretch of the Anapu had several healthy churches, both Catholic and Evangelical. But we also found that you could travel another 36 hours up river, and they didn’t know as much about this more remote region. We left the next day for home, traveling 30 hours at one point without stopping.
[The family we met on the Anapu]
Our conclusion is that we need to plan another trip upriver to get a better feel for the villages there. There are also 2 other cities, in totally different regions of the state, we are planning on visiting on other trips. Please pray for the vision of the Xingu Mission, as we continue to look towards God for guidance.
Here are a few interesting things I saw on the trip:
[This truck’s body was entirely made of wood]
[One of the Brazilians with us caught a nice Peacock Bass]
[Several times we would see people paddle out from the shore in a canoe to try and catch a ride on a big boat. They would grab onto a rope or tire that is hanging from the boat, if they missed they would just wait for the next boat. This is a common way for people to get up and down the river quickly. In this picture, the guy caught the rope, but his girl missed, he eventually paddled back to her]
I am starting to get nervous or antsy or just confused, I guess. Trying to “keep the faith” but also realizing that the only way I will flourish here is by using faith. Faith that God will provide a working vehicle so I won’t be stuck at home or at the mercy of others for rides. Faith that, despite the erratic hours I put into home schooling, Ella will learn. Faith that I will walk humbly and generously, even as I have been pushed into an upperclass society just by being American and having the money to pay for a plane ticket to get here. But what I think it comes down to is that I am having feelings of nervousness as I slowly inch my way to the frontlines of people lives, wondering what role God will use me in as I cling to faith in Him. I am figuring out that I won’t have to look far to find ways to keep my faith in God lively, relevant and desperate. I worked with a young woman the whole day yesterday, only to find out later by someone else that her father is abusive and just the night before stole all her family’s money. She never mentioned any struggles nor seemed at all sad, and even if she would have tried to communicate a problem to me I doubt I would have comprehended it. But I am just plain sad for her now. I missed her pain. What good am I? Don’t bother sending care packages because I really don’t deserve them. When I looked into her eyes a day later, I had to look away or I would cry. Don’t try to tell me that I need to have faith that God can work through me. I know that. I just am experiencing some anticipatory aches that I will surely encounter as I get close to the ugly side of people’s lives. Am I ready for the ugliness?
Speaking of ugly, Mia has two different skin problems at the moment, neither very bothersome, just gross. One is a harmless chemical “burn” on her hands and arms. I have it too and I am told it is likely from lemons (I didn’t believe that at first). She also has budding case of impetigo, along with both her siblings. Josh is coming home in hopefully 3 days or so and I really want to have my children tidied up and myself looking at least as attractive as I can living in a jungle. Really I am certain Josh will be glad to be home and tell me about his river adventures, he had an obvious joy in being able to join the other guys in looking for people who have not met Jesus. This is what being here comes down to and Josh was as happy as I have ever seen him.
Tomorrow I (Josh) will be leaving on my first big trip. I’m going with 3 of the other missionaries on a survey trip. We will be visiting two cities, Breves (bre-vease) and Portel, and scouting them out as a possible future base for the Xingu Mission. They are about halfway between Altamira and Belem, a large city on the coast, just south of the mouth of the Amazon. Between here and Belem are hundreds of small dots on the map. Each dot representing a small town, and for every dot there are probably 20 other small villages that are not on any map.
The mission leadership has a vision to evangelize the area from here to Belem. If you look on a good map of the region, rivers look like arteries, running every which direction. And on each river there are countless people living without the knowledge of Christ. They’ve identified these two cities as possibly good locations for a base, to then be able to reach beyond to the hundreds, if not thousands of small communities along the rivers. We will be evaluating the cities with a number of criteria to determine if they are a good fit. Some of the things we will be looking for.
Ø A good banking system. Some remote towns have no good way to access money.
Ø Internet. Almost a necessity to stay connected to the rest of the mission and to the many supporters and churches back home.
