No Escape From The Rain

"Drip down, O heavens, from above, And let the clouds pour down righteousness; Let the earth open up and salvation bear fruit, And righteousness spring up with it. I, the LORD, have created it."

Isaiah 45:8 NASB

Family Life:

So I realize this is the rain forest and rain is to be expected, but in the house, really?! 

When Liz and I started the Global English project, we actually did not have a place to live in Belem. The project was started with a fairly small budget and we wanted to make sure that all of the resources were used wisely. A place to live, just did not fit in the budget. However, God always provides. In the school building there is a classroom at the end of a separate hallway. In fact, we actually did not have a bed either. We were able to purchase a mattress with a loan from our bank with no interest for 6 months. We bought the mattress and moved in what is now the children's classroom. The problem with living in the classroom was, there was no shower except in the apartment building adjacent to the school. Although, we have the rights to those apartments- our Brazilian partner at the time, Junior, and his family were living in the 2nd floor apartment and there was no floor in the 1st floor apartment. After a year, we had the opportunity to finish the floor on the 1st floor and move in. To put the first floor apartment in perspective, the classroom was much larger. The mattress we bought (slightly smaller than a queen size) did not fit well in the bedroom and we actually had to step over the mattress to get into the bathroom. More than likely, most of you reading this post have a closet in your house larger than the apartment. Here is a quick pic of the entrance to it:

Left door= 2nd Floor : Right door= 1st Floor

Anyway, after a year and some change went by God opened the door for us to get a larger apartment. I told Liz that I would like an apartment with a view of the Amazon River- I prayed about it, she laughed at me. She responded with something like maybe God will get you an apartment in heaven with a view of the Amazon, or something like that. Junior and I walked all over the city of Belem looking for Liz and I a place to live. About the time we were ready to give up we noticed a building to a company that manages properties. They were packing up to go home for the day but allowed Junior and I to come in and see what they had available. The manager told us they had a property that came available the evening before. She continued to tell us that the property was furnished and had access to great amenities. I told Junior there was no chance this was in our reach. Before she would give me a price on it though she said I had to go look at it first. At this, I am thinking the same thing I think when I see "Market Price" in a restaurant menu- yea right! We went to check it out. We were met at the gate by some guards, the gentleman continued to show us the property, it was really nice. We got to the elevators and he hit 17. No way, this is impossible. We rode to the 17th floor and he opened the door to the apartment. It was perfect- everything about it was perfect. I walked on to the balcony and there it was, the view of the Amazon River, the jungle, the city, all before my eyes. It was a surreal torture really. I knew there was no way. We walked back to the property management company and got the price. It was about 600 a month higher than we budgeted, not possible. I shook the ladies hand and told her a little bit about myself and what we were doing in Brasil. She smiled at me and said my daughter studies at your school, I can discount our agency fee of 600 a month for you. That does not happen. Liz and I didn't have furniture, much less the ability to afford it. You don't get furnished apartments in Belem. It was a miracle, a gift from God. It has been a blessing everyday we have had the opportunity to step inside its doors. We have been able to host guests that have participated in the missions projects and business projects necessary to make this work. 

When we first moved in we noticed a leak in the light in our bathroom. The leak soon turned into filling the entire light socket up with water. We called the property management company and they had the buildings engineers come out to repair it. This was June 2013 or so. They tore the bathroom ceiling out a number of times and it was never repaired. Today, it has become a waterfall and we are still working on getting it fixed. I am not sure the exact source of the water. Since it has begun pouring in at a higher rate, we have noticed chunks of food in the water. Hopefully, it will get fixed this go-round.