fortunately we only had to wait for about 10 minutes before our driver got us out of this easily avoidable delay.
Marilda, 21 has graduated from high school. Among her classmates was an Elvis Presley de Santos, or something like that… after hearing his first name I really didn’t pay attention to his last name.
Attending the graduation ceremony was truly a cultural experience. We were happy for Marilda and she was especially happy to be having a ceremony because earlier in the year the students were told there was no money available. Then one day she came to our house and excitedly announced that she was going to go to a planning meeting for a commencement ceremony. It would occur in 5 days.
We showed up at the ceremony at 7:00pm along with Marilda and several other families with graduates from our church, only to find out the time was now 8:00. So we sat down to chat. It became quite obvious that not much was ready and that it would not start at 8:00, so we started to take bets as to what time it would actually begin. I forget who won but finally the ceremony got underway at 8:50. But the main event was not until after the announcement of graduates when the real party started with the graduates serving food to their guests. By then it was well after 10pm, a great time for dinner. Huge trashcans filled with rice, meat and farinha were rolled into the room. The graduates flocked to them and brought back heaping plates. So now I can say I have eaten out of a trashcan (if I ever have the desire to say so).
Graduating from high school is by no means a certainty here. So for Marilda this was more than just a ceremony marking a foregone event. Her abusive father left only a shell of a family when we moved away years ago. You can imagine what her family has since coped with. Her siblings exhibit the scars of years of abuse. Marilda, however, has truly become a new creation since coming to know Christ a few years ago. With more confidence and self-assurance she’s done things she never dreamed of doing before such as going on boat trips, learning to swim and sharing her testimony in front of church. For Marilda, her graduation seems to represent hope for a future she never had before, hope that comes only from Christ and the miracles He’s performed in her life.
Altamira (red star) is about 1100 miles from Salvador (blue star) where we will be studying.
Our family met Emily when she came down on a work team this past summer with her church, the Vineyard Church of Columbus, Ohio. Emily and I talked about her life, my life and where God was taking us. Then we continued emailing after her return home while, during this time, God was readying her heart for a change. Within 6 months of her first trip, she is back in Brasil this time to stay for a while. She will live with our family, help homeschool, assist at CDR (the English school) and participate in church events.
Emily, second from left, and her work team from OH.
(photo courtesy of www.shutterthink.com)
So, going back to my lead-in, Emily has a tough path ahead. Not that there won’t be fun times, because I do prioritize fun. And not that we won’t laugh, or more often be laughed at, but it is a different way of living here that takes a while to work through. I have warned Emily that there will be unpleasant moments ahead. Stressful days but not stressful in the same way as it is in a fast-paced, time-driven way back in the States. A different kind of stress, like apprehension of the unknowns and situations way out of our comfort zones. For example, we simply do not have the structure or routine here that I would like. Believe me, I tried to make it happen, but God always wakes me up in the morning with something that I had not written on my list the night before. Case in point, Emily’s first week. I made a list of what to do the first week. You’d think I’d give up on lists. Now, the first week has passed and I have gotten about 50% of it accomplished. Pretty good I might say. But the week went hardly as planned. For one thing, Ella developed a horrendous tooth infection which got her out of school, the very thing Emily came to do. And then each morning was busy with various visitors. We had lunch guests every day that week, some expected, others not. So in the midst of busy mornings, Emily just jumped in and made herself useful somewhere. Which is exactly what I needed and I was reminded once again why God brought her to our family at this time. Emily is relaxed, patient, a creative thinker. She is a good complement to me because I am forever panicking as if I’m late for some unknown event or appointment. My kids don’t annoy her (yet) so her behavior reminds me to be more understanding and tolerant as I interact with my children.
A large cockroach has decided to share the room with Emily. For a moment I think, “big deal, be happy it is not a taratula or scorpion,” then I remember my first weeks here when I freaked out because there were holes in the screens, or water pouring down my walls while Mia slept on the floor inches from a puddle forming on the tile. Now, 18 months later, I have no problems with Mia sleeping in a hammock suspended between two trees. My perspective has changed, my “normal” has morphed into something else and my comfort zone has significantly widened. And so will Emily’s, but working through that takes time and effort and is not without challenges.
