April 29, 2011
The Silence is Broken!
The blog silence, that is.
There are several reason why I dislike long blog silences: people stop visiting, my own writing suffers from lack of practice, and--worst of all--it gives the impression that we are careless about keeping people informed about our ministry.
With regard to this last one, nothing could be further from the truth. The fact is that the last two weeks have been a perfect storm of business and lack of reliable internet service. Fortunately, for the next few days I will have access to high-speed wifi (thank you, Cariri Shopping), so we will try to make a dent in the backlog of information.
First up, a summary of our activity since arriving in Brazil.
Our plane touched down on Tuesday, April 19, at roughly 3:30pm local Brazilian time in São Luís do Maranhão. After we had collected our baggage from the São Luís airport we were met by Pastor Francisco and his daughter Mical, and Itacyara's brother Paulo. By some miracle akin to the multiplication of the loaves and fishes we were able to fit all eight suitcases and three carry-on's into the two cars, and make it to Paulo's house in one trip.
Almost immediately we began the process of looking for a house to rent. After many dead ends (we discovered that rental properties are at a premium in Brazil) we finally found one that is very obviously the house God wants us to have. It meets our space needs (three bedrooms, large living room, spacious kitchen and dining area, proximity to a good school, a back yard and--to Michael's great delight--a tree) and the rent was well within our range. but the best part was that it is within two blocks of the Kerigma congregation, a church being planted by our Brazilian co-worker Francisco Bezerra. Thus, while we work to make contacts and develop relationships in the Araçagi area, we will be able to participate in this church-plant already in progress.
And, true to form, we have jumped in with both feet. I spoke at the church on Sunday and participated in special events on Tuesday and Wednesday. This Saturday Itacyara will take time out from painting the new house to bring a devotional to the ladies' society.
After a whirlwind trip through São Luís to take care of some final documentation for the house rental, Pastor Francisco and I boarded a bus to the Cariri--sixteen hours away. Many will remember that this was our home during our first term. My purpose here is three-fold: take care of some pending paperwork at the university where Itacyara studied (already done), get an official transfer from Michael's former school (stopped by, paperwork should be ready on Monday) and get a car (going to see the dealer after I finish this).
In between taking care of business, I look forward to attending at least part of the missions conference at the Cariri Baptist Seminary.
Though we have been unable to communicate (save by the occasional Twitter/Facebook update) rest assured that we are well aware of your prayers for us. God has shown incredible mercy and kindness to our family in this process, and all our praise goes to Him!
In the near future I will be posting long-overdue reports on the TGC conference and the latest book review, as well as some pictures we have taken since our arrival in Brazil...so stay tuned!
Posted by Andrew on April 29, 2011 1:32 PM.
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Posted by: Kalyn at April 29, 2011 6:01 PM
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Sounds like you have your hands full already! So glad you found a good place to live!