Life is sort of back to normal...

Almost a month has passed since we left Brazil, but with todays technology we manage to çommunicate either via msn, e-mail, or SKYPE almost everyday. Sure beats the olden days when we only managed to hear from one another every month or six weeks, especially when we were scattered between Brazil, Africa and Canada. Earl is busy helping out in Mozambique and won't be home the end of June, while I'm busy trying to get the yard spruced up for the summer.

Luke is living with Pat & Eric, and she is helping him get all his government required ducks in a row so he can work in Canada, he has already lined up a job, so things are falling into place. I'll be by my lonely self in our house when my sister and her husband who were house sitting, move out! Next week we leave for Edmonton to be there for the Samms banquet, and to attend Earl's niece (Bernice Grynke's) wedding. Pat and I will be driving down, a first for us. Pat is on long term sick leave, her health has improved somewhat, but she still suffers a lot of back pain and has two more surgeries to face. We would appreciate your prayers on her behalf.

Back Home Again!

Our six-week visit to Brazil was interesting, adventurous and entertaining… We took a trip to the interior in our Volkswagen mini-bus, a two-hour drive over the roughest dirt roads I can remember. We felt like eggs that had just been scrambled.

We spent a very interesting time visiting in this rural community where Mount Horeb has been working toward helping poor families. They go out there every Saturday, and spend the entire day there helping in a number of ways. The government has closed all the local schools and the kids now have to bus to school about an hour and a half each way. The roads are so bad that when it rains they simply become impassable. The school year started the beginning of February and so far these kids have only managed to get to school for 20 days. We climbed hills, stepped over creeks, and visited a number a families and drank a lot of “chimarao”. A national drink that boasts to cure you of whatever ails you, and if nothing ails you it promises to keep you healthy.

On the lighter side our good friends, the Camargo’s offered us (Earl, I, Lynn & Dwight) the use of their lovely beach house that has a pool in the front yard where we lolled for three days, played games, got in lots of reading, and took some long walks in the beach as a plus we got sun-burned in a few bare spots.

We managed to visit with most of our friends and spent a lot of time at the mission with our directors Bebeto & Suely, and the rest of the staff. It was just so great to be there and know that we are loved and appreciated for so many… at least that’s what they tell us. Frankly, we think they highly exaggerate on it… We are thankful to the LORD for the marvellous privilege of serving Him in this beautiful country with its wonderful people. We all went to the airport on April, 28th where Earl, Dwight & Lynn left for Mozambique and four hours later Luke & I boarded our plane to Canada. We all arrived in our destinations safely and are glad to be back on solid ground. Earl doesn’t come home until the end of June but I have a lot of yard work and gardening to do before then. BC hasn’t had a nice Spring so far, but the last few days it’s been sunny and warm and I couldn’t resist getting out and getting my fingers in the dirt. You will be hearing from me more often from now…

Six weeks in Brazil…

We arrived in Brazil on March, 16^th and we were happy to renew our acquaintances, friends and fellow workers in the ministry. We settled down into the guest apartment and slept off our jet-leg and then started to get into the groove of everyday life at Mount Horeb. The weather for the most part has been rainy with a few blessed hours of sunshine in between, but in spite of it I managed to get sunburned.

The biggest shock in our first week was the beating of someone on the street where he was left to die. A car came by, picked him up and took him to the hospital. It was late at night and hospital was solidly locked so the Good Samaritan went to the door, rang the bell and asked for a stretcher when he heard shots behind him. The crooks had followed him to the hospital and shot the wounded man in the head and fled. Needless to say there was no more need for medical attention. On the heels of that, a bus loaded with people ran into the back of a huge semi-trailer and many people were shook up, but the driver suffered the worst damage and his leg had to be amputated. Thankfully, there haven’t been any more tragedies so far.

Once again we have been delighted by a number of visits by young people thanking us for the help their families received from the mission over the years. These young people who at the time were needy children in the community have now grown up, married, and become contributing members in their society. For the most part we didn’t even recognize them after so many years, but it was very gratifying to see them again and receive their thanks.

