September Prayer Calendar

Prayer Calendars Sept
Originally uploaded by Brazilian Tempo.

To download a copy to your computer click here. Once you have done that you can print this calendar and keep it in a place that will remind you to pray for our team each day this month.

Our first family visitors

This week we were blessed by two of our family members. What a great week! Mary's momma and cousin Ashley came to town for a (too) short visit and got to experience life in Salvador. Dona Cindy spoiled us while she was here. She made sure we were getting settled in, feeling comfortable, and starting to be at home in our new culture. We saw lots of sites (some of which were new to us), took lots of pictures, and still had pa-lenty of time to shop. Our walls are no longer bare. Our home is starting to feel more like a home than an apartment we rent thousands of miles from home. They even got to have a Portuguese class with Mary's teacher one morning.
We couldn't have been happier with our first family visitors. Ashley joked about staying here longer, and as we were getting ready to put them on the plane and say good-bye, we almost thought she may have to. There was a problem with the ticket the airline had printed for her. All the information was correct. She had the right time and date and flight number on it. It seemed that when they had printed the ticket, they gave her a ticket number that was wrong. Ashley got it fixed right away, and was able to get on the plane. Too bad. She would have enjoyed a few more days here living it up with all the ways that Brazilians take care of you. They should be in the air right now flying home. We already miss them. It was a great encouragement for them to be here. We look forward to our next visitors from the US.

Muritiba

Matt and Mary Virginia, along with Travis, went with Christians from 7 congregations around Salvador to Muritiba, a town in the interior of Bahia, on Saturday, August 13. We left the city about 7:45 and arrived in Muritiba around 9:45 where we met up with our good friend Nilton and the other missionaries living there. They dropped us all off at various locations in the village to hand out invitations to join free Bible classes they will be holding this month. Iracema and Carlos were our partners (seen in the pictures above) for handing out the flyers. The Muritiba church had already received many calls from interested people by lunch time, and we still had two more hours of inviting after that. They served us all lunch at 1:00 and a short afternoon snack after our work was done. We arrived home late that evening and slept well. To see more pictures of the day click here.

Fresh Paint

We have “saudades” for you! To have saudades has a meaning close to “I miss you” with a little stronger connotation. We pray that all is going well and hope to hear some news about the ministries there soon. It is amazing the connections that the God provides his children through His Holy Spirit. We feel it when we hear news of other churches both at home and here in Brazil.

Our main goals these first nine months are: to learn Portuguese as best we can, support our teammates through culture shock and get settled ourselves, befriend Brazilians in our neighborhood (keeping a list of all evangelistic contacts), do cultural research, and build relationships with the existing Churches of Christ in our city. The last goal is what I am writing to you about now…

On Friday the whole team went to a very small and very poor congregation, the Itinga Church of Christ, on the other side of the city (about an hour bus ride). They have needed their small church building painted for a long time, as much of the walls were black from dirt and mold. And they as a church spiritually said that they were trying to make a fresh start and wanted something to remind themselves of this. So, our mission team, seeing the need and wanting to minister to our brothers and sisters there, took time to paint their building together.

It was as much a team building project for us as it was a project on their building. We broke out in song while we painted and worshipped together during our service to the Itinga Church. We sang some in Portuguese but mostly still in English. Two of our Brazilian brothers who came to mix the paint for us (in an odd Brazilian way I might add) would break out in the Portuguese versions of the songs we were singing and vice versa. God truly blessed us by being there together serving and singing to Him. So, we ask that as you watch the improvements on the Riverchase building taking place, think to pray for the Itinga Church. May we all remember our connection in Christ to our brothers and sisters all over the world – no matter in what language our hearts sing.

P.S. To see pictures of the Itinga church and of the pet monkey of one of the families there, click here.

Festa

The latest pictures are from our language school. One of our teachers at the school, Erica, is moving to Mexico and had her last day with us on Friday. Another one of our language professors, Jaci, had her birthday on Friday. So this is us trying to throw them a Brazilian / American festa for the two occasions. God has blessed us with great teachers here who are constantly wanting to know more about what we will teach in our church. So it’s a learning / teaching situation. Please continue to pray for our teachers, that God will continue to work on their hearts as they learn more about Him.

I Poisoned My Husband! (A MayVa Story)

These warnings rouqhly translate: This product contains yellow coloring TETRAZINA, that can cause reactions in people allergic to Acetylsalicilic Acid (Aspirin)

So, our allergies and sinuses have been acting up again because of all the rain which easily brings way for mold in our apartment (there is no central air here and windows are always kept open plus the humidity level here anyway is even higher than Alabama). When Matt was feeling under the weather a week and a half ago, I bought him some new medicine that the pharmacist recommended. One important piece of information in this story is that Matt is highly allergic to aspirin. The label was all in Portuguese but I knew the word for aspirin and didn’t see the name on the bottle so I determined that it was okay for him and brought it home.

