Categoria: News

We spent a most enjoyable weekend in Scotland visiting the Found Church in Larbert, Falkirk. We flew up on Saturday afternoon from Southampton to Edinburgh and in the evening were taken out for a lovely meal by the senior pastor Stephen Maguire and retiring pastor Michael Rollo. Then yesterday morning we spoke at the church in what was a lovely service. We were then taken out for a most enjoyable lunch by Pastor Stephen, his wife Elizabeth and their daughter Charlotte. Today we were taken for a tasty Scottish breakfast complete with haggis by Pastor Michael Rollo and his wife Diane before flying back down to Southampton from where we caught a train to Basingstoke. Thank you for your prayers. I should just add that today’s flight was again in a small Brazilian-made jet (Embraer 145) seating 50 people and it gives a very smooth flight without a bump!

QPR drew 1 x 1 away to Sheffield Wednesday and continue in 9th position in the Championship.

I have just heard about a tragedy in São Paulo with a 9-year-old boy stabbing to death his 36-year-old mother. How awful! 

2 people have also died in São Paulo as a result of drinking alcoholic beverages contaminated with methanol. 

Sir Paul McCartney, aged 83, is on a tour of concerts in the USA at the moment and this weekend is in California. Well done Paul! I’ll be in Scotland preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ which, with all due respect, is far more important! 🙏

We have received sad news from northeast Brazil about a shooting in a school in the state of Ceará where we have a church. The shooting was carried out by 2 men on a motorbike who killed 2 teenagers and injured 3 more. The police say the killings were infighting between rival drug gangs.

For this Christmas EAB will be running its Christmas Gift List Scheme digitally. For many years Marian Rashleigh ran the scheme manually for which we are very grateful, but she doesn’t feel like she can carry it on any longer as it involves a lot of work. Hence we will now be running the scheme digitally with ecards. Watch this space for more information on this new way of making someone’s Christmas happier in northeast Brazil! 

The on-going family chess tournament continues with me beating Philip twice and me beating grandson Lucas once. Then Philip beat his son Lucas. ♙

Sir Paul McCartney, aged 83, is on a tour of concerts in the USA at the moment and this weekend is in California. Well done Paul! I’ll be in Scotland preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ which, with all due respect, is far more important! 🙏

We have received sad news from northeast Brazil about a shooting in a school in the state of Ceará where we have a church. The shooting was carried out by 2 men on a motorbike who killed 2 teenagers and injured 3 more. The police say the killings were infighting between rival drug gangs.

For this Christmas EAB will be running its Christmas Gift List Scheme digitally. For many years Marian Rashleigh ran the scheme manually for which we are very grateful, but she doesn’t feel like she can carry it on any longer as it involves a lot of work. Hence we will now be running the scheme digitally with ecards. Watch this space for more information on this new way of making someone’s Christmas happier in northeast Brazil! 

The on-going family chess tournament continues with me beating Philip twice and me beating grandson Lucas once. Then Philip beat his son Lucas. ♙

 Rehoboam mustered 180,000 young men from Judah and Benjamin to go to war against Israel, but the man of God Shemaiah spoke against this so they turned back from marching against Jeroboam. Rehoboam however built up towns for defence in Judah such as Bethlehem and Hebron. He strengthened their defenses and put commanders in them, and the priests and Levites in Israel sided with Rehoboam because Jeroboam had rejected them as priests appointing his own priests for the high places and for the goat and calf idols he had made. Those that set their hearts on serving the Lord followed the Levites to Jerusalem where they supported Rehoboam for 3 years.

Rehoboam married Mahalath, then married Maakah who was his favourite out of his 18 wives and 60 concubines! (like father like son!) He had 28 sons and 60 daughters. He appointed Abijah as crown prince among his brothers and he dispersed some of his sons throughout Judah and Benjamin giving them abundant provisions and many wives.

