I mentioned yesterday that I've had a horrible cold over the last 10 days. Benay and Giovanni actually had it first. It's a bad one.
The last couple of weeks the kids have been on their winter break from school. Bronwyn has even had a winter break from her job. It's been very cold and so we've stayed indoors a lot and stayed close to the floor heaters.
As you might expect with a big family, who have been staying inside because of the cold, when someone gets sick it is easy to spread it around. Almost everyone in our house has had some version of this cold/flu.
Today it was Garrett's turn. He woke up crying. He had a fever and felt horrible. He has literally been in the bed all day. He feels a little bit better but he was asleep tonight by 6:20.
This afternoon Benay, Bronwyn and I took Anderson, Carys and Giovanni to the mall for a celebration of Sponge Bob's birthday in Brasil (we told you we were going to stay busy on our winter break with only fun stuff). On the way home we had to make a stop to see our friends who own a hardware store in our neighborhood.
Benay and I went into the store and left the kids in the car. As I left the car Anderson started complaining about not feeling well. By the time we got back in the car he was crying like crazy. He cried the whole way home.
About 5 minutes after he got home he yakked on the floor in his room. As most 5 year olds do after throwing up, he felt better almost immediately. He asked for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. We explained why that wasn't a good idea.
He and Garrett (they share a room) then said they wanted to watch a movie since they were both in quarantine. We have a portable DVD player that we take on long road trips and so I began to hook that up for them to watch the movie while they stayed in their beds.
I told them to pick a movie that they both wanted to watch. Before those words were barely out of my mouth Anderson popped out of bed, looked at Garrett and said, "I get to pick. I'm more sick than you! I puked and you didn't." It was actually a pride filled statement. Like his puking was a bigger accomplishment than some measly old fever.
Garrett agreed that Anderson could choose. Anderson asked for one of the Rocky movies. Garrett objected. He said he wanted something else. Anderson had no problem with that. He thought for a minute and said, "Okay.....Blues Clues." Garrett rolled his eyes, covered his head up with a pillow and started to laugh.
Even in puke filled, fever filled times our kids keep us smiling.
P.S. In case you are wondering, Anderson eventually chose A Knight's Tale with Heath Ledger. Five minutes after I started the movie they were both asleep.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Leni
A few months ago we shared about our sister who is part of the house church that meets in our house. You can read more about her here, here and here. Her name is Leni.
Leni lives in a rented house with her son Jorge. Leni is a masseuse and is on call for hotels. Because of the world wide economy dive her business is really suffering right now. Jorge works in marketing, will graduate college in business administration next month, and is currently looking for a different job.
We have grown to love this family very much. They are a strong part of what God is doing here in Porto Alegre. Many Sundays they just hang out with us after house church and eat lunch with us and laugh with our kids.
To be honest, they don't have very many material things but you will never hear them complain. In fact, instead of complaining, Leni goes out of her way to help those in need.
If you've followed this blog for the last few days you know the story of Everton and Daiana.
They were with us at the celebration on Sunday.Benay asked Daiana if they were staying warm enough during the night. Their house is made of wood planks with many cracks in between and we have had some pretty cold nights recently. She hesitated and said no. That was all Leni needed to hear.
She immediately went to almost every person in the room asking for help. She then came to me and said, "I know you are sick (I've had a horrible cold for about a week) but do you think you can take me out there on Wednesday to take these things?"
Monday night Ivoli and her husband, Carlão, brought pillows, blankets and food. More people have committed to give but did not get the things to us in time before we left Wednesday for the visit.
Yesterday morning we picked up Leni. She had about 12 liters of milk for the family, clothes and blankets.
We loaded everything up in our little car and headed to see Daiana. Carys went with us.
We got to the house and brought everything in. Daiana was very happy. Last week she said the two people she really missed were Leni and Benay. Today she got to give a hug to both of them.
The boys and Cássia were happy to hang out with Carys. I find myself thanking God that our kids get to have a front row seat, and be involved in, selfless giving when there is a need.
In a little over one week Daiana has really made this house into a home for her family.
While Benay and Leni took a tour of the new house, I made my way to the back door to get one more thing from the car. I bumped into Daiana who was in the kitchen. She had tears rolling down her face. She was overwhelmed by God's goodness. She told us later that her youngest son was asking her for milk earlier and she had to tell him no because they didn't have any money to buy milk. God is good and it's fun to watch how He works through His kids.
Everything Daiana received today came about because Leni felt touched by the Spirit on Sunday night and immediately acted upon it.
Leni told me that she won't ask for things for herself, and I know this to be true, but if she knows someone else has a need she jumps on it.
Benay and I feel very blessed and humbled to be a part of what God is doing here. Today was another example of Acts 2 in action.
We praise God for Leni. He is using her in mighty ways.
Leni lives in a rented house with her son Jorge. Leni is a masseuse and is on call for hotels. Because of the world wide economy dive her business is really suffering right now. Jorge works in marketing, will graduate college in business administration next month, and is currently looking for a different job.
We have grown to love this family very much. They are a strong part of what God is doing here in Porto Alegre. Many Sundays they just hang out with us after house church and eat lunch with us and laugh with our kids.
To be honest, they don't have very many material things but you will never hear them complain. In fact, instead of complaining, Leni goes out of her way to help those in need.
If you've followed this blog for the last few days you know the story of Everton and Daiana.
They were with us at the celebration on Sunday.Benay asked Daiana if they were staying warm enough during the night. Their house is made of wood planks with many cracks in between and we have had some pretty cold nights recently. She hesitated and said no. That was all Leni needed to hear.
She immediately went to almost every person in the room asking for help. She then came to me and said, "I know you are sick (I've had a horrible cold for about a week) but do you think you can take me out there on Wednesday to take these things?"
Monday night Ivoli and her husband, Carlão, brought pillows, blankets and food. More people have committed to give but did not get the things to us in time before we left Wednesday for the visit.
Yesterday morning we picked up Leni. She had about 12 liters of milk for the family, clothes and blankets.
