Cool Pics of Us Two

Waleska doin' some stylin' and profilin' on the hills and in the fields near Camaquã, the town where my in-laws live, 1 1/2 hours from Porto Alegre.

This was taken in Camaquã in the middle of the tobacco fields outside of town. It's a very pretty scene at day's end, as you can see here...

Another successful race! Last Sunday Waleska & I ran in a marathon relay (groups form teams of 2, 4 or 8 runners and run the marathon distance in relay format). I ran my 10k and then helped Waleska run her 5k. She is becoming a real athlete! And the best part of the race is the cool shirts we get!

"Mobile Church" - 2nd Edition

This is the Salgado family - l-r: Jennifer, Claudio, Lhoumar, Keity and Rute. They are a great testimony to God's faithfulness! They used to live in the apartment building next to Waleska & I. Claudio works as the maintenance man in this building. Their entire family lived in a tiny apartment (the size of our living room) in the building, not exactly ideal conditions to raise three daughters. Claudio & Rute were baptized and married two years ago in our church. Over the past several years they have managed to make much out of little - with Claudio's income, they were able to pay off over $6000 in debts and make a down payment on a house! Five months ago they moved their new house in Cachoeirinha, a suburb of Porto Alegre about 40 minutes away by car. Claudio continues to work as the maintenance man - he is hoping to be fired so he can receive an indenization package that will allow them to pay off the debts they have acquired in taking on this house. It is the right thing to do, since by law he is not obligated to live in the apartment building, but the residents are giving him a very hard time about it. Yet he remains faithful and patient, as does his whole family.
Last Sunday our house church did another "mobile church" experience - we had a lunch and our worship in the Salgados' home! The Terrys had been going out to Cachoeirinha every Sunday to encourage the Salgados in their worship, and while they are on furlough right now, different groups are taking turns going out to Claudio & Rute's home to be church with them. Twelve of our folks from our group went and we had a wonderful experience of praise, discussion and fellowship. Please pray for the Salgado family as they look forward to a bright future full of the promises of God, especially the fruition of a house church in their own home!

Church in the "Big Corner"

When I first moved to Porto Alegre five years ago, I hired a Christian lady named Valquiria to help cook and clean in my house, and I formed a close friendship with her and her family. Valquiria, her sister Valeria (far left in the photo), their mother, aunts, cousins, nephews, nieces, and various relatives live on the outskirts of Porto Alegre near the federal university campus. They call their neighborhood the "Cantão" (Big Corner) because of its location on a dead-end street in undeveloped wetlands property. Valquiria and Valeria attended our church for sometime, and two years ago left for various reasons. Recently, God has been working in a marvelous way through missionaries in Viamão, the suburb where they live, to reach this entire "clan" for Christ!

One of the obstacles for Valquiria and Valeria to grow in their faith was that it was often hard for them to leave their home in order to come to our services. A relative would arrive unexpectedly, or their husbands would not be able to give them a car ride, and they couldn't attend our events. Well, the missionaries in Viamão, the Diogos and the Whites, decided to overcome these obstacles. They decided to start a church meeting in Valeria's house on Sunday nights!

Valeria and Valquiria, sisters, are married to Didio and Kiko, who are brothers. For years their husbands have been resistent to coming to church - not rude, but just not interested. Didio's life changed dramatically at the beginning of this year when he and his son Mateus were involved in a serious car accident that left major physical & emotional scars - they were very fortunate not to be killed. This episode caused Didio (white shirt in center of photo below) to really examine the meaning of his life, and he began studying the Bible and was baptized. In fact, half a dozen of Valquiria & Valeria's relatives have been baptized this year thanks to the doors God has opened through the Viamão church's involvement!
Waleska & I attended the Sunday night meeting in Cantão last weekend. Twenty people were crammed into a narrow living room to share Christian life together. We were tremendously received with loving hugs, passionate singing, lots of conversation, shared prayers and laughter, and a community snack (I should mention that Valquiria & Valeria are tremendous cooks!) We hope to visit this group at least once a month to encourage them and help the Viamão missionaries in their task of maturing this young house church. Please add them to your prayers!

A Star (Athlete) Is Born!

This post is in honor of my wife, Waleska - she is now officially a runner! Last Sunday we participated in a 5.5K race in the south zone of the city, sponsored by an athletic club whose primary public is teachers in the state school system. It is a simple race - there probably weren't more than 100 participants - but well organized and fun to run, along the riverside. Waleska has been working out (running and weights) for several months now three days a week. Now it was time to put her training to the test. She ran the entire race without stopping, finishing in 37:18 - outstanding for a first race! I ran alongside her the whole way to give her a squeeze of the water bottle and moral support when she needed it. There is a fairly steep hill at the end that almost made her stop, but she kept going like a real trooper! She even got a medal and a shirt for participating, as you see here (when I ran the race two years ago, they didn't give out any participation prizes...) It is exciting to know that we have one more fun activity in common as a couple - running together, "pressing on to the goal!"

