Christmas time

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. I've got some pictures of our family and a party we did with our community online for anyone that wants to see...

Christmas pics

We leave in less than a week for the project. I will try to send updates when I can from the beach. We will surely need your prayers during this time not only for the 9-hour drive but for our time there especially. Pray that God would use the training and fellowship to speak to us about the transformation he desires in our lives. And that as we talk about transformation that we would remember that he is the goal and not our own personal change.

leaders training

Yesterday we met for the first time with the student leaders for the upcoming beach project. During the training we discussed two main points: our desire for transformation and our willingness to encourage others towards transformation. We will meet again for the first few days leading into the project. Pray that as a group they can join together with this purpose of being and encouraging transformation. And pray that we as a staff team can help them think practically about how to pursue it.

Christmas party

Friday night we had a Christmas party at our house for all the students and graduates involved in our community. It was a fun time to see everyone, and for the students to relax a little now that their finals are over. We had a great dinner... 3 french hens! Braden and Simon made extra sure that we picked the right gifts during the gift swap. They saw a few of them while the students were wrapping them and knew which ones had the chocolate!

back update

This past Friday I went to the hospital and received a bloqueio peridural (which is kind of like an epidural) to alleviate the pain. I talked with my dad and he said when he had something like this done it took about a week to really feel the effects. At first I was feeling pretty good but I may have overdone it because today I'm pretty sore. We had a training for the leaders yesterday and I just didn't get the needed amount of time flat on my back. Please be in prayer for a full recovery before beach project and that we can finalize the remaining plans. We hope to leave on the 2nd of January.

3 months old

On the 10th Lucy turned 3 months old! She was pretty tickled about the whole thing. Some of Lucy's favorite songs are Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Simon's likes to sing Baa Baa Black Sheep (Simon's version is Blah Blah Black Sheep... I think it sounds better too). Parabêns Lucy!

down again

Just a quick note to say that I found out this week that I have a herniated disk in my lower back. The doctor has asked me to stay flat all weekend and to take some medicine then we'll check next week to see if there's been any improvement. If not he said we may have to operate. As many of you know with our beach project quickly approaching this isn't the ideal time. Pray not only for my back but that I could be aware of how God is at work through this.

rained in

Yes, those are 7 boys in one room. Barely an inch in screen size for each boy. 7 boys ranging from 2 to 8!

We got rained in on Thanksgiving so we had to break out the videos. But the boys survived... we only had a few instances of sword fighting (Simon's favorite) and spilt drinks.

thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was an adventure in "family" for us. We invited over all our team that is in Belo right now (a few are in the States). Totalling up everyone in attendance, we had about 20 adults and 14 kids (I lost count). Add in 5 or so caseroles and it was a happy and intimate time.

Kayla and Lucy were some of the few who stole a few moments for a nap, although I think I saw a few more eyes close while "the game" was on. We have no football to watch so we settled for a college basketball game that came on a few nights ago - Texas Tech vs. Syracuse. Syracuse was winning by 30 when we turned off the tape.

the brazilians

Just wanted to give you a little taste of what's going on with the two Brazilian brothers I work with here... Fernando and his wife Larissa recently spent some time in the States raising financial support and visiting friends. Here's what he had to say to the people he met:

Thank you for loving us and for your time and willingness to engage at a heart level. Thank you so much for your commitment to a life driven by faith and by the truth of the Gospel which allows us to indeed be a part of God’s kingdom, what a privilege! Thank you for fostering Kingdom dreams in our hearts.

Some of you cannot imagine the impact that you have had in our walk with Christ — just allowing us to see Christ in your hearts, as we prayed, cried, got on our knees, held hands, trusted God, saw the impossible become a reality, and listened: I am with you … doesn’t that sound like: “and behold, I am with you to the end of the ages”. This great challenge has given us a great opportunity to see in a clear way God’s commitment to the work he has called us! PRAISE HIM!!!

