How'd You Like to Spend Christmas on Marajo Island?

Just a few short days after Christmas, George and Finn packed up to head over and stay with some friends, while Tim and I packed up to go on an Amazon island-hopping adventure! Aboard the Luz de Amazonia III (Light of the Amazon), a Brazilian Bible Society boat, we gathered with a few students from our school, crew members, and 20 other Brazilians. Our plan was to visit three isolated river communities, populated by riberinhos, impoverished people who live along the river in remote areas. The communities we visited were located on Marajo Island, the largest river island in the world (purportedly, larger than Switzerland).

Interestingly enough, many of our fellow travelers had never seen the living conditions of these riberinhos, even while living all their lives in such close proximity to them.

We were supposed to have a cabin on the boat for the two of us, but somehow we ended up swinging in hammocks on the top deck instead. We were sleeping at the dock when the twin diesel engines cranked at 3 A.M., and we were on our way. Between the mosquitoes at the dock, the noise of the engines, and the swells on the bay, we snatched about three minutes of sleep each.

The morning hours found us drinking coffee, recovering from the short night's sleep, and preparing for our first port of call. We sorted and folded clothing items, as well as shoes, toys, and bags—all donated to the river people. We also arranged food parcels for each family.

People crowded the dock as we slid up to each landing. We greeted them as they boarded the boat, helped them find clothes, and distributed the food packages. The children also received a Christmas story book from the Bible Society. There was a brief time of storytelling and music for the kids and a Bible story for the adults. Then it was off to the next landing.

Many hours and three ports later, we were finished. We cleaned up the boat and headed back toward Belem. As we entered the bay, the boat began to bob on some decent-sized swells. And then they got bigger, dwarfing our craft. An then it began to rain—a real Amazon rain—and the wind howled—we were in the middle of a storm on the “sea” of the Amazon. I heard the props become airborne as the swells rolled by and saw life jackets being put on. There were a lot of green faces, and a few had to rush to the railing, while others were promising God all sorts of things if they made it through the storm. Tim learned that sniffing a lime can help with seasickness. We tried to figure out if there was a Jonah on board, but none was forthcoming.

The storm subsided after around three hours. It was at that point one of the oil lines broke, so we crawled along on half power for the rest of the voyage. I made a quick call to the caretakers of our sons, and told them we would be very late! The storm passed, dinner was served and the sun set on our adventure.

We praised the Lord for our safety and for the opportunity to see people who live isolated lives in need of a Savior. We pray our two short hours at each port made a difference, somehow, for eternity.

Feliz Natal!

Ah, Christmastime. A time to reflect on God's love for humankind and his faithfulness through the ages. A time to spread joy and cheer in the form of cookies. A time to clean out the various drainage trenches in our yard, since the rains have arrived on schedule.

The past couple months have been mind-bogglingly busy and intensely rewarding. Let's rewind to November 12-15: The annual Spiritual Emphasis Retreat. After school on Thursday, we packed the whole junior high and high school into vehicles and paraded out to camp El Shalom, a beautiful, bucolic setting surrounded by rainforest. Nate Johnson, director of a NICS school in Caracas, Venezuela, was our guest speaker. He did an excellent job. It was great to have some extended time outside the classroom with the students. We had a memorable weekend of social and spiritual refreshment.

November 20: Fun Night. A time-honored tradition at AVA. The gym is transformed into a Chuck E. Cheese-style funhouse, complete with games, cakewalks, and a jail. The theme was The Future; therefore, many things were wrapped in tinf0il. Jill aided the high schoolers in organizing and preparing for the event, which was well-attended and, "Fun," said George.

November 25: Thanksgiving Chapel. Jill organized the high school into an elite army of pastry chefs. Each unit produced potent pans of cinnamon-enhanced heaven, and sold them to the unsuspecting public at the Thanksgiving chapel. Everyone is looking forward to the next chapel. I, Timothy, delivered a devotional; in short, it dealt with the 10 lepers, Sour Patch Kids, and the need for gratefulness.

Our already short staff became shorter. Dennis, our beloved Bible teacher, chaplain, lead HS teacher, etc., suffered a serious back injury in November. This lead to a month and a half of pain and necessitated a trip back to Seattle for surgery. He is now recovering and pain-free, thank the Lord!

