You’re Kidding, Right?

Well, last week it seemed like we were being assaulted by all of creation. Bats, rats, spiders, snakes, bugs that we don’t even know what they’re called… it was crazy! Well, this week has been no different.

Our car broke down (again!) and I had to ride down the mountain on a motorcycle to try and get a tow truck to come and pick it up to be repaired. And on the way back up the mountain I was attacked by bees. For real? I was just minding my own business and this is what I get?

And, if that wasn’t enough, a swarm of wasps decided to build a nest (all in one day too!) right outside the doors of the orange bunkhouse. We’re going to be having guests staying there next week so those things had to go. Here’s a quick video of how we got rid of them: )

And just when I thought I had seen it all, yesterday, our dogs were attacked by a porcupine! Yes, that’s what I said, “a porcupine.” Three of our dogs (that MJ rescued off our road- another story for another blog) tried to chase a porcupine off the property and were hit numerous times by these needle-like-quills. 

One dog, JJ, had 2 stuck above his eye and a few in his mouth. Another one, Sammy,  had 10 or so lodged into the roof of his mouth, and the third dog, BoBo, had over 30 stuck in his snout. We tried pulling them out but they were embedded so deep that the dogs wouldn't let us (too painful). The quills are barbed at the end (like a fish hook) so when you try to pull them out it’s very difficult to do and probably hurts worse then when they go in. 

Here's BoBo with 30+ porcupine quills stuck in his snout.
It took the vet almost 40 minutes to get all of them out once he was put to sleep.

I was able to remove one of them with a pair of pliers before the vet arrived, but that was it. 

We went down to town and got some sedative for the dogs at the agricultural store so that we could dope them up enough to allow us to get them out. But the sedative wasn't strong enough. So we had to call our friend Michel, who's a veterinarian, and he came and put them to sleep so that he could remove them without them feeling it. This was absolutely crazy! A porcupine… seriously? 

Sammy, right before Michel put him to sleep so that he could remove all the quills from the roof of his mouth.

Michel used plastic tubing to keep Sammy's mouth open so he could remove all of them.  One more quill to go: )

Each quill is needle-like with sharp barbs at the end- which makes them hard to remove.

Michel carefully removing quills from Sammy's mouth.
It's a lot more complicated then you would imagine.
Removing them without breaking them is definitely a science.

This was one of the most surreal/ridiculous things that could've ever taken place. Who would've ever thought that we'd have to deal with porcupines? Seriously? haha! Although it's funny now- it was far from funny when we were going through it. It was one of those moments where all you can do is trust God because 'in the natural' things looked pretty bleak. I won't bother listing out all the things that were stacked against us yesterday because the list would be long and it doesn't even matter at this point. Because here's the deal...

God provided the solution for us and we made it through it, period. He always does and He always will. I believe that. 

It seems like the enemy is constantly trying to discourage, distract, and destroy what's happening here in Brazil. Things aren't easy by any means. But with every attack it seems like it's just making us stronger. With every ridiculous attempt (i.e. porcupines) to frustrate and thwart the ministry that's taking place here- all it's doing is making us more resolved to press further into Jesus. So bring it! I mean, what's next meteorites or maybe a unicorn attack? I guess we'll have to wait and see: )

Love Ya,

Jim