Colors in the Desert

This week we got some rain this week! Don't forget we live in a semi-arid, scrub bush desert. We have two seasons: somewhat hot and dry, hotter and maybe a little rain. Around this time of the year the temperature starts to shoot up, sometimes close to 100 degrees Farenheit. That's when people start to talk about rain.

We know that rain is necessary, but it sure makes the dirt roads we travel on a mess - a muddy mess. It rained well on Monday night. We drove to one of our interior stops on Tuesday in the Pajero since we had some helpers. It does well in mud and we can sit in air conditioned, closed window comfort (usually anyway). It does make stops along the side of the road tricky.

In the sand rail, we used to just get soaked going through the big puddles that stretch from one side of the road to the other. Last year, Byron made some mud fenders and flaps. They are removable. I was sure glad that Byron put them on before our Thursday trip to Lage dos Negros.

We also tested out his latest invention - a camper platform! It worked and we slept fairly well on Thursday night in a secret place just off the main road.

We had been invited to a birthday party in one of the communities for the daughter of one of our students. So we took advantage of the opportunity to stay as long as we wanted and be in no hurry to leave before dark. This little princess turned three!

It doesn't take much to make a little princess happy. I think she loved her Minnie Mouse themed party. We were glad to have been invited. Prayers for her family and community.

It doesn't take much rain to bring out the colors of the desert either. It only takes a little bit of God's Word to bring hope to the dry soul, too. We are blessed to see the mother of this little birthday girl growing in Christ after her decision last month. Just like the many flowers we saw that just popped up over night after the big rain, she is blooming and blossoming in her new Christian life.

Here are a few...

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The Sun is Not Yet Set

Byron, the guy in the white helmet, turns 61 today. That's our son, Byron the Third in the black helmet. He'll be 30 on his next birthday at the end of the year. My husband and I were close to thirty ourselves when we had our first son. Lately it seems that every other day or so someone wants to know "When we are going to retire?" Sometimes it feels more like, "When are you going to leave" is the real question, but that's a story for another post sometime. Has the sunset on our work and ministry in Brazil? Is it time to hang our hats and pack it all up. Are we too old? Too old for what? Too old to tell others about the love of God? Too old to preach and teach? Too old to ride a motorcycle on dirt roads? Okay, you may have us on that last one! It took a few days to recover from our 8 days of motorcycle travel with our oldest and his wife last month. It took a few weeks to recover from all the bumps and aches of our ...

My Promise Verse

Job 23:10 But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. This verse has been a favorite of mine since I was a teenager. When I was a high school senior at a Christian school in Virginia, Job 23:10 was chosen as our class theme verse. At our graduation commencement, the valedictorian and saludatorian in their addresses that day divided the verse in its two natural parts as a basis for the core of each one's address. I was the salutatorian of my senior class that year. I chose to speak of how God would one day reward our faithfulness and thus, we should always strive to remain true. For many years though, the first part of the verse haunted me in a way. As a missionary especially when times were lonely or difficult, I assumed it was my "trial" or "test," and as such must be accepted in all humility. As I have grown older, I have begun to look more toward the pearly gates and have reconsidered the thr...

Old Film, Same Message

A missionary colleague recently uploaded some old films made about the work in Brazil by Baptist Mid-Missions many years ago in the 1950's. Yesterday I was able to watch the first of the series. All I can say is "Wow! Things haven't changed much in Brazil. And things haven't changed too much with the work of missions in Brazil either!" There are still donkey carts in the street. They have better wheels nowadays! There are still people who live in grass huts and high apartment buildings, too. Bicycles are still many people's only means of transportation, if they are that lucky! Many roads in the interior towns are still paved with cobblestones, if they are paved at all. And yes, chickens are everywhere, even in big cities. Brazil still needs missionaries! That's right, Brazil is not evangelized and in no need of foreign missionaries today. It still needs workers to spread the Good News of the Gospel and the Risen Saviour! Sadly that part of t...

Cactus Flower

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