When Rehoboam became king the people asked for a reduction in taxes and the work load, so he made consultations over a 3-day period about the matter. The older experienced counsellors proposed that he should grant the people their request, but a younger contemporary group of counsellors rejected the people’s request and even proposed a tax/workload increase! Rehoboam opted for his peers’ response causing a disastrous political rift, with Israel rebelling against Rehoboam. They stoned the man in charge of forced labour to death but Rehoboam escaped. Thus Israel in the north has been in rebellion against Judah and the house of David since then.

Here is another Chronicles re-run of a previously told story. In this case the story of the Queen of Sheba visiting King Solomon was previously told in 1 King 10. The Queen had heard of Solomon’s fame and came bringing gifts to see how much was true for herself. He answered all her questions and she was overwhelmed by all she heard and saw. She admitted that Solomon’s wisdom was twice as great as she had been told and she praised God for having placed Solomon on Israel’s throne to maintain justice and righteousness. She then gave Solomon 4 tons of gold plus precious stones and extraordinary spices, and he gave the Queen of Sheba gifts of even greater value in return before she returned to her own country.

Solomon used to receive 23 tons of gold per annum not including merchant and trader revenue. What is more all the kings of Arabia brought gold and silver to Solomon. Thus the King made hundreds of golden shields which he put in the Palace. Then he made a glorious throne covered with ivory and pure gold. The throne had 6 steps with a lion standing beside each of them on either side. All the goblets and household articles were made of gold with nothing made of silver. King Solomon was greater in wealth and wisdom than any other king on earth. He had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots and 12,000 horses imported from Egypt and other countries. Solomon reigned over all Israel for 40 years and when he died he was buried in Jerusalem, and his son Rehoboam succeeded him.

At the end of 20 years Solomon rebuilt the villages given to him by Hiram and settled Israelites in them. He rebuilt Upper and Lower Beth Horon as fortified cities. Solomon conscripted the descendants of the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites as slave labour, but he did not make slaves of the Israelites who were fighting men. Solomon built a palace for his wife, who was Pharoah’s daughter, because he didn’t want her in holy places where the ark had been. On the altar Solomon maintained the regular sacrifices according to the law of Moses and he appointed the priests, Levites and gatekeepers according to the ordinance of his father David. Then Solomon sent out sailors and ships and they sailed to Ophir bringing Solomon 15 tons of gold. 

At the end of 20 years Solomon rebuilt the villages given to him by Hiram and settled Israelites in them. He rebuilt Upper and Lower Beth Horon as fortified cities. Solomon conscripted the descendants of the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites as slave labour, but he did not make slaves of the Israelites who were fighting men. Solomon built a palace for his wife, who was Pharoah’s daughter, because he didn’t want her in holy places where the ark had been. On the altar Solomon maintained the regular sacrifices according to the law of Moses and he appointed the priests, Levites and gatekeepers according to the ordinance of his father David. Then Solomon sent out sailors and ships and they sailed to Ophir bringing Solomon 15 tons of gold. 

 When Solomon finished praying the fire fell and the priests couldn’t work inside the temple because the glory of the Lord had filled it. Then the people knelt before God on the pavement saying God is good, his love endures forever. Then King Solomon sacrificed 22,000 head of cattle and 120,000 sheep and goats as they dedicated the temple! The priests and Levites took up their positions, musical instruments were played and the priests blew their trumpets. The festival lasted for 7 days, then there was a vast assembly on the 8th day, prior to 7 more days of festival. Then the people went home.

Then the Lord appeared to Solomon, after he had completed the temple and the palace, and said to him: I have heard your prayer and chosen the temple for myself. When I send drought, locusts or plague if my people will humble themselves and pray turning from their wicked ways then I will forgive their sin and heal their land. I have consecrated this temple so that my name might be there forever. If you walk faithfully in obedience then I will establish your throne, but if you do not then I will uproot Israel from my land and reject this temple and it will become a heap of rubble. 

