David Whiting Live

Brazil - the final days...

Here is a brief summary of the rest of the Brazil trip:

The conference we attended in Brazil ended on Friday (Nov 4). Friday night, we drove to Porte Alegre in the southern part of Brazil. On Saturday night we went to an English club - where some of the missionaries meet with Brazilians who are trying to improve their English.

Here is Cal and Nate meeting with two Brazilians who spoke very good English.

Sue and the girls led an English discussion with two Brazilian women.

On Sunday morning, we attended the church that Cal & Carol have been helping to plant. Southern Brazil is a difficult area of the country, where about 2% are evangelical Christians. There were about 40 of us in attendance on Sunday.

Here is Gradyn, one of the sons of Nate & Cherith Logan.

On Sunday night, we flew to Rio de Janeiro and toured the city with Cal & Carol Clark on Monday & Tuesday before flying home on Tuesday night. Here are a few photos of those days.

Thanks again for your prayers. We are so blessed to have made this trip and interacted with amazing missionaries in Brazil! I'm so glad that we support Cal & Carol Clark in their work with the great team in Brazil!

Brazil Conference (some summary photos of the conference)

Today (Friday) is the final day of the All -Brazil conference for missionaries from ABWE. Thanks for your prayers! My job is easy - I only speak (Ephesians sermons). The girls have been extremely busy watching/teaching young children for about six or more hours a day.

Here is the view from our balcony. The missionaries save for three years - every month - to attend this conference. This is a huge highlight for them - to see all the other missionaries in Brazil. So it is an honor to be a part of this family meeting.

Some of the children...

The kids really loved being with our girls.

One of Morgan's buddies

When you get this many missionaries singing in one small room - it is loud and powerful!

Breakfast and dinner was at the conference hotel.

Emily teaching a craft to the boys.

The Bucks came to Brazil the year before I was born! And they are still at it without intentions to stop. They are getting ready to come to the US for a few months, and her biggest concern is that they may not make it back "home" to Brazil. I loved sitting with them during a morning session and learning about their ministry.

Thanks for your prayers!

Brazil - day 2

Although we really missed being at Northridge yesterday, we enjoyed our first full day in Brazil. I'll let pictures tell the story:

Walking back to our hotel from the Supermarket. We took two MK (Missionary Kids) with us for translation purposes. This conference takes place every three years with all ABWE missionaries in Brazil. 8% or 9% of the entire ABWE family ministers in Brazil.

Sue & Carol Clark (our missionary to Brazil) begin to prepare the gift bags for the missionary kids. Thank you to so many of the small groups who donated candy and other give-away gifts to give these missionaries a taste from home. The girls spent the afternoon putting the gift bags together and meeting with the other children's leaders to plan the week. I worked on my sermons.

We went to a Brazilian Steakhouse (called churrascaria restaurants) for lunch. These are becoming more popular in the US and they began here in Brazil. The servers keep bringing all types of meat to your table until you tell them to stop. Here is just one of the trays of meat. They served all different cuts of beef, chicken, fish, and other meats. The most unique thing I tried was chicken heart, and I definitely would not recommend it.  About 25 of us enjoyed this lunch together. We sat across from John & Jody Miagan. He is the youth pastor from Jason DeGraaff's dad's church in Indiana. They are here working with and challenging the teens for the week.

Cal & Carol sang a song before I spoke. It was great to work with them again.

Thanks again for your prayers while we are here. And don't forget to thank God for the day we celebrate today - the day Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses on the door at the Church @ Wittenberg - which launched the Reformation. It truly was a history-making day that affects us today. Without it, there would be no Protestant Churches (including Northridge).

We Are in Brazil!

Our family left Friday afternoon from Rochester airport to fly to Brazil. It was a  L-O-N-G  trip. Our Rochester flight was at 5:27 PM. We flew to Newark and had a three hour layover, followed by a nine or ten hour flight to Sao Paulo. So we landed in Sao Paulo Saturday morning, had a three hour layover and flew to Rio de Janerio, and we had to wait six hours there. Finally, our last flight landed us around 10 PM on Saturday in Florianopolis.

Cal & Carol Clark grew up in our church and have been missionaries in Brazil for a long time (it must be over 20 years). He is now overseeing all missionaries in Brazil for his agency (ABWE). Every three years they gather all the ABWE missionaries in Brazil for a conference. The conference begins tonight (Sunday), and Cal asked me to be the evening speaker. So I will be speaking each night to the missionaries and the girls will be doing childcare and lessons with the children of the missionaries.

We will be praying for you today at Northridge and we will look forward to watching the service online this week. I want to thank the mission committee for making it possible for our entire family to participate in the Clark's ministry here in Brazil. He asked me quite a while ago to speak, but a few months ago wondered if the girls could participate as well. We are so thankful that we get to experience this together. Most mission trips that I've been on, I simply come home and tell the girls about the trip. I am so thankful that they get to participate in this one with me!

On another topic... if you receive this notification before you drive to church - notice that the work has begun on the parking. When we left on Friday, they were clearing trees in the property behind the zoo parking lot!

