Jesus Transforma

Last night home missionaries from all over Brazil poured into Porto Alegre to begin a two week mass evangelism blitz in and around the city. Joel and I are very excited to have the opportunity to participate in this project. We attended the commissioning service last night and after praying over the home missionaries and local volunteers, they were sent out to PoA and surrounding towns.

Training began this morning and Joel and I participted with the groups that will be serving in Guaíba and São Souci. Here you see Pastor A.L. preparing to deliver the devotional and the train the home missionaries and local volunteers. We caught some folks in this picture that have become very special to us. Please pray with us for Dani, Jessica, Clarissa, Alex, Daniel (and Jessica, his wife), and Ivone.

As we entered the church this morning this picture was hanging outside the front door. It is of each Brazilian state flag. Please pray for the volunteers from each state as they minister here and as they bring the Gospel message.

That is our ministry news, but I will also post some pics of the family :) (at the request of the Grandparents).

Davis and Alex needed a little break from the training.

Lunch is always our favorite time of the day:) Notice, I cannot talk in any language without using my hands.

Connor making new friends.

Chandler was here and participated as well..... she just refused pictures today :(..... I'll try again tomorrow.

BEHIND THE FRONT LINES

This past Saturday I (Joel) had an amazing experience. I went out with evangelism team from several churches around the area into Guiaba, RS which is several miles south of Porto Alegre. We went out into the community in order to share Christ with the people there and to invite them to a church service that night. I am happy to report that we had at least four people accept Christ as their Lord and Savior and I was privileged to be a part of one of those conversions. All in all, there were several lessons in which the Lord taught me and I wanted to share those with you.

The first lesson is that I need to learn to speak Portuguese well! I spent the whole day speaking and hearing Portuguese and my mentor told me that he thought he saw smoke coming out of my head! I came home just mentally drained. My feeble mind can only take so much you know! Portuguese, however, is the heart language of these people and if I am going to reach them for Christ, I must master their language. In other words, this experience was a powerful motivator for me to learn Portuguese!

Another lesson I learned is that spiritual warfare is real! There really

is a supernatural world! The Bible is already clear on this but our rational Western minds are slow to accept this reality. Once you go behind the front lines into areas that have not been exposed to the gospel then you will discover the reality of the spiritual warfare that is going on all around us.

During our many visits into the homes of people, we saw people who had multiple statutes of idols in which Jesus and Mary were just another “god.”We ran into witch doctors and people of various spiritists cults. Some people slammed the doors in our face while others were more receptive. In one particular house, as we entered the doorway, I felt such a spiritual oppression and darkness that I have never encountered before. It was suffocating! There were these statutes of witches that gave me the creeps! Even worse, were the eyes of the man who lived there! I was ready to leave there very quickly but we still gave him a gospel tract and invited him to church. Turned out it was an Umbandan center which is a mixture of an African cult with Catholicism! In several houses, whenever we began to talk to people about the gospel, children would began screaming out of control, people would start yelling outside, and dogs would begin to bark. I never have done as much praying as I did during this day. Spiritual warfare is real but thanks be to God who has given us the victory in our Lord Jesus Christ! Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world.

Yet another lesson the Lord taught me was that God is working in the hearts of people. We get so caught up in our own lives that we miss what God is doing. We went to this house of a middle-aged lady and she was not a Christian. Her name is Ana. As we began to share with her the gospel, I noticed that there were continual distractions that kept happening as we tried to tell her the good news of Jesus so I began praying. God must have really had a hold of this woman’s heart because she promptly shut her door and closed her blinds so that she could hear what we were saying. When we finished, she prayed to receive Christ and you could see the change come over her. It was so exciting! Praise be to God that one of His lost sheep has been found! Please pray for Ana as she begins her Christian journey and pray for us as we need to follow up with her.

The final lesson I learned was the importance of Christian cooperation and fellowship. This evangelism outreach event was a result of members of several different churches coming together to help this one local church reach its community. It resulted in a day of true Christian cooperation and fellowship and people were added to the Kingdom of God as a result! Would it be that all churches would come together like this! Instead of thinking of other churches as our competition, how about we think of them as our family and as a potential tool to reach our communities for Christ? Can we not accomplish more together than we can on our own?