King Solomon said: Praise be to the Lord that I have built a magnificent temple for God which was something in my father’s heart but which was left for me to do. Just as the Lord had promised I have built the temple for the name of the Lord. The Lord has kept the promise he made. Then Solomon stood on the bronze platform in the outer court, he then knelt down, spread out his hands towards heaven and said: Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you… you have kept your promise to David my father… But will God dwell on earth with humans?… May your eyes be open to this temple day and night… Hear from heaven and forgive… hear from heaven and act condemning the guilty and vindicating the innocent… when Israel is defeated because of sin or there is drought because of sin then forgive your repentant people… hear the foreigner so that all peoples may know your name… uphold the cause of your people… hear the prayers of your repentant people… may your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayers offered in the temple… now arise Lord God… may your priests be clothed with salvation… remember the great love promised to David!

 On Tuesday night we (Liz, me, Philip, Gyl, Lucas, and my sisters Jean, Joy) had a wonderful evening at the Anvil Theatre in Basingstoke at a concert of classical music by the Philharmonia Orchestra celebrating their 80th year with 80 musicians. First of all they played Finlandia by Sibelius which was outstanding under the leadership of the conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali. Next they presented Beethoven’s 3rd Piano Concerto with the brilliant Víkingur Ólafsson playing the piano. Finally came the Firebird Suite by Stravinsky. It was a great concert! What culture! What live music!

Yesterday afternoon we enjoyed a lovely long chat, over fruit juice and biscuits, with renowned author Mike Hollow who writes the Blitz Detective Series which I love reading. I have read all the books in his series. Mike is a Christian whom we have known since he visited us in Brazil in the 90s as a writer with Tearfund. 

Last night I ate fish (huss) and chips for the 3rd time since being in the UK! I also lost a game of chess to Philip.

 On Tuesday night we (Liz, me, Philip, Gyl, Lucas, and my sisters Jean, Joy) had a wonderful evening at the Anvil Theatre in Basingstoke at a concert of classical music by the Philharmonia Orchestra celebrating their 80th year with 80 musicians. First of all they played Finlandia by Sibelius which was outstanding under the leadership of the conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali. Next they presented Beethoven’s 3rd Piano Concerto with the brilliant Víkingur Ólafsson playing the piano. Finally came the Firebird Suite by Stravinsky. It was a great concert! What culture! What live music!

Yesterday afternoon we enjoyed a lovely long chat, over fruit juice and biscuits, with renowned author Mike Hollow who writes the Blitz Detective Series which I love reading. I have read all the books in his series. Mike is a Christian whom we have known since he visited us in Brazil in the 90s as a writer with Tearfund. 

Last night I ate fish (huss) and chips for the 3rd time since being in the UK! I also lost a game of chess to Philip.

When Solomon finished building the temple he placed in it all the gold, silver and furnishings left by his father. Then Solomon called all Israel’s leaders to bring up the ark, and the Levites took the ark and all the sacred furnishings, and they sacrificed an enormous number of cattle and sheep. Then the priests put the ark in the most holy place of the temple beneath the wings of the cherubim, and in the ark were the 2 tablets that Moses placed in it at Horeb. Then the priests withdrew from the holy place and the Levite musicians Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun and families played cymbals, harps and lyres and 120 priests played trumpets giving praise and thanks to God saying, “He is good; his love endures forever”. Then the cloud of God’s glory filled the temple.

Solomon made a bronze altar 9 metres long and 4.5 metres high. Below the rim figures of bulls encircled it. The Sea stood on 12 bulls with 3 facing north, 3 south, 3 east and 3 west. He then made 10 basins for washing the things to be used in the burnt offerings, but the Sea was for the cleansing of the priests. He also made 10 gold lampstands and 10 tables, and he also made 100 gold sprinkling bowls. Huram made the pots, shovels and sprinkling bowls and thus finished his work for King Solomon. Huram-Abi made a great deal for Solomon of polished bronze. Then Solomon made all the furnishings such as the golden altar, tables, lampstands, gold floral work, pure gold wick trimmers and gold doors.

