Christmas Cantata 2008

This weekend was the final two performances of our Christmas Cantata. The Choir and Orchestra were made up of people from 4 area churches.

It was such a privileged for me to be able to participate. Saturday night the cantata was at Calvary, right next door to our house. We invited several of our neighbors and were excited that two families came.
Afterward there was coffee and cookies so we had a great time of fellowship. We had several opportunities to talk about the Lord after the concert and are praying for God to continue to work in hearts.


Sunday night, we had the cantata at our church. We had prayed and worked as a church to have 100 people, including the choir and orchestra.
God answered above and beyond and we had 110 people. I think 31 were in the Choir and orchestra. That means our church had 79.
It was kind of a "family affair," in that Phil and I sang, Mary Ruth played the cello and James gave the challenge at the end.

James gave a wonderful challenge at the end. Focusing on WHY we need a savior. He explained what sin is and using Matthew 1 gave a wonderful salvation message.
Please continue to pray with us that God will use His Word to change lives in our area.

Daniel's Christmas Concert

(Daniel is in the light green shirt, left group toward the center.)

Last night we celebrated the end of the first grade for Daniel. The school had a Christmas program for grades 1st-4th. We could hardly believe how many people were there for the program. Grana and Grandpa and rest of us had to squeeze in where ever we could find a seat.


Daniel sang as part of the Choir. There were 6 songs mixed in with a drama. The story line was of insects trying to discover the reason for all the food and presents this time of year. Finally they learned that the humans are celebrating Christmas, the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

It was a cute program.


We are so proud of Daniel and all that he has learned this past year. He is really growing. We pray that he will not only grow physically and in general knowledge, but most importantly, that he will grow in his knowledge and love of the Lord.

Feliz Natal

Last night we had our youth Christmas party. It was so much fun. I have to share some of the fun games that James and I found on the internet.

The first game was an on-going game. Each person got a hat which they had to wear the entire night. When James discreetly took off his hat, we had to take ours off as well. The last one with a hat on is the loser. It was really interesting to see how long it took people to notice that it was time to take off their hat. You can play this several times through out the night.


Aren't our elves cute!!

We did several games using gloves. This game had a present that was wrapped in several boxes, each increasingly larger. A player had to roll a six on a die, then quickly put on the hat and gloves and try to unwrap the gift before the next person rolled a six, took the gloves and hat and tried to open it for themselves. The person who finally opened the package got the keep the present.


The next game was a relay. The participants had to put on a pair of gloves, run to the bowl of Hersey's Kisses, unwrap a kiss and then run back and put it into the mouth of the next person in line. They then put on the gloves and ran to unwrap the next kiss. It is very difficult to open candy with gloves on!!!

Next we played a game called reindeer antlers. Each team had a pair of nylons and 8 balloons. They had to race to blow up the balloons and fill the nylons. The winner had to get the antlers on and take a picture before the other team finish. I couldn't believe how much like antlers they really looked!!Our "Hannah-deer"

The winners!

The losers!

Our next game each person was a given a piece of green construction paper. They had to tear it into the shape of a Christmas tree with their hands behind their back. They could then decorate it. We hung them all on the wall and had each person vote to see who's was the most beautiful.

"before"

"After"
Don't you love our beautiful forest!

Our final game was Pictionary. You know how it goes!

We had drawn names for gifts before hand and find out who you had, you had to draw them on the white board. It was a riot!
We are so thankful for the teens that God has given us to work with. It has been so encouraging to see them growing in the Lord the past few months. Thank you for your prayers on their behalf.

Merry Christmas!

Our Precious Blessings

This week was a tough one at the Taylor house. Monday night at 12:30 a.m. Jeremiah started throwing up, every hour until 7:30 a.m. James and I prayed fervently that it wouldn't spread but of course it did!!! Thursday night, Hannah and Daniel both got sick as well. After lots of laundry and patience, everyone was finally doing better. Saturday morning I took some pictures in our front yard. I thought you might enjoy seeing how much they are all growing.