As you can see God has really used this experience to teach me many things. I am now motivated than ever in His call in my life to go and reach the people of Porto Alegre for Christ. Your support and prayers is very much needed and appreciated! I give all the praise to the Lord for the work He is doing here in Porto Alegre and in my own life!

Clube do Pé---de novo

About a month ago, one of our favorite professoras (really they are all our favorites) was involved in a car accident. She and her daughter we not hurt, but her car was significantly damaged. Only a couple of days later, our car (that we were so excited to get in March), suddenly died on Joel as he was bringing the kids home from school. This has been our story here in Brazil, and we are looking for the humor in this very frustrating situation so... from this the "Clube do Pé" was formed.

Come to find out the car that we were driving had been in a pretty serious wreck and was not fixed properly. The frame was bent and everything inside had been shifted. As a result the casing that held the battery was loose and over time eventually broke altogether shifting the battery dangerously close to a sensor that thought that the car was overheating and shut off the engine to prevent further damage. Uggghh. So after waiting three weeks for the mechanic to work out how to make the necessary repairs. The car was returned and we were able to use it for.... about an hour, before.....guess what.... it cut off again....without warning. The mechanic was never able to find a new sensor and so he had just cleaned the old one and left it on the car. Evidently there has been some difficulty getting parts from Japan since the earthquake.......so after three weeks of walking, and one hour of driving....we rejoined the walking club.

Thankfully, the mechanic was able to locate (we are not asking how) a sensor and the car was returned the following Monday. Certain that this car should not make the 18 hour drive to Porto Alegre (in two more weeks!) our supervisors found us a Chevy minivan to be our permanently assigned mission vehicle. Yippeee!

It was delivered from Brasilia (our Mission "headquarters") on Friday night and the little Honda boarded the truck for its trip home to Brasilia. Joel went and filled the gas tank and drove the 2.2 Km home and parked the van in the garage. The kids were so excited. Until...... Saturday morning, Joel went down to put his glasses and drivers license in the car and he set off the alarm. In the process of cutting off the alarm, he started the van, and suddenly the accelerator had a mind of its own----"locked open" is how he is describing it. Soooo we have once again joined the Clube do Pé.

Our professora is waiting for a new bumper to be found and her car should be ready to pick up (they told her that it would take two months to repair----can you imagine being without a car for two months! Most families here own only one car and kids cannot drive until they are 18.) She has had more of a challenge navigating the city using the bus system to get into town (she lives in one of the neighborhoods a few miles out) and making it to the homes of her students. She is smiling and embracing the extra exercise and looking for opportunities to meet the women who ride the busses. It is hard to complain about our situation with her as our club president :)

Joel has a special language class tomorrow morning with our supervisor and the mechanic. Hopefully the van will be repaired and we will be on the road again. If not, we will be enjoying a little extra exercise walking about a mile up hill to class and then a mile down hill home. (Thankfully, our apartment is only a mile from our school and there are plenty of restaurants and stores nearby. The greater challenge is getting the kids to and from school. Our friends have been wonderful to help us run taxi service.)

We are looking at a very busy next couple of weeks as we prepare for our move to Porto Alegre. Assuming the van situation is worked out, we expect to be leaving on the 20th and spend the next couple of days making the 18+ hour drive to our new city. We are still working out the details of our route as all Brazilian roads are not created equal. We have the option of a mountain drive or a coastal drive, but we are not sure which is the better option. The other challenge to Brazilian travel with a family of 5, is that there are virtually no hotels that will allow a family of 5 to stay in one room.

Besides packing and working out travel details, we are realizing that "goodbyes" in the Brazilian culture are a very big deal. While I would rather just avoid the emotional goodbye by pretending that is not a big deal, our Brazilian friends feel like this is a very important time to celebrate. So, our calendar is filling up with social engagements. Really this is wonderful for our language practice and it makes us feel very loved, but it is hard face another set of goodbyes so head on. Even though our language skills were so limited we have really formed some precious bonds with our Ribeirão Preto family. In some very real ways they have "raised" us by acting as our Brazilian parents.

