Adventures with Brazilians (3)

When I left Brazil last August one of the things that most impressed me was the warmth, and sacrificial nature of the hospitality of the saints that I met. ( Found in greater detail in my Brazil report blog entry of August 6th.) Frankly I despaired of Americans ever matching it. As with so many things, I, the man of little faith, had God show me otherwise. On Thursday Vinci and Samia, Reuel and Erica and Mateus, and Getulio and Ana came to visit. Our household is a fairly quiet one, with only one extrovert among the five of us. This was transformed at once. We had lunch together as the Spirit of God knit together those who had not previously met. Sanford and Deb gave up their basement "Hawaiian" suite to Vinci and Samia, I ushered Reuel & Erica into the "Mexico" suite, and our sister Pat provided a guest room for Getulio and Ana.
Bruce, a brother who has ministered extensively in central Asia, swung by about 4, and was immediately swept into the flow of the Spirit. He emerged about two hours later like a man who had come out of a desert into a waterfall. Wayne and Michael took his place, Nate joined us, and we dove into a whole lot of Chinese food, fellowship, laughter. Later Nic, Mike and Katie, and Danielle hopped on board.
Finally we sat down and Vinci shared his heart with us about the kingdom of God, and building in that kingdom through home based ministry. Samia translated. Just watching them is a joy as they tease each other (after many years of marriage.) In the morning we had breakfast and then Vinci and Samia spoke with me privately. They are a multi-faceted couple, humble yet walking in the power of the Spirit, full of joy, Vinci is an avid jokester but also serious about the preaching of the gospel. We ate lunch later, and I noticed that Vinci spent time with each daughter of my host family separately, drawing them out.
Friday night we celebrated Vinci and Marcio's birthdays. Together they are 100 years old. Imagine a long narrow table filled with Brazilians, and the occasional stray north American, chattering away in Portuguese and a little English lingo, punctuated by explosions of laughter, eating and joy. I cannot help thinking of the marriage supper of the Lamb. ( Revelation 19)