Community Outreach Ministry and Cute Brazilian Kids

One Sunday morning I was able to go along with some of the high school students on what they call outreach ministry.

The experience was definitely one of the highlights of my time in Brazil, and while I don’t have time to write about it in detail, I’ll share the basics and some pictures that tell the story better than I can...

All of us took a boat to a tiny community just off the Amazon River and there we held a short service with singing, books of the Bible memory work, a Bible story lesson, and then a painting craft for about a dozen or so kids. The one adult and two teenagers who came helped with the singing, but then had their own separate Bible lessons. Even though I couldn’t speak the same language as the kids - and they quickly figured out that I didn’t know much Portuguese – the little girls loved having their pictures taken and then seeing themselves on the back of my digital camera. I was also able to help some younger kids with their painting craft, and when they finished their papers and started painting faces several of them decided to paint my face for me. The result was rather hideous, but the artists thought it was funny, and the paint came off eventually after lots of scrubbing when I got home. Anyway, we got a lot of photos and I’ll post a few here. When you see them, pray for the kids and teens that each one would understand the Bible teaching, come to know Jesus Christ as Savior, and live for Him.

Smugglers, Pirates, and Bombeiros

Well, this story happened several weeks ago here at PQQ, on a weekend that turned out to be rather unexpectedly exciting. It all started with a Friday night campus wide game called Bible Smugglers. The object of the game, as you may have guessed, was pretending to smuggle Bibles into the persecuted churches named North Korea and Libya. So the students were the Bible smugglers and got very creative with places to hide their Bibles, and the adults were one of the persecuted churches or drop off points for the smuggled Bibles, a Bible distributor, Secret Police, or jail keeper for the Bible Smugglers caught by the Secret Police. I was a member of the elite Secret Police and was responsible for catching Bible Smugglers red-handed and discovering where they hid their Bibles. I could use only 10 yes or no questions and then had to give the appropriate “punishment” to my captured Bible Smugglers depending on what I found. The kids LOVED the game and ran all over the school campus in the dark smuggling their Bibles and trying to avoid being captured and then having their Bibles discovered by the Secret Police. As for me, let’s just say that that I found out being a big, mean and angry, Secret Police officer bent on torturing Christians for possessing Bibles doesn’t really fit my personality. I did the best I could to be convincing, but the Bible Smugglers I caught got off easy… I only found 2 Bibles on the kids I stopped and sent those Smugglers to jail while the others did a few pushups for me and continued on their merry Bible smuggling ways. After the game was over, it was quite late, but with it being Friday night I joined a visiting family at the guest house next to mine for a noisy game of PIT. About our 5^th or 6^th round close to eleven pm, we all heard a loud shouting coming from the river. The shouting was soon recognized as the Portuguese word for help repeated over and over again. With the time of night being well after the campus generator had stopped, our best sources of light were mostly small flashlights which were obviously not going to be much help finding and rescuing people. But we grabbed our flashlights anyway, got the men in charge of the campus out of their beds and ran down to the school dock on the Amazon River to see what all the noise was all about. A strong, loud voice continued yelling for help along with saying something about being in the water, but as hard as we tried, no one could see anything or anyone. The voice drifted past our dock and was quickly going down the river with the current, which gets super strong just past the school. So two of the men with a bunch high school boys looking for adventure untied the big school boat, started the engine and lights, and headed down the river to see if they could find the source of the cries for help. The boat rescue party was sent after much discussion though, because we at the school had recently been warned about river pirates in the area who had been stealing things and hijacking boats along the shore. The pirates apparently use all kinds of devious schemes to steal their loot and the possibility that this was a group of pirates doing a little “HELP” routine to lure boats out to them in the dark dominated the lively discussion on the dock. This resulted in appropriate measures of self-defense being carried along by the rescuers and much excitement for those anxiously waiting on land for the rescue boat’s return. This awaited return was rather anticlimactic though, because while the men in our boat continued to hear calls for help all the way down the river, the shouting seemed to be going twice the speed of our attempted rescue and our guys were never able to catch up or even get close enough to see the cause for all the noise. So the twenty or so people watching from the dock finally went to bed, each with their own idea  of what had just taken place, the pirate theory being the most popular I think.