We are also approaching (cue the creepy music in the background) our next language interview. I have never really understood test anxiety, until now. The first two left me feeling completely deflated and frustrated (because I completely froze and could not control my nerves) and they were "just for practice". This year end interview is the one where we need to perform well to show that we have met our goal to "graduate" from our full time language training program and move more into a ministry role. Usually language students must reach their language goal (on the interview) before they are cleared to move to their field of service. The pressure is off of us just a little because we are moving regardless of our score (because the school is moving to a different city). Please join us in praying that we will be able to do our best in the interview and that we would sense the presence of God during this time of preparation.

Another big language challenge is coming next Sunday when I will get the opportunity to co-lead our couples small group Bible study. Joel had his turn last week (and of course did a great job). I don't really enjoy teaching adults so certainly teaching adults in Portuguese is not really something that feel particularly gifted to do...but, it will be a great opportunity to sink or swim in this new language. Honestly, this group is so kind and supportive they will praise my effort even if I crash and burn. We have been with this group since about our second week of language study, so they have witnessed our progression week by week. They are very much invested in our family and ministry and they have definitely been our church family.

The final challenge (that we can see coming) is furnishing our mission home. We have lived in furnished homes since we sold our house in May 2009. We will finally be able to settle in and make this new place our home. The challenge with that is our crate (that we packed before leaving the US) is still in the US. Sooooo we are looking at 2-3 months at a minimum until we have the furniture, linens, kitchen equipment, small appliances, and dryer that we packed to set up housekeeping in Brazil. In addition to this inconvenience, the US dollar is doing very poorly so our buying power here is not nearly what we would have hoped (only a couple of years ago $1 USD= $3Reais, now $1USD= $1.58 Reais----so a couch that 2 years ago would have cost $1,000 USD now cost about $2,000 USD). All that said, we are seeing God's hand working things out for us day by day. We were blessed last week to be able to buy some furniture from another missionary family in PoA. We are going to be able to buy the washing machine, fridge, and a few furniture items that we have been using here in language school, and there are some items in PoA that belong to the mission that we will be able to borrow until our crate arrives. Please continue to pray because there are still some pretty important details to work out (like beds), but it looks like God definitely has everything under control.

We are not alone in this time of transition. Please remember the Wards (another family here with us in language school who are also going to serve with us in PoA) who have completed the first half of their language training here in RP and will be finishing their training in PoA. Also the Riddles who have been tasked not only with mentoring us (and many other M families), but also moving the language school to the new city. Please also remember our teachers who will be looking for and/or starting new jobs as we leave RP. Finally, please remember the Dunsons who will be receiving both us and the Wards in PoA.

Easter in Brazil

It has been a bit of an emotional day for me today. As I have been cooking food to take to an Easter lunch with our couples small group, I have been flooded with memories of Easter with the family. It just seems so strange that as things change "at home" and we are not there to experience the changes with our families it is very disorienting.

We celebrated my Granny Pryor's 80th birthday last week with a phone call. She was very upbeat as she recounted the events of the day and expressed her delight at passing this milestone birthday. I am so very thankful for that phone call because that was the last time I will hear her voice this side of heaven. Friday night she passed from this world and found her permanent home made special for her by her heavenly father.

It has been difficult to not be with our family to walk through the mourning process. I guess that I never realized how important the rituals are that surround the loss of a loved one. Sitting around the kitchen table and recounting memories (over a bucket of KFC, of course), receiving friends and sharing their remembrances, reuniting with extended family that you do not see often, and finally walking together through the funeral service. This is the cost. This is what it means to count the cost of following Him. He called me to be in Brazil during this season. He called my mother and my sister to care for the needs of the aging grandparents. Even though I am sad, I am absolutely certain that He will give each of us the strength to daily meet the demands of our call. He will use this season to draw us closer to Him and to grow in us a deeper understanding of His truth.

