Christ is Risen!

Even though Easter was early this year, we didn't have to worry about cold weather here in Belem. It didn't even rain--amazingly. As we think about Easter and the meaning of that special day, it truly is the reason we are here. Christ's Resurrection! He came that all may have new life and by trusting in Him, might have life eternal. That is the reason we're here -- to help bring that incredible message to this part of God's great creation. Thank you for your support and prayers for our ministry here. We are blessed because of you.

Easter morning we attended the Japanese Brazilian Church. They hosted a breakfast. It's a bit different than your "typical" American Easter breakfast. We had several types of bread, fruits, and cake to choose from. For drinks there were local fruit juices and coffee. People of every age drink coffee here in Brazil.

Here in Brazil, it is not common to have Easter baskets. Instead they sell large chocolate eggs. These eggs are filled with other candy and toys, and then decoratively wrapped. We got the kids each a chocolate egg this year. It's hard to find the typical Easter candies that we could normally put in a basket--not to mention the basket and grass. These Brazilian Easter eggs are generally VERY expensive, ranging in price from R$20 to R$60 (US$15 to $45). We got ours from a local ministry for only R$10, a MUCH better price and we helped someone else out too.

We got the kids a box of Fruit Loops for Easter too. Fruit Loops are hard to find and quite costly, so this was a real treat. They each had a bowl of them before we left for our church. The box was so small that there were very few left after each kid had a small bowl. Definitely NOT something we'll be doing again any time soon.
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Every year Grandma Kimball has given the kids new Easter clothes to wear. The last couple of Easters in Brazil has made this a bit more challenging, but with early planning and creativity, the kids are beautifully dressed in new outfits.

Elisabeth, almost 12

Caleb, age 10

Nathanael (14) is also sporting some new decor on his teeth. He's beginning the process of straightening his smile.

Hannah, 8 year old
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For Easter Dinner we had one of our teachers and her two teenagers over, plus three single missionary gals. It was a nice time of fellowship and yummy food.

Here's Elisabeth with Kathleen and Kelly. Kathleen and Kelly work with ARCA, a ministry for street kids.

Jenn, missionary with ARCA, and Debbie, AVA teacher, help out with the clean up after dinner.

Dennis, Nathanael, Freddie & Lillian (Debbie's kids) get in a few games of Dutch Blitz -- a worldwide well loved MK game.
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At 4:00pm we had our English service. We showed a portion of the Jesus movie and sang some great songs about the Resurrection of our Savior.
After our afternoon English service, we gathered at our house with most of the leaders for a traditional Easter "breakfast". We ate it at supper time, but it was tasty just the same.

Dennis made yummy banana cinnamon pancakes.

Jeanne, our 5/6 grade teacher, made Swedish pancakes.

It was a busy day, but we enjoyed celebrating our Savior's Resurrection with our family, friends, and colleagues. May God bless each of you!

Baptism at AVA

Today we had a special event here at AVA. Emi and Darlene were baptized! After school today, a group gathered at the pool to hear their testimonies and witness this special event in their lives.

Darlene & Emilia

Several weeks ago, the Junior & Senior Bible Class had a discussion about the importance of baptism in a Christian's life. After class, Emi & Darlene both decided they wanted to be baptized. Having known Jesus for several years, they both decided they wanted to take this step of obedience.

Before their baptisms, each of the girls spoke about what baptism meant to them and why they wanted to be baptized. Curtis, a classmate, translated during the event for the Brazilian guests and family members who didn't speak English.

We are thrilled that we could be a part of this special day in their lives. Please keep them in your prayers as they continue to grow in their faith and live in obedience to Jesus Christ.

AVA Goes to the Wild West!!

Friday, March 7th was Wild West Fun Night here at AVA. This all school fund-raising event helped the HS raise money for their upcoming Ministry Trip.

The Sweet Tooth Saloon hosted a cake walk. At one point in the evening, we had 4 Cooleys in the Saloon trying to "steal" a cake. With only 10 people walking at a time, you'd think we'd have made away with one...but "no." I guess that just shows us, we should just stay away from Saloons.

Here's Bandit Hannah trying yet again to "steal" a cake for the Cooley Clan. We didn't end up getting a cake at all that night, but we did have a lot of fun trying.

Marj (another parent) & I ran the Grub Shack. We served BBQ Hot Dogs, as well as lots of other yummy grub.

At the Grab for Grub booth, cowboys could dunk their heads into the cooler and see what they could come up with. Since apples have risen in price so much lately, our HS Cowpokes, Kim & Sara, filled the cooler with other "tasty" grub...tomatoes, onions, potatoes, star fruit, and a few random apples. Hannah & Elisabeth both grabbed onions in their Grab for Grub.

Emi & Mishaela hosted a very cool Bull Ride. It was one of the biggest hits of the night. Cowboys rode the "bull" until they fell off.

Here's Cowboy Caleb riding the wild bull.

Cowgirl Elisabeth rode the Pogo Stick a long time, earning extra prize tickets.

Nathanael took a break from his post at the Jail preventing jail breaks to do a few Shoot Outs with Cowboy Curtis.

A big highlight for cowpokes young and old was the Teacher Hold-Up. Nails on the board above our heads allowed the water balloons to drench us.

Miss Epley, Caleb's morning teacher, was the first teacher to be "Held Up."
Notice how nice the booth looks there.

I was snatched from the Grub Shack and "Held Up" last. The paper on the booth had seen better days at that point, and there appears to be horns on the board. Dennis was "Held Up" sometime during the night, but since I was in the Grub Shack most of the evening, I didn't get any shots of him.

Notice how my youngest two cowpokes even got into the action, nailing their mom.

It was a great night for everyone who came out to join the fun. The High Schoolers raised a good sum of money and there was a lot of laughter and memories for all.

The Rains!!

Last Sunday we had an incredible rain storm. It started at about 1pm and lasted until about 5pm. The bulk of the rain came in the first hour. The sound of the rain on the roof became almost deafening at one point. It rained so much, the Sunday afternoon EFL service was canceled. The water on the road to our school was about thigh deep, making it impossible to use. Just walking to the other end of campus, we walked on the sidewalk through calf deep water in some places.

This picture is of our back yard, while the rain was still coming down. By the next day, our yard was amazingly back to normal.

Here is our rain gauge after it stopped. 5 inches! Notice the little spider above the water line.

Here's a look at the campus from the front gate.

Looking out the front gate, down the main road to our school.

Cooking with Cooleys

We decided to make some cinnamon rolls for the Coffee House on Friday. The High School is going to be offering Breakfast next week at school -- Cinnamon Rolls. This would give them a look and taste at what they could make. While preparing these, we got a real good look at why we ALWAYS sift our flour. Just wanted to share it with you too.

We think these "spider web" thingies are from a worm. We've found several variety of worms while sifting flour too. The scary thought is that some folks don't sift their flour. It's hard to find a bag of flour here that doesn't have a hole or two in it.

Here's a picture of some of the Coffee House Kids enjoying the final product. They said the Cinnamon Rolls looked too pretty to eat, but they didn't wait too long to dig into them.