Danger?

So, I've been mulling this over for 24 hours...do I post about my latest adventure, or not? My family might worry more, but God should be glorified...

Yesterday morning, I went for a walk along the beach to spend some time with the Lord. Along the way, I stopped to take pictures of the flowers that are everywhere here, and posted the pics to Facebook for my dear friends to see.

As I began to walk home, I felt the Holy Spirit nudging me to pray for protection, so I did. No big deal, what could happen on such a beautiful morning? 

I had noticed a teenage boy on a bicycle, throwing rocks at a mango tree to get the mangos to fall. I kept walking, said good morning to a few people I saw in their yards.

About two blocks from Richie's house, that same teenage boy rode by me on his bike a couple times, then turned around and confronted me. "Give me your cell phone!" he said (it was clearly outlined in my pocket...duh!). My very out-of-character response was a resounding, "NO!!" 

Coming closer with a threatening demeanor, he repeated, "Give me your cell phone NOW!"

Me: "NO! In the name of Jesus, leave me alone! Lord, help me!" (Nao! Em nome de Jesus, sai de mim! Senhor, me ajuda!)

And the boy turned away and left me alone!

In truth, my cry of, 'Senhor, me ajuda' was a cry for a neighbor I had seen to come out and chase the boy away. I had enough faith to use Jesus' name, but also hoped some person would come to my rescue. But the Lord heard my cry, and instead of sending someone to help, He turned the boy's heart away from his intended assault.

Glory to God, who loves me and protects me in my ignorance!

A New Missionary's Morning Adventures

Good morning, friends!

So today is Wednesday, and the Bouthillier family is busy with home school, building a new wall around the yard, etc. So I decide to have a tiny adventure...and go out on my own to buy something I need. Understand this is an adventure because I'm not yet familiar with my new town, and many local people won't understand my accented Portuguese :)

I walk to the road beside the river, where I find a moto-taxi. I tell the driver I need to go to a farmacia (pharmacy). I hop onto the back of his motorcycle, and away we go. When we arrive at the pharmacy, I pay the driver R$3 (about 60 cents US) and go inside. A few minutes later, I walk out with my anti-itch cream...Wahoo! Success! They understood what I needed.

After looking around at some other small stores, I decide to go home, so I flag down another moto-taxi. Whoa! This motorcycle is very high...I can barely get my short leg over it! Oops, I forgot Richie's address, so how can I direct the driver? Aha! I have the address in my phone. Another success!

Are you getting the idea? A new missionary looks and feels pretty dumb most of the time! 

Next adventure...a moto-taxi driver who is a friend of Richie's stops by to introduce himself to me. It's a good idea to develop a friendship with a driver, says Richie...he will learn where I live and usually be available when I need him. Guiu is very polite, and explains that his wife is a Christian :) Richie mentions to him some apartments that I'm interested in seeing.

A few minutes later, Guiu is back to take me to see the apartment! The guard has a key, he says. But when we arrive, the guard says he does not have keys, only the owner has them, and she will arrive in an hour. Back home again, disappointed. After lunch, I will call Guiu, he will check that the landlord is there, then pick me up again.

So that's a typical morning here in Portel for me. Hope you enjoyed this peek into my new life.

Going back to Brazil!

Oh my gosh! God has invited me to serve with Him in northern Brazil once again! Of course, I said yes! I will be leaving February 5, 2016.

It amazes me that He would allow me to go back, this time to a newer base in Portel, Para, hundreds of miles from my old base in Altamira.

I will be serving with Richie and Christie Bouthillier, who started this base of the Xingu Mission www.xingu.org.

As I prepare to leave, I have so much to do in just a month...

• Pray a lot, for guidance and peace.
• Pack what I will take with me (2 suitcases and one carry-on for all my worldly goods!)
• Store or give away the rest of my "stuff."
• Recruit a prayer team (and financial support team).
• Teach my neighbors to use Skype.
• Spend as much time as possible with grandkids.
• Say tearful goodbyes to my family and friends.
• Pray a lot!

As I get ready to leave, I hope to write more. I invite you to follow my blog.

My Need for Worship

Just now I was listening to a podcast of Michael Hansen preaching at my home church in the USA on the subject of worship...what it is, what it isn't, why we do it, etc. I was convicted about what he called "our natural resistance to worship" and the self-focus or fear of man that can rob us of the joy of worship. (Listen for yourself at www.vineyardcdc.org/resources.shtml - it's a great message!)

As I listened, I was wishing Michael could come down here and preach the same message at our church (Igreja da Vinha Mirante - Mirante Vineyard). Our people haven't been very engaged in worship lately.

Suddenly, God gave me a vision of all these people I love (me included) wrapped in a sort of sleeping bag/snake costume. Each of us was zipped inside this costume, unable to move, unable to worship. We need God to unzip the snakeskins and set us free!

Then I heard a bird singing, and saw flowers blooming, and children playing, and thought, "How natural it is for God's creation to worship Him!" Make me a natural worshipper, too, Lord! Set me free!

Saying goodbye again...

Hortência and Nathália - two precious young women of God - lived with me at Friendship House for several months. Yesterday they left to return to their mother's house in Porto de Moz...and took a piece of my heart with them. Last night I cried; again this morning I cried...as I lifted them up to our Heavenly Father and asked Him to keep their hearts safe and their minds pure.

We had our ups and downs while they were here...love sometimes hurts, but it's always worth it. Rich Mullins once said, "Quite often, we extend love to people because we want to change them." He believed we ought to love for the sake of love, with no expectations. He said, "Even if a person fails to respond to our love, our kindness, or our forgiveness a thousand times, we are called to keep on loving."

The few times that the girls and I were at odds over rules of the house, I know I heard Abba Father say, "Just keep loving them." So that's what I did, and they will remain in my heart for the rest of my life. For them (and many others I love), I pray with Paul:

When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Ephesians 3:16-18 NLT

Now, Father, who's next? Send more of your precious daughters for me to love on, please.

Assassinas!

So...my life here is often laughable, but sometimes the laughter is a little painful! When I returned from my visit to the States, I learned that one of my dogs, Bella, had escaped from our yard and killed 5 of the neighbor's chickens!! FIVE!!! Very angry neighbor...costly mistake of leaving the gate unlatched...the neighbor lost 5 chickens, I lost R$100 to pay for them.

And remember my blog about nature at work (the dead kitten eaten by vultures)? Well, it turned out that my other dog, Minnie, was the one who killed the kitten!

So both our dogs are killers (assassinas in Portuguese), which means we all need to be more careful to keep the gate latched. And potential robbers beware!! (oh, I forgot...both dogs are very friendly with people!)

My missionary friend who gave me the dogs says it's a genetic thing...their parents like to kill chickens and other small animals, too. Great! The joke's on me!!

nature at work

While I was in the States, my son asked why I wasn't posting as often to my blog. I responded, "Because mostly I just live my life, day to day. How interesting is that?

He responded,"But Mom, that's what we want to hear about...your day to day life in Brazil!"

So...this morning I woke up thankful for my life and the beauty that surrounds me. Then I looked out the window and saw a dead kitten lying just outside my gate. As I was pondering the gaggy task of getting rid of the body, along came a flock of urubus (vultures), and quickly took care of my problem for me!

Nature at work, here in Brazil! (I decided to spare my followers the graphic photos) Tchau!