Skip to main content

New Year Update from Sorocaba

Christmas on Sunday seemed strange didn't it? Several friends said that they couldn't remember the last time that it had. I Googled it and discovered that it was 2004. Not so long ago.

Dawn and I brunched with coworkers Shaw, Donna, Andrew and Ana Shea Alexander. We then traveled to São Paulo where we worshiped with fellow missionaries Marv and Diane and Nathan and Diane Fray at their new church plant. Both morning and evening were sweet fellowship on the Lord's birthday.

Sunday night after the service we traveled another half an hour to Camp Betel. Nathan Fray purchased a beautiful piece of property about five years ago. The property had several out buildings and a pool. It is also on a large reservoir which makes for a lovely camp setting. We spent Sunday night there and on Monday gathered with our fellow São Paulo station missionaries for our annual Christmas party. 

We went back to camp and stayed Monday and Tuesday. It was great to get to know Marv and Diane better. We have chatted over the years but have never had time alone with just us and them. They have been in Brazil for almost 50 years and have planted 13 churches in that time. Their church plants have been responsible for planting another 30 churches! Amazing. We learned much in our conversations. 

We are planning on helping in English Camp this next week. We will be working with a small group of 20 or so campers who come to learn and perfect their English. We know that language so it should be a lot of fun!

On New Years Eve we worshiped at Igreja Batista Calvário. Alexandre preached and one of our teens, Bia Franca, was baptized. Dawn and Donna prepared a huge meal with the help of Joelma and we played games until 2:30 AM. I think that we are still recovering. 

In my Bible study today with Grazi, Michele and Lucas we looked at Enoch who walked 365 years with God. His life is an amazing lesson. One for each day of the year if you think about it. His name means Initiated, dedicated and disciplined. Walking like Enoch is my New Years Resolution. I hope that it is yours too.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tottering!

I was watching my one year old grandson, Brandon, today. He had on some baggy little shorts, weird flip-flops over his socks, and he was tottering. It made me think about how I often feel these days. Funny how that when we are little and "innocent" and tottering in our baggy pants, with our little potbelly sticking out from under our t-shirt we look precious. When we are older and tottering in our low slung trousers and the same potbelly, we looks pathetic! I guess that the two drastically opposite points of view are based on the viewer's chronological perspective. Brandon is growing and I'm dying. He is cute because the little guy has a lot to learn and we love to see him progress. The old guy has already had his chance at learning and what he is progressing toward is not quite so much fun to ponder. When I have these weird thoughts I praise my God because He never lets go of my hand whether a tottering little guy or an old one. And I found this verse to prove my po...
Post a Comment
Read more

What Are You Worth?

What are you Worth?  Have you ever thought about what you are worth? In investing circles there is a term used to gauge this exact question, it's called Net Worth. You take all of your assets, like property owned, funds in your bank account, clothes, jewelry, car, etc.. You total all of these things. You then take everything you owe, like mortgage, car loan, and credit card debt, and you subtract these items from the first total. This gives you your net worth. That number represents where you are financially. Most people never stop to think about this number because they don't understand anything about it. They never have two nickels to rub together. They live from hand to mouth and know (or at least believe) nothing will ever change so, they fall into the "daily grind" mentality. Psalm 49 should be a great encouragement to such as these. The sons of Korah write about them. These sons write about all of us. They call all people everywhere to listen to their wisdom. Bo...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Circumcision Advantage

 What a title right? I'm thinking of Romans 3:1 where Paul asks, "What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision?"  This was always an avoided subject in Sunday school, especially in a mixed class. We didn't use the "C" word. Too wierd.  Paul is bringing up this topic for good reasons. He wants to show that the Jews definitely have had a great advantage during their history. In the next verse he tells one of them when he says, ... "First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God." The first jew talked to God in person. God chose Abram to be the father of many nations and to bring the blessing of the Messiah to the world. The Old Testament is the story of the Jewish nation. God dealt with the Jews throughout the ages of the time before Christ. They were the chosen. But in all that blessing they ended up crucifying the Messiah.  With all of their advantages the Jews came short of the ideal....
Post a Comment
Read more