A Brand New Man

Francisco has been studying the Bible at our church for almost two months.  He saw the sign for Let's Start Talking  (LST) on the building and signed up for Bible classes taught in English.  He began studying with Bob, one of the LST workers who was here for six weeks.  Then, when Bob left, he continued with Ryan, another worker who has been here for several weeks and is about to leave.  In the midst of his English study Francisco was eager to learn more about the Bible than his limited English afforded.  That's where John came in.  He and Francisco have had weekly studies in Portuguese at the same time Francisco studies English.  John's silent partner, Fernanda (see my last post), has been present for most of those classes.  

Francisco lives on the street.  He makes less than most of us would consider a decent living by selling popcorn and peanuts on the street.  At night he locks his few possessions - a change of clothes, the Bible John gave him, and a magnifying glass to read it - in the cart he pushes around all day.  On more than one occasion he skipped a study because it had rained and his "clothes were stinking".  Someone stole his magnifying glass so he can't read his Bible any more.  

He became homeless when he was twenty-five.  He lived with his family as most Brazilians do well into young adulthood.  He had a friend who was keeping bad company, and one of the shady characters showed up to Francisco's house with a gun.  He shot Francisco's friend, killing him.  Then he turned the gun on Francisco.  Instead of shooting him, though, he shot Francisco's mother.  She survived but the family blamed Francisco.  They ran him out of his home and far away from where they all lived.  He has been trying to get back on his feet ever since.

Francisco has had three failed common law marriages and one child with whom he has no contact.  He has done desperate things, which need not be mentioned, just to feed himself.  He says he's been told that he needs to turn to God and has gone into may churches seeking the meaning of that suggestion, but to no avail.  Until he showed up at our congregation's door, he says, nobody ever took the time to sit down with him and explain who Jesus is and how he saves lives.  Francisco told John he believes what the Bible says and wants to follow God's ways.  He was baptized Wednesday night. 

We just found out that he turned fifty on August first.  He says he hasn't celebrated his birthday in many, many years because he hasn't had any friends or family with whom to celebrate.  We're planning a belated birthday party for Francisco.  We look forward to presenting him with a birthday cake, a Bible, an eye exam, and glasses. 

Study Buddies

John currently has three weekly studies with individuals interested in learning the Bible.  Rodrigo (left) has been studying with John for about a month.  Fernanda, a member of the congregation, is one of two silent partners who is in training to do Bible studies on her own.  

They all seem to enjoy each other's company and the material being covered.

Fire at the Jewell House

Two nights ago I was awakened by the ceiling fan. The steady hum of the motor was interrupted as the fan spun faster then slower out of rhythm. "Oh great," I thought, "the fan is broken," and went back to sleep. The next morning the lights were shining at half capacity. Life here is very different so we didn't think much of it. A little later I told John I thought something was burning and wasn't sure if it was coming from outside or inside the house. Our windows stay open all night and all day so it's hard to tell.

We searched the house and couldn't find the source so we decided it must be coming from outside. Just as John was coming down the stairs from checking our bedroom there was a loud bang and sparks rained down the stairs and onto the back of his neck. The light fixture on the wall had exploded into fire and a long flame was licking the ceiling (entirely made of wood). John threw a towel over the burning heap on the stairs and I fetched flour to douse the base of the flame. This is what you do when you don't have a fire extinguisher.

John shut down the main breaker and called the electrician who helped us when we moved in. While we were waiting for him to arrive our neighbor called to ask if we were having any electrical problems. He said he tested his outlets and the voltage - which is normally 220 volts in northern Brazil - had reached 380 volts. No wonder our light blew up. The electrician confirmed what our neighbor told us and said the city would have to fix the problem.

We lost an alarm clock, our radio, our cable box, and our washing machine but, thankfully, no one and nothing else was harmed. Between the sunrise at 5:00am and the large rooster population, we can live without the alarm clock. Though we would like to keep up with Fox news election coverage, we can read the local paper. The radio is a bummer but we can listen to music in the car, and since we got our boxes from the States recently, we have a lot more clothes to go through before we absolutely have to do laundry.

Now may be a good time to invest in some smoke detectors and fire extinguishers. We're also thinking about surge protectors but our neighbor assures us they wouldn't hold up against a surge that great. The good news, they say, is that it only happens once in a while. Hearing that makes me glad we didn't buy top-of-the-line appliances.

Thanks to all of you who pray for us regularly. We are very aware that this could have been much worse. Had we been away from home, we might have lost everything. Had we been asleep, we might have lost everyone.

Baseball Party

Each Thursday the church hosts a party for its LST students (people studying English using the Bible).  Last week's theme was baseball.  Here's Jonah checking in at the name tag station by the front door:

Here are the students and some folks from church, ready to learn how to play baseball: 

We separated into teams:

and showed them how to man the field:

Then we played home run derby:

This guy wanted to claim the American boys for his team:

And he was right to do so.  They knocked it out of the park:

Of course, we had to teach them the wave:

and how to sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game":

which they were happy to practice in front of everyone:

And what would a ball game be without hot dogs?

Jonah and Andy were especially proud to share their whiffle balls and plastic bat with people who have never played the game. 

Brazilian Valentine's Day

Brazilians celebrate Valentine's Day in June on Saint Anthony of Padua's Day because he is considered the patron of those who are seeking a romantic relationship.  They call it Dia dos Namorados, which means Day of Lovers.  In our experience, Dia dos Namorados has about as much to do with St. Anthony as Valentine's Day has to do with Saint Valentine.  Instead, it's a time for husbands and wives and boyfriends and girlfriends to exchange gifts and celebrate their love for each other.

