Salvador Porters

training preachers

2010-10-27T18:02:00.002-08:00

Tonight was a good night. In just over a month we are going to be traveling to the US on furlough. While we are gone people have to fill in for some of the roles we normally take care of while here. One of my major roles this past year has been preaching. It is normal to have a few of the guys help out with a series, but this is my first time to plan 9 weeks or so of lessons for other people to preach.

In some ways though, this is a great blessing. Sometimes we have a hard time stepping into roles or trying some things out in life when we think there are other people who will do it for us. Since I am going to be traveling though, I am hoping that we can use this time to help a few more of our men become comfortable with preaching. When I talked to a few of the guys about this need the idea came up that we ought to do some training. In the past all of our preaching training has been more one on one, but the idea now is to try something different.

Several of us are going to try to get together every week to do two things. First we want to open the Bible and find out what God has to say about a variety of topics (who Jesus is, baptism, faith, grace, sin, etc.). Second, we want to give some opportunities for the guys to preach to our group about the things we are studying.

I am real excited about this because this gives us the opportunity to open the Bible in a very raw fashion and study what God has to say about important matters of our faith. Through this study we will hopefully have the chance to model and learn what it means to hear God’s Word and to investigate God’s truths. And then from this study we are then going to have the chance to talk about how we communicate these truths to others. This is something we can do together. The goal is to grow together as we study and speak. I hope that someday we can do something like this with everyone. We all need to know how to study and to speak God’s truths into the world around us.

Tonight was our first night and it was a great blessing. We sat around with our Bibles open studying and investigating who the Bible says about who Jesus is. What a great blessing. I am looking forward to these next several weeks.

pics from July

2010-08-12T07:57:00.003-08:00

Our summer interns. Candice and Marcy

had to take our interns to a truly Brazilian experience, a soccer game!

We are doing a 4 week series on Friday nights with our couples.

Cibele with Kelton and Hannah

Our times together have been a great blessing to all our couples. Please pray especial for our non-christians who came.

Thank God for power outages

2010-07-20T18:28:00.001-08:00

This past weekend I got to go to the Northeastern (Brazil, that is) Women’s Conference. Now I must start off with a confession. The site was a bit more rustic than I was thinking it was going to be. The hotel was called Agua Viva Beach Resort. Let’s just say that their name was misleading to say the least. What I should have been thinking was Camp. It was very nice for Camp (indoor plumbing, showers, on the beach). It was not very nice for “beach resort” (no hot water, big ol’ spiders, had to bring our own towels, didn’t get tops sheets until the second night).

It was a truly beautiful place, right on the water, plenty of gorgeous trees and plants around. It did rain the whole time we were there, but for me this was fine. I actually like the rain more than I like the sun. I know, why do I live in Salvador, Brazil when I could live somewhere like Seattle.

But overall this conference was what all retreats should be—time to breathe deep. I had time to step away from child care and husband care and church care and breathe deep. I read, I worshipped, I laughed, I napped, I watched the rain and napped some more.

One of the more special moments came on the second evening as we were waiting for the doors to open and dinner to start being served. The meal times where never very fast. The kitchen wasn’t really set up to serve quickly the 287 women who were in attendance. So usually we stood in line an hour or so before we could eat or wait til the line was gone and see what food was left. Well on the second night we were very hungry and just as they opened the doors to the dining room the electricity in the whole place went out. There we are standing in the complete dark. After a moment or two someone started a song and then another and another. All the women, instead of being frustrated, used their time in the darkness to praise God.

This was cool enough in itself but then as the darkness continued I began to see something in the darkness. At first I thought something was wrong with my eyes. Because I suffer from migraines I often see flashes of light that aren’t there. I called my intern over, “Do you see that, the little flashes.” “Yes, I see them…I think it’s fireflies!” Fireflies! I grew up in California. We don’t have fireflies there. They are something I see in movies or hear about in other’s childhood memories. But here at my “beach resort” with the electricity out I am watching fireflies dance in the moonlight. I don’t think the other women noticed them, there weren’t very many of the little creatures. But I stood there with bated breath waiting for the next little flash. It was wonderful. It was beautiful. It was such a serendipitous moment, one of those “more than you could ask or imagine” moments.

Thank you God for power outages and thank that the very next night, right before dinner it happened again.

The power of relationship

2010-07-12T16:59:00.003-08:00

This weekend we put on VBS. Actually it really wasn't "Vacation" Bible School since it isn't vacation time being the middle of winter in the Southern Hemisphere. So we called it Super Saturday. And it really was... a super Saturday.

Just to get the numbers out of the way, we had 53 kids in attendance. That's about how many people we usually have in attendance on Sunday morning. There were probably about 30 more adults running around the building as well, either teaching, leading groups, cooking, helping or parents who came to see what their kids were doing. I was in the "helping" category. I did a little bit of everything. Mostly I was the gopher and did whatever the chief, Valerie (my teammate and children's minister) told me to do.

In the end we only broke one light fixture, the electricity only went out in half the building (including the air conditioners) and only one kid threw up. So it was pretty much a great success.

What I was most proud of for the day was the fact that the kids who came were connected to people at our church. For the most part they weren't random kids off the street that we will never see again. Our members brought their neighbor kids. Our children invited their friends. Our secretary invited the guy who services our copier to bring his kids. The parking attendant that works at the restaurant down the street and the street sweeper sent their children. Kids came through relationships.

Mission work through relationship is slow. It takes time to earn the respect and trust of people. Especially to get to a place where they are willing to share with you about something as intimate as their deepest needs and their spiritual questions and doubts, hopes and fears.

I thought when I moved to Brazil, that five years into the work, I would be part of a church a lot bigger and faster growing than 40-50. But what I have learned is that mission work isn't about having the best worship service that everyone wants to go to, being the best foreign language learner, or always knowing exactly what to say. It isn't even about being the best pray'er or having the spiritual gift of evangelism. Effective mission work is about cultivating a loving, powerful, relationship with God Almighty and letting that transformational relationship spill out daily onto the other relationships in my life. From my husband, to my next door neighbor, to the other moms at Kelton's school, to the guy that always parks too close to me in our garage, my relationship with people matter. And it is the best way to be a missionary in this world.

2010-05-06T05:01:00.001-08:00

Last night we celebrated 5 de Mayo with some of our friends. We had a great time. Heather, our 2 year intern, helped us make enchiladas, burritos, guac, sour cream (or at least the best we can do here), salsa, and chips. It was a lot of fun sharing our favorite type of food.

Strategy Review

2009-10-24T17:12:00.002-08:00

This week has been a great week. For the past four days we have met as a team, studied God's Word, prayed for guidance, openly talked about successes and failures, and recommitted to an all out pursuit of God. God is good. My teammate Val has blogged about the retreat and said some great things. if you get a chance you ought to check out her post from the past several days. http://www.quireys.blogspot.com/.

September Prayer Calendar

2009-09-01T16:10:00.002-08:00

Just wanted to offer our September Prayer Calendar for any that want it. You can click here or on the image below to download the calendar.

Pray!

2009-08-12T03:15:00.004-08:00

Today, say a prayer for the Salvador Church of Christ.

Pray that God will act mightily in this place. Please pray that we as missionaries and our members will have boldness to share the gospel and that God will give us words. Pray for our church to be a place of defeat for Satan and all his schemes. And pray that this church will be a place of victory for those seeking the Truth found only in Jesus Christ.

To God be the glory forever and ever, Amen!

A dear friend is home

2009-07-30T10:06:00.003-08:00

We have been away at retreat this week and came back home last night to find out that Bill Nash passed away on Monday. Bill is a man we met at Highland. He worked as a minister for around 20 years there. He was a man full of love and acceptance. Every time I met him he always seemed to have time for me. He wasn't a man of many faces. What you saw when you met Bill was himself. He did not try to be someone else or make you think he was someone he was not. He was a true person. I only had a few short years to get to know him, but his spirit and life were such that I will forever be touched by his life. He is a man in which God has fully declared His "Yes" through Christ. Welcome home my friend.

Here are some comments from others who knew him better.
Preacher Mike - Bill Nash

Itu Inaugural

2009-07-05T11:28:00.002-08:00

this weekend we are in Itu, a town close to São Paulo. We are here because the church here is inaugurating their new church building. We are also here because the missionaries, Antenor and Phyllis Goncalves, are supported by Highland in Abilene.

Our time here has been such a blessing. We arrived on Thursday and have spent several days doing this and that to help get ready. This morning the inaugural service started. What a wonderful morning. The place was packed with well over 300 people, which for a Church of Christ in Brazil is a great Sunday. regardless of how many people came today, though, it was a great Sunday. The church itself is so excited about their new building and how God led them here. They are excited about how God will continue to use their building as a light to the city and safe haven for those seeking shelter from a life lived without God.

As we got going this morning I had a wonderful thought about how this can one day be us. I thought about how we one day hope to have a place the church in Salvador owns and is able to use long term for the Lord. Until then though, we will continue to use what we have, where we are, to declare that God is God and in Him alone is our salvation.

Finishing Classes

2009-06-16T17:14:00.002-08:00

Tonight was the final class of an 8 week series I have been teaching up at the building. It is part of an effort to reach out the community and create more opportunities to people about God. I have used our evangelistic Bible studies as the basis for the class. Although the class has not had our desired result of attracting mostly non-Christians, I have enjoyed the class immensely. The first time I taught the class we had a hard time keeping up consistency, but this time was completely different. Early on we settled in with about eight people, one of them being one of our members and another being a seeker from our neighborhood.

The classes have been very lively. Each week we worked through my basic outline and each week our discussions led us beyond my outline into discussions about who God is and how we are able to live with Him in relationship. Tonight as everyone was leaving I felt a little sadness. Over these eight weeks we have grown together and shared much of ourselves. I am sad we don’t have next week to look forward to be together again.

It has been a great class and I pray God’s blessings on all those who came. I pray the most for Othon who came out of curiosity and has now received the seeds of the Gospel. I pray they will grow and that he will be open for more opportunities to journey together on this road.

Couples Night

2009-06-12T07:13:00.006-08:00

One of the great (and sometimes confusing) things about being a missionary in a foreign country is the holiday schedule. While we cannot celebrate them all (we would never get any work done) it can work to our advantage.

Some of the holidays are the same (Christmas, Easter, Mother’s Day). Some are close. For example our state celebrates both the national independence day and its own independence from Portugal. The state independence day is on July 2, close to both Canadian and the US independence days (July 1 & 4). Of course there are some holidays new to us because we are living in Brazil now (i.e. Tira Dentes – literally “to pull teeth” celebrating a dentist important in Brazil’s independence) and some that we miss all together (I totally missed Memorial day this year). But every now and then we get to celebrate some holidays twice. Such was the case last night.

Because we were on furlough this year Jennifer and I got to celebrate Valentine’s Day like most of you in February, and because our furlough ended before June, we also got to celebrate it in Brazil too. To celebrate we invited all the couples we have at church over to the house for a night of burgers and a movie. In the end we had 8 couples, including one of Travis and Alicia’s neighbors.

