So they found my car, and it looked pretty decent. I'm not sure I want to drive it anymore, though (apparently Honda Civics and Toyota Corollas are in high demand by the bandidos because of their massive trunk sizes). I got a call yesterday about 2:30 from my boss and got to talk to the police. Mom, sister, brother, and I went to the police station near my house to pick up the car (we had to get it before the tow truck got there). We were 5 minutes late, so they towed the car. Someone is going to have to pick it up from the depository over the mountain at some point in time. Hope it's not me.
As we were sitting at the police station, on the side of the road, my brother said "I think it's time to break out the camera." My grandmother gave them a small disposable camera for action/candid shots. Little bro was on top of the times with the witty comment.
This morning as we were leaving, our gate man told me that the police had been here yesterday looking for me. Comforting.
28 May 2007
26 May 2007
Coisa de filme
I would like to echo my friend Melanie's question: Where do I live?!
My boss and I were driving home from the hotel the other day where our volunteers stay, and we were uncerimoniously carjacked. Well, cerimoniously when you get right down to it. Car in front, car in back, nowhere to go, and a gun. Obviously planned.
I keep wondering how desperate these people are in the city that I live. I know they are desperate just to survive some days, but they are also desperate for Jesus and don't even know it. While I am mad about what happened, I grieve for the people who are so hardened and desperate that they must resort to violence (or near violence) to get what they want. I wonder what the guy's name was who took the car. I wonder what his story is.
I must add that no missionaries were hurt during the enactment of this story.
My boss and I were driving home from the hotel the other day where our volunteers stay, and we were uncerimoniously carjacked. Well, cerimoniously when you get right down to it. Car in front, car in back, nowhere to go, and a gun. Obviously planned.
I keep wondering how desperate these people are in the city that I live. I know they are desperate just to survive some days, but they are also desperate for Jesus and don't even know it. While I am mad about what happened, I grieve for the people who are so hardened and desperate that they must resort to violence (or near violence) to get what they want. I wonder what the guy's name was who took the car. I wonder what his story is.
I must add that no missionaries were hurt during the enactment of this story.
11 May 2007
Coffee, anyone?
Our highly feminist group of missionaries (so named with much humor because the first book we chose to read turned out to be much more feminist and different than we originally thought) got together today and we went to Café du Lage in Parque Lage near Jardim Botánico.
About the group: we are 5 women, 4 Americans, 1 Swede, 2 married, 1 with a daughter, 1 pregnant, and 3 happily single for now (though not without prospects!). We may be as many as 7 by the end of the year, adding 1 more American and 1 Canadian.
About Parque Lage: Jenna seems to know about all these cool places in Rio (though I am not without my share of knowledge), and she suggested we go to Parque Lage. It contains a visual arts school, and the architecture (as with everything else that's old here) is beautiful. There is a pool in the middle of the courtyard that is screaming for the Department of Health to cite it as a danger because of a risk of dengue fever (I got bitten by a mosquito while we were there. Only time will tell.). In addition to the beautiful archtecture, there are student paintings, many times still in progress, around the courtyard. The cafe is quaint and the food is good (there was melted chocolate in the bottom of my mocha, and I have yet to have a better piece of spinach quiche). The conversation was even better.
My vote? I'll definitely be back soon.
About the group: we are 5 women, 4 Americans, 1 Swede, 2 married, 1 with a daughter, 1 pregnant, and 3 happily single for now (though not without prospects!). We may be as many as 7 by the end of the year, adding 1 more American and 1 Canadian.
About Parque Lage: Jenna seems to know about all these cool places in Rio (though I am not without my share of knowledge), and she suggested we go to Parque Lage. It contains a visual arts school, and the architecture (as with everything else that's old here) is beautiful. There is a pool in the middle of the courtyard that is screaming for the Department of Health to cite it as a danger because of a risk of dengue fever (I got bitten by a mosquito while we were there. Only time will tell.). In addition to the beautiful archtecture, there are student paintings, many times still in progress, around the courtyard. The cafe is quaint and the food is good (there was melted chocolate in the bottom of my mocha, and I have yet to have a better piece of spinach quiche). The conversation was even better.
My vote? I'll definitely be back soon.
10 May 2007
Cultural ramblings
As we were talking this morning, I was painfully aware of the need to understand the culture one lives in. I say painfully because I still don't understand why someone would come to live in a different culture and not at least try to understand why where they live is how it is.
