A Little Bit of Chinapple Punks

It's so hard to pick what I want to write on here, there is so much :)

It's definitely the holiday season here. Last Thursday was the holiday "Sao Joao" and this coming Friday is Bahia's Independence Day.

Sao Joao, or St. John, is a celebration of the harvest. I obviously don't understand a lot about it, but I do know that around town last week I saw a lot of big fires and all month I've been seeing corn. Lots and lots of corn. And peanuts. The fires have to do with a myth about Elizabeth and Mary, the mothers of John and Jesus. Since they were cousins, Brazilians believe that their houses were on two hilltops close enough to see each other. When Elizabeth found out she was pregnant, she set a huge fire so that Mary could see. The corn and peanuts are for the harvest.

The day before Sao Joao, after a morning with the women missionaries, the Quireys, Trish, Marcy, and I all headed out to the Pelourinho. This is basically the part of town that has all the scenes you will see when you type in "Salvador" on Google. It's known as the old town. There are so many beautiful historical buildings like The Lacerda Elevador and different churches. I think my favorite part is the way the buildings that line the streets are painted bright colors like pink and yellow and blue and green. Awesome. Pictures provided :)

After the Pelourinho, Paula, one of the church members, invited us over to her mother's house. Her mother made us a meal in which everything we ate was made with corn. Except for the boiled peanuts. I never knew corn could be used in SO many ways. Picture also provided. :) After dinner we all went outside to do fireworks; it was great to enjoy part of the holiday festivities with a true Brazilian family.

In other news, God has used the great game of "Colheres" to connect people once again..also known as "Spoons." If you haven't fallen in love with this game, give it a shot and you will. We played Friday night with Cintia and Cibele, who are sisters, and their fiances. We started off with Clue, English style then Portuguese style. They really are advanced in their English, and we still struggle with out Portuguese, but I don't mind letting them know I need the help from them. To end the night, there was Spoons; much less language mess, much more laughing. To those of you reading this who have been a part of Writing Utensils, I know this will bring you much joy.

Spoons made another appearance Saturday with two of the young teens. I hadn't met either one up until that point, but they've come around to all the events since then so I'm thinking we might need to revisit this game soon. Clear Lakers- you'll also be happy to know we played Ninja.



I asked Val the other day if she thought it really mattered to the Brazilian church members that we had come to spend some time in Salvador with them. She gave an enthused yes and explained how big of a deal signs of kindness do for people here. She reminded us we don't just come as Americans, but Christians. Not all Christian churches here are always as loving as we would hope for. I remembered Randy explaining that probably the most common "love language" here is time; just letting people know they're worth your time. It's humbling how easily something as simple as the kindness and love of Christ can communicate.

"At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone." Titus 3:3-8