I Forgot A Title

Well, Papaw and Nana have already been gone a week. Time is just flying. It will be time to go home before we know it.

Ministry continues and, as always, it looks different. Sometimes, that looks like almost being beat in an arm wrestling match in order to just hang out with the kids and to let them know you care about them, that you like spending time with them.

Sometimes ministry is caring for physical needs. This little fella, whom I have grown quite fond of, has had a huge wound on his foot for over a week. Everyday, I’ve spent time caring for the wound. I have tried to tend to it as best I could but it really needed medical attention. We contacted the mother but without her consent, we can’t get him the medical care he needs. After the multiple attempts to no avail, all four of the kids didn’t show up for a couple days. I don’t really understand why you wouldn’t want your child to get medical care, especially when health care is free, as it is in Brazil. I was nervous that the mother was upset and he won’t get the help he needed. Luckily, the other three kids showed up a few days later and said that their brother was told by the doctor that he had to stay at home for the next six days to give his foot time to heal. I was so thankful to hear that news.

Sometimes ministry to getting kids excited about the Word of God during devotional time. With ages ranging from three to eleven, that can be hard oftentimes, but it’s always worth the effort.

This past week the holidays have been a little different. June 12, was Dia dos Namarodos, which is essentially a Brazilian Valentine’s Day, hearts, chocolates, flowers, gifts, etc. Trev and I don’t really celebrate Valentine’s in the states so we certainly didn’t feel the need to do so in a foreign country. However, the timing just happened to work out and I got a gift after all, a used dryer, thanks to Anna knowing someone who wanted to sale theirs. Many thanks, Anna. Anyone who knows anything about Brazil knows, dryer are a luxury and many people don’t own them. I am super excited. This thing is old and very loud. Dryers here don’t get super hot, they aren’t vented, and they take a long time to dry. (They do have some dryers that use 220v and they might work better but they’re pricey). This will come in handy on rainy days.

Of course, you knew I would do something stupid pretty soon. And I did. This dryer business led to the same issue as the microwave. The laundry room doesn’t have a 20 amp outlet because no one ever thought a dryer would go in there. I never checked, I never looked, it never even crossed my mine until Trevor lugged that heavy thing into the house and the plug didn’t fit. When?! When will I learn?! I guess I’m wiring this one myself. Prayers are be greatly appreciated.

It was weird that there was no talk of Father’s Day by anyone. The boys made Trev their traditional homemade cards and we took Mom to check out a Brazilian McDonalds for lunch. I later found out that Father’s Day is celebrated on August 11th this year in Brazil, hence the lack of talk about it. I guess Trev gets two special days this year. Poor fella needs a do over anyway. Tickets for the Packers/Eagles game here in Brazil went on sale this week and despite being ready to buy and numerous computers ready to go, he was not able to get any tickets. They went so fast. All that’s left now are the resale tickets that are double the price. I hate it so much for him.

I forgot to mention, the grandparents brought some goodies from the US with them and the boys couldn’t be happier with some good ol’ sugary, mom won’t buy them, brain rot aka PopTarts. Mason wouldn’t even stop chewing for the picture.

We decided to play tourist this weekend and headed into Centro (the center of the city).

After parking and tracking down the meter person, we took off on foot around town. First up, the Municipal Market. It’s not everyday you see a man carry whole butchered pigs across his shoulders to hang in the store. Of course, we had to buy our “walking peanuts,” you know the sweet peanuts you have to have to snack on as you walk around. Then we walked around the vendors that were set up in the park. Trev tried to haggle. My português isn’t great but I’m pretty sure the lady told him that she was working here. Ha! Despite being insulted, she gave us a small discount anyway.

Then we were off to Igreja São João Batista. This Catholic Church was open so we ducked inside.

The church other than size is pretty unassuming but it was pretty amazing inside. We made sure to be quiet and respectful as there were a couple of people inside praying.

A few more stores and we were headed to another church. Straight down the road from the previous church; you can see each of them from the same spot; just got to turn your head left than right. As slaves were not allowed to worship at the previous church they erected their own church, Igreja do Rosario. This church is smaller but the outside of it is much more elaborate. It was, unfortunately, closed. The inside has some interesting artwork that I hated we missed.

Major Juvenal Alvim, was a wealthy businessman and farmer. He was also, a great benefactor to the city of Atibaia creating industry; often funding projects such as a school from his own money, giving to lots of charities, and being mayor, town councilman, city clerk, and head of the Republican Party for three legislative terms. He also built the cemetery, water tank, sewer and water services, landscaping of the public squares, the market, the electricity supply, and road linking to the city of São Paulo. We knew none of this at the time the picture was taken but he sounds like someone that would get a statue made in his honor from a town.

By this time we were hungry. I had a long list of recommendations but in the end we just stopped at a place that we were walking by. The boys all went traditional Brazilian food, stroganoff, empanada chicken, fried fish, rice, and beans. Mom and I went for burgers.

Next up was the Teleférico. It was a peaceful ride down the hill and over the park and lake. It was $15Reais so that’s about $3 US a person.

We walked around the park at the bottom. We were going to rent the swan paddle boats but no one was operating that day.

Of course, I had to get a cheesy picture in front of the I heart sign. And when you’re in town you have to go for açaí, right? It was a great day.

Other than the boys teaching mom how to play fooseball, that was pretty much our week.