Back in the USA

Left São Paulo about 10,Saturday evening after my friend Márcio dropped me off at the airport. Can't sleep on planes. My daughter picked me up from DFW and we caught up some. Visited my local congregation and was warmly greeted. Afterwards took my daughter out to lunch for her birthday. Enjoyed our time together. Returned and had some time with my grandsons. Stayed that evening with my friend Bill and his wife out in the country. He is a real Texan with cowboy clothes and cows although he doesn't use a horse. Monday observed Memorial Day preparations, very creative, and went to my daughter's friend's house for BBQ ribs and sausage. That evening visited my friend George and prayed with him before returning to Bill's house. Tuesday began the trek to my sister's home in Missouri. One of the best blessings of my time in Brazil is I don't need to drive there. Its an endurance contest to go any distance in the US.

Area Rural

For the past week I have been staying at a property in the country, half an hour from a small town and 2 hours from a major city. Tonight I watched the neighborhood guys play soccer, some shoeless, with evenly matched teams. Several women made doce de leite caseiro ,or homemade condensed sweet milk a favored dessert here with milk from a neighbor's cow. The property is a narrow valley created by a little stream flanked by steep hills thick with jungle trees and plants. As seasons are reversed in the southern hemisphere it is wet with day long light misty rain. Tomorrow afternoon begins the long trek back to the US. My 85 day sojourn in Brazil is almost over.

Trying Again

As I wrap up my sojourn in Brazil in the next few days, I thought I would try again to write an entry. I became discouraged over how few were reading and wondered whether there was a point. Then the other day there were 120 page views, probably one person, but enough encouragement to try again. Visited Brasilia the capital and really enjoyed my time there. The church is very spiritually healthy with 4 co equal humble leaders who have worked together for almost 20 years. Enjoyed some good walks, great hospitality and had an opportunity to share my testimony in English with about 25 people. Also shared on the theme of a simple life in Portuguese to a home group. One of the very best experiences on this trip is interacting with young Christians who ask me good questions because they trust I might actually know something.

Crise

(This is,a political post) Brazil is experiencing a major crisis as attested by a number of brethren who have spoken to me about it. The last election in Brazil was,filled with corruption and major vote fraud. The socialist candidate, freed from prison after being sentenced for corruption, by a leftist judge,won, and is now robbing the country blind. It is tragic. As Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of Great Britain famously said, "socialism works until it runs out of other people's money. This is happening in Brazil. As in the US, the middle class is being hollowed out. Any true democracy and individual freedom comes historically from a large and thriving middle class. This is actually rare on this planet. The vast majority of societies have a small, rich elite who have the money to hire essentially mercenaries to protect them while almost everyone else is poor. I think of a young couple I know. One is a lawyer, the other a nurse. Both are intelligent and work hard. Yet over bearing taxes, inflation and corruption leave them little. They don't have a car and live in a small apartment. Our only hopd in this world is Jesus Christ.

A Vida Brasileira

This post contains some observations on the Brazilian life. The Brazilians I meet have a love affair with their cuisine. They tend to eat in a more healthy way than North Americans. They eat more often but not as heavily. I especially appreciate their fruit juices some of which gringos don't have. As far as I can tell the word "gringo" is not derogatory buy descriptive. Currently I live a block and a half away from a lengthy bike trail. It is quite extensive, new from December of 2024, and the product of the state of,Espírito Santo. Along the way one finds exercise,equipment and a number of trash cans in pairs mounted about chest high. A wide variety of people walk, run or bike along the clearly delineated trail. Located in Vila Velha, it follows a canal. Note: the comma is in the wrong place on this phone and I am getting tired of deleting it. Brazilians are very group oriented, often loud and animated. Last night my host was,watching a committee meeting of their federal house of Representatives in which a rep gave a scathing rebuke of a top judicial official. When another man responded it precipitated a shouting shoving match among a number of people that almost became a brawl.