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July '00, #6

Autumn greetings from Brazil, Sept, 2000 #6

Yes, you read correctly. Since the last letter was late, I decided to write this one early to compensate. It’s kinda like the guy who left work 10 minutes early everyday to make up for coming in late.
Since I last wrote we have had 3 sets of visitors. Each was a blessing in a different way. First my Mama came on her biannual trip. After visiting the town where she worked with Papa she passed through here to peek at the new grandson. Then a family of friends came to visit us and participate in a big reunion at the academy here in Fortaleza. Our boys talked about "Caleb" coming for months before he arrived and probably will continue for months to come. The "wildcard" in our summer was a STAMPer that we’d never met. (STAMP is Senior Teen Apprentice Missions Program - a high school visitor who wants to learn about missions first hand.) While she was here we also had our regional conference where she helped with the children. The boys loved her and William even announced he was going to marry her - though she hasn’t consented yet. Our worries about a visit from a "stranger" quickly turned into an excellent experience and we still miss her. In all, we rolled (and bounced) some serious kilometers in the old bomb with no major problems. I have a couple of weeks to get caught up on paper work, etc. and prepare for school to start. I have taught previously both classes, but things have changed a bit in the field of computers in the last few years.
William continues to grow and be more helpful. He and Dalton both surprise us sometimes with what they can say in Portuguese. Dalton is developing a stubbornness that strengthens with each day. Though I once was able to quickly come up with a solution for other peoples kids, the "gift" seems to have passed now that I have kids of my own. Nothing seems to work. Pray for us and him that we might have wisdom and patience as we continue to deal with this. Greyson is a real sweety. He loves to laugh and smile and can’t resist giggling when Papa tickles him with his mustache. He stands holding on and can lift his belly off the floor. We literally ran the wheels off the baby buggy and have started using the bikes to go places. Greyson has adapted well to the change, but complains when I hit bumps and holes.
If you tried to access our web site you probably didn’t find it. I thought I had things worked out and paid for. Fortunately I’m not paid for thinking!! The correct address is on my local server and is users.baydenet.com.br/ It will have been functioning for some time when you get this and the address shouldn’t change anytime soon. We’ve also passed through a series of severe computer problems starting with a hard drive crash and ending with me on my 4th motherboard. I’ve run out of things to replace and still things are not quite right… but then again some say the same thing about me.
We baptized the "survivors" of the baptism class. One of the casualties has again been sequestered by alcohol. Pray for Sérgio. We used the gym and semi-Olympic pool at a nearby school and had a good service. Also there have been a number of new conversions. Some are very "promising" and some have already withered in the heat of day. As in the US, broken families make things complicated. Many are living together unmarried.

Byron, Michele, William, Dalton and Greyson
The Athas in Brazil

Thought: If you would have to give up your dreams to serve God, you’re dreaming about the wrong things!


	Autumn greetings from Brazil, Sept, 2000 #6 Yes, you read correctly. Since the last letter was late, I decided to write this one early to compensate. It’s kinda like the guy who left work 10 minutes early everyday to make up for coming in late. Since I last wrote we have had 3 sets of visitors. Each was a blessing in a different way. First my Mama came on her biannual trip. After visiting the town where she worked with Papa she passed through here to peek at the new grandson. Then a family of friends came to visit us and participate in a big reunion at the academy here in Fortaleza. Our boys talked about "Caleb" coming for months before he arrived and probably will continue for months to come. The "wildcard" in our summer was a STAMPer that we’d never met. (STAMP is Senior Teen Apprentice Missions Program - a high school visitor who wants to learn about missions first hand.) While she was here we also had our regional conference where she helped with the children. The boys loved her and William even announced he was going to marry her - though she hasn’t consented yet. Our worries about a visit from a "stranger" quickly turned into an excellent experience and we still miss her. In all, we rolled (and bounced) some serious kilometers in the old bomb with no major problems. I have a couple of weeks to get caught up on paper work, etc. and prepare for school to start. I have taught previously both classes, but things have changed a bit in the field of computers in the last few years. William continues to grow and be more helpful. He and Dalton both surprise us sometimes with what they can say in Portuguese. Dalton is developing a stubbornness that strengthens with each day. Though I once was able to quickly come up with a solution for other peoples kids, the "gift" seems to have passed now that I have kids of my own. Nothing seems to work. Pray for us and him that we might have wisdom and patience as we continue to deal with this. Greyson is a real sweety. He loves to laugh and smile and can’t resist giggling when Papa tickles him with his mustache. He stands holding on and can lift his belly off the floor. We literally ran the wheels off the baby buggy and have started using the bikes to go places. Greyson has adapted well to the change, but complains when I hit bumps and holes. If you tried to access our web site you probably didn’t find it. I thought I had things worked out and paid for. Fortunately I’m not paid for thinking!! The correct address is on my local server and is users.baydenet.com.br/ It will have been functioning for some time when you get this and the address shouldn’t change anytime soon. We’ve also passed through a series of severe computer problems starting with a hard drive crash and ending with me on my 4th motherboard. I’ve run out of things to replace and still things are not quite right… but then again some say the same thing about me. We baptized the "survivors" of the baptism class. One of the casualties has again been sequestered by alcohol. Pray for Sérgio. We used the gym and semi-Olympic pool at a nearby school and had a good service. Also there have been a number of new conversions. Some are very "promising" and some have already withered in the heat of day. As in the US, broken families make things complicated. Many are living together unmarried. Byron, Michele, William, Dalton and Greyson The Athas in Brazil Thought: If you would have to give up your dreams to serve God, you’re dreaming about the wrong things!