This past week we were struck by two unsuspecting health issues. During church last week Ella started complaining about a toothache. To be honest, we didn’t think much of it, she doesn’t have the best teeth and she had just been to the dentist to have a cavity filled. However, in the morning when the roof of her mouth and gum had swollen to the point of virtually covering her tooth, we took notice. We’ve had her on antibiotics with little response. She doesn’t talk much unless it is to remind us her pain meds are wearing off. So for the past few days Ella has gotten lots of attention and minimal hours in school. Now it’s Mia’s turn.
So we hopped in the car, and along with Denise, a Brasilian friend, we were able to experience our first trip to an “Emergency Room.” The first hospital we went to was closed for painting. So we went to a different one that had about 10 people sitting on a bench in the entrance. A trail of blood drops were leading to another room while flies went wherever they pleased. We waited. No one took our names. No one asked about what the health complaint was. There certainly was no asking about insurance. There were no charts to be seen nor did anyone have an ID armband. The phone rang and rang and no one answered it. Then a doctor stepped around a corner and motioned us in. There was no nurse, no secretary, no janitor. Only that one doctor who was sweating because he had a long patient list since the other hospital was closed and apparently had no one to help him. Brin lent a hand. Mia, however, was probably the most miffed by the whole experience. I don’t think she saw what was coming. Two stitches later she’s a little wiser and more leery than ever about any kind of medicine.
In Belem, we stayed at a hotel where another family from Rio was also staying. And as kids often do, Ella and another girl found each other and became playmates during the stay at this hotel. But despite the vast difference in communication and culture, they quickly found one common denominator (I am a homeschooling mom so I have math on the brain). What is the universal language for 9 year olds? In this case it was High School Musical 2. This girl had the movie (in Portuguese) that Ella had not seen yet but was eagerly anticipating. Ella was amazed and the girl was happy to have someone to watch it with her.
So later we found the movie and justifying that it would help with learning Portuguese, we bought the movie too. Later when we arrived back in Altamira, Cleide and Marilda wanted to see it so we let them invite a few friends and we had a High School Musical 2 party. And for those of you who know the music, and my empathy goes out to you….você e a música em mim.
~BP
A highlight of the trip was talk about a local man being willing to donate land for a church to be built. I’m not sure what the timeframe would be, but it’s exciting to think about being involved in that.
Brin enjoyed this kitchen about as long as it took to take this picture. The stove was fired by wood, the water for washing dishes was a quarter mile away in a dirty creek and the lights were dirty oil burning lamps. Oh yeah, and refrigerated meat is hanging above the stove. At least the bugs didn't like it in there either.
The dishwasher was no Maytag.
The girls, used to plentiful water on river trips, had to settle for this less than desirable stream.
We are told this trip can take anywhere between 3 and 8 hours, depending on the rain. Being at the beginning of the rainy season, these puddles will only get worse.
Part of the frame broke on one of the motorcycles and we had to remove the rear fender. It made for a fun return trip with mud being thrown all over the driver.
On the barge crossing the Xingu River.
I don’t know why we keep making the same mistake over and over, but we again arrived at someone’s house on time. This time it was a birthday dinner that one of my friend’s dad wanted to host for me. We were told it started at 7:00, so we stupidly arrived at 7:00. Only my friend’s parents were there. Not even my friend was there. We wondered if we got the message right.
But what began awkwardly, soon became very comfortable and natural, a night I won’t forget. Before we ate the fish his dad had prepared, my friend read a verse and told everyone how much my friendship meant to him. It felt very surreal, like I was being accepted into a club. But more than that, I realized that my friend, Alison, truly felt a connection with me. He wanted to show me that, and I truly felt honored. He went on to thank me for the sacrifice I have made to come and live here.
Ronesha (or maybe it was Camila) used to have a cat named Irony. The cat was funny because it got hit by a car and afterwards only walked in circles. The following story is not about her.
In the past month I had conversations/emails with 2 friends, Connie Gregory and a college friend Bethany. Connie is a missionary here in Brazil in a nearby city (nearby being relative) with PAZ and Bethany is working with New Tribes in Indonesia. Both of these women had high, emotion filled hopes of hosting guest houses and then, for various reasons, had to let go of their plans. At the time, I listened but thought it a bit ironic to hear these stories of their departure from guesthouse ministry as I was entering mine. I must admit I really did not empathize completely as I have now experienced a small fraction of the pain they endured. Now just to decide who will be president of the club.