Saturday morning soon came with the sun shining bright and hot. It seemed that almost anyone who wasn’t at the dock the night before had slept through the entire event and had to be filled in on the details and theories. To validate our stories, unusual river traffic started to go by the school: police, fire, and river rescue boats, which I was told were called bombeiros. Then a police/military helicopter began following the river on our side of the bank, circling around the school a few times, and soon landing in a small clearing of trees not far from our boat dock. The arrival of a large helicopter on the school campus was a huge excitement alone without all the drama from the night before, so of course all the students and curious staff came running to see what was going on. I even left my faithful post of washing dishes in the dining hall to follow the crowd and not miss out on a single juicy detail. After the police and military personnel unloaded from the helicopter and had a get together with the firefighters/rescue divers who had just tied their boats at our dock as well, we got what I believe is the official story. Late Friday night a boat with 8 people hit something in the middle of the river upstream from the school and broke in two pieces. Half the people went with one part of the boat and half were clinging to the other piece. Three or four of those people floated close by our dock on their way past the school and that is when we heard the yelling for help. Most of them were rescued farther down the river, but sadly one person let go of their boat half and tried to swim for shore. The river current is extremely fast and strong, so the lone swimmer never got safely to land. And this is why the Brazilian search and rescue team had their boats, divers, and helicopter out combing the area. They enjoyed our huge audience and all the attention I think, because the helicopter crew got pictures of themselves with all of us, let the little kids climb in the back seat of the helicopter, and had the older students and staff get up close to the helicopter for pictures or just to satisfy our curiosity. They were parked at the school for a long time, doing what appeared to be just visiting, but I’m sure official business was being carried out at the same time. Then most of the rescue team took off in the helicopter, waving down at their newest fan club. The divers also left in their bright red boats and with that the excitement of the weekend was over as well. The Bible Smugglers game was done, the Pirates were only great rumors this time, and the Bombeiros were gone with the helicopter. But stay tuned for the next exciting ADVENTURES IN THE AMAZON…

Amazon Easter

Dawn came on Easter morning bright and early as I woke up much earlier than usual to get ready for the sunrise service at six. Being a campus wide event, the generator was also turned on earlier than usual which was helpful because I never realized how difficult putting contacts in by candlelight can be. The sun actually came up before the service started, giving me a few good shots of an Easter morning sunrise over the Amazon River. Easter is definitely my favorite holiday and I had been looking forward to celebrating it in Brazil, not only because of the beautiful location and great weather here but also to compare the events of the day to the different experiences I’ve had of Easter in the USA and Russia. Well, this was the first sunrise service I remember attending outside and thankfully even at six the morning the temperature was already quite warm. Our service was held in an outdoor pavilion located between the school and dining hall so we could all watch the sun rise above the tree line. The students provided special music with a flute and keyboard prelude and the elementary choir singing several Easter songs. We as the congregation also sang some traditional Easter hymns in both English and Portuguese: “Because He Lives” was “Porque Ele Vive” and “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” translated to “Ressurgiu”. I tried my best to sing the Portuguese words correctly, but the only ones I felt very comfortable with were the alleluias… that word was the same in both languages. The melodies were also the same and it was a meaningful experience to have people from different countries, cultures, and language groups singing the same songs about the very reason we are all here together in Brazil… proclaiming to the world the resurrection of Jesus Christ, His power over sin and death, the eternal life Christ came to give each and every person, and the amazing change He has made in each one of our lives. As the song by Charles Wesley goes… in English:

“Christ the Lord is risen today, alleluia!

Sons of men and angles say, alleluia!

 Raise your joys and triumphs high, alleluia!

Sing ye heavens and earth reply, alleluia!

Lives again our glorious King, alleluia!

Where O death is now thy sting? Alleluia!

Dying once He all doth save, alleluia!

Where thy victory O grave? Alleluia!"

Following the service, the kitchen staff was soon busy preparing our Easter feast for lunch when all the families, staff, and students on campus come to the dining hall to eat together – about 80 people this year. The menu was meat from big roasting chickens called Chesters, mashed potatoes and gravy, fresh hot rolls, mashed squash, creamy broccoli casserole, deviled eggs and pickles, and a variety of amazing desserts the ladies each brought to share. As a member of the cooking team, my responsibilities included peeling about 40-50 pounds of potatoes, baking 9 dozen soft oat rolls, making about 9 dozen deviled eggs, taking pictures of the whole process (ok that was a self-assigned job), and just being around to help with last minute stuff. However, even in all this hustle and bustle I was granted permission to leave the kitchen in the middle of the morning and watch the children’s Easter egg hunt. Two of the high school students hid empty plastic eggs and when the kids found them all, the eggs were exchanged for a certain amount of candy. That way none of the candy melted in the hot sun and the ants didn’t even have a chance to ruin good Easter treats. After the Easter egg hunt it was back to the kitchen for me where lunch was a lot of fun to make and tasted even better when we finally sat down to eat. When the meal was over, the grown men offered to do the dishes, and no one refused their help… the cooks were definitely ready for a nap. Later in the afternoon, everyone who wanted to swim climbed aboard the two-story school boat and took a short trip up the river to a lake sized inlet. There the boat stopped in the middle of the lake and people started jumping into the inviting water. But both the kids and adults weren’t satisfied with simply getting into the water to swim - they all had to jump in from the top story of the boat. When I stood there looking down from that level, the water seem very, very far away. It was much too high for me to jump, but after watching some of my preschool and elementary students effortlessly climb over the railing and jump in several times, I finally gave in to their begging and jumped in myself. Surprisingly I survived my first and second jumps, and then decided to just enjoy relaxing in the water. So now I guess I can add to my list of unusual Easter Day celebrations jumping off a two-story boat into the Amazon River to swim. And I thought I did some strange things on Easter Day in Russia… Well, any way you celebrate, the truth of Easter remains the same- CHRIST IS RISEN, HE IS RISEN INDEED!

