In Concord Dec. 10, 2008

Just a quick note... This morning I learned to make "flies"... Which sounds kind of strange, but the cool thing is learning new things about people. Its amazing to learn about other peoples hobbies.

Today Michael Helms took time out to show me how to make the "lures" for "fly fishing" a subject I know absolutely nothing about! It was interesting and fun and I had a great experience with them. Thank you guys for the great time I had with you!

It was a special time and I really enjoyed the experience.

There is so much I want to post from my time with so many other special folks here, but I will have to do it little by little.

Hope to get more up on the blog soon!

God bless!

Some Pics from the Past

I havent been able to write since I arrived home because our internet connection is dial up and there is just no way to do anything on the blog. There are pictures from my last days in Brazil and I hope to put them on soon, but since I'm visiting my brother a couple of days and he has a good connection, I thought I could share with you some of his pictures.

My dad in the Navy... (wasn't he a stud!)

My dads ship: U.S.S. William H. Butner

My brother Stuart around 1974

Stuart working with children for crime prevention...

My last, but busy Saturday in Brazil for 2 months!

Giving away fruits and vegetables has become an interesting way to spend time with my children and to meet people passing by and neighbors...


Each week we receive donations at the Casa de Apoio and when there are "left overs" we find ourselves with the challenge of finding who to give these perishables to before they go bad. When I was with Shalom I thought it would be fun to give the food away at the door. Popular opinion declared... "people wont take even free stuff because of their pride". Well everything is so expensive now its not hard for folks to lose their pride to get a bit of free food!


Theo began to Yell... "Free Bananas, tomatos and xu xu!!!" Over and over. In Portuguese Xu xu is a vegetable but is pronounced (shu shu) and he would get xu xu mixed up with "xi xi" which in Portuguese is (Pee Pee)! Then he would giggle only as a 4 year old can, knowing that all bodily functions are the funniest thing in the world to make mention of.

My daughter screams out "Hey you boy! Hey you woman! Free food!" She will even grab a complete stranger by the hand and offer them something thats not on the list to give away! Next thing you see is someone walking past you being led by usually two or three fingers and hearing Shalom offer everything that is in the kitchen!

The point is that it was a very good experience for us to have together. I'm sure they will remember these memories. It was a busy Saturday, but we had a good time together.


Some years back we received an offering from a German friend and missionary to "do good to the community with". Together with another friend and Welsh missionary friend of mine, we had the idea of buying a "PoP corn machine" to use in many different ways. It would be a way of investing in something that would continually bless.

Over the years it has been used to help generate income for those who are unemployed, or for parties for children and for other creative ministry ideas. Richard the Welsh missionary has had it in his care since it was made but recently called me to let me know that it was available to be taken in a new direction.

So tonight we went to pick it up from the church where it was stored and we will take it in a new direction for a period of two years or so to see what will happen. I have offered it to the church where I have attended for the last several years to use it to raise money for missions. The church also has the idea of taking it to city squares and simply giving away pop corn as a way to evangelize people! I hope to have some cool things to share with you in the future!

Waterfall Oct. 26th, 2008

You dont see what is about to happen yet but this lesson of the fruits of the spirit is going to be cool!


Andrea worked up a very nice idea that brought team work in so that everyone had to keep in the air all the balloons, not just their own...


You cant help but love this photo! Rinira in the photo above in the green pants is a member of the church that has been such a blessing to me here. She went for the first time to Waterfall today, and she loved just being a part of what was going on!


It was a great lesson and the children are getting good teachings in such creative ways! I am so thankful for the ways God uses people that are coming with us each week.

Today you will also notice in the photo, Richard, a close missionary friend of mine from Wales, and my son Theodore was with us today. We always have such a great time!

Oct 19th 2008 A Mixture of Images... Touching people where they live!

Todays lesson was on Creation and the Genesis story...

The activity was to draw the things God has created.

Then at the end, 4 families received basic food parcels. A full months supply of the basic foods any family needs to live on.


I forgot to take pictures of the children giving out more bananas that had been donated. The children were carrying out the crates and yelling "Free Bananas" and all kinds of people were stopping to pick out a few here and there. Children learning to give food and also receiving food. It was a good day!

God supplies the need!

Gilvane is a new friend who is active in ministry in his own church but when we were talking this past week he said, "I am going to talk to my wife. We will try to put something together for the children at Waterfall of Souls for Childrens day". He only knows of Waterfall of Souls through this blog, but felt impressed to do something for the children there! Thank you Gilvane and for your wife for having such a heart of giving!

