Isaiah's good-bye with cell groups. He is now helping with the new church plant in Fortaleza.
Well, we knew the skit we were going to perform at the young adults service was going to be powerful because of all the attacks we came under. That morning as I was running errands, I was turning left (ok, maybe a little too fast b/c of trying to beat traffic) and hit some sand, sliding the tires right out from under me. Thankfully the bike wasn’t too badly scratched, probably because it was on top of my leg :) But praise the Lord it wasn’t too bad, just a few scratches on my legs, no burns or collisions. I got right back up and drove home to scrub the asphalt out of the scrapes.
Anyways, back to the skit, other members of the skit were getting sick, and during the skit one girl’s knee popped out of joint! But we still performed, some of us in quite a bit of pain, and it was super powerful and 17 people gave their lives to the Lord! We’ve also been invited to present at different churches as well and we’re trying to plan that out. My cousin, Joe, who coordinated it all and preached that service, posted pictures and a (low quality b/c of our internet connection) video on his blog: www.jjhubers.com (and I don’t think it’s their first post, so you might have to scroll down)
Church being built in Aritapera. I mostly worked under the church (in the water) since I'm tall enough to easily hold the clamp up to the floor :)
I’ve been trying to focus more time to discipleship these days, and it’s been awesome and interesting to see these guys grow. One day at church, Michel, a new Christian, asked, ”When can I become a discipler?” to which I answered that he can already be a discipler and usually we disciple the people we bring to the Lord. His second question: “So I can already bring people to the Lord?” Wow, we’re talking baby Christians :) Hiago, a 16-year old long time “Christian”, never took things very seriously and many times was more of a disturbance at cell group and church. I’ve been having him come over more and just spend the days with me, since he doesn’t have a job and he’s been on vacation. Not sure what happened, but he all of the sudden is probably my strongest, right-hand man. He’s inviting guys to the group, going after his previously “partner in crime” (hoping to disciple him), being faithful in his time with God, and just really being a help and blessing! Everyone who’s known him is super surprised, as am I, and know it’s God working.
More next time!
Paul
This man just killed a stingray with his machete. He's been stung by stingrays 21 times!
another type of stove (in Aritapera)
Man, that is crazy about your bike accident. It’s so good to hear you weren’t seriously injured. Hearing about the tests that you guys endure there makes it seem like a walk in the park here in the States!
As an aside… is stingray edible? Did he kill it just to kill it or do people eat them?
Stingrays are edible, however, not sure about his intentions. Like snakes, many times stingrays are just killed to make their “back yard” a little safer.
Paul! Nice update, bro. It’s funny the things you learn from these blogs even when we eat lunch together almost every day :)
it’s so neat to see the progress of the church in aritapera! i got to go to the village on the 2 trips prior but the water was so much higher! crazy!
i’m assuming your leg is good and healed by now. be careful! ;)
Do you have to get to the Aritapera church by boat or is there a bridge? Either way, that’s so cool.
I’m dying to know if there were stingrays in the water you were standing in under the church :).
my leg is good, but I keep opening up the knee, so it’s not completely healed :)
If the boat can park close enough to go from the boat to the bridge, then you can get there by those walking planks, but most go by boat, until the water level drops enough to walk there on land.
That picture of the guy with the stingray, that was taken a couple houses over from the church, so yes, definitely lots of stingrays…wouldn’t be as exciting if there weren’t any :)
Wow! Cool to read the updates on your guys and how they’re growing in the Lord! God is so faithful! You and all the missionaries there in Santarem are in my prayers. I can’t wait to get down there :)