banhocheiroso

Windows seen from our flat today

Visit to Goiânia 29 April to 8 May

This weekend we will be flying to Goiânia for a week. From Saturday to Wednesday we will be with the Churches of Christ, where Andrew has been asked to Minister on “Christ in all the Scriptures.” Cora will also be speaking to women at the Central Church on the Sunday. The Churches of Christ being a strongly Arminian denomination, it is interesting to receive the invitation, and we value your prayers for this ministry.

In the second half of the week we will be with friends from First Presbyterian Church, Goiânia, and attending the first conference of the Colloquium ministry, run by Luciano and Luciene. Colloquium Daniel Doriani from St. Louis Central Presbyterian Church is coming to speak on the Christian Family in the 21st Century and to conduct expository workshops on James. And we are going to hear the Word and be ministered to! Please pray for a spiritually profitable time!

We return, God willing, to Florianópolis on 8 May, with Andrew going straight back into the classroom that evening for the Introduction to Theology class.

Peregrinos

We are happy to report that we may be seeing some numerical growth as a church, basically in terms of Christian visitors. Eric, from MEUNI has become a regular, and there are others who have attended several times, including the Friday Prayer time. This has spurred us on in the task of definition of who we are and what we believe, including concepts of membership and so forth. So please give thanks, and pray for the process to continue!

Insects on an autumn walk in the park...

a blue bee drone?...


big and wonderfully stationary hoverflies...


and a see-through butterfly.

Systematic Theology Quiz

In the Introduction to Theology course at IBE, Andrew has at last reached Systematic Theology. And to show what the discipline is, he prepared a short quiz, with questions typical of those treated in a typical Systematic Theology, and designed to expose certain specific issues of importance in the scene here.

It occurred to us that it would be interesting to get some feedback from British and other Christians on these points. Obviously, our supporting churches may be a somewhat biased sample, but it would still be valuable to get some replies. So – answers on a post card, in the comments here, or by e-mail to Floripano@gmail.com, please. The questions are over-simplified, but please confine yourself to a yes/no type answer wherever possible.

We will write up what happened in the classroom here once we have a few replies!


1 Which statement do you prefer: (A) The Bible contains the Word of God, or (B) The Bible is the Word of God?

2 How many Gods are there?

3 Is the Son the Father?

4 For whom did Jesus die?

5 “Jesus is a man now, and will be forever.” Yes or No?

6 The new birth comes before faith, or is the product of faith?

7 The Baptism in the Holy Spirit happens in the moment of conversion, or may occur afterwards?

8 “A baptism by effusion is no baptism at all.” Do you agree?

9 “Pastor = elder = bishop. It would be more Biblical if every local church had more than one pastor.” Do you agree?

10 “Jesus will return and reign for 1000 years before the end of this world.” Yes or no?

The team from Intimus at the Colégio Energia



It is that time of year again. The team from Intimus, manufacturers of sanitary products for Brazil’s women, was in the Energia School gymnasium next door to us. In the past with other events at the school, including Intimus, MacDonalds and other companies who come, the PA system has been set on Stun, with noise levels fit to shake the apartment blocks either side of the school. Last time I phoned the school up during the earthquake, knowing that it would be impossible to conduct a conversation with the secretary, and thus making the point.

The point seems to have been taken. Intimus’ PA was somewhat muted. Plates did not actually rattle, but the entire neighbourhood was still able to hear every word. And with Intimus it is sex education: everything about puberty, from the need to use more deodorant to wet dreams, from menstruation to whether your first sexual experience can make you pregnant – all of it broadcast for all to hear. The team sing and dance, show videos, and involve the kids in jolly quizzes, girls versus boys, answering questions about sexual health issues. None of the young people show the slightest self-consciousness or embarrassment about this.

It is not just the school, of course. Last Friday, a bank holiday here, we could hear a Pentecostal preacher thundering from… we don’t know where. Presumably a new church is being planted somewhere in the houses to the rear of us – at least 100 to 200 metres. It was as easy to make out every word of his sermon as sitting in a church in England. There is one rule for whatever you want to say here: Make It LOUD!

