Overflowing

          Thursday night we gave a concert in the chapel--just Celebration Orchestra with our Brazilian friends--Life and Music Space instructors who work in the projects. Breanna is our principal, on the right, and next to her is Luzimar, one of the directors, and an excellent violinist. Left of me is Rodrigo, my stand mate from one of the other days who read the music perfectly, and also instructs kids in violin and viola. Ketty is Andre's fiance, and has been a huge help to us in translating. She and Andre are getting married in 2 weeks, but she was with us every day, helping where she could. At the end is my stand mate from Thursday evening, another Rodrigo, but as he explained it to me, he is the "beauty Rodrigo", and the other Rodrigo is the "ugly". His words, not mine!

       I wanted to add that picture because I've been so overwhelmed with the warmth and love I've felt from every one of the people involved with these projects. I know when we leave for the airport today, there will be many tears, mine included. Years ago, when I first began coming to Brazil, God put tremendous love in my heart for the people, and after I adopted my 4 Brazilian children, each time I leave, a big chunk of my heart remains in this beautiful country. 

       This week, while we've been here, there have been protests in many of the large cities, including Sao Paulo and Brasilia, our gateway city. World Cup Soccer is coming next year, and the citizens are protesting the government spending. I cannot blame them--for a long time there was virtually no middle class in Brazil, though it's growing. Our tuba player, Douglas (a pediatrician, and extremely helpful on this trip, as we've had a few minor medical problems--not me, thank the Lord) said though he lives very near to PIB, it took him 2 hours to get here the other night because of the protesters in the streets of Curitiba. Every country has its disgruntled complainers, but getting to know the Brazilian people as I have, what touches me the most is their warm hearts.

       Friday, as I wrote before, was the day of the flood, but Saturday was the most beautiful day! We even had to wear sunglasses all day. This was the day of the big Winter Concert, in the Canal da Musica Auditorium. Many different instruments were featured by the classes of kids who play them, but the big celebration was the donated instruments. Think I mentioned before that we brought 2 cellos, 4 violas, 5 violins, several trumpets, french horns, and stacks of books, reeds,valve oil,  rosin, strings, and peg oil, you name it, if it's used to maintain or repair an instrument, it was piled on the table.

A few of the donated instruments

Horn mouthpieces, valve oil, strings, rosin, peg wax,
shoulder rests,
various other donations from the GMP group.

Some of the Brazilian music teachers preparing for
our Saturday
morning concert at Canal da Musica

       

Dave, our cellist, spent much time repairing everyone's
stringed instrument.

Dave's church had a fund that they decided
to use for this mission trip. It was enough
to purchase 2 new violins, but when they
went to pick them up, the shopkeeper
gave them a third. Dave brought the photo of
his music minister with the owner of the
violin shop.

        A great cheer went up as Luzimar told the parents and children of all these donated instruments, just for them! Our GMP orchestra surrounded these donations as Luzimar prayed and dedicated them all to be used for the glory of God. Seeing this outpouring of love from the states makes me want to begin gathering donations for my next trip as soon as I get home!

       Saturday afternoon was shopping, after a lunch trip to the food court at Crystal Mall, walking distance from our hotel. These food courts serve great meals! There are buffets and "choose it yourself" pasta bars. My mouth waters at the thought of their risotto dishes. 

Andre, our wonderfully helpful bus driver, attended all of our concerts.

I want these in my garden!

       We went back to the district where we had the great pasta lunch the other day, to do our "souvenir" shopping, in the 1 1/2 hours we had free before the evening concert. While the rest of us bought little remembrances of our time in Curitiba, including many items with the Parana Pine trees on them, Camp, of course, bought DONUTS!

My stand mate, Matheus, from the projects, now also
plays with PIB church orchestra. His story will be told in
another blog.

A few of the musicians for the Saturday evening concert at PIB.

More strings! What a joy to be able to play with these children who LOVE their instruments, and also love Jesus! 