A Great Weekend

Our great weekend began on Thursday evening. James and I got all dressed up and attended the Seminary Banquet. This is a time of food, fellowship, and allowing the graduates to share how God has worked in their lives over the past few years. It is always encouraging to hear their testimonies.
Of course, eating was the last thing on the schedule so some of us were a little impatient to eat!
Friday morning we headed to the church to put up some Christmas decorations. This is a part of what we put up. We included the verse in Matthew 1:21, "And you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."
Friday night, we headed out to the Seminary for the graduation. We had 6 teens from our church attend. We are praying that one day some of them will surrender to serve the Lord. Saturday afternoon I had practice for a Christmas Cantata that is being done by 4 churches. We each had Cd's with our parts on it and we practiced with the Cd. Saturday was the practice when we all came together for the one and only time before the performances. I will post pictures of the cantata sometime in the next two weeks.

Saturday evening we had the wonderful opportunity to visit with Pr. Claudiene and Elenieu. This is the Brazilian couple we worked with last year. They are now planting a church in the northern part of our state. They had a meeting at a church in Curitiba and we were able to squeeze in a visit.
Sunday we had a special service in the eveing. The group of kids I work with on Thursdays quoted Psalm 100. It was neat to see the surprise on the adults faces as the kids just kept quoting! James leads the singing in the evening and he included a brief look at some of the prophecies regarding the birth of Jesus Christ. It was a great way to start off the Christmas season.

A Week of Thanksgiving

Last Monday started off with a bang! James took Ellen and Barry for a Doctor visit and by the time they got back home, Ellen had started labor! So, on November 17th Mark joined the missionary family here in Curitiba.
Thank you Lord for the safe arrival of this new little one.

Hannah was thrilled to hold the new little baby, here less than 24hrs old! She was excited to learn that one day she too would be a mommy.

Thank you for all the friends you have given us here.

We had our Thanksgiving dinner on Friday the 21st this year. We always have it early here in Curitiba because every year on Thanksgiving Day, the Seminary has its Graduation Banquet. We were so thankful to have 23 people at our thanksgiving.

Thank you for many helping hands who make burdens light.

We had a turkey and a pernil which is a hunk of pork. The only hams here are lunch meat hams and that didn't sound appetizing!
Thank you for all the fun little surprises you have for us.

We had a great day of fun and fellowship. We had our dinner at the MK school so there was lots of room. The kids found all the fun games hidden away in the cabinets. James put up the volleyball net and a few of us burned off some of those calories.
Thank you for healthy bodies.

One of the moms told the thanksgiving story to the kids and then they colored cornucopias. Hannah was having trouble making her fruit so Daniel helped her!

Thank you for families and the love they share.

We couldn't resist putting in a picture of our Jer with his new friend Luke. They are so cute running around with their little white hair, our little Pollocks(as the brazilians often refer to them!)

Thank you for all the memories you give us.

Thank you for edifying conversation.

We wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving.

O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
For His steadfast love endures forever!
Ps. 118:1

Church Picnic

Saturday we had our annual area wide church picnic. We rent out a place and everyone brings their lunch and spends the day together. Our church had to rent a bus because we had more people going than we had cars. It felt rather festive as everyone waited for our departure.

Hannah was thrilled to be going on a bus. Right away people began to bring out their food and share with everyone. The bus was filled with singing and laughter. Once we arrived we all lugged our things down the hill.

We set up the food immediately, knowing this is one of the highlights of the day! Let the fun begin!!!

There were lots of organized activities as well as free time. Our people participated in the soccer, volleyball and ping-pong tournaments.

Our kids enjoyed a special childrens program where Daniel lost his 4th tooth!!!!

God blessed us with a beautiful, sunny day.

He blessed us with safety to and from the picnic, and He blessed us with edifying fellowship.