In Him, for Him and through Him, Fernando and Larissa Rodrigues

And Chico, whom as you know I've worked with for the past 3 years or so, recently celebrated his 27th birthday. Chico shared his thoughts on turning 27 and some pictures from his party. ...which was amazing. I sat there and which man after man enter the room that has been impacted by Chico's life. Imagine celebrating your birthday with a room full of about 20 men who've grown because of the light they see in you. Read about it and see the pictures here.

a rain beating

Around 5:30 last night we were beat with some heavy rain and wind... right about the time the students would be leaving their homes and getting the bus to the meeting. We still had a great turnout; just ended up starting a little later. I thank God for what he did through the meeting to give us a deeper desire to understand the Kingdom and to live as citizens in it.

Afterwards we had some refreshments or "little salties", as they call them here (salgadinhos) and sang karaoke. Be sure to check out the pictures.

immigration

In just about 2 hours I'm headed over to teammates Jimmy and Maggie's apartment for a meeting with around 100 students, staff and graduates. Tonight we'll be talking some about our upcoming theme for our "summer" beach project - Immigration. The main thing we are trying to get at is what is the Kingdom of God, how do we live as citizens in it, and how do we help others see it. Please pray tonight that the vision would be cast clearly and that the students would be interested not only in attending the project but also living out their Kingdom citizenship here in Belo Horizonte.

this coming saturday

Two weeks ago about 80 of us got together on the indoor soccer court where we normally meet for church to talk a little about the upcoming beach project and to emphasize living out our theme - Immigration - during the 49 other weeks of the year. We'll be meeting again this Saturday to further discuss our theme and to encourage one another to continue seeking first God's kingdom and his righteousness. Pray that those interested in going to the project this year could get a clear picture of what it's all about.

staff team

more Petersen

Check out Jimmy and Maggie's blog about the upcoming staff stimulus. The gave an interesting link to the hotel fazenda where we'll be staying.

staff stimulus

Tomorrow afternoon Amy and I will be loading up our crew and some luggage and headed out for the rest of the week. This week is our annual staff stimulus... our once-a-year meeting with our staff team for a week of stimulus.

I'm super-excited about tomorrow night. This year we'll be meeting with Jim Petersen (works with the Navigators). He spent 18 years in Brazil during the 60's and 70's working with college students. Tomorrow night he's going to share hopefully about some of his experiences.

(Here's Jim pictured with a ministry team in Asia... he's the one in the denim shirt).

I recently finished his latest book, The Insider... Bringing the Kingdom of God into your everyday world. He's shares on an assortment of issues in the book and I highly encourage you to read it. Here's one interesting quote:

Are you looking for your calling, wondering what God wants you to do? You're surrounded! Some of your relationships are good, some are bad, but they all have potential for new meaning now that you're a citizen of the kingdom of God. Live out that citizenship...

That quote doesn't do it justice so just take my word for it. Please pray for our team this week that this time could bring needed encouragement and renewal with God, with our mission and with one another. Thanks.

filipino observations

I asked Karen to share some of her thoughts on her time here in Brazil. Here's what she had to say after her long trip home. She got delayed again on the way. Go figure.

Last week I went for what I thought would be 5 long days in Brasil, but it turned out to be one quick adventure with the Dowdys. I've been living in Asia for some time and it's obvious I'm not a local, so wherever I go, people always begin by speaking English with me. So, I was quite surprised when I landed in Brasil and everyone started with Portuguese and then switched to English only after noticing the blank stare on my face. Another surpriser was having to greet everyone with a kiss. During the in-town retreat, I had plenty of opportunities to practice my new greeting skill. After the first night, I turned to Amy and confessed, "I've never kissed so many guys in one night."

All uncomfortableness aside, Belo is a wonderful city and I enjoyed not only spending time with the 5 Dowdys but spending time with the students they work with. Trip is highly recommended, I give it 5 stars.

karen

retreating or advancing?

This past weekend we had 30- something of our friends over to kick-off an in-town retreat. I like to think of it more as an advance rather than a retreat, an advance into a deeper understanding of what it means to not only "receive Christ" but also to "continue to walk in him" (Col. 2:6-7). Pray that this would be a reality among us on the campus, within our church and at home with our families.