My stand mate from the older kids' string players, Giovana

       When I think that God allowed me to come to Brazil less than a year after cancer diagnosis, several surgeries, and difficult 6 sessions of chemo, my heart overflows with gratefulness. All of our Brazilian friends were so warm, loving, and appreciative of whatever help we gave them. And none of them would be playing their instruments if it was not for the vision of Paulo Davi, Worship Pastor at Primeira Igreja Batista de Curitiba-PIB-and his wonderful administrators and teachers, the three main ones being Andre, Luzimar, and Paula. It always amazes me that we Americans go on mission trips in order to give something away, and we never fail to return home with more than we gave! 

       Isn't that the way it always is with God? We think we're "allowing" Him to use us to bless others with our musical gifts, and when we get out of the way and allow Him center stage in our lives, He takes our inadequacies, plays (or sings) through us, and makes us feel as if we've received the greater blessing. To God be the glory for the great things He has done!

Yep, it's raining again!

       Well, thank you for the prayers! It rained so hard all night long that our first concert was cancelled--the neighborhood where it was to be is near a river that was flooded, so the principal of the school called Camp and said he didn't even know if anyone would show up.
       Instead, at breakfast it was decided to take us shopping. However, evidently, not only are shops closed on Mondays but also on Fridays here! Actually, I think there's no set schedule, they open when they want to, and shut when they want to! We went to a central area and did find 3 shops open, where a few people bought trinkets, Brazil flag stickers, something little for someone at home.

The center of old Curitiba, where the gauchos used to come and water their horses

       After a short shopping "spree", we drove to the Recanto Gaucho Steakhouse--a Churrascaria.   Everyone loved this lunch, because the waiters come around with the meat on spits, and you tell them what you want. I've learned my lesson from visiting Brazil so many times. Do NOT fill your plate at the salad bar! Wait for the meat! And this was quite good. Of course, I did have to go to the dessert table for my favorite--flan. 

Recanto Gaucho Steakhouse

Dave is choosing the picanha, the "house" cut of meat, very tender and delicious

       After lunch was the quietest bus ride I've ever been on! There was no movement whatsoever until we arrived at the next school, and the translators almost had to shout to wake some people up. This is in the same neighborhood we had planned to come this morning, different school. The director told us that many who work there would have to spend the night because the area was still flooded. This is one of the most dangerous neighborhoods, called Uberaba, and it's actually not under the auspices of PIB church, but is financed partially by the HSBC bank. There are about 35 students--there is choir, recorder, and violin. I counted about 25 in the violin class--I counted 4 boys. Before our concert, the children played and sang for us. Everywhere we go, we get gifts and concerts! They are blessing us so much! And I just love to watch the kids play their violins--they play with such gusto and enjoyment. The work that the teachers do is heroic, because these schools are quite far apart, and there are only a handful of teachers who circulate between them.

The little girl sitting down just hurt her foot this morning, falling off her bicycle.

It's really wonderful to see these teenage girls doing something constructive, learning the violin, learning to sing, and also, most importantly, learning about Jesus and how He can change their lives.

         Before we played our first song, Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee, Camp set it up with the story of Beethoven, who wrote it, and then later it was written with Christian words. As we began, the children sang with us, joyfully and loudly. I can't help but tear up to hear these children from the projects (favelas) singing about God. We've got another concert at PIB tonight, with a little time off this afternoon. Tonight it's just us. Afterward, there is to be dinner at 9:30 at Au Au, the local favorite hot dog place and apparently, everything under the sun is heaped on each hot dog. We'll see about that.

