Brazil 4: 17

Friday night i had dinner at Fafa's with his family and two other couples. He told me the story of how he received his name. As a child he was called Carlos ( or something similar)but was not registered officially as such. At some point in his childhood his mother converted to Christ. Shortly thereafter she heard a sermon about Josafa ( there is an accent mark for emphasis on the final letter a. Josafa is the Portuguese rendering of King Jehoshaphat) Inevitably this was shortened to Fafa. Prior to the meal i had a nice conversation with Fafa and his daughter whose age i am not going to try to guess as i have been off by too many years in the past. I am impressed by the knowledge of, and memorization of the Scripture that i am finding in the people of this church. After the other couples arrived i had my most extensive conversation yet. They are very curious about the US. None spoke English. We also talked about the importance of understanding culture ( not necessarily accepting it) in order to win souls to Christ. One woman asked me if we would eat physical food in heaven. We looked at Matthew 8:11 in response. This is another thing that impresses me. These believers are actually willing to receive the Bible as the final determinant on questions and topics. Saturday was a very busy day. Picked up Marcos, a professor of physical therapy at the local college, and went to the coast about sixty kilometers away. ( 35 miles) For some reason we did not face the multitude of traffic that i normally see on what are basically two lane country roads. We went to a little museum, where a young woman gave us a tour. They have a life size replica of a whale. The Abrolhos ( a condensed form of the words open your eyes)islands lie about two hours offshore. These have been designated as a protected wildlife area. We went to several different beaches in little coastal towns or villages. Most were relatively deserted although i was informed that during the season they are jammed. Brazilians favor bright pastel colors. I found this in homes, churches and public buildings. We ate at the customary buffet style restaurant. These are reasonably priced, and feature a wide variety of foods. Later we went to a sorvetaria ( ice cream store) This works on the same principle. You scoop your own ice cream from about two dozen flavors, and pick among fifteen toppings. You mix as you wish. At the end your container is weighed and you pay based on the weight as you would in the buffet restaurant. Saturday evening we went to the celebration of a 15 year old girl's birthday. This is almost as elaborate as a wedding. Everyone is dressed to the nines, there is a band, waiters, an MC ( master of ceremonies- in this case a woman)innumerable photographs, gifts etc. The guys don't get the equivalent. This type of situation, with lots of people, loud music blasting, and endless food is absolutely meat and drink for Brazilians, their favorite thing to do. For me, with a limited command of Portuguese, it is an almost impossible situation in which to communicate. Had three serious attempts at more serious conversations, one with a young guy who wants to go to Texas to be a cowboy, but that was it. The young lady had a formal entrance with the equivalent of bridesmaids and groomsmen ( her brother was her partner). They did something resembling a Scottish reel. Later she got the microphone and introduced and publicly thanked different meaningful people in her life. Then her mother did the same. Each person or couple thus presented had their picture taken with the girl and or her mother, and received a present. For some unknown reason I was singled out for the same treatment. Then the band, which is young people from the church, played for a long time including some music written by my hosts' daughter. About half of the people danced to the music in one swaying group. Finally they changed the tempo, and people began dancing in pairs. By this time it was after one o'clock, and my host kindly took me and his wife's ninety year old mother home to sleep. He returned and did not finally get home until after 3. In Portuguese there is a word "madrugada" for the time after midnight and before sunrise. Brazilians love madrugada.