Class of 2013

This photo is of our Class of 2013! Great picture of our first baccalaureate-level class! Pray for these future and current church leaders!

We met with the Department of Religious Affairs today to give them a letter explaining the OMS name change to OMS (One Mission Society). It was an interesting meeting. In this culture, when you sign your name on a letter, for it to be official, you have to stamp over your name with the official stamp of the organization. This is very important here. So, they asked us to update our stamp and then I have to go back and personally stamp something in their presence so they have our new stamp on-file. I didn't expect that but we can certainly do that. It was a great meeting and the Minister of Religious Affairs practiced English while I practiced Portuguese, so we had some fun communicating.

We are busy preparing for our trip north - I bought a spare rim so we can carry two ready spares this time. I have always carried extra tires (and used them!) but had only one extra rim. We've always had blow-outs on these trips and want to be ready. We will be carrying a lot of weight in books/bibles this trip and need to be sure we are able to handle everything. I will need to get a more heavier duty jack also to replace the one that was stolen - the one I have is fine for an empty vehicle, but fully loaded, we need something beefier. It doesn't match any of the others, but it fits, which is what is important! We are also debating a trip to Milange, over a road with a mighty reputation for being extremely bad - so we need to be ready.

We are starting to get the calls now where everyone wants to ride north with us; take cargo, send family members, and the like. We laughed with Aimee (who is going with us) and told her to start practicing the word "no" because with the three of us and all the books, car parts, and supplies for the north, we will be more weight limited than space and here, if there is a cubic inch of space, you cram something in it even if the axles are sagging. We must be reasonable in what we can do and not damage our vehicle.

The local photocopy shop make us 200 copies of a training manual we use with our church planting work - it figures out to about six dollars a copy. I was a bit short of the cash, but we've done so much business there, the lady (Sarah) said "I know you - no problem to me if you bring the rest of the money tomorrow!" That is very unusual here and we have found that people often trust us because we are American and we are missionaries - that is something that is taken for granted in the States - that people are expected to be honest. It is not the norm in many cultures (like here) where you expect dishonesty. At the tire store today, the manager of the store who we have gotten to know well (I was consulting with him about my punctured tires and the long trip ahead of us) - he told me how last night a friend of his had his car broken into last night - they broke a window to enter, took the windshield, entire dashboard, including the radio and the like, and the seats. Now that would be a shock in the morning!

Belarmino and his family head north in the morning on the bus to start preparing for the construction of the training center. He will be there three to four months and we will see him in a few weeks. His plan is to get some basic things laid out before we arrive there.

Blessings this day.

Dave & Ann

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Galatians 3:28