The picture above is of one of the families we helped many years ago. They were very poor, and were helped by our sponsorship program. The mother also came to our sewing classes. As you can see, that's the house they used to live in Itaperucu. One of the children, Citia, came to see us a few weeks ago.

Luciane is another one of those young people who came to say thanks. Her mother was a widow and they lived in a clapboard shack with plastic and bits of tin for a roof, with a dirt floor and the beds were carved right out of the ground. For the most part the mother took the four children and went out begging everyday to survive. The first thing we did for them was to build a small board house with a decent roof that wouldn’t leak and a cement floor. Then we encouraged the mother to come to our sewing and literacy classes. Gradually things got better for the family, and today Luciane is a wonderful example of what can happen when a family receives a minimum amount of help to get on their feet.

Luciane is married, has two children, and holds down a good job that promises her a much brighter future. Stories like this our encouraging and make us realize that in the kingdom of God if we plant good seed, there will always be a good harvest.

After three weeks here Lynn & Dwight joined us and we have been having a wonderful time and they have been a great help to us. A friend of ours offered their beach house with a wonderful swimming pool, and we spent 3 and half days just resting, talking an eating and then resting more, and talking and eating again.

We are all leaving on April, 28^th and I will be coming back to Canada with Luke in tow. He managed to get a 3 year work permit to Canada and we are very happy for him. Earl is going to go back with Lynn & Dwight to Mozambique and is going to be away until the end of June.

That’s all for now and I will update you guys in what’s going on in our lives after we get back home.

Spring is in the air

You can't imagine how wonderful it is to feel the sun on our back, see the snow melting, the

crocuses blooming and hear the robins singing their hearts out. It's the time to rejoice and be glad for the new season. We leave for Brazil on Sat. March 15th. so there won't be any new entries on this blog until May, but I'll make it up to you by giving you lots of news about our trip.Lynn and Dwight will be meeting us there too, they come to attend our Annual General Meeting and represent the interests of Sam Ministries.They are also keen on establishing a good working relationship with the Mount Horeb

mission in Brazil. All missionaries planning to go to Mozambique must first go to Brazil to learn the language. We also look forward to some special family time which we get little of. We plan to stay 6 weeks at which time I'll be coming home, hopefully with Luke in tow & Earl will be going back to Mozambique with Lynn & Dwight to help with the many projects he has going on down there, which he thinks only his father-in-law can do. Besides knowing how to do just about anything he can also fix just about anything & has the added advantage of being able to communicate with the locals. Dwight always tell him he's worth 10 men, how can you say no when you get those kinds of compliments & from a son-in-law nonetheless.

Luke just finished getting his medical exams & criminal reports off to the Canadian immigration and we're hoping to get a positive answer within a month. We can hardly wait for him to get here & do a whole lot of work for us which these days requires all this marvelous technology which we don't simply seem to be able to master. He will be coming on a work permit which will give him legal status & besides helping SAM Ministries he will be able to apply for a second work permit for another job as well. He really wants to be an asset to the ministry & not a liability, & more than anything else he wants desperately to come to Canada & make it his permanent home.

The grandchildren are doing just great. Russell is in his 3rd year of engineering & is working in Lloydminster through the co-op program at the U of A. He's liking his work & is getting some valuable hands on experience at engineering. Amanda is almost finished her 2nd year in their Bio Chem honors program & is pulling in wonderful grades which makes us all very proud of her. Ruth & Royden just got back from a much needed vacation in Costa Rica and are back at their jobs. Recently Ruth has been having trouble with her thyroid & she is being monitored by her doctor & seeing a specialist. She has the beginnings of Hashimoto's disease which can take from one month to 10 years to kick in completely. We hope & pray that she will recover & that her thyroid & autoimmune levels will normalize as they are wanting to begin their family.