Master class

      Well, the rain has not gone away, as I requested! In fact, it's been pouring all day, to the point that all of our umbrellas are so saturated, they are dripping on our heads! I stepped in a big puddle after lunch, but I've had the afternoon to dry off because I "took a cut". Yesterday, all the lugging of my violin and backpack with the big music folder (we've got over 100 pages of music, in plastic sleeves) did my shoulder in, so Camp told me to take the afternoon off. Caught up on some email, read a bit, and took a very short nap. It's Terry's birthday, so the staff was taking him out to lunch, and afterward, we were going to talk on Face Time.
     This morning we loaded the bus and went back to Senhorina School, where we gave our concert on Tuesday evening. Today was to be master classes. We had 4 kids in a drum class, and about half-dozen in the brass class, one trumpet, one French horn, and 4 trombones.  The woodwind class had 4 flutes and 4 clarinets.  There are viola and cello players, no violins in this school, so I had nothing to do but "float" from class to class, interacting with kids and taking pictures. (also handing out little fun-size M&Ms, which the teachers and interpreters wanted too! Of course I had more than enough for everyone). The string class was by far the largest, with about a dozen, split evenly between cellos and violas. One little boy, Daniel, arrived with his cello in pieces! He cried to Paula (one of the teachers) "how am I going to play? My cello broke yesterday!" The strings were all off, the end pin had come out, the sound post had dislodged...it was really a mess. Dave, our cellist, also does repairs, so this was like meat to a hungry lion! He took that cello, and in no time, it was back together. While he was repairing Daniel's instrument, Dave gave Daniel his personal cello so he could play with the class. I may have mentioned before that most of these kids only get to play during the one or two lessons they receive each week. Daniel may be one of the luckier ones who has his own instrument, I'm not sure. But they listen intently and try everything our instructors told them.
     Tom, our trombonist, gave a wonderful master class...I probably stayed longest in the brass class only because I was so fascinated by Tom's presentation. He is also one of the most encouraging persons I've ever met! One girl couldn't play the lowest note, so he gave her a few tips to get to the lower tones. He then finished up by telling everyone that he really couldn't play at all when he first started. He encouraged everyone to keep on practicing any time they could. If they don't have an instrument at home, he showed them how to buzz just with their lips. Their Brazilian teacher said, "I tell them that all the time!" Sometimes it helps to have someone other than one's own teacher (parent?) say something. It seems to "stick" better. Tom went on to say, through the interpreter, that when he accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior, he began to understand that Jesus will help us. When Jesus lives in your heart, he continued, He also gives us the power and strength to do things, even like playing our instruments. Tom said that he knows Jesus plays through him (Tom). And, he added, "I know that Jesus is a better trombone player than I am!"
       This evening we went to a local theater to hear the PIB big band play, and our brass players joined them. Keyboards, drums, and bass played on 2 of the songs, but the trumpets, bones, and saxes played the entire concert. It was great, and definitely loud, with 10 trumpets, 12 saxes, and 6 bones, plus rhythm. This is a Christian jazz band, and the founder said that Camp gave him the idea. After the concert, the bus took us to Pizza Hut, where they bring different types of pizzas around to the table, and you choose the ones you want. It's all you can eat, with 2 dessert pizzas as well. Knowing myself as I do, I declined it all. 10:30 dinner of pizza doesn't exactly make for a good night's rest, and there were 2 of us who chose not to eat, but just sit at the table and talk with the others.
       Had a very brief Face Time call with Terry and off to bed. I'm beat, and I think my contacts must be glued to my eyes. Camp said tomorrow will be our busiest day. I said, compared with what??? Every day has had every minute filled with activity (or eating!). But we have 3 concerts, morning, afternoon, and evening, so I would really appreciate prayer for stamina. I'll post some pictures tomorrow. Good night.

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

     Pretty pink sky this morning means bad weather. Yep. It started raining even before we had to walk to PIB church to get on the bus. Drove quite a way to the Santa Anjo school, a nice building totally paid for by one woman. It's a Catholic school, and all the children are learning English. Their principal spoke to the children, and then welcomed us, all in English.

       This place really did have a sport court--or actually 2 of them on 2 levels. All the children wore uniforms and sat on the floor for our concert. Many had cameras and even I-Pads to take pictures of us. Before the concert, they had the "grand opening" of their new English library--we gave them a drum roll, and then a "ta-da" with the whole orchestra!

       Afterward, the children presented us with gifts of chocolate candy, and then we ate lunch with them in the lunchroom. Had a little time after lunch to interact with some of the kids before we had to leave for our next stop.

My gift bag

the English books for the new library

Becky is giving the girls stickers

We ran through the downpour to the bus, and drove to the Autodromo where many of the children have their music classes. We did a little more in depth explanation of all the instruments, demonstrated them, and answered questions from the children. They were very interested in the trombone and French horn. Several asked good questions, like, "how do you know where all the notes are on the trombone?", and "why did the girl turn the French horn around and around?" The spit valves got some Brazilian "Eews" and "yucks". Then it was the kids' turn to give us a concert, and we got several songs on the recorder and some nice rounds with the violins.

