When I Call Your Name, Say "Here".

Welcome to language arts with Mr. Stewart. Please, come on in and shut the door--don't want the AC to cool down the Amazon!

Take your seats, and we'll begin. Look at all the smiles today (well, most of you); you're looking fresh and ready to learn!

What's that? Sure I can help you, never too busy for some one on one teaching time. The two sitting behind you are next.

Got it everyone? That is your assignment, due tomorrow. I expect your best work, and if perchance an iguana eats it on the way to school, please bring in the iguana as proof.

You're dismissed. Don't forget to say good bye to Gill, Gill and Gill on your way out the door. See you tomorrow.

Jill happened to come across a rare veggie in the stores here, celery, complete with full foliage. Needless to say, she made a gigantic soup using it all up. Nice to taste that flavor again.

She is heading into her seventh month of sweating for two and is praying for a rare frost to hit this region in the next few months. All seems to be going fairly well. Her doctor is confident she'll be set for a natural birth in ten weeks.

Finn had some technical issues with his bike, so it's neighbor Nate to the rescue! Finn enjoyed hitching a ride with an eleventh grader to school. Notice who is carrying Finn's Cars lunch box.

The joy of having about twelve fruit trees in your yard: Clean up! Keeping the rotting fruit picked up is a daily job, year round. But hey, that's why we have kids! (Just kidding Gramma and Grandpa.)

Great work, George!

Finn, this IS fun!

And a happy first birthday to our dog, Supernova, who protects us from the giant grasshoppers. It's been fun to own an animal that isn't cold-blooded.

Summer Break & Beyond!

This summer, we went on little trip down south to see the Falls of Iguassu. While there, we celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary! Wow, seems like just yesterday we both had totally different hair styles and we were planning our big day! The Lord has been too good to us, and we thank Him for sustaining us.
George, the butterfly whisperer. He had them fluttering all over him! Riding around on public transit in the south of Brazil. Always a fun time, huh George?Finn enjoying one of the various views of the Falls. It was breathtaking to see the creativity and mighty power of the Lord up close. It matched my outfit, so I had to put it on.

July brought some special visitors our way. Tim's folks came down and spent some good, quality time seeing our home, ministry and the city. Oh yeah, and they enjoyed their grandsons too!

Finn turned four, and it was great to have family to celebrate with!

Enjoying a genuine Brazilian BBQ---more chicken hearts anyone?

July is the hottest part of the year. We tried to beat the heat with fresh coconut water.We found out that we are having a GIRL!!!! We hear big changes are in store for us.

Our friend Nick came down for a visit too. He brought our baby car seat down, and spent some time exploring the area. It was great to catch up with him as he begins his year-long world journey.

Some students bring their teachers apples, pictures or cute cards. Tim's students bring him bird-eating tarantulas, boa constrictors and mighty cockroaches. Here I am at six months along. All is well with the baby and I. Only fifteen weeks left.

School started back up in early August. Tim began his third year of teaching, George is in 2nd grade and Finn started his school career in the Kindergarten 4 class. All is going smoothly thus far!

We got to know the new 9/10th grade class over ice cream sundaes. Yes, that is Tabasco as one of the toppings.

Here's to a new school year! We know we will see the Lord at work in the lives of our family, students and staff here at Amazon Valley Academy.

Feelin' Good at 5 months

Pink Rain & Supermarket Snaps

Here we are celebrating our 813th day of living in Brasil. We have become pretty accustomed to our life here. Things that turned our heads when we first arrived no longer surprise us. But recently I realized most of you are still new to Belem. Some of you have asked us where we live. City? Country? Jungle? I think the pictures on our blog haven't thoroughly captured the strange dichotomy that we call home. Our house is located on the AVA campus, a park-like setting full of fruit trees, tropical flowers and songbirds. It's like Eden except with fire ants. Last night, the jambu trees shed their blossoms like pink rain. I stood under the shower and wondered if I was dreaming. Beautiful and fantastic--did I mention you can eat the blossoms?

Our school and home are surrounded by a big, grey, spike-topped wall and on the other side is another world. Belem and its suburbs contains close to 2 million people. It sprawls out in a wash of cement, festooned with graffiti. Street crime is rampant, even during the day, and murder is commonplace. We are instructed by the police not to stop at traffic lights during the night for fear of car jacking. You get the picture.

In an effort to better illustrate our setting, we thought we'd try to capture a few images of a typical drive to the grocery store. This is difficult because waving a camera around is advertising for thieves. A $100 camera from the States sells for $400-$500 here, so they are a hot item for bandits. Anyway, we discretely snapped some photos as we drove to the local supermarket. Sorry, the pictures aren't great, but they capture a bit of our local scene. If you like this, tell us, and we will try to do it again. Maybe we could take you to the mall, or even the ice cream topping store!!

Do we worry about crime? Of course, and we take the necessary precautions. One must be cautious and wise. But I was talking to a missionary who works in some of the roughest neighborhoods in Belem. I asked him if it was dangerous. Of course it is, he said, but I believe God is bigger than the danger. And I have to agree.