Random Thoughts as 2007 draws to a close

I'm reading, Why the Right is Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It by Jim Wallis. Highly recommended book and I'm only on page 50. He has me wondering why the religious right is so strong on abortion and gay marriage but doesn't breathe a word about the poor. Or for that matter about social justice. Micah writes about social justice, Matthew records the words of Jesus dealing with the poor but it seems the only issues that matter to Christians who are Republicans are the two mentioned earlier. Is it possible that neither party is right and we need to hold both political parties to a higher standard? Is it possible we need to hold ourselves to a higher standard? We like the good life, don't bother us with difficult details. Abortion and gay marriage are easy opponents, we don't like to kill the innocent, except in wars (just and unjust); Scripture talks of homosexual sin so gay marriage is easy but how to treat the poor, that may cost us in the wallet.

A Christmas family gathering left a group us talking about about current issues. One guy sits on the board of the local grain elevator and was telling us about wheat trading for $10 a bushel and they are sitting on 400,000 bushels so the manager started calling his usual clients to sell. Not one needed a single bushel of wheat . . . . how can wheat be selling for $10 a bushel if the supply is exceeding the demand? Is our whole commodities trading a farce? Is our stock market a farce? Does the constant profit taking distract us from real problems at home and abroad? Do I spend more time worrying about my meager investments than how my government treats the poor?

Stuber Christmas 2007

My love to all for tolerating the attached video. Since I took the clips you must endure the "Super 8" effect used to create the final product. Our family concluded the night with the final Advent Service conducted at FUMC Peoria. "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name Him Immanuel." Isaiah 7:14

I also found the following prayer from our service particularly meaningful: "Christ Jesus, humble shepherds found You in a stable. Come to us, so that we may advance towards the brightness of Your Presence, hidden within us. And our hearts can say to You: Jesus, my joy, my hope, my life. Amen!" Merry Christmas to all!

Schurter Christmas

December 22, 2007 It was nearly 60 today and we are gathering the Henry Schurter central Illinois family together for Christmas. Tim and Angie have traveled 12 hours to be with us. The oldest is my 90 year old dad and youngest is a great-grandchild who is in fourth grade. What a wonderful season, as our world fights various conflicts, dad fights to zip a zipper on a new coat. My sister-in-law graciously helps dad get the coat on in the midst of a group of people waiting to open their presents. I think Jesus arrived in a world full of conflict, He arrived in a stable setting and was so feared that many youngsters were put to death to try and eliminate who He would become. May all your families have a wonderful Christmas season. May Jesus bring peace and reconciliation to your family.

Serving With Eyes Wide Open

The following is from David Livermore's book: Serving With Eyes Wide Open: Doing Short-term Missions With Cultural Intelligence. Stats only today:

1. 178,000 convert to Christianity daily;
2. 28,000 conversions occur in China each day;
3. Indonesia, largest Islamic country in the world, one million per year convert to Christianity;
4. India, 100,000 per month convert to Christianity.

Why do most Americans seem to think Christianity is not growing? It is currently the fastest growing world religion. Christianity has a 6.9% growth rate compared with 2.7% for Islam.
Something to think about since the U.S. is not experiencing these things like the rest of the world.

When, where and how

I was awake early (3:45 a.m.) and those numbers on the clock are extremely clear when you would prefer to be asleep. Too many things racing about the brain. Another opportunity to take people to Brazil is facing Vicki and I. We believe we have the "when" question addressed but where to turn for the best ticket price and how to procure those tickets is another issue. The on-line sites limit the number of tickets so you have to do the purchase with someone else. It's amazing how complicated our lives have become.
By the way, the image is of river shrimp for sale at the market in Altamira. It's amazing how strong the desire to return has become.

Emerson: Nature

What is nature?

• perfect exhilaration
• perpetual youth
• the plantations of God
• a perennial festival
• guest
• a place to return to reason and faith

"Nature always wears to the colors of the spirit."

photos of the random type

Third Party?