It was a great night. I made “American Hamburgers,” which simply means I made the hamburger patties by hand and cooked them on a grill (most hamburgers here are bought pre-made and are cooked on a griddle). Jennifer made her wonderful potato salad and we ate to our hearts content. We watched Baz’s new movie Australia starring Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman.

Here are a few of the pictures from the night.

New Prayer Calendar

2009-06-01T18:01:00.006-08:00

Here is the Prayer Calendar for June. (you can click here or on the image below to download a PDF of the calendar.)

the boys

2009-04-20T16:06:00.001-08:00

the boys sure are growing up. here is one of Samuel taking a few steps and Kelton repeating memory verses.

Easter Sunday

2009-04-15T01:57:00.002-08:00

What a great day Easter was this year. Easter is an important holiday here in Brazil and one that usually allows for people to leave the city. Most people that can travel to be with family or get out the city during Easter leaving Savlador a little quiter and calmer for a few days, which I must admit I enjoy. Because so many people travel, our services for Easter are generally a little smaller as was the case this year with only about 35 or 40 people present on Sunday morning. The smaller number has actually been a blessing for our church these last several years.

As is becoming our custom we took the opportunity to do part of our worship around tables. (I mean think about, when was the last time you worshiped God as a church family looking at your church family rather than the song leader. It is quite a blessing to see one another while we worship our God.) So for this week, while our numbers are smaller, we take time to worship God in song and the celebrate communion as a family that sees one another. Around our tables we sing songs and we also break bread talking to one another about who Christ is and what His death and life mean to each of us.

As if that was not enough, when we finished celebrating communion together we then all turned back to the front as one of our members presented us with God's Word for the day. In this year we are trying to actively do more training of our members both in and out of our services, and with all training, were we begin is not necessarily where we hope to end. This wasn't the case with Gabriel and God's Word this Sunday, though. As he preached I was awe of the gifting God had placed on him and the blessing I received in hearing him take God's Word and help it come to life for the day.

It was truly a great day and one I wish all could experience.

3rd Anniversary

2009-04-02T16:31:00.002-08:00

Today while walking down the stairs from my apartment I was struck again by the reality that Salvador really is my home. We have lived here for just over four years now. In that time God has been at work both in my life and the life of His church here.

it is hard to believe that this Sunday we will celebrate our third anniversary. In some ways threes years is such a short time and it is. We are still a baby church. We pray there is much growth still ahead of us in the months and years to come. We stay confident about that growth because of what we see God doing in just three short years of church work in Salvador.

Three years ago we started with about 14 people. We sent lots of invitations and prayed that someone would come at our first service. In the last three weeks, God has blessed us with 60-70 people each Sunday.

Three years ago our conversations about God were limited to a years worth of Portuguese. In the past several Sundays multiple Brazilians have participated in our worship and Travis is currently working with Tennyson to help share God's message with everyone this Sunday.

Three years ago our invitations were limited to those we knew or those from the other Churches of Christ in the city. For this Sunday, there is no way to count the number of people who have been invited and most of them by other Brazilians.

Three years ago our vision for this work consisted of what we learned while in the states and what we had observed in a year of observation. This past year we have had open conversations as a church about how we can be God's church in our new neighborhood and we have followed ideas that did not originate in the US.

These are just a few examples of what God has done in Salvador in the three years since we started meeting. If He can do this in three years, just imagine what is possible in the next three. This Sunday we celebrate our third anniversary. Please remember us in your prayers this week. Pray that those invited may come. Pray that we will be ready to receive. Pray that the truth of God will be heard by all and that we might all draw closer to Him as we celebrate what He has done.

home again

2009-03-24T04:48:00.003-08:00

All through our preparations to move to Brazil former missionaries told us that after a while you begin to feel like you have a foot in two worlds. I can say that is true to our lives now. Furlough was great and it was great to be back with our family and friends. In many ways the US still kind of feels like home. The people, landscapes, and foods are all still so familiar. But I must admit that it felt different this time. it was great to be back, but it was more like a trip than a homecoming. These trips are essential and wonderful. They help us mark our time on the field and reconnect with the people and churches we love. Being back now, it is hard to think that we are not planning to be going back that way for a couple of years and in that realization there is some sadness. Yet with that sadness is mixed the joy we have experienced in coming home. That is what Brazil is now. this is where God had planted us and it is where for the time He is allowing us to serve in the Kingdom as ministers and evangelist. Brazil has also become a place with familiar people, landscapes, and food. We have had a great time reconnecting with our friends and family here and there are still more to see. Even the heat in some weird way has been comforting. We have now worshiped twice with the body here in Salvador and what a joy that has been. Most of the words to the songs still come readily to our lips and it feels natural to sing praises to God in portuguese. And as far as the language goes we have a little trouble with a few words that aren't real common, but beyond that the language flows very naturally and comfortably.

continuing on furlough

2009-02-23T22:33:00.002-09:00

we are headed out from California in a couple of hours. it has been a great time visiting with family and getting to know the church family here at North County. Our time here was encouraging and motivating for our work in Brazil. We now have faces to go with some of the names and many more names and faces to remember. Some of our highlights were our interview with Tim Spivey (the preacher) during worship on Wednesday, the men's breakfast, the time with the staff and elders, and of course time with fellow brothers and sisters who helped Jennifer become the woman she is today.

We also had a great time with Jennifer's family. We stayed with them while here giving Kelton and his cousin, Jonathan, tons of time to play. We are able to take a few days and visit a railway museum and a airplane graveyard. We also visited the Santa Ana zoo. It is going to be sad leaving everyone.

In the next few weeks we will be visiting friends in Dallas, Levelland, Lubbock, and then returning to Abilene for a few days before returning to Brazil. Please keep us in your prayers as we begin moving around the country again. While you are praying please remember a friend of ours in Dallas who recently lost his job (God knows his name). Please keep him and his family in your prayers.

Children's Day

2008-10-12T15:42:00.003-08:00

In the states we always celebrate Mother's and Father's day, but in Brazil we also celebrate children's day. Today is children's day, so to celebrate we invited all the kids we could find; hired a company to bring in a trampoline, air castle, and a ball pit; sang a bunch of kids songs; ate some hot dogs. It was a great day, we had about 40-45 kdis come. It was a great day. We were able to meet some of new parents and a few more of our neighbors. Please pray that we can stay connected with these families and praise God for the day.

finally new pictures!

2008-10-04T17:35:00.003-08:00

Reaching out to our neighbors

2008-08-25T17:46:00.000-08:00

Our new neighborhood of our church has opened up many more doors for our congregation to offer things that help the community. We have already started to serve a free lunch two Saturdays a month to our neighbors. We are continuing our biweekly English class as well. But we have really begun to pray about other ways we can make a difference in this neighborhood.

Our church just spent 40 days of prayer and fasting asking how we can be a part of what God is doing in this area. We went door to door asking people how we could help and how they already saw God working in their neighborhood.

The answers were quite revealing:
1. People that were already Christians and active in churches said we need to do more evangelism (Good! We plan to do that.)
2. People that weren’t part of a church talked a lot about security, making the neighborhood safer and doing things that help people get jobs or be better trained.

Through my 40 days the idea came to me to offer a computer class through the church. Most people do not even know how to type on a keyboard, let alone have any knowledge of computer programs. The class can start off small, just 5 or 6 students. The class has great outreach potential.

If anyone has any ideas on how we could get a few “old” laptops (towers and monitors will be too heavy and bulky to bring or send to Brazil). We would need just basic word processing programs like Word for use for our class. This will be awesome, a great blessing for our church.

Community Survey

2008-07-28T04:14:00.002-08:00

I have I said lately how exciting the move of our church to a new location has been. Well it is. For sure, it is a lot of work as well, walls not holding paint, a little bit longer drive from home to the building, and a few electrical problems, but those are things that come with any move.

As I mentioned in a recent post we are in the middle of 40 days of prayer and fasting right now with our church asking God for direction and guidance as we enter this new neighborhood. Our last day is August 8, so please continue to pray with us. What I am excited about today is the community survey we are planning to do this coming Sunday. This coming Sunday after worship we are planning to go into our neighborhood and ask people to help us know the needs of our community and discern God’s will. While the survey in and of itself is very exciting I am thrilled to see the church excited about survey as well. We are called to be a people who step out our back door into the world around us and I see the church catching that vision more than I have ever seen it before.

As you pray this week, please remember our survey this coming Sunday. Pray that God will help us not only learn how we can help, but that we will be able to start building relationships with our neighbors. Pray as well that any fears that exist within our church will be over ridden by our faith in God and our love those He created.

Samuel laughing

2008-07-16T12:44:00.002-08:00

2008-07-16T11:19:00.004-08:00

40 days of Prayer and Fasting

2008-07-08T07:29:00.002-08:00

The move to our new building is going well. Praise God. You never know how a church or any group for that matter is going to take a move in location. There is just as much possibility for the group to see the move as positive as they are to see it negatively. So we continue to praise God as the church seems to be accepting the move well. That being said we still have our work cut out for us. There are still technical aspects to get to in order to have the building working like we would like, but those will come with time. What is really before us right now is how we as a church are going to interact with our new neighborhood.

Our new home is different from our last. Our last building was located in a more commercial district with some neighbors residing high rise apartments locked behind restricted assess gates. We are now in a neighborhood filled more with houses and local markets and shops. A change we are fairly excited about. With this change though comes new opportunities for our church body. Therefore we have started a 40 days of prayer and fasting campaign with our church. Two Sundays ago we announced it and had a list for everyone to sign up for a day. We are spending the next 40 days praying, fasting, and studying through Joshua. We are praying for God to help us see how we might interact with neighborhood, how we might serve those around us, and what kind of church God is calling us to be in our new home.

It is so excited to make this transition with a church body. The last time we were faced with some of these questions we only had the five missionary families and those of you who were praying with us at the time. Now, there is a body of Brazilian Christians along with us ready to see where God will lead. We also want to offer you the opportunity to join with us as well. Between now and August 7 choose a day to spend in prayer and fasting asking God to reveal His will for us as a church in our new home. Together let’s see where God will lead.

new pics

2008-05-29T15:44:00.004-08:00

My Parents Visit

2008-04-19T15:39:00.003-08:00

What a blessing my family has been. At the beginning of this month we were blessed by a visit from my dad and mom and my older brother Eddie. My mom and dad visited us in 2006 but this was my brother's first trip outside the US. We had a great time. We did a little sight seeing, which included the beach, the historic district, and even a hospital so my dad could get a couple of stitches. And of course they spent plenty of time hanging on our newest family member and I am not sure Kelton has had so much fun as he had with uncle Eddie. My mom thought she would like it so much she is staying around for a little while longer. We are blessed that she gets to be here until Sunday April 27. What a blessing.

our boy

2008-03-29T12:26:00.003-08:00

here are some more pictures of the boys

Introducing Samuel Josiah Porter

2008-03-16T15:54:00.009-08:00

After many, many months of waiting our little boy is finally here. Samuel was born this past Wednesday at 8:20 in the morning. We stayed in the hospital until Friday morning and made it home in time to pick kelton up from school at noon. Since then we have been staying pretty close to the house. We are sleeping when we can and enjoying our new family. Kelton loves being a big brother and is very helpful. He often wants to hold Samuel and give him lots of kisses. Jennifer is doing well too. She is recovering from the labor and trying to take it easy. As for me, I am doing what i can to help out and trying to love on all three of my family. here are a few pictures for you all and of course the fun facts.

