Porcupines 3 Dogs 0

Koty had over 230 quills stuck in his face and on the inside his mouth

Well, it happened again. Our dogs found out that porcupines are nothing to mess with.

Last Friday afternoon I was sitting at the dining room table trying to study when MJ came in and said, “you’re gonna want to kill yourself.” Obviously she was only being sarcastic but, in light of the week we were already having (storms, power outages, snakes in the house, etc.), she thought that what she was about to tell me could quite possibly put me over the edge.

You see over the last couple of years some of our dogs have had run-in’s with porcupines. The problem with that is that “they always lose!” And the result is that they end up with porcupine quills stuck in their bodies (mostly in their faces) and they have to be removed only after sedating them (because it’s too painful to remove them while their awake).

The porcupine quill has tiny barbs all over the ends of each quill that makes
it difficult to pull out once it enters it's victim

The porcupine quill is like a long needle with tiny barbs on the end. So once it pierces into you it’s difficult to just pull it out because all of the tiny little barbs are grabbing hold of the tissue not wanting to let go (kinda like fish hooks). 

And seeing how the most sensitive part on a dog is his nose (and, of course that’s where a majority of the quills are) the dog has to be sedated or it’s too painful to remove them.

Anyway, some of our rescue dogs (yes, we rescue dogs too- like we didn't have enough things to do, right?) found a family of porcupines up near the pavilion and rather than just leaving them alone they decided to try and attack them. And as a result they received 1138 porcupine quills to remind them of the battle! That’s right- 1138 quills! That’s how many had to be removed from their bodies: (

Scruffy was the winner with 238 quills stuck in her face, mouth and head. She even had 2 in her eye!

Thank God we have a friend on the mountain that’s a veterinarian who helps us with our dogs. He came over right away and (after 5 1/2 hours) was able to remove all the quills for us. 

Our friend Michel removing quills from one of our dogs.
It took 5 1/2 hours for him to remove all of the quills from all of the dogs: (

This was the 3rd time that we’ve had porcupine encounters in the last 2 years and each time the dogs have lost. It’s like- “why can't you guys learn!” I mean, it’s painful. It never goes well for you. The outcome is never in your favor so why do you insist on doing the same thing over and over???? 

1138 was the final total of all the quills! Crazy!!!

But if you think about it sometimes we do the same thing, right? We know that there are things that God keeps trying to show us that are harmful to us (spiritually, emotionally, physically, financially, relationally, etc.) that we keep going back to and exposing ourselves to. It’s crazy! Why don't we learn? It’s the same thing as our dogs insisting on trying to battle porcupines- it will ALWAYS be a losing battle.

Well, have a great rest-of-the-week and remember- "Leave the porcupines in your life alone dummy!"

Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.

        Proverbs 26:11

Love You Guys!

JIm

It’s Therapeutic an It's Something We Can Reflect Back On Later

Yes, I know that I already posted a blog this week but, as with some of our blogs, the purpose of writing is so that we have a record later on in life to look back on. Because (and I know I’ve said this before) so many things happen to us here that it'd be easy to forget a lot of this stuff. And, besides that, this is very therapeutic for me to be able to write some of these things out so that I know I’m not going crazy- so please bear with me.

Wednesday I woke up and drank my coffee just like every other morning. Then I grabbed my towel and started to make my way to the shower when, all of the sudden, I heard Maryssa yelling for me from outside. She said there was a snake on the porch at the orange bunk house and I needed to come kill it! Well, I ran and threw my clothes back on (I was in my underwear and that’s not appropriate snake-killing-attire) grabbed my machete and headed to the bunkhouse. We’ve had an unusually large amount of snakes already this season (it’s late Spring here in Brazil right now).

Sure enough, when I arrived up at the orange bunkhouse there was a tree snake just sitting there looking at me and taunting me (they’re the boldest of the snakes we have here) daring me to mess with him. So I chopped his head off and then I chucked him out into the jungle. Botta-bing botta-boom. Just another day at the office: )

This isn't the one I killed for Maryssa but it was the first one that I got with my new machete a few weeks ago.
This is a snake that was in the kids bunkhouse.