13 Going On 30

Amy gracefully entered her 30's on Saturday. We had some chocolate and strawberry cake with all the crew from the retreat that afternoon and then that night we went out with a few friends. Some of the presents Amy got: the movie, 13 Going On 30 from my mom, some feathery earrings, and a bouquet of flowers from the kids (that was the first thing Braden asked me that morning... when are we going to buy the flowers?). Thanks to all of you who sent emails and cards in the mail.

from the philippines

This past Wednesday Amy's roommate, Karen, from West Georgia arrived here in Belo for a visit and to celebrate Amy's 30th with us. She was supposed to arrive on Tuesday but she missed her flight and then missed it again the next day but she eventually arrived at our apartment by taxi since we missed her at the airport. Traveling overseas is always tricky. She tried calling us to say she would be late but since it takes at least an hour for us to drive to the airport we didn't get her call. And she missed her flight in the first place because they changed gates but only notified the passengers in Portuguese. For any of you thinking of coming to visit please disregard these last few statements. And thanks for coming Karen. She left Sunday and is catching who-knows-how-many flights to make her way back to the Philippines where she and her husband work.

to the park

We tried to have a nice, calm day at the park today with the boys, but don't let the picture fool you... it just didn't happen exactly as we hoped. I mean, we had moments but I knew we weren't entering serenity when we stepped out of the car. The sun was just oppressive. The boys didn't last a minute on their scooters before we retreated to a shady tree and some grass. I think Simon wasn't feeling too good and their attitudes ebbed and flowed for a while as I tried to keep them entertained helping them climb a tree. It was worth it just to get out a little and at least the picture turned out nice.

transitioning

Today I went over to the Dempseys along with 25 or so of the recent graduates involved in the ministry here for a transitioning seminar. It was definitely a milestone moment or something like that. Bernardo, Wandson, and Emerson (in the pic from left) are guys that have I've accompanied in their discipleship with Christ over the past 4+ years! Bernardo should graduate at the end of this year. Emerson has been working for the past year with his computer science degree. And Wandson just got a job a few months ago (electrical engineering... he and Bernardo). We talked about how God is calling us to be labors and how important it is to remember that as we are "working" or looking for a "job". I put those things in "quotes" because laboring in the kingdom is the real work, and our work place is one of the contexts that we glorify God.
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Just a short Lucy update - her hair is starting to grow back. A few weeks ago it started falling out in the front and now you can see little hairlings poking out of her scalp. It seems pretty thick. We're still unsure what color it is or will be... is it reddish or a lighter brown? We're still not sure.

flat on my back

Since Wednesday afternoon I've been laid out flat! Wednesday was Dia das Crianças (Kid's Day), a national holiday here in Brazil, and we had two families over for a Brazilian barbecue and swimming for the kids (Emmi Long and Kate Dempsey in the pic). Our pool is more like a wading pool, but great for the kids.



Towards the end of the day I finally sat down in one of the tin fold-out chairs we have and maybe stayed in that position for an hour or so talking with the guys. When I tried to stand up I couldn't straighten up. On Thursday Chico took me to the doctor and I learned that I had injured a muscle in my lower back. The doctor told me to take some muscle relaxers and stay flat on my back in bed for two days. So that's where I've been.

It's been productive though. I've almost finished a new book I'm reading, The Insider, by Jim Petersen. He's coming to Brazil in November to speak to our staff team for a few days. I'm extremely curious considering he lived in Brazil as a missionary to college students for 18 years with the Navigators back in the 60's.

doctor's appointment

We took Lucy today to the doctor for her first check-up. The doctor said that everything looked great. Lucy tipped the scales at 10 pounds 12 ounces! Tonight we are going to Carol's birthday party (one of the girl's from our community discipleship group). It should be a good time for the community as I expect most will attend. Carol and her brother Roberto (both have become Christians in the last few years) are a vital part of our community and have been a big part of the process of following Christ for many others. Pray for God's continued grace on their family.

first day at church

Yesterday was Lucy's first day at the Igreja Presbiteriana do Sion. We had to give her a bath when we got home from all the girls hugging and kissing on her (there were several distinct different perfumes from head to toe). She wore a new dress that our friends Lorena, Carol and Mirella gave her.

cousin Kayla

Just a few days ago Lucy's little cousin Kayla was born! Brian (Amy's brother) and Candace are now on their third like us (Ethan and Andrew) and family get-togethers are taking on a whole new meaning. Click here to see more pics of Kayla.

