Life on the Streets of Santo Antonio da Ica

In this age of fast paced technology and

I’ve never met children with such a remarkable ability to entertain themselves with anything. Since a soccer or volley ball costs nearly R$40 and most families are mostly concerned with having enough food, the children are forced to be creative went it comes to entertainment. A can some string and a plastic bag soon becomes a kite. Any thing found on the side of the road has potential to become a play thing. If a ball is available it’s played with until its in shreds by every child in the neighborhood. If the kids aren’t playing soccer or volleyball then they can be found down at the ports making mud slides into the river. From sun up to way past sun down the children of the Amazon are always playing on every street, in every vacant lot, and anywhere they feel like playing. The sad reality however, is that they are out often times because of the deplorable conditions at home. Poverty grips the region like a debilitating disease. Socialism has crippled the people. Farmers stopped planting, teachers have stopped teaching and most government funded jobs are filled by workers who don't care to work and know they can’t be fired. As long as the government sends their checks every month most people seem content to remain in their impoverished conditions.

Those who strive for more and wish to encourage those around them are up against a stubborn wall of lethargic ideology. Diligence, gratitude, graciousness, and conscientiousness are words without meaning for most people in this area. The pastors I have had the pleasure of hearing teach since I’ve been in the Amazon speak with such passion and love pleading with their congregations to live lives worthy of the calling to which they have been called. Loving one another as Christ loves us is a theme often repeated. Satan is having a heyday in Santo Antonio do Ica distracting the hearts of God’s people and turning their eyes to themselves and not to their savior.

However, there is a beautiful simplicity about this culture that has pushed me nearer to my God. I come from a culture and country where every earthly comfort is available to me and finding personal fulfillment is almost a must. In the Amazon just having cheese and carrots in the grocery store or consistent electricity, is exciting. I’ve been driven to my knees and all the silly distractions that pulled me away so easily before have fallen away. Just to be able to praise my Savior and love like him overwhelms me with joy. No matter what our circumstances, as believers, we are all called to one purpose. Wade through the external distractions of your life and take a deeper look at your hearts condition. My prayer is that after some close inspection and heart work, you will be able to see yourself and your God in truth, and more clearly see the hearts of those God has placed on your path to love as he would.

The Sunday Salon

When I arrived in Santo Antonio do Ica my first and greatest difficulty was communication. I couldn’t speak a lick of Portuguese beyond Oi (hi) and besides the Peace family no one spoke any English. This was especially vexing to me because I love to talk to people. On my flight down to Brazil I made multiple new friends by striking up conversations with strangers. Now my main method of communication was rendered useless. I was lost and had no idea how to connect with the people around me. Of course, this was just where God wanted me. Not knowing how to begin I just stuck with what I knew.

I stayed close to the Peace kids and tried to do some fun things with them. It wasn’t long before the girls found that I could do hair and soon after the news spread round the neighborhood. Now I have an average of 6-7 girls per Sunday that come to have their hair done for the evening service. It was quite difficult in the beginning trying to figure out how they wanted their hair done so I ended up drawing pictures of as many hair styles as I could come up with. Now they just come into the living room, plop down in the seat I have ready for them, grab my sketchbook and pick the picture they want.

Who would have thought that knowing how to do hair would come in handy in the Amazon. This has been a wonderful way to get to know the girls and as far as I can tell has drawn them together too. When I’m done with their hair they go back home, get all dressed up and then walk to church together. It’s a precious sight to see.

English Class

For the past six weeks we have been holding an English class at the Peace home. The class is held on Saturday afternoons and is open to anyone who wants to learn. Athena is the main teacher. Julia, Jessica and I help lead smaller groups when they break up to practice. From day one the small school room was packed. We have at least 15 students ranging from 10-19 years old. Most of them are pretty consistent in attending and the older ones are picking things up fast. Helping with the class has really helped my Portuguese and helped me get to know the older teens. Some Saturdays the kids don't seem to want to leave and work on their English for a several hours. I hope I can begin to pick up their language as fast as they are picking up mine.

