The Annoying Thing at Christmas

Daryl Taylor gave this toy to Nicky as a gift in April and Thom Worthington sent us this video....Nicky loves it!

Please remember the children of Brazil this Christmas

QUICK QUOTE

GENEROSITY

“Giving frees us from the familiar territory of our own needs by opening our mind to the unexplained worlds occupied by the needs of others.”
~ Barbara Bush

More Christmas Pictures

Tommy's Christmas Card "PaPai Noel eu quero uma skateboard. Tommy"





Nicky's Christmas Card "PaPai Noel eu quero uma bicicleta. Nicholas"

Feliz Natal! Merry Christmas!

Here are some Christmas pictures of our family and Nicholas at his Christmas production. Friday was his last day of school...now his sumer vacation begins. Living on the other side of the equator still is a little strange, especially with our seasons not matching the calendar we are used to. Merry Christmas!

PETEY ALERT!

Our family pet, Petey was last seen with this man. He was left with Armando who agreed to doggy-sit for a duration of two years. Unfortunately, after several requests, Armando has yet to produce any photographic proof that all is well with Petey. If anyone has any information regarding Petey, please post. Petey is a beautiful, petite yellow lab, does not bark and has a small shedding problem.

Voce fala Portuguese? Do you speak Portuguese?

Please continue to pray for fluency in our new language!

It really was a Photo Finish

By a final vote of 12-11 the "Rob in the field" wins. Unbelievable! Thanks for letting me experiment with your pics Rob. I would encourage everyone to visit Rob at his blog daily. It is a great read.

Photo Finish

The poll will offically end Monday night at 6 pm Pindamonhangaba time (noon PST). If I were you Rob, I would get that youth group voting! Has Ruth voted yet? I bet she would like the field shot. It seems so nice.

Photo Poll

My friend Rob Cunningham has changed his photo on his blog.
We were on staff together for a short time at Harvest Christian Center.
I know change is necessary, but I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to try a new poll. Even if you do not know Rob please take time to vote...all comments are welcome. Muito obrigado.

Which photo should Rob Cunningham use for his portfolio on his blog?
	Rob in a field
	Rob in his office
pollcode.com free polls

Greetings from Pindamonhangaba

Our motorista took this picture for us today. We were car shopping!!! We are ever so close. Thanks for all those who have supported us! Go God!

Quick Quote

A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.

Herm Albright (1876 - 1944)

Bernice Preaches at the First English Service

Bernice preached at the english service held at the Bible school. It was the first english service of the year. We conducted the service "American Style". The differences between the American service and the Brazilian service are many. Here is a list of just a few of the differences:

American Service- informal attire..no neck ties!
Brazilian Service- Formal...suite and tie for the men and long dresses for the women

American Service- Contemporary Praise and Worship led by Patrick Thresher
Brazilian Service- Student led worship service using hymns and contemporary music

American Service- Female Speaker
Brazilian Service- Male Speaker

American Service- Non-Traditional
Brazilian Service- Traditional

American Service- Mixed gender seating
Brazilian Service- Men on one side of the Church Women on the opposite side (Married couples included)

We Are The Champions!

Nicky takes the Gold

Tommy wins the Silver

Tommy is going for the take down

Nicky is waiting his turn

The Arena

Our team from Pindamonhangaba




Tommy and Nicky took home medals this last weekend! We traveled to the city of Guardatinguata for the boys first competition. Nicky brought home the Gold and Tommy brought home the Silver in their first tournament. The arena was large and the crowd was fierce. Tommy and Nicky are both white belts. This is the first belt you achieve while training in jujitsu. They have been training for 8 weeks at our home church Sara Nossa Terra (Heal our Nation). Tommy fought a kid from Rio de Janeiro who was a yellow belt. We are very proud of both of them. It is difficult for them to understand instructions during their matches because their coach/trainer only knows Portuguese! Their Trainer Daniel is fighting for the Sao Paulo Championship next week.

Featured Students

Our featured family this month is the Costa family. Tcharton and Sandra live in the family housing. They are second year students. They are from Guinea-Bissau, Africa. Tcharton and Sandra plan on pioneering a Bible School in their country after graduating from IBAD. Please pray for them as they follow the calling the Lord has placed on their lives. They acknowledge this is a BIG dream, but realize that God is a BIG God! This picture was taken at IBAD. The students were celebrating the birthdays for the rest of the year. The theme was Christmas. The students will be on summer vacation during Christmas so they decided to celebrate early.

A Day in the Life of Tommy Hammond

Well it all starts like this. Really late at night or really early in the morning I hear my mom’s voice, “Tommy? Tommy? TOMMY!” Then I say, “2 more minutes.” Then I have to get dressed, brush my teeth & do my hair.
SSSHHHH, don’t tell anyone else but it’s a little known fact I just put on a hat. Next I’m off down the stairs racing the elevator down to the bottom.
I hop into Patricky’s car and ride to school.
When I get to school I sit down and wait for the bell to ring. When it does all my friends enter the room then I say Oi to them. Then we wait for the teacher some times they’re late. When the teacher arrives we start class.
I understand what I can. Then after a few classes we play Cops & Robbers on the play ground. And after a few more classes we go home, play a little X-BOX and go outside, which some people call the parking lot. But I call it the land-of-the-lost because a million, quadrillion, sectillion, kabillion soccer balls and tennis balls have gone over that wall (no footballs yet). After losing the ball we brought we go to the Thresher’s house and play on the computer, play station 2, or risk. Then we eat dinner and go to ju-jitsu. Go home. Go to bed and start over.

Getting Close!

We are getting closer to our goal for purchasing a vehicle. Many thanks to everyone who has contributed thus far. See the sidebar for details and see how you can participate and join our team!

Photo: Sheila Taylor
PhotoShop: Blake Thresher

Featured Student

I will be posting a picture of a student once a month for everyone to pray for. IBAD (the name of the Bible School pronounced: ee-Bod-jee) has around 120 students all studying full time to go into full time ministry. IBAD currently has sent 12 Missionaries out to different nations and numerous Pastors and Evangelists in Brazil.

This month we feature WIlliam de Souza Silva. He is from Vitoria da Conquesta, Bahia Brazil. William is 19 years old. He is in his second year at IBAD. He is active in the Worship Ministry and heads up the Missions program. WIlliam wants to be a Trabalho Evangelistico. A working evangelist that travels the nation of Brazil with a ministry team. His desire is for the team to preach, conduct children's activities and perform impacting dramas for communities across the nation. Please remember William in prayer.

QUICK QUOTE

We turn to God for help when our foundations are shaking only to
learn that it is God shaking them.

-- Charles West

An ordinary day in the life of Nicholas Hunter Hammond

This is a picture of Nicky getting on his school bus. He wakes up every morning at 6 AM and his school bus arrives at our apartment around 6:30 AM. He attends to an all-Portuguese speaking school. This has really accelerated his communication skills. The bus brings him home at 11:30 AM. After he eats lunch with mom and dad he usually goes outside with Tommy and plays soccer or wall ball. Their friends Blake and Keri join them and they usually play till around 5 PM. Nicky likes to help his mother in the kitchen and prepare dinner. After dinner the whole family goes to Jiujutsu class. While Nicky and Tommy practice their moves Bernice and I practice our Portuguese. This week we have to learn and memorize 200 adjectives! The class ends at 9:00 pm. Nicky usually goes to sleep at around 10:00pm. Next time we will feature a day in the life of Thomas William Hammond Jr.