Baptism at the May 1 Church Picnic

At our May 1 church picnic we held a baptsim service. All 11 candidates from Campo Verde and 5 from our Imperial Church in Cuiabá gave their testimonies.


We then headed down to the river for the baptism.















From Campo Verde, Zeli and her two daughters, Cátia and Deisielle; Irene and her daughter Gislaine Carol; Luana and Tainara (sisters), Eder and Josivania (sister and brother), Paulo, and Cicero were baptized. Five adults from Imperial were also baptized. This day was really special for me since it was only our third baptism since our church was started and eight of the candidates went through the discipleship course with me during these past two years. I felt like a proud mother!



















Last Sunday evening Pastor Don Peffer gave out their baptism certificates.

Church Picnic May 1, 2010

May 1, 2010 is Labor Day here in Brazil. Our Campo Verde church had a church picnic at our camp Jeová-Jiré an hour away. I was so pleased that we had 62 people, almost 100% participation plus a number of visitors. Our Imperial church in Cuiabá also brought a group of 25 to join in our baptism service. While everyone enjoyed the river and recreation games, some of the women cooked lunch for the large group. They made chicken and rice, white rice, beans, manioc, baked chicken, and salad.

After lunch and clean up we had a brief church service and the baptism candidates gave their testimonies.

Josivania's Birthday

In March we had a surprise birthday for Josivania after school when the came for my discipleship classes. Josi was very surprised. She is a very special 12 year old girl. We had cake and icecream before our study, our american tradition. However, icecream served with cake was odd to this Brazilian group, but they loved it anyway.

One day Zoe, Amanda (her daughter), grand daughter, father, and I went to a town called Primavera do Lesto to look around. Near the entrance of the city was a park with workout machines for adults. There was a beauthiful traveler's palm palm tree like a fan. We had a lot of fun. Then after touring the town we stopped at a place called Rei do Açai (king of açai) for a refreshing dring or icrecream of açai. Açai is a dark purple fruit that grows on palm trees and is very nutricious.

Shopping in Chapada

Two weeks ago, Don and Zoe Peffer, Zoe's dad, and I went to the Chapada, a tourist town and hour from Campo Verde. Since it was a Saturday, there was their open market that sells food items, plants, and handmade crafts. This man is from Peru and played a song on his wooden flute while looked at the CD of Christian music which I bought. Zoe's father was shopping for things to take home to the US and bought some beautiful hand embroidered table linens.

Rainbows

A few months ago I was returning to Campo Verde from Cuiabá. It had been raining and there in the western sky was this beautiful rainbow.

Love, Dating, and Marriage

Eight very special adolescents come to my house after school for a 12 week course on dating. They are a real joy and have been very receptive to the lessons. We have completed five lessons and none of them have missed a lesson. After the lesson on 10 reasons to stay pure until marriage, I gave all the girls a handcut crystal heart to remind them to guard their heart and not give it away too soon and the transparency to represent purity. Needless to say they loved it. I had a hard time finding something for the boys, but gave them a key chain with a Bible verse. Last week they had to write out the qualities they wanted in their future mate. Although I said it was private and I would not read them, they all wanted to share and impressed me with the good qualities they listed. Oh, for these kids to remember these lessons and fulfill their commitment!