We loaded everything up in our little car and headed to see Daiana. Carys went with us.
We got to the house and brought everything in. Daiana was very happy. Last week she said the two people she really missed were Leni and Benay. Today she got to give a hug to both of them.
The boys and Cássia were happy to hang out with Carys. I find myself thanking God that our kids get to have a front row seat, and be involved in, selfless giving when there is a need.
In a little over one week Daiana has really made this house into a home for her family.
While Benay and Leni took a tour of the new house, I made my way to the back door to get one more thing from the car. I bumped into Daiana who was in the kitchen. She had tears rolling down her face. She was overwhelmed by God's goodness. She told us later that her youngest son was asking her for milk earlier and she had to tell him no because they didn't have any money to buy milk. God is good and it's fun to watch how He works through His kids.Everything Daiana received today came about because Leni felt touched by the Spirit on Sunday night and immediately acted upon it.
Leni told me that she won't ask for things for herself, and I know this to be true, but if she knows someone else has a need she jumps on it.
Benay and I feel very blessed and humbled to be a part of what God is doing here. Today was another example of Acts 2 in action.
We praise God for Leni. He is using her in mighty ways.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Bedtime
Caught these two conked out on the couch while watching a movie. There aren't many things better than going to sleep with your baby in your lap......or your mom holding you as the case may be. 
I know we may be a little bit biased but we think this little chubby cheeked guy is kind of cute. 
I know we may be a little bit biased but we think this little chubby cheeked guy is kind of cute. 
Monday, July 27, 2009
Run for your lives!
This is what happened on Saturday:
That's right. Our oldest child behind the wheel of a car and learning how to drive.
If we lived in the United States she would have started driving three and a half years ago with a learner's permit.
In Brasil you have to be 18 to get a license. You first have to go to driving school and this costs hundreds of dollars. Bronwyn also gets around pretty good on the city buses and uses taxis when she has to.
We thought we'd save some money and wait until our next furlough for her to take a driving test.
So, on Saturday we started our own little driving school.
We have a good size park one house away from our house and so we did some circles around the park. We ventured out a little bit to a couple of other streets.
I asked her to drive us the one mile to the grocery store but she didn't want any part of that.
I don't know if it's good or bad for her driving instructor but she kept repeating that she didn't think she was a type of person who needed a driver's license. She told me that whatever city she lives in she will just take a bus.
First day jitters.
Pray for Bronwyn, her driving instructor and all the cats and dogs in our neighborhood.
That's right. Our oldest child behind the wheel of a car and learning how to drive.If we lived in the United States she would have started driving three and a half years ago with a learner's permit.
In Brasil you have to be 18 to get a license. You first have to go to driving school and this costs hundreds of dollars. Bronwyn also gets around pretty good on the city buses and uses taxis when she has to.
We thought we'd save some money and wait until our next furlough for her to take a driving test.
So, on Saturday we started our own little driving school.
We have a good size park one house away from our house and so we did some circles around the park. We ventured out a little bit to a couple of other streets.
I asked her to drive us the one mile to the grocery store but she didn't want any part of that.
I don't know if it's good or bad for her driving instructor but she kept repeating that she didn't think she was a type of person who needed a driver's license. She told me that whatever city she lives in she will just take a bus.
First day jitters.
Pray for Bronwyn, her driving instructor and all the cats and dogs in our neighborhood.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Christ's Church
"The church of Jesus Christ is a home not only for the morally upright but for the moral failures and for those who for a variety of reasons have not been able to honor denominational teaching. The Church is a healing community proclaiming the Father's indiscriminate love and unconditional grace, offering pardon, reconciliation and salvation to the down-trodden and leaving judgment to God.
A Church that will not accept the fact that it consists of sinful men and exists for sinful men becomes hard-hearted, self-righteous, inhuman. It deserves neither God's mercy nor men's trust. But if a Church with a history of fidelity and infidelity, of knowledge and error, takes seriously the fact that it is only in God's Kingdom that the wheat is separated from the tares, good fish from bad, sheep from goats, a holiness will be acknowledged in it by grace which it cannot create for itself.
Such a Church is then aware that it has no need to present a spectacle of higher morality to society, as if everything in it were ordered to the best. It is aware that its faith is weak, its knowledge dim, its profession of faith halting, that there is not a single sin or failing which it has not in one way or another been guilty of. And though it is true that the Church must always dissociate itself from sin, it can never have any excuse for keeping any sinners at a distance. If the Church self-righteously remains aloof from failures, irreligious and immoral people, it cannot enter justified into God's kingdom. But if it is constantly aware of its guilt and sin, it can live in joyous awareness of forgiveness. The promise has been given to it that anyone who humbles himself will be exalted."
Hans Küng-from his book On Being a Christian
A Church that will not accept the fact that it consists of sinful men and exists for sinful men becomes hard-hearted, self-righteous, inhuman. It deserves neither God's mercy nor men's trust. But if a Church with a history of fidelity and infidelity, of knowledge and error, takes seriously the fact that it is only in God's Kingdom that the wheat is separated from the tares, good fish from bad, sheep from goats, a holiness will be acknowledged in it by grace which it cannot create for itself.
Such a Church is then aware that it has no need to present a spectacle of higher morality to society, as if everything in it were ordered to the best. It is aware that its faith is weak, its knowledge dim, its profession of faith halting, that there is not a single sin or failing which it has not in one way or another been guilty of. And though it is true that the Church must always dissociate itself from sin, it can never have any excuse for keeping any sinners at a distance. If the Church self-righteously remains aloof from failures, irreligious and immoral people, it cannot enter justified into God's kingdom. But if it is constantly aware of its guilt and sin, it can live in joyous awareness of forgiveness. The promise has been given to it that anyone who humbles himself will be exalted."
Hans Küng-from his book On Being a Christian
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Winter in Brasil
I'm sure many people that read our blog think that it's always warm in Brasil and that we live near the beach or the Amazon or near the Christ statue in Rio. That's okay, we had the same misconceptions before we studied up on Brasil.