Then I went back to the main house to get a shower. I turned the shower on, got it to the right temperature and then I jumped in. As soon as I got in and started bathing- Bam! The electricity went off. That may not sound like that big of a deal to you, but when you have an electric shower head- it’s huge because now I’m taking a shower in ice cold mountain water that literally takes your breath away! But this is pretty much just the way our life is so I just sucked it up and bathed myself one limb at a time (there’s no way to put your whole body under all at once- it’s way too cold).

After I got out of the shower I got ready and kissed MJ goodbye as I headed-in to church. Matthew was weed eating, Maryssa was taking care of the animals and MJ was going to do some gardening while all the little kids were at school (that’s her therapy). The electricity was still off but it was sunny and everybody had things to do outside so ‘no harm no foul.'

After working at the office all day I headed home. When I arrived home everyone was outside and I could tell something was wrong. The electricity was still off (we’re without electricity a lot here!) and I could tell Maryssa was mad. She explained that she wasn't going in the house and that I better do something! 

It appears that there had been a snake invasion while I was away: )

While I was at church Matthew had killed a couple snakes while he was weed eating (that’s normal), MJ almost got bit by another snake in her flower bed (not normal- Matthew killed it for her) and Maryssa said there was a snake in the house (definitely not normal and totally unacceptable for her and MJ, lol!)!

What happened was this:

When MJ finished working outside she came inside and laid across the bed in our room. As she was laying there she looked up and right above our bedroom window was a freakin’ snake inside the mosquito netting of our soffits (aka- inside the house!). She called Matthew and they tried killing it but it got away by heading into the second story of our house. This is where Maryssa and Matthew’s rooms are: ) So, to say the least- Maryssa isn't very happy at this point and is insisting I do something, haha! What am I gonna do? It’s nowhere to be seen. So I just convinced her that it must of slithered/climbed back out when we weren't looking and everything is OK. What else can you do, right? : )

This is what MJ saw as she laid in our bed and glanced up

By this point everyone is pretty stressed-out because of all the snake activity at the house. The electricity is still off and now there’s a storm brewing outside. That’s right, out of nowhere what was 90 degrees and sunny has now turned into a torrential downpour that causes flash flooding! Seriously? After everything else today? Oh well…So we just rode out the storm and sat in the darkness since our electricity was still out. 

The rain was pouring down and flooded our front porch unless than 5 minutes

This isn't a stream or a waterfall- it's the grass slope that leads up to the pavilion.
Massive amounts of water fell within minutes.

After being without power all day and after sitting in the darkness most of the night our electricity was finally restored at around 10:00pm. It turns out that ours was the only house on the entire mountain without electricity all day. Seriously- just our house. Lucky us, huh? But it’s back on now and for that we’re thankful.

The power company came out and restored our electricity around 10:00pm

We’ve already killed so many snakes this Spring (more than in previous years), seen more spiders than any other year (they're everywhere- in the kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms, running across the roads), we’ve been without power more days than any other year and here’s the thing- it really hasn't mattered much. In previous years I would get so frustrated with the power outages. I would get so irritated with all the snakes and spiders. And all the storms would just wear me out. But for some reason it’s not affecting me the same way this year. I guess a person can get use to just about anything when they're constantly exposed to it (this would be a perfect place to turn this into sermon illustration- but not today). I just told MJ last night that I still can’t believe that we live in the jungle in another country. And if you would've told me that I would be experiencing all these things here on the mission field I wouldn't have believed you. I’m just a city boy and this isn't who I am or what I do- or is it? lol! 

Love Ya,

Jim

Do You Even Know What the Gospel Is?

I’ve been able to actually see some of the stuff that’s been going on in the world here lately which isn’t the norm. It seems like over the last 4 years we’ve been living in a bubble, here in Brazil, unaware of almost all current events because of our lack of internet and the absence of television here in the jungle. 

Sure, we see some stuff posted on Facebook every now and then (when we have signal). But it seems like a lot of that information is just a certain person/group’s personal opinion and not necessarily accurate news reporting. Not that any of the news is accurate anyway, right? 