Lucy in stripes

She was just too cute in this little outfit to not put a picture up for you all to see. Lucy continues to be a good baby and the boys are settling down. Amy has started back school with them and it has helped, I think. Braden is reading really well and has even started chatting online. Yesterday he was talking with my grandmother and I don't think she even realized it was him. I must not spell very well.

One more funny thing: yesterday Amy and I went with the boys and Rafael to get ice cream and there at the ice cream shop you sit out on the street in these plastic table and chairs. Anyway, this guy walked by with this white dog. Simon sat straight up in his chair and said, "I thought I saw a wolf!" He lives in his own little world.

zone defense

After about a month of helping with Lucy and the boys my mom flew back to the States on Saturday to take care of Poppy (my dad). It was great having her. The kids loved it and I know she will be missed. Everyone keeps telling us that we can't play man-to-man defense anymore with 3 kids. I guess we're going ZONE now.

Lucy's bodyguard

Good luck to any guy thinking of dating Lucy about 16 years from now! Simon's making the message pretty clear... don't lay a hand on my sister!

thumb-sucker

Lucy is now 16 days old! One of my favorite things is when she's just falling asleep in your lap and is still kind of active. She stiffens up and flings her arms out as if she's going to fall. She grunts and squints up her face. But the best is when she curls up one side of her mouth in a smile and shows off her dimples. It's impossible to catch on camera though.

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Please check out some of the recent events with our community as told by my teammate Chico Rodrigues. We met together for a spaghetti dinner and some worship this past Friday and it was awesome. My faith was really renewed that God is with us and that He is going to continue the work to completion that He has started among us.

praying for a "pousada"

Last week Jimmy and Chico flew out to the coast and drove from Rio de Janeiro all the way to Vitória, Espírito Santo, almost 1000 kilometers, looking for a "pousada" (inn/hotel) for us to use this coming January for our annual summer training camp.

This week we'll be receiving several suggested contracts from the hotels they visited. Please pray for a miracle. The first offer we received was for R$120,000 ($50,000) and we hoped to pay less than R$40,000 (R$17,000). Pray that we could find something and move forward with the negociation this week.

3 in pj's

My mom and Amy enjoyed a moment of respite despite a rough day while they were putting the boys down for the night (I was at church). All 3 of the kids were in the same bed with Sue Sue, listening to a nighttime story (until Simon jumped up and got in his bed when Lucy started crying).

saturday "churrasco"

Yesterday the boys and I got together with several friends for a churrasco (a Brazilian barbecue). Jimmy did the grilling honors. We played volleyball and sat around and caught up on each others lives. The boys got to play pool and on the playground at Jimmy and Maggie's house. We let the girls have a rest from us loud boys. Everyone was really nice to play with the boys. Here's a picture of Rafael reading a little to Simon.

grands

Granddaddy Poppy and granddaughter Lucy took some time out together on the couch before Poppy got back on the plane. My dad is already back in the States finishing up a deadline at work.

Out of the Woods

I'm finally easing my "book" out on the table for people to read. But I'm only listening to a little of the feedback. If your interested in reading a completely fictional, and totally unedited novel written in 30 days, check out chapter 1.

simon's jungle

One of Simon's favorite books is about a little boy who takes a walk through the jungle and meets all kinds of animals. He loves stomping, creeping, swinging... Make sure to look for Poppy on the video listening in. And if you hear a swat on Braden's head, it sounded louder than it was. Check it out.