So, yes, after just one year of marriage, I poisoned my husband. But like Adam and Eve… Adam was there too. Eve just offered it, Adam didn’t have to take it. Right? The next morning (Friday) after he had started taking it, he woke up with eyes the size of golf balls and the color of a fire engine. By Saturday his eyes were the same and he had splotches of red on his neck and in between his fingers. Sunday was the same story, so we spent most of Monday at the doctor’s office. The allergist (after over 3 hours of waiting to see her) pointed to a “T” word on the label and said that people who are allergic to aspirin are typically allergic to this… which was explained on the label (Ooops! I didn’t know the scientific name for aspirin). She then made a list of things never to give him and a prescription for prednisone. Today we go back to the doctor to make sure the prednisone took care of it all. He’s feeling and looking much better now! We’re having Mom bring medicine that we’re more familiar with, when she comes next month. Have a swell day everyone!!!

Introducing an Old Friend to New Ones

The month of June has been a busy one for the Maberys in Brazil. We were in our second month of Portuguese training and are progressing at a pretty steady pace right now. We have both been complimented lately by people who heard us talk when we first arrived and are noticing that we are understanding and speaking better now than before.

Mary Virginia had a birthday early in June and we had our first wedding anniversary just a couple weeks ago. We were able to take some time and spend a weekend at the discovery coast to celebrate together.

We had a wonderful experience at the home of Mary Virginia’s professora de Português, Jaci, on a Saturday night. Her teacher invited us to come and share about our lives and something from the Bible with some of the teenagers she tutors for free on the weekends. Little did we know that we would be meeting a few students and most of Jaci’s family when we arrived. Visiting a Brazilian home, especially for the first time, is a big deal. There were six of us from our team visiting, and we all brought with us some little snack or a bottle of Coke to add to the treats offered. We spent about an hour sitting together on the porch getting to know each other (the six of us and about 20 of them), and then the food was laid out for us to try. There was everything from a flan type dish topped with prunes to boiled peanuts. We talked and laughed some more and met everyone else that we hadn’t already met. It was such a warm, welcoming and fun atmosphere that we hardly knew what to do, so we just joined in.

We met Jaci’s nephew, Mateus (Matthew). He wanted the rest of his family to meet us, so when his father arrived he introduced us and said we would have to come back and have dinner with him and his mother, whose name happens to be Virginia. He was so proud to have us as new friends that he wanted everyone else to know us as well. That is how it is with knowing Jesus. We want everyone else to know him because of the joy we have from knowing him as well. Just like the healed leper in Luke 5:12-15, we cannot keep quiet about the good things Christ has done in our lives. Now we just have to learn how to do that well in Portuguese.

Pelourinho Fieldtrip

Pelourinho: (L-R) Marina's Boyfriend (tour guide), Marina (Matt's teacher), Jaci (Mary's Teacher), and Us
Our Portuguese Professoras took us on a fieldtrip to the Pourinho today to learn about some of the history of Salvador. Our tour guide works at a museum for antique postcards and knows a lot of Brazilian history.

Esperança (eh-spə–rahn–sə)

Oi Everyone from Salvador, Brazil! Things are starting to cool off some (meaning 70’s and 80’s as best we can tell from Celsius) during the rainy season which is our Fall and Winter. It’s a little strange having Autumn when it should be Spring. With the weather change, Matt and Mary have both been sick (nothing serious), mostly sinus, allergies, and stomach problems. Don’t worry. Our realtor, who lives downstairs, had just the thing. She brought up a Brazilian home remedy for us to drink. A new cultural experience, it was made of beat juice (red), honey (thick), onions and lemon juice. It looks like blood and smells awful! Our bodies are just adjusting to their new environment, the new foods here and the new remedies for both!

It’s also an adjustment to think in two languages and not be sure about which one needs to come out – response time in conversation is much slower at the moment. Of course, with Mary, her response time is faster, but she never knows if what she’s saying is Portuguese or her own language (a mixture of Portuguese, English, Spanish, and Italian). Good thing Brazilians are patient with us!

We’re almost a month into language school and already we see how much we have to learn. It’s overwhelming and exciting at the same time. Learning to think in a different way means adding new meaning to what you already know. Take the English word “hope” for example… In English, the definition of “hope” is more of a wish or desire. We “hope” that our shipment gets here, but right now we think maybe the boat sank. In Portuguese, the word “esperança” is awaiting something desirable and connotes a strong expectation. Spiritually, we hope for heaven; we hope for Jesus to return. Are we hoping with expectation? When we expect something to happen, we take action accordingly. What would that kind of spiritual hope look like in our lives?

God is teaching us many things lately. Thank you for sharing in our work, our joy, and our “esperança” for the church here.

