September 7th is Independance Day here in Brazil, a stat holiday. To celebrate some of the men in our church loaded up our car and 4 motorbikes, and drove 18 kms upriver to a beach to fish, play soccer, and hang out together. In one photo you see Edilson, in the yellow shirt, explaining the bible to two of the others. I was admiring how Edilson is seeking first the Kingdom of God. He is trying to be a disciple of Jesus. The next day Edilson’s brother, who is not a christian, tried to commit suicide. The hospital was able to pump out the rat poisen and stabilize him. Edilson hopes he’ll come to church this week-end.

The reason for this outing is so we can spend time with the neighbourhood guys. This might be obvious, but I need to keep reminding myself, so I can be more intentional about how I live. With time, and a variety of activities and backgrounds, we can live out the gospel together, and learn from one another.

Sossego Beach is 18 kms upriver from Marabá.

Edilson shows Sammy and Marques what he is learning from the Bible.

Paulo Roberto gets the chicken ready to roast over the fire.

Marabá Church Men’s Group

Romario

Ivanildo the story teller.

Everyone asked what they could bring. Ivanildo kept absentmindedly saying, “How about rice?” We had tons of rice. The joke of the day, “You better hurry and fill your plate. We are almost out of rice.” It would always get a laugh.

Marabá Men’s Outing at Sossego Beach.

Edilson is a disciple.