Everything from the whole 'same sex marriage thing’ to ISIS and the slaughter of fellow Christians to the Ashley Madison scandal and even the ridiculous social media buzz surrounding the Starbucks Christmas cups (really, is that all we have to spend our time thinking and complaining about?). Then there’s the numerous problems in the Middle East and all the extreme racial tension back in the States. And there’s all the negative things happening in the American Government, all the natural disasters that've been happening- there are LOT of major things going on in our world right now.

As disturbing as these things are, it should make us realize that the end is definitely closer. I mean, look at all the signs. But, it shouldn't surprise us because it’s exactly like Jesus said it would happen in Matthew 24. And it’s really got me thinking about things here lately and it’s caused me to be very contemplative. Because, if you read Matthew 24:3-14, and analyse everything on the list (that Jesus gives as signs of the end)- they're all happening right now! And, just like labor pains, the closer we get the more intense the contractions (i.e., catastrophic events, wars, turmoils, etc.) will be.

But there’s one thing (and it’s actually the last thing on the list) that hasn't happened yet. One solitary thing- and that’s it. And it’s “the Gospel being proclaimed to the whole world as a testimony to all nations” (v14). That’s the only thing left before the return of Christ, the tribulation and the end of things as we all know it. I realize that only The Father knows the exact time (Matt. 24:36) but we were given these other signs that the end would be right around the corner when we saw all the things in Matthew 24 happening. 

So what does that mean for us? What should we do since the end is so near? It’s simple- we proclaim the Gospel. But I think that for most ‘christians' that will probably never happen because most people who call themselves christians don’t understand what the Gospel even is.

But if I were to ask you what the Gospel was- you could tell me, right? I mean it wouldn't be a verbatim recitation of what I would say but hopefully it would be a variation of the same thing. 

As followers of Jesus it’s imperative that we actually know what the Gospel is. The word ‘Gospel' is used approximately 90 times in the New Testament (depending on which version of the Bible you read). So it’s an important word to us and it’s paramount that we understand what it is and what it does.

We were doing a camp a couple of years ago for about 40 kids from an orphanage in Curitiba. And as usual we did all the ‘camp stuff’ with them and we brought in a band and then I had someone speak to the kids. I use to do all the preaching but I started using other people who could speak portuguese (without a translator) because I think it’s more effective presenting the Gospel when you can speak without having to translate everything.

So, I asked this youth pastor from a church in town if he’d like to minister for me. He said, “yes” and asked what I wanted him to speak about. I told him "just present a simple Gospel message that points the kids toward Jesus.”

So, it’s the first night of the camp. We cooked out hotdogs over the fire, we did some up-front games, we had some really good worship with the band- and then this youth pastor got up to speak. Now, at that time, I didn’t understand a lot of portuguese but I could understand him enough to know that what he was talking about wasn't the Gospel.   

I was sitting there trying to understand him the best I could and I was getting more frustrated with each passing minute. I wanted to hurt somebody! He was talking to them about drugs and school and, get this- obeying your parents! What!? Obeying your parents? Dude, these are orphans you dummy! They don’t have parents.

And it happened again at another camp a few months later. I asked this guy who’s kind of like an evangelist (I thought) to speak for us at a camp we were doing for a group of people from the community (that didn't go to church) that we were trying to reach with the Gospel. He got up, had them laughing and engaged but his whole point was that they needed to be better spouses, better parents and… you get the point, right?

Doesn't anyone know what the Gospel is? It’s not moral conformity. It’s not trying to be a better you! Actually, that’s the whole point of the Gospel. No matter how hard you try, no matter how much you do/don’t do certain things- you'll never be good enough for a Holy God.

That’s what makes the Gospel so amazing. He chooses us in spite of us and it’s Jesus who makes us right with God. And it’s the Gospel that keeps us right with God. It all depends on Jesus and the work He did on the cross. It’s not about us and our good works (which will always accompany true conversion) it’s about trusting in the substitutionary sacrifice that Jesus made for us and our sins. That’s the good news of the Gospel: )

Anyway, needless to say, I’m a little bit fired-up about this subject right now. It’s even caused me to take a hard look at my own life. Because even though we’re missionaries in another country, and even though we’re pastoring a growing church- the question still remains, “are we proclaiming the Gospel and are we actually making disciples?” 

Because if the proclamation of the Gospel to all nations is the only thing holding back the return of Jesus- then, as a follower of Jesus, am I doing my part to make that happen? Am I staying focused on the assignment given by Jesus to all of us who are followers of Him? 

