LOOK OUT FOR LUCAS!

Hi everybody in Watford (other places too) look out for Lucas. He will be arriving in UK on Friday the 26th August and staying with Rod and Frances Collins for a while, at least until we arrive in early October.
Lucas´parents are both pastors in a local Independent Evangelical church. He is a 4th year law student at PUC which is the Roman Catholic university in Rio, one of the  best they tell me.
In his own church he is part of the worship team and also one of the youth leaders. He is the eldest of 4 children and has been living with his family in Leblon, a nice suburb near the sea here in Rio.
We keep telling him his English is quite good but very American so during the next few months we can all help him to speak properly!!! Seriously though, he is keen to get a really good grasp of English and I told him that people will be ready to correct him so that he can reach his goal.

Lucas is a bit shy at first, not like most Brazilians who are usually very extrovert. He admits to having a BIG appetite and is a little bit anxious about English food. He is keen to get hold of a bike and start getting to know the surrounding areas. He is also keen on sport so please invite him to join in sometimes. He tells us he is quite good at Ju jitsu but I don´t know to what standard. We have discovered that there are a couple of groups in the Watford area. Interestingly, he  has never learned Capoeira which is a Brazilan kind of sport/dance which is catching on all over the world. Maybe some of you know where there is a group near by and you can go together. (See the picture above.)

Lucas has long dreamed of visiting UK and getting to know the customs, culture etc. as well as really improving his English. He has been working as a para legal for a couple of years and saving furiously to pay his expenses during his 6 months in Britain. Of course he is also keen to get to know about the Christian scene there and become involved to.

St. Mary´s church in Watford which will be our spiritual home (when we get there) has very graciously agreed to host him because from what we have seen of the way the churches and Christian organisations work together there, as well as the outreach into the community which is going on, we couldn´t think of a better place for him to make his journey of discovery and contribute his own  special gifts there too.

Take a look at this website to see how His church is working together in  the Watford area.
http://www.christiansacrosswatford.org/

"ATÉ LOGO" as they say in Brazil. It simply means, "See you later".

41 Years ago.

It is 41 years ago since we came to work in Brazil. We arrived in Rio de Janeiro after a long trip on a bus with 2 small children. It wasn´t our first visit. That took place 3 years earlier when we sailed from England with a group of other SAMS missionaries bound for various parts of South America. We called at Rio after sailing accross the Atlantic (it was no luxury cruise, 3rd class in a very cramped cabin). We were met by the then chaplain of Rio, Canon Eric Wilcockson who took all nine of us adults plus 4 children for a whirlwind trip around the Rio sites ending up at the statue of Christ, the famous Corcovado. We were all invited to afternoon tea at the chaplaincy house, little knowing that Stuart and Kathryn would call this house "home" on at least 3 subsequent occasions. However, we first spent nearly 3 years in Paraguay working in the River Zone and then in the Chaco. In Paraguay we spoke Guarani.

This is us going up the Sugar loaf mountain with Lois aged five and Paul, just two years old.
After language study, we went to Salvador, Bahia in the North East of Brazil and worked there for 8 years. Canon Harry Sutton, a former General Secretary of SAMS always said the property where the Blankleys, our colleagues, and our family lived was the best real estate of any missionaries he had met in all his many travels in South America.

This is the beautiful view of Todos os Santos which we had from our windows in the upstairs flat we built in the shell of the old cemetery chapel. Yes, we lived in the British Cemetery.

This is a general view of the cemetery. After we left Bahia, the consul allowed a group of orphans with their carers to live there.Unfortnately, it was left in a rather neglected state. Some time afterwards a group of interested people decided to restore the cemetery and this included returning the chapel to its original state. The area is now known as an open air museum and is open to the public who can admire the beautiful views and the excellent restoration.

As we write, we only have 7  more weeks left in Rio. The search committee have 4 candidates to interview for this unique position of chaplain to the English speaking people in Rio de Janeiro.

We thank God for the opportunity we have had over the last 40 odd years to know this wonderful country and the people who live here.