The Living' Is Easy

Here in Brazil we "party hardy". Carnaval (perhaps better known as Mardi Gras to you) is actually only one day (Tuesday), followed by Ash Wednesday. But we manage to stretch it out to 5 or 6 days! João and I took off on Thursday, to head to Espírito Santo (state) where his parent's live. Along the way, we stopped in Campos to pick up Sissy and her boyfriend Junior. Even though it was a full day before most people would be travelling, the traffic was not good. That was compounded by a detour due to a fallen bridge. An 8 hour trip lasted 10 or 11 hours. So our first night at his parent's house we slept like logs - even without air conditioning!
The next day we headed out to the beach. Of course getting Sissy going is never an easy proposition, so it was almost noon when we hit a scaldingly hot beach. The sand was literally boiling hot - it blistered your feet! Since we hadn't been to the beach in years (I mean 7 years!), we had no equipment. We rented a beach umbrella and chair. I did have sunscreen. So I spent lots of time slathering on sunscreen and under the umbrella. Still, I did venture down to the water to cool off. Cool off I did, as the water was really cold. The waves were really rough, so as you can see by our photos, we often ran from the waves!
One of the beautiful sites were all the hang gliders (kite sailing) around us. A couple of them landed right beside us. Also we thoroughly enjoyed our lunch of "muqueca cabixaba"- which is fish stew made in Espírito Santo. Oh my that was good. By around 4:30 or so we were roasted enough (but not burned!) to head home for a shower. The sand and salt do tend to wear on you.
The next day we followed basically the same format. Only on this day Junior brought along a very large tent-like shelter and we rented two chairs. In addition we chose a spot with no waves. I spent most of the day in the water. Sissy and Junior rented a kayak and had a great time. It was REALLY hot and we all got just a little pink after 5 hours, but not really burned. I think it was from the reflection of the sun off the sand. It was so relaxing hearing the waves roar. I especially enjoy all the vendors that come around with various offerings. We bought coconut water, grilled cheese (they have little portable charcoal burners where they grill cheese on a stick), freshly roasted cashews (divine) and sunglasses ( I thought I was going to go blind with the glare). What a wonderful, wonderful day.
Sunday came and went, with two worship services and lunch at João's brother's house. We enjoyed the family time.
Monday we scheduled a family barbeque (churrasco) in his brother's garage. We had a total of 28 people present. I never was able to gather everyone for a good photo. On the trip up to Espírito Santo, I kept saying I wished we could all get together and so João made it happen. He bought all the meat, a cousin grilled it and everyone else chipped in with side dishes and drinks. We ate until we popped. On the right is the photo of the sausage grilling and to the left is João's mom serving his dad and his uncle (who is 96 years old!). One of the relatives (his brother's brother-in-law) turned 38 so we celebrated his birthday too. He is profoundly deaf, but João had two cousins who are also hearing impaired (one only slightly), so they translated for us and we all "sang" Happy Birthday in sign language. I hate myself for not photographing that! Afterwards the kids played UNO, some of the "old folks" napped, but João and his brothers (minus one brother who was on vacation) sat around and sang. As I was swinging in the hammock I listened and chimed in when I could (my repertoire of folk songs in Portuguese is limited), I was moved. The three of them sing so beautifully! I felt so satisfied to see the family having such a good time. I love to see people "in union" as we say in Portuguese! It was a very happy day for me.
All good things do come to an end, so on Tuesday morning we got up early and headed for home (minus Sissy and Junior who were going to stay until Friday) to avoid the Wednesday traffic jams. We had the road to ourselves enabling us to make a leisurely trip, stopping as we wished. We bought a stalk of bananas along the road and ate tiny little bananas for almost 8 hours. I am sure the car reeks of banana oil! We stopped and bought a special earthenware pot for cooking fish, as well as buying a footstool at another place. One of the landmarks on the way home is a mountain that is called the "Monk and the Nun". It has a legend accompanying it about an illicit affair and being turned into stone, etc. If you look carefully, you can see the monk (left) and with some imagination you can see the nun bowed to him. I have never gotten a shot of the rock formation and I was finally able to snap it, even at 60 miles an hour!
We arrived home by 4:30 or so, two tired puppies by the time we unloaded and unpacked. It was great to get away and it is good to be back. I know this was a long entry, but I thought you might enjoy our living easy adventures of Carnaval 2007. Did it make you want to come visit us????