And are we doing the best we can to make sure that the Gospel is being proclaimed to all nations (wether it’s praying/sending/supporting/equipping/going) so that everyone has an opportunity to hear the good news of the Gospel? Or are we just having church and thinking about the people who’re in my particular group and that’s it? It’s definitely something to think about: )

Love Ya,

Jim

And It's Done!

OK. You guys are awesome. In less than 24hrs you (our faithful supporters) provided us with the all money that we needed to get our van repaired, and then some. Can you believe it?! Thank You!!!

Here's a quick video from Me and MJ thanking all of you who helped. We love you guys!

Love Ya!

Jim and MJ

Knocked Down But Definitely Not Out

I’m using the blog today for something that I’ve never used it for in the 4 years that we’ve been here in Brazil. And that’s to ask for your help. 

Last Friday afternoon we were all on our way to church when suddenly our van started making a strange sound. I immediately pulled to the side of the road and Matthew and I got out to investigate what it was. We couldn't figure it out but we knew that we probably shouldn't drive it until we knew. We just so happened to be at the same exit where the mechanic that we use lives- so we called him and asked him to please come help us.

He got there pretty quick and, after looking at the van, he came to the conclusion that something in the engine was blown and that he needed to get it towed back to his house to work on it and that it shouldn't be driven.

Our van being loaded onto a tow truck Friday

The tow truck came and picked up the van and we all walked up the highway to the closest truck stop and waited for someone to come pick us up. We couldn't believe that we were stranded but we were actually all handling it pretty good, considering the fact that our van was broken (we absolutely LOVE our van).

Our van after the mechanic took the engine out: (

The next day the mechanic called us and said that after he took the engine apart it looked like the turbo had broken which in turn caused some kind of problem in one of the cylinders which caused a rod to break which caused a piston to turn sideways which caused the head to get jacked-up… I know, I didn't really understand it either. All I knew is that it was making my stomach hurt just thinking about having to get it repaired. 

We met with him this afternoon and the cost for repairing our van is going to be $3,857.00US. 

And that’s the reason for the blog today. We need your help. We absolutely don’t have the money for this repair. I’ve never made any pleas for money since we’ve been here in Brazil. If we’ve ever needed anything we just prayed and waited for God to make it happen. But I really felt like this time I needed to make you, our faithful supporters, aware of this situation. 

We’re basically shut-down from any of our scheduled ministry events (away from the camp) until the van is repaired. We were actually scheduled to take all the house moms from Lar Herminia out to eat a week from tomorrow while a group of us stayed at the orphanage with the kids- but now that’s impossible. We need our van. 

So, there it is. Not gonna try and ‘pretty-up’ what we’re trying to accomplish with today's blog or stretch this thing out- so, "can you help us?" If you can, please click HERE to give through Paypal. Or you can mail donations to PO Box 231 Loganville, GA 30052. 

Thanks in advance for your continued support of the ministry here in Brazil. We definitely couldn't do it without you: )

Love Ya!

Jim, MJ and the rest of the Dunn Clan

Thank You Graystone

Graystone Church has been a huge encouragement to our family and to the ministry here in Brazil over the last 2 years. And last week they did it again.

Graystone Church has been such a blessing, in so many ways, to our family and to the ministry here in Brazil. One of the ways that they've supported us is by sending Mission Teams to help us here (actually they’re sending the 3rd one of 2015’ in December). 

At the end of the July 15’ Mission Trip the team presented MJ and I with a gift. And it totally took us by surprise. They presented us with an all expenses paid trip to the beach: ) Just Me and MJ!

Now, that may not sound like that big of a deal to you, but to us it was HUGE. You see, MJ and I have been married for 26 years. And, in the 26 years we’ve been married, we’ve NEVER been on a vacation by ourselves without children. Never. So this was a monumental event for us and we couldn't even believe it was happening.

We’ve had children pretty much our whole marriage (our oldest son, Michael, is 25). By the time our biological kids were getting old enough to be left alone we adopted a sibling group of 5. They were ages 11, 8, 6, 4 and 2. So, after almost 20 years of raising children, we started all over again- almost at ground zero. And at that point our family was too big to leave that many kids with anyone. So we never went anywhere by ourselves.

