We will be hosting a team from Turlock, CA next week. We will be building two churches in 1 week. The team will be ministering in Pinda the second week. Please pray for safety, protection, and salvation for the people of the Amazonas. I will be making this trip without Tommy, Nicky and Bernice. Pray they will not miss me too much:) Here are some photos of previous trips...and yes, that is me welding for the first time.
“Greatness is not in where we stand, but in what direction we are moving. We must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it -- but sail we must and not drift, nor lie at anchor.”
~ Oliver Wendell Holmes
Please continue to pray for freedom in our valley in Brazil. Freedom that can only come from a true relationship with Jesus Christ. I was saddened to see the thousands of people celebrate Good Friday here in our area without hardly a mention of His resurrction three days later. The church in our area relates so much with a dead savior instead of a risen Lord. The legalistic, controlling and religious spirit wants people to relate to the death and not the One who is alive and wants His people to live in freedom. I found this excerpt from Dick Nicholson and it describes our Easter weekend to a tee.
But they only have half the gospel—the other half is the Easter half. If by His death I am saved from sin, then by His life I am
saved from sinning! There is pardon, but unlike the Catholic who feels condemned to repeat the cycle of sin, confession, and forgiveness, there is good news—Jesus lives, and because He lives, we can have new life which overcomes our sinful inclination and tendencies! There is pardon, but there is also power. There is forgiveness, but there is also freedom.
And the sociological implications of the gospel are powerful when it comes to defining the male and female roles for those who live in our region. In the machismo role, man is forever the philanderer, weak, and vulnerable. Why? Because his role model, the Jesus he knows, is weak, dying, lying, if you will, in the lap of his mother in a death swoon. The female’s marianismo model is Mary, mother of Jesus—strong, faithful, true, loving, caring, the one to whom they go for help. Thus the female is considered the strong and faithful one, while the male is weak and vulnerable.
Then one day a new message is heard across the land of the conquistadores—He is Risen! Jesus is no longer the weak and dying one, but He is the Conqueror of death, the Risen One, the Overcoming and Triumphant One! Now the male has a new model—one who is strong, who does not need to sink to the low and beggarly elements. Because Jesus lives, we live also! And we see the New Man, filled with resurrection life, take his place in the home and in society—strong, Spirit-filled, an overcomer—because Christ lives in his heart by faith!
Pope Benedict XVI is coming to Brazil May 9-14. Please pray for evangelistic fruit. We will send teams to the area he will be at to spread the Good News about having a relationship with Jesus Christ!
Tommy serving drinks to the locals.
I anchored the team! Just doing my part.
Nicky preparing to take a courtesy drink at the work site.....his face is priceless!
Tommy and Nicky found a monkey skull in the village. This is TOmmy and Chuck and the Monkey named Chester.
NIcky and Bernice doing homework on the boat.
I have about 3,000 pics from the Amazon trip we were on about three weeks ago. Just when I think enough is enough, I find a few more. Hope it is not too much for you to handle.
These pictures were taken from our balcony. They are photos of the migration. These people travel on foot to the city Aparecida. The trek is about 40 minutes by automobile. The large parades of people are followed by an ambulance in case of emergencies. Rain or shine their commitment is incredible as they march forward to pay homage to the idol.
Our Lady of Aparecida (also written as Our Lady Aparecida) is the patron saint of Brazil, represented by a statue of the Virgin Mary located in the Basilica of Aparecida, in the city of Aparecida in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. In Portuguese the name is Nossa Senhora de Conceição Aparecida (Our Lady of the Conception who Appeared).
This shrine is the most visited in Brazil and one of the most visited in the Catholic world. As the patron saint of Brazil, Our Lady of Aparecida is also remembered by a national holiday on 12 October.
Aparecida is considered the most important religious city in Brazil; the Basilica of Aparecida, the National Sanctuary, is the second largest Basilica in the world.
The Pope will visit Brazil in May 2007, and will celebrate a mass in Aparecida; this will be a major event for the Catholic community.
Been plan'in it for years.
-Squints
Hurry up, Smalls! My clothes are goin' outta style!
-Squints
For-ev-ver! For-ev-ver! For-ev-ver! For-ev-ver!
-Squints
If you'da been thinkin you wouldn't 'a thought that.
-Squints
You're kill'in me Smalls!
-Ham
As many teams who visit Brasil, LQ has walked away with a heavy addiction to Gauranar. He is hoarding his last 3 liter bottle. Thanks for all the fun LQ...your team set the standard for excellence.
The team used the phrase "get 'er done" the entire trip. I found out that it is actually biblical...Luke 19:13- Jesus says- "So he called 10 of his servants, delivered to them 10 minas, and said to them, 'Do business till I come'" Paraphrase-"Get 'er Done"
I am speaking in Chapel Service tomorrow morning. I plan on challenging the students to think like leaders. I will use tidbits about eagles to introduce leadership principles. For example:
2) Eagles Never Eat Dead Meat - You will never see an eagle eating meat that it did not kill. An eagle is not a scavenger. It hunts for and kills its own food. It hunts for the prey while it's warm and alive. You as a leader must go where the action is. You must go hunt down and find lively people to grow God’s Kingdom.
3) Looks For & Flies Into Storms - As storms approach, lesser birds head for cover, but the might eagle spreads its wings and with a great cry mounts upon the powerful updrafts, soaring to heights of glory. Eagles use the storm to lift him to these great heights. Leaders use storms (challenges); we don't run from them. To leaders, storms are tools used for their development.
This last Saturday we celebrated Blake Thresher's 16th birthday. To honor him we traveled 2 hours and 45 minutes to our nearest Starbucks and Applebee's. This may not seem like a big deal to some of you who have a Starbucks on every corner and are able to frequent places like Applebee's often, but to us...8 people who eat beans and rice 5-7 days a week..this was a slice of heaven!
Baseball is vastly better in person than on TV. Only when you're in the ballpark can the eye grasp and interconnect the game's great distances. Will the wind blow that long fly just over the fence? Will the relay throw nail the runner trying to score from second on a double in the alley? Who's warming up in the bullpen? Where is the defense shading this hitter? Did the base stealer get a good jump? The eye flicks back and forth and captures everything that is necessary.
Why Is Baseball So Much Better Than Football?
On January 18, 1987, baseball columnist Thomas Boswell wrote a superb article for the Washington Post giving ninety-nine reasons why baseball is so much better than football.
"Quarterbacks have to ask the crowd to quiet down. Pitchers never do." - Thomas Boswell in 'Why is Baseball So Much Better Than Football' (1987, The Post)
