Abner, general-in-chief of King Shaul’s armed forces, had grown used to awkward family dinners. When the king’s oldest son and heir to the throne was best friends with a man the king hated with the heat of a thousand suns, and when one of the king’s daughters was married to him…well…conversations tended to die out…
Abner spurred his horse ahead, trying desperately to keep up with his master, Shaul, king of Israel. For his part, Shaul rode like a man possessed. Ever since trying, and failing, to skewer David to the wall with his spear, the king had descended even further into the darkness, forgetting his royal duties in his…
As we jump feet first into 2026, here are the last pictures from 2025. As always, you can see these in “real time” by following us on Instagram. ____________________ Did you enjoy this post? Consider making a donation to our ministry in Brazil. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This means…
Yesterday I posted this picture on Instagram and Facebook, with the caption “Look closely”: And to be honest, it is not hard to focus on what is going on in the foreground and miss the 727 casually parked next to a gas station. I’m publishing this as a “Best of Brazil” post because this illustrates…
Earlier this month the Mount Zion Baptist Camp held its sixth annual teen retreat. It was a memorable event, not just for the normal reasons, but because it almost didn’t happen. The week before camp started registrations were so low that we came very close to canceling the event – which would have been a…
Michal peered through the upstairs window at the moonlit street below. The two men lounging against the wall were doing their best to appear nonchalant…and failing miserably. Michal turned to her husband who paced back and forth in the middle of the room. Even in the shadows she could tell that he had been running…
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21 Dear friends, On July 15th of this year, Itacyara and I celebrated twenty-five…
On our recent trip to the city of Curitiba (southern Brazil, in the state of Paraná) we had the opportunity to visit a truly remarkable place, called Vila Velha. What makes this place noteworthy are the large formations of sandstone that jut out of the ground, almost as if they sprung up there on their…
Seeing as how our last Snapshots post was in June, we have some catching up to do. As always, you can see this pictures in real time by following us on Instagram. ____________________ Did you enjoy this post? Consider making a donation to our ministry in Brazil. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying…
You will pardon the all-caps in the title, but we have been searching, and praying, and working, and praying some more on this for a long time. First, some of our readers may need to be brought up to speed. Back in 2023, the then-pastor of Ebenezer approached us with the opportunity to purchase a…