Then Solomon began to build the temple on Mount Moriah on the land that his father David had bought on the the threshing floor of Araunah. He began on the 2nd day of the 2nd month of the 4th year of his reign. He built the temple twice as big as the tabernacle with the foundation measuring 27 metres long and 9 metres wide. He overlaid the inside with gold including the ceiling beams, door frames, walls and doors. He built the Most Holy Place and overlaid the inside with gold. For the Most Holy Place Solomon made a pair of sculptured cherubim and the total wingspan of the cherubim was over 9 metres. He then made the curtain of blue, purple and crimson yarn and fine linen with cherubim worked into it. For the front of the temple he made 2 pillars and he made interwoven chains which he put on top of the pillars and he made 100 pomegranates which were attached to the chains. The northern pillar he named Boaz and the southern pillar he named Jakin. 

Then Solomon began to build the temple on Mount Moriah on the land that his father David had bought on the the threshing floor of Araunah. He began on the 2nd day of the 2nd month of the 4th year of his reign. He built the temple twice as big as the tabernacle with the foundation measuring 27 metres long and 9 metres wide. He overlaid the inside with gold including the ceiling beams, door frames, walls and doors. He built the Most Holy Place and overlaid the inside with gold. For the Most Holy Place Solomon made a pair of sculptured cherubim and the total wingspan of the cherubim was over 9 metres. He then made the curtain of blue, purple and crimson yarn and fine linen with cherubim worked into it. For the front of the temple he made 2 pillars and he made interwoven chains which he put on top of the pillars and he made 100 pomegranates which were attached to the chains. The northern pillar he named Boaz and the southern pillar he named Jakin. 

Solomon announced the building of the temple and palace so he conscripted 70,000 men as carriers and 80,000 men stonecutters with 3,600 men as foremen. 

Then Solomon requested cedar logs from Hiram king of Tyre. He said that this was for the temple which was to be great because our God is greater than all other gods. He also requested a skilled worker in gold, silver, bronze and iron to work with his men. He proposed that their men should work together so as to provide plenty of timber, and he said he would in exchange support them with wheat, barley, wine and olive oil.

Hiram replied positively and told David he was sending skilled craftsman Huram-Abi to work with Israel’s skilled men. Huram-Abi was a specialist with gold, silver, bronze and iron. 

We are enjoying a bright sunny week in Basingstoke, England but is is colder with a low of 4 degrees and a high of 15 degrees. We will be travelling to Scotland for ministry at the Found Church in Larbert at the weekend where it will be a bit colder still.

Yesterday my sister Jean called in for lunch with us which was nice.

A good devotional option for you to have at breakfast time each day is www.ucb.co.uk/word-for-today. You can read it or listen to it in 2 minutes. I broadcast from this Christian radio at Stoke-on-Trent many years ago.

We have now been on our Euro travels for just over a month so have about a month and a half to go before returning to Brazil. We are enjoying our stay which God is blessing. Thank you for your prayers. In Patos on Sunday our daughter Sacha both led and preached. The church was full and the Lord blessed mightily.

Ethel Caterham is an English woman who at the age of 116 is the oldest woman in the world. If you reach 100+ in England you receive a birthday card from King Charles III so Ethel has just received card number 16 plus a personal visit from the King!

Please pray for one of our workers at Imaculada called Antonio Gelshleuchter who had a heart attack yesterday. He is in hospital awaiting surgery.

It is one year today that I started writing a résumé or summary of the Bible and to date I have completed the first 13 books covering 367 chapters. This means I am averaging one chapter a day which keeps me on target for completing the whole Bible by 2028. To date I have completed 31% of the chapters of the Bible and about 40% of the Old Testament.

We are enjoying a bright sunny week in Basingstoke, England but is is colder with a low of 4 degrees and a high of 15 degrees. We will be travelling to Scotland for ministry at the Found Church in Larbert at the weekend where it will be a bit colder still.

Yesterday my sister Jean called in for lunch with us which was nice.

A good devotional option for you to have at breakfast time each day is www.ucb.co.uk/word-for-today. You can read it or listen to it in 2 minutes. I broadcast from this Christian radio at Stoke-on-Trent many years ago.

We have now been on our Euro travels for just over a month so have about a month and a half to go before returning to Brazil. We are enjoying our stay which God is blessing. Thank you for your prayers. In Patos on Sunday our daughter Sacha both led and preached. The church was full and the Lord blessed mightily.