Megan, after a convoluted trip fraught with missed and cancelled flights, made it home after 60+ hours of travel. We miss her already.

December 24. Finals are graded, and Christmas break is here. We are relishing the recovery time, catching our breath, and enjoying our holiday traditions. Our hearts go out to all you cold folks in the North, as we amply apply our SPF 45 and head outside to clean up mangoes. 'Course, it doesn't seem right to sweat profusely while rolling out gingerbread. "The cookies seem saltier this year..."

Have an excellent Christmas season.

"And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Everyone."

Super Hot and Supernova!

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in."

Matthew 25:35

It's been so hot lately, we've had the boys take some extra measures to keep hydrated.

This is our first pet with fur! Supernova Snowflake Stewart, born 09-09-09. She is a genuine, purebred Brazilian vira-lata (trashcan tipper) a.k.a. fura-saco (trashbag ripper). She's pretty cute and likes to chew on flip flops.




We had an opportuinty to go see another ministry here in Brazil. We drove out to settlement built around a dump. These people live off of items that other people throw away. Three missionary ladies run a ministry there, reaching out to the impoverished families in the area.
We decided to help out at their kids camp one Saturday. So, a few days ealier, Megan made 303 shaped sugar cookies for them! Over 100 kids showed up that morning! We taught them a new action song, "Get On Board with the Lord", by Jana Alayra.


For our craft and snack, we had them decorate the sugar cookies. We brought vats of frosting, billions of sprinkles, and everyone had fun!

The cookies were so pretty, some couldn't believe they could eat them! Decorating cookies isn't something they have done before. Being able to share sugar and Jesus was a real treat for us. Theses kids live tough lives, full of filth; it was great to help the missionary ladies bring them fun and spread the joy of Jesus.

This little guy in the striped shirt stole our hearts. He was wearing one of Finn's shirts that we donated last spring to the ministry. After showing Finn the picture of him, he said, "Hey, that little boy has my little shirt!!!"
The next weekend brought around the 2nd annual Fire-Eatin Welcome Back party! Even though a quarter had already past, we still hosted the party for the entire staff of AVA. It was a great time full of tacos, hot sauce, and decorations from the States. One of our friends mailed them down, and, boy, was it a breeze setting them up!!!

Peppers from our little fire garden. A few teenagers had the guts to try them, then regret it.

And finally, this chap flew out of the bathroom drain early one morning. Not our favorite way to wake up, but more effective than coffee.

A Month of Fridays

Various events have been taking place on Fridays. The biggest event being Field Day. An entire day in the tropical sun, full of friendly competition, running, sweating, jumping, sweating, throwing, sweating, eating, sweating, cheering, and sweating. George and Megan participated, Tim orchestrated the discus throw and Finn and Jill cheered, took pictures and stayed as sweaty as the participants.

Usually on Friday, Finn's friend Thiago (Chee-Ah-Go) comes over to play. His mom and Finn's mom work on various Brazilian crafts together.

Jill is the administrator for the student council this year. She and 15 high schoolers are planning many of the activites and fund raisiers for the year. "Western Day" was part of the Spirit Week. Always interesting to create costumes out of what we have here. There are no costume stores, huge departments at Wal Mart or used clothing shops. Jill was also the resident french-braider of the day.

Finn had some health issues this month, culminating in many hours in the ER room on a Friday afternoon. He had bronchitis and pneumonia. We thank God we caught it early enough. This climate is rough on the lungs. After various medications and treatments, his breathing was clean and healthy. Just in time to help Tim harvest the red bananas from our tree!

We hunted for the perfect rocks one Friday after school. We scrubbed them down, dried them in the sun, and had fun painting them. They are now used for various door stops around the house.

"HEY...do you want some bread?" As soon as he gets within earshot of our house, Antonio wants to sell us his bread--from his bike! He delivers fresh bread to our door each Friday afternoon.

Stew taught the elementary chapel one Friday morning. All about ants! Jill leads the worship for the K-6th graders two Fridays a month. The kids are learning new songs and new actions, and I think all the them would highly recommend Jana Alayra's music!

So, our eventful Fridays come to a close, but not without try a new food item? Here we have: monster Brazilian green beans!