Braden and Lucy

Both the boys have been really sweet with Lucy on both visits to the hospital. They stayed with Lutzes while we got all checked in at the hospital and then with the Dempseys during the birth and then came to visit later with the Baileys. It was a little scary though to see Simon rubbing her head with his dirty fingernails. It's just the start to having two big brothers, I guess. Go see more pictures of delivery day.

on the phone

Here's a picture of Amy talking to her mom, Betty Jo. We tried calling as many people as we could to announce Lucy's arrival. We thought it was so cute. The hospital put a little green bow in her hair!

Lucy is here!

Yesterday at 11:10 or thereabouts Amy gave birth to Lucy Alison Dowdy. She weighed 7 lbs and 14 ozs and measured 50 cms. Amy is recovering fine. She got out of bed around lunchtime this afternoon for a shower and lunch. Lucy has dark blue eyes and blondish hair.

planning for saturday

Larissa came over today and helped me convince Amy to show off her belly. At Amy's doctor's appointment yesterday Dr. Virginia asked if Amy wanted to go ahead and have the baby today! All along we've been thinking Saturday so the doctor is going to let us try and hold out until then. My parents arrive tomorrow and then one of our friends gets married on Friday. We are an inch away from deciding the name... we will send word when it's official.

hail storm!

Braden, Simon and I were looking out their window tonight at a storm that was blowing in over the mountain. We had the windows open but then it started to rain. Just as we closed them I started hearing this "ting" noise against the metal grates that cover our windows. It got heavier and then I started noticing these little white things bouncing off the road... it was a hail storm! We don't get too many of those here in Brazil. I picked up one piece and it was the size of a gum ball. The boys were slow in going to bed... they didn't know what to think about it. Braden even put a sticker on his calendar - his first hail storm.

more bees

I'm not talking about just a few bees... maybe hundreds. We have a porch-like area above our garage, which serves as our yard for barbecues, hanging up clothes to dry, and playing basketball (I'll attach a picture later). The porch is covered in bees!

natural phenomenon

It's raining bees! This past week the strangest thing has been happening around our apartment. Bees have been falling from the sky and dying everywhere. Simon stepped on one and got stung... he didn't have an allergic reaction or anything. The boys think it's neat and go out and clean them all up with a broom and a dustpan.

weekend's end

Duncan and Meg Dempsey came over on Saturday and played with the kids while Demps and I caught up. We hadn't seen each other since I left for the States!

Tonight I did part two of the series on the life of Paul. Tonight was about Paul's conversion. I learned a ton from the preparation. It's been a great study for me to do. I've mostly been just using the text and reading The Apostle. It's been a great resource.

The talks are online but only in Portuguese (obviously). And some of the songs from the services as well. This week I'll only be able to add a text file because my computer froze up with only 4 minutes remaining in my talk. Ugh!

Only 2 days left to finish my novel. I made a list of all the loose ends I have to wrap up before then... I guess we'll see. One way or the other I hope to finish it. Depending on how the rest of the week goes I hope I can do a general editing job to get it presentable enough to print it out and let Amy read it.

the baby room

Lemon and I worked on the baby room today after our Bible study. We mostly worked on patching up some old holes in the wall and then painted over it. Tonight we are going to put up a new shelf when the paint dries.

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In just a few hours we are expecting around 30 guests here at our apartment. We are going to eat Sloppy Joe's and then later have Chico lead us in a moment in the Word and then later we are going to sing some worship songs. Our prayer is that God would continue to form us into a community that truly reflects His love among us and to others.

6 and counting

Tonight I crossed over the 40,000 word mark. In just 6 short days my novel will be "finished". Lots of people have been asking about what "finished" means. It means that the story will be complete. But I won't have done any editing or filling in after the 30 days are up. So, I plan to only let the most loving friends and family read it for now.

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Last night was a rough one for me. I watched almost every hour pass on the clock: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7... I have been fighting a cold lately and last night my nose wouldn't stop "leaking" and it brought on a serious headache. Today I've been okay but I'm hoping that I'm not in for another night like last night. It seems like when I lay down it gets a lot worse.