For many Brasilians it is warm year round or nearly year round. For many Brasilians they do live near the beach or the Amazon.
Not us.
We live in the southernmost state in the country. We live in the last big city you come to if you follow the map down the coast of Brasil.
We have four seasons and we have cold weather. Now before you think we get snow and temperatures in the teens let me stop you. If there is a forecast of snow in the mountains (about 2 hours away) people will leave our city and go there just to get a chance to see it. If you are a Brasilian and have never left the country there is a very small chance that you have seen snow. If you have, it's just the sprinkling kind that doesn't stick.
How can we say it gets cold here if it doesn't snow and the temperatures rarely get below freezing? Well, the walls of our house aren't insulated. It's just concrete (this is normal for all homes). We also don't have central heat. Only the rich have anything like central heat. We have floor heaters and window air units that shoot out heat. The problem with those things are if you run them too much your utility bill will be insane.
Last night was one of the coldest nights we've ever had in our 8 winters here. It was just under freezing. On nights like last night we leave the heaters on in the kids' rooms. The bigger kids (me and Benay in our bed and Ansley and Bronwyn in their bed) just snuggle up for warmth.
All day in our house today you could see your breath.
I must be becoming more Brasilian because I got excited this morning to see this:
It's just a frost on the back window of our car but we'd never seen it here before.
Here is a close up of it:
Like I said, it was exciting.
The freezing cold reminded Benay and myself of our first night in our new apartment here in 2002. We had just spent 3 weeks living in a hotel and we were dying to get out of there and excited to move into our "own" place. We had a great view of part of the city from our den window and I wanted to take advantage of it and sleep in front of the window. Our personal things that we had shipped to Brasil would not arrive here for another 3 months and we had not yet bought our beds to sleep on.
Claudio, the building supervisor and now our brother in Christ, brought us an adaptor so that we could plug up a little space heater in this big room.
I forgot to mention that I left our electric blankets in the hotel. A couple hours later we realized what I had done. Benay called the hotel and they had no recollection of ever seeing any blankets like that. Interesting. I was not high on Benay's best buddy list after losing those blankets.
Our first night in the apartment I somehow got so wrapped up in sleeping with a view that it did not register with me that our sleeping bags and air mattress in a big room with a very small space heater would not do a great job of keeping us warm. Benay went along with it anyway.
About 2 in the morning I awoke to my wife sucking the life out of me with her death body grip. She was trying to get every ounce of heat from my body.
She was also awake and as our teeth chattered we began to just crack up. Something about the whole, miserable situation just made us laugh like little kids.
There is something about winter here that makes this place special to us.
I confess I would love to have warmth year round. I would love to go to bed during the winter and not freeze. I would love to not need 7 warm days to get the cold out of your house after have a couple of cold days.
But, we would miss dressing warm and going into the mountains to our favorite restaurants and eating soup. We would miss seeing our breath (okay maybe not in our house). We would miss getting under blankets as we watch movies together.
I remember hearing from people, before we moved here, that Porto Alegre was the coldest place they had ever been. I thought they were nuts.
As my ice cold hands type these words you can believe I'm not laughing at them anymore.
For many Brasilians it is warm year round or nearly year round. For many Brasilians they do live near the beach or the Amazon.
Not us.
We live in the southernmost state in the country. We live in the last big city you come to if you follow the map down the coast of Brasil.
We have four seasons and we have cold weather. Now before you think we get snow and temperatures in the teens let me stop you. If there is a forecast of snow in the mountains (about 2 hours away) people will leave our city and go there just to get a chance to see it. If you are a Brasilian and have never left the country there is a very small chance that you have seen snow. If you have, it's just the sprinkling kind that doesn't stick.
How can we say it gets cold here if it doesn't snow and the temperatures rarely get below freezing? Well, the walls of our house aren't insulated. It's just concrete (this is normal for all homes). We also don't have central heat. Only the rich have anything like central heat. We have floor heaters and window air units that shoot out heat. The problem with those things are if you run them too much your utility bill will be insane.
Last night was one of the coldest nights we've ever had in our 8 winters here. It was just under freezing. On nights like last night we leave the heaters on in the kids' rooms. The bigger kids (me and Benay in our bed and Ansley and Bronwyn in their bed) just snuggle up for warmth.
All day in our house today you could see your breath.
I must be becoming more Brasilian because I got excited this morning to see this:
It's just a frost on the back window of our car but we'd never seen it here before.Here is a close up of it:
Like I said, it was exciting.The freezing cold reminded Benay and myself of our first night in our new apartment here in 2002. We had just spent 3 weeks living in a hotel and we were dying to get out of there and excited to move into our "own" place. We had a great view of part of the city from our den window and I wanted to take advantage of it and sleep in front of the window. Our personal things that we had shipped to Brasil would not arrive here for another 3 months and we had not yet bought our beds to sleep on.
Claudio, the building supervisor and now our brother in Christ, brought us an adaptor so that we could plug up a little space heater in this big room.
I forgot to mention that I left our electric blankets in the hotel. A couple hours later we realized what I had done. Benay called the hotel and they had no recollection of ever seeing any blankets like that. Interesting. I was not high on Benay's best buddy list after losing those blankets.
Our first night in the apartment I somehow got so wrapped up in sleeping with a view that it did not register with me that our sleeping bags and air mattress in a big room with a very small space heater would not do a great job of keeping us warm. Benay went along with it anyway.
About 2 in the morning I awoke to my wife sucking the life out of me with her death body grip. She was trying to get every ounce of heat from my body.
She was also awake and as our teeth chattered we began to just crack up. Something about the whole, miserable situation just made us laugh like little kids.
There is something about winter here that makes this place special to us.
I confess I would love to have warmth year round. I would love to go to bed during the winter and not freeze. I would love to not need 7 warm days to get the cold out of your house after have a couple of cold days.
But, we would miss dressing warm and going into the mountains to our favorite restaurants and eating soup. We would miss seeing our breath (okay maybe not in our house). We would miss getting under blankets as we watch movies together.