2nd Mens Retreat

There's a saying that if something gets bigger and better, it has to be good. Well, that held true with our second men's retreat this past weekend. We had 20 guys particpate (4 more than last time, 7 of them first-timers), and we enjoyed a nicer location (a vacation house of a friend of mine in the mountain town of Nova Petropolis. Our theme: spiritual warfare. The "family crest" above the mantle of the house's fireplace provided the perfect backdrop for our exploration of this theme.

The natural setting of our retreat was perfect: a warm spring day on top of a ridge overlooking the valley below, plenty of green area to explore and plenty of opportunities to spend time together and time alone with God, equipping ourselves to be more faithful spiritual warriors.

As with any mens retreat, food is an essential ingredient! Our brother John Spencer celebrated his birthday with us by buying us all mini-hot dogs for our Friday evening snack. For Saturday lunch we were treated by our brother Lauro to two whole racks of grilled ribs. The gaúchos supposedly say that these ribs, when done right, are even better than fliet mignon. After eating Lauro's ribs, I would have to agree.

Our program included a bit of everything. Sascha and I each gave a lesson; we had a time of individual meditation; we had a time of small group Bible study and sharing responses with the entire group; we had a time of prayer in groups of two or three; and a "training exercise" - capture the flag, for those outdoor sport enthusiasts! We saw the Lord working in many men - through conversations, laughter, tears, spontaneous praise, and reflecting on nature.
Who says it can't be better the second time around! Thank you God for this retreat!

"Mobile" Church

In a email I sent out last week, I talked a bit about Dariu (Darius in English) and Mara, a couple that are friends of Renato and Branda in our house church. Dariu and Mara opened their home to us this Sunday to see what the church is all about. They have been friends with Renato & Branda for many years, have attended one or two church events in the past, but have never been really interested in knowing more about Jesus - until various circumstances in their lives recently opened the door to their curiosity. Dariu & Mara came to our most recent couples meeting, where Waleska & I met them for the first time. When they learned from Renato & Branda that we meet as church in our homes, they became very interested and invited our group to spend a Sunday in their house, to have a time of worship and a lunch together. We gladly accepted this missionary opportunity! This is the kind of opportunity I have been praying and waiting for as house church - the opportunity to take church to people who are seeking God yet possess a certain skepticism basd on what they have experienced in institutional church.

We had a time of singing, a time of prayers for request and for thanksgiving, and a time of discussion centered around one of my favorite passages - Luke 24, where Jesus encounters the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. The central theme of our discussion was that Jesus meets us where we are, and leads us to where we need to be. Our brother John Spencer did a fantastic job explaining the meaning of the Lord's Supper as practiced in a family home setting, in simple yet profound terms. Our sister Inês also contributed with some very meaningful and personal testimonies about her walk with Jesus. By the end of the meeting we could tell from their verbal and non-verbal expressions that Dariu, Mara, and Mara's mother Flavia (who lives with them and participated) were very touched and had been given a lot to reflect on!

In true house church fashion, we continued the fellowship with our lunch, a delicious barbecue prepared by Dariu himself. This guy has not one, not two, but three barbecue pits in his house! He works for a bank and is usually on the road during the week visiting clients around the state, while Mara takes care of their three daughters Bruna, Fernanda, and Isabela. They are both very outgoing, expressive, and energetic people, they love to talk and talk! Waleska & I really enjoyed being in their home; I was amazed by how hospitable and friendly they are. They are the kind of people you want to be around, because they just make you feel so at ease. I was thinking about them as we drove home yesterday afternoon and how they strike me as people who, upon dedicating their talents to Jesus, would be tremendous servants in the kingdom.

So what is next? We are praying that God will show us the way in terms of continuing to build our relationship with Dariu, Mara & their girls, and integrating that relationship into our church family - perhaps through a couples Bible study, more home church events, or something else we can't yet envision. Let's ask God to continue opening the hearts of this great family to the gospel and that this openness will result in response and transformed lives!

Meet Luzia

In this edition I will introduce you to Luzia, a member of the church that meets in our house. Luzia is in her mid 40s and is a high school math teacher. She teaches in Restinga, one of the poorest and toughest neighborhoods in Porto Alegre (a place that, according to Luzia, she would be reluctant to bring me because I might be seen as too "white" for them, considering all good intentions). She has been a Christian for many years, back to the time of her adolescence. She is very good friends with the Signoretti families who also meet in our house. How to describe Luzia? She is a loud person in the good sense of the term - not disruptive, but vocal, opinionated, and loves a good laugh. She knows her Bible very well, too.

I have some ongoing prayer requests I would like to make on Luzia's behalf. First, that Luzia will one day be able to reconcile with her ex-husband, Daniel. They were married for many years but divorced about three years ago. However, they maintain frequent contact and Luzia hopes that eventually he will rejoin the church & come back to her. Second, Luzia is attempting to adopt a child. She is not able to have children and has been waiting three years for her adoption to come through, but it continues to be stuck in the courts. Third, Luzia's mother is very sick right now with anal cancer. Her fragility has forced Luzia to spend a great deal of time taking care of her, on rotation with her sister. Luzia is the only one in her family who is a Christian, so that makes things difficult at times. Yet Luzia boldly and confidently lives her faith and expresses her trust in Christ in all circumstances. We thank God for Luzia and ask that you join us in praying for God's powerful hand to work in these situations!