We had to make a trip to Recife to renew the passports of the three oldest children. Thankfully, Bro. Nash's mother-in-law lives there, and she allowed us to stay with her overnight. The next day, Bro. Nash, Hodes, and Hodes' sister went with us to the zoo. The kids had a blast!
Joel was privileged and excited to baptize the first four members of our congregation on April 10, 2009. We don't yet have our own building with a baptistry, so we rented a house with a pool for the day.
Challenged by Bro. Nash's church, our teen meeting attendees (which include all ages) travelled to Caruaru for a night of Bible quizzing. It was a great incentive for our folks to learn more about God's Word, and they were inspired to study even harder next time. (In other words, we didn't win.)
Bro. James Nash held a conference here in Belo Jardim on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. It was a week of intense learning for our people. Actually, it lasted longer than a week, as the material is of such depth that a week was not enough. Our people were thrilled to come back night after night until Bro. Nash finished.
This year Brazilian Labor Day (or translated literally, Day of the Worker) actually fell on the same day as Labor Day there in the States. We had a get-together at our house, and a good group of our folks showed up.
Children's Day, October 12, is a very big deal here in Brazil - bigger than Christmas! Most communities offer tons of activities for children on that day, and stores advertise like you wouldn't believe. Many of these children will not receive anything for Christmas, but nearly ALL children receive gifts (plural) for Children's Day. Really. It's bigger than Christmas.
We had an afternoon/evening activity for our church families with games, bubble blowing (thanks to some children from Harrowgate Elementary School), song time, a Bible lesson, and snacks. The kids each got a bag of candy to take home and their own bubble wand. They were thrilled! Thank you, again, to the children and teachers at Harrowgate that made the wands for us to enjoy!