The church hosted a dinner for couples to celebrate this unofficial holiday.  We had seventeen visitors.  That number is odd because one of the visitors was the husband of a church member.  John and I sat at their table.  It was nice to get to know Alex because we spend so much time with his wife and daughter.  He seemed reserved at first but warmed up to us as the evening went on.  

We played a game where each couple was tied together and had to figure out how to separate without untying the strings that held them together.

Dinner was delicious and it seemed like everyone had a great time.  We hope to make it an annual event.

Discovering Health Care in Natal

We were racing into town at 5:00am with both of our groggy children to find a hospital emergency room to treat Andy.  He had been up all night complaining about pain in his ears. Not wanting to overreact, we gave him Tylenol every four hours and decided to ride it out.  By sunrise, his pain had not subsided and he was vomiting.  We loaded up the car and went on the hunt for a hospital - any hospital other than the one we had been to for my asthma attack.

Among the first things we did when we arrived in Natal was sign up for medical insurance, because we knew we would have to wait a month before we could use it.  It seemed as soon as the month was up we needed it, and "finding doctors" was pushed to the top of the list which, as we soon found out, can be very difficult in a foreign country. 

I have asthma but haven't had any major episodes for over a year.  I carry an emergency inhaler but have not taken daily medicine for some time - mostly because it costs almost $200 each month.  Last month while my brother was visiting, I started having trouble breathing.  (A buggy ride through the sand dunes isn't the best thing for an asthmatic.)  I used my inhaler three times but to no avail.  We went to the nearest emergency room at a hospital called Promater to seek help.  I waited in a packed waiting room for almost two hours to see a doctor.  When I was finally admitted, John and I walked into a small room where a young man was sitting behind a desk.  I say "man" because I'm not at all convinced he was a real doctor.

When I told him my problem he looked baffled, so I helped him out by telling him about the medicines I have taken in the past.  He had never heard of them so he looked them up in a medical catalog of sorts.  He pointed to something and asked if I thought that was what I had taken.  I wasn't sure but he wrote me two prescriptions anyway.   Then he sent me across the hall to a room lined with chairs and spigots.  A nurse entered and mixed the medicine that was written on the order I handed her.  She attached a mask and hose to one of the spigots and handed it to me on her way out the door.  "Wait a minute," I said.  "How long should I do this?"  She told me about fifteen minutes and asked if I had a watch.  I didn't but John took out his cell phone and timed what seemed to be a nebulizer treatment on that.  

 I did not fill the prescriptions because my intuition told me otherwise but, thanks to God and good insurance, was able to seek out a competent pulmonologist who took a chest x-ray and a breathing test the very next day.  She assured me that I am healthy and, if I can avoid certain irritants like chemicals, mildew, and sand dunes, I probably won't need daily medicine because the air quality is so good in Natal.  She said it was a wise decision not to take the medicines the Promater doctor prescribed and gave me others to fill instead to get through the crisis.  She gave me her cell phone number and said to call with any concerns.  She also suggested that we avoid that hospital in the future.  I am breathing fine now and Andy, who also has asthma, has not had any problems breathing.

His problem that morning was something else.  We pulled into the parking lot at the hospital where I visited the pulmonologist.  They told us at the reception desk that they don't see children.  They recommended Promater - the one I swore never to visit again.  We drove through the city and found another ER.  John ran in and right back out.  Bad news.  They only see adults here.  By that time Andy was throwing up again and we headed straight back to Promater. 

 We waited for about forty-five minutes.  The "pediatrician" mumbled something about a green thing in his ear.  I told her it was tubes we had put there because he had so many ear infections.  She was visibly relieved to know what it was.  The fact that she had never seen tubes in a kid's ears didn't earn my confidence.  Then she said he had a double ear infection and started to write him a prescription. She stopped short and said she should probably know how much he weighed.  She sat there and waited for us to go find a scale.  Before we finally walked out of her office with the suspicious prescription in hand, she stopped us saying she forgot to listen to his heart and that would probably be a good idea.

We gave him the medicine only because we knew what it was.  The next day we found a reputable pediatrician for a second opinion.  He changed the dosage of the antibiotic, saying it was a bit much for a three year old.  As it turns out, Andy had the beginnings of a respiratory infection with a lot of congestion.  The medicine cleared it right up and he is well.  We were both very thankful that this was not a grave emergency and have since done much research to find competent pediatricians and hospitals for our family.   

Amazonian Giant Centipede

This is what I'm going to tell you about in this post:

It's called an Amazonian Giant Centipede and if this photo makes you queasy, you certainly don't want to watch the links to the videos I've posted.

If you read Jonah and Andy's page you've already seen this and know that it was in our bed.  The reason I'm putting it on our main blog page is because it has become something of an issue in our lives this week.  One of these centipedes climbed out from under Jonah's bed and right up his leg on Saturday.  They move fast and we had to turn the room upside down to locate and finally kill it.

I saved it in a container and took it to church to see if anyone knew what it was.  Someone told me it's a lacraia (Portuguese for centipede).  I did some research on the Internet and was happy to find no confirmed cases of death by giant centipede.  I will allow you to watch the videos if you would like to know more about some of the creatures living around and apparently in our house - if you would like to know how to more specifically pray for our protection.  We would sure appreciate it.

I will tell you that these centipedes are carnivorous - eating birds, bats, lizards, tarantulas, and mice - and highly toxic.  See for yourself:

video of a centipede eating a tarantula

video of centipede eating a mouse

I even found a discussion forum for people who own these as pets (I kid you not) and handle them on a regular basis.