Grandma who?
January 3, 1999
Friends & Family,
PTL - I have 14 youths signed up for Carnival Camp starting February 13th! Tonight was the first chance to sign up and we expect as many as 30 kids from our community to be at camp. Last year several rebellious teens headed up a general boycott and only 2 girls showed up for our retreat. Pray with us for complete recovery from the discouraging dip in our church ministry experienced over the past 18 months.
City water has been restored; our cistern is full (8,000 gallons)! We have had one rain and are praying for a full rainy season in 1999; we had only 5 - 10 inches last year (normal is 50 to 75). We stayed with the elder Stuckys for 6 days, while recovering from the trip and cleaning up our house; we moved in last Monday - That was a long 6.5 months of living out of a suitcase!
Since arriving in Mossoro, we have:
Be excited with us as we are getting into the swing of things again. Pray fervently for a growing core of those who would be sold out to Jesus Christ. Thanks for your interest in our work in Mossoro.
Ken for the Stuckys
JESSICA's CORNER: "When do I turn 99 years old?" "Well, Jessica, that won't be for 94 more years..." "I sure do hope it goes fast; how long is 94 years?" I told her that it is a very long time but then I thought to ask why she wanted to know. Jessica took a big breath and said, "Because then I will be a teenager and will be able to do lots of exciting things."
ALICIA's ANTICS: Being her first full week back in Mossoro, Alicia wasn't too sure about the church nursery - things didn't improve any when Mommy dropped her off and headed back to the Preaching service... Then all her problems were solved because she saw someone she could count on, "Grama Tucky" was there.
How is your bathroom Equipped?
January 11, 1999
Dear Friends & Family,
Tonight I had the thrill of leading the lambs in worship. I rather enjoy these Sunday Worship services. Mrs. Antonia shared her testimony of how Christ transformed her life - by submitting to Lindomar (her husband - who restrained her from baptism) she ended up winning him to the Lord and he was later baptized WITH her. Now their 3 kids have come to Christ as well as Evani (her sister-in-law), Rosinha (Evani's sister-in-law), Evandro (Rosinha's brother), Nazareth (Evandro's mother) and Sandra (Nazareth's neighbor)! WOW!
Youth retreat plans are progressing. Twenty-eight are signed up and we expect nearly that many more. Pray for a good speaker to be found and that each youth will be able to gather funds to pay the $15.00 registration fee. If you care to sponsor a needy student, let me know so I can give you names and descriptions of several of these kids...
Remember Christie who is arriving in Mossoro for a 10 week missions assignment. Her flight arrives in Fortaleza at 6 a.m. on Wednesday. Traveling beyond the comfort zone of English will be a challenge for her; pray for quick adaptation to the Mossoro Team and profitable ministry for the duration.
Yours for Brazil - Ken and girls
JESSICA's CORNER: Our nearly six year old was over at Grandma's house noticing things the other day. As she came out of the bathroom, she "informed" Grandma that, "In the United States, bathrooms have little square boxes full of nose blowing tissues."
Grandma informed her that, "In Brazil, bathrooms have nice round rolls of nose blowing squares - so there." (Such cultured children to observe the finery on furlough!)
The culprit
JANUARY 17, 1999
Family & Friends,
Thanks to 6 people who pledged sponsorship of students at Carnival Camp. Nineteen kids from our church signed and my brother Ron's youth group will bring a crew from Fortaleza - 4 hours from here. We have a speaker locked in and plans are in full swing - my wife and mother still worry about just where to put 60 people in our homes, especially at bed time...
Christie Schmoker arrived this week; her 10 week mission with us will include teaching at a VBS, helping w/ youth camp, monitoring Jessica's home schooling and other miscellaneous ministries. Her fiance, Galen Flickinger (my 2nd cousin from Seattle) arrives in 2 weeks to help by playing guitar in church, building a sound system cabinet and making dressers for the girls.
YOURS From the Eastern tip of South America - KEN, LORI & girls
ALICIA's ANTICS: Our 3 miniature Doberman pinchers had puppies, so I decided to buy special protein enriched dog food. They immediately lost interest in the cheaper chow... Then, it looked like we were making headway; mysteriously, the old dog food began to disappear... Until, I caught the culprit - a young lady who was playing with, hiding morsels in little nooks and crannies and (I hate to admit this one) sampling bites here and there...