Samuel was born at 8:20 on March 12. (threes to the day of when we flew from Abilene to move to Brazil)
The labor lasted about 6 and half hours.
Samuel was 8lbs and 10oz. and about 20 inches long. (3.925 K and 51.5 cm)

I have a new son

2008-03-12T05:28:00.003-08:00

Samuel Josiah Porter was born this morning at 8:20 Salvador time. He is 8 1/2 pounds and about 20 1/2 inches. He and mom are doing great. love you all. thanks so much for your prayers.

No baby yet

2008-03-08T11:01:00.003-09:00

So we are still waiting for little Samuel's arrival. We have about a week until our official due date, although I had really convinced myself that he was going to come early. It is an interesting time of life. Waiting, expecting. I feel like it is the epitamy of waiting for God's timing. God definately knows when it is the right time for Samuel, for our family, for the work, for the hospital.

Everyday Samuel waits to come gives me another chance to cross something else off my list. All the absolutely necessary things are done, but it is nice to get some of the smaller things done, around the house or for work. I got my hair cut yesterday, which I have been needing to do for 2 months. It is very short. Shorter than I have had it in more than 4 years. It is much cooler and it should be easier to take care of with a newborn. And it is good to have a chance to work on more of my jobs that I will have to pass off to my teammates when I go on maternity leave.

I love the idea of maternity leave. With Kelton, we were in the middle of our training so I went back to classes after about two weeks. But I feel very blessed to have the flexibility to stay home with Samuel for 2 months. Even after that, I get to just take Samuel with me. I have job that involves time with people, having people in my home, study preparations, and church activities. All of these things allow for the flexibility of being a mom. I won't be working 40 hour weeks for a long time, but I do get to do the things I love most in the world: being with my family and serving our gracious Father through the church here in Salvador.

Please continue to pray for Samuel's birth, the waiting and the reality of his addition to our family.

Pictures

2008-03-02T12:37:00.003-09:00

Here is a few of my favorite pictures that we have taken lately. I keep thinking I am going to send these out but haven't gotten around to it yet so I thought I'd at least post them here!

Carnival

2008-02-07T08:55:00.000-09:00

We have survived another year of Carnival. For those of you who have never experienced Carnival in Salvador, which I am sure is the majority, it is party time on steroids. The city shuts down for about a week, close to a million tourist flock to the city and everyone goes to the huge parades and concerts and all night parties. For us it was a fairly quiet last few days. The major carnival events are not close to where we live, so our side of town was fairly peaceful. We spent some time trying to finish unpacking and getting our house organized.

On Tuesday we went out to the area-wide C of C Carnival retreat. Most Christian in Brazil tend to flee the cities during Carnival, also everyone is off from work so it is a good time for a retreat. This year, since I am 8 months pregnant, we decided not to camp out with the heat and sometimes working showers and just go for the day. We had such a fun time seeing friends. We spent most of the day catching up with our brothers and sisters. Kelton played until he could play no more. We took our football. None of the other kids had ever played with a football before, so we tried to teach them how to throw it and catch it. It was fun to watch.

We are so grateful for our Christian friends here in Salvador. It is always encouraging to spend time with them. God is so good to us.

Our little photographer!

2008-01-24T04:17:00.000-09:00

Kelton has turned into quite the little photographer. I think love of photos must be genetic on Randy's side of the family. Randy and his mom are both photo happy people. And Kelton apparently has the same inherent gene. He has now started to get bossy when he takes pictures. "No don't say cheese, just smile."

Now I know that I am prejudice but I think Kelton does pretty good at the picture taking thing for a three year old. Here are some of the pictures he has taken recently.

1) The first is Randy and I with Jennifer and Sasha Terry, our missionary friends that we stayed with.

2)This is Randy and I in front of the gorgeous hydranga bushes in Canel at the Missionary Conference.

3) Flowers up close

4) My favorite- Kelton refused to sit in Santa's lap for a picture but was totally into taking pictures of other kids sitting in Santa's lap. We decided not to put the picture of a complete stranger sitting on Santa's lap on our Christmas cards.

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-22T10:56:00.000-09:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you back in the states. We love and miss you today, especially our families. May God bless you and keep you and you travel around, eat turkey, watch football, watch movies, or whatever it is that you are doing. We love you.

My Thanksgiving List

2007-11-13T13:54:00.000-09:00

I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving this year. We will be celebrating it with our team and Russell's folks who are coming down. We are actually celebrating on Thanksgiving Day, which we haven't done the past 3 years. So of course with Thanksgiving almost here, I am thinking about all the things that I am grateful for.

I am grateful for my healthy, growing, active son, Kelton. He is absolutely the delight of my life. I simply cannot get over how cute and wonderful he is.
I am grateful for a healthy pregnancy. Our new son is growing and active. I have no concept of what it will be like to have 2 children but for now I am happy to be here at 22 weeks.
My wonderful husband, Randy. There are no words to describe the wonderful gift I have in Randy. I am sorry to all the rest of the ladies out there, but there is no more incredible man out there.
I am grateful for the work I get to do here in Salvador for God's kingdom. I do not wonder if I am serving him, or what I would do if my faith were put to the test. I know God is working and alive in this place. He is allowing me to play a small role in his plans for this city. It is not easy work, but there is honestly no other job I would rather be doing than serving this church family.
I am so grateful for our supporting churches. May the Lord pour out his blessings on his congregation who believe that we really must go into all the world and share the Good News of Jesus Christ our Savior. Thank Highland, Wheeler, Cactus Drive, North County and Vernon for enabling our family to go.
I am especially grateful for our individuals and family who financially support us and keep us here on the field. I am grateful to all those who give one time gifts to us, but I am especially thankful for those who support us every month. I tell you the truth, to simply say that the dollar has dropped since we arrived on the field is an understatement. But God has continued to supply for our needs each month through the gifts our individual supporters give. Your sacrifice lifts our spirits every month and provided deep encouragement.
I am thankful to each person who lifts our family up in prayer. I know God hears and responds to each prayer. We absolutely feel the effects of these prayers. Some day I believe we will know how God used all the prayers of his people for us. We will see the opprotunities given, the sickness prevented, the protection supplied, the enconters that were made, the times are spirits were strengthed and restored all because of the prayers that were offered on our behalf.
Most of all tonight, I am grateful to be God's daughter. To be his beloved.....there is nothing sweeter.

I hope this inspires you to take a moment to reflect on what you are grateful for.

Blessings

Our team retreat

2007-11-08T07:00:00.000-09:00

Here are some pictures from our annual team retreat. Kelton swam by himself for the first time.

My Pregnant Self

2007-10-26T03:02:00.000-08:00

So my mom has been asking and asking for me to send out a picture of my pregnant self. So I just thought I would share it with everyone. Sunday will be 20 weeks. Half way there!

Dr. Appointment

2007-10-18T17:31:00.000-08:00

Well we went to the doctor today for another appointment. Everything is going well. Our baby is growing and is perfectly healthy. We got to see our precious little child. We are so thankful to God and all of you for your prayers. Please continue to pray. We love you all.

Retreats

2007-09-25T03:38:00.000-08:00

Every year our team gets together for an annual strategy and planning retreat. Well this is that week. We started yesterday and I must say it was a good day. We had great discussions about vision and identity and about who we are trying to reach. It is so great to be working with such a great group of people. Sometimes retreats like this can be long and you are just waiting for them to end so you can get back to the rest of life. Yesterday was a relief though because by the time I left, while tired, I was definitely excited about where we had been and where we are going. I give God all the praise. I believe wholeheartedly that His spirit was guiding and leading us yesterday.

Please join with us and continue to pray for God's guidance in our planning and work while we finish our retreat.

silly boy

2007-06-30T17:29:00.000-08:00

Lock in

2007-06-24T11:29:00.000-08:00

Friday night we had our second annual youth lock-in. I have to tell you the truth, I wasn't really looking forward to staying up all night with a bunch of teenagers. I am truly getting old. But I must tell you that God really blessed our time together. Our Auburn students came to help and invited their students, so we had 4 of our English students who came. Our night focused on who God is and how he reveals himself to us.

We watched Bruce Almighty and had several activities that centered around this movie:

What would we do if we had the power of God?
How did the movie accurately and inaccurately represent God?
What does God look like/what is his character?

We also made prayer braclets to remind us that God is always close to us, and when we see our bracelets we can pray a prayer of commitment to God.

We had a really fun night. We spent time in the word, time in small groups in discussion, and of course lots of time playing and eating.

Praise God for such a wonderful night. Please continue to pray for our youth, especially for our the youth we are reaching out to through our English classes.

Our Language Progression

2007-06-19T04:04:00.000-08:00

We are contiuing with our portuguese study. We meet with our teacher Léa for 2 hours, twice a week. We certainly speak tons better than when we got here. We can communicate, we can teach, we can understand people on the phone. But we still have lots to learn. Somedays I think I am never going to get this language down and other days I praise God for allowing me the ability to understand and to be understood. I pray for the gift of tongues often, because I am pretty certain I cannot learn this language all on my own.

Randy and I work very hard to speak portuguese to one another when we are around Brazilians. The other day when had our couples class over for lunch, I was in the kitchen with the girls doing the dishes and Randy came in. Sometimes, when I need to say something quick I will still speak to him in English, because basically it is just easier. So we were in the kitchen and Randy and I had a little mini-conversation about something in English. I then apologized to the ladies becasue I didn't want them to think we were talking about them.

"I'm sorry for speaking in English in front of you, sometimes it's just easier."

"That's okay," one of them said, "We just feel like we are in a movie."

Victory

2007-06-17T19:09:00.000-08:00

Today I was reminded in my quiet time that God is our victory. Through him victory is assured. And in every situation, each step forward is also a victory. God is with us, he will go to battle for us, all we have to do is be still.

Stuff going on

2007-05-15T15:53:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from our "Signs" movie night. If you don't understand the pictures you need to see the movie

This is from Mother's day. We had about 65 people in attendence. We had a special Mother's day breakfast before our service.

Kelton and Randy took me out to a special Italian lunch.

Here is our cute boy.
We had a view of the most amazing, brilliant rainbow from our balcony the other day! It covered the whole sky. And there was actually another faint rainbow above it. One of the great bonuses of the rainy season. Itsn't God amazing!

New Pictures

2007-04-03T10:10:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of our small group

We are celebrating Lorena's birthday (she is on the right). Lorena was baptised last fall. This was our first time to get to meet Gustavo, her boyfriend.

Sweet Ceara Sass

This is our team with Jerry and Gail Heidrich at our Team Retreat

My new favorite thing

2007-03-28T09:56:00.000-08:00

So it really is just like they say that as your child grows each stage gets better and better. Sometimes that is hard to imagine like when that tiny hand grasps your thumb and everything else in the world goes away. And some other times you grasp onto that hope like a woman on a sinking ship, like when you are in the middle of potty training and you are cleaning up the third accident of the day and it is only 10:30am and nap time is 3 1/2 hours away.