Here are a couple of photos:

In Sao Paulo... now two more flights and 12 more hours to go.

Three primary activities took up our time on the three layovers:

1. Competition... Morgan pulled out her old "heel-eezz" (not sure of correct spelling) from years ago (they have a wheel under the heel). And they all took turns wearing them and created a timed competition in a quiet section of the Sao Paulo airport.

2. Sleep... We all managed to sleep a bit in terminals in Sao Paulo or Rio de Janerio
3. Read... We all got reading in too

Thanks for your prayers over the six days of the conference.

Getting Home in a Storm

Sue and I are in Tampa, Florida. We flew down Sunday afternoon for some meetings, and we are supposed to fly back to Rochester on Wednesday.  Because of the storm, I am doubting that is going to happen. There are some things I'm patient with... waiting while travelling isn't one of them.

There's a sermon still to write, meetings I have planned, and daughters I want to see. You can pray for traveling mercies for me (which is my least favorite prayer - along with "blessing the food"), but I'd prefer you to pray for traveling patience...

What I Dislike About Vacation

I really hate missing Northridge when I'm on vacation.  Saturday through Thursday, I'm taking my 16-year old daughter on a cruise to celebrate her 16th birthday and spend some purposeful father-daughter time together. We've been planning this trip for a while and saving our money and we are excited!!! Sue took each of them away before they started Jr. High. This is my special time to hang out with Ali. And although I will miss Northridge, I can't wait to hang out with my daughter!

(I'm writing this before we leave)... But I know I will miss being there on Sunday! I spent some time with Jonathan this week and I'm really excited about his sermon. I know you'll love it! I look forward to being back next week!

Today we are "at sea." Tomorrow - Cozumel, Mexico!!  I hope there are no fires on board...

Sweet Memories and Sweet Friends (old and new)

This week I spoke at a Family Camp in Iowa. It was a camp that I grew up attending. I made several significant decisions at that camp. In the full story of my life - the camp plays a crucial early role.

The name is kind of strange (Iowa Regular Baptist Camp) - unless you know what a Regular Baptist is - which is an interesting discussion in itself (because I'm not sure all Regular Baptists agree with who they are)... I'm not making fun, really... I just think titles mean VERY different things to "insiders" than "outsiders." And the reality is - with Regular Baptists - they don't even agree with what "Regular" means in their title (really!!).  But anyway...

The "chapel" wasn't nearly this nice when I was growing up. It was in the basement of the dining hall. This is REALLY nice! Over 300 people were attending Family Camp 2 (it is the second of five Family Camps).

Our two oldest children were on a mission trip this week in Puerto Rico - so Sue, Emily, Gaby (Emma's friend) and I drove 1000 miles to Iowa for me to speak at Family Camp.  We spent a lot of time with a couple who are old friends of mine (Tim & Devona). What a blessing to hang out with them again. I graduated with Devona. Her husband, Tim, and his brother, Clay, are two of my early childhood friends. Our families hung out a lot together. Even though I don't see them often - it is easy to spend time with them again...

I also made two new, important friendships. They kept us in a pretty nice place (compared to normal "camping" conditions). It was where our family stayed, the worship leader's family, and the "director" of the week and his family. We hung out every night and talked a lot about life and ministry.

It is amazing how quickly hearts can be bound together when you meet like-minded, passionate guys who have walked many of the same ministry "roads" at different ages and in different contexts. I left camp Friday morning with two new friends. I hope our paths cross many more times in the coming years!

 

We enjoyed our experience at camp very much, but look forward to being back at Northridge tomorrow!

It Seats How Many? 9200?!?!

Today, we drove through Louisville, KY. And we drove by a church that I've been to twice for a conference.  And since we are building, I thought it might be nice to get a tour and check it out - with "building" eyes this time.

Here is a picture. There are two balconies.  A "normal" balcony - and then a SECOND balcony above that. The auditorium seats 9200!!!

 

Here is a picture of the lobby:

That's about three or four times as large as our new worship center.

At this church (Southeast Christian Church) -they serve communion every week.  Imagine serving communion to up to 9000 people PER SERVICE - at three different services.  They use 165 ushers at each service and they use 60 gallons of grape juice EVERY WEEK.  I admit that one of the things that impressed me the most is an invention that a man in their church came up with.  It is nicknamed "The Holy Cow."  It puts the juice in the cups very quickly.  You place the communion tray under the pan with empty cups, and in a matter of two seconds - the tray is full.  Here is a picture of it:

My wife was more impressed with the cookies they sell at the cafe:

  

Anyway, it was a 90 minute diversion, but well worth it. I love seeing what God is doing at various places around the country, and God has used this church in amazing ways!

But nothing beats North in our minds! We missed everyone on Sunday!

How to Crack a Rib

 

I mentioned in my blog yesterday that I cracked a rib while on our cruise. This short video (24 seconds) wasn't the time that I cracked the rib, but it shows you how it can happen. As always, those receiving this by email will need to click HERE to see the short video. Or simply click on "David Whiting Live" above - and it will take you to the video.