Brasil is a country of many different cultures, from the northeast to the south, from Rio to the Pantanal to the Amazon. But as different as the regional cultures are, one thing is very common: most Brasilians do not question authority, whether it be government, police, the church, or educators. What I am NOT calling for is madness or mayhem. What I would love to see is critical thinking and reasoning for one's own self. The reason I bring this up is that it presents a problem to Christians who accept everything that their pastor tells them, even if it is not true. These same pastors say that if one is questioning the work of the Holy Spirit in the pastor's life, these people are blaspheming the Holy Spirit, as if there were no room to make sure that what they are doing is from God. The Bible instructs us to test the spirits, to not accept blindly what others say. In a religious culture driven by fear, I fear that the truth of God's grace and love will make its way in too slowly to make the greatest difference possible.
But back to my original point.... I fear that we have come in without understanding that things are the way they are. Yes, they need to be changed; that is why we're here. But we can't just walk up to people and tell people they need to change their thinking. That turns one from belief in one person to belief in someone else. We have to get at the root of culture and understand why things are the way they are if there is to be any hope of spreading the gospel and teaching truth with effectiveness.
Brasil is a country of many different cultures, from the northeast to the south, from Rio to the Pantanal to the Amazon. But as different as the regional cultures are, one thing is very common: most Brasilians do not question authority, whether it be government, police, the church, or educators. What I am NOT calling for is madness or mayhem. What I would love to see is critical thinking and reasoning for one's own self. The reason I bring this up is that it presents a problem to Christians who accept everything that their pastor tells them, even if it is not true. These same pastors say that if one is questioning the work of the Holy Spirit in the pastor's life, these people are blaspheming the Holy Spirit, as if there were no room to make sure that what they are doing is from God. The Bible instructs us to test the spirits, to not accept blindly what others say. In a religious culture driven by fear, I fear that the truth of God's grace and love will make its way in too slowly to make the greatest difference possible.
But back to my original point.... I fear that we have come in without understanding that things are the way they are. Yes, they need to be changed; that is why we're here. But we can't just walk up to people and tell people they need to change their thinking. That turns one from belief in one person to belief in someone else. We have to get at the root of culture and understand why things are the way they are if there is to be any hope of spreading the gospel and teaching truth with effectiveness.
08 May 2007
And they will know you are My disciples
I have been thinking a lot lately about how we will ever be able to draw people to Jesus. I see so much here that comes out of the Brasilian church (no matter what denomination) that makes even me, a believer and follower of Christ, disillusioned with the church. The church (throughout the world, I imagine) tells people they are going to hell because of what they do or don't do, because of whether they do bad or don't do good, when the only reason anyone will go to hell is because he still hasn't accepted the fact that Jesus is the only way to heaven. I am not going to get to heaven because I am a missionary, or because I do humanitarian work or because I am nice to people. I am going to heaven because I have accepted the death of Christ on the cross as the one thing that makes right all the good that I don't do or all the bad that I do.
I think we have to look at people not only as lost (where's the urgency if they're not?), but as people. We have to listen to their stories. We have to treat them as people. How many of you would listen to what I had to say if I came up to you telling you that you were going to hell because of (insert particular vice here)? I know that everyone has different stories, and that people need to be listened to. The hard part for me comes when someone is doing something that I know is wrong, that I want so badly to judge, and I wonder what the true story is. What in the world happened to make them make the series of decisions that led them down this road? What makes somebody choose to destroy their family? Why don't people think about the long-term effects of their decisions? Why do people take the pleasure of a moment in place of a lifetime? Those questions make me sit back and wait to decide my position until I know the whole story (and even then it's hard).
As much as I hate to confess it, showing love to these people sometimes seems unnatural and is difficult. But what am I supposed to do when that is the only way some of them will ever know who Jesus is? There is no other option, because Christ gave us the two greatest commandments (definitely summarized): love God and love your neighbor. I could be like the Pharisees and ask "Who is my neighbor?" but I prefer not to, for Jesus showed very clearly in His response to that question that the one who shows mercy and compassion is truly a neighbor. I want to show mercy and compassion, but some days I don't even know how to start.
These thoughts have been a huge reminder in my own life, because the ones that we should be closest to are sometimes the hardest to love.
I think we have to look at people not only as lost (where's the urgency if they're not?), but as people. We have to listen to their stories. We have to treat them as people. How many of you would listen to what I had to say if I came up to you telling you that you were going to hell because of (insert particular vice here)? I know that everyone has different stories, and that people need to be listened to. The hard part for me comes when someone is doing something that I know is wrong, that I want so badly to judge, and I wonder what the true story is. What in the world happened to make them make the series of decisions that led them down this road? What makes somebody choose to destroy their family? Why don't people think about the long-term effects of their decisions? Why do people take the pleasure of a moment in place of a lifetime? Those questions make me sit back and wait to decide my position until I know the whole story (and even then it's hard).
