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.