Well we have entered a new stage with Kelton that I just can't get enough of. We have always prayed with Kelton, before meals, before nap, before bedtime, after spankings. But now Kelton has started to pray on his own. I can honestly say that my heart has never felt this before. The emotion that it is filled with to hear my child talking to God is truly beyond words of description. I can only imagine that it is just a glimmer of what it is like to see your child make the choice of their own free to make Jesus the Lord of their life. But for now it is pretty much the coolest thing EVER to hear him talk to God. I'm not quite sure all of what he says but I'm pretty sure that God understands every word. The purity of those moments is nothing short of holy.

Guiding and teaching your child to love and honor God is an awesome responsibility. One that I am not sure I am all that well equipped to do, accept for the fact that God was the one who hired me for the job. And the cool thing is, is that He is still teaching me how to love and honor him and allows me to pass those things on to Kelton. And being in those holy moments with Kelton hearing him talk with his heavenly father just inspires me to enter into my own holy moments with my heaven father.

Lights on, Lights off

2007-03-18T10:13:00.000-08:00

There are some parts of living in a foreign country that make life interesting. Some of them you can understand and others you just have to accept. I guess this morning was one of the later.

This morning started out just like a normal Sunday morning. We got up finished our final perparations for worship and began our service just like we always do. Everything seemed to be going fine until about half way through our songs all of the electricity in our building went out. (for those of you who have not seen our building we have no windows in our meeting room and the only light is what comes from our lights or the front door.) Not knowing if this was an unannounced work day for Coelba, our power company, or if it was something with our building we started checking our breakers and the diner across the street. As it turns out it was our breakers. After Keith worked with the breakers for a minute and we moved everyone into our front lobby the power came back on in the building. We invited everyone back in and were able to worship for another 10-20 minutes before the lights went out again.

By the end of the service the eletricity went off three times and was promising a fourth if we did not finish quickly, our main breaker was sparking, and Travis had preached most of his sermon using a flashlight. All in all not the day we had planned, but then again what day is. In the end I think we all made a memory this morning and more importantly we were still together as the family of God. As for our electrical problems that is something to look into this week and just part of the package of our building, but we will get it all straightened out.

Back Home

2007-03-09T02:36:00.000-09:00

We made it. We are home now. We arrived yesterday about 2 in the afternoon (11 am for those of you in the Central Time Zone). It is nice to be home and it feels very natural. We are pretty tired. The last few days before we left were fairly busy and the actual travel time to get back home was a little long, so it will take a few days to catch our breath.

Our time in the states was wonderful. Thank you so much for those of you who had us over for dinner, lunch, breakfast, or just gave us a little bit of your time. Although tired from traveling we are very energized and encouraged from our time with you. We cannot say thank you enough for the love we received. Please know that we love you as well. (We know there are few that we did not get to sit down with and we are so sorry. Know that we love you and hold you very dear to our hearts.)

Thank you all. Thanks for the encouargement, the love, the support, the mexican food, thanks for letting us come back. We are looking forward to getting back to work.

My Dad #2

2007-02-26T06:24:00.000-09:00

Again and again, I cannot say thank you enough to all of you who have been praying for my dad. He is doing well. About a week and a half ago he had surgery to remove his arm because of cancer and praise God it looks like it has been removed. If you can believe it they sent him home on Sunday only four days after removing his arm and he seems to have not missed a beat. He came on Sunday and on Tuesday started working on selling insurance again. This past week was marked with several blessing and triumphs. My dad has figured out how to button his pants and his shirt and put on his socks and shoes all with just one hand and a few gadgets. He also had more energy this past week than he has had in a long time. For me it has been a testament to how much energy the body uses to fight cancer.

Most remarkable though has been his spirit. No one is ever excited about losing an limb, which would include my dad. However, he has done well. He has been happy and joyful this past week. He looked for ways to adapt and adjust and sees this as a great adventure. And in all of this he has not lost his sense of humor.

Thank you again for praying for my dad. I ask that you continue praying for him and his healing. Pray for his continued adjustment.

My Dad

2007-02-16T15:10:00.000-09:00

First, thank you so much for praying for my dad. For those of you who may not know. My has had cancer for the last little bit. He originally had it 22 years ago and it has reoccured a few times (this being the third). Each time they have been able to take care of the cancer by various means. When it reoccured this time though, they decided they needed to amputate the arm.

While this was not anyone's first choice it is our best option. Therefore plans were made to do surgery next week. However on Monday on his way home from the doctor’s office he started bleeding and they had to come back to the hospital. They then moved the surgery up and did it yesterday morning. Everything went well.

I want to thank so many of you for your prayers. We have felt your prayers and know God is with us. Just so you know, my dad is doing well. He came out of surgery yesterday and spent most of the day sleeping and punching a morphene button. Today he is talking and joking and having a good time. The surgery went well and hopefully we will be leaving the hospital in a couple of days. We have a great and powerful God who has been with us at every step through the good and the bad. thank you all so much for praying. we love you all.

Our night with the Elders

2007-02-10T19:23:00.000-09:00

We just finished an evening with the elders at the church here in Levelland and what a great night it was. We were able to sit around two tables with several elders and their wives and talk about our lives over the past two years. We are blessed to have such a great cloud of witnesses and we are blessed to have the opportunity to sit down with them. They are a good group of men and women people I have known most of my life. I love them for how they guided me as a child and youth. I love them even more now as I am now even more able to see the spirit of God working in them. We should all be so blessed.

Favortie things about Furlough

2007-02-04T19:37:00.000-09:00

-Vanilla Dr. Peppers from Sonic
-Snow
-Chips and Salsa
-Sour Cream Enchiladas
-Hearing what God is doing in the lives of my church family
-Calling my family anytime I want and getting a clear connection
-bathtubs
-75% off clearance sales
-Taco Bueno
-Black Cherry Vanilla Coke
-the rolling hills of Texas and Oklahoma
-chili cheese fries
-horse backriding with Kelton at Randy's sisters Ranch ("I ride Hor'! I ride Hor'!")
-Seeing Kelton hug and kiss church friends whom he doesn't remember but who love him dearly

A night in Portuguese

2007-01-22T10:39:00.001-09:00

Brazil Night-1
Originally uploaded by Salvadorporters.

What a blessing furlough has been to our family. We are really enjoying being around so many old friends and having time to share our lives over the past several years. However, no matter how much we love being in the states with this set of friends and family we miss our friends and family back in Salvador.

For sure the majority of our longing centers on our relationships with our friends and the work we are doing in Salvador, but part of our longing also involves this second language we have been working so hard to learn. Well this past Saturday night Bryan and Becky Gibbs opened up their home for us get together with brazilians, ex-missionaries, and anyone else interested in spending an evening worshiping our God and praying for Brazil and we got to do it all in portuguese. What a blessing it was to be able to spend an evening speaking and living in this beautiful language.

Apart from the blessing of speaking in portuguese for an evening we also made a few new friends. It was a great evening. We were blessed to spend with others that have hearts for Brazil and the people there.

Furlough Update

2007-01-16T14:13:00.000-09:00

IMG_0140
Originally uploaded by Salvadorporters.

For those who do not know it we are on furlough in the states. We are currently in Abilene, TX and will be here until Jan 28 (then we start traveling a little more to see other people we miss and love). We are really enjoying our time in the states. We are trying to eat all of the mexican food we can and it has been goooood.

As you would imagine plans don't always go like you had planned. This past weekend we had a little bit of a surprise as Texas and most of the plains welcomed an ice storm. For those of us living down south we forget temperatures like these exist as we have spent the past several days below the freezing mark. All of this has taught Kelton a new word "Cold." All in all though we are having a great time. The ice, while a little dangerous to drive on, has made for a beautiful landscape all around us. Who knows later this week we may even get a bit of snow. (We can only hope).

Depsite the cold we have still spent time with great families. Over this past weekend we sat down with several families we love and talked their lives and ours and all that God is doing around us.

We love it all, but I must say it makes us a little homesick, not just to see the temperatures up where they are familiar, but also to see all of our friends we keep talking about. It is going well and we will try to keep you updated from time to time.

Fullfilling dreams

2006-12-31T17:40:00.000-09:00

DSC00047
Originally uploaded by Salvadorporters.

Since Jennifer was a little child she has dreamed of taking her child to Disneyland. Happily for Christmas this year we were able to do that with Cynthia, Brian, Jonathan, and Judy. Kelton loved it (as did Jennifer). We had a great time at "the happiest place on earth." It was so fun to hear Kelton point out every train he saw. His mother enjoyed showing him around at all of the different places she grew up around. This seems to be the suff dreams are made of.

Coming Back to the US of A

2006-12-23T09:32:00.000-09:00

Well we are now back in the states on furlough. It has been a good time so far. We are out in California with Jennifer's sister Cynthia, Jennifer's mom, Judy and the rest of the family. We seem to be on the go here as much as we were back in Brazil. I think we have been to Wal-Mart twice, had mexican food 3 or 4 times, and to a Dollar Store all in just a few days.

Oh and just to top it all off, Jennifer gave me my Christmas present early and I went sky diving for the first time. I could tell you lots, but suffice it to say it was cold, fun, beautiful, and worth waiting for.

DSC00012
Originally uploaded by Salvadorporters.

So far our trip has been great. A little cold for our South American bodies, but really good. We hope to be out in Texas in a couple of weeks and we will see more of you then.

Merry Christmas all.

Our new brothers

2006-12-22T11:26:00.000-09:00

This past Sunday we welcomed two new brothers into God's family through baptism. What an amazing work God is doing in calling everyone to relationship with Him. Your new brother's names are Adeson and Gilvan. They are 15 and 14 respectively and two of our youth group kids. We met them through Fernando and his family, one of our families who transfered from the other church. We are so excited about the commitment of these two boys and look forward to walking with them on this journey.

The day was great too. We were able to have our worship service on Sunday morning and them all walk down to the beach for the baptism. We had the church on the beach along with many onlookers as we did what Christians have done for centurys. This is us walking out to the water.
This is Adeson's new birth

Please keep these boys in your prayers.

Air conditioners

2006-12-08T07:18:00.000-09:00

So this may not look like a very remarkable picture to you. But we love this picture. This is one of our new air conditioners that has just been installed in our church building.

In case you didn't know, it is hot in Salvador. And now it is summer, so every day it seems to get a little hotter. We are very happy to now have airconditioners in our building that has almost no windows and no breeze. As well as being much nicer for us, we hope it will also be a draw, especially for our middle class target. No one wants to sit and sweat for a couple hours.

We want to praise the Lord for providing the money for these air conditioners!

Thanksgiving

2006-11-17T16:38:00.000-09:00

Tomorrow our team is celebrating Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving. It is my favorite holiday. I love all the food, I love spending the day with those I love, I love playing games and watching movies and then eating again.
Tonight I am feeling quite thankful so I thought I would share with you some of the things I am thankful for.

