NEW DOORS AND GOODBYES.

The work is continuing and will continue even after we are gone.
The first of the new doors and frames arrived yesterday.  They look great.  The staff here will continue the work that we have requested and that you have financed.  They truly appreciate your participation in the ministry here.

 Yesterday was also a day of goodbyes.  We make it a point of going to each of the homes and praying with the families.  Blessing them and asking for God's protection over the families.

So it is Tuesday morning here, 3 am for you but 8 am here.  Our suitcases are pretty much packed for the trip home, and we should be on our way in 3 hours to the airport here in Porto Alegre.

We should be home, Lord willing, Tomorrow morning.

  

Thank you all for your prayers.

See you when we get there.

Tchau.

ESKIMOS ARE COMING HOME.  AND SO ARE WE.😢

 A great team effort, but all good things must come to an end.

This past Sunday we served up ice cream to the children on campus.  We limited the intake so that all of the children got some.  We had an expolice sargent (Telmo) and his assistant (Denise) controlling the crowd, so it was quite orderly.  Thank you.  Jean was handling the historical record (photography)

We had a designated import helping out with the serving.  Pr. Sergio from Uruguay, his wife Virginia and their 2 daughters have spent the last few days visiting the Chain of Love campus.  Virginia had been invited to the women's retreat with the other ladies from COL.

Before and after the ice cream treat we spent the time just resting and enjoying the fellowship of friends.

In the evening we returned for the last Sunday evening service with Igreja Batista Boas Novas. (Good News Baptist Church).
Pastor Paulo Réquia.  was preaching this week on God's love and loving God by loving others.  This is the last Sunday for both Paulo and Lyndell as they will be on home assignment for the next 2 months.  Keep Lyndell in your prayers as she will be accompanying a pastor Darren (no, not ours) from the US as they travel to Urugaina and teach and minister from there.  They will spend and week there before returning to grab their bags and head north.

Pray for Good News Baptist Church as they search for a new pastor.

Pray for us as we wrap up our time here.  There is still much to do.

Denise leaves today for Sao Paulo and time with her family.

We will be leaving tomorrow for our flights directly back to Edmonton.  We should be back Wednesday morning.  It will take time to adjust to Edmonton time and climate but we should be fine and a few weeks.

SATURDAY IN THE PARK,ing lot.

YOU'D THINK IT WAS THE 4TH OF JULY,,,,

A community group, called Friends of the Lar, came and provided a lunch for the families here at the Chain of Love.  Fortunately there is a big barbecue pit ready whenever these events are planned.  

A couple of the ladies set about doing the girl's nails while a couple of the men did "tattoos" on the boys.  Whenever there is a get together like this, there are always guitars coming out and singing to follow. 

Ellen and Estefani.

The afternoon was pretty relaxed as we visited with the children and rested from the very busy week. 

 We were invited to Telmo's house to share a meal.  I don't think that there is any such thing as a small Brazilian party.

Ross was given an opportunity to learn the fine art of Brazilian Churrasco, while the rest of us cheered him on.

It was encourageing to hear that COL is close to receiving their philanthropic designation. With that, the organization could be reimbursed for all of the taxes that they have paid for the last 5 years.  That would be a huge blessing as they continue to experience financial shortfalls every month, but God is good, all of the time.


It is Sunday morning here and very quiet.  It won't be soon, but we are enjoying the time.  There are plans in the works to start a church service Sunday mornings here at the Chain of Love for the houseparents and children.  We know that there is an abundance of talent amongst the parents and youth for the worship time.  They are in contact with a pastor to bring the preaching.  Pray for the staff as they unwrap this possibility.

This afternoon we will be treating the children to sundaes on Sunday,  Actually it is only the ice cream that we will be serving up.  A special treat.  We will spend as much time as possible with the children and parents.
This evening we will be once again boarding the bus for our last church service at Igreja Batista Boas Novas.

The time is wrapping up.

 TAMING THE BEAST, (and other adventures)

Yes, the beast has been subdued.  Or should I say that the pink room is no longer pink.  Hallelujah,  Yes it took 3 coats of paint and a day and a half of painting, but we were able to make it stop.  The boys that sleep in this room are much happier.  That pretty much wraps up our portion of the project.  So house 1 has been completely painted both inside and out.  The soffits and facia and the wood beams in the carport have all been stained.  The new doors and door frames have been ordered and the new kitchen cupboard are being built in the wood shop,  The old bathroom cabinets have been removed and the new ones are on the drawing board for construction from the material that was delivered.  

The flooring will be replaced in the coming days.   The extra money that has not been spent on the house will go to rebuild the greenhouse and other maintenance projects. 

Pastor Sergio from Uruguay and Denilson

Our Friday finished off with a trip up into the local area.  Specifically Igrejinha and Tres Coroas. Two towns about an hours drive from here.  

Our first stop at Igrejinha was to pick up a lady there who took us up a little farther to Tres coroas. (three crowns) where there is an orphanage that COL is helping.  This is the orphanage where COL sent the donated blankets.  

One of the bathrooms in the building

The children live in 3 smaller houses on the property but the library and other facilities are located in a 150 year old exhospital.  Scenes from Little Orphan Annie come to mind.  

