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.

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.

Meet the New Pele

Ella played her first soccer game as a member of a Brazilian team. She was nervous, but very excited, and grinned almost the whole time. She was even allowed to kick a penalty kick, and had a pretty good shot, too. She plays on the team with another missionary girl, all the rest are Brazilians - most of them are really good. I'll inlcude more pictures here, if you're interested.

Philanthropy

I’ve never thought much about philanthropy. And to be honest, becoming a missionary seemed the farthest thing from that. However, as we become more aware of our roles here, that might not be a bad way to describe a part of what we do…

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.

Biker Babe

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.

Taste of home

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.

An Unexpected Surprise

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.

O Bandeirante

Bandeirante is the Portuguese word for pioneer or explorer. It’s also the Brazilian-made version of a sweet, yet elusive vehicle, better known as a Toyota Landcruiser. I’ve been looking for a Bandeirante since I got here. It’s really my dream vehicle, but since I’ve only found 2 in the city of Altamira, and neither of the owners wanted to sell, I moved on.

A couple days ago things seemed to fall into place…
In the morning, I found out that we had received a donation that would help in the purchase of a much needed vehicle. Later that same morning, I ran into a guy that I had seen a week earlier. He had a Bandeirante, but he was leaving that morning for another state. He was willing to sell it to me, but the price seemed way too high. I passed on the deal and didn’t think much more about it. So when I saw him again, a week later, I was surprised. This time, he was a little more desperate. The price had come down $3,000, so I bought it.

When I mentioned it was my dream vehicle, don’t get too excited. It takes a certain twisted mind to dream like this. It’s a 1978, has a Mercedes Benz diesel that sounds like a tractor and windshield wipers, and that’s about it. For some reason Brin doesn’t share my dream, or even the desire to drive it. We are still on the lookout for a VW Bug that Brin can use for around town. That way she will still have a vehicle if I leave on a trip. We are also thinking the Bandeirante will be an idea vehicle to let pastors use on trips to the bush. It was amazing to see God orchestrate things this way. I can’t wait to get it all muddy!

A New Room for the Girls

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.

Grace in Chaos

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.

-BZP

A Long Journey

[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]

exercising faith

[Mia drinking from a coconut]

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.

A Survey Trip

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.

Chasing Waterfalls

One of the things Brin and I had been wanting to do since we got here was visit a waterfall and cave that we had heard about. The journey is just difficult enough (a 45 min. motorbike ride and 30 min. jungle hike) to keep the crowds away. We were guided by three Brazilians, Beto (my language tutor), and two of his friends - Alisao and another name I can't pronounce, let alone spell.

It was great to be able to experience more of the jungle, relax in the cool water and explore the cave. But more than that, it was a great opportunity to get to know the guys we went with. Alisao plays electric guitar in our church's worship band (looking every bit the part with his Bono-esque glasses). Beto, my language helper, has ambitions of studying to be a tour guide (I didn't know that was a college degree...), so this excursion was just up his alley. In working with Beto and getting to know him, I have seen his heart for the Lord. He is helping with a new church plant in Altamira. The church meets in the garage of the pastor's home. The crowd has long since overgrown the meager facility, spilling out into the street. They have purchased land and are just starting construction on the new building. When I asked Beto when it would be done he just laughed. It seems starting the project is victory enough. Work will progress slowly, and only as funds come in. The other guy that came with us is a young man from Beto's church, whom he is discipling.

We are slowly learning more and more about Brazil, the culture and the work here. We are looking forward to the day when we feel more a part of things here. For now, we are content with mostly observing from the outside, getting glimpses of where God may use us in the future.

Josh is 33

Josh celebrated his birthday yesterday. Complete with the Brazilian tradition of breaking eggs on his head and dousing him with flour. The Brazilians found it funny that he just sat there and took the abuse, normally the birthday person will run to avoid his friends armed with flour and eggs in comical pursuit. Of course Josh didn't know what he was supposed to do, so instead he just goodnaturedly endured the abuse and later taught his aggressors some English slang, "Watch your back!" ~bzp

Brazil Top Ten List: You might be in Brazil if...

Note: this list is in no way meant to be disrespectful. If a Brazilian went to the U.S. they could come up with an equally rediculous list. Laughing has helped us deal with all of the changes we've experienced, we hope this can help you laugh with us.

10. You know you’re home when you turn down your road and smell that familiar aroma of a rotting cow carcass that your neighbor disposed of in the ditch.
9. As you lay in bed at night, sweat being kept at bay with a fan, it sounds like someone is cycling your fan from low to medium to high – until you realize it is just the voltage changing randomly on it’s own.
8. Three words: pregnant bare midriff.
7. Brazil’s answer for the pickup truck: the bicycle. We have seen bicycle riders carrying things such as plate glass windows, sheet cakes, lumber, other bikes and infants.
6. Do you need to take your dog to the vet? Call the dog taxi. I guess even bikes have their limits, so if you need to transport your pet call the dog taxi - a motorcycle pulling a small cage on wheels.
5. You hear it coming down the street. What is it? A locomotive? A runaway concert stage? Oh, it’s just a truck blasting it’s speakers, stacked 10 ft. high, advertising some local store.
4. You lose all concept of monetary value after paying $4.50 to eat as much meat as you can cram down your gullet (at the local charrascuria) and then turn around and pay $600 for a washing machine that would be an entry-level model, at best, back home.
3. While driving a motorbike, danger comes not only around the next corner, but from the sky! You must be constantly aware of boys flying kites, that at times could lose enough altitude for the string to be neck-level (a “string burn” would be bad enough, but rumor has it they embed glass in the string to cut down their adversary’s kite string, in a sort of aerial sword fight).
2. When inquiring about car insurance you discover that, while you can get auto insurance here, it doesn’t actually “work” (on further investigation, it is clarified that the paying in works just fine, it’s the paying out that doesn’t work).
1. If something drops into the trashcan next to the toilet, right it off. I don’t care how valuable it is, or where you had to buy it. It’s not worth it. (If you’re confused, ask someone who’s been to Brazil).
-JTP

Learning to Wash

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.
My language session turned into a lesson on how to use my new washing machine. Here is my language helper Denise (din-easy) and I pouring over the instuctional manual. Even Denise learned some new Portuguese words. Words for "postpone", as in if I would want to postpone the centrifuge in the event I cannot get the clothes on the line right away.
-BZP

An Altamira New Year

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!
-BZJ