Ø Modern grocery stores. We’re not looking for Kroger’s here. But do they have decent-sized stores with a reasonable supply of goods?
Ø Healthy churches. If there are already churches that are reaching this area, we will look somewhere else.
It’s exciting to be a part of such a trip. Who knows how God will use this to lead the mission, and maybe even down the road, our family. We’ll be taking a mission boat, it’s about a 32-hour boat ride and we’ll be gone about 10 days. Please pray that God reveals His plan to us on this trip. Pray for Brin as she stays back with the kids. I look forward to sharing more when I return.
Here is my new washing machine. Isn't it pretty? I didn't think to include a picture of my dryer, surely you know what a clothes line looks like.
Like most New Years Eve’s of our marriage, Josh and I spent this one separate from each other (Josh usually found himself with a bunch of teenagers at a lock-in on New Years Eve). Josh stayed home with the girls while I went to party for all the area Vineyard church’s. Josh, however, was able to bring in the New Year with Mia. She was awakened by the fireworks outside her window at midnight so they took a little stroll outside to watch them.
There were about 450 people at the church where they had worship band playing for people singing, clapping and dancing. They prayed in the New Year. Praying for the local pastors, broken families, church workers and the whole community of Altamira. It was a great place to be at the beginning of a new year. Happy New Years to all of you back home!
Christmas here is a strange blend of the familiar and foreign. The other day I saw one of those stupid dancing Santas like they used to have at Wal-mart stores. But I also saw another Santa that I’ve never dreamed I would see. One of the peculiarities her in Brazil are the advertisement trucks, they are trucks (sometime just motorcycles or bikes) stacked high (sometimes 10 ft. high) with an assortment of speakers. These trucks drive slowly up and down the streets blasting their wares. Usually it’s a combination of music and a voice convincing you to buy something (I guess). These trucks are so loud that when one passes by you have to stop your conversation, there’s no chance you’ll be heard (even if you are inside a store). The sight I saw the other day was a Santa on top of one of these trucks, dancing and throwing candy to no one in particular.
The other evening we went down to the riverfront where they had some Christmas decorations set up. Everything from a nativity to Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. The girls loved it. Brin and I weren't sure what to think...
This morning (Christmas Eve), we opened our presents. Tonight we have church (as usual on Sunday evening) and then tomorrow morning we have a breakfast at church.
To see more Christmas pictures, and a short video go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/brinleezj/Christmas
Now I know where the carnival rides from the Tremont Turkey Festival go during the winter. Altamira, Brazil. No kidding. I think I recognized some of the “carnies” from last summer. We really did go to a fair that was in town. The girls loved it. They rode the rides, won some candy at a shooting gallery and even bought carnival treats (carmeled apple, carmeled popcorn, and cotton candy).
The other day Brin asked Ava if she likes it here in Brazil. Her answered captured how we sometimes feel: “Yeah, but I itch a lot… but that’s ok, I like to scratch.”
I’m not sure many of you are interested, but I thought I would post some information about our house. Our house is actually sort of a duplex. We live in Bud and Suzannes old house. I did not include drawings of their new part, just know that it’s plenty big and plenty nice. The only access to their side is through the shared office between. We are slowly getting comfortable in it. Although it is much smaller than our old house, it seems to be adequate for our needs. The rooms are all small (except for the master bedroom). There are some quirks, such as the low ceiling in the kitchen, lack of outlets, and weird placement of light switches (some ridiculously low, others ridiculously high). We do have air conditioning in the office, the rest of the house stays relatively comfortable. With a fan on us at night we are usually comfortable. We spend a lot of time outside, the veranda and gazebo are great for the kids to play on.
We’d love to have any of you come and visit and see it first hand! We even have an extra bedroom (the girls are currently sleeping in BR 2, but will soon move into the bigger one).
The pictures are: 1) A view of the front of our house, 2) a view of the kitchen and dining room area from the front hallway, 3) a view of the kitchen from BR 2, and 4) a view of BR 2.
