Over the years we have had many visitors from the US who have come to help us with sundry projects here in Brazil. They have stayed for anywhere from a few days to a few months. They have come by themselves or in groups. And invariably, as plans are being made for their visit, they…
My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. Here in Brazil, it seems everybody wants to be a prophet. I’ve had people I’ve never met try to proclaim a “prophetic word” over me. In many so-called evangelical groups, being a simple pastor is…
Current reading: The Existence and Attributes of God by Stephen Charnock The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt Exploring Metaphysics by David K Johnson How to Write a Thesis by Umberto Eco Apology for Raymond Sebond by Michel De Montaign When in Rome… Last week we wrote about the current trend of men admitting they…
A few random moments from our work over the past several days. Don’t forget that you can see these things as they happen by following us on Instagram. I love doing this for two reasons: 1) I get to see the progress of the construction firsthand, and 2) I get some good downtime with our…
As I was sifting through our photo archives the other day, it dawned on me that in the course of our almost two decades in Brazil we have had many encounters of the six-legged or eight-legged kind. These encounters have ranged from the interesting to the downright terrifying. And many of them have been caught…
This weekend we spent some time at camp, overseeing progress on the ongoing projects. For several months we have been trying to figure out what to do about our swimming area. After several false starts we have found a contractor who has done this kind of work before, and who has given us a price…
Several years ago I “rescued” some of my parents’ old music LPs from certain death. Since then I have often wanted to listen to them, with one main issue standing in the way: I had no phonograph player. I kept my eyes open, but the cost of a new one here in Brazil was always…
Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! On September 21, 1788 the army of the Holy Roman Empire was arrayed against that of the Ottoman Empire. On paper, it looked like the Austrians had the superior force and a good chance at victory….
Several years ago our family had the opportunity to visit the spectacular Foz de Iguaçu waterfalls. While we’ve featured video of the Foz here before, I realized we had never shared these first-hand pictures. Foz de Iguaçu is high on our list of places we would like to return to someday. _____________________ Did you enjoy…
There are some exciting things going on at Ebenezer Baptist Church, the congregation we had the privilege to plant beginning in 2012. Nine months ago they called Paulo as their first full-time (non missionary-supported) pastor, and since then he has been doing an outstanding job. Though we are helping out in a sister church, we…