Becky and I have been home from our trip to Brazil for nearly a week now. Things are falling back into our normal routine and fewer Portuguese phrases are coming to mind when we are out and about.
But what a trip it was. Thank you to those of you who commented on our photos posted on social media and here at “Observations” (email version) the past two Fridays.
It was, as I suggested before we left, a tale of two trips. The first trip took us to the breathtaking beauty of Iguaçu Falls in southern Brazil (with a couple of side trips into Argentina), and the second trip took us to the neighborhoods of Jardim América, Belo Horizonte, in southeastern Brazil, where we have spent so many days over the past 25 years.
As we marveled at the wonders of the falls, I thought of the psalmist’s description of the waters that roar and foam (Psalm 46:1–3). Surely God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help.
Paul declares, “God’s invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made” (Romans 1:20). Standing at the base of the falls on the Brazilian side and later, on the Argentine side, at the top of the falls, we clearly perceived God’s eternal power, literally and figuratively soaking in his divine attributes. “How great Thou art!”
The second Sunday of our trip found us in Escola Bíblica Domincal (Sunday School). The Adult Class at Igreja Presbiteriana was in its first week of a new curriculum, “Feitos do Pó, Destinados à Glória,” (Made of Dust, Destined for Glory) with its key text from Psalm 8:3-4:
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?
Lifting our eyes once again to the familiar buildings, streets, and alleys of Favela da Ventosa, I pondered this Creator God who is mindful of the people of the favela and those who once lived there but who have now found safer places to call home. 25 years of abiding friendships and sharing in God’s work in a place such as that. “Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee: How great Thou art!”
Two trips. In one we witnessed the mighty power of God – “Lord, how your wonders are displayed where’re we turn our eyes.” In the other we experienced the mighty love of God for his people – “Were the whole realm of nature mind, that were a present far too small.”
They were good trips.