PS Contact us if you are interested in joining the retreat effort by sponsoring a student or by offsetting the cost of plates, cups, pots & pans, installation of hammock hooks, subsidizing a special evening dinner for the camp or transportation.
Is it really School?
January 24, 1999
Friends & Family,
Twenty-four students from our church have signed up for youth retreat; we expect about that many from the youth group we invited from Fortaleza. Last week I bought a two burner industrial duty stove, 3 boxes of plates and plenty of hammock hooks to install all over the compound.
Our Worship Service tonight was enthusiastic; a number of guests heard the Gospel clearly presented. Next Sunday night Lori will play her new guitar; plans are also being made for a drama team to presents skits at least monthly. In the mean time our mission meets in conference all of this week, so we will be out of town.
Pray regarding a possible land purchase designed to hold a couple of acres for our Church & School's permanent location; negotiations are in progress. Thanks for being part of our team here in Mossoro - Brazil.
Ken for the Stuckys
JESSICA's CORNER: The young lady was overheard talking to her uncle, "I don't see why they call it Sunday School, after all, it isn't really "school" cuz you don't learn how to read. I like going on Sundays, but there should be some other name for it..." Now that she is an official kinder gardener, much book learning has made her mad!
sim soup & ankum
January 31, 1999
Friends & Family,
After a week of conference, we arrived home at dusk on Friday. Saturday held our General Assembly in which the church unanimously voted to:
Even though the votes were strong, the meeting lasted 3 hours as we debated these important issues which reflect the vision and future of our budding church. The Elders also announced a 6 week trial period of meeting at 5pm on Sundays for our teaching time (Sunday School) and then the worship service at 6pm so folks can get home by 8:00!
Youth Retreat looms in our front window; less than 2 weeks to get ready. God led us to an awesome arrangement for transporting Ron's youth group to Mossoro; we discovered another church making exactly the opposite trip which we are - this way the bus will be full both going and coming saving us over $300.00! The contract was signed yesterday.
Our Church Land purchase is THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE DECADE for me... We prayed for this exact piece of land for 5 years; for the first 4 years, it was tied up in an inheritance court. I now see how God was saving the land for us. The very week we negotiated a price in Brazilian currency, the dollar exchange moved drastically upward allowing the church to buy almost 1 acre of land; additionally, a personal loan has made it possible for us to buy another 4 acres so that there is space for the church to expand when it is ready. We also plan to launch a Christian School in February of 2000.
Did you catch it? This was an exciting week for us - Let's Praise Him Together.
YOURS for Mossoro - Ken & Lori Stucky
ALICIA's VOCABULARY: Two year olds discover words each day it seems; here
are some Alicia is working on...
One Inch
February 7, 1999
Friends & Family,
Late last Sunday night a young man named Carlinhos indicated trust in Jesus Christ - pray that his infant faith will grow. Worship services have been well attended; tonight there were several visitors - quite a few adults wanted to sign up for youth retreat. We need to plan a family camp for next year.
For the first time ever, we have turned the youth group completely over to the Brazilians. A young couple is sponsoring the group and leaders from within will carry the load of planning the youth program. It is like shoving a little bird out of the nest; praying that it will fly, but hoping it misses you enough to come back now and then.
This week we will eat, drink, sleep and live Youth Retreat; pray that the final plans will come together nicely and that Student's lives will be touched by this event. Needless to say, the holiday weekend will hold no relaxation for us. Pray for endurance!
From His Field - KEN & LORI STUCKY
KID'S CORNER: There is nothing funny to report this week; it was potty training time with moderate success. It really doesn't work quite like they say it should in that book, "Potty Trained in Less Than One Day."
P.S. There are three kinds of people: those who can count and those who can't.
P.P.S. We had one badly needed inch of rain on Friday!
poor gama, poor ting
February 15, 1999
Family & Friends,
A Witch named Carnival drank the blood of another unsuspecting 17 year old last night. I was called away from Camp this morning to pay my respects and comfort a family we have witnessed to over the past 4 years. Lazaro is a member of our church; he was registered to be at camp but chose to go party with his buddies at the beach instead. His younger brother was drunk and demanded the keys to the motorcycle; after insisting for ages, Lazaro gave in and let him roar off to his death by accident as he hit a parked car and entered eternity just like that...
