Church last weekend

 It's not easy for Pat and me to get to church every Sunday in Brazil for varying reasons, but last weekend we made up for it.
 

 My host Flavya (Pat and I are staying in different homes for the next 5+ weeks) wanted to go to a youth service that she likes to attend some Saturday nights and so were invited to go along.

It seemed to be a converted factory space with dicey acoustics and loud music, but those people love Jesus.

The pastor and congregation were very friendly, but, of course, we understood very little of what was said.

Bikes were parked inside at the back

and lots of the congregation joined in praying after the service

and chatting as they ate supper.

On Sunday morning it was a very different experience.

We went to Johnny and Flavya's church. Johnny is the regional director of YFC in São Luis and plays the drums in this church. Flavya attends here too.

This building is 131 years old and architecturally gorgeous and well maintained.

Johnny is on the left at the drums

Once again we were welcomed from the front and felt included.

A couple of the hymns really spoke to me. The first was one that I am not familiar with, but we sang about the fact that we are created to worship. Liked it very much.

And then one of my all-time favourites. 'How Great Thou Art'

This is the last verse.

When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation

And lead me home, what joy shall fill my heart!

Then I shall bow in humble adoration,

And then proclaim, "My God, how great Thou art!"

And the final chorus. 

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, how great Thou art.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

Love it! I am always blessed to be able to sing some of my favourite hymns and songs in English alongside people singing it in another language - a taste of Heaven.

 In the evening we went to another church that Johnny has started in a very poor neighborhood. Such a cute little building all spruced up and white and very different from everything around it.

Pat shared some of her story while Jefferson translated,

  and afterwards Jefferson tried a selfie on my camera of all those present.

Such varied church experiences and all Igrejas Presbiterianas!

Another wonderful Sunday

We had been told about the Feira Hippie (Hippy Fair) held every Sunday on a main street in the city of Belo Horizonte. Eugenio invited us to join him and his wife Carol last Sunday.

 

 It was a gorgeous day and we started early to miss the crowds.

What a good idea that was. Thanks Eugenio and Carol.

Such a variety of stalls at the market. Like the guy who made traditional musical instruments

and made us into his very own band 

which he conducted.

We tried some local food called pamonha - a sweet corn mash wrapped and boiled in corn leaves, and then cut open and served on corn leaves.

We bought two - one 'salty' (we would say savoury) and one sweet - the first with a mild pale cheese added on top and the second with sweetened condensed milk and the same cheese.

 

There were buskers to appreciate,

 

interesting sights to see (!) 

 stalls to visit,

stallholders to engage with,

people to watch 

and music to be enjoyed.

  Thank you Eugenio and Carol for a great morning out.

Then we headed to Carol's parents' home for lunch. Such generous hospitality. Thank you, Edilson and Regina.

Then it was back to camp for a bit of a rest before church. We went to Thais' and Lucas' church and were warmly welcomed.

And after church it was back together for supper with these special young people - the kitchen staff at the camp. Over these last almost four weeks we have become good friends. Surely they are part of the reason we are in Brazil at this time. We thank God for them and for the gift of being part of their lives.

I love God's way of connecting people

The night before I left Australia I was welcoming people at church with Annika, a gorgeous young woman from our church. She told me that her grandparents lived in Ethiopia somewhere and that her grandfather was a surgeon. I flew to Ethiopia on Monday and arrived on Tuesday afternoon. On Wednesday morning I was sitting next to an Aussie lady at breakfast. Annika's grandmother! How good is God. Robin suggested I come to visit them in the south of the country where Barry is Associate Professor of surgery at the Arba Minch General Hospital. So I have just returned from 4 wonderful days with Annika's grandparents, Barry and Robin Hicks, at Arba Minch, 450 km south of Addis Ababa.  Thanks so much for the connection, Annika.
And while we were together we also discovered that Barry had employed Mal's niece for many years. All very interesting when I live in Victoria and they live in north Queensland.

Barry and Robin live in a simple little house on the hospital compound 

surrounded by beautiful tropical plants and

with interesting wildlife roaming the yard.

 

 
 Every Saturday morning Barry and Robin take their gardener and house girl for breakfast

at the hospital cafe.

 Life is different in the countryside here,

 just as it is in Australia.

 

 It's slower

 

and simpler. 

On Sunday morning we went to church (sorry no photo) and then joined the rest of the congregation at a little cafe just down the road for tea and coffee after the service.

In the afternoon we went for a drive to enjoy the beautiful nearby lakes, which are part of the Great Rift Valley. Twas a bit of a hazy day but still very beautiful. Here you can see Lake Chamo behind me.

and Barry and Robin near the entrance to the hotel which provided the lovely setting.

While I was at Arba Minch (which means forty springs) I went market shopping with Robin for vegetables

and eggs

and sighted lots of these cute little bajaj (taxis, pronounced bar-jarj. Very few private cars here).

But I must say that one of my favourites was attending Barry's mornings meetings with his surgery students. On the first morning, as we entered, Barry introduced me as a Professor of Obstetrics from Australia! I must say that it got me thinking about what life might have been like if I had become a doctor.

I found it so very interesting. Such variety in the cases - way more than any surgical student would experience during their training in Australia. 

Barry and Robin have adopted several Ethiopians over their many years in Ethiopia. 15 year old Abel is their latest addition to the family and what a lovely young man he is.

I have come home feeling that I have had a real holiday, and I know that Barry and Robin really enjoyed having me there too. I'm thankful for God's ongoing provision for each of us.

A very short stay in Zhongshan, China

I'm back home. 

This will be my last blog post until I travel again. 

I don't know when that will be, but God does. Perhaps it'll be sometime next year, but I'm happy to leave that in His hands.

Just before I came home I spent a couple of very enjoyable and busy days with Aussie friends in China.

 I love markets, not that I think you hadn't guessed that already! Thought you'd like to see these fish heads

and fresh red meats as well. Fewer flies here than we saw in Bangladesh, but then this is inside.

So here it was possible to have clothes made virtually on the spot,

shoes repaired while you wait,

 

and also to buy all sorts of Chinese favourites like chicken feet! You can even buy them as take-aways on skewers, like kebabs. Didn't try.

 This part of China also had some VERY old houses - reminded me a bit of Europe with buildings a couple of centuries old.

This is the church we went to on Sunday. Guess I hadn't expected churches in China to look just like ours in Australia, and people wearing gold and silver crosses as Christians might here in Australia.

After the Sunday morning service we went out for lunch with some of the young people from church . Tried a few 'new to me' Chinese dishes, like this lotus root. It's my new favourite.

And I enjoyed these 'new to me' long, skinny mushrooms that I hadn't seen before

and these thin curly black ones served here with tofu skins - really yummy too.

And after our really yummy lunch my Aussie friend had arranged for me to do a workshop for older people on 'encouraging young people'. I hadn't done anything like this before, but I think I'll be doing it more in the future. The participants were keen and engaged and we had a really good time. I have been invited to do something similar in Kyrgyzstan.

Let's wait and see what happens about that.