I was able to capture an image from the service tonight at First Baptist Curritiba. Focus for the service was a celebration of what appeared to be about 350 men who had attended a national men's conference somewhere in the country. The men are "the priests of their home" said the preacher and the pastor is "the captain of the ship, keeping us all on course". Each choir member was given a small radio with earbuds for listening to an interpreter while the sermon was being being preached. Altogether there might have been about 5,000 people in the congregation tonight. Note all the hundreds of people gathered below the choir. These are bringing their gifts and tithes to the front of the church. At one corner of the room is a new autombile ---driven in through a large unfinished doorway. One of the families had donated this to help with the building program. Another family had donated a family heirloom. FBC has a five year building program but builds only as the money is offered, as is the custom in Brazil. The santuary is far enough along in construction to provide space for worship, but has several more years work to be completed. Even at this early stage, it is a beautiful building. The people were very hospitable. Earlier today, we has lunch served in a private dining area while the rest of the church (about 1500 people) ate in the regular dining room. Lunch is served each Sunday for $5.00 U.S. currency.

This morning we sang to the English speaking church from this same congregation. We celebrated the Lord's Supper as the Pastor stood at the alter and offered the bread and juice to about 500 people. It was a beautiful sight from the choir loft as the people streamed to the front of the church. The Pastor, Jim Davidson, also leads the choir for the main congregation. His wife Rosemary, works with Jim for many of the ministires.

We also visited the memorial site for the Ukranian Church of Curitiba. The building is no longer the meeting place for the church, but has been coverted to a beautiful park. Once again, the North Carolina Baptist Singers gathered in the building to sing the Doxology.

Trip through the rainforest

Before our concert, we had a chance to take a train ride through the rainforest. It was beautiful and relaxing. At one point along the trip, we sang Amazing Grace---again in 4 part harmony with such rich voices that it made the nap of my neck bristle. Now-- that's a once in a life time experience---traveling through the rainforest, snapping photos of deep ravines and singing Amazing Grace.

This is the exact train and location of our travels this morning. Yes, this unbelievable ravine is a portion of the route through the rainforest.

Two Concerts

We've been able to sing two concerts, one in the city and a 2nd one located about 60 km outside of Curitiba. The concert at Terceira Igreja Quadrangular was in a beautiful church with about 300 people attending. There were a lot of hugs and attempts at understanding their language. The lyrics for our music, diplayed on large screen made it possible for the people to understand our message even though the music was in English. Today, Saturday, we sang at a smaller church in Paranagua. The response was the same, many smiles and hugs. Their faces would light up when we sang Standing on the Promises in Portuguese. As far as I could see, every seat was filled---main floor and in the balconey. It was also wonderful to hear the prayers in their own language, and knowing God hears and understands, even though I do not.

The entire team ate supper afterwards at Joe Bananas ---with unending pizza brought our tables by the waiters. I know we "stood out" in the crowd. First we were Americans, and everyone knew this, but also, we paused to ask a blessing on the food. What brought the attention was the fact that 52 people sang the Doxology, in four part harmony, before we began eating.

all night flights

Travel abroad always starts with a test of your patience and commitment. Fatigue sets in about the third watch of the night. You shut your eyes for a few minutes and then suddenly you think it's morning but it's only 3:00 a.m. This is a good time to reflect on your true purpose for this mission. And, this is a good thing. It is also opportunity to really connect with a team member who may be sitting next to you. For me, this team member was Fran Wilson. What a good spiritual friend Fran has become. She was tested, not only by lack of sleep but also lack of clean clothes as her bag was shipped, not to Curitiba but to Rio de Janiero. There were six team members whose bags were lost, so we may be sharing more than our music folders over the next few day.

Our first meal in Curitiba was delicious --- a delightful buffet in a glass enclosed mall in the center of the city. We have just concluded our first rehearsal. I'm so pleased to be able to sing with all these very talented people. Michael McKnight, as always, was superb with his accompaniment.

We leave in a few minutes for a mid-size Baptist church in the center of the city for our first concert.

What's on your mind.

I was thinking about the words of my faith and realized I could put these in a Word Cloud. Now, I must translate into Portuguese for my friends in Brazil.
See http://wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/96859/Oakmont

Anticipation of places and opportunities

While reading through notes, emails, and other instructions provided by Global Mission Project, I discovered that, while in Brazil, our hosts Jim and Rosemary Davidson will be taking the singers to a Bird Sanctuary. I love birds of all varieties. They represent such an important lesson about God's unfailing provision for his creatures and more so for his children. I'm pleased to be able to visit the Bird Park in the Foz while we are in Brazil.

Jim Davidson, formerly, a member of the North Carolina Baptist Singers and a son of the Tarheel State, is a missionary and professor in Curitiba. His messages by email indicate his obvious anticipation of our visit. I'm especially excited about our scheduled locations for concerts. We will visit and sing at several churches and several of the public schools in Brazil. I am thrilled with the idea of singing about the love of Christ to school children and youth. This really speaks to my heart. Jim reminded us to be prepared to share our faith story if we have a chance to do this. My faith story is based on learning, teachers and schools and how God provided for experiences I never dreamed possible. Because I consider my education and work as a special gift, tied to God's plan and purposes for me, I look forward to meeting with children and youth and seeing the schools in this part of the world.

Spiritual Preparation and How it Began

Destination--Curitiba, Brazil
It began last August 2007 shortly after returning from Moldova. I had spent ten days in the eastern Europe working with orphans, local interpreters and others with Ceri organization. It was life-changing for me, mainly because of the relationships built with prayer partners, team members, and the interpreters, young Moldovans who worked miracles through translation of scripture, devotional thoughts, and common every day chit-chat.

One of the most memorable parts of the day at the summer camp for orphans was the music---singing familiar Baptist hymns in the Romanian language of the Moldovans. Nothing soothes the soul like music. Not only that, but my heart was stirred with the beauty in the eyes of those children as they sang in their native language, the words of Christ.

So, I prayed, trying to hear God's direction for the coming year.

When our minister of music sent out email notices inviting members of Oakmont Baptist Church to serve on a ten day mission trip singing with the North Carolina Baptist Singers, I responded and hoped there might be a chance for me to participate. With my church's blessing and generous financial support, I was sure God would be with me as I traveled to South America, singing the message of love and salvation. The wonderful retreat with the singers in early June further confirmed what I was hearing God say about singing and travel to Brazil. It is now early July and, more than ever, I need to be prayerful for preparations, learning of the music, and the prayer support of others about details of this mission.
Prayer Schedule