Ethel Caterham is an English woman who at the age of 116 is the oldest woman in the world. If you reach 100+ in England you receive a birthday card from King Charles III so Ethel has just received card number 16 plus a personal visit from the King!

Please pray for one of our workers at Imaculada called Antonio Gelshleuchter who had a heart attack yesterday. He is in hospital awaiting surgery.

It is one year today that I started writing a résumé or summary of the Bible and to date I have completed the first 13 books covering 367 chapters. This means I am averaging one chapter a day which keeps me on target for completing the whole Bible by 2028. To date I have completed 31% of the chapters of the Bible and about 40% of the Old Testament.

With his death imminent David shows how he had provided gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood etc. for the building of the temple including donations from his own personal wealth. Following David’s example the leaders, commanders and officials gave generously too. They gave freely and wholeheartedly which made David greatly rejoice saying: “Praise be to you, Lord… Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power… Yours, Lord, is the kingdom… Wealth and honour come from you… praise your glorious name”! David was thrilled because the people gave willingly and with honest intent from all that had come from God. And all the people bowed down before the Lord.

Then Solomon was acknowledged as king and was anointed as king with Zadok as priest. They sacrificed 1,000 bulls, 1,000 rams and 1,000 male lambs and they ate and drank with great joy. And everyone pledged their submission to King Solomon.

Having reigned for 40 years David died at a good old age.

 King David assembled all the segments of Israel society and told them that he had had it in his heart to build the temple, but that God told him not to do it because he was a warrior who had shed a lot of blood. Instead the task would fall to his son Solomon within the eternal dynasty that God had established with the tribe of Judah. David stressed that Solomon, for this to occur, would need to be faithful to God, serving God whole heartedly and with a willing mind. David said that if Solomon sought God he would find him, but if he forsook God he would be rejected. Then David gave Solomon the plans for the temple which were the result of all that the Spirit had put in his heart for the temple of the Lord and all the surrounding rooms. He also instructed him about the divisions of the priests, Levites and servants, and determined the quantities of gold and silver to be used. Every detail of the temple was given by David to Solomon in writing as a result of the Lord’s hand upon him. David encouraged Solomon to be strong and courageous because God was with him.

These chapters of 1 Chronicles show David’s great interest and planning for the efficient functioning of the temple which his son Solomon was to build. After the careful planning of the temple worship in the previous chapter, David now goes on to first of all organize the temple gatekeepers. There were 62 descendants of Obed-Edom, 18 sons and relatives of Meshelemiah and 13 sons and relatives of Hosah. Lots were cast to define which gates would be cared for by whom and there were 6 guards a day on the east side of the temple, 4 a day on the north, 4 a day on the south plus 2 at a time at the storehouse, and 4 on the west at the road and 2 at the court itself. So these were the divisions of the gatekeepers who were descendants of Korah and Merari.

Next David appointed the treasurers of the temple and other officials. The treasurers were responsible for the treasuries of the house of God and the treasuries of the dedicated things. A variety of Levites were nominated for these roles. From the Izharites, Kenaniah and his sons were given duties away from the temple as officials and judges. Others were commissioned to care for the land east of the Jordan.

These chapters of 1 Chronicles show David’s great interest and planning for the efficient functioning of the temple which his son Solomon was to build. After the careful planning of the temple worship in the previous chapter, David now goes on to first of all organize the temple gatekeepers. There were 62 descendants of Obed-Edom, 18 sons and relatives of Meshelemiah and 13 sons and relatives of Hosah. Lots were cast to define which gates would be cared for by whom and there were 6 guards a day on the east side of the temple, 4 a day on the north, 4 a day on the south plus 2 at a time at the storehouse, and 4 on the west at the road and 2 at the court itself. So these were the divisions of the gatekeepers who were descendants of Korah and Merari.

Next David appointed the treasurers of the temple and other officials. The treasurers were responsible for the treasuries of the house of God and the treasuries of the dedicated things. A variety of Levites were nominated for these roles. From the Izharites, Kenaniah and his sons were given duties away from the temple as officials and judges. Others were commissioned to care for the land east of the Jordan.

