Behind our Kerigma congregation stretches a sizable neighborhood called “Coroadinho”. It is known as a hotbed of crime and violence. Within this neighborhood–and within sight of our church–is a hill named after a colorful figure from Coroadinho’s past known as “Ze Bom Bom”. If Coroadinho is a hurricane of crime, Ze Bom Bom hill is…
When we decided to dedicate our efforts to graduating the Kerigma church plant, one of the areas we observed where we could make the biggest impact was in the youth group. When we arrived, the congregation had various children’s ministries, but no real youth program. As a result, over the last five years many children…
This post is part of an ongoing series which seeks to introduce the readership of this blog to the many fascinating aspects of one of Brazil’s best-kept secrets–the city of São Luís. Since 1994 it has been my privilege to watch the Independence Day parades (September 7th, here in Brazil) in many different locations. It’s…
Several factors motivated us to get Mikey into scouting while we were on furlough in the US earlier this year. Not the least of these was that he thrived with the adventures that the scout program provides. Upon our arrival in São Luís we were delighted to find a thriving Boy Scout (Escoteiro) program here….
My son Michael had just been born, eight days earlier. He was home, and I was back to work. The previous evening I worked an overnight shift, and was sleeping when my wife came in and mentioned something about towers falling in NY. In a groggy stupor I acknowledged that she had spoken, rolled over,…
We were recently saddened by the sudden (to us) closing of a sister mission agency. The agency in question has been used of God to enhance the work of missionaries all over the globe. We have many personal friends who worked with this group. This agency was one of the ones Itacyara and I considered…
Editor’s note: I wrote this article back in 2011. Since then the website referenced appears to have been scrubbed, as have the graphics I originally shared. The only online presence for the Houston church appears to be a Facebook page, whose last post is from 2015. With that in mind I’ve heavily modified the first…
Editor’s note: back when we first bought the camp property, our working name was for it was “Acampamento Elim”. In re-posting this article almost thirteen years later, I’ve changed the title to reflect the actual name. Ever since before we arrived Brazil, we have been aware of the great need of our churches in São…
About an hour–by boat–from downtown São Luís is a little peninsula called Alcântara. Although seemingly unimportant when seen on a map, the history of this “finger” of land is intricately wound up in the history of São Luís itself. Back in the days of “King Cotton”, when the prosperity of Maranhão was wholly dependent on…
On one of my more recent ventures into downtown São Luís I happened to see a post card of a beautiful facade in a local bookstore. I had never noticed such a building in all my wanderings in the historical district. Later on that afternoon I found myself looking through a fence at an enticingly…