Wildlife in the Amazon

Nature study has always been one of my favorite pastimes, so getting to explore the Amazon Rainforest is a truly incredible experience for me. As of yet I haven't been able to go into the forest much. However, I have been promised a canoe expedition before I leave. Most of my observations so far have been of the insect world. Bugs are everywhere here and as much as you try there is no getting away from them. No amount of ant killer will rid your home of the numerous variety of ants, and even the best of house keepers is sure to find a cockroach skulking in the corners of cupboards. The plant life is exquisite and profuse which is a strong attraction for bees, wasps and butterflies. The bright colors all around are one of the most striking features of the Amazon. No withered dried up plants here, or watering systems. The humid climate keeps everything green and luscious all year round. A drought here is when it doesn't rain for 17 days. The birds are always in a constant tizzy it seems. The constant twittering isn’t annoying though. Its definitely one of the things I’ll miss.

The other day on my way back from the internet café I met a large blueish-green parrot as I walked across the compue. He was just chilling by the path and cocked his head when I said hello. Jacob, Lucas and I have started a bug collection and are even collecting insect eggs. So far Jacob has hatched cockroaches, and some kind of tiny caterpillar and three of our large colorful and poisonous caterpillars have made cocoons. Since researching on the internet is nearly impossible here I will have to wait till I get home to look up what we’ve caught. The largest bug I’ve seen was a squashed rhino beetle that was on the side of the road.

Pets around here are pretty much anything you can catch. A good friend of the Peaces has quite the zoo. He’s had several different kinds of monkeys, parrots, and all kinds of other exotic creatures. Lloyds had his fair share of interesting pets as well. He brought a baby sloth home after a hunting trip once and even caught a caiman. Stay tuned for more critter news in my next Amazon update.

Ready for Anything

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Blessed are the flexible for they shall be stretched.” This quote always makes me laugh, mostly because I’ve found it to be so true. Thank goodness we have a God who has prepared us for everything. The trick though is to let him have the control. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2Corin.12:9) Most of us have seen pictures and heard stories of missionaries feeding the hungry, tending the sick, praying with lost souls, and overcoming all sorts of odds to bring God’s word to the lost in the remote parts of the world. But we rarely hear about the day to day struggles. The occupations of those who have ben called to “ministry” can seem so high above the common believer. This however, is in no way the case. All believers have been called to the ministry of Christ (Matt. 28:16-20). No calling is higher or lower than another for we are all members of one body (1Corin. 12:12-30) and called to God’s purpose. One of the biggest things I’ve learned since I’ve been in Brazil is that life as a missionary is pretty much the same as the life of any believer anywhere in the world. Sure there are cultural differences and different climate issues to deal with, but humans are humans no matter where they are from; so the issues that arise when working with them are pretty much the same. There are still dishes to be done every day, children to raise, meals to cook, relationship drama to deal with, and church politics to overcome.

I thought I’d come to the Amazon and do nothing but Bible studies and tending to the poor and needy. What a surprise it was to me when God asked me to tech art lessons, play ball tag, take kids swimming, teach Scottish Country dances, gut fish, and do girls hair. How could any of those things be considered ministry? Then I saw it, Christ has called us to be his light and love in this dark depraved world. Any opportunity to interact with people is and opportunity to show His love. Living for Him is a 24/7 occupation that goes far beyond Sunday services and mid week Bible studies. We should be doing all things as unto Christ whether its taking care of a sick pet or lifting up a broken spirit (Ephe. 2:10). God calls all believers to the same standard whether you live in the Amazon or in Cottonwood CA. Life with Christ is an adventure no matter where He’s placed you. Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. (Phil. 1:27)

