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.