But there is another aspect to Intimus at the school. However odd it may be for us Brits to hear the sex education lesson at full volume in our study, it also seems strange that this task is delegated to a commercial enterprise. Sure, the school is private: it makes commercial sense to accept the (presumably) free offers of help with certain aspects of the curriculum that come from the private sector. Let MacDs and Intimus do their thing!

But the actual teaching at Energia also exhibits another element that makes the whole thing utterly bizarre. Brazilian teacher-training is dominated by Marxism. That is in evidence at Energia: we know, because we can hear the teaching in the classroom that sits level with our study window. And last parents’ day, they had some of the teachers give demo classes in the gymnasium – one of the loudest efforts yet. We know that we are hardly of the Right, but to hear the History Teacher droning on again about “another lie from Bush,” and the evils of the church, and how Calvin invented capitalism, turns our stomachs. Where is objectivity? Where is academic rigour?

And where is the consistency in a pedagogical system which decries capitalism on the one hand, and then puts its feet up in the staff room while letting Sanitary Towel Companies do the sex education?

Crazy, man!

Farewell Belo Horizonte, Brazil...

Rodrigo and Lívia leaving Confins airport, Belo Horizonte, 19 April 2006, with a good send off from young people at the First Presbyterian Church.

...and hello, South East England

Rodrigo and Lívia arrived, in the glory that is Brighton beach!

...meanwhile (same day) we slummed it at Inglêses...



...where we spent the day with the Johnsons.

Mark and Karen Johnson are team leaders for the Southern Baptist missionaries here in South Brazil. They live in Curitiba. Mark phoned on Friday to say that they were staying at Ingleses, in the north of the island, and would we like to come up for lunch on Saturday. We haven't seen them in a long time, and it was a good day. Their children, Sarah and Stephen, got on well with Bec and Tom and we had some good times as families when we were all here. Time with the Johnsons is always a reminder of family life at its best, as the pictures show. (I put in the sensible ones because I thought that if the top one went in on its own, physical violence might be done... to me. But it is my favourite!)

Easter eggs in the Comper supermarket

Every Easter we intend to send a photo, and this year we remembered to take one, but forgot to post it till after the event. Here it is anyway. For the taller shopper, negotiating the aisles of any supermarket is definitely hazardous at this time of year.

Rodrigo and Lívia

Tomorrow, the 19th, Rodrigo and Lívia will fly from Belo Horizonte to São Paulo, and from there on to London, where they should meet Nick McQuaker and travel with him to Haywards Heath. Their langauge classes will start at the Olivet School in Brighton on the 24th. Please pray for a safe journey, that they get up and running rapidly, including finding suitable accomodation for the next year and a bit, and fro relationships in the church at Haywards Heath. Also for the difficult weeks, which we all have from time to time, when "saudades" for family, friends, food and other things really kick in badly.

Easter Weekend at Palmas

On Good Friday we went with Marquito and Anna to Palmas, a resort on the promontory of Governador Celso Ramos about an hour's drive north from here. Rafael Liebich's family has a flat there, and Rafa and his mum, Ester, were already there when we arrived. The two days were blissful: coolish weather, quiet conversations, lots of reading time, good food, a great film and some episodes of Seinfeld and Mad about You, a bit of work, but no pressure. And time to take some pictures just for fun. Please excuse the "artiness"!

The one block of apartments at Palmas, where Rafael's family has a flat, on the eighth floor. There will be many more blocks!

Just to show it was not all relaxation, a hive of activity. Marquito was checking a translation Andrew had done for our Easter meeting. Cora was buried in Greek.

A sedge?? I forget!

Cora

New beach houses

The dirt road into Palmas

Cora and Ester

Ester and Rafa

Roof

The beach at Palmas

Morning sea

Headlands and Islands

Anna

Loungers by the pool

Bridge to beach

Beach umbrella 1

Beach umbrella 2

Zebra spider on post

Yoga on the beach

The following title has been suggested for this photo:

Having reached grade alpha-zero, the Zen masters finally received the wisdom of the 'nose-clearing' position.

