November 7, 2008

One Brazilian Reaction to Obama

I found this video, from a popular Brazilian humor site, instructive--and somewhat funny.

The paragraph at the beginning reads like this:

The victory of the first black president of the United States is a great achievement. The guy is charismatic, seems competent...it really does give an air of change and hope that better days will come. But let's not forget one thing: much better than Bush or not, he is still the president of the US...

Lyrics:

In the whole world I have become a pop star.
Who wouldn't want to see Bush go down.
And a black president,
That's a great achievement, right?

It's just that, to be in charge of the world,
It doesn't matter if you're black or white.

The war in Iraq might end.
But I'll intervene is some other place.
Because superpowers
Don't change from day to night.

America wants power,
And it doesn't matter if I'm black or white.

(Michael Jackson) This color thing is so relative.

Protection!

Commercial barrier!
Protectionism continues the same.

Immigration!

Nobody can get in,
And if you are hear illegally you better watch out.
The problem is that you come
Without being able to speak English.
Our economy went down the tubes
So do us a favor,
Get out now and leave the jobs for those who voted for me.

So if you voted for Obama thinking that suddenly the whole world would like us...well...I've got bad news.

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October 16, 2008

Sights of Curvelo (Part Three)

Here are a few more pictures of some of the more interesting sights we saw while stranded in the town of Curvelo, Minas Gerais.

Every day as I walked downtown I passed this old abandoned factory. I don't know why, but abandoned places like this fascinate me.

Another shot of the abandoned factory.

Curvelo is apparently a center for the worship of Saint Geraldo. Here is the cathedral dedicated to him.

Inside the church is this picture titled "Saint Geraldo in Extasy". Notice that his feet are not touching the ground...like something out of Heroes.

Another feature of this church is this spike. The inscription above it lets us know that it is indeed a "genuine imitation" of one of the spikes nailed into Christ's hands and feet.

And I got a big kick out of this particular statue. This is Saint Geraldo...and that is a neon halo above his head.

The city of Curvelo boasts some really beautiful old buildings...

...as well as some very pretty parks.

This gazebo reminded me of the one in Norwich, NY where I used to play with a community band.

Curvelo is also not without it's culinary attractions. This little restaurant was relatively inexpensive, and the food was delicious. If I lived in Curvelo, I could see myself becoming a regular there.

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October 15, 2008

Sights of Curvelo (Part Two)

One of the more interesting things to see in Curvelo was a little establishment that made--among other things--art out of junk metal. Some of their pieces are really good. Check it out:

Little dude pushing a wheelbarrow.

Little iron train going over a little iron bridge.

This is what I call a "metal band".

Small farm scene.

Don Quixote

Helicopter

Metal Indian in metal canoe.

Bi-plane

Life-sized horse

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Sights of Curvelo (Part One)

By Thursday I was starting to get my sense of humor back. It came slowly. But one thing I did was take some pictures of funny things I saw around Curvelo, MG. This was therapeutic.

First on our list is the following sign.

It says "hooray for flowers". The only flower in sight was the fake wooden one behind the sign.

I found this next one ironic.

Rough translation: "Do not post signs or announcements here."

Next up, the logo of a local supermarket:

Here is a closer look:

While it is not uncommon to have religious symbols on commercial buildings here in Brazil, I have never seen a Jesus that looks quite so...threatening.

Next is a school that calls itself "Darwin"

Their motto is "The Evolution of Education". That sounds a lot better than "Survival of the Fittest".

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The Minas Adventure: Blow by Blow

If you have been following recent posts, you know that all did not go as planned on our attempted trip to São Paulo. In truth, almost NOTHING went according to plan. Our plan, that is, as we are convinced it was all in accordance with God's plan.

In actuality, it all started a week before our scheduled trip. I put the truck in the shop for repairs and a checkup. A week and two days (and about $600) later the truck was ready to go--according to the mechanics. We--Itacyara, Mikey, Nathan, Tadeu (a seminary student) and myself--piled into the car on Saturday excited about the ride before us.

The first day's travels were uneventful. The closest thing we had to adventure was crossing a river on a ferry boat. Mikey got a kick out of that.

Crossing the river on a ferry boat

We spent the night in Euclides da Cunha, a small town in the state of Bahia. The next day was also uneventful, except for once when the engine overheated. We checked the radiator--it was low. We filled it up and continued on our way.

From the time we had started out I had noticed a small sound in the motor...one I had never noticed earlier. The engine was running fine, there seemed to be no problem, and we spent that night in the state of Minas Gerais. Little did we know that it would be over a week before we left Minas.

The next morning--Monday--everything started out normal. It was a sunny day, and the roads were clear. Things spun out of control, however, when we stopped for gas. Although the engine had not registered as overheating, it was clearly hotter than normal. The radiator was spewing water. A truck driver happened by who identified the problem as something that would need a mechanic. We called one, and he came and after about half an hour was fairly certain he had fixed the problem.