Our Pat had a rather serious back operation in October & has been on disability leave from work ever since due to complications involving her right arm. She also picked up a nasty virus & it settled into her bronchial tubes & she coughs alot & has wheezing spells like an asthmatic, & has completely lost her voice so we haven't heard a peep from her for 3 weeks. We're also praying that the Lord will touch her & restore her health. Until next time, don't eat too much, sleep more, enjoy the Lord & your family & friends.

Life goes on, even in all this snow....

You're right, snow is the subject matter again, we keep getting more and more and I think we have broken a record this year. We've enclosed more snow pictures, so you can judge for yourself! Neighbours were busy helping each other get out of their driveways, wallowing knee deep in snow. The snow plows can't possible keep up, but we sure are happy to see them come into our neighbourhood. Wonder how much more we will get before winter is over?

Earl's step father passed away on Fri. Jan 25th. We were amazed he live as long after the hip repair surgery he endured. He was a remarkable man and would have celebrated his 99th. birthday in April, had he not fallen. All his family members were just under, or just over, 100 when they passed away, including his parents. You will remember that Earl's mom died less then a year ago on March 1st. while we were in Brazil. Another generation has come and gone, and we're next in line. Mom and dad were both mentally alert and physically able to get around without help. Elmer and Marlene, Earl's brother and sister-in-law drove from Lander and picked up us and daughter Pat, and we drove to Alberta together. Considering the road conditions, we were fortunate to get there without any hold-ups, but did get to wait for an hour and a half on the way home. The crew was blasting to see if there were any avalanches waiting to happen. Almost all of Grandpas Meckelborg's surviving family was there, so we got to see most of the relatives on Earl's side of the family. We had a good time celebration dad's life, he was a vibrant Christian and live a good and long life. We are getting excited about our trip to Brazil when we get to see all our friends again. Like Lynn always said when she was a child, I love to go on holidays, it's just the long trip I hate. I can relate to that, seats in planes are getting less spacious all the time ... or are we getting bigger and bigger as the years go on! Lynn is our second daughter for those of you that don't know, she and her husband Dwight are missionaries in Mozambique, you can see her blog and read all about the at ... lynnlagore.blogspot.com Blessings to all ....

Winter with lots and lots of snow

Here we are just waiting for Spring, seems to be a long spell between winter and Spring! We have had more than our share of snow, and Earl has really developed his shoveling skills. But if he doesn't do it I make him walk with me, and he prefers to shovel snow! So far it hasn't been too cold though. We have already purchased the tickets for our trip to Brazil, we use air miles for one and buy the other. One has to start real early though, if you don't, you run into some serious problems. Last time we did that, we couldn't get on the same flight till we got to Houston Tx. But we think we have it fixed better for this trip. We plan to be gone from March 15th to April 28th. From there Earl will be going to Mozambique with Lynn & Dwight, who will be in Brazil with us for two weeks. I will be coming home .... I hope not alone. If we can manage it, Luke may just get his work permit by then and he can come back with me, that would suit me better. We usually don't both go to Moz. it's too costly, too tiring and too long for both of us to be away from home.

Earl's step father fell and broke his hip, he is 98, and that's not a good time to fall and break a hip. They operated on him and are trying to keep him mobile, but that's not easy. Just today we heard he has come down with pneumonia so we're all apprehensive. You will remember his mother passed away almost a year ago in March when we were in Brazil.

Our grand children, Russ and Amanda spent Christmas with their parents in Mozambique. They only had 10 days with them, but that's all you need when you are really homesick! they got home safely, though not without a few hitches. Our other granddaughter Ruth and husband Ruth Royden spent Christmas in Salmon Arm so we got to see quite a bit of them, they are always such a joy to have around. We get into some serious doctrinal discussions, and she thinks her grandpa (especially) has all the answers ... don't tell her differently! Not any other newsworthy items to write about so till next time ...

Christmas is over and we survived ...

