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Greetings in the Saviors dear Name,
Brazil has been in the international news lately. I recently read that Latin America leads the world in kidnappings
(6000 per year). Though almost all of those are in Colombia and Mexico, we had a high profile case immediately
followed by a hostage situation with the father of the girl just released. That was far away, but a man from Portugal
who invited 6 "friends" to come visit and then robbed and killed them is very close. I have often swam
at the beach where they were killed and buried and we still use a beach within sight of it. We are in little personal
danger but Americans are perceived as rich (except by those who have seen my car). Others are in greater risk and
these events should spur us to pray for the safety of God’s laborers at risk.
We have had a large number of visitors this summer. It was our pleasure to host a STAMPer (high school age) girl
from Alaska for 4 weeks. The boys loved Katie and pestered her to death - which means they left us alone more!!
She helped at conference and 1 ½ VBS’s before she had to leave. A special treat and honor was a brief visit
from the President of Piedmont Baptist College, our alma mater. A couple of days before Katie left, two MAPers
arrived for three weeks. One was Michele’s brother, Wesley. The other was a friend of his named Charlie who speaks
fluent Spanish. They helped with the rest of the VBS’s (3 total), tract distribution and construction. In the middle
of all this part of the wall around the American school fell and the dropped everything with me to help rebuild
it. The day they left, Pastor Brian and a college student member arrived from a supporting church in our hometown.
They were on a whirlwind tour of the missionaries they support in Brazil and we and another missionary here in
Fortaleza gave them at least a glance of what it’s like here. The day after they arrived school started back. I
missed the first couple of days because we took a short (60 hour) vacation to a farm-hotel a few hours out side
of town. The boys loved it.
We have finally started construction on the Sunday School rooms. After a lull in interest, things have picked up
and it will be usable soon. We have a large number of people in a Bible college / institute here in town. We also
have several people doing discipleship together and a children’s meeting has been started near a slum. On the downside
I’ve been a little disappointed in the lack of commitment on the part of the youth / singles.
Please pray for Greyson. We thought he was making funny faces at us but began to realize that it was an eye alignment
problem. The right eye does not track properly horizontally and does not look up and left. Surgery is on hold for
now, but he must use a patch and glasses. It is a challenge, but he is quite accepting of it. He is a little more
accident prone with the patch. He is on the verge of talking a blue streak but as of yet only family can understand
his words. At least he’s figured out that "Mama" is not the one with three eyebrows. The other two boys
are growing and are pretty good with Greyson - even when he drags them across the room by the hair.
Previous prayer letters, pictures of the family, trip to the farm - hotel, scorpion, construction, and the visitors
(though one of them wouldn’t be recognized by his mother from this picture) is all on the website. They can be
accessed by the new buttons on the starting page that go straight to the new pictures. Type users.baydenet.com.br/bwaii
(don’t start with www)
By the way. If you didn’t understand about the third eyebrow, the answer might be right under your nose.
The Athas in Brazil
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