Bella took some photos of our mango tree this week.

This first picture shows the whole tree, covered with blossoms. The photo story progresses until the last photo, which shows some baby mangos springing out of the blossoms.

By Christmas the ground will be thick with “mango mud.” Thick.

When I first saw these photos I thought, “This is prophetic. God is breaking through to us.” What do you think?

We had a grass fire yesterday. I don’t know how it started, but I know how it ended. Emma and Bella saw it from the house and they came out with some buckets and rags. The neighbour kids pitched in to beat it out. We are very grateful for our tractor which helps us keeps the grass cut.

Clenildo and Angelita and their three children came to visit us for a week. In Altamira Clenildo led the local pastoral team while I led the missionary team. We worked together in Altamira for more than 12 years, and we always consider our friendship to be a great favor from God. Clenildo graciously helps me and other missionaries understand Brazilian culture and leadership. As we work at planting a national church-planting movement Clenildo remains our leader. Clenildo and Elba are both part of the national co-ordinator team for the Vineyard Brasil church-planting movement.

Clenildo and Angelito both express their love for Jesus by passionately promoting missions, personal discipleship, small groups and the local church. When we first knew Clenildo and Angelita they were serving God sacrificially as Brazilian missionaries, supplemented their groceries by fishing from a wooden canoe and travelling with their young child on a strong, one-speed, black bicycle. They continue to serve the Lord sacrificially and He continues to increase their means of doing so. Their three children, Denise, Jonatás and Junior also love the Lord and are a great blessing wherever they go.

“We have known Elba since Olivia was 10 months old.” Deanna was introducing Elba as the Guest Speaker on Sunday at the Marabá Church. “We are so proud she is now our leader.”

This is one of our favorite stories. After our first year in Brazil, when we could barely speak Portuguese, we moved across the city of Santarem to work with a small church of about 20 people, counting all the children. We had two babies in diapers and no vehicle. We would traverse the unpaved, sandy roads with our bicycles to buy groceries. I would hook the chariot up to the back of my bike, put the two girls in and off we would go. At the grocery store we would pile all our food on top of Anni and Via and we would head back home.

One day we really needed help and a small neighbour’s kid told us he knew a teen-ager who had just moved to the city continue her high school studies. She was starting Grade 11. The next day Elba started helping with the housework. Three weeks later she invited Jesus into her life. Elba lived with us for a year in Santarem. When we decided to leave Santarem for the Xingu, Elba asked if she could move with us. Elba graduated from Grade 12 in Altamira while living with us.

After Bible School in Southern Brazil Elba asked if she could come back to work with us in Altamira. She started what is now CDR, Center of Regional Development, a non-governmental organization set up to help the poor with an English School, a computer school and a theology component. After CDR was running Elba joined us planting our second major church plant in Altamira, the Mirante Church, where she is now the senior pastor. Along the way Elba married Steve, who was running the Mission Books in the United States. Steve has a keen sense of business and is a strong leader in his own way. It was a perfect match, enabling both of them to function far better than either one could alone. A number of years ago Elba was chosen to be one of five national coordinators for the Vineyard church-planting movement in Brazil.

Steve and Elba, and their daughters Camily and Alyssa, came to stay with us in Marabá for almost a week. Steve helped significantly with our network. Elba helped update some legal documents. Mostly they encouraged us personally, and hopefully we encouraged them too.

They left here to travel another 9 hours South, to visit a church they are planting in the state of Tocatins.

Sammy preached during the Saturday night youth service. He was real nervous. There was low attendance, I think because we’ve been having more activities this week.

Still, he did real well. He spoke about how God enables us to do His work. His examples were Moses, a murderer who couldn’t speak too well, and David, and adulterer who became a great leader and Jeremiah, who became a national prophet while still very young in age.

Angelica told me later, “He did real well. God really spoke to me during that message.”

We had a special Children’s Service on Friday night, as the last of the three-day summer holiday event. Aline led it, the youth helped her lead, and it went really well. They even had a special worship team with mostly children leading.

Now if only they would quickly grow up to become mature adults. (smile) God didn’t make us like this, did He? Our maturing is a long process, which takes a lot of patience, and sometimes faith when we have no practical reason to believe things can have a good ending other than God’s promises.

Aline preached and encouraging message during the main service on Sunday. Aline has been a strong right hand to Ivanildo and Monica while we were away. God is blessing her in so many ways. When we first moved here Aline did not have a very good job, she lived way across town, transportation was tough with the public bus system, Aline could not get into university though she had been trying for years, and she gave all her money to help her mom with their difficult rental conditions. Now Aline has a good job with week-ends free, she lives here on the chácara with us, she has her own motorbike, she is studying at the university in the evenings and her mom is doing much better and in her own home. I am not suggesting Aline received any of these blessings because we moved here or that this was her sermon; I write the timeline to show how Aline served God faithfully when things were not going too well, and to show how God is pouring out His grace on her.

The second photo is of Aline, Deyse and Adriana.

This week our Ipé tree burst into color. A little pink flower by the volleyball court was also outdoing itself.

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; Let the sea roar, and all it contains; Let the field exult, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy Before the Lord, for He is coming; For He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, And the peoples in His faithfulness (Psalm 96:11-13).