I remember hearing from people, before we moved here, that Porto Alegre was the coldest place they had ever been. I thought they were nuts.
As my ice cold hands type these words you can believe I'm not laughing at them anymore.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Saturday
We shared yesterday about what we did last Friday night.
Today we wanted to share about what we did on Saturday. It is going to be a long blog. Honestly, it's too good to be short. Hang in there until the end. We know you will be blessed by reading about what God is doing here.
If you've followed this blog this year then you will remember Everton and his wife Daiana and their five kids.
Everton just completed his stay at the chácara. I feel like I need to give a little background on him before continuing.
Everton was 11 when he started taking drugs. I won't get into things he did, and who he was before the chácara. Let's just say God has worked a miracle.
This was Everton's third time in the rehabilitation center. The first time he stayed for 15 days and then left and quickly returned to drugs.
The second time he stayed for 8 months and was asked to leave when some guys with guns came to the chácara looking for him. The director thought it would be best for the safety of the other men there if Everton went to another rehab center. It is one that is run by the director's mom. Everton went, and didn't stay a day there. He left and went home to Daiana, and within days was back on crack.
This time has been different for Everton. He completed 9 months at the chácara and even stayed a little longer just to be sure he was really ready to go back out into the world. He told us many times that the financial help that our house church gave to Daiana and the kids while Everton was in the chácara helped him to completely focus on his recovery. Before God brought us together there were literally days when his family had no food to eat. Daiana had to sell some of her things to be able to buy food. For the last 5 months our weekly tithe has gone to this family. Just knowing his wife and kids were being taken care of helped him to stay focused on his recovery. Today, he is a new man.
I will never stop being amazed at God and how He moves. While Everton was in the chácara, he became great friends with another man named Walter. Walter lives in another city just outside of Porto Alegre. They entered the chácara together and ended up leaving within days of each other. The recovery program is 9 months but it is no magic time table. You can leave when you want after the 9 months. You aren't kicked out when the 9 months are over. You can also leave at any time before the 9 months. God had it worked out to have Everton and Walter together for time at the chácara.
Some critical factors when leaving the chácara are to find a church family, have a job, and have a place to live. The place to live part tends to be the toughest because there are times when a recovered man has no place to go but back to his home. Unfortunately it's at that home where some of the men began their drug addiction.
This was the case for Everton. He knew that he could not go back to his old house. It's in a horrible neighborhood and he knew it would just be a matter of time before the drug dealers returned after they learned Everton was back. He needed, no had, to move but had no money to do so. He committed to pray about it and was willing to stay at the chácara for as long as he needed.
Walter found out about this and spoke to his dad. His dad had some land close to his house where he had started but didn't finish a house for himself. He had a little building in front of the future house that had been vacant for some time. He offered that to Everton and his family. He offered to let them stay for the next 2-5 years rent free. Yes, rent free.
So a few days ago the Aggies for Christ group went in and began to clean up the house. You can click here for more info on that day. The vacant house had been turned in to a crack house. People had moved into it and used it for drug abuse and prostitution. It was not a pretty sight.
I was completely humbled by Everton when he showed it to me for the first time. Even though the house was filthy from the previous users, Everton acted as if it were a castle. He was so proud to have his own place in a better neighborhood.
The Aggies worked hard and cleaned the house up.
Last Saturday we had the pleasure of loading up Everton, Daiana, the kids and their stuff and moving it to their new house.
I'd like to show you were they moved from first.
As you arrive in their old neighborhood, you have to get out of your car and walk up this alley to get to their house.
This is Garrett coming out of the gate that leads to the house.
Here is a view of the front yard.
This is a view of the back yard. None of what you see belonged to them.
This is the entrance to the home. The bricks on the right aren't even part of their house. They lived in some rooms built off the side of Daiana's mom's house.
A room with a bed. The bed took up almost the entire room space.
A room downstairs. Downstairs was more like a dungeon than a room. It was cold, humid and damp. Their kids were always sick.
This was their kitchen.
Moving day was not a sad day at all for this family. They were excited to begin a new life in a new city. 
We started loading up and taking things out to the cars. These are our brothers Tiago and Ellinton.
We were also blessed to have Everton's boss there helping us. His name is Marcus and unfortunately the only picture I have of him is this one of him loading up his trailer.
Everton has only worked for Marcus for a couple of weeks. Marcus came to the chácara with the purpose of finding a man to help him in his business. He has a gardening business. God put him and Everton together. He has been an incredible blessing to Everton. After only one week of work he allowed Everton to miss days to help clean up his new house, go to the proper places to have the power and water turned on, etc. He told Everton he was going to help him move and then asked if he needed a sofa, television and refrigerator. Everton told him he didn't have any of those things and so Marcus and his wife gave them all to Everton's family. Hard to believe that one month ago Everton didn't even know this man.
We then arrived to their new house which is in Canoas, a large suburb about 15 minutes outside of Porto Alegre.
This a picture of the group (minus Benay and Marcus) that helped most of the day.
After we unloaded the first load, Everton and I returned to Porto Alegre to get some more stuff. This included a stop at Leni and Jorge's house where they gave Everton a baby crib and a sofa. Acts 2 continues. 
If felt like home quickly for everyone. Especially the kids. They had never played in grass before. They stayed in their yard the entire day. We got there about 11 in the morning and we, literally, had to drag them inside at 6 that evening.
Part of having so much freedom for little boys is getting in trouble. I couldn't resist taking this picture of Bruno after his dad made him sit in the chair for some punishment time. He wasn't happy about it.
But I kept bugging him until he smiled. 
Even Cássia felt right at home in her new baby bed. Everton's hammering didn't wake her up.
At the end of the day Diego read Cássia some books.
And the family photo in front of their new house just beams with pride and thankfulness doesn't it?
Please pray for this family. As with each of us, it can sometimes be difficult to get settled in to a new neighborhood. Everton has already said they want to start some kind of house church in their neighborhood. They want to be the light of Christ to their neighbors. We want to help them with that. Benay called Daiana on Sunday and Daiana cried because she missed her house church family (especially Benay and Leni).