Sobering indeed, but we are having an excellent retreat with over 60 campers and a dozen staffers. The messages have been good; the food had been great and friendships are being forged.
Sleep? What is that? Been getting about 5 hours a night which is definitely on the short end in this tropical climate. Pray for lasting results and a safe trip home for the Fortaleza kids leaving tomorrow just after midnight.
Yours for Brazil - Ken & Lori
ALICIA's ANTICS: Grandma is the head cook and has been running hard; we told Alicia that she is very tired and Alicia just shook her head and said, "poor gama, poor ting..."
PS My great news is that I have lost over 20 pounds and am again under 200 pounds. My goal is to loose 20 more and hold between 170 and 180...
fork head
February 21, 1999
Friends & Family,
We had a full house in Church tonight. This is the first of a six week trial having 5 p.m. Sunday School & 6 p.m. Worship Service. It works nicely for people who have to walk a couple of miles and also families with small children making it possible for everyone to be home by 8.
Last night was a milestone for our youth group. The church staff stepped back letting these kids out of the nest. A team of 2 youths and one young couple (all Brazilians) are heading up this ministry. Reriton (our Brazilian staffer) will now have the primary duty of developing a full evangelism program in the church. Dad will focus on adult teaching, adolescent group and 1/3 of the preaching; Mom heads up children's ministry and teacher training; Lori & I will do the bulk of the music program and I handle administration. Reriton & I split up the other 2/3 of the preaching schedule. As you can see, there is work for everybody...
Have a great week - Ken, Lori, Jessica & Alicia Stucky
KID'S CORNER: Remember when Jessica wanted to kiss me on the poor head? She thought it was awful big and wanted to know if it "hurts". Well, Alicia came up with a good one of her own. I was resting in my hammock and she came by asking if I needed a kiss on my "fork" head... I must be one bad lookin dude!
PS Pray regarding the drought; our rains have faded away and it looks like the third dry year in a row.
How many twins?
February 28, 1999
Family & Friends,
One week ago, I asked for prayer for rain; Monday it rained ½ an inch and we got about another 1/4 inch since then! The biggest prayer need I can tell you about tonight relates to our church ladies who have unsaved husbands. Here is a list a few ladies and their husbands...
Please pray for these men and their wives by name; we will let you know God's answers over time. If you want more details, let me know.
Yours for Mossoro - Ken and girls
JESSICA's CORNER: Yesterday Jessica told Lori this great news: "I heard about a lady who couldn't have any babies so she was sad. Then one day she got pregnant and became very happy. When her baby was born, it wasn't just one, but seven; and they were all twins!"
Gun Point!
March 7, 1999
Family & Friends,
Lori & Jessica both got glasses this week. Lori's pop bottle bottoms were a dozen years old and her prescription had changed considerably. Jessica is a first time user and is adapting nicely. The following day (Thursday the 4th) Jessica turned 6; she had some friends over for her Birthday and we had her 2nd favorite vegetable for supper - Purple Cabbage.*
Late one night this week our neighbor (who lives 40 feet from our house) was robbed at gun point as she was turning the knob on her front door. They took her motorcycle and peace of mind. I went out and bought a remote control gate opener for our place as we often arrive home very late from dropping church members off at their homes.
Remember the men and their wives we mentioned in last week's e-update? Marcondes is the one in jail - his wife, Silvana, told me last night that she visited him on Thursday. He is reading a Bible and is interested in spiritual things; this is a big switch! Incidently, his mother came to church with Silvana tonight. Pray as I plan to visit Marcondes on the afternoon of the 11th. (Silvana is swimming upstream as all her friends call her a fool for reaching out to her wayward husband.)
Reaching Mossoro - Ken, Lori, Jessica & Alicia STUCKY
Kid's Corner: Sorry folks, our kids were incredibly boring this week, if not downright frustrating. We will try to scrounge up some humor for next week.
* Jessica's favorite is harvard beets. Her 3rd favorite food is ketchup...
What kind of Disease?
March 14, 1999
Family & Friends,
Lots of folk are in Prison trying to get out; I found myself outside trying to get in at 3:30 Thursday afternoon. The Deputy was hostile and his assistants threatened me to clear out... Pray that next Thursday will go better in my attempt to reach out to Marcondes.