If you notice things like this, we have had a paragraph at the right of this blog that has asked for prayer about our next housing situation. Wanna know where we are with that? Me too. As it turns out, we are 3 weeks away from when we will need to move and we still have no firm answer. But here is where we find ourselves at the moment and the story that goes with it.
Other happenings involve the return of the Simon family. They will be leaving the states the beginning of Feb. We look forward to having them back and will probably talk their ears off filling them in on the 5 months they were gone. Mia and Anna will go back to playing dress-up together and Ava and Caleb will go back to arguing.
~BZP
Our time on the road was not as bad as our last post may have suggested. I did have to stop a couple times and ask directions, or as the photo records, refer to my map while the girls relaxed at the local convenience store.
About a month before our trip, Brin set goals for each of the girls with a reward that they would get on our trip. After many failed attempts, Ella reached her goal of doing some acrobatic flippy thing, her reward was her very own body board.
Mia surprised us by learning to swim (or more accurately, deciding not to cling to anything and everything that would prevent her from becoming submersed). I'm not sure what was more fun, watching her swim, or watching how proud she was of herself.
The idea of Christmas in a hotel room was a little hard to get used to, but we did our best to set the mood (lights and stockings hung on the TV stand) and stick to our tradition of opening presents on Christmas Eve and stockings on Christmas Day.
The Berquists had a "snow kit" that made a fake snow look-a-like that our kids enjoyed for about 2 minutes.
Ava's reward for learning to read (or at least making a valiant effort at it) was to visit the butterfly house in Belem. Unfortunatly it was closed for maintenance when we got there. We were able to talk one of the employees into letting Brin sneak Ava in covertly look at the butterflies while hiding from other guests who were walking around outside.
Our room had a bathtub. Let me give a little context to that statement. One of the hardest things Brin knew she was going to give up moving to Brazil was her baths. She loves to take baths, they are her happy little place... or something like that. Anyway, she has gone a year without a bath and was able to enjoy one every night in our room. I was going to snap a picture of her in the bath but she made threats on my life. Between here and there lies 18 hours of travel, about half of which is on the treacherous and pothole-filled TransAmazon Highway. It’s sure to be an adventure. If you think of us over the next couple of weeks, pray for safety and that our family would enjoy the time we have with each other and our friends. It will definitely be a different kind of Christmas for us, but we are hoping playing at the beach will distract us from the fact that we are so far away from our friends and family from back home. We wish you all blessed Christmas and New Year!
Ella cooling off by the family's only source of water
The Location
The TLC
The retreat we had, or TLC, is a leadership retreat that the churches in Altamira have at least a couple times a year. This was the first time it was done in the Assurini. It consists of large group meetings as well as small groups that discuss things like worship, cell groups and new beginner classes.
The Baptisms
The Team
I traveled with a group of guys that I’ve been doing a lot with recently. A couple of them are old friends of mine (Beto, my language instructor and Alison, a buddy I had given a guitar to), but there are a few that I am just getting to know. One of the guys told me (using my loose translation skills) that he wanted me to “come into their group” (referring to his friends) and that when I’m not there they say to each other “so falta Josh” (which sort of means, we are just lacking Josh).
We did have many laughs together, including when I took them to the river to swim and some of the guys were riding on top of my truck, while driving on a jungle logging road I couldn’t resist to drive under some low hanging limbs, smacking them around a bit. They got a real kick out of it and declared that I was “brasilerio” now (brasilian). For those of you sitting their stunned that I was trying to knock some nice young men off my truck, don’t worry, it was just good ol’ fashion male bonding.
-JTP
The trunk of this enormous tree laid rotting on the ground behind the stump.
Surubin is a village where one such work has begun. I went on a day trip there yesterday with a group of about 9 young people. The village itself is not our target, there are already a couple other churches there. We traveled 30-40 minutes past the village and deeper into the jungle on a road accessible only by 4 wheel drive, to an area where there are several homesteads. Homesteads are land the government gives to individuals if they are able to maintain crop production. These plots are usually very remote and therefore difficult to get to. No one visits these people. Wanted criminals know this and sometimes choose to relocate to these areas, living in virtual obscurity (in fact, a month ago in this very area, a man wanted for a killing spree down south was found after his picture was shown on TV).
