Lucas - People of Brazil

    This is probably not the image that comes to mind when you think of the people of Brazil, but he is fully Brazilian!  It is surprising how many fair-skinned people live here.  Because Brazil was not heavily involved in World War II, many people fled here for refuge, including Germans, Italians, Jews, and Japanese.
     Most lighter-skinned people in our area are of German descent.  In fact, a couple weeks ago I was waiting in line to do some paperwork and the lady in front of me noticed our children and began speaking to them.  In the course of explaining to her that I don't speak Portuguese, I discovered that she speaks German and so (because of my Pennsylvania-Dutch background) I was able to carry on a conversation with her in German!  It was quite amazing since almost no one speaks English and I never think to ask if they might speak German!

     This boy, Lucas, is as Brazilian as can be and as far as I could discover, so are his parents.  However, he was of German descent and his shirt proudly displayed a German flag next to a Brazilian flag.  He loves to run up to me with an excited, "Hi" (his one English word) and then he runs off again!

Lizards and Laundry Baskets

     You may wonder what our kids are up to these days.....(sometimes I do too!)  So, what do missionary's kids play with, anyway?  Why,.....lizards and laundry baskets, of course!

     Johnathan loves to watch the lizards that run around on the walls outside (and inside!)  To his great delight and entertainment, he and Daddy catch one occasionally. Umm...yeah, a couple of our lizards might be running around without their tails.....(oops!)

     Meanwhile, Mahalia watches the fun from the laundry basket (when it isn't full of laundry coming on or off the clothes line.)  She is pretty stable sitting up now, but on these hard tile floors, if I can't be sitting next to her, I usually put her in the laundry basket.  Add a few toys, and -voila!- portable playpen.

     And such is the stressful life of a missionary kid.  Must be rough.

First Day of Winter

     Today is the first day of winter here in the Southern Hemisphere, so..... I just thought you might like to celebrate winter here with us!  Oh, by the way, this is what the temperature is (in the shade) on the first day of winter:

     Hmmmm.... hot chocolate, anyone?

Manuelly - People of Brazil

     This little girl is in Johnathan's Sunday School class.  Her parent's have been coming to the church for years and are a great blessing.   Though Manuelly is hardly older than Johnathan, she loves to hold his hand and lead him to the right class room after sunday school opening. 

     She (and her entire family) is always so happy; definitely a blessing to have in church!

The Best Five Years

     Five years ago began the best years of my life!  That was the day that the most wonderful lady in the world looked into my eyes and answered the preacher's question with a confident, "I Do."

   

     It has been so wonderful to have Tracy by my side every step of the way throughout these past five years!  Together we have finished my Bible college studies, realized and accepted God's call for us to minister in Brazil, traveled on deputation for two-and-a-half years, had two children, and have now moved to Cuiabá, Brazil!

     Last night we were able go out to a restaurant here in Cuiabá.  We were so thankful that the Duarte's volunteered to babysit our kids so we could have the evening free.  Since we don't have a vehicle and we don't know the language, we asked Jeremy and Esther Lockhart to escort and accompany us for the evening (though we made them sit at a different table at the outdoor restaurant!)

   

     If you're wondering about the sandwich, it would put a whopper to shame!  The menu has about six different lists that you have to choose your ingredients from.  The first list is for the kind of bread that you want, the second it the main burger, then you get to choose four secondary meats (yes, four!), then you choose four kinds of cheese, four veggies, and then the kind of sauce that you want.  I can't remember everything that was on it, but I know that it had a bacon burger, canadian bacon, fried sausage, ham, fried egg (I know-that sounds weird-but it's very yummy!), mozzarella, provolone, cheddar (Brazilian cheddar), parmesan, lettuce, tomato, pickles, and an onion/mayo sauce.  

     It comes as a meal with an order of fries and a can of soda for less than $10.  The sandwich is so big that we shared it. 

     We had a great evening celebrating our fifth wedding anniversary, thanks again to the Lockharts and the Duartes!

     And thank you to my wonderful wife, Tracy, for being patient with me and putting up with me over the past five years.  These years have absolutely been the best years of my life and I look forward to many, many wonderful years with you!

     

João Pedro - People of Brazil

     This little boy is the son of a couple who go to the mission church here.  We had an outdoor church fellowship last week and this guy was having a lot of fun playing in the dusty parking lot along with all the other kids.  He is fully Brazilian, though his natural blond highlights are not common for people in this area.  He is about the age of our son and so they get to play together after church.