Sunday Activities - June 29, 2008

Sunday was another awesome day! I went to the Norfolk Naval Station to pick up Rubem and the other sailors from the Greenhalgh. Camillo, Daniel, and Tiago all had duty; and Paulo had other plans for the day. But, Rubem and Edivaldo had invited two other sailors from their ship to come over. So, Renato and Italo joined us for the afternoon. Todd Williams was here too!

Yvonne made Italian Crepes and vegetables and a spinach salad for dinner. Once a month she also has a little birthday party to celebrate everyone's birthday for the month. It's one way she tries to make everyone's day a little bit more special. Sunday she made a Decedant Fudge Cake that everybody liked! Ice cream topped off the dessert.

We went into the living room to worship after dinner, and celebrated communion together with all of us kneeling on the floor around the coffee table which serves as our altar. I emphasized the two reasons we take communion: to remember what Jesus did for us on the cross to purchase our salvation; and to acknowledge that we are looking forward to His physical return to earth one day (1 Corinthians 11:26).

Our video for the day (again in Spanish with English sub-titles) was Matthew 24, which was about the signs of Jesus return to earth. We talked about it in both English and Portuguese. That was an awesome connection with our communion service! Gloria Deus!

After our time of worship everyone's laptops came out, and surfing the Internet and calling home to Brazil began. Everyone uses Skypes as their phone service and so the international rate to call Brazil is only about 2 cents a minute. During the evening Rubem called his mother. She spoke to us in Portuguese and Rubem translated. Then we talked back in English and he again provided the translation. Then we began to try to find hymns that we knew in both countries; and we began to sing together! What an awesome worship experience!!!

Rubem's God-father was going to have to go to the hospital because of a tumor on his leg. So I suggested we pray for him. We began to pray, and the Holy Spirit filled the room. What started out as a simple prayer for Rubem's God-father turned into an old fashioned Holy Ghost prayer meeting that spanned two continents! We prayed in human languages - English and Portuguese. And we prayed in angelic languages - Glossolalia (1 Corinthians 13:1). The Spirit of the Lord filled our living room!