February 3, 2013

Happy New Year (...bear with me here)

Still playing "catch up" with long overdue posts. Here are a few pics from the New Years event the Ebenezer congregation held at the farm of one of our members.

The ladies, gathering at the kitchen.

Abreu and Rickson

Delcy showing the piglet to the kids.

Mikey and the piglet, who I affectionately called "bacon".

This little guy had the right idea.

Who needs expensive playground equipment when you have trees?

May courageous foray onto the zip line.

Challenging the congregation for the new year.

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September 18, 2012

The Party at My Place

On Saturday one of the local politicians--in the hopes of garnering votes--sponsored a big "folklore" party at my house.

And by that I mean, if you stepped out of my front door, you were literally in the party.

Since I wasn't going to be sleeping much that night (these things go into the wee hours) I went up to our balcony and snapped a few shots.

Festivities began with this group. You can't see them for the feathers, but most of these guys are wearing some sort of drum or other instrument of the percussion family.

The next act was of a local dance called "Tambor da Crioula". This, thankfully, was a rather tame version of this particular "cultural expression".

Finally, it looked as if the whole park had been invaded by indians, as a local troupe performed the traditional "Morte do Boi" (Death of the Bull). Unfortunately for my sleep schedule, the bull came back to life shortly thereafter and the party went on.

Election seasons get loud in the US, but in all my years of living there, I never saw anything like this.

The Astonishing Adventures of Missionary Max, Parts 1, 2 and 3 are now available for Kindle and Nook!

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September 11, 2012

From Brazil: The Importance of Planning Ahead

You better believe that this video is going to be used at a planning meeting of our new congregation.

via 22 Words

The Astonishing Adventures of Missionary Max, Parts 1, 2 and 3 are now available for Kindle and Nook!

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September 8, 2012

The Puppetry Must Go On!

Since we moved to São Luís, our own involvement in puppet ministry has all but come to an end. We have put on a couple programs for VBS, but other than that, our foam friends are enjoying somewhat of an extended sabbatical.

On the other hand, Cicero and Nice Braga--our former partners in puppet-crime--continue to take the puppet work forward.

I just got this video of Nice giving a puppet tutorial, and thought I would share it for all of you who miss the occasional puppet-related posting.

Congratulations Nice!

The Astonishing Adventures of Missionary Max, Parts 1, 2 and 3 are now available for Kindle and Nook!

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September 7, 2012

Happy 400th Birthday, São Luís!

This is a great time to be living in the city of São Luís. 400 years ago, tomorrow, the French Huguenot explorer Daniel de la Touche landed with a small expedition on this fair island. The ensuing four centuries saw the little city he founded fall into the hands of the Portuguese, the Dutch, the Portuguese again, and finally become a Brazilian city--thanks in part to a Scottish mercenary.

All of that history makes for some amazing cultural expressions, and we were treated to a tour de force of said cultural expressions last night at a special presentation of the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra.

In this video, a local composer mixed "Happy Birthday" together with some styles from musical history--all with some rhythms that are distinctly maranhense.

Happy birthday, São Luís!

Addendum: If you are a Facebook user (and who isn't, right) this page has tons of photos of São Luís, past and present.

The Astonishing Adventures of Missionary Max, Parts 1, 2 and 3 are now available for Kindle and Nook!

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