March 25, 2004

Memorial Service

Today, during what is normally the morning session of our Baptist Mid-Missions do Brasil conference, we had a memorial service for Ray Reiner, veteran missionary who passed away last night. Several people stood at the podium and gave eulogies. The most touching one, I thought, was given by Ray´s older brother, Harold.

Harold is a veteran missionary, having ministered here in Brazil for almost 60 years. He told of how his brother had been diagnosed with tuberculosis before coming to the mission field over 40 years ago, and of how he had accepted an experimental treatment that cost him part of a lung--but got him on the field sooner.

He also made the following observation: "When you buy something, you usually want to take it home with you. Yet, sometimes you will go into a store and see an item that has already been sold, still on display. Christ bought Ray with his blood, and then kept him on display for over 40 years."

I found that picture to be quite profound.

Posted by Andrew at 12:12 PM // Comments: 1 //
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March 24, 2004

Update from Brazil

I am truly sorry for the lack of communication on my part over the last few days that we have been in Brazil. This has been due to the fact that it has been impossible for me to get online with my laptop. Hopefully, this will be remedied next week. As of yet I have been able to make no additions to the travelogue page, nor have I been able to send out a prayer letter.

We arrived in Belo Horizonte on Sunday morning, after an un-eventful (but exhausting) flight from Miami. We caught up on our rest on Sunday, and then spent Monday preparing the conference room for our children´s sessions.

The sessions themselves began Tuesday. They have gone extraordinarily well. We have about 50 MKs in attendance, and are having a great time. A big thank-you goes out to all of you who have been praying for us.

Other Blessings

We have thoroughly enjoyed the fellowship we have had with missionaries at this conference. The Baptist Mid Missions do Brasil team is an outstanding group of individuals, with a permeating passion for the work of God in Brazil. We are glad to have been asked to minister to their children this week, and are excited about the prospect of serving with them on the field.

Another blessing has been the general sessions, where John Greening has been the featured speaker. He has brought us great insights gleaned from "Table Talks" in the Gospels.

The conference is not without it's light moments. This evening one of the missionaries read a list of mistakes missionaries have made in the Portuguese language. If I can get the list from him, I will post it here.

A Homegoing

Today we received news that veteran missionary Ray Reiner passed away. Ray is the uncle of Tim Reiner, who God used to challenge me for missions in Brazil. Ray has two sons currently serving here (John and Jeff), as well as a brother (Harold), and two nephews (Tim and Doug). Please pray for the Reiner family during this time.

Plans

Lord willing we will be able to take an excursion out into the city of Belo Horizonte tomorrow. I want to get Daniel, Emily, and Shanna away from the Hotel/Conference center, and out into the real Brazil. Lord willing, we will be able to take some pictures, that I will post directly onto this weblog.

Posted by Andrew at 9:45 PM
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March 21, 2004

We Made It!!!

Just a note to let the faithful readers of this site know that we have arrived safely in Brazil. There are, as of yet, no photos in the travelogue page, because we have not managed a connection with my laptop. We will make it happen, however.

Posted by Andrew at 8:41 PM // Comments: 1 //
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March 19, 2004

Last Night in the US...For Now

Well, the time has come to pack up my makeshift office in the conference room of Fellowship Baptist Church. I have spent the day running all over the city of Lakeland, caring for the last-minute details of our trip to Brazil. Tomorrow is the big day!

The next entry on this blog will be from Brazil. For those of you who are interested, I will be posting pictures (as regularly as possible) of our trip on our travelogue page. Be sure to check back frequently for updates.

Posted by Andrew at 8:20 PM
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March 17, 2004

Brazil's Leftward Shift

It was November, 1989, and I was in the interior town of Crato, in the northeastern state of Ceará, Brazil. Some Brazilian friends had invited me to a political rally, and I eagerly accepted. I was not prepared for what I saw.

The center of town was packed with people. They were all chanting and carrying red hammer-and-sickle flags. A stage had been set up in the middle of the square (or praça), and a man, who bore a striking resemblance to Karl Marx himself, was standing there haranguing the crowd about western imperialists and the evils of capitalism. I have seldom felt so out of place in my life.

The speaker was Luis Inácio Lula da Silva. He lost that election, and the next two. But persistence--as well as some radical re-imaging--paid off, and he is now the president of Brazil.

I have always been leery of Lula (as he is commonly known), yet hopeful that he will effect the change that is necessary for growth in Brazil. Recently, however, it seems that he is more interested in the political brownie points he gets by thumbing his nose at Bush than in true reform for his own country. The article linked here gives a rather disturbing view of the policies of his administration.

