Feb99

Feb '99, #1

Hello again from the Athas, Feb. 1999 #1

I trust you survived the holidays. We enjoyed time spent with family and friends as well as my first ever white Christmas (sand dunes at the… coast don't count). A special thanks to all you who helped make this year a very special Christmas. William is already talking about next Christmas, but I don't think we'll be able to compete next year. Think he'll forget? Yeah, right.

Our biggest trips are behind us now. A borrowed mini-van was a real blessing since just the luggage would have filled our car. Add the kids and the car seats and there wouldn't have been enough room for every one to inhale at the same time. Synchronized breathing for 8 hours is tough - especially if someone gets onions on their burger. But we survived the trips rather well all told. Kids are amazingly resilient little critters. Parents aren't.

We need to pray for the economic situation in Brazil. A Brazilian woman who was planning to visit the US thought that the American cash left over from a previous trip wouldn't be any good. In the last few years Brazil has changed currencies 3 times and removed 12 or 15 zero's. (Three 0's would make $1000 = $1). Inflation surpassed 1200% at times and prices changed daily. While the current plan has held the dollar artificially low which has hurt foreigners, the stability has been a blessing for the Brazilians. Corruption is a serious problem complicated by the problems in Japan and even Russia. If things worsen, the effects could be felt in the US since Brazil is the world's 8th largest economy and has been importing large quantities of goods.

We had a small "crash" of our own. We received notice via e-mail that our store room was broken into. They came through the roof and couldn't carry heavy items so my tools should be OK. What few things we had that they might have wanted we traded before we left. Still it complicates things as we don't know what to try to replace before returning. Probably the monetary value of the loss is minimal. Of course, not everything we left here has been found, either. I guess it just comes with the job.

The good news is that our support level is now up close to 85%. We're confident that when the time comes to leave that we'll have 100% of whatever God wants us to have. It appears that that time is July 13. We found a good price on tickets so we're scheduled to leave out of Roanoke in the early afternoon on that Tuesday. There's a lot to do between now and then.

I've been a bit sad about how little time we have with each of our supporters. Part of our argument against denominational missions is that they don't get to know missionaries, yet one hour every five years seems insufficient to renew acquaintances. After filling in for a couple of weeks at a supporting church a member commented that it was good to see what the church was getting. While on deputation we offered to spend a month each furlough (10%) with any church that supported us for 10% of our estimated need. Several supporters are near that level already, and if the church were near Winston Salem, Eden, or Roanoke, there would be no additional burden for housing. We would attend all services, help with VBS, conference, or camp, teach Sunday School, fill the pulpit, mow the grass, do visitation... what ever. Contact me if you think you might be interested.

Evidently we're still having trouble getting our prayer letter to all of you so we sent this one first class. I'm going to start numbering the letters so you can tell if you missed one. Now that postage has gone up 3% maybe 3% more letters will arrive. Please check the address on the outside and see if it is the BEST address to use. You may send corrections to me or to the return address on the outside.

Lastly I wanted to mention that we hope to have a web page soon to help you keep up with what's new in our lives. In a way not practical in letters, you'll be able to keep up with needs and blessings in our ministry as well as the changes and additions to our family – though this time we are NOT going to drink the water. We will post pictures of what's going on, links to information on Brazil, prayer letters, and even have short video's. So stay tuned.

Serving you by serving Him,

The Athas in Brazil


	Hello again from the Athas, Feb. 1999 #1 I trust you survived the holidays. We enjoyed time spent with family and friends as well as my first ever white Christmas (sand dunes at the… coast don't count). A special thanks to all you who helped make this year a very special Christmas. William is already talking about next Christmas, but I don't think we'll be able to compete next year. Think he'll forget? Yeah, right. Our biggest trips are behind us now. A borrowed mini-van was a real blessing since just the luggage would have filled our car. Add the kids and the car seats and there wouldn't have been enough room for every one to inhale at the same time. Synchronized breathing for 8 hours is tough - especially if someone gets onions on their burger. But we survived the trips rather well all told. Kids are amazingly resilient little critters. Parents aren't. We need to pray for the economic situation in Brazil. A Brazilian woman who was planning to visit the US thought that the American cash left over from a previous trip wouldn't be any good. In the last few years Brazil has changed currencies 3 times and removed 12 or 15 zero's. (Three 0's would make $1000 = $1). Inflation surpassed 1200% at times and prices changed daily. While the current plan has held the dollar artificially low which has hurt foreigners, the stability has been a blessing for the Brazilians. Corruption is a serious problem complicated by the problems in Japan and even Russia. If things worsen, the effects could be felt in the US since Brazil is the world's 8th largest economy and has been importing large quantities of goods. We had a small "crash" of our own. We received notice via e-mail that our store room was broken into. They came through the roof and couldn't carry heavy items so my tools should be OK. What few things we had that they might have wanted we traded before we left. Still it complicates things as we don't know what to try to replace before returning. Probably the monetary value of the loss is minimal. Of course, not everything we left here has been found, either. I guess it just comes with the job. The good news is that our support level is now up close to 85%. We're confident that when the time comes to leave that we'll have 100% of whatever God wants us to have. It appears that that time is July 13. We found a good price on tickets so we're scheduled to leave out of Roanoke in the early afternoon on that Tuesday. There's a lot to do between now and then. I've been a bit sad about how little time we have with each of our supporters. Part of our argument against denominational missions is that they don't get to know missionaries, yet one hour every five years seems insufficient to renew acquaintances. After filling in for a couple of weeks at a supporting church a member commented that it was good to see what the church was getting. While on deputation we offered to spend a month each furlough (10%) with any church that supported us for 10% of our estimated need. Several supporters are near that level already, and if the church were near Winston Salem, Eden, or Roanoke, there would be no additional burden for housing. We would attend all services, help with VBS, conference, or camp, teach Sunday School, fill the pulpit, mow the grass, do visitation... what ever. Contact me if you think you might be interested. Evidently we're still having trouble getting our prayer letter to all of you so we sent this one first class. I'm going to start numbering the letters so you can tell if you missed one. Now that postage has gone up 3% maybe 3% more letters will arrive. Please check the address on the outside and see if it is the BEST address to use. You may send corrections to me or to the return address on the outside. Lastly I wanted to mention that we hope to have a web page soon to help you keep up with what's new in our lives. In a way not practical in letters, you'll be able to keep up with needs and blessings in our ministry as well as the changes and additions to our family – though this time we are NOT going to drink the water. We will post pictures of what's going on, links to information on Brazil, prayer letters, and even have short video's. So stay tuned. Serving you by serving Him, The Athas in Brazil