Even with my heavy heart today, it was a very good time with friends. I got to spend time with a friends grandmother and she was delightful (they even shared with me how she snores loudly....this is when I knew that God had sent her today to be a special treat just for me). The food was great and the company even better. It is still challenging to keep up with the all Portuguese conversation, and I am not able to contribute to the conversation as much as I would like, but we are making progress. It is much easier one on one where I can ask questions if I need to clarify every couple of sentences. There was no egg hunt (they don't do that here) and this was probably for the best.... that might have been too much:)

Other sad news this week is that Lambuth is closing this summer. Friends will all gather there in June to reminisce and say farewell to our alma mater. This is an occasion that I really hate to miss since it may be the last time so many friends from that era of our lives will be gathered in one place. I have very happy memories of my time in Jackson and I am very thankful for the quality education that I received during my time at Lambuth. ------Life goes on.......things change......

Joel is pretty much recovered from his Dengue Fever. He is working hard to regain the weight that he lost (well..... I guess that isn't really hard work....but his appetite has returned to normal). I am recovering from a bad cold that slowed me down for a couple of days last week. The kids have managed to avoid both of our illnesses and are doing well. We all are very glad for the restful holiday this next couple of days. The only thing now on our agenda is church on Sunday.

We have 2 months before our move and many, many things to do between now and then. Mainly, Joel and I need to learn to speak and understand Portuguese! We just feel like we still have so far to go...... we still are having good days and bad days......when does this get easier? Please continue to pray that the good days will be more and more frequent. Pray that the bad days will turn into bad minutes and they will pass quickly and not be so discouraging.

Will try to post an Easter picture on Sunday....... if the camera and the teenagers will cooperate.....

Catching up

Well it has been a while since I have posted. Much to tell..... The best news is that we have a wonderful new-to-us vehicle to drive. It is fancy (even has cup holders, which is super special here in Brazil) and we love it. We have had it for about 6 weeks and it has not needed to visit the mechanic a single time! (Victory)

We survived our first Carnival in Brazil. Actually, it was very rainy and that may have kept the festivities to a minimum here in Ribeirão Preto. We did see some of the parades from São Paulo and Rio on t.v. Just enough to get an idea of what it was all about. We had been warned, so when I saw the lady in the bath robe being interviewed, I should have known to change the channel....... lets just say I got schooled on the use of body paint. But overall it was pretty quiet here. Davis got to go to camp with the youth from our church. He had a great time. I went to great lengths to make sure he took his camera and had freshly charged batteries, but he is a boy----not a single picture! I guess he was too busy having fun to capture the moment. I did see one picture of him washing dishes, well wait, he wasn't actually washing the dishes, he was standing beside the sink full of dirty dishes......big difference.

We have finished our 2nd language interview and are awaiting the results. Joel and I both are certain that we did not do well, but the purpose of this interview is to help us pinpoint what we need to work on for this final few months. So, I guess we made it really easy for our evaluators to find plenty of things for us to work on:)

We are working hard to gain proficiency in the language, but we are beginning to look ahead and make plans for our next move to Porto Alegre. We are gathering the necessary paperwork to apply for our 2nd year Visas, and making lists of things we want to take care of before the move. We have pretty well come to the conclusion that God is calling us to home school all three children beginning in August, so I have been busy trying to evaluate and select curriculum and trying to wrap my head around some type of schedule. I am such a planner. I need to see how all the moving parts can fit together before I can feel at ease about things. We will need to make definite plans and order our materials before we begin to pack up for our move.

When we arrive in PoA we will be furnishing our own home (for the first time since April 2009), so we have to make many decisions about furniture and appliances........ Thankfully, since the language school is downsizing and relocating we have the option to purchase some of the furniture an appliances from the mission (the things that we have been using here). This seems like a huge blessing in terms of saving money (buying used instead of new), and having the items soon after we arrive in our new city. We are so excited about the idea of settling into a place that will become home....and making friends that do not have an expiration date. It is time to be settled.

Speaking of "The Big Move" (this was the name of a story that I told about 1,000 times in my former life----it was part of a test that I used) today it looks like we will be moving the end of June. We had thought that we would not be going until the end of July. This will certainly give us time to get settled in and ready to start our home school schedule in early August.