Land Lines and Life Lines

Well, our first month was about finding and securing an apartment and getting all of our documents processed so we could live here in Salvador, Brazil. This month we have been setting up our new home and learning culture and language as we go. Everything here runs at a much slower pace than in the States. There is no hurry here to deliver our furniture or our shipment of things or a telephone or a refrigerator. As of now, however, we have two sofas, two ceiling fans, and two mattresses in our apartment. Little by little, we’re getting settled in. We really love our apartment and have a great view from the 12^th floor.

Language school starts this week. We’re ready to get some help. Did I mention earlier in the list of two’s that we also have two cell phones? The second one was delivered last week. When the delivery man opened the box, we didn’t know what to say. We were expecting a land line phone for our apartment. You see, our realtor, Helena, said she would help us get a phone. So we let her call for us and set it up. Apparently there was a slight miscommunication. Our team thinks this is pretty funny. They call our new cell phone our land line. We had a good laugh about it and moved on. All of us have stories to tell now like this one and it helps to share these experiences with each other.

Our team has been very important to us since we’ve been here. In fact, they’ve been our life line. Without each other, this experience of moving to another country to live as missionaries would be much more difficult. All of us Christians are on a team. Satan makes it easy for us to feel isolated when we are going through a trying time. But it is especially during such times that we must remember, the church is our team. Remember your team goal. Take care of each other along the way. We miss you all very much! Keep us informed about the ministry there! mabery@missionsalvador.com

Citizenship?

For the past three weeks we have been working on living as citizens of Salvador. Of course we don’t have the full rights of citizens here, but we have had to make certain arrangements in order to be able to live here and do our work. Everyone moving to Brazil must go through the same procedure. At least our whole team was able to experience all of this together.

First, we were obliged to travel across the city to the Policia Federal to register with the Federal Police of Brazil. This took two trips, one to find out what paperwork we had to have with us, and the other by the whole team to stand in line to pay to have our papers processed and then to stand in line again to actually have them processed. We had three small children in our group and they were more than happy to move our process along, especially when all three decided to start screaming at the same time.

In order to rent property or buy any large items, we are required to give a CPF number, the equivalent of a social security number in Brazil. We went to the revenue office here in Salvador to apply, and ran into a bit of trouble. We had to go to the central office of the Banco do Brasil to pay a 4,50 reais (less than $2.00) fee and then call to make an appointment at the revenue office to get our number. We paid the fee but opted to just go wait in line again, which worked. The Parker family on our team received their numbers on the first try just on their charm alone without having to pay.

For the next week we hunted apartments. We have now all found our apartments, signed contracts, and should all be moved in by the end of the week. It helps to remember something that is true whether we are in Brazil or in the U.S.- our real home is in heaven. Paul writes to all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi (3:20) about citizenship saying, “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Flood Waters

These were a couple of the days welcoming us to the beautiful city of Salvador. In the first week we were blessed with a lot of sunshine, and then rainy season began (they say it lasts from March to August). You can see similar pictures in the banner to the right>

Greetings from Brazil

Well, we made it safe and sound! We're here in Brazil to begin this long awaited journey and adventure! We arrived on Sunday night and our first two days have certainly been eventful. Many of you have asked about MayVa stories from Brazil like the ones I sent from Europe. So, here's the first one... We have a kitchenette in our hotel room and the Porter family and Matt and I were trying to cook our first meal in Brazil, a frozen pizza. (We wanted a meal that didn't take three hours to cook or three hours to wait on at a restaurant.) Jennifer had packed a pan and we had done well for our first trip to the supermarket on our first day in Brazil. The only problem was that we couldn't figure out the gas oven since it was different than any one we had ever seen.

Therefore, I was nominated to call for help. I called what I thought was the front desk and explained in broken Portuguese / Spanish that we needed someone to come and light the oven. The woman I was speaking to transfered me to the front desk and I explained again. The man at the front desk didn't know what I was talking about so he handed me off to someone else. Finally, someone who spoke English. When I explained he said, "Okay, I send someone up." Thirty minutes later, two maids arrived carrying pots and pans. Through sherades we communicated what we really needed and the laides radioed their supervisor. Matt and the two ladies found instructions (in portuguese) and while they rattled off things in portuguese that he couldn't understand, Matt lit the oven - just before the supervisor arrived. By the time all of our visitors left and we cooked the frozen pizza, it was still a typically long Brazilian meal.

As I think about how many miscommunications we'll have while we're here, I'm reminded of how our heavenly father understands us no matter what. He knows what we're going to ask for even before we ask it and it doesn't matter what language we ask it in. God understands us and knows us better than we know ourselves. So when you have one of those days when you feel like you can't communicate your thoughts and feelings, even in your own language, remember that God understands and is waiting for you to come to Him.

P.S. Thank you for the wonderful send-off and the gift that you gave us! It means so much to kwow that we have such a caring church behind us. We miss you all already.