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Sunday I preached about the life of Paul at church. I talked about Paul's life before his conversion. I tried to mostly set the context by sharing about Paul's upbringing (what growing up in a Pharisee family was like) and then I told the story of the stoning of Stephen. I felt like the major lesson for us was are we testing our "religion". Paul was in the right place, among God's chosen people, but he didn't recognize the Messiah.

the baby shower

Larissa and Maggie hosted a shower for me and some other moms from the team today. Candace is due in October and I'm (Amy) due in September and Wendy just adopted Emmi who's 3 (and who was also the hit of the shower)! The food was delicious and we got lots of fun new clothes and linens. All pink, of course, and plenty of diapers as well. It was fun!

Save-Ums

Today I was working in my office using a highlighter on a text I was reading when Braden decided he would come in and color too! He's been working on a set of Save-Ums pictures that I downloaded for him off the internet... something he's seen on Discovery Kids!

Birthday/Holiday

This past Monday we went over to our friend Giuliano's house. It was his birthday (and some kind of religious holiday) and a great excuse for everyone to get together and have some cake and pizza.
I always particularly enjoy going to Giuliano's: his father is a pilot and always seems to have a good story to tell, both Giuliano and his brother Marco like to play the guitar and so we sometimes "jam" together (which we did yesterday... I took the mandolin!), and last but not least, he has a great basketball court. We got to play a few games yesterday before soccer won over on popular vote.
Here's a picture of Amy and some of the girls from the community (L-R: Amy, Gisele, Aninha, Roberta and Jussara and of Simon course pretending to be a panther and eating his own arm!).

novelling

I "jumped in" today and now I feel like I'm "out of the woods"! Week two supposedly is the hardest of the 4 week trek to 50,000 words. I'm almost through; only one day left.

Current Word Count: 22,146

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Yesterday, Braden, Rafael, Lemon, Luke (more on him later) and I went to see the United States or should I say a United States basketball team participate in a round robin with Brazil, Argentina and Canada. The US team was awful even though they eventually won the game versus Argentina. Brazil was pretty fun to watch in the 3rd quarter, but other than that it was just sloppy basketball.

Luke is a student from Tennessee Tech visiting for several days. He's about to graduate and is considering going overseas someday as a missionary.

Kent, our director, went today to see the US play Brazil (lost by 10) and experienced the highlight of the tournament. He got his picture taken with Dennis Johnson! Many of you may remember him from the Larry Bird days of the Celtics.

Ahoy Mateys!

I can't decide if these are the villains are the heroes for my novel yet. Besides I can't give away the story before it's finished.

Current Word Count: 14,422

Things have picked up in pace here. This is the second week of classes and today was our first investigative study for some of the new students we met during the last two months. Today we talked about our great need for God. Please pray that many of the students will be willing to join in these discussions with us.

Amy's new outfit

Our friends Sam and Marcela were married last night. Amy had to special order her outfit to suit her and the baby. Only 5 or so weeks remain before we meet her! The wedding was lots of fun... lots of friends. And we are really happy for the new couple. I translated the service since it was international.

The pink scarf Amy had attached to the pants suit is from Thailand from our trip earlier this year. We are hoping she can use the outfit again for Paige Hardy's wedding on September 9th... only days before the due date. We'll see.

NaNoWriMo in August

I am writing a novel!

While in the States this year I bought a book (one of many I've bought on the subject over the years) called, No Plot? No Problem!, which walks you through the process of writing a book in 30 days.

The author basically shares two ideas: trash your internal editor and create a deadline for yourself. The writer was either the creator or part of the creation of NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. The "competition" is kind of like running a literary marathon of sorts. You don't really enter to win but more to prove it to yourself that you can do it. The only problem is that the competition is in November which is just impossible for me because of our preparations for our beach project. So I'm declaring August my own personal NaNoWriMo.

Feel free to write a word of encouragement and to check in on me to see how everything is going. One great benefit is that we'll be TV-FREE this month, since that's one of the things I cut out to have time for writing. Amy's goal is one page of Creative Memories a night for Simon's baby album before the little girl arrives.

Today is Day 5 and my word count is 7,206 of 50,000.