Lessons from a Jungle Camp Cookbook

As I was sitting in the dining hall kitchen yesterday afternoon waiting for our bagels to finish baking, I decided to look for some recipes in a well-worn book from 1976 called the Jungle Camp Cookbook. Eventually I found a good brownie recipe and then randomly came across a poem in the same section, which turned out to be a great reminder to me about trusting God with the bigger picture of life. Since my Easter update is going to be rather late, I thought I would share the poem here…

He sat by the furnace of sevenfold heat

As He watched by the precious ore

And closer He bent with a searching gaze,

As He heated it more and more.

He knew He had ore that could stand the test,

And He wanted the finest gold

To mold a crown for the King to wear,

Set with gems of a price untold.

So He laid our gold in the burning fire,

Though we fain would have bid Him “nay,”

And He watched the dross that we had not seen,

As it melted and passed away.

And the gold grew brighter and yet more bright

But our eyes were so dim with tears,

We saw but the fire –not the Master’s hand

And questioned with anxious fears.

Yet our gold shone out with a richer glow,

And it mirrored a Form above

That bent o’er the fire, though unseen by us,

With looks of ineffable love.

Can we think that it pleases His loving heart

To cause us a moment’s pain?

Ah, no; but He saw through the present cross

The bliss of eternal gain.

So He waited there with a watchful eye

With a love that is strong and sure,

And His gold did not suffer a whit more heat

Than was needed to make it pure!

-H. L. Roush

(FYI: this update was actually written a few weeks ago but I didn't get a chance to post it until now)

Amazing Answer to Prayer

Somewhere nestled in the jungle of Brazil along the Amazon River was a little mission school that was basically unconnected to the rest of the world by the internet. This past weekend through an amazing answer to prayer, God suddenly changed their situation and the life of at least one associate missionary living there. Puraquequara now has WIRELESS HIGHSPEED (for us) INTERNET and I can access it from my house! For the past four months, I've only been able to get online about every other week or so and then just to check my email, because most web pages took so long to load. If it was a nice, sunny day and I took my laptop close to the river, sometimes I could download all my emails. But one day even though the sun was shining it took me 3-4 hours just to get to my college website and when I tried to register for a summer class I needed, the internet connection failed and all was lost. Thankfully those days of internet frustration now seem to be past us :) The way I would update this blog was to send the written text in an email to my brother Josh and he would post it for me from a better internet connection in the USA. So a big thanks to Josh for posting all my blog updates until now! Maybe it was the begining of your career as an international computer consultant or something like that... And another big thanks to the great team of guys here at the school who worked hard to install the wireless internet system for everyone. Last of all, but certainly not least, a huge thank you to the company who donated many thousands of dollars worth of equipment to make the internet possible at this school in the Amazon jungle. Due to my previous lack of internet access, I have a backlog of blog posting, so please forgive me if you get tired of seeing a bunch new posts in the next few weeks I have left in Brazil...

Tiradentes Day or The Tooth-puller’s Holiday

Last Thursday, April 21, an interesting national holiday was celebrated across Brazil. Since it relates to the dental field, I naturally felt like it should be included in the blog. So here is a short summery of what learned about Tiradentes Day. Several hundred years ago, a Brazilian man named Joaquim Jose da Silva Xavier fought for the independence of Brazil from the European country of Portugal and was hanged by the Portuguese for his efforts. After Brazil eventually won its independence, the date of this brave man’s death was commemorated with a national holiday, but instead of calling the day Joaquim Jose da Silva Xavier’s Day (maybe because the name would take up the entire little calendar square for April 21), the holiday was named Tiradentes Day after the hero’s nickname. The Portuguese word tiradente literally means tooth puller for Mr. Joaquim was a dentist by trade and must have pulled many teeth in his day. Which make me wonder if dental offices in Brazil celebrate this holiday by offering free extractions… um, probably not. Everyone gets off work or school so I’m sure the dental offices don’t stay open just because of a holiday named after a famous dentist. Anyway, here at the PQQ mission school, the students were glad for a day off and spent most of it playing in a futebol (soccer) tournament with a large Brazilian church group who came out to the school to spend their holiday with us and to hold a baptism ceremony in the Amazon River using one of our boat ramps. It was a very happy Tiradentes Day with no teeth pulled or lost or any tooth related activities at all, other than eating of course, which must be a part of any good holiday celebration, teeth or no teeth.