As we are gaining a little more language, we are finding opportunities to participate a little more in ministry. I got the opportunity to take a class last weekend on teaching reading (in Portuguese) using the Bible. The class was sponsored by an evangelical group that uses this platform for social ministry. I don't know how God will use this, but I am really excited to have this tool in my tool box. Joel will be teaching Connor's children's group later this month. He is also scheduled to lead our adult small group in a couple of weeks. He is working hard on translating a couple of sermons and we are both learning to tell some simple Bible stories in Portuguese. Now if I could just conquer praying in Portuguese............I can make it come together in my head, but when it is time, I cannot get a single thought expressed:( Humbling I tell you. It is an encouragement that we are seeing progress both in understanding and in speaking......we just want it to be easy.....it isn't.

Things that I find interesting.....

As we are settling in and feeling more and more at home here in Brazil, most things that seemed so foreign to us only a few months ago are beginning to look very common place. I happened to have my camera with me the other day and I snapped a couple of pictures of things that still strike me as different from what we would expect to see in Greenbrier, Tn.

This lady sweeps the streets and sidewalks early every morning. A very common sight in the mornings is to see workers, maids, and home owners sweeping and spraying down the sidewalks, streets, and parking areas all over the city. With the dust and debris, this is not an easy place to keep clean, but they sure do work hard to make it so.

You can also tell that it is early in the morning because of the empty parking spaces on the street and the lack of traffic. Within the next hour or so, that would have certainly looked different.

These are just a sample of the types of cars that usually line the streets. Some are newer models, some older, but most all are black, white, silver/gray, or beige. It is pretty unusual to see an SUV, a pickup truck or even a larger sedan type car. Compact is the norm here, and I cannot ever recall seeing a red car.

Of course, with everything there are exceptions. There are a few work trucks in town, but they are mostly older models.

This isn't unusual to see in Tn. This is my representation of how the community views children. They are adored and passed from lap to lap. This is my professora, Deoline, with the newest language student. Deoline is famous for being a favorite among the language school babies and toddlers (her strategy is to feed them cookies and crackers----it doesn't take long till they know who their friend is:)

Our week was pretty eventful as we said 'see ya later' to one language school family. They have arrived safely in their next city and are looking for an apartment. I (Tamara) got caught in a heavy rainstorm and flooded our car. It looks like the engine is beyond repair....... this has been the story of our time here....car problems..... ugh! This time it was my fault (by the time I realized that this was more than the typical afternoon shower, there was no where to go), I could not find a safe street to turn on to get out of the water. We (a new friend, her baby, and I) were safe, but the car.....well.... To make things worse, the license plate was stolen before the car had time to dry out and be picked up by the mechanic...... another serious inconvenience..... (I hope that all that amounts to is an inconvenience).... Anyway, we are hitching rides with friends and walking until something can be worked out for our family's transportation. Please join us in praying for pretty weather:)

There have been regular rain showers this week, and that has kept the heat from being so overwhelming. A couple of weeks ago I was having visions of what it would be like to live in an Easy Bake oven:) There had been so many hot days without relief that the tile and stone in our apartment made it feel like a brick oven. I am hoping that the hottest part of the summer might be coming to an end. We are beginning to have some cooler nights (cooler like 80+ instead of 90+).

The kids are settling back into their school routines. They are realizing that they know more Portuguese than they thought they did. Davis even helped a new family order their lunch today at Subway. His confidence in speaking is growing:) He ordered his own açai today and even asked for it "to go" (VICTORY). Joel and I are working hard to speak and understand Portuguese. We learned several new grammatical forms last week and they seem very complicated, but hopefully with time an practice we will be able to use them. Because of our car problems, I needed to call the children's school last week to let them know who would be picking them up. I had to really prepare what I wanted to say, but the call was a success. The secretary seemed to understand exactly what I was saying-----even over the phone:) I think I can, I think I can.....

We have had a restful weekend, but tomorrow is Monday and I get to start my week with verb conjugations, so it is time for bed:)

Our First Christmas in Brazil

We continued our Christmas Eve Dinner tradition with Davis planning the menu, preparing, and serving our dinner. He chose to have bacon cheese burgers, bacon cheese fries, Pringles, and Coke floats. He did an excellent job with the meal!

On Dec. 27th we left for Ubatuba. We enjoyed a couple of days on the beach.



Connor and Chandler scoping the waves.