Eduardo, also on our "hit" list, came for the entire Sunday church service! He lives 30 feet from the church but yet this was only his third service in 6 years - WOW!
Carlinhos (a youth who is stumbling spiritually) lost his father to a drunken death on Wednesday. Pray as we come along side his family; at age 21, he is the oldest of 4 brothers and now carries the load of providing for the family.
Wednesday & Thursday I took two men with me into the bush to assist in a church construction project being headed up by British missionary friends. We laid bricks, mixed mortar and built arches over five large windows. Our efforts took two of the four main walls up about 4 feet almost to the roof line. They kept our scaffolds to finish up the project.
RAIN! Three inches plus! The whole town was under water at 4 p.m. on Saturday. What an answer to prayer; please keep praying for the men we listed 2 weeks ago.
Ken for the Stuckys in Brazil
JESSICA'S CORNER: Children reared in the age of technology have a hard time gripping some concepts. Lori regularly uses a digital camera to get pictures for our web site and to send by attached file to friends and family. Christie, a visiting short termer, took a few snaps with her regular camera and Jessica was perplexed as to why you "couldn't see the pictures yet." A moment later, Lori said, "oh yes, grandpa had a Polaroid when I was a kid." Christie said, "Sure, lots of people had them some years back." To all this, Jessica hesitantly asked, "What kind of a disease was that, mommy?" To be sure, some folks are just to young to remember Polaroids...
Meet Jesus in the Bathroom?
March 21, 1999
Friends & Family,
Tonight two highlights stand out to me...
Continue to pray for these two and the other men we are trying to lead to Jesus.
From Mossoro - Ken & Lori Stucky
KID's CORNER: Two Tattlers in our house now! Jessica took an entire cinnamon role on her fork and was taking huge bites out of it only to be revealed by a budding two year old who said, "Kesika take bite tooooo big." I wonder where she heard that from? I suspect that the score will be more even now, Jessica. We USED to know everything Alicia did, and now... No more secrets around here...
Dumbo what?
March 28, 1999
Family & Friends,
The wind - a bitter enemy as we fought our way home on Friday. Early that day, Jessica & I delivered Galen & Christie to the air port in Fortaleza for their return to Seattle. We then went to the styrofoam factory and picked up 6 cubic meters of the white stuff. The slabs will be used to finish insulating our office and school room area against the heat and noises of the outside world. Imagine our rig with a huge block of styrofoam 3 feet wide, 6.5 feet high and 10 feet long strapped on top of the cab! We had to keep it down to 45 mph, and made it home just 3 hours late for lunch. Galen & Christie arrived home to cold weather. We say a public THANK YOU to this pair for your ministry among us these two months; may God guide you as you tool up for the June 12th wedding and the marriage to follow.
Research in Fortaleza revealed that the price of Vans has come down a little. Pray for the remainder of these project funds to come in so we can expand that aspect of the ministry.
On Easter Sunday morning we will hold our first service on the church's new property; there is no roof, fence, building, bathrooms, or even grass to sit on - just weeds, carnauba palms and some low brush. Next week we will post pictures of the event on our web site.
For Jesus - Ken, Lori, Jessica & Alicia
KID's CORNER: As father and daughter leafed through some pictures, Alicia pointed and shouted, "Dumbo dep! Dumbo dep!" I told her to slow down and try again as she vividly interacted with the picture album of our trip to the United States last year. In an effort to get through her daddy's "thick skull" she snatched up one of her picture books about modes of transportation and found the page with the.... "Jumbo Jet." You could see by her smug look that the most perplexing part of the incident was how slow I had been to get a grip on to the basics of world travel. Kids!
What do cows, lizards & 30 christians have in common?
APRIL 4, 1999
Friends & Family,
A 22 minute Easter Play and 2 dozen visitors made for an exciting evening! I recently read a book which pointed out something seemingly obvious, but profound. "You will never have a church member who was not once a visitor."
Thirty came to the 6:30 breakfast at the church property this morning. A few cows, lizards and insects came uninvited, but we had 90 minutes of fellowship, worship and dreaming about the facility God will raise up on that piece of ground.
