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The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms (Deu 33:27)   What happens at the Twilight of Life? In the last two weeks I have visited two rest-homes and have come away terrified. The old seem despised a nuisance a curiosity. In one home a 106 year old lady was wheeled out as if she were a museum piece to be ogled. In another a 96 year old shriveled in her bed was whispered about as if a specimen of pity.   These two cases were extreme to be sure but the old are different. Many avoid them. Many look at them as if they were a strange breed an oddity or had contracted a terrible disease. Others pity them beyond measure which in the end brings undue embarrassment and uneasiness.   All of this commotion about aged bodies. All of this attention because of years of wear and tear. All forgetting that everyone of us is headed to the same destiny if we should live so long.   Is the "Rest Home" something to be looked forward to or dreaded? Should I pre...

Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John . (Luke 1.13.)   In this dramatic scene the angel Gabriel appears to Zacharias the priest who just happened to be offering sacrifices in the Holy of Holies for first and only time in his life. He had been randomly chosen. Gabriel relates a stunning bit of information. He tells him to rest easy because his prayer (singular) is going to be answered! Hurray! Elizabeth is going to become pregnant and have a son!   Wait a minute! Zacharias and Elizabeth were old. They had been married for decades. Yet the angel spoke as if the deal was done. In fact he names the baby and begins to share details about all of the things that John would accomplish. Did you notice the list?   ● He will be great before the Lord. ● he will be filled with the Holy Spirit ● he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord ● he will go before (the Christ) in the spirit a...

Tomorrow is the first day of Summer! Yay! However, the heat has been with us for a couple of days now. Today at this exact moment 7:17 PM Mid-Atlantic time on December 20 the temp here in Sorocaba is 24.5 degrees! That’s Celsius! Which translates to 85 Fahrenheit. Good stuff. Santa looks ridiculous in his fuzzy red suit. Dawn got a decorative tablecloth yesterday with Santa in a snow scene! The thing nearly melted in her hands. Needless to say Christmas below the equator is very different than what most of you are experiencing. Though the snow, reindeer, and sleigh motif is often seen you are also apt to see a palm tree with Christmas lights hanging from its fronds. Whether snow or hot sun the season is the same. It is Christmas. Churches put on plays, sing carols, have special services and dinners to remember Christ’s birth. Our church presented a Cantata in five different locations this past week. It was a homemade cantata, I think that they are often the best kind, about a littl...

Our weekend was VERY different here at Faith Baptist Church in Sorocaba . Saturday was the long awaited banquet for our Faithful Teens group. Dawn began her kitchen work early with Joelma and Cristina helping out. The teens came in their "Sunday" best and the evening was lovely and a lot of fun. The most faithful of the Faithful Teens was Amanda who memorized 100 verses did a lot of tract handing out and shared the Gospel with many. She was nearly perfect in attendance at church activities. For all of her hard work she won an all expenses paid trip to Hopi-Hari , an amusement park near São Paulo. She will be taking her sister Tais who also memorized 100 verses and invited a lot of kids to Bible Club. In second place, earning a half expenses paid trip was Amanda and Tais’ sister Graziele . She too worked very hard, memorizing the 100 verses and handing our many tracts and inviting multitudes to Bible Club. The trip to Hopi-Hari will be a lot of fun and the girls deserve t...

Being the only missionary in a town of over 600.000 has its advantages and disadvantages. Well disadvantages might be a strong word but when a trip to São Paulo is involved it aint what I used to think that it was. I used to love to go into the BIG city but I've become acustomed to "smaller" town living. The call to duty this time was picking up Ben and Dani Jacobs and with coworkers Shawn and Donna Alexander in the States we were called to action.  This time we needed to take two vans because there were going to be a lot of boxes. It was a great test of my Christian walk. I drove one van and Dawn drove me crazy.... the other van.  Dawn is a very good and cautious driver. She goes the speed limit even when there isn't one. She is a sweetheart and I love her. I just don't like having to lead her into São Paulo. God is always good and we made in and back saftely at 2:45 AM Saturday morning with the Jacobs family.  On another note We were able to make c...

Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; 20  And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; 21  In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 22  In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. (Ephsians 2:19-22) Sunday just after Sunday school our church went the 100 meters from where we meet now to our future church building site. There were around forty of us who spread out to cover the four sides of our property. There we bowed our heads and prayed for God to consecrate this tiny piece of land for His honor and glory. It was a historic moment. It was a moment that we had been praying for for over two years. We had asked God’s direction, protection and provision. We had asked for clear and concrete proof as to where He wanted our building. Three ...

Uthai. Now there is a name for you. What mother looked into the eyes of her newborn little bundle of love and with a cooing voice said, “Your name will be Uthai.” Pronounced in Portuguese it would ooo-tie. Using a Mid-west U.S. accent it might come out You-thigh. Whatever the pronunciation it is not among the top-ten most popular boy names. If you have read the Bible through you have read about Uthai. Unless of course you "speed-read" the genealogies. You won’t find Uthai’s story in Flannel-graph, Bible coloring books nor in bed-time devotionals for kids. His name won’t come up in marriage counseling applications, wedding counseling presentations nor in Father’s Day messages but his is an important name. Or rather Uthai accomplishment was landmark. Now, you might be just dying to know who Uthai is and have already gone to you smartphone Bible to do a quick search. If so fine. If not listen to what my quick search discovered about the meaning of his name. In Strong’s Concor...