We stayed in a pousada (a tiny apartment) with a beautiful Japanese garden in the center.

The scenery was incredible. But, traveling with a preteen and teen is not the same experience as traveling with children. They have just reached that age.

We arrived back home on New Years Eve and have been enjoying the last couple of weeks of summer vacation. Joel and I went back to class this week and the kids will go back on Feb. 1. They will be promoted to the next grade (8th, 7th, and 4th). There have been many strange transitions, but this one might be the strangest. Since Brazilian school years run Feb-Dec and US school years run Aug-May, Davis will have one semester of 7th grade and then three semesters of 8th grade (when we transition to Porto Alegre he will begin 8th grade again on the American schedule). Chandler and Connor will have the same experience with 6th/7th grade and 3rd/4th grade.

Speaking of school, this is my latest quandary.....

What to do about school in Porto Alegre? I will think out loud here and I really would welcome your thoughts on this subject. We have been praying about this for a very long time, but our answer is still not completely clear.

While we attend Language School here, our children are required to attend a bilingual private school, so there were no other options. But, I have spent this week paying tuition (that increased 10% per child this school year), buying books, and ordering and filling supply lists. The cost are enormous (and this is even without adding the cost of the uniforms, because we will not have to replace those since we will only be here one more semester). Supply list (for common supplies used in the classroom, not individual supplies like pencils, crayons, and notebooks), and about 1/2 of the textbooks that they needed (we found the other 1/2 in the language school library, and Chandler will use the books that Davis used last semester) has cost more than $1000 reis. I know that because our year of language school straddled two school years of Brazilian school, our children had to have two years worth of books and supplies, but oh my..... I am having a panic attack over this expense. (Again, because this is part of our language training program, most of this expense will be covered by the IMB, but still...oh my). We are not in Kansas anymore (or Tn, where the supply list cannot exceed $25 and the books are supplied by the school).

With all of this fresh on my mind, I began to consider our options for schooling next year in Porto Alegre. As best I can tell, we have two possibilities (if the International School will work with us give us a deeeeeeply discounted tution). Here are links to both NorthStar Academy - Online Christian School and Home Schooling or Panamerican School of Porto Alegre.

The pros:

NorthStar has a very impressive academic program and I have heard nothing but rave reviews from friends who have used their online school. They offer several Advanced Placement (classes that give a end of course test that, if passed, will allow you to skip over that class in college) and Dual Credit (classes that give you both high school and college credit for the same class) courses. I think that their accreditations are well respected and they have a good reputation.

Panamerican School is not in our house. They offer more of a traditional school experience (classes are in English and about 1/2 of their teachers are native English speakers), complete with a peer group and time away from the family. They would have a teacher not related to them by blood. They also offer some AP courses, but their website did not elaborate on these.

The cons:

NorthStar would be on the computer, in our house. This would mean interacting with peers and teachers only through the computer and sitting in front of the computer for extended periods of time. The peer group is limited to other students likely in other cities and other countries all over the world, not much opportunity for meaningful interpersonal relationships. (NorthStar does not have an elementary program, so Connor would probably do a more traditional home school program if he did not attend Panamerican school.)

Panamerican School is extremely expensive (even if they give us free or very low cost tuition, the uniforms, supplies, field trips, etc. would likely put a strain on our finances). I am not convinced that the academic program is superior to NorthStar. I am not convinced that our children will find a peer group here that they can "hang with". Because the cost of the school is prohibitory to middle class families, their peers would likely be from only extremely wealthy families.

I have always had a pretty negative attitude about homeschooling (at least for my family). I know some families who have done home school very well, but I have never felt like it was a good option for my children (or me). I feel like we were so very blessed by our time in Tn public schools. (If your kids are in those schools, send the teacher a note telling her/him how blessed that you are to be able to trust them as a partner in the education of your child. Believe me when I say the teachers and administrators there are truly a gift from God to that community.) But I have to look forward and not backwards:) Maybe this is the next step of faith that God is calling me to........

I am not going to decide my children's future education based on a poll, but I do believe that sometimes God uses His people to encourage each other and He uses His people to confirm His will in the lives of others, so......If you have an opinion please share.......