FACeTS of Madeira

News and Views related to the work of Ed and Abbie Potter, Baptist missionaries on the island of Madeira, Portugal since 1976.


 


Funchal Baptist Church
Rua Silvestre Quintino de Freitas, 126
9050-097 FUNCHAL
Portugal
Tel: 291 234 484

Sunday Services
English 11:00 a.m.
Russian 4:00 p.m.
Portuguese 6:00 p.m.
Ask the Tourist Office or Hotel Reception for map or directions.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

They have a name for it

In the previous post, I failed to mention one of the significant bits of news of the last month or so. Towards the end of last year, I sensed that something had changed with my eyesight. I suspected I needed to change my glasses, which I had had for over a year, but the ophthalmologist said my prescription was still good. So why don't I see well?

I mentioned to him about a "floater" in my right eye that appeared about that time, one large enough that when it stops right in my line of vision, I have difficulty focusing and it casts a shadow over what I'm trying to see. Nothing to be done about that, he said, "you'll just have to learn to live with it."

But after noting continued difficulty in seeing, especially one afternoon when I was driving in Italy, I decided to go back to the eye doctor. In the meantime I discovered that with or without glasses, there was no way I could focus clearly with my left eye and read normal-size text on the computer screen or in the Bible. This time the doctor did another type of test and explained my problem: macular pucker. When I look at a grid with my left eye, a checker board, for example, the lines are distorted. If I use only my left eye, lines of text look like they're floating on the waves of the sea. In extreme cases there is a solution: the macula, a film covering the retina, is removed from the back of the eye. Sooner or later I will have to have that operation, he says.

Like the floater in the right eye, there's no explanation why it happens; there's nothing to do to prevent it; nothing to do to keep it from getting worse, or to make it better. It just is. I don't see any better after going to the doctor about my condition, but I can take some sort of consolation in knowing they have a name for it.

I thought of a memorial service I attended the week after the 9/11 attack in the US. As consular agent, I was invited to the Cathedral, where the Catholic bishop, Anglican priest, Lutheran lay leader, and Presbyterian pastor spoke of the horror that had just taken place, giving their explanations for why such things happen, and what needs to be done to keep them from happening in the future.
The key words were "social injustice", "developed world vs. underdeveloped countries", "north vs. south", "unequal distribution of wealth", etc., etc. Like my trying to deal with an obvious problem with my eyesight, they were wrestling with the obvious problem of terrorism, but they never got around to describing the root cause of the problem by using the correct word. Just as the doctor told me the name of my problem, the Bible has a name for the condition the world is in...the one word none of the four religious leaders uttered that night: sin. Yes, the Bible has a name for it. And it has a solution, too! That's the good news.

Friday, July 29, 2011

May? Really?

Well, the last post was almost June, and this is still July, so from that perspective, it's like I only skipped a month. But it feels like it was two months, or four, maybe. There were times I didn't know which way to turn, but there always seemed to be several people giving me directions, or asking for directions, at the same time.

What went on? In May we went to Naples for about a week. There was a consular conference there, and we stayed over a couple of extra days to see some sights around Naples. The memorable sights of Naples were the mounds of trash four and five feet high at almost every street corner and the chaotic traffic. You know those pictures of food on packaging that are labelled "Serving Suggestion"? That's the impression we got of the traffic signs, lane markings and stop lights in Naples: they were more of a "Driving Suggestion" than performing any actual regulatory purpose.

We saw Pompeii, went to the Isle of Capri, and drove along the Amalfi coast. We got a lot of pictures, but have had no time to work with any of them.

June was when the pressure really started...church activities and planning; consular responsibilities and planning; translation work as heavy as ever. We geared up for the 4th of July, with the presence of the Consul-General here for 5 days, plus other visitors from the embassy. About the same time, Pastor Paulo Pascoal and his family came to stay 3 weeks in our apartment; they left a week ago, but another pastor and his family have come to stay almost 2 weeks; Roman, a brother from Russia, is also here until August 1; and we had a visit from Alejandro, a brother who lives in the Dominican Republic and whose father was from Santa Cruz, the village we live in. Somewhere along in that period, we had a death in the church.

Antonio Luis Alves was married to Lourdes, the sister who was healed of what would have been a fatal cancer back about 20 years ago. She had 3 to 6 months to live as the tumor approached her spinal column. For many years they have lived over on Porto Santo Island, and Antonio seemingly lost all interest in the Bible and his relationship with God and the church. Lourdes prayed that, even though their marriage relationship had deteriorated, somehow Antonio would come back to the Lord. After a serious heart attack earlier in the year and several weeks spent here on Madeira, Antonio went back to Porto Santo and back to his old self. Then, a second attack; a second emergency airlift to the hospital here. I visited him twice in the hospital and this time his Bible was always at his side. On Sunday, the day before he died, he sent a text message with a prayer for the church, and thanking God for His grace. When he went for CAT scan the next morning, the only thing he took with him to the other hospital where he was to have the test was his Bible. In the last conversation he had with Lourdes by phone that day, he said he had been reading from the Bible but he was very tired and would try to get back in bed.

There were many family members present at the funeral, none of whom had ever attended an evangelical service of any kind. Those who are not traditionally Catholic are firmly agnostic or openly atheist. We thank the Lord that Antonio made his peace with the Lord before being called home.

Next up: another trip

We will be spending the month of August in the US. Mom will be celebrating her 95th birthday, and so will we. "We" meaning an assortment of family members of varying degrees of kinship, some of whom are coming rather long distances to be there for the party. We're not only going to be flying all day on Wednesday, but then have to drive 12 or 13 hours the next day to get to Colorado. Making the flight reservations this time was a real challenge, and we ended up with flights to and from the airport near Joy and Mark. As it turns out, Northwest Arkansas Airport has far better connections to Newark Airport than Tulsa. It's not quite like landing in a cow pasture, but that's about the best way to describe it. It'll do just fine, thank you.