Pray for Lori & me as we struggle to keep up the pace; discipleship, administrative duty, preaching, teaching, music, special events, deacon ministries, family responsibilities, visitation, evangelism, document acquisition, mission assignments, paper work, legal issues to sort out... It is rather overwhelming - please come along side us and intercede.
>From Down Under - K & L Stucky
KID'S CORNER: I entered the room and saw the drooping figure of our youngest. Her face told the story of despair; huge tears rolled down her cheeks. "Alicia, honey, are you sad?" Her priceless response was, "No, daddy, I'm jus cwying."
Is the Last, First or the First, Last?
April 11, 1999
Friends & Family,
Brazil's new transit regulations include 500+ laws and resolutions! I discovered that one of them states: "When driving an automobile pulling a trailer of any size, you are required to carry an E category license." In the vernacular, it forces me to get a semi-truck license to pull our 300 pound baggage trailer!
After waiting in line 6 times, paying 5 fees, doing an eye exam, phsyco exam and filling out innumerable forms, I am now half way through a 30 hour "conductor's" course which will give me the privilege of trying my hand at trucking. In case you wondered, I will actually have to take the drivers exam in a semi truck.
This week we got a letter from Marcondes (the fellow in jail). He clearly states that he knows Jesus Christ as his Savior and is certain of his eternal destiny! PTL Keep praying for the others. I will keep you updated on these men; please let us know if you are praying specifically for the unsaved husbands of our church ladies.
Yours for Mossoro - Ken & Lori
Jessica's CORNER: Lori fills Alicia's plate and I do Jessica's. We were eating tacos and I had made up a full size bulging delight with all the fixings for the growing six year old. After eating the last bite, Jessica asked, "Daddy, can you make me another taco please?" To which I answered, "Sure, honey, should I make it just like the last one?" "Don't be funny daddy, that wasn't the last one, it was the first one." Ok, ok, maybe it's time for multiple meanings of words for this bright child. Come to think of it, she is kinda like her daddy...
we are downsizing
Sunday April 18, 1999
Dear Friends and Family,
This week we had the privilege of hosting two couples from a supporting church in Washington state. We had a great time teaching them bits of Portuguese so they could communicate with our church people. Their visit culminated in a special Evangelistic Service. There were over 15 first time visitors and many others who had come a time or two before but had not been back since. The seed was definitely planted. Now we pray and wait for the Lord to produce the results.
Many have asked about and have said that they are praying for those unsaved husbands of some of our church ladies. One of them, Genildo, is shamelessly practicing adultery; even to the point of introducing other family members to his "new girlfriend". To say that his wife is extremely hurt is an understatement. Please pray for her and for us as we seek to give her Godly counsel.
From all of us here 3 degrees south of the equator and 20 miles from the Atlantic ocean,
KEN & LORI
Jessica's Corner: Jessica and Alicia are avid Veggie Tales fans. When we found out that they have a web site we had to check it out. After weaving our way through cyber space, we found some coloring pages you can print off. Jessica couldn't wait to show off her pictures to Daddy when he got home that evening. "Daddy! Look at the pictures of Bob and Larry that we ‘downsized' off the internet!" (the address for Veggie Tale's web site is <bigidea.com> for those of you who can't resist a little ‘downsizing' yourselves.) [Click here to see a picture Jessica and Alicia downsized and then colored.]
Gray Hair
April 25, 1999
Friends & Family,
Forty-eleven emergencies filled my week; all I can manage is the cut/paste maneuver. I'll send you my sweethearts perspective on home made PB. It's more text than usual, but likely worth your while. ENJOY
Ken from the field.
AN ESSAY ON MAKING PEANUT BUTTER
OTHERWISE TITLED:
WHY SCHOOL PROJECTS ARE TURNING ME GRAY
My magazine flipped open to a project parents can do w/ their children. It was titled, MAKE YOUR OWN PEANUT BUTTER. Because we live 3000 miles from the nearest grocery store that carries Jif, Skippy or any other known brands, we treasure it dearly.
This not only enticed the taste buds, but to this home school mom, any project that encompasses almost all school subjects in one blow is worth it's weight in gold. Little did I know that the actual outcome was truly going to be worth that; it's weight in gold.
We started at 3:30 p.m. The raw peanuts (in their shells) were poured into a shallow pan to be roasted to perfection. I had no idea that this was to be the easiest part of the whole process.
