Events in October

We've been here six months! It has been the longest and shortest six months of our lives (depending on the day). The Lord has blessed us and sustained us thus far; in spite of sickness, culture shock, and ants in our toaster, we still consider it a blessing to be working and ministering here in Belem.

The long long walk across the emerald campus.

We had a recent "Chillin' Chili Costume Cookout", Jill and her party planning team cooked up enough chili and cornbread to feed the whole Amazon region! It was a fun night of creative costumes, prizes and autumn food while we sweated!

Indiana Stew and his punk-rocker wife! Yes, Stew made that hat from PAPER!!! Gotta use some sweet creative skills on costumes, since there is no Value Village nearby!

Motorbike-man Finn and Mixture Man George (the Batman-Wolverine-Spiderman look)

Field Day! Middle of October, the entire school, staff and parents take a break at the end of the 1st quarter to compete in various track and field sports. Jill was one of the judges for the team cheers and banners.

Go George...GO!!!

George with his friend, Nathan, proud of their ribbons!

Stew's job was to measure the long jump...ALL morning. That's 80-something kids, two jumps a piece and one nice sunburn!

Finn, your time will come soon!

While starting to make dinner, Jill enountered many unspice like clumps and moving critters in her jars. SICK! She said farewell to the cocoa powder, chili powder, and all-spice. She salvaged what was left, and it is nicely stored in the fridge, next to the medicine, nailpolish, and almonds.

Stew teaching a chapel time to the primary grades.

His lesson: the armor of God

His prop: his son

Our neighbor, Caleb, bringing Finn home during a little drizzle!




Stew had his students enter a poetry contest that took place in England. Here are some of the students that placed--holding their letters from the Young Writers organization! Way to go, don'cha know!



Ocotober brought the Spiritual Emphasis Retreat for the junior and senior high students. It was a great time for teachers to connect with students, while enjoying the beautiful rainforest, swimming in a spring-fed pool, and studying Ephesians 6.




There's always interesting creatures hanging around. This one was in the kitchen at the retreat.

No Hint of Autumn

Here it is, mid-September and we are finally posting some recent pics. Lightning struck our Internet provider and took it out of commission for a few weeks. It's time for a much needed update.
Tim has been teaching, studying and planning for his Language Arts classes every waking second of the day. George is enjoying Kindergarten, getting dirty outside, and obsessing over patterns. Finn is learning to converse with Brazilians using motorbike sounds. Jill continues to study Portuguese, teach an EFL class two days a week, and keep the house humming (literally, with all the fans going). We continue to learn all kinds of lessons about culture and habitat. The latest: swallow a spoonful of papaya seeds every morning to keep the intestinal worms at bay. Yummy! A few weeks back, we took a day to go to an Amazon island beach. Looks and feels like the ocean, but its all fresh water and part of the mighty river!
Jill is head of the Party Planning Committee, our first gathering of the school year, the "Fire Eatin' Taco Bar" over 70 co-workers, neighbors and fellow missionaries came out for the potluck!

Some of the high school & junior high students here at Amazon Valley Academy.

Tim teaching away to the junior highers. School began on August 11, and since then, he has been one busy first-year teacher!

A typical day for Jill and Finn, running various errands around the campus, helping the secretary out and visiting people. Finn pretends this is his motorcycle...Jill rides as fast as she can:)

A morning visitor in our sink. July is kite month in the city; kites showed up everywhere: in the sky, in the yard, in the trees, and on our roof. We found five kites in our yard in one day!
Finn turned two at the end of July and has been exercising his two-year-old rights as of recently.
George enjoying a frozen yogurt pop, sitting in front of you! Both boys enjoy gazing at all our faraway family and friends.