I recently enjoyed a Bible discussion with a young man from Benin. He has been living in Manaus for a few years and speaks 4 languages. During our discussion, he reads the Bible study aid in French, as this is his first language. But he answers questions and speaks with us in English. His progress in Bible knowledge is excellent and continuous.

Before our move to Brazil, Karina and I enjoyed tasting cuisines from various countries. Actually, for each “monthiversary” of our first year of marriage, we tried a cuisine from a different country. Brazilian cuisine has been quite nice. Many people are familiar with Brazil’s famed churracso. The Amazonas state also has some great selections of fish, such as tambaqui and pirarucu.

We also have a love for the the beach, which is possible to enjoy here on the Amazon river beaches. Different from the beaches of the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic and the Pacific but they are still beaches. 🙂

Some time was also available for visiting some of the historical buildings and museums. New found friends also took us to some water falls and local zoos that have animals of the Amazonian fauna.

Every Monday night, brothers get together for some games of futsal. Futsal can be explained as soccer played on a court; but futsal is 5 on 5 with a smaller ball and smaller area of play. Where I’m from, the sports of choice are football and basketball. I have enjoyed getting used to Brazil’s game of choice. I get better each time but considering they have been playing since being a kid, I feel they still see me as having “pernas-de-pau”. This is what they call a bad soccer player because it is as if he has legs of wood.

Our Kingdom Hall was also used for the Creole Regional Convention. Around the country there were halls that were video conferenced to the convention in São Paulo. We had the privilege of assisting in cleaning and preparing our hall before the convention.

Efforts for the English group continue in various modes of ministry.