Cultural awareness is growing, and this is Portugal (TIP).
The small group meetings begin at 9:00 p.m. and end at 10:30. Following the meeting, the hosts bring out the snacks. Then someone drives the route and picks us all up. The Charneca church is about 45 minutes from our house. Guess what time we get home? TIP. The flip side of this is that we have no morning obligations. Kathy Cole rolled out of bed at 10:40 a.m., and she was the first one in the kitchen to turn on the coffee pot! TIP
But new blessings followed us as we divided our team and met with these 7 home-based cell groups over the 2 nights. Groups were divided by gender, age, family status, or geography. Homes/apartments had between 7 -15 people. All groups began with a short worship time, and then members of our team shared short devotionals or gave relevant testimonies. Mary Bippes made friends with the 3-year old daughter of one of the host couples. She remarked that a child's babble is the same in every language. Gerrilee was moved to hear one of the hosts talking about how Eduardo and Cindi were his spiritual parents. He was saved through their ministry. They married him and his wife 7 years ago and have discipled them ever since. Bonds of friendship are forming as we encounter these Portuguese Christians again and again at different times and in various places. We sit in their homes eating homemade food in a foreign land, and we embrace the family who are brothers and sisters in the Lord.
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