Cactus Flower

P.S.:  Michele here... I didn't get this letter up earlier and hence some of the news that was to happen has already taken place like the missions trip and gift campaign.   Greetings: December 2019 Well, the hot weather is upon us. Toward the end of the year we get some hot days, usually preceding rain. This week I registered 105 in the shade before 11 AM. At 6:30 I was already sweating. And anyone who cracks "It's a DRY heat" hasn't see my shirt!  There isn't a dry patch on it. I don't usually mind during the day but night is tougher. It's almost enough to make me turn the fan up to high.  fixing a flat on a recent trip Almost. It's so hot I actually have to quench the parts in water BEFORE I weld instead of after. In fact, I don't even need a welder to weld. I just move the parts out of the shade for 10 minutes or until lightly brown, turn, repeat, and it's done. I am getting to be a less bad welder from all the experie...

About three weeks ago I asked for prayer at church and on a Facebook page of mine about prayer for a friend.  She had been to the doctor because of some stomach pains.  The doctor suggested it might be cancer, tests were scheduled and a date set for chemotherapy to start.  Doctors spoke of the severity of the situation and alerted the family that chemo would only extend her life for more months.  No one at that moment considered that she would only have a few more days.  Friends all over the world began to pray for more time with family, for more months to organize things, and for the possibility of a cure. Winston-Salem, 1998, first furloughs 55 days after that first doctor's visit, my friend passed away.  Did God not hear my prayers? Everything was so hard to understand.  It all happened so quickly.  She was the mother of three young adults, 2 girls and one young man.  One of the daughters got married not too long ago.  The o...

The little app on my phone screen told me yesterday that it was only 97 ° F.  I'm sure it was wrong.  This is the time of the year when the breezy tropical winds stop blowing and all that is left is the heat of the bright equatorial sun.  Those are the days when we shut the doors of our little house to keep the heat out!  Yesterday was indeed one of those days.  Even the cat was croaking! When I saw her laying on top of a book and a pen in front of a fan, it was just comical.  I wondered if she was hoping someone would come back and turn on the fan! Days like these make it hard to ride the sand rail on our interior visits.  But we leave home a little earlier to avoid the heat, take lots of water and are thankful when the sun goes down in the evening.   This week on our Thursday interior run my arms which I'd coated in sunscreen ended up with an extra coating of sand!  As we rode over the sandy roads the dust clung to whereve...

There we are.  I was so happy.  I had found and bought matching outfits for my three boys just before a furlough.  It would be our youngest first.  I don't remember how, but we went to a professional photographer for some family portraits.  It may have been in an attempt to get that perfect shot for a new prayer card.  Everyone was happy except the little one.  I seem to remember that he was sleepy and just needed a nap. Ah, the days when my hair was still red and Byron's was still dark blond.  We were young and happy.  Our boys were healthy and content.  We had finished things up with the church plant where we had been for a few years the year before.  We had helped out at a great church for a year and we were all set to move to another region after furlough where we would start working with a camp. Oh, what we did not know way back then.  The camp would eventually close.  One of our major missionary team member...

Yesterday was the annual procession of cowboys in our little town of Sobradinho, Bahia.  It's a Catholic tradition.  Our town has three Catholic chapels, one in each of our three neighborhoods.  The parade starts at the far end of our linear town at the first church and heads down the main avenue with all the cowboys on horseback following the statute of the Virgin Mary on donkey drawn cart.  They make their way to the main church in the far neighborhood where all the cowboys participate in a special mass to bless their year. Regardless of the religious connotations, the parade is lovely to see.  All types of horses and all types of "cowboys" big and small.  Some years there is even a man riding on a old Zebu bull.  Sadly this year the bull did not make his appearance. We see real, live cowboys in their full leather outfits at least once a week riding down the avenues of our town, in the fields near our house herding cattle and goats ba...

The Athas in Brazil Taking the Living Water  to the desert Northeast   R.Araras 12 / Sobradinho, BA / 48925   +55 74 98806 9559  bwaii@yahoo.com Hello all.                                                                         August 2019 When I ended my last letter there was still plenty to tell, and as I start this letter I think I could fill 3 pages.  The good news is I don’t have that much paper on hand.  The bad news is that I don’t need paper to send this electronically.  BUT I’ll have mercy and stop when it’s time whether I’m done or not.  I just hope I’m better at stopping in letters than I am with sermons…   I’m writing this now because I won’t have much time this month.  We are excitedly awaiting the arrival of our oldest son and new...

June started off with a rush of activity that never stopped.  William and Kerri, our oldest and his wife of one year, arrived on Friday, the 7th and jumped right into ministry and activity here in Sobradinho and points nearby.  It was a joy to have them work beside us and see them in action. We enjoyed loads of Brazilian style grilled meat and lots of fried macaxeira over the course of the month.  Kerri and I went to an all day ladies' rally and got to enjoy a girls' day out on the town with two Brazilian friends.  There was a big first birthday party for a handsome little fellow and a big wedding at our church.  We took a boat trip from Sento-Sé to Sobradinho.  We visited two incredible caves, one that was just a little scary.  And, we did more evangelism in the past month than Byron and I have done in quite a few without all the great help.  Ah, and add a Fourth of July party with missionary colleagues in that mix somewhere. All in all it w...