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Now that I look at the photo below I look pretty pathetic! This is my first surgery in 54 years and I must say that it is an eyeopener! One wing damaged gives me a completely different perspective on the handicapped. It is a humbling and frustrating adventure. I am praising the Lord that it is a temporary adventure! The half cast/Ace bandage will be on for just 10 days. Then I'll be in a brace for two months. After another two months of therapy I'll be at 85% (the Doctor reminded me that God created the arm, he could just redo it). powered by performancing firefox

Praise the Lord for all of my praying friends! I went into surgery on Monday morning at 7:00 and by 8:30 was out. Literally. I stayed out for the next six and a half hours!! powered by performancing firefox

The title word means "strength" and is actually used to describe electrical power. Speaking of electrical power, would you trust this wiring job!? Would the inspector? We have been using this setup at church for about four years now. In fact this is the MAIN power source for the entire church! I recently sent out a plea for help in the "electrical" area and was pleased to receive several offers of assistance. However in my search for aid I discovered that my friend Carlinhos works with electricity all of the time and is more than willing to lend a hand in getting this mess straightened out. There is a spiritual application here. My força (strength) comes from the Master. Often I look for it in other places when in fact He is with me. In my reading this morning of Psalm 30 I noticed David's words in verse 1. I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. Another way of saying that would be "You refuse t...

Saturday night our teens went to Calvary to participate in our quarterly youth rally with New Life, and Calvary Baptist churches. It was a totally Brazilian run affair and was a lot of fun! The evening began with a treasure hunt which involved everyone. There were two teams and each was divided into three parts: The Heavy Thinkers, The Slight Runners, and the Runners. The thinkers had to decipher 45 questions from clues discovered by the other two parts of the team. In the end our team won on a technicality (but we got the chocolate!) Pastor Alexandre the younger (not to be confused with Pliny the younger) gave the devotional on being "Little Christs" from Philippians 2:5. Of course afterwards we had a slight snack (cheeze-its and Kool-aid). It was a fun and rewarding activity and all eleven of our youth were present!

Abby and Monise were asked by several teens, during our recent retreat, if they were sisters. Monise is in her early 20s and attends New Life Baptist Church here in Sorocaba. She is a rare Brazilian in the sense that she was raised in a Christian home. Her parents came to know Christ as a result of Ed and Shawn`s work at New Life. Abby too was raised in a Christian home. Which sadly to say seems to be becoming a rarity in the Unites States too. Living in Brazil has enlightened us to what it means to be part of a pagan nation. A nation with no Christian roots other than those taught by the Roman Catholic church. We were again made aware of the perversity of paganism as all of the "dazzle" of carnival was splattered over every TV channel. We live in a nation in need of prayer. Abby and Monise ARE sisters! Sisters in Jesus Christ the coming King of the universe! Pray for us as we eagerly work to see Him convince others to become our brothers and sisters in the Faith. We await Hi...

The Carnaval Retreat this year was completely Brazilian run. The teens and families that participated had a great time. We had nine teen there. The theme was Be Different! and the daily devotions and nightly challenges were geared to help teens see the importance of being a Christian in a pagan world. In the pictures at (left from top to bottom) Rodolfo, Abby, Felipe, Ariel, and Paulinho share a chat time. David and Felipe dressed for costume night. Monise dressed as Fiona, David and I with our red noses (thanks photoshop elements)and like father like son hair cuts, and Joice eating a raw egg as part of a game.

In the olden days when we BMM missionaries said that we were going to camp it meant, mud, mosquitoes, mold, and mato (weeds). The camp was run down and made for a real missionary experience. Now-a-days (like my grammar?) it means a very nice hotel with a lot of neat things to do. We spent this past week at a hotel near the city of Avaré, about three hours interior from Sorocaba. Our speaker for the week was pastor Ron Wigand from Caro, Michigan. He brought timely messages from Jesus' parables. It was a great time to renew friendships with other BMM missionaries and get to know others. We were also able to take Annie and Jackson with us. They helped with the junior church during the evening sessions and with the youth during the day. It was a fun week!