Washington warned us about political parties (they drove him out of politics) and he warned us about foreign alliances. I heard on the radio today that the approval rating for Congress is at 11%. How can a nation survive the political power politics we now are struggling with? The leading Democratic front-runner has never been in control of anything. . . .no experience running a business, no having to sweat it out day in and day out to meet a payroll, pay the bills; no experience as governor, secretary of state, heck, township supervisor. We may elect a person whose experience is two terms in the Senate, I'm not sure that experience gives you the reality check necessary to run the country. Don't get me wrong, I don't see the other political party as having any great options. We need a flashier Ross Perot, I know, I know, third party candidates don't win but at least they can be honest. Remember Ross talking about that "sucking sound" if NAFTA passed? That sound of jobs leaving America, I may be wrong but it sure appears to me that our manufacturing jobs (the ones that paid a livable wage) have, for the most part, left.

We have the interstate manufacturing jobs, you know, the little companies all up and down the interstate leading into cities that used to be home to the big manufacturing companies that paid decent wages. Now we have multiple small manufacturing companies that pay smaller wages (except to the owners who build huge homes with their profits) and they send their products off to companies like Caterpillar who used to make them in house but now to satisfy stock-holders they farm out that work. I'm sorry for digressing. We need a third party candidate, honest, working class background, not a Democrat or Republican but the best of both. We can surely find someone in this country who is fiscally conservative but willing to help the poor, willing to protect our resources, willing to think outside the box to get more dollars to our ailing National Park system. I think we can balance fiscal responsibility and social responsibility but I don't think the top candidates in either party will lift a finger to change the current mess.

One final comment regarding education (see previous post). Illinois has two wonderful days of testing at the high school level. Day one is the ACT and day two is called work-keys (I think). Work keys is a wonderful example of the state dictating a test. My department co-chair, who shall remain nameless but who has two advanced degrees and is a National Board Certified Teacher, and I took the sample level 4 (out of 7) reading test. The sample consisted of reading a memorandum from some business (remember work keys are about real life working environment examples and we have a lot of morons running businesses who can't write a clear paragraph so we have to train our students to read random moronic paragraphs so they can work for these moronic companies that can't communicate in clear, simple English) and then answering ONE question about the reading. My co-chair read the paragraph, the answer to the question was clear except for one problem . . . the correct answer was not one of the choices! I independently took the same practice test, same situation, the answer was clear but it isn't a choice. Not allowing ourselves to give up we took the sample to the chair of the English department and asked for their opinion. Easy to read paragraph, the answer jumped right out at them (same as it did to us) BUT the answer that three teachers (dept. chairs with nearly 50 years of combined teaching experience, graduate degrees from Illinois State and Bradley University) selected as CLEARLY being correct was not even an option. The other wonderful thing about the work keys practice booklet is that the state of Illinois did not give us the correct answer with an explanation so we might understand where our error in logic appeared. It's time for change at the state level as well.

Buried Alive in America

It is hard to believe that I have had no time to write since early September. Life has been a blur. School is going well, love that American Studies class, after three months of antibiotics my staph (yup, the one in the newspapers that claimed a few thousand lives last year or year before) is gone (my wife is a much happier individual, come to think of it I am also), don't hear that NCLB is going away soon enough, finished my second Donald Miller book, which I highly recommend (Searching for God Knows What).