They also want to get legally married. They want to be registered by the government as well as having a religious ceremony. This is an incredible blessing.
Before they left the chácara Walter told Everton that he need him in his life to stay strong after they leave. God has now put them two blocks away from each other. Our brother João Spencer, who lives in the same city, has already talked to both of these guys about starting a new accountability group. God is already blessing this family.
I like what Everton told me last week. He said, "Isn't it just like God to give me and my family a new beginning in a place that used to be a crack house?"
God again shows His power.
Today we wanted to share about what we did on Saturday. It is going to be a long blog. Honestly, it's too good to be short. Hang in there until the end. We know you will be blessed by reading about what God is doing here.
If you've followed this blog this year then you will remember Everton and his wife Daiana and their five kids.
Everton just completed his stay at the chácara. I feel like I need to give a little background on him before continuing.
Everton was 11 when he started taking drugs. I won't get into things he did, and who he was before the chácara. Let's just say God has worked a miracle.
This was Everton's third time in the rehabilitation center. The first time he stayed for 15 days and then left and quickly returned to drugs.
The second time he stayed for 8 months and was asked to leave when some guys with guns came to the chácara looking for him. The director thought it would be best for the safety of the other men there if Everton went to another rehab center. It is one that is run by the director's mom. Everton went, and didn't stay a day there. He left and went home to Daiana, and within days was back on crack.
This time has been different for Everton. He completed 9 months at the chácara and even stayed a little longer just to be sure he was really ready to go back out into the world. He told us many times that the financial help that our house church gave to Daiana and the kids while Everton was in the chácara helped him to completely focus on his recovery. Before God brought us together there were literally days when his family had no food to eat. Daiana had to sell some of her things to be able to buy food. For the last 5 months our weekly tithe has gone to this family. Just knowing his wife and kids were being taken care of helped him to stay focused on his recovery. Today, he is a new man.
I will never stop being amazed at God and how He moves. While Everton was in the chácara, he became great friends with another man named Walter. Walter lives in another city just outside of Porto Alegre. They entered the chácara together and ended up leaving within days of each other. The recovery program is 9 months but it is no magic time table. You can leave when you want after the 9 months. You aren't kicked out when the 9 months are over. You can also leave at any time before the 9 months. God had it worked out to have Everton and Walter together for time at the chácara.
Some critical factors when leaving the chácara are to find a church family, have a job, and have a place to live. The place to live part tends to be the toughest because there are times when a recovered man has no place to go but back to his home. Unfortunately it's at that home where some of the men began their drug addiction.
This was the case for Everton. He knew that he could not go back to his old house. It's in a horrible neighborhood and he knew it would just be a matter of time before the drug dealers returned after they learned Everton was back. He needed, no had, to move but had no money to do so. He committed to pray about it and was willing to stay at the chácara for as long as he needed.
Walter found out about this and spoke to his dad. His dad had some land close to his house where he had started but didn't finish a house for himself. He had a little building in front of the future house that had been vacant for some time. He offered that to Everton and his family. He offered to let them stay for the next 2-5 years rent free. Yes, rent free.
So a few days ago the Aggies for Christ group went in and began to clean up the house. You can click here for more info on that day. The vacant house had been turned in to a crack house. People had moved into it and used it for drug abuse and prostitution. It was not a pretty sight.
I was completely humbled by Everton when he showed it to me for the first time. Even though the house was filthy from the previous users, Everton acted as if it were a castle. He was so proud to have his own place in a better neighborhood.
The Aggies worked hard and cleaned the house up.
Last Saturday we had the pleasure of loading up Everton, Daiana, the kids and their stuff and moving it to their new house.
I'd like to show you were they moved from first.
As you arrive in their old neighborhood, you have to get out of your car and walk up this alley to get to their house.
This is Garrett coming out of the gate that leads to the house.
Here is a view of the front yard.
This is a view of the back yard. None of what you see belonged to them.
This is the entrance to the home. The bricks on the right aren't even part of their house. They lived in some rooms built off the side of Daiana's mom's house.
A room with a bed. The bed took up almost the entire room space.
A room downstairs. Downstairs was more like a dungeon than a room. It was cold, humid and damp. Their kids were always sick.
This was their kitchen.
Moving day was not a sad day at all for this family. They were excited to begin a new life in a new city. 
We started loading up and taking things out to the cars. These are our brothers Tiago and Ellinton. 
We were also blessed to have Everton's boss there helping us. His name is Marcus and unfortunately the only picture I have of him is this one of him loading up his trailer.
Everton has only worked for Marcus for a couple of weeks. Marcus came to the chácara with the purpose of finding a man to help him in his business. He has a gardening business. God put him and Everton together. He has been an incredible blessing to Everton. After only one week of work he allowed Everton to miss days to help clean up his new house, go to the proper places to have the power and water turned on, etc. He told Everton he was going to help him move and then asked if he needed a sofa, television and refrigerator. Everton told him he didn't have any of those things and so Marcus and his wife gave them all to Everton's family. Hard to believe that one month ago Everton didn't even know this man.We then arrived to their new house which is in Canoas, a large suburb about 15 minutes outside of Porto Alegre.
This a picture of the group (minus Benay and Marcus) that helped most of the day.
After we unloaded the first load, Everton and I returned to Porto Alegre to get some more stuff. This included a stop at Leni and Jorge's house where they gave Everton a baby crib and a sofa. Acts 2 continues. 
If felt like home quickly for everyone. Especially the kids. They had never played in grass before. They stayed in their yard the entire day. We got there about 11 in the morning and we, literally, had to drag them inside at 6 that evening.
Part of having so much freedom for little boys is getting in trouble. I couldn't resist taking this picture of Bruno after his dad made him sit in the chair for some punishment time. He wasn't happy about it.
But I kept bugging him until he smiled. 
Even Cássia felt right at home in her new baby bed. Everton's hammering didn't wake her up.
At the end of the day Diego read Cássia some books.