News from the Amazon

I’ve always been so curious to know what it really is like to be a missionary in a foreign country. I expected life to be harder and your days to be consumed with ministry activities. How wrong and yet how right I was. Day to day life is harder down here in Brazil. Due to the contaminated water we have to boil whatever water we need for whatever drinking or cooking needs we have for the day. Vegetables, which are very scarce, have to be bleached and washed in purified water. There is no glass on the windows, only screens so the floors have to be swept every day due to all the dust blowing in. Most houses don’t even have screen though so we’re blessed to at least have that. Ants are not a maybe problem, the question is always when they will get into things. It rains almost every day so drying laundry is a rather difficult thing. Mold likes to grow on everything (even the wooden doors, furniture and ceilings). For this reason books don’t do to well down here. Everything’s always damp all the time so the Peaces have to keep all their books in a closed room with a small air conditioning unit always on. The pets are great though. Lloyd said that growing up he and his brother found there interesting pets when they were out hunting. Sloths, parrots, giant beetles, stray dogs and cats, tapers, and monkeys were all fair game if you could find and catch one. Not long after I arrived at the Peace house a neighbor came by with a bucket of baby parrots that had been knocked out of a tree. The kids really wanted to keep a couple but the parakeets they already had didn’t like them so we gave them all away to various neighbors. Besides Amarelinho and Berdinho, the parakeets, the Peaces have a black lab named Shadow and Jacob has now takes to collecting bugs and has a pet beetle named Jeremy Agustus Peace 1 as well as a few other unnamed insects. Meals are pretty simple for the most part. In the morning Lloyd goes to the bread shop and gets a bunch of fresh made rolls for breakfast. I haven’t seen any cereal in the stores here so Athena makes her own granola for us as well. Nescaou is the morning treat (Nestles chocolate milk powder). Lunch is the main meal of the day and though it can vary rice, tough beef, a fried bread crumb mixture, and kale mixed into everything, are the main staples. Dinner is generally cheese and meat sandwiches or leftovers. Fridays are family night in the Peace home so Athena usually makes pizza and we play games or watch a movie all together. The people here must not sleep much because they are out late every night and up very early every morning. Everything seems to start at 8pm even church on Sundays. Shouting and fireworks always come from the quadra (town gym, where they have soccer, volley ball and other sports activities) late into the night. The night life can’t interfere with the work of the day though so people are up bright and early heading down to their boats, out into the forest to their garden plots, or to whatever job they have to do. The fun thing to do around here is to go down to the port down the street and swim in the Amazon. We have to be careful though and watch out for sting rays. Piranhas stay away as long as you have no open bleeding wounds. The most exciting thing about the port is seeing the dolphins. So far all but one time I’ve been down there I’ve seen them jumping and once there was even a pink dolphin jumping around. The locals are very superstitious when it comes to pink dolphins so the kids all ran out of the water as soon as they saw one jumping. Every night of the week there are different Bible studies going on at the church or in the Peace home. Everyone is greatly encouraged to be in a study during the week. Each class is treated like a school class and the students are given homework and a grade (of sorts). If they fail to pass the class they have to take it over again. I wonder how that would go over in our churches in the US? Social dynamics and issues are pretty much the same here as they are in the US. Humans seem to deal with the same issues no matter what part of the world they are in. So there’s a bit of a peak into life down in the Amazon. I hope it was informative and interesting. I’ll have more stories to tell later.

Learning to Love

I’ve worked in a large variety of ministries for most of my life and generally felt that I received much more than I gave. God’s just like that I suppose. If we come to him with an open surrendered heart he loves to fill it up with his love (Ephes. 1:23). I was however not prepared for what I would be met with when I entered the Amazon. My first experience was of the city of Manaus which compared to the US was very dirty, overcrowded, crumbling and chaotic (not to mention the disgustingly humid weather). After a couple days there I embarked on the over 24 hour journey up the Amazon River to San Antonio. The boat was nice and I enjoyed the view of the river and was still full of excited anticipation. When we arrived the real adventure began. The Port was nothing like I had expected and I was quickly put onto the back of a dirt bike which was one of the local taxis. I was petrified as we sped up and down steep hills and around numerous pot holes. The after maneuvering down several streets lined with little dilapidated wooden houses that looked more like sheds, we arrived at the Peace’s beautifully kept cement home surrounded by tons of flowering bushes and trees. The poverty struck me the hardest, which is saying a lot since I’ve worked in some pretty poverty stricken areas in the US before. The longer I’m here though them more I am taken aback by the simple joy these people have. A great example is a birthday party I was invited to for one of Jessica Peace’s friends who was turning 13. There where at least 13 girls ranging in age from 3-14 and as far as I could tell, they had planned it all. Someone had a few balloons and we spend quite a bit of time just batting them around and having a marvelous time. They had all dressed their best and the birthday girl had on a beautiful dress her grandmother had made for her. After everyone had been served cake, candy and popcorn the birthday girl (Ilene) stood up for speeches. Each of her friends then proceeded to give a little speech express what a special friend Ilene was to them. I was so touched by their sincerity and sweetness. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a 13 year old bless her friend and wish that she would follow God and walk with him for the rest of her life. I believe God has sent me here to really learn how to love his people. Distractions have been removed and I am certainly out of my comfort zone. And the fact that verbal communication is so hard forces me to find new ways to show love to those around me and God’s love in me.