BRAZIL WHISTLE IN THE NIGHT & the Mitchells

We heard a strange sound in the dark after going to bed the first night here in Brazil. It was coming from the street in front of the Mitchell's home where we were staying. The place seemed secure with bars on the windows and a high wall around it.

I thought it was some sort of tropical bird call. The next morning Jon and Dee, our missionaries here, explained that it was the night security person on a bike and blowing a whistle. The bird-like call alerts thieves to his approach. This is fairly common in Brazil where there is a lot of crime.

In Gig Harbor our homes are more secure. But here broken glass juts from the tops of walls, bars are on every street level window, and high locking gate systems mark the entrance to homes making them seem like prisons. This pictures the the problem of crime and the need of the Gospel to change lives. Only Christ can change the heart of a thief such as Matthew the greedy tax collector.

Jon & Dee Mitchell have been working as missionaries here for twenty years. This was our first opportunity to visit their field. We are only the third supporting church pastor family to visit since Discovery sent them here in 1988. They are now church planting in Brasilia, the capitol, in the south of Brazil. Their church is called the Word of Life Regular Baptist Church.

This capitol city is a newer planned city and meant to be a modern model for the country. Since it was planted a dozen or more satellite cities have grown up around it much like the greater Seattle. Jon and Dee live in one of them called Taguatinga of about 300,000. It is a bustling place with thousands of cars, lots of people and varying forms of mystical religion. Many people are poor.

This week we enjoyed getting reacquainted with Jon & Dee and their two boys at home, Nathan and Timothy. It has been like old times talking about church planting at Discovery and their work here too. We saw local sites including the congress building and the president's palace. Thursday we had a great meeting of about 40 folks for a special service where we spoke. Saturday night I spoke to the men's group. There were a lot of questions about our lives in the US and about how God worked through cancer and the death of Gabriel. Sunday we meet the whole church and then we will depart for Fortaleza right after church.

The church has a tin roof and no ceiling. Services are often interrupted by the roar of rain. Next month a team of workers from the US will come to install sound insulation and patch leaks. It will be a great improvement and make it possible to worship in all types of weather.

Pray for the Mitchells as they move ahead. One day they hope to establish a Bible Institute here in this needy place.