Renate's Reflections

            As I sit at my desk which faces the window to my front yard, I notice the grass needs cutting. Maybe I should call Daniel. Maybe I should just get the John Deere riding mower out and do it myself. I enjoy the alone time while I'm mowing so I'll do it later, in the afternoon. That little tractor reminds me of all the mowing I did when we were in Western New York. Doug's Dad owned five acres of land that had a tiny house and a big pond. He named it Woodpecker Hill and there was a large white sign at the road with that moniker and the name Reiner.  Many in the Reiner family called it home over the years. Those of us missionaries lived there during furloughs. Others stayed there when they were in transition from one home to another. Nobody ever paid rent, but we were expected to pay the utilities and care for the property.  Care of the property meant shoveling snow in winter and mowing the grass in summer. Summers were great. Winters not so much. The land sat

            When driving the two-lane highways of northeast Brazil, it's not uncommon to see roadkill. A variety of animals lie on the side or in the middle of the road that range in size from cattle any time of the year to tarantulas after a heavy rain. The roads are unlit at night and if you find yourself driving during that time an animal can appear seemingly out of nowhere. Any dead animal on the road seems to send out a radio signal advertising fresh meat to all the vultures in the county. I've seen as many as ten feasting on a horse. The vultures pose as much a threat to your car as the other wildlife. The ugly, black carrion fowl are reluctant to leave the main course for the day as the car drives by. The gluttons want to tear off every last bit of flesh they can. When they're finished, a pristine skeleton remains. And yep, it's gross. Did I mention they're protected by law? It's illegal to kill the vultures because they're the garbage collectors

          The First Baptist Church of Hamburg, New York has a long history and heritage. Founded in 1810, the church has been a presence in the community for more than 200 years. It began with a small group of German believers and experienced consistent growth throughout the 19th century.            This growth resulted in the founding of three other churches in the area, all of which are still in existence. The First Baptist Churches of Eden and East Aurora are worshiping and impacting their communities in the village centers. Armor Baptist Church was established in a small community at a crossroad. It has since changed its name to Armor Bible Church. The 20th century brought about a burden for missions and several families called First Baptist their commissioning church. The Harold (Doug's father) Reiner family was commissioned and left for the field of Brazil in 1948. About 10 years later, Harold's brother, Ray also went to Brazil to preach the Gospel. Doug and I were the

       The sun had not yet risen on that first day of the week. It had been three days since they laid Jesus in the tomb. The women had prepared the necessary spices for the Lord's body. The spices would cover the odor that would surely be coming from the dark hole carved from the rock. After all, it had been three days. But when the women arrived at the Lord's burial site the stone had been rolled aside. What was going on? Mary Magdalene poked her head inside the tomb and saw two men in glowing garments and they asked her, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen." (Luke 24:5-6) At first, Mary thought Jesus' body had been stolen. Things still weren't clicking. It took several conversations and appearances for all the disciples to believe Jesus had indeed risen from the dead--just as he said he would. (Matthew 28:6) The crucifixion was an excruciatingly painful day for those who believed Jesus was the Messiah, the Savior of