Please remember to be in prayer for you missionaries in Brazil. Never before in history has it been such a liability to be an American in that country. Pray especially that we will remain "on message", transmitting the Gospel, un-adulterated by American culture or politics.

Posted by Andrew at 11:54 AM
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March 15, 2004

The Countdown Begins

Today is the 15th of March. In five more days, we will be heading for Brazil, where we will spend a month. We are more than a little excited about this!

Posted by Andrew at 11:01 AM // Comments: 1 //
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March 12, 2004

Maria Teresa Thierstein Simões Ferreira Heinz Kerry

At the beginning of 2004, I dramatically switched the focus of this weblog. Before I had written about anything and everything, from the ridiculous to the sublime. I discussed politics quite a bit. There was even a Bush-Cheney 04 banner on the site.

I decided to change because the purpose of the website to begin with was ministry oriented. The articles began to focus on missions and Brazil. I have never looked back.

This article may be seen by some as breaking the rule, because it talks about a political figure. Yet it has to do with Portuguese speaking people, and particularly with the country of Mozambique--one of the chief targets for Brazilian missionaries.

The subject of this entry is Teresa Heinz Kerry. The name in the title is her full name. She was born in Mozambique to Portuguese parents.

Much has been made of her African roots. I am here to tell you that she is about as African as George Bush. According to a London Times article her parents were wealthy Portuguese expatriates. She lived in Mozambique in a time when it was completely under the rule of the Portuguese. Native Mozambicans were not even allowed to have their own businesses. In that environment, she was definitely a child of privilege.

The people of Mozambique struggled long and hard to throw off the bonds of Portuguese colonization. My question is, where was Maria Teresa during this time? Much is made of her marching in protest of apartheid in South Africa (truly a noble cause), but what about her native Mozambique? If I had a chance to talk to her, I would like to ask her that question. I might be surprised by the answer, but I doubt it.

Click here for a quick outline of the history of Mozambique.

Posted by Andrew at 7:52 PM // Comments: 3 //
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News Roundup

A few days have elapsed since the last entry in this blog. I realize that some of you have come to depend on this space for all your Brazil and missions-related news. With that in mind, the following is a summary of the important news from the period of my absence.

Raindrops Keep Falling...

The heavy rains continue in northeastern Brazil. This article gives details on the damage caused by the flood. Pray for our many missionaries in this area, as well as for the Brazilian believers themselves.

Strike(ing) Force

The Federal Police in Brazil are on strike. This is, of course a major problem. Of particular interest to us is the fact that the Federal Police have jurisdiction over the airports, several of which we will be visiting in less than two weeks.

Our Activities

Since our arrival in Florida, we have been busy with preparations for our upcoming trip to Brazil. The date (the 20th) is approaching quickly, and we are excited about it. There is much yet to be done. Please pray for us as we wrap up the final details.

Posted by Andrew at 7:20 PM
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March 9, 2004

My Kingdom For...Pants?

Saturday evening we arrived in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for the tri-annual conference of our mission board. We pulled in at about 9 pm, and went straight to the home of the Hollifields, our host family for the weekend. We unpacked, and, as we had been traveling for most of the day, we went straight to bed.

The next morning I awoke, showered, and began to dress for the day. Not finding my pants in one suitcase, I opened the other one. They were not there either. Panic ensued as I frantically opened all the bags in our luggage, only to discover a complete lack of any dress pants.

This is a first for me. I have arrived at churches missing part of my display, with no cord for my a/v equipment, or without my English Bible. This was the first time I had ever been without clothes, however.

Our amused host graciously drove me to the local Wal-Mart, where I was able to pick up a couple pairs of dress pants to last me the weekend.

My wife, of course, used this as an opportunity to admonish me to take a more active role in the packing process. I am getting a good laugh over it now...it was a little less funny when it was actually happening!

Posted by Andrew at 11:36 AM // Comments: 3 //
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March 6, 2004

Brazilian Intervention in Venezuela

The Washington Post today carried an interesting analysis (free registration required) of the tense situation in Venezuela. Of interest to me was the following paragraph:

Mr. Chavez, who has built a strong alliance with Cuba's Fidel Castro and imported thousands of Cuban personnel, appears eager for a domestic and international confrontation. Last weekend he called President Bush an "illegitimate" president, referred to him with a vulgar epithet and threatened to cut off oil supplies to the United States. Opposition leaders say that more than 300 people have been arrested in recent days, and that some have been tortured. Given the Bush administration's weak position in the region, hope for a peaceful or democratic solution rests mostly with Venezuela's Latin American neighbors, starting with Brazil(emphasis added). If Mr. Chavez continues to deny his people a democratic vote, leaders from those nations must be prepared to invoke the Democracy Charter of the OAS and threaten him with the isolation reserved for autocrats.

