In January our BMM missionaries in NE Brazil get together for their annual conference/business meeting (we are good Baptists, after all…). This year we did not attend as we are in the US on furlough. However colleague Vicki Reiner posted some beautiful pictures of Triunfo, the city where the conference was held. With her permission…
A couple years ago we were approached by a couple young people from Peace Baptist Church in Juazeiro about the possibility of starting and English-language Sunday School class. The idea was to reach out to the many young people in the community who are studying English and welcome opportunities to practice it. This ministry proved…
Our sending church has a male vocal group named “Men of Song”. It has been my privilege to sing with these men, under the fearless leadership of Larry Madrid, while we have been in the US on furlough. This evening we sang at an event here in Bartow called “Leap of Faith”. For our first…
If you have not yet read Part One, you can do so here. Tuesday dawned bright and clear. I got out of bed and looked apprehensively out the window–wonder of wonders, our rental vehicle was still there. Excited about the prospect of getting to Florida, we bundled into said rental vehicle and pulled out of…
“Andrew, did you park your van in the driveway last night?” The voice penetrating my slumber belonged to Sally, our hostess for the previous two days. We had spent New Years day and the following Sunday at Capitol Allentown Baptist Ministries in Maryland, just outside of Washington DC. CAB Ministries has supported us faithfully ever…
Author’s note: This post has been edited for content to make it more “history” and less “commentary”. A few days ago I posted some video footage of Northeast Brazil in the 1950s. This next series of videos was shot about the same time. All four comprise a documentary made by our BMM missionaries for recruitment…
The following is a letter I wrote to a teacher who marked my son off for using the word “Indian” in reference to the Navajos. She preferred the term “Native American” as “Indians live in India.” Greetings! This is in response to your note about my son’s use of the term “Indians” in his assignment….
One of the most popular questions we get as we visit our supporting churches on furlough is “What happened to the puppet ministry?” While our partnership with Cícero and Nice ended for geographical reasons (we each moved to different parts of Brazil), the work still continues. With the support of her husband Cícero, Nice has…
Someone “facebooked” a photo of the class of 2010 at the Cariri Baptist Seminary in their graduation outfits. Itacyara and I have a special bond with this class, as we watched them develop from freshmen until we left the seminary in the middle of their senior year (the Brazilian school year runs from February through…
It’s been a while since we have featured one of these. The song Corcovado by the incomparable Tom Jobim is one of the most beautiful Bossa Nova melodies ever written. Few things help me relax more than this lovely piece. And nobody sings it better than the Japanese/Brazilian vocalist Lisa Ono. Enjoy. My favorite line…