King David set apart Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun for the ministry of prophesying accompanied by music in the temple. These 3 leaders each led their sons in musical prophesy and praise to the Lord. Clearly music in the temple was to be seen as a spiritual gift which communicates spiritual messages. The 3 leaders also included their relatives in a total of 288 skilled and trained musicians who cast lots for their order of duties in the temple. Thus temple worship was well organized and of a high standard. The temple music was to be provided by harps, lyres and cymbals.

One thing that impresses me about Switzerland is that all the fields are fenced off with electric fencing. I never saw barbed wire anywhere. This is a much cheaper way of fencing. Forestry too is very well managed with all trees that are felled for timber being immediately replaced with seedlings. Abundant water is also a blessing in the Swiss Alps. There is running water, rivers, streams and waterfalls everywhere. On Friday we went for a beautiful walk to a waterfall through dense forest and our hosts Sam (Liz’s brother) and Gerti picked wild mushrooms along the way. A herd of Brown Swiss cattle passed us along the way. I love this breed of cattle.

I just mention for Brazilian readers that the electricity plugs in Switzerland are the same as in Brazil, eliminating the need for adapters as are necessary in the UK. Our flight back from Switzerland to England yesterday was delayed an hour, and then we had a 20 minute halt on the M25 owing to an accident, but we eventually made it back to Basingstoke safe and sound.

The mighty QPR won yet again yesterday 1 x 0 at home to Stoke!

Today I preached at the Millbrook Christian Centre in Southampton and it was a lovely service. This is the church where Liz and I were married in 1969 and it is the church of our dear friend Marian Rashleigh. After the service Marian took us out to a lovely Beefeaters roast beef lunch. We then went to visit the grave of Marian’s brother Ken in a beautiful woodland burial ground near New Milton. Then we had a nice walk at Barton on Sea and we have just got back to Basingstoke after a wonderful day.

One thing that impresses me about Switzerland is that all the fields are fenced off with electric fencing. I never saw barbed wire anywhere. This is a much cheaper way of fencing. Forestry too is very well managed with all trees that are felled for timber being immediately replaced with seedlings. Abundant water is also a blessing in the Swiss Alps. There is running water, rivers, streams and waterfalls everywhere. On Friday we went for a beautiful walk to a waterfall through dense forest and our hosts Sam (Liz’s brother) and Gerti picked wild mushrooms along the way. A herd of Brown Swiss cattle passed us along the way. I love this breed of cattle.

I just mention for Brazilian readers that the electricity plugs in Switzerland are the same as in Brazil, eliminating the need for adapters as are necessary in the UK. Our flight back from Switzerland to England yesterday was delayed an hour, and then we had a 20 minute halt on the M25 owing to an accident, but we eventually made it back to Basingstoke safe and sound.

The mighty QPR won yet again yesterday 1 x 0 at home to Stoke!

Today I preached at the Millbrook Christian Centre in Southampton and it was a lovely service. This is the church where Liz and I were married in 1969 and it is the church of our dear friend Marian Rashleigh. After the service Marian took us out to a lovely Beefeaters roast beef lunch. We then went to visit the grave of Marian’s brother Ken in a beautiful woodland burial ground near New Milton. Then we had a nice walk at Barton on Sea and we have just got back to Basingstoke after a wonderful day.

These were the divisions of the priests descendants of Aaron. Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests as did Zadok descendant of Eleazar and Ahimelek descendant of Ithamar. Then David separated 24 priests (16 descendants of Eleazar and 8 descendants of Ithamar) giving them the order of ministering in the temple by casting lots. Then the non-priestly Levites were also divided according to their families and their relative duties were also distributed by casting lots. Thus God made it clear that worship in his house would need to be well organized, whilst also being ethically transparent as to the distribution of everyone’s tasks and duties.