Weevil

Monarch-type butterfly

Dragonfly

Kito and Anna

Anna and Rafa

Tree trunks seen on walk in park


When we first came here, I remember how everything was so different I was just fascinated by everything, especially in terms of the natural world. After a while you lose that sense of the strange, but a close look and a think back to the UK soon brings home just how "exotic" so much is from a British point of view. And the trunks of trees are a case in point. Click for amplified view.

Good News

We had almost despaired of Rodrigo and Lívia’s visa. When they reached 3 April with no news – a date that had been set as the end of the road, and on which they had a flight booked to the UK – we thought it was all over. But leaders at a church council meeting on that night asked Rodrigo if he would still go if the visa were to turn up in the next two months. “Two months no”, he said, “because of the lack of time to work on my English, but one month, yes.”

The visa came today. Great rejoicing. The flight has been rebooked with Varig for the 19th of this month. As it happens (!) our flat at Muster Court is presently without tenants – is this the Lord’s plan too?

Wherever they live, please pray for these hectic days prior to leaving, and then the whole process of settling in at Haywards Heath before starting the Cornhill course. Pray for rapid involvement in the life of the church, especially for the sake of much English practice!

As we say here, we are pleased of the life!

Another death

As you know, the last weeks have been a period of contact with death, in various forms. The frequency of death in dramatic or tragic circumstances is certainly higher here than in the UK. Between childhood cancer, adult male suicide and road accident, you have three of the saddest elements of life in Brazil or in any country.

There is one more. Yesterday in class, Jacina and her sister Mayá were once again in shock. They have recently moved house – onto the island, and away from the neighbourhood where they grew up. The boy next door to where they used to live – at 15 just four years younger than Mayá – was murdered on Sunday. The girls have known him all his life. He and others from his family were constantly in their home, especially when the grandmother who looked after them beat them.


Jacina (centre) and Mayá (right) with their little sister Jasmin. Jacina's teeshirt reads: Drugs, not dead: Partnership against drugs

The lad, Tito, was involved in drug trafficking. He had been involved by his parents, from early childhood. Kids who carry and deliver drugs are called “aviãozinhos” – little aeroplanes. This is what his mum and dad got him to do.

Later on he became involved in other aspects of drug dealing. He killed several people. And it was presumably for that that he was shot with an expanding bullet on Sunday afternoon.

He was playing with a kite. A fifteen year-old murderer and drug dealer is still a kid – and in some ways more of a kid than a British teenager of the same age. Some guys came by, by car and on a bicycle, shooting before making a rapid getaway. As the boy fled one bullet took him in the lower back, bursting out of his stomach. He ran down the hill, clutching his kite to his body. He collapsed near his house and died soon afterwards. His friend was also wounded, his arm smashed by a bullet. Jacina and her family heard while in church at First Baptist, and went straight to the home, to try to bring some word of comfort. The grandmother has been saying for years that the sooner he dies the better. She didn’t feel that way on Sunday night.

The reason that he was cared for by his grandmother is that his parents split up a long time ago, and his mother is currently in prison anyway. While inside she has been converted. She has expressed a wish to move state with her kids and try to start afresh, to rebuild a life without drug trafficking. She has two months of her sentence to run. For this son, it was too late.

I tell the story in its details and social ramifications because it is very typical of one side of life here, which we don’t often mention, but with which many of our colleagues have a much closer and constant acquaintance. Sometimes people have the impression that Florianópolis is a trouble-free backwater. Compared to Rio, São Paulo, Vitória, Recife or even Foz de Iguaçu, Floripa is quiet, yes. But it is not trouble-free, and every year things worsen. One of my ex-students, Roberto Chenk, is pastoring a church in Palhoça, the third municipality that makes up “Greater Florianópolis”. Roberto is very involved with youth work, being one of the most respected Scout leaders in the city. He told me that of a group of 22 teenage lads with which he was recently working, 7 died in a 2 year period. For several it was road death, but for most it was murder.

They say that one in four Brazilian teenagers has seen the body of someone shot dead. Mayá tells me that, though she did not see this lad's body, she has seen two people shot, one right in front of her house. All members of the girls' family have been threatened with guns. We know several other families who have lost close relatives to the gun while we have been here.