After explaining to the 6 year old that peanuts actually grow underground, we started to shell the little beasts. Three peanuts in her pile, the 6 year old exclaimed, "This is hard work! I think we ought to call for help." I simply stated that because of all the effort put into it, we would appreciate the PB all the more.
Then came the big question....why it is called peanut BUTTER? Where is the butter, anyway? When do we add it to the peanuts? How do we smash the peanuts? Is it time to smash the peanuts?
By now it was 5 p.m. Supper needed to be started and instead of raw peanuts, I had raw fingers. The continuous barrage of questions did not cease flowing; I was beginning to wonder why I had thought this was such a good idea in the first place. The two year old had decided after a full minute of shelling peanuts that her toys were more exciting. I was also thinking of all the other things that I would rather be doing, but since I can't stand to leave a job undone, I persevered.
At one point the 6 year old asked if we could make PEANUT GRISTLE? She apparently heard about it from Grandma and thought it sounded pretty good. After a brief word search, I concluded that it was peanut BRITTLE that she was talking about.
Supper was made and devoured. I think someone even asked why we weren't having PBJs. By now it was looking as if we weren't going to meet the quota of the 2 cups of roasted, unsalted peanuts that the recipe called for. This was due in part because the father and two children kept snacking as they shelled.
Then there was the question of the red skins that had to come off the peanuts. I remembered a little trick the neighbor had used to clean out his bird feeder. Because hulls are lighter than the seed, he just shook the container gently while blowing on the hulls. The hulls floated gently to the ground and he was left with clean bird seed.
The 6 year old and I went outside to get rid of those red "peanut papers" as she called them. I shook the pan gently and we started to blow. Then the 6 year old decided to "help" me shake the pan. We almost lost it.
After 3 ½ hours later, we had 1 ½ cups of roasted peanuts ready for the food processor. My dear mother-in-law loaned us her's and decided that the spectacle was too good to miss, so she stuck around to watch. As if that wasn't enough, she had to start asking me the cold hard facts. How much did the peanuts cost? How long did it take you complete the whole process? How much is your time worth? How much peanut butter did you end up with? By, the way, you might add a little salt to that.
So, now my hands are blistered, I still have to clean up the food processor (another 3 hour job), the 6 year old is asking if we can now grow our own peanuts, and my husband has declared that I am crazy for even trying such a thing in the first place.
CONCLUSION (OR "WHAT DID I LEARN FROM THIS BOUT OF TEMPORARY INSANITY?):
There sits a little container in the refrigerator that contains 1 ½ cups of homemade peanut butter. It was purposely placed next to the coveted can of Jif that traveled all of 3000 miles to get to our house. Tomorrow we will eat our homemade version and enjoy it with much delight as the Jiff sits dejected on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. So was it worth it?
You tell me!
Can you trust a Missionary's driving?
MAY 2, 1999
Friends & Family,
My saga of DMV woes continues: Did I tell you that in Brazil when driving a passenger car pulling a trailer of any size they now require a semi truck license? After 3 weeks, I managed to finish idiot school with a perfect score of 30 points (21 points required to pass). With the photos, forms, psycho test, medical exam, written tests and fees all out of the way, I was nearly done with the license upgrade, at least so I thought...
ENTER: THE DRIVING TEST! Since I'm planning on driving a small car pulling a small trailer, logic would allow me to do the driving test with the Car/Trailer combo, right? WRONG! Oh yes, testing is once a month as the Officials come from Natal 4 hours away.
Early on Thursday, 150 potential motorists awaiting a chance at the wheel. Three and a half hours later we are told that they had car trouble and might arrive at 1 p.m. I am starting to see double by now...
The skinny of the story is that we couldn't scrounge up a semi anywhere and the examiner told me he would handle it all for a fee of $35. I wondered a bit about not getting a receipt and my suspicions were confirmed when he went on to the next examinee without so much as making me look under the hood of a Yugo. They call these "political licenses" I found out. Aren't you glad I won't be driving a real semi?!?
Remember Marcondes who is in Jail? He is on lesson 3 of the discipleship course. On Tuesday we got a touching letter from him; God is teaching him powerful lessons in that awful place; pray for Marcondes & Silvana's two wayward boys - Higo & Diego.