The school where I teach received its annual "report" card from the state, we failed to meet adequate yearly progress again. Our "sub-groups" just can't make grade level on their tests. Imagine that, a child identified as having learning difficulties can't score at grade level. 2014 is fast approaching America, ALL children have to be testing at grade level or we all fail. Here is your news flash, (reporters, I won't even ask for credit for being the first to break the news) it isn't going to happen. It never would have happened in our past, it isn't going to happen in our present and it sure won't happen in the future. NCLB is a poorly thought out program, I am all for accountability, reasonable accountability, say, a little tougher than the type that allowed a president to commit perjury and avoid prosecution or even tougher than the type that allowed a president to lead us into war over weapons of mass destruction that were never found (I know, they 're in Syria). I want the same accountability that our representatives have when they spend us so deep into debt that China (who controls vast amounts of our debt dollars), using lead-based paint, can get the CEO of an American corporation to admit on television that it was really all his fault.

my youngest son said that space periodically helps when reading a blog, here is your "space"

I have come to believe that this really was all a ploy by those who want federally funded vouchers, but wait, latest studies show that low achieving kids placed in high achieving private schools really don't score any better. What! There could be another reason than poor teachers?? It, it might, just might be that home environment has something to do with test scores? As Gomer Pyle said, "Golllllllllyyyyy!" You mean, growing up in a home where reading was modeled, family vacations were periodic, mom and/or dad were usually stable, worked, and brought home money might influence how well students do on standardized tests? We, as Americans, deserve to be slapped in the face (each cheek! Twice!) for allowing the largest intrusion into states terrain in recent history. I won't even address the fallacy of local school control because I fear too many school board members really believe they have a say in how their local school runs.

Space again

Those who are losing in this process are our students, I truly believe they are experiencing test strain. I know we, in the Social Studies, are losing ground because our subject isn't tested. How do you appease all ethnic groups in 40 to 50 questions covering ALL of world history? I know, you pick a huge voter group in your state, say. . . Armenians in California, and you quick introduce a resolution calling something that happened in Turkey, a few years ago, genocide. Where are the NCLB people to announce the Democratic leadership as "failing to make yearly progress" in using their brains? The nation finally wised up and pronounced the Republicans as "failing to make yearly progress" on controlling their spending spree and voted them out of control of Congress. What did we replace them with? Another group of failures, and these are the people who say educators aren't doing their jobs and if you don't do your job so that your students meet "adequate yearly progress" the teacher loses their job. What about our representatives losing their jobs? Balanced budget in 4 - 6 years or all of you are gone!! A 5% annual reduction in the deficit for the 4 - 6 years or out they all go! Social Security, a plan implemented within 4 - 6 years or all of you are gone!! All! Every member of the House gone one year and the next year (don't want to have too big of a shake-up) every member of the Senate. GONE! The next year the president, yes, could mean mid-term elections, so what, we want results, data-driven results. Measurable! Not going to happen. Oh well, it sure allowed me space and time to vent!

I knew Don wouldn't fail me.