But last week that all changed. Me and MJ boarded a plane and headed North (about 5 hrs) to the city of Natal, Brazil. It was absolutely amazing. For 4 days we didn't think about kids, dogs, cleaning, cooking, washing clothes, ministry, camps, sermon preparation, problems, worries, nothing! We just rested, hung out together, rested, walked on the beach, rested, ate great food and did I say, “we rested?” Haha! It was the most relaxed we’ve been in years- literally!

The view from our balcony: )

Our view at night

The lobby of the Natal Sehrs Grand Hotel (where we stayed)

What was on our door for 4 days: )

The world famous Camarões- where we ate twice!

It was perfect and it came at just the right time. It truly refreshed us and has given us a much needed boost- enabling us to carry on longer here in Brazil: )

A panoramic view from our balcony

So, once again, “thank you soooo much Graystone” for blessing us with such an amazing gift- one that was literally 26 years in the making: )

We Love You Guys!

Jim and MJ

4 Years (And we’re still alive)

September 22nd marked our 4 year anniversary of moving here to Brazil as missionaries. I had envisioned writing this blog and sending it out on the 22nd but, as usual, things don’t ever seem to go as planned.

I went to bed Sunday Night (the 20th) and around 1:00am I woke up shivering uncontrollably. Even though it’s the end of Winter here in Brazil the temperatures have been in the 80/90’s during the day and in the 70’s at night. So to be shivering didn’t make any sense. So, virtually still asleep, I just piled the covers on and tried to continue sleeping. But then I started sweating profusely along with the shivering. This lasted all through the night and into the morning. I tried getting up out of bed but my whole body ached and I was burning up with fever.

Long-story-short, I was in bed with a high fever for 5 days trying to stay asleep just to escape the pain in my body. No communication with my family, no food, no light, no anything- just sleeping, aching, sweating and shivering. Every time I tried getting out of bed my stomach felt like someone was sticking a knife in it and twisting the blade. It was horrible. 

Nobody else in the family had what I had (thank God) so it was hard to figure out what this actually was that was ravaging my body. Did I get bit by something? I had bites all over my body so this was definitely a possibility. Did I ingest some type of bacteria through the food or water here on the mountain? Did I get some kind of super-virus hugging someone at church on Sunday during meet and greet? Did I come in contact with rat urine/feces somewhere while I was working at the camp, because I was showing some of the symptoms of it? Who knows…

After the 5th day I wasn't getting any better so I decided to drive an hour to the hospital. They ran blood tests on me and then did an ultrasound on all my internal organs to see if they could figure out what was going on with me. They discovered some type of bacteria in my stomach that could be knocked-out with antibiotics. Great. But there were problems in my blood because of this bacteria and they said that I needed to be hospitalised for a minimum of 2 days while they tried to correct it. 

OK. This is where being here in Brazil by ourselves is challenging. I had Matthew with me and we had no way of getting in contact with MJ back on the mountain to let her know what was going on (no phone or internet). I couldn't reach anyone to help us and I was so sick that I didn't know what to do.

I let them admit me while we were trying to get Matthew a ride back to the mountain. After all the paperwork they brought me to the room. As they opened the door I could hear the people in the room. It was sooooo loud. Plus there was no air moving (no fan or a/c) and the air temperature in the room was swelteringly hot. The little ghetto TV that was in the room was blaring some type of Portuguese show so loudly that I’m sure the speakers were blown (because it sounded so distorted), and then there was this shirtless guy laying there (spread eagle) in his underwear on one of the beds! If that weren't enough, his wife was lounging on my bed talking on her cell phone! What?! How was I gonna be able to recover in this atmosphere? I was really sick and needed peace- not more drama.

So I told the nurse, "no way. I’m leaving. Get the doctor and prescribe whatever it is that I need to recover and I’ll do it at home because I’m NOT staying here.” So they checked me out, gave me some prescriptions and I was gone: ) 

Here I am a little over a week later and I’m finally better. But, to be honest with you, I was concerned. You see, we’ve had several people die over the last 4 years here with symptoms just like I had. People my age too. Things that would seem like they would be treatable back in the States- could be a death sentence here in a foreign country. 