Everyday is Summer HERE - Ken & Lori Stucky
KID'S CORNER: Alicia's conversations are not entirely comprehensible yet, but sometimes we can work it out with effort. She had me totally stumped with her talk about, "Daddy wana see flooring in simming yank!" Finally she led me by the hand out to the yard and pointed with exasperation in her voice... "flooring simming yank, cumon daddy." It turns out she wanted me to check the little floaty that dispenses chlorine in the swimming tank.
Bwoken Woom
May 9, 1999
Friends & Family,
Nobody consulted me about canceling the 5 p.m. Fortaleza/Mossoro bus. That meant 2 hours of waiting! Besides, my phone service was suspended - outstanding negative balance; when I called customer service it made NO difference to them that I had gotten NO bill. How could this intense day of travel and committee meetings turn out on the up side? Guess again...
Oh wow! As our bus pulled into its loading spot, I noted they had given us an AC model for the price of the standard! Things were turning better - I thought. And there was an average air plane hijacking movie with Harrison Ford doing a much better job as US President then the one we actually have at the moment...
Then subtle changes started happening to our rout as the driver took the longer way to get out of town. Would you believe that we stopped 30 to 35 times on a trip with one scheduled stop? Being an interstate bus smoking & standing passengers are prohibited; both of these laws were ignored. The worst was 5 drunks who boarded and insisted on falling all over several young ladies seated just ahead of me. I finally got them to sit down on the floor since the other option I gave them was to be heaved out of the closed window...
During the trip, the girl behind me asked several times if I know a certain person in my neighborhood. Finally the last time I told her "no" she asked me, "are you a Christian?" To which I gladly replied, "Yes." Then she told me the person she had asked about was a pimp. Sooo, being a Christian DOES make a difference...
Till next time - Ken for the Stuckys
ALICIA's AGONY: "Daddy, my woom is bwoken! They bwoked it ALL UP! It is weeely bad; don't know what I gona doooo..." The poor dear is suffering from the disease which gives such pains to her mother and great delight to her daddy - the medical term is "Remodelation." I am back to my specialty; tearing out walls.(Click here to see) One thing for sure, there is better ventilation; most folks are pretty skeptical about the ceiling staying in place; by the way, it is made of concrete, so stay in place it must...
Bwoken Collar Bwone
May 16, 1999
Friends & Family,
What a week! We spent Saturday night working out another broken collar bone. Alicia is once again on the mend; she fell off a chair...
Tonight 6 young Christians testified of their faith as they were baptized. There was quite a crowd of visitors including several first timers. One of the ten men we are praying for (Francisco de Assis) came to see his brother-in-law be baptized. It has been about a year since his last visit in church...
Pray as we assist a dozen church members through various crises. Marriages breaking up, jobs gone sour, interpersonal stress, financial disaster, health & medical needs, sin, etc. Sometime the load seems too heavy, but we are certain that your prayers are heard on behalf of our struggling group.
Yours for Mossoro - Ken & Lori
Double Brother
May 23, 1999
Friends & Family,
Maxwell came to Jesus tonight; this was highly gratifying as I (like every preacher) dream and pray for changed lives to result from hours of hard studying. His brother Milton (who plays guitar at church) has been witnessing to him and is elated to have Maxwell as a double brother now. Pray for wisdom as we help him sort out his life; he has two young sons from a failed relationship, is living with a 15 year old and has never been married.
Ron & Ranelle (my brother and sister-in-law) successfully moved to Mossoro on Friday. They will store their things here and leave in early June for a 6 month furlough. We are eager to have them rejoin us in December, just in time to launch a Christian School.
Friday night two gentlemen joined us for dinner. Sergio, a City Councilman, was eager to hear of our plans for starting a Christian School. He told us some of his ideas for our part of town. Pray as we plant seeds of Truth among all levels of society in our neighborhood.
For Jesus in Mossoro - Ken, Lori, Jessica & Alicia Stucky
KIDS CORNER: Our kids are wazzing on us. Alicia hysterically jumped up and down in the back seat shouting Bleeping, Bleeping, Bleeping. Beeping? No. Blinking? No. Peeping? No. It turns out she was having a fit over a police car whose lights were FLASHING. Ohhh. Then, this afternoon, Jessica asked, "Mommy, how are my flashes?" Your what? Flashers? No. Sashes? No. Flushers? No. Do you mean your eye LASHES? Ohhh. Maybe it is time for boarding school... Just kidding.
