Day 31: The Privilege of Ministry

1:30am- The guys are sleeping outside in our hammocks and it starts sprinkling on us. The sky had harbored storm clouds all day long on Friday, but they did nothing more than float overhead. Well, now they were slowly falling on us.

It was a light enough rain that I wouldn’t have minded to just keep laying there huddled in my blanket, but pretty soon we were taking down our hammocks and carrying them to the porch after all. Within a few minutes we were laying down again. Read Full Post

Brazil, Day 25: Sweetbitter Ministry

Ahhhh! What a great day this was! It easily ranks up there as one of the most exciting days of the year for me. We had our first of three orchestra concerts last night, and the other two were today. Our first concert was this morning at Batista do Novo Juazeiro, the largest regular Baptist church in Juazeiro and perhaps the largest one here in the valley. It is the home of Pastor Renato, the aforementioned director of the Semana de Musica Sacra. Read Full Post

Brazil, Day 18: A Day of Firsts

Woke up this morning to Stephen’s alarm clock at 7:30, and I finally got up around 8:10 or so. We had pancakes with mango butter, guava jam, and apple butter for breakfast, and we also had some fresh-squeezed orange juice. By the way, the oranges here are green, so that’s different for me. Read Full Post

Brazil, Day 15: Odd Jobs and Leadership Conference

Ugh…I don’t like waking up in the morning! Well, I do, but I don’t like to wake up early and I especially don’t like to exercise alone. But I had to do what I had to do, and I ran 6 kilometers.

My devotions were in Acts 10. In this chapter, Cornelius and Peter both have visions which lead to Cornelius’ conversion. I didn’t actually read about the conversion yet though. I read the first 23 verses, detailing the two visions and the entourage that was sent to summon Peter. Wow, God works in interesting yet exciting ways sometimes! Read Full Post

Brazil, Day 11: Church, Day Two

Slept in today and woke up refreshed and excited for Sunday, a day of worship and rest. No services at church today because we had them yesterday, so we are going to a different church tonight. But most churches only have Sunday School and no morning service because the evening service is when most people attend, opposite of the churches I’ve attended in the US. Read Full Post