Cactus Flower

Last night, October 28, 2017, Pastor Antonio Máximo Neto was installed as the first official Brazilian pastor of the Maranatha Baptist Church of Sobradinho.  There were well over 150 people present for the occasion.   It was a joyous day to be able to see the end of a work. Many times missionaries don't get to see the fruit of their labors in a particular place.  We have been in Sobradinho since 2004, thirteen years of service and care. Pastor Máximo and his wife, Lidiane, have two children - Neemias pictured here and Noemi who was sleeping on a pew at the time.  They are from the state of Ceará and he is a graduate of the Cariri Bible Seminary. Deacons of our work's mother church in Casa Nova and area pastors dedicated the new pastor after Pastor Victor Bruno gave a challenge to the pastor with applications for all that were present. Each deacon from the Casa Nova church prayed a specific prayer for various needs of the new pastor as he starts...

Part of the great missionary call is deciding where to go.  When Byron and I went to missionary candidate school way back in 1991, we heard speaker's from many different mission fields talk about the great necessities of their regions.  We were both convinced beforehand that God wanted us to work in the country of Brazil.  We left with the same conviction. BMM Candidate School, 1991 Fast forward 26 years to 2017!  Here we are nearing the end of five terms of missionary service in Northeast Brazil.  We've worked with churches in a big city of millions.  We taught at a MK school.  We helped with a camp ministry.  We've worked with a small congregation in a little interior town.  And now we look towards the future and ask,  What's next?   To help answer that question, Byron recently attended an inter-agency missionary conference near the city of Belém on the mouth of the Amazon River.  He heard about the needs o...

Two months ago our congregation voted to ask a national pastor to come and start work here in Sobradinho.  It was a big decision since in many ways.  The congregation was started almost twenty years ago and has always had some sort of missionary assistance.  We ourselves have been here for close to thirteen years now.  The vote to call a pastor was a little scary for our small group because it meant making a commitment to give regular tithes and offerings to pay the salary of the man or his family will go hungry!  So far, so good!  Giving is okay.  The mother church across the lake is helping and we made a promise to give a good size monthly offering until next year.  But hence the old missionary question arises:  Where are you going now? Seems everywhere I go people ask:  Where are you going?  You aren't leaving, are you?  So going back to the US, hey?  Going to go live near your grandbabies now?  I even had...

Uncle Byron is not at home this week because he is at a conference for missionaries near his old stomping grounds in the state of Pará.  I know that you boys have met Granny Atha and know that she had been a missionary once with Granddad Atha, but you probably have never heard that much about Uncle Byron's time in Brazil as a boy.  He could tell you all about his pet sloth that was so slow that never had to worry about it running away.  They just put it in a tree in the middle of the back yard every night.  Each day it would make for the back wall of their property, but never made it very close.   He could tell you about some of their pet monkeys and the one time he carried a little monkey in his arms on a 24 hour long bus ride from Pará back to the missionary boarding school.   He could tell all about the neighbor who had pigs that would all roll over whenever the man walked by.  He had them all trained to roll over and get their bellies rubbed....

On August 19, one of our MK boys came "home" to Brazil after a long time away.  He came with two beautiful babes and a wonderful young lady in hand, none of which we had met up close and personal.  But you know, blood is thick and it was love at first sight! Our time was short with only the two weeks of Dalton's vacation days from his job, but we made use of every single day to its fullest.  We got to know the mommy of our grandbabies and the love of Dalton's life - Destinie.  We learned all about Paw Patrol and baby food with Chase and Mariyah's help.   Every day was long as we tried to squeeze in lots of bonding and gobs of quality moments... Our house was full of guests every day, lots of laughter and lots of love.  Fifteen glorious days.   Was it worth the long flights and the costs of airfare?  I think we each would say, Oh, Yes!  And hopefully these little grandbabies of missionaries will have a littl...

This afternoon my babe will leave on a jet plane and fly off to the U.S.A. with no mama and no papa to accompany him, with no one to hold his hand, with no one to say "go here" and "get in that line over there" or "get your passports out." He's had his share of traveling experiences with family and without, by bus and by plane, so his mama and papa won't worry -  not too much.   on our way to Belem in 2010 Fortaleza Airport, 2007 But as a mama, I reserve the right to be slightly concerned as he charts his own way through major hubs, immigration, and customs along the way.  Yes, he's been well versed and has a packet full of all the right documents, but I'll be relieved to know that he's made it through just fine on Tuesday morning. As the last to leave the nest, we've had some good times and enjoyed some grand travels in the USA and all around Brazil.  We have had a good relationship and hopeful...

   Happy Father's Day 2017 to the father of our three sons.   You deserve all honor and respect as a good father, a fine Christian example and an incredible mentor.