Cactus Flower

See that fellow in the middle with a teeth smile?  I first met him in 2010 here in Sobradinho, Bahia, Brazil.  We had a missions team coming from the USA in conjunction with other missionaries.  One of the things on the list for the group to do was children's activities.  Somehow we thought a camp for boys and girls out on the then-still-in-use Treasure Island Camp would be a great idea.   It was a crazy idea!  We had a horrible time convincing mother's to let us "take" their children.  Many were certain we, the Americans, were going to haul their precious babes off to slave labor in the states or worse.  At one point we had no kids signed up and the clock was ticking before our team would fly in.  Somehow we had to find children. I felt like the person in the Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang movie who went through the streets looking for boys and girls with his wagon while all the parents hid their littles ones... what to do. In the midst...

Seems our holiday season was a full one with back to back missions events!  Just two weeks after the Wordless Ministries event, Byron and I traveled to another state to participate in what is called a "School of Missions."   It's basically a missions trip where each participant has to make his own way to the spot where the action is.  During the mornings classes are held about missions sort of like a missions conference.  In the afternoons and evenings there are door to door evangelism, kids activities and street preaching. This particular "School" was held in a small town of about 4000 people in the state of Paraíba.  It is located near a slightly larger town that already has a small church.  The purpose of the event was to try to make contacts with residents in the hopes of getting some interest to start a small congregation that could be taken care of by the nearby church and pastor. These events are run by a local pastor/missionary with ...

December 14 - 21, 2019 the Wordless Ministry team came to Sobradinho - BA for a week of evangelism and discipleship.  The young people of the Maranatha Baptist Church were able to participate as team members. Byron and I were able to help out some during their activities in Sobradinho and accompanied the group to the small interior town of Junco, Sento Sé for three days. Activities were varied with a Vacation Bible School for children, an evangelistic soccer tournament, outdoor preaching and  door to door evangelism. 

We saw these two guys leaving out of Lagoa do São Francisco on Friday, January 17.  Each had critter strung up and hung over his neck like a shoulder bag.  The black one was an ewe sheep and the white one was a male goat with horns!  Their ride home was an hour away on sandy, bumpy roads.   Hope they made it!  

Byron and I arrived in Brazil in 1994.  I was 29 years old and full of thoughts of evangelizing the world.  You know how it is when you are young?  Big dreams.  But truly mine were fairly realistic. Whenever we started working in a new place, I would look for potential young people to encourage to go into missions.  I figured in this way my own effectiveness would be multiplied.  I would encourage choice young men and women to consider what God's will might be for their lives with lots of emphasis on missions.  I would pray specifically for those on my list of candidates.  Byron did the same! Over the years we had yet to see our dreams realized, completely.  I have seen many young people grow into fine adults who are active in their local churches which gives me great joy.  But I had always hoped and prayed for some girl or guy to want to be a missionary or pastor.  That was always my end prayer.   This December Byron an...