So it is to these remote, lonely and sometime desperate places that we are called to plant churches. Our first stop is at a house where the owner is described to me as a community leader of sorts. After watching him, I realize it is his personality that has put him in this position. Gregarious and friendly, I watched him warm up to people quickly. The plan was to travel throughout the area visiting as many homesteads as we could in the afternoon, inviting people to the evening service. Two guys in our group brought motorcycles, so they each took someone and headed out in different directions. I was paired with our friend the community leader, I’ll call him Mr. Z, not for anonymities sake (you’ll never find this guy) but because I can’t pronounce or spell his name, and one other young man from our team. It made for an odd scene, my younger, inexperienced partner and I, along with Mr. Z, who by the way is not yet a believer, traipsing off through the jungle in my Landcruiser, inviting people to the service and handing out tracts.
Mr. Z and Emerson (left) talking with a neighbor.
Mr. Z was warmly welcomed to every house we went, and as guests of his, we were as well. We visited 6-8 houses over the period of about 2 hours. All were genuinely happy to have visitors and were glad that our group had come to put on a service. As an American, who spoke funny, I was often the butt of Mr. Z’s humor and joking. As we headed back to Mr. Z’s house to prepare for the service, we picked people up on the way who had already begun the long journey on foot. I had about 14 people packed inside, standing on the bumper, and hanging on top of my truck.
Another mile down the road we picked up several more people.
We counted about 70 people who showed up for the service. This was not a planned service. People simply dropped what they were doing and came. I don’t know if people came because they were hungry to hear the gospel, or if they just jumped at the opportunity to get out and see their neighbors.
The evening service.
We planted the pits of 5 mangos the other day, in hopes of getting one healthy tree out of the bunch. Planting churches is kind of like that. I don’t know how long it will be before they have a church building or regular weekly meetings in this area. Or if they will ever have a healthy, vibrant church. But it seems like what I saw was the beginning of a sprout just coming up through the soil. A church at its most raw beginnings. It was a beautiful thing. If you think of it say a prayer for Mr. Z, he would make a great pastor.
But everything, it seemed, had a Brasilian flair to it, with which a careful look would revel how decidedly different our cultures are. Take for example, the rodeo. Beforehand, the announcer brought out all the cowboys (the of which is borrowed from English), they stood in a line and a prayer was said. I was shocked to see the cowboys, not only take off their hats and bow their heads, but many of them dropped to their knees, raising their hands to heaven as if they were in a worship service. At first I thought this must be a Christian rodeo, but then I realized this was just another example of the tendency towards drama, to make everything into a big production.
Later that evening someone from our group bought everyone a meal ticket at a hotdog stand. Before I realized what had happened, someone handed me a ticket for a hotdog. Not really sure that I even wanted to eat a hotdog, I found myself feeling rather sheepish that I was forced to accept a gift from someone that probably couldn’t afford it. What to me was an uncomfortable moment, was to everyone else quite normal: someone wanted to eat, they had money when no one else did, they couldn’t eat in front of everyone else, so they bought everyone some food – it was as simple as that. The hotdog was fairly normal, but the curve was thrown as I looked at all the toppings. Everyone else in my group was heaping everything from corn to peas to cabbage on top, I settled for ketchup, but noticed everyone laughing at my naked hotdog. I tried to explain that I’m not entirely Brasilian yet.
We found this clean, American looking vendor very out of place in Brazil,My next awkward moment came when I realized I was going to need something to drink with my hotdog. I noticed one other person had bought a soda and was sharing it, so I thought I could do that. After taking a drink I handed it to a girl next to me. She took a drink and handed it down the line. I watched as my soda traveled further from me, wondering if I would ever see it again. I stealthily walked to the end of the line so I could intercept it for drink.
I laughed with Brin about this later. If I were hanging out with friends back home, I wouldn’t think twice about buying a drink for myself. I assume if they want one they will buy one themselves and I’m sure not going to turn my soda can into a communal chalice to be passed from person to person. It’s amazing how affluence can breed a selfishness that prevents us from seeing the needs of others. Having less forces us to look at things less as ‘mine’ and more as ‘ours.’ …I like that (except for the sharing of the drink part, that’s just gross).
-JTP