My first visit to Maracanã

Saturday night a member of our church graciously ceded tickets for us to go to a soccer match at the largest soccer stadium in the world - Maracanã. Believe it or not after all these years in Brazil, I had never been to a game. That is really a crime, but I don't do well in the midst of tumult and huge crowds. Our friend knew this would be a calm night to go, and so made us the inrefusable (is that a word??) offer. We had a great time! It was a fun game, as we didn't care who won (in the sense that neither team was one of our favorites)and there was a very small crowd (11,000 as opposed to 100,000).
The stadium has just been remodeled, preparing for the pan-american games. It was a little on the hot side, so I got some water and just sprinkled it on me throughout the game. Also enjoyed a wonderful coconut popsicle. I felt just like a kid again. João remember to take radios so we could follow the commentary and know what was happening. We especially enjoyed seeing the father of one of the players (Sebatião Lazaroni, who had been the coach of the Brazilian soccer team) watch his son make one of the goals. I took my "cheapo" camera, but even so, you can watch a small snatch of the game and appreciate what a great time we had!

It's good to get out of the house once in a while, isn't it? Enjoy life and have fun.

Flowers in Floripa

You may not understand the title, but the reason for it is that the name of the city where we were for the last week or so is, Florianópolis, which loosely translated means Flower Capital... and Floripa is an abbreviation for the city. It is a totally beautiful city (the cleanest city I think I have ever visited) with great beaches. We travelled there, together with 1800 Baptists from Brazil, for the annual Brazilian Baptist Convention.
The photo to the left is a nice shot of João and I with Fausto and Dionne, our immediate predecessors at First Baptist in Rio. On our one day with some free time, we were able to do some sight seeing with them, as well as have a great visit with one of our church members who was on vacation there. They prepared a great meal for us and I actually learned to love oysters, which I had never eaten in my life. That together with the shrimp was yum-yum good. I especially enjoyed the seafood pilaf - squid and oysters and muscles and shrimp with rice. Don't you envy us? I ate till I nearly popped.
Most of the time, of course, was spent in meetings. Better than the meetings, for me, was the reunion with old friends after five years away from Brazil. At times it seemed impossible to even find our way to a seat as we were stopped every few feet to greet someone else. It was so rewarding - especially a long lunch with a pastor who had been a part of my adolescent group in Vitória back in 1984! I also had a long conversation with a single missionary friend here in Brazil. I was inspired by her work and reminded me how far God can lead us if we but follow his call.
I was very edified by two great messages during the convention - two out of five... I guess those aren't bad odds. Those two messages will stay with me a long time because I found them to be embued with the Word of God. I was, however, very discouraged with the format of worship and the quality of some of the messages. Made me feel like I don't belong in this midst anymore- or maybe I was born in the wrong century or something. I don't like street dancing in a worship service. I don't like musicians who talk for 10 minutes between songs. I don't like 90 minutes of singing before a one hour long message that is read. That's just me. I was discouraged by some of the politics and people who feel their face must be seen and their voice heard. I was discouraged by the HUGE financial debt of many of our institutions... and in many ways my feeling that denominational structure is a white elephant were confirmed. My heart was sick with some of what I saw and heard and I am still processing what I should do with this. I know with increased surity that denominational work is NOT the place for me and that feels surprisingly liberating after 21 years of such work. I am tired of institutions and fights over money. I just want to love God's people and help others discover how to serve God in their lives.
I am still on the journey to discover exactly what this really means. I received a number of invitations to teach or do leadership in children's work, but I responded by saying that this is no longer my area of ministry. That seems funny because I am so identified with children's ministry, but that was then, NOT now. It felt good to know I was being obedient in speaking the truth. (Those who know me well, know I struggle to say no to anything). God has confirmed this is where He wants me now. Being quiet. Taking a back seat. Contemplating. Praying. Watching and observing. I am a little anxious to discover what is going to happen, but he keeps telling me to wait. So wait I will. In time I know His dreams will become my dreams and they will be granted. For now, however, this is my circle of quiet.