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 Planting, the Watering, and the Increase

By
Emesson started coming to Bible Club over a year ago, when Neil Schultz and Cait Beckloff, our AIM team, were teaching it. For several months, they planted the seed in his and his sister's hearts. Unfortunately Neil and Cait's time in João Pessoa ended. In 2014 Bible Club received a boon when Erick and Jenny Paddy, former AIMers, returned to the field and picked up teaching the Bible Study for English speakers. They watered the sprouting seed in Emesson's life until God's Word became more important for him than just practicing his English. Last Wednesday night, God gave the increase, adding Emesson to the Family of Christ. Sometimes things don't happen when we think they should, but God is in control; His time is best, and we must thank Him for playing a small part in His plan. 
Post a Comment
Read more

"What About Baptism?"

By
Edda and I went to a nearby city to study the Bible with a family, Genilda (who is already a Christian), Ana, Mariana, Luiza, and Jefferson. While we were reading God's Word, Ana's husband, Silva, came in and sat down, and then blurted out: "What about baptism?" It took me by surprise because he has barely studied with us, but, most certainly, is already thinking about spiritual matters. Our Bible study then took a lot of detours, answering this question or that. Silva said he still has a lot of questions, and we pray that the Lord will use us to answer them, bringing him to understand the Good News!
Post a Comment
Read more

Samuel McKinney's New Life in Christ

By
It has been only three days since Samuel gave his life to Christ, but it is so exciting to see my young son exercising his faith, like getting upset when his history teacher at school taught that miracles in the book of Exodus can be explained by natural phenomena: low and high tides in the crossing of the sea, natural disasters for the plagues, etc. The day after his baptism, Samuel went on a trip with his school and received a new nickname: the boy who reads the Bible. He read 1 Samuel, chapters 1 through 6, out loud for the whole bus to hear. His eagerness to take the Lord's Supper for the first time was refreshing. May our Father bless all our families with life changing faith.
Post a Comment
Read more