1. I am thankful to be alive. Last weekend I experienced a true medical emergency. I am thankful that we live in a time where emergency surgeries exist as well as competent doctors and generous people who donate blood. Thank you to each of you who give blood.

2. I am thankful for my incredible husband who loves me and cares for me and is currently in the other room making the crust for homemade apple pie.

3. I am so thankful for my adorable, energetic boy. He is truly a light in my life and brings me such joy.

4. I am thankful for everyone who prays for me when they think of it, each month, each week, each day. I can't imagine what my life would be like with without yours prayer.

5. I am thankful for my church family. This week I have really felt lovedby my church family, in the States and here in Salvador. It is an incredible gift God has given us.

Thank you for listening to my thoughts. I am also thankful to be coming to the States on furlough soon where I can see you face to face.

Our recent Movie Night

2006-10-27T03:38:00.000-08:00

You may remember that this past summer we put one of my favorite past times to good use and started a movie night. It is something I enjoy. Those of us involved pick a movie and a theme for the evening that is addressed by the movie. We then write questions to help foster discussion in small groups after we all watch the movie. We did it twice this past winter (your summer) and thought we would try it again this spring (your fall).

So we set the date for last week. We picked a fun movie (Pirates of the Caribbean, The Curse of the Black Pearl). We told the church and asked them to invite someone that doesn't have a relationship with Christ. My co-leader Matt and I watched the movie, wrote the questions, and got everything set. So last Saturday we opened the building up and got all set up. Everything was set, we were ready to go. As we were calling people to grab their snacks and take their seats the power went out. At first I thought it was no big deal it would probably come back on in a few minutes. However, I was wrong. After about 30 minutes of waiting (we are optimist at heart) Mary suggested that we use this time to sing a little bit.

All I can say is that it was not what was planed. The lights did not come back on until about 10 minutes after everyone left. We did not watch our movie and we did not have our discussions. Yet in the midst of the darkness and our singing good things happened. We had a great night.

long needed vacation

2006-10-26T14:59:00.000-08:00

DSC00032
Originally uploaded by Salvadorporters.

We just came back today from a little family vacatioin. What a time. We loved it. We went just about an hour north of the city. It was great to get out of the city for a few days and relax. If you want to click on the picture you should be able to see some of the other pictures we took on our vacation as well.

Retiro dos Jovens

2006-10-13T05:19:00.000-08:00

Retiro 2006 (grupo)
Originally uploaded by Salvadorporters.

just coming back from our first retreat with the kids here in Salvador. What a great time. It was about 24 hours long and everyone seemed to have a great time. We played volleyball, soccer, swam, went the beach, played goofy games, ate good food, studying about reflecting the image of Christ. It was great. Here is a group photo. (FYI: to all those parents who have ever helped us out with youth events: God Bless you!!!)

Potty training

2006-09-24T11:15:00.000-08:00

So we are fairly far down the road of potty training, however Sunday mornings can sometimes be more stressful in our poty training world. Mommy and Daddy are very busy and distracted, there are lots of kids to play with and who wants to stop and go to the bathroom and Kelton has also learned that he gets a get-out-of-jail-free card, or shall we say a get-out-of-your-seat-durning-worship card if he just tells mom he has to go potty. Mommy can be pretty irritated when we get to the bathroom only to find out it has been a fake out.

Well this morning Kelton decided that he did not want to stop playing and go to the potty before worship began. I decided not to force him, but when his buddy Bandon started for the bathroom, Kelton was right behind him ready to go. I thought, cool, Kelton is going to the bathroom all by himself, I hope he doesn't pee all over himself, and was soon after engrossed in a coversation with one of our visitors. I sort of forgot about where Kelton was, and in about 5 minutes I look across the audiorium and here come Kelton toward me. He is shuffuling acroos the large room, through the people with his shorts and underware around his ankles. People were snickering as he passed in all his full glory

He is always one for being the center of attention.

Our new car

2006-08-29T07:27:00.000-08:00

We have a car. We would like to thank everyone who helped us purchase our little car. We have a '04 4-door Volkswagon Gol. One of the things we like best about our car is that it can run on gasoline or alcohol or any combination of the two. Alcohol is quite a bit cheaper than $6 a gallon gasoline.

Having a car is certainly more convenient than having to rely on the bus system, walking or taking taxis. Somedays we save a lot of time but others we are out longer because we usually end up giving lots of people rides. From taking our teammates home after a team event, to taking youth home Friday nights after devo, to taking people home with us after church for lunch, our little car is very often packed to the brim with people. And if it isn't packed with people it is full of stuff. Although our trunk is small it is amazing how much stuff we can get in it. It seems we are always toting something from one place to another. We even had a rack put on top of the car so we can carry all the luggage of our out of town guests. Kelton loves to ride in his car seat. He lets us know immediately if we have forgotten to lock him in.

Something we didn't expect when we bought our car was our increase in stress. Living in this megacity of 4 million, we have a lot of traffic. Also here in Brazil traffic laws are, shall we say, not enforced. We have become very Brazilian in the sense that we have learned the exact dimensions of our car very well. But we are getting used to driving here and are very thankful for the Lord's protection.

We are so grateful for the gift of this vehicle. Praise God for his provision.

I love my daddy!

2006-08-16T08:57:00.000-08:00

Hi Everybody,
Sunday was Father's day here in Brazil. To make my daddy feel special we took him to Burger King, his favorite restaurant. He is the best daddy in the world. He plays soccer with me, we wrestle and we color together. I love it when we color in my dinosaur coloring book. My favoritest thing is when we go to the beach and spash in the waves. My daddy is the greatest!
Love,
Kelton James Porter

The new girls in Salvador

2006-08-13T18:46:00.000-08:00

Loreina's Baptism-2
Originally uploaded by Salvadorporters.

This past week was a full one here in Salvador. On Thursday night we welcomed our new sister in Christ, Loreina. She has been studying with Mary Virginia and after a study on Thursday decided she was ready to commit her life to Christ in baptism.

The following day on Friday some of our friends had their new baby. Her name is Liz. She was just over 7lbs.

Please keep these two in your prayers this week please. (as well as Liz's new parents, Fabiano and Michelly)

Pe de Porco

2006-08-05T07:08:00.000-08:00

This week I did something I never imagined doing. I went to butchers and bought a pig foot. I did not really enjoy buy the salted pig foot. In fact the butcher wanted me to pick out which one I wanted, and I couldn't really get across to him that I didn't care which one, I just wanted him to put one in a bag that I couldn't see through so I could leave the strong smelling salted meat area and stop looking at the hooved feet.

Why did I buy a pig foot, you ask? I obviously did not enjoy the process. But to tell you the truth I was thrilled to buy it. I bought it for feijoada. It is the national dish of Brazil. And Sunday we are having a potluck and feijoada is the main dish. I loved buying a pig foot because of what it represents. Sunday we are having a potluck. But why this potluck is so exciting is that it was not planned by the Mission Salvador team. It is being planned by our members. One of our members, Jaciara is having a birthday and she wanted to celebrate with her church families. So the ladies of the church have planned a meal for the church after worship on Sunday. They made a list of the ingredients needed for the supper and had people sign up to bring them.

Our members are planning and preparing a meal for our church family. God is growing his family here, and we are blessed to be a part of it.

Paivi, Claudia and Hamilton

2006-07-25T04:34:00.000-08:00

Yesterday a new aquaintence Sandra introduced me to several of her friends. Let me tell you why this was so exciting to me.

Sandra lives in Belo Horizonte and is the daughter-in-law of one of our members. She had lived and worked in Salvador and met her husband here at Church. And then 2 years ago they were transfered to Belo. She and her husband are here for two weeks on vacation to see their family. Sunday we had lunch with the family, and Sandra started talking about the friends from work with whom she had been studying the Bible with or had had God conversations with before she got transfered to Belo Horizonte. She was going to try to catch up with them this week and the idea came about that I would go with her to meet them so we could invite them to church.

As I went with her to visit her old colleauges, I was impressed by her passion and how excited she was about our church. She has only visited our church one time, but enthusiastically invited her friends to come and visit. She told them how much they would like this church and the people.

Being with Sandra yesterday, I am again encouraged to be more bold with people I know and people I don't know to invite them to church and/or to study the Bible. Sometimes I am timid and I don't want to put undue pressure on my friends. But God is continuing to make me an evangelist. To tell you the truth, it doesn't come naturally to me. I am an introvert. I don't really like to strike up conversations with people I don't know or don't know well. But praise the Lord, he can use my weaknesses as his strengths. He can empower me with boldness and words and courage. I need these things.

Please pray for my new aquaintences, that I will be bold and call them and continue to invite them to visit our church. Pray for Paivi, Claudia (her daughter is Beatriz and her husband is Cleber) and Hamilton.

Good Friends

2006-07-20T09:08:00.000-08:00

I was able to talk to one of our good friends today, Jackie Halstead. We have come to know her and her family through many different venues (Grad school, Highland youth group, BOBs, CGC, to name a few). Through these things and more we have come to know someone we love and respect. They are good friends to us.

How do we know they are good friends? We know because their words are full of love, humor, and encouragement. They help give us perspective, they listen, and they always point us to faithfulness in God. Good Godly friends help us on our journey here on earth. Randy, Jackie, and their girls are not our only friends, God has been very good to us in the area, but they are good friends. So tho them and for those of you who also fit this bill for us, thank you. Our work here is better because of you.

So who are some of your good friends that bless your lives?

bible study with Gisilene

2006-07-17T04:45:00.000-08:00

On Thursday evenings we study the bible with Gisilene our newest sister and Sonia, the sister who brough Gisilene to church. We expected to have a study to help our new sister know more about the bible and God's desires for her life. While that is certainly what is happening, God also had some bigger plans for our study. Last Thursday we studied with Gisilene and Sonia, as well as Sonia's two son Wilson (23) and Vitor (19), Levi their neighbor and Mari, Gisilene's maid. So in total our bible study included 8. Praise God for bringing people who are willing to study the Bible. Please pray for our new friends to keep coming and being open to the Word of God.

latest pictures of Kelton

2006-07-12T07:50:00.000-08:00

Past our expiration date

2006-07-06T18:39:00.000-08:00

Quick question. When cleaning out your freezer, what is the oldest thing you have ever found? I am sorry to say, but I think I know someone who could top it. My mom recently helped an older friend clean out their chest freezer and found a set of frozen blackberries dated 26 years agp. Needless to say we were both shocked. When this friend was asked if they wanted get rid of it, her friend said, "No they are still good and I hope to use them sometime."

While I know there are many things we could say about this from several different points, the direction my thoughts take me tonight is that maybe sometimes things are not as disposable as we might think. Don’t get me wrong, I think the blackberries should be thrown away and possibly even handled as toxic waste. However, I am afraid we carry the same attitude toward people. Especially when they grow a little older and sometimes their comments seem a little sour, we are ready to be done with them. I wonder if we forget that somewhere within, good still exist.

People are the most amazing thing God created that I can tell. They have the ability to heal and reverse the spoiling process like nothing else in all of God’s creation. I wonder if we give up on people a little early sometimes instead of walking with them to help, encourage, and hope that the good can make a come back and become stronger than the spoiling.