Compare the following with my previous post on this date. . .highlighting is by me. Thanks to Donald Miller!
Thirteen Paradigm Shifts we encountered doing Christian ministry in a pagan environment…
1. Other People Exist: Simply coming to the understanding that the world does not revolve around “me” but that everybody is having an experience, created by God, loved by God, and that we needed to repent of showing partiality…
2. Nobody will listen to you unless they know you like them: We began to understand that people, subconsciously, merit a religious or philosophical idea not on logical conclusions, but on whether or not the idea creates a “good person”…the definition of a good person being whether or not a person is kind to them, tolerant and understanding, able to listen without arguing and so on.
3. Nobody will listen to God unless they know God loves them: We came to believe there was usually a hidden pain behind hostility, that many people have been hurt by the church, or people or perspectives they believed to represent God. Many times its as simple as an interview they saw on CNN, but an apology and kindness went a long way in helping people understand God was loving.
4. Other people have morality and values: We came to understand that Christians do not own morality, that everybody lives by a moral code, not always informed by an ancient text, and yet it is there. Calling people or even thinking of them as immoral was, then, inappropriate. In fact, we often found that people who did not know Christ lived a morality close to his heart in many areas we had ignored, ie; community, tolerance, social justice, fairness and equality, freedom, beauty and so on and so on.
5. Find common ground: Often the morality of others overlapped Christian morality, and we came to understand that in these cases, we would focus on the overlapping issues. We came to see this as kindness, just as though we were on a date or making friends, we did not focus on what we didn’t have in common, but rather on mutual feelings about life. We would not say or do anything to combat people unless they knew we loved them, and this takes a great deal of time.
6. Define terms in their language: We were careful about Christian sayings and phrases that might be offensive: Crusade, sin, immorality….we came to understand that concepts were more sacred than terms…
7. Telling somebody about the gospel is about them, not us: We were careful not to try to “build our organization” and respected peoples freedom and space. Sharing the gospel became an exercise in friendship, rather than an attempt to grow a machine. Often, people feel used if they feel they are being recruited. The gospel, we learned, is really about them, their feelings about God and truth, about sin, about life
8. Don’t let spreading the gospel feel any different than telling somebody about a love in your life, about your children or a great memory: We realized that in telling somebody about Jesus, we were telling them about somebody we have come to love and need, and about something that had happened to us, an encounter. This keeps us from sounding preachy, and allows us to share part of ourselves in a friendship.
9. Include lost People in Your Community: Our organization was not exclusive. We invited non-believers into the community if they wanted to be invited. We were careful not to not be ourselves with them, but they were certainly invited and enjoyed being a part of the group. We explained terms that we used, what we believed, but other than that, continued as normal.
10. Apologize for what you represent: We discovered that many people have been offended or hurt by what they perceive Christianity to be. We allowed ourselves to stand in the place of “Christianity” and apologize whenever necessary.
11. Be authentic: We discovered the need to be as honest about our lives as possible. We did not feel the need to sale Jesus, as much as share what He has done in our broken lives. We had no problem sharing our doubts and fears about faith, along with our commitment and appreciation for what God had done.
12. Pray for the Salvation of others: We discovered the need to pray for others. This would insure God was working in peoples lives, as we asked Him to. We discovered the work of evangelism is something God lets us watch, but very little of it is what we manipulate. We repented of not believing evangelism was a spiritual exchange between a lost person and God, rather than believing it was a series of ideas we were supposed to convince others of.
13. Ask people if they would like to know Christ: We decided to initiate, whenever the relationship called for it. We were not afraid to ask people if they would like to know God.
DonaldMillerWords.

Sinners in the hands . . .

Yes, we are to this point in Puritan history. That old Jonathan Edwards favorite. "The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire: he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours. . ." Why would God sacrifice His Son for mankind if we are so abominable? Is it possible that Literature "experts" want all high school students reading this to get a total misrepresentation of God? I don't remember Jesus talking to sinners like this, I do remember Him becoming upset with the religious people of the day but the woman caught in adultery. . . go and sin no more; the rich man . . .give it all away. I don't recall Jesus setting up the us against them situation that Edwards creates. "He will have no compassion upon you, he will not forbear the executions of his wrath. . ." If dying on a cross isn't compassion I don't know what is. Am I a wimp in believing this? It just doesn't seem that the God worshiped by Edwards and the God I worship are the same being. Where is Donald Miller when I need him?

New School Year

We are underway, new students, new class that entails team teaching, new principal, new department members, new school computer . . . . . pretty amazing. It has been hectic, American Studies (team taught English/US History) is a joy, wonderful students who want to succeed. My freshman classes are good. Now the test comes in maintaining my attitude, my preparedness and my time. To persevere when it becomes difficult or things are no longer new. I ran into a fellow teacher, Andy the Athlete. Andy runs ultra-marathons (for fun) and even manages events around the U.S. This summer Andy decided to bike to Vermont where he was managing a race I believe. He loaded his bike with 90 pounds of gear and took off. He completed the ride but said to me, "I cried one day." To persevere means there will be pain and suffering, not that we enjoy those two things or want too much of them but to build perseverance means we have to overcome some pain and suffering. I was really impressed that he admitted to me that he had felt enough pain to cry. I thought back a few year to my bike ride from Maine to Illinois. I was traveling across Ohio, straight as an arrow road for over 25 miles, mist, and a 25 mph wind blowing straight into my face. I was alone, I screamed, I cried, but I finished the ride. Perseverance was learned in that pain. I get to team-teach with a guy named Tom. He runs marathons. . . 26 miles. Perseverance. I don't think I could ever focus my mind to keep running for 26 miles. Perseverance. And pain. Why? Most people over the age of 25 realize or are beginning to realize that life is not always easy. There are difficult days, people, and situations that tax us to our core. Some people find ways to cope. . . exercise, meditation, prayer, faith, a friend or spouse to talk with, medication . . . of all kinds, and the list goes on. Sometimes simple perseverance is all we need to remember.