        For some reason, the blog wouldn't let me put captions on the last 4 photos, so, from top to bottom: The violin class... signs the children made, beginning with "Hi guys"(green), "Welcome" (pink), "We have made these" (light green), "4 you" (white), "Thank you for coming" (pink), "We loved your visit" (red heart)...everyone wanted to have their picture made with Adora, 16-year-old horn player from Nairobi, Kenya...and lastly, the building where the children have their lessons--quite small, but they're so happy to be learning the violin.

       Tonight we played a concert in the Seventh Day Adventist Church of Curitiba, and many of the Brazilian players are also members of that church, including the concert master of the Curitiba Symphony Orchestra, who came and played with us.

       It finally stopped raining this evening, so we tiptoed through the puddles and mud back to the hotel. Another long day, but it's such a blessing to be able to play with the nationals, and so refreshing to be able to speak freely about our faith in Christ in the public schools. Camp never fails to give the entire salvation message in each place where we give a concert, and God blesses not only our audience, but we always feel like we receive the greater blessing.

       Terry and I spoke for just a few minutes on Face Time, and now it's definitely time to say goodnight.

Cold fingers...brrr!

       Another heavenly breakfast of fresh fruits, cheeses, lunch meats, about 10 different kinds of breads and rolls, including the famous pao de queijo, perfect scrambled eggs, and little pizzetas, followed by espresso. Though it started out foggy, the sun persisted and finally broke through to show us blue skies over Curitiba.

       Our first school was in Campo Largo--it looks like all our concerts will be outside, in the "sport court" as they refer to it. The pavilions are all enclosed by chain link fences, with cement floors and metal roofs. Everything went very well--these children were very well-behaved, and responsive. In the middle of each concert, Camp talks about the instruments, and has one person give a little demonstration of how his or her instrument sounds. The teachers had prepared coffee and tea for us afterward. The Brazilians are always so hospitable.

The kids love the music!

Douglas, one of the nationals who plays with us, demonstrates his tuba for the children.
He's a pediatrician, and he comes and plays when he doesn't have patients.

"Here we've all been waiting for you. Welcome."

       Lunch (if it sounds as if we're always eating, it's because we are!) was at restaurante Madalosso. There is no menu, and one does not place an order. We were seated at one long table, coke and guarana bottles were placed in the middle, and then the parade began. Waiters brought out green salad, potato salad, yucca fries, risotto with chicken, chicken livers, which they placed between about every four people, and then kept returning with various pasta dishes, which they served to us. We tried, but couldn't eat all the food they heaped on the table. There was even pasta filled with dates and covered in a white sauce. Not bad.

       A few minutes to browse in the shop across the street, then the bus brought us back to PIB for a meeting with the staff of the Life & Music Space (LMS). These are some of the same people who have been playing with the Celebration Orchestra, and they are the teachers for the LMS with the kids from the projects (favelas). They gave us an overview of the concept, to keep the kids off the streets by teaching them to play instruments, and teaching them about Jesus. They also will teach the parents if they want to learn. These are the kids we will be playing with on Saturday for the Children's Winter Concert, for which we rehearsed last night. These kids play extremely well! They love their instruments and are so grateful for the opportunity to play. There are obviously not enough instruments for every kid, and of course, in some cases, it's not a good idea to give the instruments to certain kids, so their only practice time is at their lessons--2 a week. After the child has been playing a while, and if the teacher knows the family, and thinks they would take care of the instrument and not sell it, they will give them one. Our group brought quite a few donated instruments, and the LMS staff will decide to whom these will be given.

Paula and Andre telling us about one of the children in the projects who received a violin because he really worked hard at his lessons. His name is Matteus (Matthew), and he was recently featured on the cover story of the news. He just happens to be my stand mate for the Children's Winter Concert!

