The Reconciliation of All Things

Becky and I flew back to the States last night, and it was quite eventful. But what I want to tell you about is one unique situation we found ourselves in. On one of the domestic flights we were on within Brazil, en route to São Paulo, we met an American lady that had been to Brazil to visit this certain "religious" man who was performing healings. Now, as many American people will understand, when you fly, usually you want to keep to yourself and take a quick nap, read a book, etc. Nevertheless, this lady we met, whose name I can't remember now, wanted to chat. And if you're reading this maam (sorry I forgot your name), please forgive me for my attitude at first, but read on. So you see, this lady kept asking questions, as well as sharing her views on life, etc. She's looking for the Truth, for answers...and what got me thinking throughout today was that so many times we are selfish, we want to keep to ourselves, live our individualistic lives, and just be left a...

Well, well! When we got back from our trip to the northeast of Brazil, we discovered that the hard drive (computer storage) of the computer we used had "crashed", basically we lost everything on it. We had all our hundreds of pictures stored on it, etc., and lost it. Thankfully, we found someone in a larger city 40 minutes from here who was able to reccuperate all the data for us, and we'll get the CD's tomorrow in the mail. It cost us $300 to get this data...but it would probably be more in the US. All in all, it was a pretty close call for leaving in two days! Unfortunately, it's not much time to print pictures off to give away or make gifts with. We're just thankful we could get all those pictures back--memories are SO important, aren't they? Although we're leaving in two days, it doesn't feel like it at all. Have you ever been in a situation like that? It just doesn't hit until you finally settle down, sometimes, weeks or months later when ...

Howdy folks! If you're reading this site, wondering just where we are in the world today, well this is the right place. Here's where we'll be in the next few weeks, and how to reach us. On Friday, July 22nd, we'll be flying out of Brazil to Chicago. We'll be in Chicago from the 23rd through the 26th, flying out to New York State on that Tuesday, the 26th. We'll be seeing supporters and family while in NY, then fly back to Chicago for debriefing. We'll be in Chicago again from the 2nd to the 6th of August, when we'll be flying down to Miami (still need a ride though) on our way to Fort Myers on the Gulf side of Florida (hoping there'll be no hurricanes in store for when we're there though). We'll stay in Fort Myers for a few days, from the 6th through the 11th, when we pack up a rental truck and move to Columbia, SC. The best way to reach us will be by email (bbbacheller@yahoo.com), since we don't have cell phones currently. In NY you can...

"Free-ranging-goat" in interior of Para�ba, notice the two right legs tied and the long stick tied to the neck--that would slow anything down! 

We got back from northeast Brazil safely, and it was an adventure for me (Ben), since I stayed a bit longer to get to know the interior of the state of Paraíba. The homes were simple, some without a cement floor, and the walls are made from mud and sticks, kind of like a plaster or adobe. The people are very welcoming and friendly once they know you're not a threat to them. They are suspicious of outsiders, but if they accept you, it's as if you're part of their family. That is how I felt during my visit-as part of the community-I wasn't stared at, and I enjoyed the people. One night I sat for a couple hours just chatting with the neigbors. They ranged from the ages of 70, to a four year old on my lap. We sat on simple benches or "home-made chairs" for the evening, just chatting away while the mosquitoes buzzed around us freely. It really WAS enjoyable for me because I got to live like they do for a few days. Eat what they eat (rice and beans with a dry flour-...