School

Wow! It's time to go home and I have accomplished little. Yes, supplies have been delivered to my department members and my new computer has been set up but I nothing about getting ready for the actual act of teaching has been done. Does anyone else ever have days when you work all day and have nearly nothing to show for it at the end? Tomorrow is another day.

The Porkies

Just returned from camping in the UP of Michigan. We went to Porcupine Mountains State Park for some rest. Pitched our tent, ate old backpacking food, NO soda, pressed coffee and lots of time to do nothing! On one side we had an advertising agent from Chicago who comes here each year to keep from going insane and on the other side a couple from Ironwood who come every weekend. One makes more than 100k per year and the other, less than 30k. Who was the happier? The ad man made it clear that he lived in Chicago because that is the best market other than New York, the couple lived in Ironwood because it allowed them close access to the wilderness, peace of mind and soul. Their house was paid off, they own a little pop-up camper and they love the outdoors. Vicki and I read and hiked and visited with our neighbors from Ironwood. They have correct priorities, they see value in time, time they can spend in the woods. As Thoreau screams, "Simplify!" most of us complicate, we want the latest and greatest which forces us to work jobs we hate. I am fortunate, I work around great people, they inspire, they keep me grounded, they are honest and I truly believe they would give me the shirt off their back. Community.

The End Is Near!

It has been a few days since I've been near the internet to blog. Life has been wild and interesting. I have learned a couple of things: 1. Tearing off a roof and installing a new roof complete with two valleys is not something you should take lightly when you are past 50 and don't do that kind of work every day; 2. Listen to your wife when they tell you to see a doctor regarding awful looking lumps in the space between your upper lip and your nose.
My sons, Michael and Paul, and myself have been installing a new roof on Michael's home in Peoria. Thirty years ago I did this kind of work while going to college and both of my son's have done this kind of work to encourage them to finish college. It has been a real joy working with them but I constantly ache from the physical labor involved in this process. Plus, upon returning from our Brazil mission trip I found my leg had a nice infection brewing which required treatment with a course of antibiotics; while on the antibiotics a "lump" formed under my nose which I decided needed broken. Mistake! It didn't break but continued to grow, increased in pain and I finally had to go to a Medfirst clinic on a Sunday for some relief. It appears that somewhere I have picked up one of those nasty infections that don't respond well to treatment. I am now on my third course of antibiotics (internal and topical) and they hope to have it cleaned up by the time school starts. I can't even shave so that beard I once thought would be cool is now a partial reality. I really don't want to start school with this little hole right below my nose.
I am learning, again, about pride; about age; about pride and listening to my spouse.

Where Does the Summer Go?

Where does our time go? Vicki and I have the summer "off" so where does our time go? Yes, we are reading and preparing for new classes to be taught this fall, yes, I make her help me hoist sheeting in the garage attic, yes, I have been biking each day, yes, I have been keeping up my SOAPY, yes, I have been working on a Missions budget for church, yes, I have been making recruiting calls for BT 2 at our church, and a number of other things around the house that "must" be done. Time. . . .we never seem to have enough but we always fill our free time so there will never be enough. The picture, from the Simon yard in Brasil, seems to remind me to take time to smell the . . .
I am currently reading 1776, by David McCullough. What a book! If you want to understand the beginnings of our nation I recommend this book. I didn't realize that Washington was the "old" man of the founding fathers at age 42 or 43. Thomas Jefferson was 32! Would we trust our future to a 32 year old today? The issue that is most troubling to me is whether or not I would have even supported the revolution. I am a fiscal conservative who believes in very slow change, would I have been willing to give up the security provided by the most powerful nation on earth for the unknown? If I had been a middle class businessman would I have sacrificed my nice little life and possibly my future security for a new and untried system? At age 52 I would not trust a 32 year old to faithfully communicate the ideals of the Enlightenment and then see them carried through. Were they perfect men? No, none of us are but what is our vision for our future?