And the family photo in front of their new house just beams with pride and thankfulness doesn't it?
Please pray for this family. As with each of us, it can sometimes be difficult to get settled in to a new neighborhood. Everton has already said they want to start some kind of house church in their neighborhood. They want to be the light of Christ to their neighbors. We want to help them with that. Benay called Daiana on Sunday and Daiana cried because she missed her house church family (especially Benay and Leni). They also want to get legally married. They want to be registered by the government as well as having a religious ceremony. This is an incredible blessing.
Before they left the chácara Walter told Everton that he need him in his life to stay strong after they leave. God has now put them two blocks away from each other. Our brother João Spencer, who lives in the same city, has already talked to both of these guys about starting a new accountability group. God is already blessing this family.
I like what Everton told me last week. He said, "Isn't it just like God to give me and my family a new beginning in a place that used to be a crack house?"
God again shows His power.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Christian and Grazi
Last Friday night Benay and I were invited to a couples' dinner at the Emanuel Pentecostal Church. We were invited by Christian and Grazi.
Christian is a man who left the chácara last year after recovering from his drug addiction. You may remember him from our previous blog when some brothers and sisters from different house churches went and painted his and Anderson's apartment over the Carnaval holiday. You may also remember that it was this same apartment that we used to start our accountability group every Friday night.
God has been moving in his life. He and Anderson were offered an opportunity of buying a little grocery store. After praying about it they felt led to move from their apartment and move to another part of the city to become the owners of this grocery store. They also live in the same building as the grocery store. We don't see them as much as we used to or as much as we would like, but that is one of the things about working with the guys from the chácara. After they leave, they all go to different areas of the city. We may have a lot of contact with them after they leave or very little. We are learning to be content to play whatever role for whatever amount of time that God sees fit in their lives.
Back to Friday. We were invited to this church (the home church of Christian and Grazi) not for the meal, but for a celebration. Christian wanted to use this opportunity to exchange engagement rings with Grazi in front of his church family as well as to receive the blessing from his church family.
Benay and I were invited because Christian and Grazi have asked us to be in their wedding. They have also asked our teammate Matt and his wife Waleska to be in it, as well as our brother Paulo Renato. Benay has gotten close with Grazi because of the weekly Bible study they have been doing together. We love both of them and were honored to be a part of Friday night as well as their upcoming wedding.
First the pastor got up and said a few words about the supper and then said the night was much more special than a supper. He then asked Christian to come up and share a few words.
Christian wasn't expecting it, confessed being nervous, but spoke from his heart about Grazi and their relationship.
The pastor then asked Matt to come up and pray a blessing over this couple.
They then exchanged rings.
Then it was picture time with the happy couple.
We ask that you pray for this couple.
They plan on getting married in December.
Christian is a man who left the chácara last year after recovering from his drug addiction. You may remember him from our previous blog when some brothers and sisters from different house churches went and painted his and Anderson's apartment over the Carnaval holiday. You may also remember that it was this same apartment that we used to start our accountability group every Friday night.
God has been moving in his life. He and Anderson were offered an opportunity of buying a little grocery store. After praying about it they felt led to move from their apartment and move to another part of the city to become the owners of this grocery store. They also live in the same building as the grocery store. We don't see them as much as we used to or as much as we would like, but that is one of the things about working with the guys from the chácara. After they leave, they all go to different areas of the city. We may have a lot of contact with them after they leave or very little. We are learning to be content to play whatever role for whatever amount of time that God sees fit in their lives.
Back to Friday. We were invited to this church (the home church of Christian and Grazi) not for the meal, but for a celebration. Christian wanted to use this opportunity to exchange engagement rings with Grazi in front of his church family as well as to receive the blessing from his church family.
Benay and I were invited because Christian and Grazi have asked us to be in their wedding. They have also asked our teammate Matt and his wife Waleska to be in it, as well as our brother Paulo Renato. Benay has gotten close with Grazi because of the weekly Bible study they have been doing together. We love both of them and were honored to be a part of Friday night as well as their upcoming wedding.
First the pastor got up and said a few words about the supper and then said the night was much more special than a supper. He then asked Christian to come up and share a few words.
Christian wasn't expecting it, confessed being nervous, but spoke from his heart about Grazi and their relationship.
The pastor then asked Matt to come up and pray a blessing over this couple.
They then exchanged rings.
Then it was picture time with the happy couple.
We ask that you pray for this couple.
They plan on getting married in December.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Winter Break
We are on our winter break. The kids are out of school for the next couple of weeks.
We decided that since this was our last winter break (or as Bronwyn said...our first and last....since Giovanni has never had a winter break before) before Bronwyn goes to college then we were going to have fun and enjoy this last one together.
Anderson was the first to get out of school and so he and Bronwyn made a list of all the fun things he wants to do over the break. Here it is:
Watch Ice Age 3 in 3D
Go on a trip to Montevideo, Uruguay
Play in the park
Watch Transformers 2
Make smores
Watch Harry Potter 6
Paint pictures
Birthday party for everyone on vacation (we don't understand this one)
Do a big puzzle
Shave (this one is my favorite)
So far he is going through his list without problems. Bronwyn already took the little kids to see Harry Potter 6. Garrett and I took Anderson to the park yesterday to play soccer. Ansley (not surprisingly.....I thought it would have been her or Carys) has already called to help Anderson shave. Anderson woke Bronwyn up at 5:00 this morning to do a puzzle.
Our driving trip to Montevideo trip looks like it will be canceled. The swine flu has hit our state. 11 people have died in the last couple of weeks. It came in from Argentina. The kids' schools are sending emails home telling us that if we travel out of the country then the kids will have to have a doctors note before they will be allowed to come back into school. Taking all of our kids to the doctor before they are allowed to go back to class wasn't that appealing to us so we put that trip on hold.
Tomorrow Garrett and I were going to visit another state in Brasil as he was going to play in a soccer tournament. We got a call today saying it was canceled because of the swine flu.