Nearing the end of his life David’s principal focus was not wars but worship. That is he concentrated on accumulating vast amounts of materials for the building of the temple which his succeeding son Solomon would build. King David appointed stonecutters, made iron nails for the doors, accumulated more bronze than could be weighed and obtained large quantities of cedar from the Sidonians and Tyrians. Thus David made great preparations for his son to build the temple before his death. David summoned his son and gave him this task as he said he had shed much too much blood in wars to build the temple, whereas Solomon’s reign would be of peace and quiet. David encouraged Solomon to be a man of discretion and understanding keeping the law of the Lord, being strong and courageous. David told Solomon of his great preparations for the building of the temple accumulating no less than 3,400 tons of gold, 34,000 tons of silver and quantities of bronze and iron to much to be weighed. He also had many stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and metal craftsmen. David ordered all Israel’s leaders to help Solomon so that the temple could be built on the land that David had bought.

On Wednesday afternoon we attended a lovely time with the visit of Hans, who is a retired local carpenter here, and Liane, who cares for 54 one-year-old head of cattle. It was a fascinating time around a table full of delicious food.

Yesterday we met up with our niece Linda who is a Physiotherapist in a Zurich hospital. She took us to a lovely lunch in Chur first, and then on a beautiful walk at Flims round a lake after going down to it in a cable car. One thing which impresses you in Europe is the care for its trees. They are majestic, very tall, giving wonderful shade as yesterday was quite warm in Switzerland with 25 degrees.

Another impressive thing in Switzerland is that I have not seen one single speed bump since I arrived here. They do not exist! The speed limit inside towns and villages is 30 kph and people obey the speed limit without the existence of speed cameras or speed bumps. It is an example for us in Brazil where streets have enormous speed bumps every few metres! 

I have seen further foxes in Tschiertschen and always at very close quarters. The species observed is the European Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) which is a totally different species to the fox we regularly see at Green Pastures which is the Cerdocyon thous. Yesterday Francisco sent me a video from Green Pastures of a 6-banded Armadillo (Euphractus sexcinctus). This species of Armadillo is the third largest in the world.

Congratulations to a couple from our Patos church for the birth of Milena yesterday weighing 4.55 kg and measuring 51 cm. The parents’ names are Wellington and Ivete, and Milena’s 7-year-old brother is Danilo.

We will be flying from Zurich to London Heathrow tomorrow in an A320 British Airways Airbus which seats 180 passengers. We will be ministering at Millbrook Christian Centre, Southampton, this Sunday, September 21st, at 11 am. Please be there if you can!

On Wednesday afternoon we attended a lovely time with the visit of Hans, who is a retired local carpenter here, and Liane, who cares for 54 one-year-old head of cattle. It was a fascinating time around a table full of delicious food.

Yesterday we met up with our niece Linda who is a Physiotherapist in a Zurich hospital. She took us to a lovely lunch in Chur first, and then on a beautiful walk at Flims round a lake after going down to it in a cable car. One thing which impresses you in Europe is the care for its trees. They are majestic, very tall, giving wonderful shade as yesterday was quite warm in Switzerland with 25 degrees.

Another impressive thing in Switzerland is that I have not seen one single speed bump since I arrived here. They do not exist! The speed limit inside towns and villages is 30 kph and people obey the speed limit without the existence of speed cameras or speed bumps. It is an example for us in Brazil where streets have enormous speed bumps every few metres! 

I have seen further foxes in Tschiertschen and always at very close quarters. The species observed is the European Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) which is a totally different species to the fox we regularly see at Green Pastures which is the Cerdocyon thous. Yesterday Francisco sent me a video from Green Pastures of a 6-banded Armadillo (Euphractus sexcinctus). This species of Armadillo is the third largest in the world.

Congratulations to a couple from our Patos church for the birth of Milena yesterday weighing 4.55 kg and measuring 51 cm. The parents’ names are Wellington and Ivete, and Milena’s 7-year-old brother is Danilo.

We will be flying from Zurich to London Heathrow tomorrow in an A320 British Airways Airbus which seats 180 passengers. We will be ministering at Millbrook Christian Centre, Southampton, this Sunday, September 21st, at 11 am. Please be there if you can!