Did anyone see April?
Well, if you did, it wasn't here. There are many factors that led to completely missing the month of April on this blog, some to do with the church work, others with the consulate work, and some because of translation work load.
I saw confirmed one principle I've always felt was true: if you want people to beat a path to your door, offer to give them money. (I understand that there are churches and groups that have used that principle...I suspect some of the attenders at our services in the early years were of the impression we would be willing to "pay" them to come. But we weren't and aren't, and there is almost no one left from those first 15 years of the work.)
The money giveaway? The Stimulus Payment! All you US citizen readers know about it, because you got a letter from IRS explaining you could get up to $300 a person back from the government if you filed 2007 income tax forms. Even SS retirees who haven't filed in years could qualify for a stimulus payment if they filed a 1040A. Result: One Monday morning in late March, early April, we had 20+ people come into our office, letter in hand, wanting to know what it was about (many of them are Portuguese who lived and worked in America, but cannot read English well). In fact, the simplest communication from any US government agency brings them running to our door for us to explain whether there is something they are supposed to do, and if so, how to do it (usually us filling in papers for them), and if it's good or bad news. Every other morning for a couple of weeks was more or less the same scene. I even got the two ladies in my office trained at how to fill in the simplest forms for the Stimulus Payment. All that complicated getting other work done, of course.
That work included a week in which the whole computer system, hardware and software was replaced in the office, plus the addition of a new automated cash register system that had to be learned from scratch. And there were two passengers put off the same transatlantic cruise liner on a Friday afternoon because of accidents: one a broken arm, the other a broken hip. Another ingredient in the stew of responsibilities.
Since I wrote last, we have had three professions of faith, so a baptismal service is being planned for June, and there is other news to report from the church, visiting preachers and extra Bible study meetings, developments in the prison ministry (attendees reduced to one prisoner now, but that is probably a good thing---more in a separate post).
I don't have a lot of time to write even this post tonight. I had meant to say all of the above a few days ago, but in the meantime:
I took that picture last night about 11:00 as we got off the plane. We left home about noon yesterday, and we will be spending about 2 and a half weeks here in Ireland (mostly N. Ireland, but will have about 4 days in the Republic of Ireland, Dublin, later this week). Most of the time we will be with a group from my alma mater, John Brown University, who will be doing this tour until the 24th. We will join them tomorrow (they are flying across the Atlantic as I write), but we came on ahead early to spend time with a couple of sisters in the Lord we first met in Madeira back in 1981 or so. Elizabeth and Joan, who are also sisters in the flesh, returned to Madeira many times and always insisted we come see them. Now we have. After the tour group returns to the US on the 24th, we will stay on a few days to continue our visit with our friends, who live near Belfast.
Before returning to Madeira, we will spend another week in England, visiting a pastor who has visited our church on several occasions, and at the same time plan to meet up with Jackie and Jaime, who will have returned from their extended visit with family in Australia.
So...no guarantees on how often I will have Internet connections and opportunity to blog, but I will be keeping notes and reporting as I can, not only on our current experiences, but trying to get you caught up on the back news. While I may have missed April, at least I've got one on the board for May. Lord willing, there will be more.
I saw confirmed one principle I've always felt was true: if you want people to beat a path to your door, offer to give them money. (I understand that there are churches and groups that have used that principle...I suspect some of the attenders at our services in the early years were of the impression we would be willing to "pay" them to come. But we weren't and aren't, and there is almost no one left from those first 15 years of the work.)
The money giveaway? The Stimulus Payment! All you US citizen readers know about it, because you got a letter from IRS explaining you could get up to $300 a person back from the government if you filed 2007 income tax forms. Even SS retirees who haven't filed in years could qualify for a stimulus payment if they filed a 1040A. Result: One Monday morning in late March, early April, we had 20+ people come into our office, letter in hand, wanting to know what it was about (many of them are Portuguese who lived and worked in America, but cannot read English well). In fact, the simplest communication from any US government agency brings them running to our door for us to explain whether there is something they are supposed to do, and if so, how to do it (usually us filling in papers for them), and if it's good or bad news. Every other morning for a couple of weeks was more or less the same scene. I even got the two ladies in my office trained at how to fill in the simplest forms for the Stimulus Payment. All that complicated getting other work done, of course.
That work included a week in which the whole computer system, hardware and software was replaced in the office, plus the addition of a new automated cash register system that had to be learned from scratch. And there were two passengers put off the same transatlantic cruise liner on a Friday afternoon because of accidents: one a broken arm, the other a broken hip. Another ingredient in the stew of responsibilities.
Since I wrote last, we have had three professions of faith, so a baptismal service is being planned for June, and there is other news to report from the church, visiting preachers and extra Bible study meetings, developments in the prison ministry (attendees reduced to one prisoner now, but that is probably a good thing---more in a separate post).
I don't have a lot of time to write even this post tonight. I had meant to say all of the above a few days ago, but in the meantime:
I took that picture last night about 11:00 as we got off the plane. We left home about noon yesterday, and we will be spending about 2 and a half weeks here in Ireland (mostly N. Ireland, but will have about 4 days in the Republic of Ireland, Dublin, later this week). Most of the time we will be with a group from my alma mater, John Brown University, who will be doing this tour until the 24th. We will join them tomorrow (they are flying across the Atlantic as I write), but we came on ahead early to spend time with a couple of sisters in the Lord we first met in Madeira back in 1981 or so. Elizabeth and Joan, who are also sisters in the flesh, returned to Madeira many times and always insisted we come see them. Now we have. After the tour group returns to the US on the 24th, we will stay on a few days to continue our visit with our friends, who live near Belfast.
Before returning to Madeira, we will spend another week in England, visiting a pastor who has visited our church on several occasions, and at the same time plan to meet up with Jackie and Jaime, who will have returned from their extended visit with family in Australia.
So...no guarantees on how often I will have Internet connections and opportunity to blog, but I will be keeping notes and reporting as I can, not only on our current experiences, but trying to get you caught up on the back news. While I may have missed April, at least I've got one on the board for May. Lord willing, there will be more.
posted by EP | 10:36 PM | Permalink
1 Comments:
I love your pictures, good blog!
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