I say this to all who care to hear, but I mainly speak to myself. It has been a while since I have called my grandpa and it is time I called him. We all need a little loving. The good thing about people both young and old is that we are never fully past our expiration date. Thanks for listening.

Bachelor Pad

2006-07-06T18:14:00.000-08:00

For the past week the Porter house in Salvador has been a bachelor pad. Kelton and I have enjoyed our week together. I must admit it is a little different than living with other guys in college. To say the least I never had to ask them if it was time to go to the bathroom or coax them into eating more than just the sweet thing on their plate. But there have been some similarities: showers, clothes on the floor, and rough housing to list a few. And the amazing thing is Kelton only had to tell me about these things a couple of times. J

In reality, it has been a good week. Some of the highlights were having Kelton with me at some points of ministry this week, being forced to be home during his nap time, and getting to spend so much one on one time with my son. He really is a great kid.

Jennifer comes home tomorrow and we are both super excited about it. Not because we cannot do life without our mom, although it defiantly helps, but because she is my best friend and my partner in ministry and life. I love my wife and am glad she is coming home!

Gicilene's Baptism

2006-07-01T17:32:00.000-08:00

gicelene-05
Originally uploaded by Salvadorporters.

What a night. We rejoiced, the angels rejoiced, and I know God did as well. Last night our friend Gicilene declared her faith in Christ and joined with Him in baptism. It was just a milestone for many of us. For Gicilene it has been a journey to this piont. She has been studying with our friend and sister in the faith Sonia for many years now. Gicilene visited many churches during these years however never came to a point in which she was ready to put God on him baptism. However, about three months ago for our second service she showed up with Sonia and something of God's story connected with her. Since then she has been one of our most regular and curious attenders.

In the week before last, at our team retreat, Jennifer and I agreed to try to set up a Bible study with her. On the next Sunday before we could set up a study she started a conversation with Mary, one of our teammates she has been extra close to, and asked about being baptized. We then had our frist study this past week and talked about what this commitment means. Then last night we all gathered around the pool at Matt and Mary Virginia's apartment complex, listened to her confession, and witnessed the acceptance of new life in Christ.

This is also a milestone for our new baby church as we stand witness with open arms for our new sister in Christ. It is amazing to watch the body grow due to God's grace and love.

(if you would like to see more pictures from the baptism, click on the image above.)

Good Friday with our Youth

2006-04-17T14:38:00.000-08:00

Last Friday was Good Friday and we had our second Friday night youth devo. We focused on New Birth through Jesus Christ. We started with an Easter Egg hunt. This is not custom in Brazil, so they were a bit confused at first but caught on quickly. We hid the plastic eggs around our building and inside the eggs were slips of papers with parts of verses that were related to Randy's lesson. When all the eggs were found, they were able to put the slips of paper in order to reveal the verses.
Randy did an excelent job speaking about how we don't have to be stuck in our sins. Because of Christ's death and resurrection, we can have a new life. We can be a new creation. What an amazing truth!
I especially enjoyed our time of worship. This week I looked around the circle at these kids who are coming to these Devos. They were singing and clapping to these new songs we have taught them. Songs about Jesus, about our Lord. We are still waiting for the day that Georgie, Diane, Liane, and the others choose Jesus as the Lord of their life. But for now they are coming, they are seeking. It is an incredible process to be part of.
Please pray for our Friday night youth devos.

Recent Pictures

2006-04-13T16:48:00.000-08:00

Firsts

2006-04-13T16:02:00.001-08:00

So this month we have had our first public worship, our first youth event, our first staff meetings in our building. Tonight we had our first small group meeting in our home. We didn't know if anyone would come or if anyone would talk. But praise God, we had a wonderful evening. We had three guests: Dani and Ives from our building (they are dating) and a new friend Fernando. We plan to have small group every Thursday night. We started the book of John tonight. Our study is fairly informal. We work through the passage and discuss various insights and applications.
Tonight as we looked and the first part of John 1, we discussed what it means that Jesus is the light and how we recognize his light in our lives. Tonight I could not help but see His light in my life.
To tell you the truth, I was worried. I was worried that no one would accept our invitation for our small group. But again I am reminded that our God has a plan and that our God is faithful. Please pray that this is just the beginning of many blessed Thursday nights. May God use them to draw people to himself.

My new truck

2006-03-24T10:50:00.000-09:00

I will return to the lessons learned, but I needed to share a story from today that was exceptionally funny.

As many of you know we have been looking for a car. Many of you may also know that for many years I drove a full-size pickup. It eventually broke though and since that day I have been looking forward to the day when I can own one again.

Well today, I think I found one. It was a little rough around the edges, but you know. I found this great little truck at the wood store today while I was buying a door for one of the rooms at our new church building. Because I am currently without a car, and more specifically, because I still do not own a truck I had to hire one of the guys there to help me transport the door. (Many people in Brazil do not own trucks and so most woodstores have several guys who own what amounts to an old El'Camino who can help you out for a whatever price you can set.) This wasn't new to me I have done this several times in the last year, but of all the trucks I have ridden in this one stood out.

This remarkable feature is found within the cab of this truck, but it is not necessarily in plain site. If you rock the passanger seat forward it is readily accessable though, which is how I first saw this great little feature. I might have thought it just a 3 or 4 gallon jug of something the driver kept in the truck if it had not been for the two clear plastic tubs coming out of the spout with a rag tightly stuffed around it to keep it secure. But surely my first instinct was incorrect, so I watched as my driver returned the seat to its normal position taking care not to pinch the tubes which ran under the seat and then sat down. Off we went, but first he had to make one stop. He needed gas so quickly pulled in the gas station, he jumped out came around to my door and told me that I was going to need to jump out as well. He then proceeded to learn my seat forward and remove this jug I had been helping to secure in place removed the tubes and the lid and then filled it full of gas. After he was done he then stuffed the tubes and the rags back in place, put the jug behind my seat and told me to hop back inside. So I did and off we went to the building.

I must say this truck stands out from the rest. I have never seen the gas tank of a car so accessable and talk about security. Ot secure the car all you have to do at night is lean the seat forward and take the jug inside the house.

Despite flashes from Dateline's attempt to prove Chevy trucks could explode due to side impacts, I made it to the building safely with quite a memory and story to tell.

How about all of you, have you ever had a similar experience or ridden in a car that filled you with a few doubts about your safety?

Happy Birthday Kelton

2006-03-23T08:24:00.000-09:00

Febuary 1, Kelton celebrated his 2nd birthday. We had a grand party in the Party Room of our apartment building. It was a mixture of American and Brazilian birthday traditions. The theme was Dinousaur. During which we had a dinosaur egg hunt, colored dinosaur pictures, drank dinosaur kool-aid, had a dinosaur roaring contest and learned the dinosaur stomp. It was quite a different party for our Brazilian friends, especially the games and food.

Our team of course was present to celbrate with us, as well as some friends from the Bonoco Church of Christ and many of our neighbors and other new Brazilian friends. Our family was especially blessed because Randy's parents, Paige and John Porter, got to be here as well. We loved getting to introduce them to the people they have been hearing about for the last year.

It was a wonderful time, full of opprotunites to talk and share with our Brazilia friends. We are so grateful for our precious, growing, energetic, jumping, climbing, special boy. And for those of you who were worried...he still has his red hair.

Below are pictures of the kids (and adults) doing the dinosaur stomp, Kelton with his grandparents, Kelton with our French friend that lives in our building and Kelton with Mom and Dad. I don't know if Kelton realized the party was for him, but he sure had a good time!

Lesson Number 1

2006-03-13T16:15:00.000-09:00

One unmistakable fact about Salvador is the heat. This was not unexpected. We were told it would be hot here, but this HOT?! It is amazing how hot 80 degrees Fahrenheit can feel. I grew up in west Texas with 114 degree summer days, but this is hot. And it is not just hot during the summer, but during what the locals call Fall, Winter, and Spring and what we call not AS hot, the rainy season so at least it is not hot ALL the time, and getting hotter AGAIN. So I will say that adapting to a humid hot climate with very little seasonal variation was difficult for this west Texas guy, but I seem to be adapting. I am even concerned that this winter (your summer in the Northern Hemisphere) I may get cold once or twice and in a way that is a relief.

This year has brought with it great blessings of friends, growth, laughter, language, and appreciation. It has also had its share of struggles. There are always times when you are starting out somewhere new that you wonder if it will ever be home or like a place where you belong. Even in the States when you move you have to make new friends, find out where to buy groceries, watch movies, grab a quick bite to eat. Ever thing seems a little strange at first, but after a little bit you start to learn where things are, you start to develop friends, and before you know it you have even picked up a little bit of the local dialect and can understand most of the signs by the side of the road or the local TV commercials. You start to feel like you belong.

No matter how much I try to blend in I will always appear a little out of place here thanks to my white skin that doesn't really tan and my red facial hair. Thankfully though we have started to find our place. We can speak well enough to communicate in a way that allows our personalities to be seen. We have new friends and people we look forward to getting to know better and when you come to visit I can even take you to a couple of good places to eat. Just as our bodies have started adapting to the heat of Salvador we are adapting to life here as well. We no longer feel like short-term visitors. Salvador is our new home (or at least our current station on our journey to the lasting city). So what have we learned? I don't know if it is what I have learned as much as what I have experienced due to the grace of God that with God's help adaptation is possible even when the place is hot and sticky, has odd food, looks completely foreign, and you cannot understand a thing people say most of the time. God is with us and with His help we will not only survive, but live. He is our constant and that makes all of the other changes livable.

One Year

2006-03-13T16:06:00.000-09:00

Believe it or not one year ago today a plane touched down in Salvador carrying five families of Gringos who were extremely wet behind the ears and not a little wide eyed from the past several days of packing, crying, and traveling. Well here we are one year later still in the same city. (sign of relief) we made it through our first year. It has been a great year, not an easy year, but a good year which is a testimony to our God and thousands of prayers that have come before the Father on our behalf. Thank You! I wish to record some of my favorite memories and do a little reviewing of our lives and what we have learned thanks to our Lord this past year. I will try to do this over the next couple of weeks.

Cultural Miscommunication

2006-03-06T05:59:00.000-09:00

As is true with every person I know, there are things we do sometimes that make our friends and family role their eyes or shake their heads. Sometimes we do these things on purpose and sometimes they come by complete accident. I am happy to say that as I have grown up I think I have gotten better and at being more socially acceptable (at least fewer people seem embarrassed to be seen with me). And then I moved to Brazil where the rules are a little different. That is fine and after almost a year I feel I am starting to learn most of the rules and customs.

There are some rules though that I would inherently see as rude in any culture. One of those would be to impose on a family two days after they have experienced a death of a close family member unless absolutely necessary. And even more unacceptable would be to invite yourself over for dinner at their house two days after a death. Well thanks to the desire to help of our wives and the cultural gap that still exist within our language that is exactly what happened this past week.

