Nature at its best

This weekend I was in Espírito Santo to speak at the Baptist Women's Camp. I hadn't been back to speak at one of their events for over 10 years. My very first field of service in Brazil was in Espírito Santo, but I left there over 20 years ago. I was pleased to see several very old and dear friends, sad to know many others were no longer living or well enough to be active. Time does march on! When they asked the women who remembered me, there were few at the camp who did. I consider that a very good sign, because most of the women at the camp were far too young to remember someone who led the work 25 years ago. The Baptist camp was little changed, although some upgrades had been made here and there. I was especially happy that we hot showers and electricity after 10 PM! Definitely a big improvement!
I had worked very hard to get ready for the four messages. Since I don't do much speaking anymore, it seems I am out of practice so it took more time than ever to prepare the messages. One of the hardest parts is deciding on what Scripture passage and what message to preach. That was a challenge with the theme presented to me. It had to do with the centenniel of Baptist women, together with the challenge of reaching new generations.
I had my afternoon free on Saturday, so I enjoyed the nature at the camp, which is smack dab on a mountain range. It was very cool, since we are just into spring here. When I get out of the asphalt jungle I live in, I am glad to see green. I thought I would share the photo of the banana tree (isn't it beautiful?), the lagoon at the camp (sorry the swans wouldn't cooperate to get in the photo), and the azaleas. Now the big question... do you know what fruit I photographed on the left photo? I know, but do you? I am so sorry they weren't in season as I love them! I have also thrown in a photo of a green coconut, on a palm tree, just so you would know what they look like. They have an organic garden at the camp and we enjoyed lots of vegetables fresh from the garden. Some you would recognize, others would be foreign to you.
On Saturday night we had out "blow out" party to celebrate the 100 years of our Woman's Missionary Union in Brazil. I am posing with one of the young women at the camp. Isn't it great that our women's work there isn't just lol (little old ladies in tennis shoes)?
I had lots of talks with old friends and made a number of new friends. I had forgotten how very warm and friendly the folks of Espírito Santo really are. Made me homesick for those days.
It was a great experience and I am thrilled I had it. It's good to have old memories and make new ones too.