Our evening concert was at the Senhorina School, where the kids from the evening classes came with their parents. They all cheer when Camp tells them we are playing to the glory of God. All the groups love it when we play "Jericho" because Camp sets up the story, telling them how Joshua and the men marched around the city once a day for 6 days and then on the seventh, they marched around 7 times and, "what happened then?" Most everyone motions with their hands the walls falling down. He promises them, as we play, they will hear the walls fall.

In the foreground, my evening stand mate, one of the adults from the projects who came and read those charts down cold! Background are 2 of our "dixieland band" guys playing "Celebration of American Spirituals"

Camp setting up one of the songs while Andre translates. Andre is one of the teachers in the LMS.

       As we set up, someone plugged the sound system into the 220 plug. Ooops. Big boom. So we played without microphones. This time, of course, the brass overpowered everyone else. I was playing so hard on my violin, I was sure I'd break something. But God always takes our feeble efforts and turns them around to create a good sound. It was 57 degrees, and I wish I'd had my fingerless gloves, but, again, when I'm playing, I'm so wrapped up in the message of the songs, and so grateful to be here, I don't feel the cold. As long as the wind doesn't blow the music off the stand, we're good.
       The school served our dinner, hot dogs, tapioca pudding, and grape juice, and as usual, everyone wants to come up and speak English with us. When I begin in Portuguese, they are always so surprised. "Voce fala portuguese?"
       Another long bus ride to the hotel, where most of us decided to crash. Only a few of the die-hards wanted to go to Karinas for milkshakes! (not me...I look forward to seeing Terry's face on Face Time.) This week is flying. It's great to be so busy and have so much interaction with the kids.

If it's Tuesday, this must be Curitiba

       Surprise! More fog, 100% humidity and high of 66 today. Though, I've been wearing 2 jackets, and it sure doesn't feel like the weather channel's temperatures! Today the tops of the buildings are covered in fog.
       Yesterday our first stop was the Eneas school for a concert. Interesting, since we had never played any of the selections together. Upon arrival, we were shown to the outdoor area--possibly a gymnasium area, fenced in, where there were enough kid-sized chairs for each of us. The wind was whipping through like a wind tunnel, but we managed to set up stands and music without too many of them falling over. The children began to file in and, from the sound of it, they enjoyed our concert very much. We give a little instrument demonstration about halfway through the 40-minute concert, and they knew most of the instrument's names. As we were loading up, a darling little girl came up to Adora and asked to see her French horn. Adora let the girl hold it and play it before we had to board the bus.
       Lunch was at PIB church again, and the afternoon was spent touring the beautiful city of Curitiba.
We went first to the lovely opera house, Wire Opera House, which was closed because it was Monday. We saw the outside, and of course visited the shop. Parque Tangua, one of many parks in this city, gave us some pretty views of the surrounding area, and then we had a little walk through the forest to see an environmental university--Universidade Livre do Meio Ambiente--neat setting, with a pond containing ducks, the biggest koi I've ever seen, and a stately black swan. A beautiful Ukranian church built in honor of the first Ukrainian immigrants to Curitiba, built all of wood, gave us a little sense of the history of the area. We ended our city tour with the Botanical park, Jardim Botanico, with its beautiful glass domes, fountains, and picturesque garden walks.
       On the bus coming back to PIB church, there were a lot of tired campers, for sure. The little naps helped as the bus drove us to dinner at Pamphylia. All the dishes were prepared for two people, so everyone shared. I "just happened" to be in the middle of one of the long tables, so I was able to taste about 7 different meals. Everything was absolutely scrumptious!
       8:00 was rehearsal time with the children. Again, the stage was filled with instrumentalists, many of them probably around 5th-8th grade (American grades). They all play really well, and as a violinist, I love seeing these little kids use the whole bow. As my teacher used to say, "Your dad bought the whole bow, not just half of it!" As with all beginning musicians, intonation needs work, (well, maybe more than just beginning musicians!), but overall, it sounded really good. Their enthusiasm for music and their instruments is great to see.
       I was glad to quit about 9:30 because it was a long day. Several wanted to go out for "the best milkshake you'll ever taste", but I was anxious to get to my computer so I could Face Time with Terry!

setting up at Eneas school

the children were very attentive

a budding French horn player!