We haven't updated for ages so we hope you haven't all given up on us! we had a wonderful Christmas, and probably about as stress free as it can get. Since half of our family lives in the far flung corners of the earth, we had a nice quiet day that ended up at the local theatre where our son-in-law runs the projectors. We all had a private showing of the Chipmunks. Lynn & Dwight's are in Mozambique and their two kids who are both in the U of A went there for Christmas. Mom and dad had accumulated enough air miles to bring them over! They had a good time even if it was only for 10 days. Coming back wasn't so great, they got bumped in N.Y. the by the time they caught another flight out, they missed their Calgary Edmonton connection. A friend picked them up OR they would have spent the night there. Amanda's luggage got lost in all the shuffle. Our other grand daughter and her husband came from Seattle and they are always such a joy to have around and usually have some weighty subject they want to discuss with grandma and grandpa. They made the rounds, just to keep things even, between her Royden's parents, Pat and Eric's and our house.

Our Brazilian Luke that spent 06 months here went back to Brazil on Nov. 1st. He had applied for an extention of his visitor's visa, but it takes immigration forever and a day to get back to their applicants, so in desperation he decided to go back in case they didn't grant him one and he would lose his return fare. His extention came just a few weeks ago, over 3 months after he applied! He is dying to come back, we tried to get someone to sponsor him so he could get a work permit, but weren't successful. Lots of people need employees, but they don't want to bother going through the government and doing all the paper work. So we are trying another route! He said a soon as he stepped off the plane in Brazil he knew he shouldn't have returned. He just loves Canada and says he wants to spend the rest of his life with ... is that a compliment? Anyway he was such fun to have around!

We are both well, and plan on going to Brazil again this Spring, and Earl will continue on to Moz. to give Dwight a hand with building and maintenance. I will come home, can't both stay away that long or our yard will turn into a hay field. Also there's the added expense we can't afford.

Pat & Eric are both fine, she has just undergone surgery and has to have more done. So she is recovering slowly ... they went in from the front of her throat, so she has a nice scar to show off! Not too much else to report, I'll try to keep up better with this blog and slowly but surely we are getting the hang of managing it .... Blessings to all

Pictures to view .. from last blog

Still Landscaping, how much longer ...

Well, this entry is a bit late I must admit, then I went to update two days ago, and it somehow goofed, and it didn't get posted, so here goes again. Yes, Earl just got the last bit of heavy duty landscaping done before the snow blew in! It's amazing how big our yard is ... like everybody else we though the bigger the yard, the better. What we didn't figure on, was the amount of work we would have to put into it. But, we're finished now and it looks wonderful! Except you will have to wait till Spring to see it now. Everyone in the family is well, except Earl's step father Leonard Meckelborg, he fell and broke his hip ... not good news for someone who is 98 years old. They did surgery to fix it and so far so good. You will remember Earl's mother passed away last year in March, she was 93, and mentally alert till the day she died. Whenever we would visited them and asked Leonard how he was, he'd always say 'I don't know I have no one to compare myself with! Remarkable people!! Christmas is upon us and this year it will be quite quiet, ours usually are. No more small kids or grand kids around to liven things up, maybe we will live long enough to have great grand kids, that should liven things up again. Ruth & Royden will be here this year and it's always such a pleasure to have them, they are such a 'have it all together' couple and always such a blessing to us, their commitment to the Lord is wonderful to see. Our other two grandchildren Russell and Amanda are both studying at the U of A and are going to Mozambique for Christmas. Lynn and Dwight had some air-miles burning a hole in their pocket, so they decided to put to better use. They leave Dec. 18th. They are both doing very well in their studies, both love the Lord, and we are extremely proud fo them both. Pat & Eric are well, Pat just had surgery on her back and is recuperating, she'll be off work for 3 to 6 months. The pain hasn't lessened, but the numbness in her arms and hands is gone, and so are her headaches, so she is very happy for that. Eric has been such a great helper and taken care of the house the dogs, and everything else Pat usually does. I will be going on here another day and adding some pictures ... when I get help from Pat! Till next time ....