Something Magical

Most of you probably are not aware of this, but in less than 45 days, there is going to be a event of such magnitude that literally the majority of the world will be captivated. An of course, the event I am referring to is the 2006 World Cup Futból (soccer to you Americans) Championship which will be held in Germany. (Over 1.3 Billion people watched the 98 World Cup Final in France)

Brazil: A Soccer Nation
Most of you may know that Brazil is considered the greatest futból country of all time, having won World Cup title and astonishing 5 times! For Brazil, the World Cup is a nation wide holiday. When Brazil plays a match, business close, children are released from school, and everyone, I mean EVERYONE, gathers around a TV or a radio with rapt attention.

Brazil is the odds on favorite this year and many people are already anticipating a 6th World Cup win. But a loss this year would not be the first time Brazil was expected to win but did not. In France 98, Brazil was defeated by the host country 3-0. So confident were Brazilians that they would win that they had already begun to print AND sell merchandise with an extra "star" indicating World Cup victories. (in fact on my first trip to Brazil, I purchased a bandana with one of these extra stars.)

The Fateful Final
But the most infamous loss in Brazil's history happened on their own turf in 1950. That year, Brazil played host to the World Cup. In preparation for the grand event, Brazil built the largest stadium in the world, The Maracanã. So large was The Maracanã that it held a a full 43,000 more spectators than the next largest stadium. This was to be Brazil's crowning moment. Her introduction to the rest of the world that Brazil was here and ready to make her place among the world's leading nations.

Alas, Brazil was defeated by the tiny nation of Uruguay in the final minutes of the match. Many people equate the 1950 World Cup final loss as having nation wide significance much like Hiroshima had to Japan and the JFK assassination to the US. The grainy black and white film footage of the final Uruguay goal is even called Brazil's Zapruder film.

Brazilmax.com has a fascinating article about the significance and the impact Brazil loss in 1950 had on the country. One paragraph in particular struck me as profound:

Second place in a World Cup was Brazil’s best ever result yet it felt like failure. The country never countenanced anything but victory. Loss was unthinkable. “I was motionless, sitting on a concrete step, watching the sun shine obliquely on the pitch, hearing the silence of the crowd, a silence not even broken by the sobs, in brutal gasps, of the collective orphaning,” grieved the novelist Carlos Heitor Cony. “Survivors of that cruel afternoon believed they would never again be able to be happy...what happened on July 16, 1950 deserves a collective monument, like the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. These are the things that build nations, a people drenched in their own pain.”

Jump on over to the site and give it a read. It will certainly help you understan some of the history behind this wonderful country. And of course VAI BRASIL!!! O CAMPEÃO DO MUNDO!!!

Some other Brazil Futból Links:

Futbol the Brazilian way of Life.

Official FIFA World Cup site.

Commings Communiqué (a fellow Brazilian Missionaries website, he has a great video clip about the players in the 1950 final.)

Great article on writing Thank You Notes

How To How to Write a Thank-You Note
by Leslie Harpold

Let's be honest folks, letter writing is a lost art. Most of do not even spell check our e-mails before we send them, let alone spend much thought into how we say what we say. We've developed abbreviations for about everything. A long e-mail for most of us is one that consists of at least one complete sentence. And I don’t mean an e-mail that has several thoughts joined together by my favorite punctuation…the all famous triple period…! (It’s as if inserting the triple period allows us to break all rules of punctuation.)

If you are in the ministry, especially if you raise your own support, then you know how often we find our selves needing to write thank you notes. We tend to put them of until we have several stacked up. We all know how hard it can be it can be to write a proper thank you note, let alone get them sent out in timely fashion. I myself and very guilty of beginning the majority of my thank you notes with, “I am sorry this is so late but__”

We all wish that thank you notes were easier to write. After all, most of us do not lack for words to speak, it’s the getting them onto paper part that we struggle with. I am not looking for a one size fits all template or a cut and paste approach to writing a thank you note, rather most I seek to find the best words that accurately and honestly express my genuine gratitude for someone’s generosity.

That is why I found Leslie Harpold’s article, on TheMorningNews.org website, so beneficial. She divides a thank you note up into 6 separate parts. She clearly states what should to be included and what should not in each of those section. If you are like me, just getting started can be a struggle and often once we get started, we struggle with saying more than just, “hey, thanks for the cool gloves.” If you follow the six points on Harpold’s article, more than likely you will never lack for not only enough things to say, but the “what” will be both thoughtful and honest.

Good Luck and don't forget to send me a thank you note!

Jason

Voce Fala Portuguese

So I started my language school last Monday. To put it bluntly, all I can really say is "como"? Ok, it was not that bad. The thing is that all three of teachers (one for each class...i.e. Monday, Wednesday, Friday) speak English, yet refuse to during our time together. I know all of you are saying, "well good for them." And I agree...it just does not make it very easy.

Learning is language is certainly a humbling experience. Everyone says you must become like a child again, learning from the very beginning. This fact could not have been proven better than by last Wednesday's homework....the alphabet. What made it even more humbling was the fact that Gabriela (my four year old daughter) had the same assignment! In fact, she regularly corrects my Portuguese.

Of course as the classes progressed, it became easier and easier to both understand and to communicate. At this rate, I should be fluent in Portuguese in about two weeks. Ok, so it will likely take longer than that. But I am learning and I am having a lot of fun. One of my teachers goes to my church. So we spend our time together reading and translating bible passages, articles on missions, and hopefully soon, going over the coming Sunday's worship songs.