We aren't going to let our lack of trip taking mess up our fun. How do I know? Well, our new house has a detached garage and on top of the garage is a flat roof that is accessible by stairs. As I type Ansley is leading the smaller kids in a "yoga" class on the flat roof.
Also, when Benay got out of bed at 6:00 this morning she walked in on Carys and Anderson watching TV. They both had a plate which had two pieces of pizza on it and each had a cup of guaraná (a Brasilian soft drink).
So far so good....it seems the kids are definitely enjoying their winter break together.
We decided that since this was our last winter break (or as Bronwyn said...our first and last....since Giovanni has never had a winter break before) before Bronwyn goes to college then we were going to have fun and enjoy this last one together.
Anderson was the first to get out of school and so he and Bronwyn made a list of all the fun things he wants to do over the break. Here it is:
Watch Ice Age 3 in 3D
Go on a trip to Montevideo, Uruguay
Play in the park
Watch Transformers 2
Make smores
Watch Harry Potter 6
Paint pictures
Birthday party for everyone on vacation (we don't understand this one)
Do a big puzzle
Shave (this one is my favorite)
So far he is going through his list without problems. Bronwyn already took the little kids to see Harry Potter 6. Garrett and I took Anderson to the park yesterday to play soccer. Ansley (not surprisingly.....I thought it would have been her or Carys) has already called to help Anderson shave. Anderson woke Bronwyn up at 5:00 this morning to do a puzzle.
Our driving trip to Montevideo trip looks like it will be canceled. The swine flu has hit our state. 11 people have died in the last couple of weeks. It came in from Argentina. The kids' schools are sending emails home telling us that if we travel out of the country then the kids will have to have a doctors note before they will be allowed to come back into school. Taking all of our kids to the doctor before they are allowed to go back to class wasn't that appealing to us so we put that trip on hold.
Tomorrow Garrett and I were going to visit another state in Brasil as he was going to play in a soccer tournament. We got a call today saying it was canceled because of the swine flu.
We aren't going to let our lack of trip taking mess up our fun. How do I know? Well, our new house has a detached garage and on top of the garage is a flat roof that is accessible by stairs. As I type Ansley is leading the smaller kids in a "yoga" class on the flat roof.
Also, when Benay got out of bed at 6:00 this morning she walked in on Carys and Anderson watching TV. They both had a plate which had two pieces of pizza on it and each had a cup of guaraná (a Brasilian soft drink).So far so good....it seems the kids are definitely enjoying their winter break together.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Organized Religion
"The greatest millstone around the neck of organized religion is not its authority figures but the too facile acceptance on the part of leaders and members that ritual and cult can substitute for personal commitment and the sacrifice of one's life."
author Barbara Doherty (from her book I Am What I Do: Contemplation and Human Experience)
author Barbara Doherty (from her book I Am What I Do: Contemplation and Human Experience)
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Aggies
Today we put these guys on a plane headed for Rio.
(From left to right it's: Whitney, Chelsey, Michael, Reece, Traci, Robert and Chris)
They were with us for a little over a week. God used them in big ways to help His family here in Porto Alegre. They were a blessing for our team and our family, and they were a lot of fun to be around.
It's hard to believe that we didn't even know them 8 days ago and now they all have a special place in all our hearts. The only thing Anderson prayed for tonight before he went to bed was for the Americans to be safe in Rio.
Please pray for their safety as they visit Rio for a couple of weeks and then will visit Natal and Recife to help church families there.
We know God will continue to bless their ministry here in Brasil.
(From left to right it's: Whitney, Chelsey, Michael, Reece, Traci, Robert and Chris)They were with us for a little over a week. God used them in big ways to help His family here in Porto Alegre. They were a blessing for our team and our family, and they were a lot of fun to be around.
It's hard to believe that we didn't even know them 8 days ago and now they all have a special place in all our hearts. The only thing Anderson prayed for tonight before he went to bed was for the Americans to be safe in Rio.
Please pray for their safety as they visit Rio for a couple of weeks and then will visit Natal and Recife to help church families there.
We know God will continue to bless their ministry here in Brasil.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
More Andersonism's
We told you last week of our visitors from Texas A&M. They will be leaving tomorrow and headed to Rio to help a church family there.
It's been a lot of fun having these guys around. A couple of the guys (Reece and Michael) have had the pleasure of being with me as I picked up/dropped off the kids at school. These trips allow for some alone time with Anderson as he is the last one to be dropped off and the first one to be picked up. We told this group how much Anderson loves to talk but I don't think they really understood Anderson's world until they spent 15 minutes in the car with him.
Here are some things he shared with me today just on the way to his school:
Anderson: (after seeing a sign on the road) "Dad what does ONOO spell?"
Me: "Nothing, it's not a word."
Anderson: "Yes it is."
Me: "I don't think it is."
Anderson: "Yes it is. It's like, 'Oh no.....what happened?'
Anderson: "Hey dad, yesterday I saw a guy with an oval head."
Me: "An oval head?"
Anderson: "Yes, and it was black."
Me: "An oval head? Was this a real person?"
Anderson: "Yes it was. His head looked like a balloon."
Anderson: (while bending over kicking the scuff marks off the floor with his tennis shoe.....don't ask) "Whew....my contact almost fell out."
Me: "You don't wear contacts."
Anderson: "Yes I do."
Me: "Okay."
And just think, we get these conversations at least twice a day in our alone drive time with Anderson. We really wouldn't have it any other way.
It's been a lot of fun having these guys around. A couple of the guys (Reece and Michael) have had the pleasure of being with me as I picked up/dropped off the kids at school. These trips allow for some alone time with Anderson as he is the last one to be dropped off and the first one to be picked up. We told this group how much Anderson loves to talk but I don't think they really understood Anderson's world until they spent 15 minutes in the car with him.
Here are some things he shared with me today just on the way to his school:
Anderson: (after seeing a sign on the road) "Dad what does ONOO spell?"
Me: "Nothing, it's not a word."
Anderson: "Yes it is."
Me: "I don't think it is."
Anderson: "Yes it is. It's like, 'Oh no.....what happened?'
