Hit a good bump on the way home, and the spare tire fell down, so we had to stop for that. Isn't Phillip's hat just lovely?
This was the first high school we went to. We spent an afternoon and a morning there, and it was truly a blessing. Besides the Bible distribution in the classes, we gave out dozens of tracts as the students were moving around from class to class.
In the morning, I got left behind with the boxes while the rest of the team took them to the classes. It wasn't long before I was surrounded by about 30 kids all curious about the white lady and the boxes. As soon as I told them the boxes were full of Bibles, they all wanted one. It about killed me that I couldn't just crack open a box and start passing them out right there. The hunger in some of their eyes was obvious. I had a good time laughing and cutting up with the kids. One guy told me he was Elvis Presley. Eventually, they all ended up with tracts and began to break up into groups of four or five and sit down to read them.
One boy in particular seemed especially interested in having a Bible. He was in 12th grade and told me his name was Patrick. I quickly asked God to get that kid a Bible somehow along with the group of girls who had sat down right next to the boxes. Later, I did see that Patrick had gotten a Bible and was grateful for that. A bit later he came back and gave me the tract that had just been given to him not too long before with his name and address on the back and a check mark in the box indicating that he had received Christ.
Patrick is one of about 40 or so kids who returned their tracts to one of us while we were still there. Pray that these kids will grow in their faith and pray that they will follow Jesus all the way into eternity.
Update: Someone (not me) actually got a picture of Patrick. That’s him on the end of the bench reading a tract.
As I walked away, I could see she was already reading her new Bible. I went back and asked for her photo and thanked her.
Some of the classes will sing for us when we arrive. At one school, the entire school was gathered together to sing. Brother Paul Sr. then teaches them the song "God is so good." Look for the video sometime in the near future when I can get enough bandwidth to upload it.
I've gotten to share my testimony in a couple of the classes, and that was a blessing.
Grilled chicken, rice, pork and beans, and fries. Coke is coke all around the world. Rachael got hold of my phone for a minute and did a lovely self-portait. The gentleman sitting next to Rachael, Djoca, is one of our taxi drivers. He needs to be saved. Our other driver, Tatino, received Christ yesterday.
Update: Djoca came to the church service on our second Monday night. It was a strong Gospel message, but it appeared that Djoca was going to leave without responding. I asked him if I could show him the picture I had drawn while I was still an atheist, and asked Claudio, one of the Brazilians on the trip, to translate for me. Djoca understood the meaning of the picture right away and said that he was ready to have the darkness taken away from his heart. Claudio talked to him from that point on, and he soon bowed his head and received Christ. Friday night, he brought his son, who also responded to the invitation. More on Djoca later.
A good friend always says, "You'll be the same this time next year except for the people you meet and the books you read. " Today I met Francisca. It's hard to say what impressed me about her. Maybe that my first impression was totally wrong. I first saw her sitting on the rock in front of her house, and then later when she had a very difficult time getting up, I assumed that's all she did was sit on the rock. Later, when I saw her making her way slowly down the street, half bent over and leaning very heavily on her walking stick, I knew I was wrong about her. Lisa told me that she really likes chocolate, and so I slipped her a piece from my bag the next time I saw her. She was really pleased.
I also met Neni (almost sounds like nanny) who is trying to raise three kids alone. She will be doing our laundry while we're here, and it really bothered me that I didn't even know her name before I met her today. I hope I can spend a little more time with her and get to know her as more than just the "laundry woman".
And I met Lu and had coffee at her house. This was one thing I was hoping to have the chance to do while here. It would be a real shame to come all this way, do all the work that will be done, and never touch or be touched by the people who call this home. So I'm both surprised and delighted that these encounters have happened so quickly.
More later.
It's beautiful, but I've never seen so many rocks in my life. The one word that fills my heart as I look across the landscape is hopeless. Sometimes you can see that same hopelessness when you look into someone's eyes.
I like flying, but I usually only do it for a couple of hours at a time. Seven hours will be interesting. Got to give a nice young couple who were wondering what all the lime green shirts were about a couple of Get Out of Hell Free cards.
After Rachel and I discussed the artistic possibilities, we came up with this ponytail hanging over the back of the chair.
Update: Well, after Mrs. Cynthia’s ankle failed to improve, x-rays revealed her to have a fractured ankle. She spent most of the trip confined to bed with her leg elevated directing the curtain sewing and praying for us throughout the day. The local doctor was very nice and did make a house call to check up on her. 