This last Wednesday our dear friend Otovio lost his brother. It has been very difficult for this family since they also lost his mother two weeks earlier. At the funeral on Thursday Jennifer and our friend Mary Virginia wanted to help in some way and so told Patricia, Otovio’s wife, that they wanted to bring them dinner on Saturday night. They left believing everything was clear and understood. Then on Friday Jennifer informs me that what Patricia understood was that we had not simply volunteered to bring food, but had invited ourselves over for dinner. (just wait it gets a little worse) Embarrassed we decided we would just make the most of our cultural misunderstanding and work to take food and love on them for the evening. So Saturday night we get our food ready, pick up the Maberys, and go to Otovio and Patricia’s house. When we arrive though we find out that they had actually thought we invited them over for dinner and we in fact at the Mabery’s house.

We soon got everything strengthen out and they came back home, we eat, we prayed, and shared a very special evening together. We and they laughed when we explained and apologized for inviting ourselves over so soon after losing Otovio’s brother, but all was fine. Even though inviting ourselves over for dinner might not have been the most socially acceptable thing to do, we had a blessed evening. One I will remember for many years as an evening we were able to spend with our friends in the presence of our Lord for He was there and our evening was blessed.

We are back

2006-03-03T17:29:00.000-09:00

After reading the blogs of several of my friends tonight I decided i ought to put a little something on my own. Yes believe it or not the Porters, Randy and Jennifer, are going to try to reenter this world on the internet to share with you what is happening on the bottom half of the world (or the top half depending on which way is up.) I could give plenty of excuses for our absence most of which you would probably accept, but i won't or I might not actually get around to saying something tonight.

We do hope that you have joined us in prayer for our friends. In this world death has power and it will capture us all. This past month though seems full of tragedy with the young. As you pray for Kerri's girls and for Russell and his little girls let me also add the VanRheenans (Gaylon and Becky) who lost their son and Otavio who lost his mother and brother in a matter of weeks. I was reminded today of the promises of life found in the resurrection of God that one day we will be swallowed up fully by a life that is not subject to death. In Christ we walk in the truth of that life today and one day we will fully know that life as our friends do today. Come Lord Come!

Let me fill you in on a couple of the things that have taken place since we last posted about our life:
- we celebrated our first Christmas in Brazil and to celebrate we went swimming
- We finished out a great year and watched as the city and many private citizens put on a great light show to bring in the new year
- we went to the annual South American missionary conference where we saw old friends, make new friends, and shared our lives with others who know what it is like to live in a foreign country.
- we took a little family vacation while we were already on the road and saw a very cute little village that had some of the markings of Brazil's move towards independence
- We welcomed our first Brazilian house guest for a couple of days as a brother and sister from the church in Itu stopped by on their "way through" (in reality Salvador is not on the way to anywhere) and we had a great time
- my parents came to visit for 2 whole weeks, ROCK ON!
- we celebrated Christmas again, saw the sites, played in the ocean many times, eat some good food, and enjoyed their company beyond words
- rented a building for our church
- started fixing up the building
- set an inaugural date (April 2, 2006)
- went on a church retreat with the local Churches of Christ in the city
- experenced Carnival in Salvador (kind of different and kind of the same from what everyone explained)
- lived life, grew in love, blessed beyond measure, challenged to grow in maturity of faith and Christlikeness in loss and conviction, loved my God, my wife, and my child, was love by them

what a time.

Kerri Lane

2006-02-23T06:29:00.000-09:00

A very good friend of ours past away last night, Kerri Lane. Kerri was a part of our small group and a very dear sister to us. Very rarely were words of doubt or anger part of her language. She taught us instead what it means to hope in the Lord, believe He moves mountains, and wait for Him to move those mountains in his good time and fashion. She no longer has to wait for healing for her prayers and our have been answered. Maybe not in the way we had hoped, but in a way that is complete.

Please keep Kerri's girls and family in your prayers. As readily as our hearts ache in the absence of Kerri they are filled with love and hope for her girls. They are such sweet spirits who know our Lord in a very special way because of their mother. Pray that arms surround them and watch over them through this time and into the future. Pray for our church back home in Abilene for her spirit and hope will be missed.

I just reread Kerri's last post on her blog from last October. i read them differently today for i know they have found true completion in her now. I am sure these words were as true in her heart yesterday as they were when she wrote them. This was the path she walked. You can read her words as well: http://kcjlane.blogspot.com/

Prayers Please

2006-01-21T12:35:00.000-09:00

We need you all to join with us in prayer for our friend from college, Russell Heil. We just got word that he lost his wife, Kari, this week. They have two small daughters, one 5 and one 6 months. He is a preacher in Mansfield, TX. We are without words and brokenhearted for our friends. Please lift them up to our Father.

Christmas in Brazil

2005-12-20T07:50:00.002-09:00

Many have asked us what we will be doing down here in the Southern Hemisphere for Christmas so I wanted to include some pictures of our Christmas week.

Kelton did not want to sit in Santa's lap

Our day at the Beach

Our family at the first lighthouse in Brazil

The Sea Turtle Reserve

Historic Salvador dressed up for Christmas

one of my favorite things about Salvador

2005-12-20T07:50:00.000-09:00

One of the things we see sometimes here in Salvador that really makes me feel like we live in another world is the wild monkeys. The first time I saw one I just couldn't believe it! Now I have seen them several time, but I still love it just as much. The monkeys around here are small about the size of a small house cat and they have white tuffs at their ears. They will get so close to you that they will practically eat out of your hands. (But I'm pretty sure you don't want to get bitten by a monkey- so we don't do that)

The other day we were in Praia da Forte visiting the sea turtle researve. Several times throughout the day we would exclaim about the wild monkeys swinging though the trees or sitting on a little stand eating a snack some shop keeper had left out for them. Well we were sitting at a little ice cream shop eating wonderful fruit ice cream when all of the sudden the people at the next table jump up yelling (there might have been a few curses thrown in) in English. We didn't realize they were Americans until they started yelling. A monkey had jumped onto their table and started eating their ice cream. Very soon it was several monkeys eating the ice cream.

The family didn't seem too mad and we all laughed and got out our cameras.
What a place to live in!

Time with Friends

2005-12-18T14:50:00.000-09:00

This week we have been blessed to spend time with our friends and fellow missionsaries, Sasha and Jennifer Terry. Sasha and Jennifer live in Porto Alegre, way in the south of Brazil. We visited Porto Alegre on our survey trip. This week, through the Terrys, we have learned just how different the various parts of Brazil are. In some ways it seems like we are working in two different countries. Porto Alegre is almost like a European city in appearance and culture. Whereas Salvador just operates on a totally different pace of life. Overall skin is darker, the beaches wider and the weather much warmer here in Salvador.

We have really enjoyed showing them our beautiful city and have even been learning more about Brazilian culture from them. But most of all we have enjoyed talking with them about ministry, working on a team, living in Brazil and being parents (they are 4 months pregnant). It is very encouraging to be with friends who have been where we are. Praise God for brothers and sisters in Christ.

Please pray for the church in Salvador and the church in Porto Alegre.

Making Friends

2005-11-28T05:55:00.000-09:00

We just got back from playing soccer at the park with Kelton and had a great time. There were also a couple of great triumphs as well that I want to share. While playing with Kelton, a couple with a 10 month old child named Pedro came over to where we were. At first they stayed over to the side, but our son would not have that. Seeing a new playmate he quickly kicked the ball over to Pedro. Even with that, they were still hesitant until they learned we could speak Portuguese. Pedro did his best to kick the ball and Kelton kept bringing it back to them. We talked with them for a few minutes before they went on to what they were doing. Then a little while later a little girl about Kelton's age ran over to us wanting to play with Kelton. We met her a couple of weeks ago with her mother and little brother. Today she also had her grandpa with her. We talked for a little over 20 minutes and during that time the other couple came back over. A couple of months ago it would have been diffcult to keep up with these conversations, but tonight the conversation flowed very normally. It was neat time for us and shows us that our language really is improving. We were able to carry on conversations and even progress one relationship a little further.

Reflections on a bald head

2005-11-16T09:26:00.000-09:00

I always knew that eventually I would be married to a bald man. Genetics are inevitable and it is only a matter of time before Randy follows in his grandfather's steps and loses his hair. However I didn't think it would be in our 20s.
Ever since I have known him, Randy has wanted to shave his head. One would think that years of having the ever present buzz cut as a child, would deter this wish, but alas! No. However, there was always a reason not to shave his head completely, job interviews, fundraising, his wife's grimace. (I think I might have said something like "sure, shave your head, when I shave mine")

But the time finally came. Here we are in a new city, a new culture and a new country. Fashions are different here. Clothes are more fitted and made to be as cool as possible. We are trying to adjust to the culture and dress more Brazilian. So with all this change anyway, I figure, what the heck, encourage him to fulfill his life long dream and shave his head. After all isn't that what a wife does, support her husband and encourage him to reach his dreams. So after a process of gradually buzzing his hair shorter and shorter so the scalp could get some sun, last weekend he pulled out the razor and went for it.

And now I am indeed married to a bald man. Randy feels cool. He is thinking about growing out his beard. It is indeed a fun thing to see how different you can look than they way you always have.

How long will I be married to a bald man. Until he gets tired of shaving his entire head every day or every other day.

So for now I have had a glimps of the future and had to purchase a little more sunblock.

Encore! Encore!

2005-11-14T09:00:00.000-09:00

The women on our team have been doing an online Beth Moore bible study entitled Believing God. One of the frases that Beth said this week on our online video struck me.
We were studying the passage in Joshua 10 where the Israelites go to battle against the Amorite kings on behalf of the Gibeonites. This is the battle where Joshua asks God to make the sun stand still, and HE DOES! What an incredible event. Joshua is not afraid to ask God for something so huge. From this discussion came the idea that when God does great and powerful things in our life, we have to stop and applaud him and tell him what a good job he has done. What an amazing, loving, powerful Lord we serve. The LORD is worthy of us jumping up and down, clapping our hands and applauding him. And I love what Beth said, "The more we clap, the more inclined God is to come with an encore." Think about that.

Today I have been literally jumping up and down with my hands in the air, and applauding our incredible God!

You have put together such an incredible team!
You are building an amazing church!
You have done such a good job providing for our needs, giving us people to walk alongside us in this journey.
You have brought all five families to this place, to this city, that will be radically changed in your name!
You have transformed us into kingdom workers.
You are transforming us into people who live only for you.
You made the sun stand still!
You make the heart of stone into a heart of clay!

Clap your hands all you people! Shout to God with a voice of triumph!
What are you applauding God for?

Wait!

2005-11-01T08:32:00.000-09:00

"Espera, Kelton! Espera!" "Wait, Kelton! Wait." I say these words a lot to Kelton these days. "Wait for mama." "Wait, I'm pouring your juice." "Wait, we have to put on shoes before we go to the park." I am continually telling my son to wait. He has no patience. He wants his drink now. He wants to go to to the park now, with or without clothes. He wants to run across the street without holding mama's hand. It is a lesson I must teach him, the lesson of waiting.

This week I am wondering how well I am doing at learning this lesson. How often is God saying to me, 'wait Jennifer, wait.' 'Wait, this is a time of preparation.' 'Wait, you must hold my hand at this crossing.' 'Wait, you can't have that now.'

