Canada

Although I have lived close to the Canadian border most of my life, I never knew anyone that lived there until recently. Friday I had the opportunity to trek north with Marcelo and his family. He drove, which i greatly appreciate. Due to winter early darkness I did not get to see much either on the way or on the return. Getting into Canada was relatively easy. We showed the young border official our passports, he asked a few questions, and we were in. We stayed at the home of Wellington and Suzel, whom I had met previously on several occasions. As always with Brazilian Christians, their hospitality, and that of everyone else I met, was extraordinary.
I didn't get to see much of Canada itself, as we were in meetings, eating or, in my case, sleeping most of the time. Montreal is more of a French speaking area with most signs, both highway and stores, in French. Fortunately I can still read most French although I could never speak it. ( It is the same with Portuguese.)Wellington lives in a French speaking suburb and his children go to French speaking schools.
Saturday we went to an Ice Palace. I had never seen this before. Comprised of several acres of what appeared to be machine sculptured ice/snow buildings the size of a motel, they had restaurants, and places that sold beverages inside, complete with lights, electricity and about a hundred smaller rooms that had beds, and sometimes chairs, made of ice. The children really enjoyed running in and out of these little rooms. We also saw horse driven sleighs in a different section of the park.

Saturday evening, after a buffet meal, we gathered together. Although the core group consists of about five families, they know a number of other people who will come to special meetings although not usually on Sundays. Marcelo taught on both the Kingdom of God and the church, drawing from the Old Testament and the New to show the contrast, and making the foundational point that the church is not a building or an organization. My friend Reuel was a hardworking and faithful translator. I am picking out more words but the gist eludes me much of the time.
As I experienced in Brazil, the Christians are joyful, love to talk and eat, and are amazingly hospitable and generous, treating me like visiting royalty. They do their best to understand my halting, ungrammatical Portuguese.
Two families now live in Ottawa and I hope to visit them later this year.
The return was more difficult as the American border official could not understand why an old non-Brazilian American would be traveling with a young Brazilian family. I suppose it is their job to be suspicious.
I was deeply blessed by my fellowship with Marcelo on a number of themes and interaction with his family. It was good practice for being a grandpa some day.