Of course, it isn't only the criminals who kill. Or, to put it another way, it is not only the criminals who are criminal. A close friend of ours has been involved in helping a man with anger management. He is a policeman. He has got into rages, from time to time, and has gone into the favela and shot and killed people. This is viewed as a bad thing, so he has been invalided out of the force for the moment for counselling.

Sometimes people react to all this with hardness. Sometimes with humour, that borders on hysteria. Having commented on funerals and the initial moments of bereavement, it is worth saying that the way of handling grief in the medium to long term is also very different from Britain. If Brazilians pour out emotion in violently physical displays at a funeral, they are also far more likely than Brits to say, "I'm fine" one week later. This seems hard, but it is probably also practical. The hurt is poured out in catharsis, and then has to be buried fast, because life must go on. There is not much time or space here to coddle your wounds.

Brazil isn’t all murder and mayhem. But there is enough, more than enough, to justify specific prayer for the situation, and especially for those workers from churches and missions who are doing all they can to help those most likely to get involved with the drug gangs to lead useful lives, and above all to know Christ. Jacina and Mayá, and others in our classes, are involved in the Lazarus Project, an initiative from First Baptist to reach out to the very poor, those in danger of getting involved in drug gangs, and those already going in that direction. Please pray for them.

House Repairs

As well as the generally busy schedule of the last few weeks, we have also been in the midst of a strange spate of water-related house repairs. The rear bathroom, part of the "maid's quarters" which we only use for storage, suffered damage due to a leak in the bathroom room above. Then a leak under the floor of our kitchen caused problems in the ceiling of the kitchen below. And, of longer term and slower development, a problem in the sealant of the main bathroom caused water seepage into the plaster of the bedroom wall, which has had to be replastered.

As you can imagine, all this makes for an extra-element of busyness, with rooms being vacated and out of use. However, on a positive note, our feeling is that "having workmen in" is actually overall less stressful here than in the UK. The main reason is that we have not had to pay for any of the repairs, as the flat is rented. But the pleasantness of the guys, the speed and willingness with which they work, and the careful clearing up after the job are all factors which make the prospect of repairs less unwelcome.


Leak in rear bathroom ceiling being investigated
prior to repair and making good.


Repair to plastering of bedroom wall.


Attack on plumbing leak underneath the kitchen floor.

MEUNI Retreat

It was an immense privilege and joy to be involved in this event. Thank you for your prayers. The retreat was held in the JOCUM (YWAM) Florianópolis HQ over on the continent, in Forquilhinhas. The accommodation is simple, but adequate, right on the edge of the neighbourhood, with woods behind. The group was not large, but the spirit was good. The main aim of the event was to talk over the aims and future direction of MEUNI; to stimulate this programme and give a Biblical base Andrew was asked to speak three times. The three talks were: The Methodology of the Gospel - Acts 8, Philip and the Ethiopian; The Impact of the Gospel in every area of life - Genesis 3 and the rest of the Bible; Transformation by the Gospel - Romans 12:1,2. The Word seemed to have an impact and immediate relevance.

Like any good CU, the MEUNI people are young, lively, intellectually stimulating and committed to God. One of the striking factors in the group is the number of people who are attending informal churches. The emergent church is a reality - and the strange thing is that we are part of the movement! There are all the positives there - close fellowship, and emphasis on life and fellowship, not just head teaching. But there is a real need for teaching - and not just a need, but a hunger. May God give us strength to keep teaching, and living the teaching.

At our own Sunday meeting of the Peregrinos at 6.00 p.m., 6 students came along for the first time. Not all will stay, but some may. They could do us good. Pray that they do so.

Everyone gathered in the kitchen.

We have used many electric showers over the years in Brazil, but this was a real classic, in terms of the amount of water flowing from the top of the unit and directly over the bare wires.

Rooftops in Forquilhinhas

A cicada. The retreat centre is closely surrounded by woods, so that the wildlife of all sizes is interesting.

Andrew just getting into Gen 3

Participating in one of the great debates: Taís, Nade and Kari

Mila and Erick

Caetano, the previous leader of MEUNI, and now studying for his Masters. He and his wife, Letícia, came in for the latter part of Saturday.