At the same time, Leandro's parents, Marinho and Imaculada were wanting to do something as well! Marinho went around asking friends if anyone wanted to contribute to the children for today... Leandro said that his father came in the room really excited saying, "someone gave us 10 Reais to help!" (brazilian dollars). So Leandro and his parents put together a special gift bags for the children, and I picked it up this morning on the way to Waterfall. Thank you Leandro, Marinho, and Imaculada for wanting to bless Waterfall and for your action towards that end.

Shalom went with me this morning... On Saturday we took two full crates of bananas to the street in front of the house where I stay and we started asking people if they wanted them. At first people looked at us strange, but then got they got excited and they went and told their neighbors and came with bags and baskets to carry away the fruit. Shalom loved the experience! She has a good heart and enjoys the feelings of "serving", so today at Waterfall, she was almost uncontrolable! Every 5 minutes she wanted to know if it was time to start giving away things to the children. She wanted to guarantee that she would get to help, and she did. She makes a great part of the team!

This is the cool part! Do you know how many kids were waiting in the city square? This picture only shows the majority of the children. There were still others that you aren't seeing in the photo, as well as parents and other people that gathered with us today. At least 50 people were there! From 13 - 17 to 50 without notice! In the beginning I thought "We have too much!" but thank God we had what we needed to take care of so many expecting and excited children! If any one source of giving had of been our only source it wouldn't have been enough... Because several people had the same hearts desire the end result was a lot of smiling faces! Thank you to everyone!

Todays group

Waterfall Oct. 5th, 2008

Today was election day in Brazil, and as you can see by looking at the photo above, the streets are covered with paper and you think, "how will this ever get cleaned up?" but tomorrow people will be out sweeping the streets and throwing away thousands of Brazilian dollars of paper and in a day or two you will never know that there was an election.

Lucas was captivated by the guitar and wanted to play a little...

We sang and played games with the children and had our time together as we always do...

After a snack and a ride around the neighborhood with at least 10 screaming children crammed into the car, we know that it will soon be time to go. We get a bunch of hugs and wish we could be somehow closer to these children during the week, but we have no choice but to say goodbye for another week.

A beautiful day in the country!

Gilvane is a new special friend that Samuel and I went to visit with today at his house in the country. This is a pineapple plant that we are posing in front of, it reminded me of missionary stories that I used to listen to, and now I am where the pineapples grow! Gilvane and his wife are quite involved in ministry and they have beautiful hearts! It was a special time together.

Samuel and Gilvane's son feeding the assorted fowl...

This oven in the photo is a common site in the rural areas. Not only do they burn wood to cook with, but there is a special coil inside the brickwork that heats the water in the house so that they have hot water in the showers and at the kitchen sink. Its simple and yet sophisticated at the same time, and a favorite place to gather to spend time having coffee and visiting with friends and family.


Its amazing how just leaving the city for a short while can make such a big difference in how you feel. Thank you Jesus for old friends and new ones!

Banana's for Waterfall!

A little bit of study...

A little snack...

And a whole lot of bananas! Actually, Banana's and beets... What a blessing!

Do they like bananas?

YES THEY DO!

Good moments at "The House of Help" Casa de Apoio

Unexpectedly I received a few extra hours with my children on Friday night. At the house the gang was playing Uno and waiting for pizza to arrive. It was a fun evening!

My family along with Samuel who is the directors son.

cold rainy day at waterfall of souls

Today Andrea taught class at Waterfall. We didn't meet at our usual spot because it was so windy and cold this morning, even though you cant tell by looking at the picture.



The activity was to pass a can around with a surprise that could be "good or bad"... The can was passes from hand to hand while they sang a song until I shouted "Stop"! It stopped in Fran's hand... Fran loved her surprise... It could have been written on a piece of paper for her to do a silly dance or one thing or another similar, she is such a closed and angry little girl, but the surprise was a sweet one. If it had of been anything else she wouldn't have appreciated it, she would have just walked away as she has already so many times. Andrea then read a story about a "cracked flower pot" to teach the children that we all have imperfections but that God can use us even with our flaws and that each one of us are special.

Fran who stands at a distance and never feels "special" was the only one to receive a candy bar. It may seem silly, but she is here every week but always distant. Today she was "special"... She "won" something! She smiled! If we could just break down the walls and reach each one of these children and create loving lasting relationships... If they can see themselves as important and valuable! Then its worth all the sacrifice!

Every week the children beg to ride in my car around the block of the village. They yell out the windows and find that riding in my car around the block is one of the most exciting things they experience from one week to the next!

Long overdue time with my children!

Its difficult to go for a while without spending time with my children but when we are together the time is very special. Below are two pictures of the children at the neighborhood park.

For a rare treat my mom sent the ingredients for a childhood delight that I am introducing to my children.

But unfortunately the time passes by in the blink of an eye and its over... It is always special though!