This is an interesting statement. On one hand, an intervention led by Brazil would be a good way for President Lula to establish the leadership of that country among its peers. On the other hand, President Chavez is very outspoken in his criticism of Bush, and that appeals to Lula (who is also quite chummy with Fidel). So Brazilian intervention is unlikely, even though all evidence indicates that there are severe violations of human rights in Hugo Chavez's Venezuela.

Unfortunately with Lula, as with most other world leaders, adhering to principle is only for campaign speeches.

Posted by Andrew at 4:40 PM
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Number 200

This is my 200th entry in this blog. Woo hoo!

We pulled into Winston Salem last night for the tri-annual conference of Baptist Mid-Missions. I had a good visit this afternoon with veteran missionary Harold Reiner about the need for missionaries in the remote areas of Brazil. I came away from the visit more challenged than ever for the field to which I have been called.

Posted by Andrew at 3:34 PM
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March 4, 2004

Belo Horizonte by Satellite

The following site gives you a birds-eye view of the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, our destination in the middle of this month.

Posted by Andrew at 5:18 PM
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March 3, 2004

Brazilians in the NBA

I am not a huge basketball fan, so it is just now that I am discovering that there are Brazilians in the NBA: Leandro Barbosa and Nenê.

Hmmm. Can't think of any Americans playing soccer in Brazil...

Posted by Andrew at 4:09 PM
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Update on Murdered Brazilian Missionary in Mozambique

For those who are interested, an update on the Brazilian missionary with the Lutheran church who was murdered last week in Mozambique can be found here.

Posted by Andrew at 12:51 PM
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Behind the Sun

Last night I had the privilege of seeing the Brazilian movie Behind the Sun. This film (the Portuguese title is Abril Despedaçado) is one of the best I have seen in quite some time, especially when it comes to portraying rural Brazilian culture. Unfortunately, the English subtitles are poorly done, even translating some innocent Brazilian expressions into American vulgarities.

For an excellent review of this film, go here. I have just a few brief comments:

Expert Camera Work

This movie has no rivals that I know of in its panoramic views of the Brazilian countryside. It also portrays the rural Brazilian lifestyle in vivid, truthful colors.

Imagery

The most powerful scene in the movie is when Pacú, the kid, decides to end the conflict between the two families by pretending to be his brother. I will not give away what happens, but I have seldom seen a more powerful picture of what Christ did, taking our sins on Himself and standing in the way of our punishment.

Posted by Andrew at 12:21 PM
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March 1, 2004

In Memoriam

On Saturday morning, Pastor Isaías went into Glory. He was a faithful servant of God, and respected leader in the Regular Baptist movement of Brazil.

I remember him as a sincere, gentle man, who proclaimed the Word with a quiet passion. Still in my memory is a message he gave to the students of the Cariri Baptist Seminary about "caring for the flock".

Please be in prayer for his wife, Betânia, and their children as they deal with this loss.

Posted by Andrew at 10:13 PM // Comments: 1 //
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Brazil Headline Roundup

None of the recent headlines mentioned below merits a whole entry (at least as far as I am concerned), so I will list them here with my own pithy comments.

59 animals dead in Brazil zoo murder mystery Nobody can figure out who is poisoning the animals at the São Paulo Zoo.

Brazil to send airplane to rescue citizens in Haiti This is the closest Brazil has come in quite some time to a military operation outside its own borders.

Kuerten Wins Rain-Delayed Brasil Open My Dad will doubtless be thrilled.

Wal-Mart Buys Ahold Brazilian Assets Wal Mart has acquired the Bonpreço chain of stores in Brazil. Not sure how good this will be for either company in the long run, but my Wal-Mart stocks took a jump.

Posted by Andrew at 9:58 PM // Comments: 1 //
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Missions Conversation

Last night we got together with some friends and had a good discussion about missions. Actually, the conversation began at Friendly's Restaurant on Wednesday, and continued last night.

Subjects discussed:

The changes in missions over the past couple of decades.

Communicating said changes to the local church.

The role of missions agencies.

There will certainly be more entries about these subjects in days to come.

Posted by Andrew at 10:25 AM
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