Fruit of the Spirit

Church today was tough. Galatians 5: 22 - 6:2. Did you ever think about the church exhibiting the fruit of the spirit? We are called to be witnesses of the work Christ is doing in our lives. I was hit between the eyes when our pastor commented how many believers are concerned that visitors pass the beliefs test before being considered worthy. They must understand and adhere to the "party line" as visitors instead of us treating them as visitors with thoughts of their own. Christians need to initially accept visitors for what they are . . . visitors. We can dialogue on wide variety of topics initially without an "I'm right and you are wrong" mentality taking over. We should be gentle in allowing the Truth of the word to penetrate their heart, mind, and body. God has never needed our help in communicating when change is needed in an individual's life. Two things stay in my mind; how am I doing exhibiting the fruits of the spirit and how is my church doing? Thank you, Dr. Bias, for challenging me to think bigger than I normally would.

Is this reality?

I'm sitting in the local Panera bread company, drinking a latte, eating a tuna salad sandwich and blogging. Pretty American activity for the 21st century. Closed down the home internet provider so now I spend my time looking for the freebie hook-up to check e-mail and, of course, keep up my blog. I have already lost my new economics teacher so interviews are set up for the next two days to fill that position. I pray good, quality people are still out there. It doesn't appear that econ. is high on the priority list of graduating social studies or history ed. majors. It obviously isn't important to our government officials except in figuring out to manipulate numbers to make the economic picture pretty. I believe our clerk at the local gas station is the norm, works two jobs to make ends meet. You have to love this service economy we have created. WWJD? This would come as a shock to many of my friends and not a shock to many others, Jesus would not be a Republican or Democrat. He simply stated to "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's" does this mean we might have a higher calling? Might our task be modeling Christ to a lost world? Might our task be to show love to those who are unloved? Might our task be feeding those who are hungry and quit worrying about whether they are taking advantage or not? Vicki and I watched Pursuit of Happyness last night, the church that fed and housed the homeless was profound. Am I being profound in my Christian life?

My Brasil photos show how they form concrete. Interesting process that works well in a climate where the parkas come out when it hits 78. There is no rock added to this mix since eventually tile will be laid over the top. There is no heaving to worry about so no wire or rebar is used. A tile leaning against a board holds the form in place. Very unlike my constant expansions and contractions against Christ. He wants to hold me in place but I continually want to expand my control which is where problems come in.

Two final comments: I just finished The Crucible and am just about done with Huck Finn. These are just two of the books I need to get read this summer for American Studies this fall. What books, worthy of a whole blog themselves. Both books are highly recommended reading for thoughtful people.

Pictures

Picture on the top was taken at the Sunday morning market in Altamira, these are the "delivery trucks" for Altamira, people buy products too large to carry and so these age old animals come to the rescue. The middle picture is the view just across the street from the delivery animals. The 19th and 21st centuries are very, very close in Altamira. Be thankful for what you have. The picture at the bottom was taken of Deb playing volleyball with a group of Brazilians during our Xingu River trip. She jumped right into the game to help "balance" the two teams.