He had not. As we were leaving the engine heated up almost immediately. We were left with no option but to find a mechanic to take a longer look at the problem. We bedded down that night in the city of Curvelo, hoping and praying that it would be our only night there.

The truck in a garage in Curvelo, MG

It was not to be. The diagnosis went from bad to worse. First it was just a couple connectors that needed to be replaced. Then the entire engine head. Then there were some other smaller issues. Each one of these cost more money and time. On Wednesday it became clear that, even though we were only about 300 miles from our destination, we would not be able to attend any of our conference.

The engine head.

I did not react well to that realization. We had received a special offering to be able to go to the conference. We had been saving for months to be able to make the trip. Now I was watching the conference and the savings evaporate into thin air. Wednesday and Thursday morning were not good days for me, spiritually.

Finally, by Thursday morning, with the help of my lovely wife (who is a far cry from Lot's wife), I began to be able to rest in the sovereignty and divine purpose of God. I know...I'm a missionary. It's not supposed to take me that long. Perhaps someday I will learn.

Thursday evening I was in need of some spiritual refreshement. Tadeu had found a small Baptist church in the town, and their mid-week services were on Thursdays. We went there, met the pastor, and just before the service was to begin he asked me if--being a missionary and all--I would like to bring the devotional. I hesitated before agreeing, but felt obligated by the opportunity.

As I sat thinking about what to speak about, I opened my Bible to Philippians 1, and saw the outline for a message I had preached at Peace Baptist Church a few weeks ago. The subject was "how God works through trials". In verses 12 through 14 Paul is explaining to the concerned believers at Phillipi what God was doing through the situation. He tells them that God has been glorified (through the preaching of the Gospel) and believers strengthened.

When I got up to speak, I gave the people a little background as to why we were there. I shared the passage with them, and told them that I was going to be preaching to myself, and if they wanted to listen in they could. I allowed as how I had no idea what God was doing through that situation, but that I knew that ultimately God would use it for His glory, and for the edification of the saints.

For the sake of time I will not reproduce here everything I said. At the end, however, that pastor got up and said "I am convinced that this is the message that God had for this church at this time".

After the service we were able to talk with a couple young men who are interested in ministry, and interested in studying at our seminary.

On Saturday I was told by the mechanic that the car was "ready to go". I had heard this before, but I dared to hope that this time it was true.

It was not.

We made it about 100 miles, and then the engine started overheating again. We called the mechanic (who happened to know a mechanic in that town) and he correctly diagnosed the problem as with the radiator. We spent about two hours (and $50) getting that taken care of, and then took off again for parts north.

The truck at the radiator shop

Just after we had passed a rather large city called Montes Claros the small sound I had been hearing since the beginning of our trip began to get louder. And louder. And louder.

Then the car stopped. It was about midnight. We were in a hollow, on a curve. This was dangerous. And, strangely, I was calm. Stranded in the middle of the night in a potentially dangerous situation with nowhere to go and no cell coverage...I've been there before.

Poor Tadeu, the seminary student who had been very patiently accompanying us in our adventures, had not. He was obviously very worried. He immediately set out our reflector, and then proposed to stay out all night flagging cars. I said that that was not necessary, that we should have a time of prayer and then wait for help or dawn to arrive, whichever came first. I prayed, and then Tadeu prayed. His supplication included a heartfelt plea for his life and personal safety.

I realized that Tadeu would not be getting any sleep if we stayed there. On a whim, I turned the ignition. The car started up! The banging in the engine was there, but when I tentatively pushed the gas, it moved! Slowly we crawled around the curve, and up the mountain. The interior of the car was a continuous prayer meeting. As we crested the hill we saw a gas station. The truck sputtered to a stop with just enough inertia to coast into a parking place.

From the gas station we were able to call a tow truck. Tadeu I believe had had enough adventure for one week. He caught a ride then and there on a passing bus and arrived home the next day.

We stayed in Montes Claros long enough to determine that the problem was an engine rod, and that it would take a long time to fix. Sunday afternoon we caught a bus and on Monday evening we arrived home.

Boarding the bus for the final leg of our journey home

There was a group of students waiting to meet us at the door of our house. As we stepped out of the car they gave us a round of applause. When we stepped into the house we noticed that it had been cleaned from and re-organized. Never in my life have I been so happy to be back home.

As to God's purpose for all of this, we can only surmise. Perhaps there was some great need at the church in Curvelo that my devotional spoke to. Perhaps God wanted me to get a good look at how I react to adverse circumstances (I did, it was not pleasant). Maybe His purpose depend on Him more for finances. Perhaps God wants us to get rid of the truck. Or it could be that He wanted to teach me a lot about auto mechanics. Or maybe it is all of the above, or none of the above.

We are just thankful that we can know that God is faithful and sovereign in all of this.

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