Anderson: "Hey dad, yesterday I saw a guy with an oval head."
Me: "An oval head?"
Anderson: "Yes, and it was black."
Me: "An oval head? Was this a real person?"
Anderson: "Yes it was. His head looked like a balloon."
Anderson: (while bending over kicking the scuff marks off the floor with his tennis shoe.....don't ask) "Whew....my contact almost fell out."
Me: "You don't wear contacts."
Anderson: "Yes I do."
Me: "Okay."
And just think, we get these conversations at least twice a day in our alone drive time with Anderson. We really wouldn't have it any other way.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Compassion
"What would the church be like if we erred from an excess of compassion rather than from a stingy and legalistic lack of it?"
Brennan Manning
Brennan Manning
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Amazing Goal
I know I talk about our soccer team on this blog as well as the Brasilian national team and rightfully so. They are both pretty awesome.
Brasil also has the best team in the world in futsal. Futsal is soccer played indoors on a court that is close to the size of a basketball court. The best player in the world is named Falcão and he is Brasilian. He's kind of the Michael Jordan of futsal.
Here is a goal he recently made for the national team.
Brasil also has the best team in the world in futsal. Futsal is soccer played indoors on a court that is close to the size of a basketball court. The best player in the world is named Falcão and he is Brasilian. He's kind of the Michael Jordan of futsal.
Here is a goal he recently made for the national team.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Aggies Blog
Our visitors have a blog.
They are trying to update the blog daily as they share, over the next few weeks, about their mission trip here in Brasil. Go here if you want to keep up with what they are doing and read their thoughts while they minister to their Brasilian family.
They are trying to update the blog daily as they share, over the next few weeks, about their mission trip here in Brasil. Go here if you want to keep up with what they are doing and read their thoughts while they minister to their Brasilian family.
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Aggies for Christ
On Tuesday of this week we welcomed a group from Texas A&M University. It's a group of college students who are all part of a bigger group called Aggies for Christ. This campus group literally sends teams of college kids around the world every year to help in any way they can with different church families. Their trips usually last a few weeks and they visit more than one place.
This is the second time we've had a group from A&M here. In 2007 there was a big group that came. That group went to the chácara and helped build a dormitory for the men.
This week we have 7 of these guys here. They've already jumped right in and have worked two days in helping families that are a part of this house church network.
They will be here for about a week and then go to Rio, Natal and Recife in the northern parts of Brasil. They have already been a blessing to this ministry.
Like our brother Everton said yesterday, "These guys like to work."
One negative to having these college kids is they make me realize that time is passing by.
In our minds (mine and Benay's) we still think we aren't too far removed from our college years. I mean besides a lot of gray hairs, we both feel young. I know we have an 18 year old in our house and that should tell our brains that we aren't 20 anymore but we still feel like we are in our 20's.
These guys woke me up yesterday (in a laughing kind of way..........believe me they will pay for that part) to the fact that we are older than our minds and bodies believe.
A couple of these guys started singing the old "Frito Bandito" song. Garrett started smiling because he has heard me sing it for years. I smiled back and said, "see buddy, lots of people know that song." If you have no idea who this little guy is or have forgotten him and his song then you can check it out here.
Political correctness killed him off but you have to admit, it is a catchy tune.
Then it got ugly. The three that we were talking with all said that they heard their parents singing that song. Then the line was crossed when someone said, "that song is old."
I fought it and said the song wasn't old. I began to ask each of them how old their parents were. They're parents are, within a couple of years, the ages of Benay and myself.
Even though I was called old yesterday, these guys have been a blessing to have around. They are already blessing their Brasilian brothers and sisters here.
And besides, age is just a number. Right? Like Satchel Paige said, "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?"
This is the second time we've had a group from A&M here. In 2007 there was a big group that came. That group went to the chácara and helped build a dormitory for the men.
This week we have 7 of these guys here. They've already jumped right in and have worked two days in helping families that are a part of this house church network.
They will be here for about a week and then go to Rio, Natal and Recife in the northern parts of Brasil. They have already been a blessing to this ministry.
Like our brother Everton said yesterday, "These guys like to work."
One negative to having these college kids is they make me realize that time is passing by.
In our minds (mine and Benay's) we still think we aren't too far removed from our college years. I mean besides a lot of gray hairs, we both feel young. I know we have an 18 year old in our house and that should tell our brains that we aren't 20 anymore but we still feel like we are in our 20's.
These guys woke me up yesterday (in a laughing kind of way..........believe me they will pay for that part) to the fact that we are older than our minds and bodies believe.
A couple of these guys started singing the old "Frito Bandito" song. Garrett started smiling because he has heard me sing it for years. I smiled back and said, "see buddy, lots of people know that song." If you have no idea who this little guy is or have forgotten him and his song then you can check it out here.
Political correctness killed him off but you have to admit, it is a catchy tune.
Then it got ugly. The three that we were talking with all said that they heard their parents singing that song. Then the line was crossed when someone said, "that song is old."
I fought it and said the song wasn't old. I began to ask each of them how old their parents were. They're parents are, within a couple of years, the ages of Benay and myself.
Even though I was called old yesterday, these guys have been a blessing to have around. They are already blessing their Brasilian brothers and sisters here.
And besides, age is just a number. Right? Like Satchel Paige said, "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?"
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
We're Back
Not sure if anyone missed us but we are back in the blogging world.
Why the gap between our latest blog and today? Well, after 5 and a half years of living in this house.......
......we moved last week to this house.
Our house is still pretty messy and we continue to repaint our old house but we are almost done with everything.
We will share more about how God worked to get us in this house on a later blog.
As we get more settled in our new house we hope to become regular bloggers again. We've gots lots of things to share.
Why the gap between our latest blog and today? Well, after 5 and a half years of living in this house.......
......we moved last week to this house.
Our house is still pretty messy and we continue to repaint our old house but we are almost done with everything.We will share more about how God worked to get us in this house on a later blog.
As we get more settled in our new house we hope to become regular bloggers again. We've gots lots of things to share.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)