The federal government donated a used dentist chair to “Project Smile” in Brasilia to be used at CDR. However, we needed to go and pick it up. We loaded the truck for our 2000 km journey and were successful in getting it back to Altamira. The project has been such a blessing to the over 1,100 people it has served in its 3 year history. Please keep the team in your prayers because next month we will be doing a big outreach to serve more people in the cities and along the rivers. During our time in Brasilia Elba got to share at the church. I really like it in Brasilia because it reminds me a bit of the US in the people, climate, and infrastructure. However, we did not like the fact that we discovered that our tires and brakes on our truck were in bad need of replacing. Glad to be able to change for safety sake, but bad for the sake of financial hardship. Over a $2,000 in truck repairs and licensing fees just this month. OUCH. Vehicles are so expensive. Sometimes I wish they were not such a necessity.
We had a couples dinner at the church and it was really nice. We feel it is important to continue to invest in marriages and give opportunity for these couples to share a special moment. Life can be difficult and hard and sometimes it’s easy to put a backseat to our relationships with our loved ones. Life and the attacks of the enemy are always trying to destroy, or distract us from the things that are important. That is why it is important for us to push back, and sacrifice to make sure that we keep these as priorities. The couples really enjoyed their time together and we encouraged lots of PDA, public display of affections. J
Alyssa and Elba both celebrated birthdays in July. Alyssa had a birthday party and invited some of her friends. She was so happy to finally be in the double digits (10). Of course, she got the traditional egg smashed on her head. The women at the church had a potluck dinner for Elba and her twin sister Nira. There were NO eggs smashed on Elba’s head…that tradition does not apply to her. J Camilly played in her first soccer tournament at school. They played the grade ahead of them and unfortunately did not win. However, Camilly scored all of the team’s 2 goals. The girls are on school break and go back to school the first week in August. Their summer vacation is a little over 1 month long.
We have our annual church conference coming up next week, as well as some important meetings. Please keep us in your prayers for the Lord to speak and continued guidance for us.
Please also continue to pray for spiritual, physical, and emotional health for us.
Much love, Steve, Elba, Camilly, and Alyssa
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I found this tarantula hawk (wasp) near our house. It found this tarantula and it stung it which made it paralyzed. It then carried it to a nearby hole that it dug where it will lay a single egg on the tarantula abdomen. I found some more additional information on Wikipedia that said that when the wasp larva hatches, it creates a small hole in the spider's abdomen, then enters and feeds voraciously, avoiding vital organs for as long as possible to keep the spider alive. After several weeks, the larva pupates. Finally, the wasp becomes an adult and emerges from the spider's abdomen to continue the life cycle. God’s amazing creation.