I remembered the Jardim Botanico from the last time I was in Curitiba, probably over 20 years ago!

evening rehearsal

       As I close, I want to thank y'all for your prayers. It's very evident God is working here in the people of Brazil, and also in me. I've not had any hip pain, and my energy level stays pretty good throughout the day.

Fasten my seat belt

      Sunday was a wonderful day of worship at the PIB, Primeira Igreja Batista de Curitiba. Morning and evening each had almost a 2-hour service, in which we played along with the church instrumentalists. In our rehearsal, I heard Camp Kirkland make 2 statements I've never heard before in any orchestra I've played in. He stopped us in the middle of a song and said, "I can't hear the trumpets!" There are about eight or ten of them--I couldn't see from where I sat. In this morning's service, the youth orchestra played with us as well, and we must have had 30 strings! Church orchestra guys, eat your hearts out! The entire stage area was filled, including the built-in choir risers. These kids played with energy and were really fun to interact with. In the next song we rehearsed, Camp called out to the drummer to play louder! Ok, now I've heard everything.

     

My first look at PIB church

Prayer time in the Sunday evening service, which was about as full as the morning service, everyone singing and engaging in the entire service.

He Is Exalted, one of our selections

The church fed us lunch, then in the afternoon, we conducted music workshops. The string workshop was by far the largest (some of our US churches should be so lucky!) and we even ran overtime, with all the interest and questions from the string players.

With just minutes to "rest" (think there won't be much of that going on here!) we had to run through the rain back to church for the evening service. The forecast has changed since we left the states. Mostly rain all week. Good thing I have my umbrella.

With a 10pm dinner scheduled at a local favorite pizza restaurant, I opted to go back to the hotel and try to call my hubby and give him another Father's Day wish. The rain was coming down so hard, some of the PIB orchestra members volunteered to drive us the block-and-half distance to the Harbor Hotel Batel, our home away from home for the week.

I really appreciate everyone who promised to pray for me this week--it's a FULL schedule, beginning with 8am breakfast in hotel, and ending with 10pm dinnertime, never stopping to take a breath in between. My energy is high in the morning, but of course as the day wears on, I wear out. I've got "permission" to miss some sessions if need be, but I really don't want to do that, because there are only 2 violins in the GMP group. So, thanks for lifting me up each day.

Off to another glorious Brazilian breakfast. The table is laden with fresh fruits (abacaxi-pineapple, is better here than anywhere else!), assorted cheeses, meats, breads, eggs, and of course the wonderful pao de queijo (cheese bread) that we're all scarfing up! Brazil also has great coffee. (Good thing there are no scales here.)

Bus to a school, where we'll give a morning concert (for which we have had no time to rehearse!), and then do some instrumental workshops and teaching. Many of our GMP members have been given instruments to give away to the children here, my fellow violinist had one large suitcase with 5 donated violins, and one of our guys carried a cello here for some lucky cello student. These people are so appreciative of whatever we give them and it reminds me of those of you who helped make it possible for me to be on this trip. So, another big thank you to you!

Ate logo (until later)...

Finally!

            Several years ago, Terry and I went to Greece, on a mission trip with Global Missions Project, to play with the Celebration Orchestra, led by Camp Kirkland, a good friend from Nashville. So, I receive regular emails and updates from Global Missions Project, and recently I’d received one relaying the need for string players to go to Curitiba, Brazil in June. It may have come previously but I probably deleted it, knowing that while I was in “hard” chemo, there was no way I could travel out of the country. Even my domestic travel had been somewhat restricted while my immune system was compromised.

            This email, however, caught my eye, and stayed with me long after I read it. My heart is partly in Brazil anyway. I’ve adopted 4 Brazilian children, and spent a total of almost 2 months there during the processes. The people who helped me with the legalities of those adoptions have remained good friends, so I’ve visited them many times, in several cities where they have lived through the years. Each time I go, we visit orphanages, finding out their needs, and the last time, I was interviewed on a local TV station in Joao Pessoa. At that time, June of 2011, I learned of another ministry that needed a lot of help with construction and renovation, so my intent was to return in October with a crew of people to help with that.

