“The new year we will kickoff with cleaning and recovering”, was what we had planned for the month January. We had in our minds that we would recover and clean the building of the base JOCUM Carioca.
Lucas his shoulder came out of place repeatedly for several years, and because of this he had a constant pain. Almost daily we had doctors appointments, what became a bit expensive with all the bus tickets. We knew it was the best thing to leave the base and to stay in the house of Lucas his parents. This is close by the doctors clinic.
It is a miracle that we could visit a doctor who wanted to do a surgery so fast. After the obligated five days of rest, we could travel on the evening of day five towards Porto Velho. This was particularly because of we already booked a flight for a miraculous cheap price. How everything fitted so perfectly like a puzzle, it could not be anything else than Gods planning and guidance!
It is a miracle that we could visit a doctor who wanted to do a surgery so fast. After the obligated five days of rest, we could travel on the evening of day five towards Porto Velho. This was particularly because of we already booked a flight for a miraculous cheap price. How everything fitted so perfectly like a puzzle, it could not be anything else than Gods planning and guidance!
It was nice that during the proces of the doctors appointments and the surgery we could stay in the house of Lucas his parents. It was a blessed time, as well for us as for Lucas his parents. Lucas works in missions for a couple of years already, but he always stayed in the favela’s of Rio de Janeiro. For his parents it was always possible to visit him by bus or by car. Now we moved to Porto Velho, it is like he’d left the country. From the big city Rio de Janeiro to the green amazon area. To visit is not that easy anymore because of it is a 4,5 hours during travel by plane. So it was a beautiful gift that his parents in this tensioned time could be caring parents.
I was nervous for the travel by plane: because Lucas had just done the surgery on his shoulder. His arm in a sling, because he absolutely can’t use his shoulder for three weeks. Airports and planes are always full of people that do not pay attention whom always seem to be in a hurry, my head was full with accidents that could happen. Lucas, on the other hand, was very calm, “we will just as last persons leave and enter the airplane and nothing can happen”. As calm as he said this, so smooth went the travel. Without any problems we arrived around midnight in Porto Velho, where someone from the base would pick us up. There was nobody to pick us up and Lucas said: “prepare yourself and your heart that there is a change we will spend the night here on the airport”. In one of the halls for departures we made a space for us. It looked comfortable and cozy: in-between our luggage and some chairs we rolled out our sleeping bags with in there our own soft pillows. Early in the morning we woke up by a phone call from the base leader: she was concerned because of the unbelievable situation that we were still on the airport. Her husband came directly to the airport to pick us up.
The first evening we had the weekly service. Beautiful to hear different testimonies from out of different tribes. They visit the base to translate the Bible into their own dialect. The next morning after breakfast, we walked with many into the nature on the base. We arrived by a beautiful small star shaped lake, the water looked like a mirror and was surrounded by fresh different tones of green . In Portuguese and own dialect was a Bible reading about the baptism of Jesus. After this we were witnessing the baptism in the lake of three persons from a tribe. A woman voice praised God, followed by the voice of children, they song in their own dialect. It was so simple, pure and beautiful.
Temporarily we stayed in the “hotel” of the base. Somehow this was nice; to start in the same room as where we stayed two months ago, during our travel to Labrea. The base offered us a small wooden house where in we can stay. Again God has blessed us richly by giving us a home, a place where we can be a family and where we can study. The house is a little old was for a period it was empty, for this we will spend our free hours in-between to paint and recover the house. This week will start the Portuguese course: a daily three hours study during the afternoon. The mornings I will help in the kitchen. Women in the kitchen: where else are more conversations? Now i will work and learn at the same time. Lucas is asked to help a boy, whom is from a tribe, to help him with his schoolwork. Because of Lucas almost completed his study to become a math teacher, he can be a big blessing for this boy to help him with his schoolwork as well that he has a manly company in his life. Both of us are very enthusiastic how we can use our hobby’s and quality’s and grow in it, here in our new home.
With love & blessings,
Christa en Lucas
Christa en Lucas
