Home

When I returned to the States at the end of my last field term, I had hoped to be able to return to the same house where I had been living. An SIL couple moved in just as I left, and used my furniture. When they left, an ALEM family moved in and continued to use my furniture. They were planning to leave around the same time as I was planning to return. Alas, the best laid plans of mice and men…

When my return to Brazil was delayed, the landlord naturally wished to rent it out, so my furniture was removed and placed in our storage area at the office. When I was finally able to return, I asked people at the office to keep an eye out for a place for rent, reasonably near the office. One of the things I had really enjoyed about my last home was its proximity to the office. A few weeks before I boarded the plane to come back, they struck pay dirt.

The house on the corner—next to the one I used to live in, and belonging to the same landlord—suddenly became available. When my colleagues talked to him, he was quite happy to have me back as a renter, since I paid my bills on time and did not trash the place or annoy my neighbors with loud parties. And as an added bonus, the house is even closer to the office than my previous one, by a few dozen feet. I could step out of the gate in the picture and throw a baseball into the office yard. (Well, I could in my youth!)

This house is actually slightly larger than my old one, although it's a bit older. When I first moved in, my armário was damaged in the process, and I spent some weeks planning, then getting parts, and finally rebuilding it. However, I have now settled in, and barring unforeseen circumstances, I expect to stay here until I return to the States for my next furlough. The rent is higher, but electricity is included. Unless my support level drops considerably or the exchange rate falls through the floor, I should be able to afford to continue living here.

Since the house is practically in the same location as my previous home, I still have easy access to the main avenue with the grassy median, so I am still able to easily go for morning walks. Bit by bit, I am returning to the way of life here in Anápolis. Mornings are still cool and comfortable. I have no need of air conditioning, since by closing the windows during the day and opening them at night, I can maintain the place at a very pleasant temperature. The white color also helps keep it from absorbing sunlight and turning it into heat.

I give thanks to God for this home, and will stay as long as He wants me here. It is a good place to live!

Work

The building at right is the main SIL office in Brazil. It started life as a dormitory for Missão Novas Tribos do Brasil (New Tribes Mission of Brazil), but when things didn't happen as anticipated with their families, they were left with a building without a use. When SIL began sensing the Lord's leading to move our operation to Anápolis, they quickly offered us the use of this building for our offices.

Being originally a dormitory, we had to do a fair bit of restructuring in order to convert it into an office building. Part of this involved running nearly three kilometers of network cable, a job which I and three others accomplished in March, a couple of months before we began actually moving. We also had to convert an apartment into the accounting department and install temporary walls in a couple of locations, as well as change a large number of electrical outlets from two-prong to three-prong. (Voltage in Anápolis is 220 instead of 110, which required a number of adaptations in and of itself!) But in the end, it became an office.

You cannot see my office window in this picture. That's because I don't have one. A window, that is. Both my office and workroom are the two rooms in the entire building that came without windows. I think that is rather ironic, given that I'm a guy who loves the outdoors! But I did end up having the first air-conditioned room in the entire building. Not for myself, but for the rack of computers that power our network… and generate plenty of heat in the process.

Most of our offices are on the second floor, although mine is not. In addition to my cubicle and workroom, and one more office and Vernacular Media Services (the guys who dub the Jesus film into indigenous languages and do other media-related work), we have our main meeting room and kitchen on the first floor. We gather regularly in the kitchen for coffee break (which is also an opportunity to socialize with each other outside of our offices), and use the meeting room for various activities.

Incidentally, the building just beyond the main office is our new storage shed, which we had built just prior to moving in. When I return to the States for furlough, all my goods will be stored there.

Church

This is a picture of Igreja Batista Central de Anápolis, or Central Baptist Church of Anápolis. This is the place where I have chosen to worship, until and unless the Lord leads me elsewhere. A medium-sized church, it is very missions-oriented, which is something I can definitely appreciate! Service begins at 9:00 on Sunday morning and usually lasts until around 11:00. This is the same church that I attended before my last furlough, and my face has become fairly familiar, even to the pastor. This has become my church home when I am away from my home church in Tucson, AZ, and I am thankful to be a part of this congregation of the family of God.

The service begins with prayer, followed by a time of worship through music. As in nearly all Brazilian churches, the music is lively and spirited, using a number of modern instruments, often accompanied by clapping and raising of hands. For one who grew up with more sedate styles of worship common in America, it took some getting used to. But as I have been exposed to various cultures around the world, both by being here and through contacts during Wycliffe training in the States, I have come to realize that lively worship is notably more popular than sedate worship. Just imagine all those people before the Throne someday, singing and dancing with joy before Jesus!

I have also been very blessed by the teaching at this church. The pastor is a gifted Bible teacher who is able to bring the scriptures down to a practical level for all of us. Additionally, every week a letter is read from a missionary or family of missionaries associated with the church. Some of these missionaries are working as far away as Africa and other foreign parts of the world. Yes, Brazilian Christians are active in reaching the world for Christ.

As you can probably tell from its name, the church is located in the central part of town, what we would refer to as "downtown". Fortunately, it is quite close to the central bus terminal, so it is easy for me to walk out to Avenida Brasil and catch a bus to go to church, then walk over to the terminal to catch another one to go home. And wanting a change of pace from my own cooking, I've begun the habit of getting off the bus one stop early and having lunch at a por kilo restaurant (one where they weigh your plate and you pay for your food by the kilogram), then walking home from there.

One indication that I have definitely become recognized as being a regular part of Sunday morning worship was the number of people who welcomed me back after my long furlough absence!

Support Level

Wycilffe Bible Translators
Three-Fold Challenge

As you have probably read elsewhere on this site, the organization that sent me here—Wycliffe Bible Translators—is a "faith mission". Before coming to Brazil, and while on furlough, I had to find individuals and churches that were willing to support my work financially. In fact, I was not allowed to return to the field until my support level had reached a specific quota set by the Wycliffe administration.

The graph at the right shows the current percentage of the Wycliffe mandated support level that I am currently receiving. Since this percentage will change from time to time, depending on new quotas set and the actual level of giving by donors, I will update this picture as necessary to reflect reality.

Normally, members of Wycliffe are only allowed to return to the field with 100% financial support. However, in this case I was allowed to return with only 93% pledged, because the Branch needed me back rather badly, and they and my furlough administrator agreed that it would help if people saw that I was actually going, instead of just sitting in the Tucson desert twiddling my thumbs. And modern tools such as the Internet make it easier to raise additional financial support without having to necessarily be in the States at the time.

Please do remember to pray for me regarding financial issues. Although I can live here with my current percentage of quota—providing all of my pledged support continues to come in—there is no guarantee that things will not change. The economy is very unstable, and there is no guaranteed that the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and Brazilian real won't change to our disadvantage down here. I will continue to update the above graph to reflect whatever the current reality is, and to give you a specific goal to pray for.

If you are interested in reading about opportunities to support my work, or the work of Bible translation and missions in general, click and see my Three-Fold Challenge.

Contact Information

Mailing Address:	Bill Penning C.P. 1923 75040-970 Anápolis – GO BRAZIL
Home Phone:	(none planned at this time)
Cell Phone:	(int'l)-55-62-8226-0425
Office Phone:	(int'l)-55-62-3318-6379 ext. 211
Office VoIP Phone:	(704)-243-9024 ext. 211 (214)-431-4439 ext. 211
Office FAX:	(int'l)-55-62-3318-6303