Solomon's Wisdom
May 30, 1999
F&F,
You may have prayed for her without even knowing it. Maria Jose (MaZe) joined God's family tonight during the Special Music Program. If I told you she is 15 years old, would you recognize who she is? That's right, MaZe is Maxwell's girlfriend. Keep praying for these two and for us as we guide their baby steps in Christ.
Does 70.5 degrees sound cold to you? Thursday morning we woke to a delightful breeze; I dashed to the thermometer and sure enough it was 10 degrees cooler than our usual 6 a.m. temps. Our neighbors we pretty glad that by noon it was back up to 81 - but even that seemed a bit wrong to them...
Alicia's collar bone is on the mend. I saw the girls perched on top of the back of an overstuffed chair today; I quickly put an end to that sort of monkey business. Next week expect a report on the remodeling project. See ya.
From the Southern Corporate Headquarters - K&L Stucky
KID'S CORNER: A first happened today; the playing field is suddenly much more level. Let me fill you in about the Stucky Sisters. For 2 years, 5 months and 26 days, Jessica has been telling us this or that about Alicia (otherwise known as Tattling). Tonight Alicia came in the office and said, "yaddy, Kesika calls Yisha Shtupid." After asking for a replay, she confirmed that her older sibling had indeed done some name calling. Jessica confirmed to me that "stupid" is exactly what she had called Alicia and in fact it is true. Come to find out Alicia had been tying Jessica's baby doll clothes in knots. So, being the wise old father that I am, I got a sword and cut the baby in two...
Double Birthday
June 6, 1999
Friends & Family,
Bel & Carlos have several children - his, hers & theirs. Though together for a few years, they are not yet married. Carlos accepted Jesus 5 months ago after being invited to church by Celio who has been saved for just over a year. He managed to bring his whole family to church for a while, but Bel had sort of slipped through the cracks lately. I asked about her last week and was told that she and Carlos had split up...
So, I was really surprised tonight when she (Bel) showed up at our special 6 year Church anniversary celebration. Since they live 3 miles from the church and have no car, I took them home in my old truck. I commented to Bel that she had been gone a long time when she piped up and said that now she would be coming EVERY Sunday as she had accepted Jesus tonight!
MORE GOOD NEWS: we received word today of a gracious $10,000 donation toward the Van Fund. This week we are writing the wrap up news letter on this project and we invite you to pray for the last 25% to come in right away. Quite possibly we will be able to place an order for the van within 10 days and have this ministry in operation by the end of the month. If you haven't supported this project yet, why not help get it "On The Road?"
Yours for Mossoro - K, L, J & A Stucky
KID'S CORNER: Some missionary kids from way out of town stopped by to spend the night on their way to another State. Our little girls played games and sang songs having a generally good time with them. Just to prove they had learned something new, they were showing me some of what their little MK counterpart had taught them. Alicia bounced on the edge of a mattress saying, "two little monkeys, bouncing on the bed, one fell off and broke his COLLAR Bone!" In case you didn't hear about it, she did just that about 4 weeks ago. Her own little adaptation to the game brought it even closer to home...
PS Six years ago tonight we held our first church service with 18 people present. Six of those 18 were here again tonight, most of them having been saved since June 6th, 1993. Pray for multiplication over the NEXT six years...
Hogdog
JUNE 13, 1999
Hello Friends,
Not much interesting happened this week. Oh yes, Lori bought two tiny fish for $.35 each! The down side is that they promptly jumped out of the water - Jessica & Alicia each stepped on one in their excitement. Needless to say, no amount of medical attention (or tears shed by the girls) would revive them. Being much too small for the frying pan, I gave them a traditional burial at sea (it all ended with a great flush).
Please keep praying for the following men to be saved: Leomar, Eduardo, Antonio, Assis, Genildo, Claudio, Marcos, Laumir, Evaristo and Augusto. All but on of these men have Christian wives...
Yours for Mossoro - Ken & Lori Stucky
KIDS CORNER: A quiet little voice at my elbow said, "Eesha unts capsup wif hogdog for unch; doon cut it peas, wana eat it whole..." I don't know about you, but her description kind of makes me wonder what they make wieners out of South of the Equator?!?