            I presented the need and the plan to our church, at that time, a young church plant near our home in Georgia. There seemed to be interest, but the timing just wasn’t right. We were to learn the reason soon.  Funny thing about our plans. Life happens. God definitely had a much better idea--doesn't He always?            

            In July 2011, Terry and I had a recording session in Nashville, and while there, spent a day with Mike Haight. Recently, the instrumental director at Broadmoor Baptist Church in Madison, MS, had resigned, and of course, that’s exactly what Terry is best at. Mike invited us to come to the church for an interview the next week, which we did. We met many wonderful people, who have now become good friends. The short version is that August 15, 2011, was Terry’s first day as the instrumental director of Broadmoor.

            Our excitement at being there has not dimmed one bit. Though we had been looking for this type of position for almost 6 years, God definitely brought us to Mississippi in His perfect timing.

            I’ll backtrack just a bit here. 2 days before Terry’s 1^st anniversary at the church, I discovered a lump in my breast. Because of a dear friend, we were able to get an immediate appointment with her brother-in-law, a wonderful doctor, and he “fast-tracked” us to the hospitals for tests, biopsies, and meeting with surgeons. My cancer diagnosis was August 23, and in less than a month, on Sept. 10, I had a radical bilateral mastectomy with immediate reconstruction. On October 19, I began a six-series treatment of chemotherapy. The loving way the people in the music ministries cared for us was absolutely overwhelming. We felt surrounded by thoughtful, praying friends, and God worked mightily through them as they poured their love into our lives. From unpacking moving boxes, to making meals,  “babysitting” me after surgery, picking me up to take me to lunch, to texting or calling with encouraging words or Bible verses, to making window treatments, and even doing our laundry, these friends were the hands and feet of Christ in action! Several came to sit with us in the hospital for each procedure.

            The way God worked everything out for us was definitely more than we could have asked for or even thought. And, once again, His timing is certainly much better than ours. Right in the middle of the cancer discovery and surgery we received 3 very precious gifts from Him. On August 19, Teddy and Jack Williams arrived to Bobby and Mary Lynn, and on August 21, Noah Yepko met his mommy and daddy, Hayley and Jason, for the first time. Of course I could take up the rest of the post writing about my new grandsons, but suffice it to say that pictures of them brought me such joy on some of my lowest chemo days.

            Since I love ministering to the people I meet on all my mission trips, I felt like a caged lion during the months when I could not travel overseas. So, when the email about the Curitiba mission trip kept nagging at me, I wondered if God was calling me to go. First, of course, I would have to ask my oncologist if my immune system numbers were approaching normal. The trip also needed to be in between chemos, because even though I’m finished with the hard drugs, I still go every 3 weeks for a 35-minute “chemo lite” drip. Checking the calendar, the dates worked perfectly. When Dr. Young called me back and said lightheartedly, “Go, and have a great time!” I felt such freedom and relief.

            Next morning, Terry and I had our usual Bible reading, along with the devotional books we also read, and one of the verses was Malachi 4:2. “For those who revere the Lord, He comes with healing in His wings, and you shall leap like calves released from the pen.” Are you kidding me? My eyes tear even as I’m typing this, because that is exactly how I feel. One translation uses the illustration of frisky colts in the pasture. I wasn’t leaping and running on the outside, but my heart definitely did a few flip-flops.

            I only had 3 weeks to prepare, and find a way to finance this trip. God brought money from unexpected sources to cover my entire trip. I guess He really did want me on this one. 

            There's so much more to tell you, but we have a rehearsal in 20 minutes for the evening worship service. I'll write about this morning's service, but if you want to see for yourselves, look up www.pibcuritiba.org.br 

            Til later.

   

Ahh, Brazil

Just a quick update--more later.
Arrived on time, AND, luggage arrived at the same time! Weather is cool and rainy, because it's winter here, but it's kind of a nice change from the hot humidity of Mississippi.
We represent 12 states, Mexico, and even have 2 from Nairobi, Kenya. Rehearsed last night with the nationals, and I think this morning's orchestra will sound good! We're participating in the worship service, and have a rehearsal in a few minutes, so I'll try to get in some longer blog time later, though they're keeping us busy from morning till night, according to the schedule.
For now, Bom Dia