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.