We had a friend of the family 2 years ago die from coming in contact with rat urine while doing some construction. One day I waved at him as he was driving out of the camp- 2 days later he was in the hospital fighting for his life. A fight that, sadly, he lost. Leaving behind a wife and 3 children.

We had another friend of the family that came and visited my sister-in-law here in Brazil before her and her family headed to the Dominican Republic as missionaries. A few months after she was here she contracted dengue fever and passed away. Leaving behind a husband and 7 children. 

There have been several other situations here on the mountain where people have died from flu-like symptoms or from what would seem like something that was treatable. So to say I was concerned? Yeah, I was concerned.

But here’s the thing. As concerned as I was- leaving never entered my mind. Sure, I wanted relief from the pain. But not at the expense of being outside of the will of God. Because, after 4 years of living through so much craziness, I wouldn't trade it for anything. Because amidst the drama is where His presence has been for Me and my Family. He's called us here and (for now) that’s where His presence is for us- right here in Brazil.

In the past, when I was younger, I always tried finding the easiest route for my life and the life of my family. But as I’ve gotten older I’ve begun to realise that it’s more important to be in the center of God’s will than it is to have a life free of difficulties and full of ease. If we would've taken the easier route (aka- the path of least resistance) we wouldn't have been able to see the lives of so many children and teenagers changed here in Brazil. It’s been amazing to see what God has done through our family. It’s truly been a privilege and an honour just being a part of what’s happened over the last 4 years and for that we’re very grateful.

And even though we’ve been through so many difficult times I can honestly say that if I were to die here- I would die without having any regrets. Sure, I’ve made huge mistakes here in Brazil (and at home in the States) but I don’t think we’ve ever run from anything He’s asked us to do. We’ve always just jumped right in to wherever we felt like He was leading us- whether we understood it or not. All in an effort to be obedient. And He’s always been faithful to us through it. So, we have no regrets and that’s a great feeling: )

So what do the next 4 years hold? I honestly couldn't tell you. But we’ll continue to seek His will for us and for the ministry here in Brazil as we follow His plan for our lives. 

And, as I close out this blog, I would especially like to say, “thank you” to all the people who've supported us over the last 4 years. Without you we couldn't do what we do here in Brazil. Your love and support for our family has enabled us to do so much in a short amount of time and we are truly grateful for each and every one of you. 

Love Ya!

Jim and MJ

We Didn’t Even Know It Was Coming!

This picture has absolutely nothing to do with today's blog.
Its just a shot of some horses that were running wild on the mountain where we live.

We’ve been without power so many times over the last couple months that they need to change the name of this place to "Blackout Mountain!” It’s ridiculous. It’s like we’re living back in the 1800’s or something. I think the power company intentionally does/doesn’t do things correctly just to generate work for their repair department because there’s no possible way that we should be without electricity this much- it’s 2015’ for goodness sake! OK, I’ll stop ranting and just get to the real reason for today's blog- sorry: )

On Wednesday Night (2 weeks ago) we went to bed around 11:00pm and fell asleep pretty fast. We were really tired because it had been a long day. We woke up around 1:30am to the sound of rain falling and blowing against our window- which was awesome since it really hadn't rained at all on the mountain in over a month. But then it happened. We were abruptly awakened around 2:00am as we heard the upstairs door smash into the wall making the loudest crash imaginable as the dogs all went crazy and the electricity blew-out simultaneously. Then I heard the most horrific winds I’ve heard since I was a child. 

I grew up in South Florida and had been through my share of hurricanes and tornadoes. We even lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma for about 4 years where tornadoes were actually a common occurrence. But, here in the jungles of Brazil, there are no Hurricanes or tornadoes. We’ve had several thunderstorms and high winds. And we've had our share of flooding but never any storms with sustained winds like this.

The winds blew so strongly, and for so long, that I actually thought our house could be blown apart. It was scary. After a few hours the winds stopped and we went back to sleep even though the electricity was still off and the rain was still falling.

When daybreak came the kids went down to the bottom of the mountain to buy bread and they saw that a lot the people that lived at the bottom of the mountain had lost their roofs and everything was in shambles because of the high winds. 