Home again

Here we are at the Belem Zoo. We left Altamira on July 3 amid tears and joy. There are so many people who mean so much to Vicki and I and leaving is difficult. We did get to Belem in time to visit their Amazonian Zoo, it is fantastic! Birds, fish, animals and all are native to the Amazon region. We even ran into American students who are spending a month in the region doing science studies. However, hunger took over and we caught a taxi back to the Vila Rica (our hotel). We walked across the street to the Italian Restaurant that came highly recommended but it didn't open until after 6:00 p.m. and so we walked around the corner and went into another recommended restaurant and said a quick prayer and picked two meals off the Portuguese menu. After a long wait our food arrived. . . . it was amazing. . .salad, mashed potatoes, rice, fillet Mignon wrapped in cheese and ham and covered with a Parmesan sauce. Becca had ordered chicken and it's a good thing we didn't order three meals because we couldn't begin to finish the two we had ordered. July 4 began early with our flight leaving for San Luiz then Fortaluza (sp) and then on to Rio. All connections went well and were on time. Our plane for Atlanta boarded and we met a young man from Spokane, Washington who was finishing 7 weeks in Sau Paulo with Campus Crusade for Christ. Their team had been doing college ministry and the excitement was catching. We both see Brazilians as very open and relational people which fits perfectly with the Christianity taught by Jesus. He was headed on to Minneapolis where he would catch the train for a 24 hour ride home. We thought our travels were long and tiring. It is good to be home, cats have been lonesome. Now is the time for debriefing our experience and that is the difficult part of this process.

That morning cup of java

We just experienced something truly American (joke). At 8:15 a.m. Suzanne's home study group all show up bringing a surprise breakfast for Suzanne. That's American isn't it? A half dozen friends bringing an unannounced breakfast to your home on Sunday morning. . . that truly determines whether or not you have a relationship with the people. I actually had an official cup of Brazilian coffee, one quarter cup of coffee, one quarter cup of milk and a teaspoon of sugar that is nearly 2 inches high. This recipe could replace rogaine. Laughter, a gift for the soon to be Simon and then study of the Word. Relationships, allow for all kinds of activities to take place that wouldn't normally happen, including drawing others and ourselves nearer to our Creator and Redeemer.
See you all very soon.

Welcome to the third world

This will be my third attempt to post this week. Altamira has been having internet provider problems and so many hours of writing have been lost and when you are past 50 all those insightful thoughts are lost forever. Vicki, myself, Bud, Suzanne, Daniel, Caleb, Anna and Angie (another missionary from Porto du Maz (sp) celebrated our 32nd anniversary with a wonderful dinner along the Altamira riverfront. Full moon shining on the Xingu, light breeze, great company and exceptional food, a perfect place to spend that special night. Relationships, Brazilian culture places them first and foremost, are how most people here are brought to our Lord. Taking time for a meal, fishing, coffee and bread or just meeting on the street, these are activities that take priority over every business deal. What really will count in the Kingdom, what we earned, what we owned, or who we led into an eternal relationship with our Lord. North Americans have no concept of how much of the world operates. We see poor living conditions, poor health and we think, "Oh, those people need so much."The truth is we need to look at what we have and say, "How much do I really need?" It really is about the relationships and it has taken me 52 plus years to learn this.

Back in civilization?

We have returned from our Xingu River boat trip. What are your priorities? What are mine? I would like to think that my priority is serving the Lord and then my family but I realize that being an American my priority is possessions. No matter what I say, do, or how I act and speak, my life is identified by what I possess or desire to possess. Traveling the Xingu we stopped at the home of a family who possessed very little. They ate fish for most meals, washed their dishes, clothes and themselves in the river. That morning the husband had captured a sloth. . .he "possessed"something, something that would make his life very different in a small way. You see that sloth meant a meal that wasn't fish, it didn't matter that we provided meat to him, the sloth was still destined for dinner. His priorities were to get something to eat besides fish. My priorities are possibly a raise, good health, a nice car, a few toys . . . . is this correct? What if my priorities were to serve the Lord? No matter what, serve the Lord wherever He calls, would I answer and make it my priority? I doubt it, possessions make that possibility an impossibility for most of us. How could I begin to get rid of everything, move somewhere away from my family, learn a new language and start to serve the Lord? All Americans need time away from their possessions, our family always slept in a tent on vacations, your priorities change and you get joy from very simple pleasures. Today, few young families travel by sleeping in a tent, roughing it is the bargain trip to the beach in Mexico where someone waits on you hand and foot. There is no gaining appreciation for home because you have traveled to a place with even more comfort than you had at home. This doesn't allow the Lord to help you think about your priorities, it simply makes you think about your comfort and how thankful you are for air conditioning. Forget about the human condition around you, for most of us, it is all about ME!

