A Golf Course, a Wedding, and Baptisms
In all my life, only once did I ever play a round of golf. It was so long ago (1971) that I don't remember how many holes I played or how many shots I took. My golf score was probably higher than my bowling average, though, by which you can conclude that neither one is anything special.
But I have just spent three weeks on a golf course, linguistically, at least. However, I don't think that translating 23,000 words of a contract for the construction of a golf course would help my game if I were to go out and play for the second time in my life. It does mean that I'm glad to get back to doing some other stuff...like blogging.
The Wedding
There was a wedding in the middle of my golfing experience. Orlando and Lequicha (leh-KWI-shah) were married on Sunday afternoon, June 17. Many pictures were taken...but not by me. I was busy during the ceremony, but I did get a picture of the flower arrangements and Abbie practicing the music.
The entrance to the church was also decorated and both doors left wide open during the ceremony.
Same Scene One Week Later:
The Green is Blue!
When we built the new church building in 2004, we came upon a problem: either our auditorium was too small or the baptistry was too big...there was no way to conveniently put a suitable baptistry under the podium, as is the solution in many churches. So we put it at the front door, and most of the time it is covered with a green lawn-type carpet. Not only does a person have to be baptized to be a member of our church, even visitors have to at least walk over the baptistry to get into the auditorium! Of course, they don't realize what's under the green unless we tell them.
The Baptisms
It all started with Fábio (far right), who showed up at church one day a few months ago, saying that he had just moved back to Madeira to be with his family. He had been living for a couple of years in Brazil, and it was there that he was saved in the 1st Baptist Church of Fortaleza in November. He asked for baptism. Then, Lúcia (standing next to Fábio) said she wanted to be baptized, too. Actually, she accepted the Lord a couple of years ago, and was baptized by a fellow believer who was visiting the island. Although she was satisfied with her faith and profession, she felt it was right to be baptized in the presence of the church where she wants to serve the Lord.
Then came Michael. He showed up a month or so ago, saying he and his brothers had been looking for a Baptist church since they moved to Madeira in November. Their grandfather was from Madeira, but emigrated to Venezuela, where their father was born, and they, as well. Their mother is Brazilian, and their parents are doing mission work in the Dominican Republic, where they have lived for 9 years. There are 13 children in the family! Having finally found a Baptist church (they had been to other churches here where they were not comfortable with the doctrine and practice), Michael brought his brothers, Gabriel and Stephen, at the next opportunity. (Michael is to my right and Gabriel to my left...if you think they look a lot alike, it's because they're twins.) Stephen, 21, is two years younger and already baptized. It's a long story, but the twins were the only ones in their family that had never been baptized. So they heard about the scheduled baptismal service and wanted to be in on it.
Then Vagner and his wife, Márcia, who had accepted the Lord in October, but because of his job (a soccer player) had not been able to attend our services, began to attend as soon as the season was over. They heard about the baptismal service and wanted to be baptized, too! Each of the six gave a marvelous testimony of their coming to faith and their desire to follow the Lord. "I come empty-handed to God, but I come to serve the Lord with my life," said Michael. The other testimonies were just as beautiful. So we went out and baptized them.
That's Gabriel being baptized (I know because of the order in which the pictures were taken) and the rest of the baptismal photos are here.
Otherwise, not much has been going on in the last few weeks.
But I have just spent three weeks on a golf course, linguistically, at least. However, I don't think that translating 23,000 words of a contract for the construction of a golf course would help my game if I were to go out and play for the second time in my life. It does mean that I'm glad to get back to doing some other stuff...like blogging.
The Wedding
There was a wedding in the middle of my golfing experience. Orlando and Lequicha (leh-KWI-shah) were married on Sunday afternoon, June 17. Many pictures were taken...but not by me. I was busy during the ceremony, but I did get a picture of the flower arrangements and Abbie practicing the music.
The entrance to the church was also decorated and both doors left wide open during the ceremony.
Same Scene One Week Later:
The Green is Blue!
When we built the new church building in 2004, we came upon a problem: either our auditorium was too small or the baptistry was too big...there was no way to conveniently put a suitable baptistry under the podium, as is the solution in many churches. So we put it at the front door, and most of the time it is covered with a green lawn-type carpet. Not only does a person have to be baptized to be a member of our church, even visitors have to at least walk over the baptistry to get into the auditorium! Of course, they don't realize what's under the green unless we tell them.
The Baptisms
It all started with Fábio (far right), who showed up at church one day a few months ago, saying that he had just moved back to Madeira to be with his family. He had been living for a couple of years in Brazil, and it was there that he was saved in the 1st Baptist Church of Fortaleza in November. He asked for baptism. Then, Lúcia (standing next to Fábio) said she wanted to be baptized, too. Actually, she accepted the Lord a couple of years ago, and was baptized by a fellow believer who was visiting the island. Although she was satisfied with her faith and profession, she felt it was right to be baptized in the presence of the church where she wants to serve the Lord.
Then came Michael. He showed up a month or so ago, saying he and his brothers had been looking for a Baptist church since they moved to Madeira in November. Their grandfather was from Madeira, but emigrated to Venezuela, where their father was born, and they, as well. Their mother is Brazilian, and their parents are doing mission work in the Dominican Republic, where they have lived for 9 years. There are 13 children in the family! Having finally found a Baptist church (they had been to other churches here where they were not comfortable with the doctrine and practice), Michael brought his brothers, Gabriel and Stephen, at the next opportunity. (Michael is to my right and Gabriel to my left...if you think they look a lot alike, it's because they're twins.) Stephen, 21, is two years younger and already baptized. It's a long story, but the twins were the only ones in their family that had never been baptized. So they heard about the scheduled baptismal service and wanted to be in on it.
Then Vagner and his wife, Márcia, who had accepted the Lord in October, but because of his job (a soccer player) had not been able to attend our services, began to attend as soon as the season was over. They heard about the baptismal service and wanted to be baptized, too! Each of the six gave a marvelous testimony of their coming to faith and their desire to follow the Lord. "I come empty-handed to God, but I come to serve the Lord with my life," said Michael. The other testimonies were just as beautiful. So we went out and baptized them.
That's Gabriel being baptized (I know because of the order in which the pictures were taken) and the rest of the baptismal photos are here.
Otherwise, not much has been going on in the last few weeks.
posted by EP | 11:46 PM | Permalink
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