The directors and staff at COL are helping the new directors to rebuild spiritually, emotionally and financially.  It will take time but God is the God of the impossible. 

10 PM. Time for supper.  We must be in Brazil.  

After the visit to the orphanage site, we returned to Igrejinha for supper with Denilson and Marcia Ferreira.  Denilson is the chairman of the Brazilian board of directors of COL. He is the one on the right in the photo above, At 9 PM he set about firing up the barbecue and promised to serve 1 kilo of meat per person.  I think that he kept to his promise.  It was a wonderful time of fellowship.  We did not return to the campus until 12:30.  We all slept in a bit.

Saturday morning dawned cool and damp. 13c.  We are not moving too quickly but we will later.  There are plans for a big barbecue (groan).  While the housemothers are at the retreat, the housedads and staff will be putting together a communal barbecue for all of the children.  

Bruninha no longer.

We were informed, quite clearly, by this young woman that her name is Bruna de Braz.  NOT Bruninha.  

We had to chuckle but she is quite insistent that we inform our friends that she prefers her more grown up name.  

The last weekend has arrived.  We will have some activities but we also will take time with our friends and family here.  

Have a great weekend, 

Keep us in your prayers as we will keep you in ours.  

From the gang down south,  

  

 WARM TO COLD.  (in no time at all)

Some would say that the weather went south.  If you mean cold weather, yes.  We woke up Friday morning to a cold breeze and about 10c both inside the buildings and outside.  

Back to the warm part.
Last night we hosted the parent dinner party.  It is always much anticipated by the parents as a time to relax and enjoy each other's company.
This year's theme was Canadiana, complete with canadian flags, maple leaves, pizza and a Canadian history quiz. Brazilians seem to know more about Canada than our southern neighbours.  Ross made his world famous torta de maçã. (apple crisp)

 This year Nino Schenkle was our pizza cook.  When Telmo contacted him about doing this for the houseparents, he was overjoyed with the opportunity to repay the love that was given to him here at Chain of Love.  Nino grew up here in house 2.  Nino also volunteers his time here teaching practical cooking skills to the boys.




THE PINK ROOM. (aka, Make it stop!!!!)

Our almost biggest challenge yet, when people paint, who don't know what they are doing.  The last room that we were faced with has taken 2 coats to even start to cover the pink.  Third coat should do it (we hope).  That is today's challenge, so off we go.

Praying for those involved with the marriage conference in Jasper.

The house mothers here will be heading off to a Ladies retreat this evening.  Please keep them in prayer as the travel and enjoy the time.  Pray for spiritual and physical refreshing.
 
From all of us here.

Winding down. (a bit)

The Last wall.  

 It has come to this, has it?  It has been quite a job, but we finally arrived at the last corner.  The house looks great and the family and the COL are very happy with the results.  There are a few things left to clean up, but the exterior was finished yesterday (Wednesday)

The day started out cool and cloudy and we kept our eyes on the skies.  But it held off so that we were able to stain the wood in the carports and finish all of the exterior painting.

That took us most of the day,  so the evening was rest time.  

Thursday we plan to paint the last two bedrooms (the parent's quarters and the "extra bedroom" that the biological children have as their own.  Then it is time to turn the work over to the Brazilians.  

Thursday night is planned for the parent's dinner.  Each time we come we try to put together a fun night out for the houseparents.  This year's theme is Canadiana.   We will let you know how that turns out in our next post.  

 

A GIANT CAME CALLING.  (and other totally unrelated stuff)

 I was just finishing up yesterday when I got the message that there was a giant on campus.  Whaaaat??!.  Actually Joffre Swait, a missionary in Porto Alegre, came up to visit the Chain of Love and get to know the ministry.  A bit of weird history for background, Joffre's family attended the same church as Denise in Sao Paulo, unbeknownst to either, before they moved to the United States and then Edmonton.  We met Joffre's father and step mother through the Edmonton Brazilian Fellowship.  After several years in the USA, they have settled in as appointed missionaries in Porto Alegre just a year ago. .

The New COL mini bus.

What a blessing:  with only 3500km, it is just barely broken in.
The old Volkswagon van that used to cart kids around was getting
far too expensive to maintain, so the money for the new purchase
came at just the right time.  This came about through a person's desire to bless COL through their Will.
The van seats  14 passengers and Julho. who babies this machine down the narrow streets.  Carting children and us to where we need to go.

Last night, as a special treat and out of our personal funds, we took our sponsored children to a pizza restaurant.  It is always an event that is anticipated for months.  The children were very well behaved, which may have had something to do with the stern warning they received from the director Telmo before this adventure.

How many ways can one say that the work is progressing well.
Hmmmm.  OK, let's see.  The house is looking great with a new coat of paint.  The front and both ends of the house have completed 2 coats of paint.  All of the soffits and facia have had their stain applied.  All that is left on the exterior is the back, which mostly has 1 coat of paint.  (we ran out of paint yesterday)  So today we can buy more paint and finish the exterior,  Then all that is left for us is the 2 rooms on the inside.  Hallelujah.  Valdir is working on the bathrooms, while Emerson has started cutting up the material to build the new kitchen cupboards.

Our health continues to hold and we are working together as a team.

Thank you for your prayers.  It is a privilege..