Sunday, a day of rest.

Where does our time go? How do we use our time? What does this say about us? As an American, time equals productivity which equals growth which is good?? Not everyone thinks this way. If our time is spent building lasting relationships that is good. It has been wonderful for Vicki and I to renew relationships and make new relationships during our time in Brazil. Yes, we poured over 35 yards of concrete at the training center and that is measure of productivity which is good. But we had 15 young men, many new in their relationship with the Lord who worked with us, joked, played soccer with Cory and modeled how relationships are really what life is all about. Saturday was spent driving for over an hour on a dirt road, dust so thick I'm still cleaning it out of my ears to go to a waterfall and enjoy God's creation. We walked back into caves exploring with the bats, beetles and blind crickets. AMAZING! Sunday is market day, hundreds of people and vendors crowd into a street with all kinds of interesting products. Sunday afternoon is rest, naps and then off to church plant for late afternoon service and then back to Altamira for evening church. Our boat trip begins tomorrow and that brings even more time to build relationships. What kind of productivity do I value?

The Work Begins

Greetings all! We are well and the work began today. Began the day with bread and jam, devotions, and finally organizing the trip to the ranch. We arrived to find the concrete mixer going and the Brazilians hard at work. The whole group went out this morning so the ladies began leveling the podium so it can be poured later this week while the guys split up between wheeling dirt, shoveling concrete or wheeling concrete to the finishers. We pour rows about 7' wide and the concrete is only 2-3"thick with no wire mesh or rebar. When you have no expansion or contraction to worry about the rules for pouring change. Once we got organized the pour went well, we did get into a large fireant nest which is really a pain for Brazilians who work in flip flops most of the time but they also like to get into the shoes and socks of Americans. Lunch came and the women went back to work at the Simon household for the afternoon while the guys remained with the pour. We did get relief around 2:30 when six strong young men from the church youth group showed up and relieved the weary old men (Cory was able to work like a horse all day!) We returned to the Simon household around 5:30 and went to Mr. Burg's for a wonderful dinner. Tom and Connie Pflederer have arrived safely to visit with another missionary couple. Our family knows the Pflederer's well but it seems strange that we have to go all the way to Brazil to meet up with loved ones who live in St. Louis.
By the way, I did not pass out this year! I do have a wicked rash on my upper right arm (doesn't hurt but it looks nasty) so no matter what I do something seems to find me each trip here. Sorry for no pictures but the connection is toooooooooooo slooooowww. Will write again in a couple of days.

Ramblings

It is Friday morning, departure for Brazil is Saturday morning and visas have yet to arrive. I guess it could be a short trip. Trust. . . . simple word but hard to do. The consulate employee gave her word the visas would be in the mail on Wednesday afternoon. . . . prepaid overnight delivery. . . . . allowing for late drop at the USPS on Wednesday afternoon. . . . .travel on Thursday. . . . should arrive on Friday morning, correct? Trust, you start to think about what you could have done differently. They will arrive, I will trust.

VISA trip

Well, it's 7:30 central time and Vicki is off to Chicago. It is so close to departure that we decided a trip to the Brazilian Consulate was in order. She will attempt to pick up our visas or at least get them to drop them in the mail tomorrow. Prayers appreciated.

Brazil 2006

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Rainforest video from Movable Feast

Brazil pics

Photo from our Brazil 2006 trip.