God is active and alive and moving in my life. I feel him pushing me and guiding me all the time. But I think the lesson I need to learn the most is to wait for him. To wait on his timing, to wait until I hear his voice before I act. It is in the waiting that we can take the time to learn and to be sure of who it is we are learning from.

We would love to hear your stories of God's asking you to wait and his faithfulness through the waiting.

World of Discovery

2005-10-25T10:44:00.000-08:00

Oh to be a child again. As I watch Kelton grow it is so amazing to watch him discover the world around him. Lately we have worked on animal sounds and so far he makes sounds for lions, bear, cats, dogs, elephants (which is really cute as he raises his arm to his for the trunk), ducks, monkeys, gorillas, and several others. So after working on all of these animal sounds it was so fun to go to the local zoo a couple of weeks back for our language class.

This weekend though Jennifer and I were present to witness a moment of discovery I had not thought to look for. Kelton discovered his shadow! As we were walking back from a devotional time with our team at our retreat Kelton stops all of the sudden. Then he started waving his arms and finally knelt down to touch this dark spot in front of him. For the rest of the walk back he was interested in the dark figure that seemed to appear in front of him and then move to the side before disappearing behind him. It felt a little like watching Peter Pan chase his shadow around Wendy’s room.

What a precious time to be present and witness the discovery of a world we often ignore. Oh to have the eyes of a child. It reminds me of how wonderful the world our Lord created and what a gift it can be to see the world through the eyes of a child. Maybe it is a set of eyes we ought to pick up a little more often. May we never forget that life is full of things to be discovered with innocence and enthusiasm.

A World of Need

2005-10-25T08:08:00.000-08:00

This morning I read 2 Corinthians 8 and about half the way through I stopped. So much of 2 Corinthians seems to be about a conversation Paul is having with the Corinthian church about our connection through Christ and that whether we are close to one another or not we are all connected. In this particular passage Paul is encouraging the Corinthians to be exceedingly generous and he says, ¹³Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. ¹⁴At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality... (2 Corinthians 8:13-14)(NIV).

This passage struck me in two ways this morning. The first being that of gratitude for all those who have taken from their plenty and their little to help make our life in Brazil possible. For surely we have been people in need and you as our family in the body of Christ have answered our needs with gladness and love. What a gift it has been to have the conformation from our family for the Lord's calling to ministry in our life.

I was also struck though, by how difficult it is to allow ourselves to need something. And not only to admit our need but to allow ourselves to reach a point in which we have a need. It seems so many of our efforts are aimed at insuring that we never have a need and that we never have to rely on someone else for help. We are told to grow up and become responsible, quite asking your parents for help, save, save, save, put away for retirement, put away for a rainy day, etc... Believe me I am all for these things. I think we are called to be prepared for the future and to work hard to responsible with our money. What strikes me this morning is how these good tasks can become our excuses for not risking generosity that might someday put us in need. Being in need and seeing the family of God respond is not such a bad thing. Nor is releasing our position of power in order that we might have equality among ourselves.

Lately God has worked on my heart with this issue in Brazil. If there are countries in which a great chasm exist between those with and those without Brazil would make that list. It is striking how much those with money have and how much those without lack. Pray for us as we seek to share the gifts of God in our lives with those with less in such a way that hope is given, love is shown, and humility is shared so there may be equality among us all.

Turkey Dinner

2005-10-24T10:18:00.000-08:00

As it is getting closer to November I am sure that may of you are eagerly waiting for that famous meal at the end of the month, Thanksgiving leftovers. That is right, we all enjoy the first meal when everything is hot right out of the oven and it just seems to melt in our mouths promising full stomachs and maybe even loosened belts. But one of the things I really enjoy about Thanksgiving Dinner is that I get to keep eating it for several days. Reheated leftover turkey and dressing with a side of pumpkin pie, a turkey sandwich for a snack later with a slice of apple pie, and then always followed up with a little more turkey, dressing, and lemon meringue pie at the end of the day.

So, you might be wondering why I am teasing all of you four weeks out from our actual feast. And no it is not to be cruel. This past weekend our team went on a team retreat. We actually got out of town and while we were out there we decided to have our annual team Thanksgiving meal. Since Canada celebrates Thanksgiving in early October and the US celebrates it in late November, our retreat in late October seemed like a good time to celebrate Thanksgiving all together.

It was wonderful to come together at our table of Thanksgiving sharing our common meal, sharing food each family associates with Thanksgiving, and talking about our family memories and traditions. What a time for thanksgiving as we started a new family tradition with our team. Of course, another obvious added bonus is that we get to turkey dinner twice before Christmas. That cannot be too bad.

A little bit like home

2005-10-14T08:00:00.000-08:00

I am not sure if everyone experiences this or not, but in our lives there are a few people, dear friends, who have been there at major transitional points in our lives. They are the friends who take off work when your father passes away or make a couple of extra trips right after your child is born to hlep out. They are the friends that have seen your house at every state-- messy, cluttered, and clean (and this sometimes because they helped clean it). These are the friends your parents ask about because even they think of them as part of the family.

Our friend Emily is one of those friends for our family. She was Jennifer's roommate in college and after, and seems to have been there at every major stage of our family. This week Emily and her brother Nathan came to see us in Brazil. It has been a great week. We took them to the beach, the lighthouse, the old part of the city, our incredibly huge mall, our team worship, and even a few thrilling bus rides. Our time with them has been refreshing and encouraging.

An unexpecting outcome of their visit has been the normalizing effect of our life here in Brazil that their visit has brought with it. Having lived here for almost seven months, Brazil is starting feel like home. We are making friends. We know how long it takes to walk to the bus stop, the mall, the grocery store, and our teammate's houses. Our language is improving and we are starting to feel fairly normal (as normal as we Porters can be). But having Emily and Nathan here has just helped that transition feel a little more solid. It feels so normal to have our friend in our home who has been in our home so many times before. Our life feels a little more normal and a little more like our life and not someone elses. While I think I was expecting a fun visit with Jennifer's best friend and her brother, their visit has brought so much more. What a blessing this visit has been.

Here are some of the pictures from our time:

Jennifer and Emily

This is us after a little bit of Brazilian Beef.

Emily and Nathan

Emily and Kelton at one of the Lighthouses in Salavdor

Bible Studies

2005-10-06T23:00:00.000-08:00

Wow, it seems like it has been a while since we have jotted down a few notes from our life. We will try to do better.

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I did want to write and tell you about something that is very exciting to me. As many of you know or would guess part of sharing Christ with people is actually sitting down and talking about Christ with someone. Shocker, I know. As many of you probably know as well some of these conversations are easy to start with people and others are a little more difficult. Well while we were at Continent of Great Cities in Abilene they helped us see the benefit of having some written lessons to use in these situations. It really is a great idea. It helps you think through things you would like to talk about before your conversations and they can serve as great study guides for Bible studies or small group discussions. Another added benefit is they can be very helpful to new Christians that want to study the Bible with their friends as well. (yes, we also know that these lessons are not a magic bullet. However, they can be helpful especially for those of us still learning this new language.)
So with all of this encouragement we decided we would set out to write a set of lessons for our team to use. We decided who would write the lessons, what would be the focus of the lessons, and we even sketched out the content of some of the lessons and then set out to write them. We did not get off to as quick of a start as we had hoped, being that we started this process while still in Abilene, but I am so happy to report that the end seems to be within view. PRAISE THE LORD!! For the past month or so our committee has been meeting weekly to talk through the lessons and help each person think through content and language. And if our meetings themselves were not inspiring enough, the process of translation has been an absolute blessing.
Travis and Mary Virginia, the other two teammates on the committee with me, are currently taking language classes on their own and are currently working during at least one class a week to translate our lessons into Portuguese. What is amazing is that God provided one of the teachers to be a preacher from one of the local churches, so he, knowing the Biblical narrative already, is great at helping us know how to translate these lessons. God also provided the other teacher to be a wonderful woman who before starting to teach our team had not read her Bible in many years. She is a great blessings and brings a fresh set of eyes and an open heart to these conversations about our Lord. Hopefully soon I will be able to introduce them into our language class as well. What a blessings that before we are even finished, God is blessing us with conversations that draw us all closer to Him. Please be in prayer for these conversations, especially with our teachers who may be hearing the story of Christ anew. What an awesome God we serve!

Our new kids

2005-09-24T23:19:00.000-08:00

Many of you know that before we left we were blessed to work with the youth group at Highland for several years. And in this work we were specifically blessed to spend a great deal of time with Middle Schoolers. I know, you must think we are crazy, but we loved it. It is amazing to see God works in these special years.

One of the bittersweet parts of being here in Brazil is missing our favorite events with our Highland youth; things like our 8th grade progressive dinner, Mexico Mission Trip, and especially our annual middle school retreat, Breakthrough. One of the main things we loved about Breakthrough was the opportunity to welcome the new 6th graders into the Youth Group. It was always so fun to work on welcoming the new meat, I mean the new 6th graders, and making them feel at home. Another significant event we miss is called Serve City, which happens every fall. This event, for the entire youth group, kicks off each grade's focus on their specific ministry area for the year.

We found out about a week ago that we are still going to be able to participate in Serve City this year. Our 6th graders will serve missionaries throughout the year and we will be able to talk with them via webcam on Sunday. We are so excited to get to participate in Serve City, and not only that, but we also get to take the chance to welcome all of the new 6th graders to the youth group (WELCOME 6TH GRADERS) and share a little about our lives here in Brazil. What an amazing blessing. We will see you soon.

Dance class dreams

2005-09-16T14:05:00.000-08:00

Several good church of Christers out there just said "Dance class? What?!?!"

During this first year on the field one of our main team goals is to spend time together, strengthening our bonds of friendship. We try to find creative ways to get to know each other better and encourage one another to use our gifts. One way the women of the team have decided to spend time with one another, is by taking a dance class together. Our teammate Stacey is a wonderfully gifted dance teacher and has taught for many years. So every Friday we meet at the Parker home for Dance class. I have to tell you that this is my first official dance class ever. We are learning a little ballet, a little jazz, and a little tap. Right now we are learning ballet poses and exercises, Let me tell you, these are very good for the hip, thigh, behind region. We are also leaning how to turn and spin. Honestly it is not something I ever thought I would be able to do.

Learning ballet for me is actually the fulfillment of a childhood dream. When I was growing up, there was not a lot of extra money and there certainly wasn't any for dance class or sports (plus my parents were a little iffy on the whole dancing thing). So I used to check out ballet books from the Library all the time. I remember looking at the pictures of the beautiful, graceful women in their pink leotards and trying to copy their movements frozen on a page. I didn't get very far in my self ballet teaching.

But throughout the years I have been known to leap about my house with my arms outstretched when no one else was home. But now I get to learn ballet. It is just basic ballet moves and not really ballet dancing but it is still cool. We do Plies and Demi-plies in the first, second and third position. And the cool thing is that I actually know what that means. We do several other steps that I don't remember what they are called. I had to look up how to spell Plies. But at 29, childhood dreams still come true and I am learning ballet.