Skip to main content

Congresso and Real Life

By

            About the Christian Congresso (4 day encounter of the churches in the Northeast of Brazil) this year, I could tell about seeing old friends, seeing how they are growing spiritually and in number, and being encouraged by their fighting for Christ, about my class on how to be more like a man after God's own heart, of course, based on the life of King David, but life hit me and the rest smack in the face.

== WARNING! GROSS CONTENT! CONTINUE READING AT YOUR OWN RISK==


            The last night of the event, the fellowship was great so I went to bed around 1:30 a.m. but checked on my son before lying down.  He was wet and stank!  Feeling around in the dark I figured out that he had thrown up all over himself, and he had a fever.  I got him up, washed him, changed his clothes and turned the mattress over to the dry side and put him to bed again. Around 4:30 a.m. someone else started throwing up, loud enough to wake me.  I checked my son again and he had thrown up again.  I was so tired and not feeling so great either, and since he didn't have any more clean clothes or mattress and especially since he didn't have any qualms about sleeping in that mess, I just left him.  It turned out that myself had my own problems with puking and diaherrea. Not a pretty picture.
Morning came and brought with it over 30 people puking and aching all over. We later figured that around 90% of the 150 participants got food poisoning. They say they haven't food poisoning this bad at a Congresso since Salvador in 1989.  What a way to end a great event!
But it wouldn't end! I had stomach problems for the next 11 days.  I ate plant leaves (not just any kind, but those recommended by others), teas and took medicine.  Nothing worked.  I traveled and taught a four day course, while feeling like making emergency runs to the bathroom – rough, but I survived.
I was talking to Raniere, here in João Pessoa who told me that his stomach problems from the Congresso stopped when he ate two hot dogs.  I went out and bought two of the greasiest chicken paddies deep fried in oil. I do not know what happened inside my body after eating these two "balls of medicine" but I have not had any more problems since.
This is where I should share some new spiritual depth that I have found in this experience, but besides being able to wear a "I survived the Congresso of 2012" t-shirt, I'm still looking.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Second Generation, Part II

By
In 1993 when we came in contact with a young struggling couple in Caruaru, Paulo and Simone, we never imagined what plans God had in store for them. Now 18 years later (Wow, has it been that long?), after conversion, ups and downs, growing pains, working to further the Kingdom and living it, they have had the pleasure to witness the beginning of their daughter's life in Christ. Juliana (age ten) was baptized by her older brother, Jheymerson, who was also ten years old when he gave his life to Jesus. What a wonderful blessing to have one's whole family saved in Christ! Maria and Cícero were also converted when we lived in Caruaru, though single at the time. They dated and got married, the ceremony performed by yours truly. Maria has been faithful to Jesus all these years though going through several difficulties. Cícero, on the other hand, fell away, but came back and renewed his life and his marriage, and now, along with Juliana, his daughter Vitória (age ten) was baptize...
Post a Comment
Read more

Thank You, Patrick

By
February 28, 2011 was a tragic day for the McKinney family: Patrick, our friend and companion of four years, died. He was our pet cockatiel. A cockatiel can live up to twenty-five years, but Patrick's life was cut short when he got stepped on.     On the day,  intense grief cut short my breath, like a stone weighed on my sternum, blocking the air. The kids were devastated, and I couldn`t talk to anybody without my eyes tearing up.     I was embarrassed - I had to cancel the visits and Bible study I had lined up that day. I had comforted that very week three people, one who lost a father, and two who lost mothers, and here I was all torn up over a stupid bird. I was ashamed.     But then again, he wasn`t just a stupid bird. Patrick woke up every morning whistling the Brazilian national anthem. In his own way, he ruled the house, using his cage only for meals or to sleep. He was a bird free to come and go as he pleased - you`d think he ...
Post a Comment
Read more