Some of the men from Terra Boa trying to repair a roof that was lost during the storm

As I went to Curitiba (to go into the office) later the next day I saw that the city was hit pretty hard as well. The winds were so strong that almost all the roadside signs were either blown to smithereens or blown over. And when I say “blown over” I mean 5” steel tubing bent in half by the winds (see last pic). It was crazy. 

One of the signs totally demolished by the wind

If you look closely you can see the 5" steel tubing bent in half by the high winds

And what’s crazier is that nobody knew it was coming. Nobody.

Then, just this past week, we had another storm. But this time it was a hail storm. And it wasn't just your average hail storm either. It’s like golf ball sized hail was being shot out of a shotgun from the sky or something.

Golf ball sized hail fell from the sky like it was being fired out of a shotgun

Our house at the top of the mountain wasn't hit that bad. But at the bottom of the mountain it was a different story. At Kevin’s house (Maryssa’s boyfriend) the hail was falling so hard and in such quantity that it knocked the steel grates out of the satellite dish they had in their yard and it penetrated straight through the roofs on both houses that belong to his parents. Actually almost all of the people in the town lost their roofs (to these shotgun-like holes) as the hail made it all the way inside their homes.

Hail 

You can see daylight from the inside of the house because of the hail damage

As I drove down the mountain the next morning I could see people frantically trying to cover their roofs in the rain as others were trying to make repairs. The ones who could afford to purchase new roofing material (before the construction store ran out) did and everyone else was forced to cover their homes with plastic. 

You can see that a majority of the homes in town are covered in plastic

The thing about this storm (just like the last) was that there was no warning. I don’t know if it’s because of a lack of technology (no early warning system for stuff like this here?) or maybe it's because everyone’s not glued to their televisions like they are back in the States to see the warnings that scroll along the bottom of the screen- I don’t know? It was/is very sad. Most of the people effected can’t afford to just run out and buy new roofs because it’s pretty expensive (in comparison to how much they earn) and it’s definitely affected the people here in Terra Boa. So please pray for our community.

(Warning: Here’s where I’m gonna get all ‘preachy' and I know this subject is considered offensive but I’m sorry- it’s just how I feel.)

OK. The thing that sticks out to me the most is how nobody knew these weather events were gonna happen. And, if someone knew these storms were coming, they sure didn't spread the news because it seemed like everyone was caught off guard.

But there’s something else that's hit me as I’ve thought about this. As I was seeing my neighbours and how they were effected by these last 2 weeks of bad weather it made me feel very sad for them. 

But, as sad as I felt for them- there’s another event that’s coming and it seems you don’t hear much about it and there’s no alarm being sounded to warn people either.

Because as damaging as the hail was and as terrifying as the winds were- those things pale in comparison to what I’m referring to. And it’s the return of Christ and The Day of Judgement. 

Now I know The Church has been talking about and looking for this for a couple of thousand years now. But, be that as it may, The Day is coming. The Day where everyone form every tribe, nation and tongue will be assembled before The King- to be judged. How terrifying is that?

Hebrews 9:27 says, “it's appointed to man once to die then the judgement.” There will be 2 groups of people assembled before The Lord that day- the saved and the lost. The ones who trusted in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins will be in one group and the ones who didn’t will be in the other. The ones that were washed in the blood of the lamb and whose names are written in The Lamb's Book of Life will be going into an eternity with Jesus while the others into an eternity of darkness, pain and suffering. 

And even though we as christians have this information and we know this event is coming- it’s like we (yes, even us  missionaries) get caught up in ‘life' and forget about (or at least lose the urgency of) telling others about the salvation that’s available through what Jesus did on the cross. It’s crazy. 

I know this subject is intense and it’s not fun to talk about. But how horrible will that Day be if all of our friends, neighbours, co-workers, etc. see us going to Heaven where there’s so much joy and peace that we can’t even comprehend it- while they're being sent to a place that's worse than any nightmare anyone could imagine?... And all because we didn't tell them. How sad would that be? And how will it feel to look them in the eyes on that Day? I know one thing- it'd be way worse than not letting people know that a wind or hail storms was coming (so that they could get prepared), right? So let's help people get prepared because The Day is coming: )

Love You Guys!

Jim and MJ