As much as I hate to confess it, showing love to these people sometimes seems unnatural and is difficult. But what am I supposed to do when that is the only way some of them will ever know who Jesus is? There is no other option, because Christ gave us the two greatest commandments (definitely summarized): love God and love your neighbor. I could be like the Pharisees and ask "Who is my neighbor?" but I prefer not to, for Jesus showed very clearly in His response to that question that the one who shows mercy and compassion is truly a neighbor. I want to show mercy and compassion, but some days I don't even know how to start.
These thoughts have been a huge reminder in my own life, because the ones that we should be closest to are sometimes the hardest to love.
07 May 2007
So I agree with David on his comment to this previous post. Amy and I have been talking about how we wish they would make DVD's out of Brasilian novelas (which is totally not practical, since they run for 6-9 months, 6 nights a week, for an hour or so), and that we would buy the one that we really got into a couple of years ago. Turns out that I was watching a commercial for "Vale a Pena Ver de Novo" (It's worth it to see it again) the other day, and what novela were they talking about but the one Amy and I watched, Da Cor do Pecado. I watched the first episode today and am really excited to get to watch at least some of it.
05 May 2007
Que mico que eu paguei!
Last night I went with some friends to Lapa (a part of Rio much like Bourbon Street that is packed on the weekends) to pass out tracts and talk to people about God. The night was awesome -- one friend and I stood talking to a guy for almost 2 hours because he kept asking questions!
Before we go out on the street, we have a worship service. The pastor of the church down there has known me for about the last 5 years and every time I'm down there he asks me how I'm doing and tells me how glad he is that I'm there. Last night, he decided it would be a good idea to ask me to come up and pray. In Portuguese. In front of a church full of Brasilians. I know to a lot of people that wouldn't be a big deal, but I am much better one-on-one than I am in front of a group. I'm still quite self-conscious when speaking in Portuguese, scared that I am going to make a mistake. I know that in the end God knows my heart, but I don't want to offend anyone.
Before we go out on the street, we have a worship service. The pastor of the church down there has known me for about the last 5 years and every time I'm down there he asks me how I'm doing and tells me how glad he is that I'm there. Last night, he decided it would be a good idea to ask me to come up and pray. In Portuguese. In front of a church full of Brasilians. I know to a lot of people that wouldn't be a big deal, but I am much better one-on-one than I am in front of a group. I'm still quite self-conscious when speaking in Portuguese, scared that I am going to make a mistake. I know that in the end God knows my heart, but I don't want to offend anyone.
02 May 2007
Things that make me happy today
-- The fact that my friend Susanna and I are almost always going through the same things
-- Sleeping on my couch (even if it is only for 5 hours during the night)
-- Being one of 3 (yes, THREE) people to hold down a normal-sized cat during our vet clinic
-- Getting to share Brasil stories with people who have lived here
-- Knowledge that the Lord can change my attitude if I will only let Him
-- Sleeping on my couch (even if it is only for 5 hours during the night)
-- Being one of 3 (yes, THREE) people to hold down a normal-sized cat during our vet clinic
-- Getting to share Brasil stories with people who have lived here
-- Knowledge that the Lord can change my attitude if I will only let Him
01 May 2007
Things that frustrated me today
-- Not being able to talk to David for more than 2 minutes
-- Being around people who find everything to be a crisis and don't feel empowered to resolve situations
-- Feeling like my mouth doesn't work like it should when I am trying to speak Portuguese
-- Feeling like my brain doesn't work like it should when I am trying to speak Portuguese
-- People who try to make others speak English with me (for various reasons, but my guess in this particular case is a patronizing attitude) -- This didn't happen today, but it's still frustrating me. Especially since all our interpreters are great to let me struggle through my Portuguese like a little child because they want me to learn it as much as I do.
-- Being around people who find everything to be a crisis and don't feel empowered to resolve situations
-- Feeling like my mouth doesn't work like it should when I am trying to speak Portuguese
-- Feeling like my brain doesn't work like it should when I am trying to speak Portuguese
-- People who try to make others speak English with me (for various reasons, but my guess in this particular case is a patronizing attitude) -- This didn't happen today, but it's still frustrating me. Especially since all our interpreters are great to let me struggle through my Portuguese like a little child because they want me to learn it as much as I do.
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