We're on the News!

200,000 people passed our apartment block yesterday!!

They were trade unionists and it was part of Portugal's largest labour demonstration in recent years, and timed to coincide with the EU summit taking place just down the road in the Atlantic Pavilion in the Park of the Nations. As we watched the parade go by, it seemed like a grand day out for a lot of people, grandmothers with babies, construction workers marching alongside secretaries in their high heels. For some, a chance to visit the big city, as the banners indicated people from Porto, from Braga, from Evora and all over. There's a car showroom at the bottom of our building, and we couldn't help noticing how many turned to stare, almost with amazement, at the Mercedes and BMW's lined up. Reminds us of the huge divide that exists in this country. Here we are living among Lisbon's "upper crust", and you don't have to go many miles outside of the city to find yourself in a world of small farms and villages. We read a headline in a local paper that announced, according to a recent EU analysis, Portugal's 2 million "poor" has pushed her into the "Top Ten" poorest nations in Europe!!

Hard to believe as we look out from our apartment window over the skyline of the Park of Nations and as we listen to the sorts of rental figures that are being quoted us each day as we continue to look for a place to stay.

Every morning, as dawn breaks over the River Tejo and the lights atop the Sao Rafael Tower, and the Vasco da Gama blink out in the half light, I remind myself that God's presence is hovering over this skyline, and that he has already selected for us to "put up our tent". Maybe you glimpsed the Park during yesterday evenings news bulletins with Gordon Brown and others posing aroud during the discussions to approve the new EU reforms Treaty. We hope you took time to pray that this place might become as much a centre for God's glory as it is for European debate.

Another language blooper, this time from Anna!!


The word for fish is "peixe", pronounced "peysh", and the word for parents is "pais", prounced "paiysh", so when Anna said in class today that she enjoyed eating "paiysh", the teacher looked worried!!

Strolling in the Alfama

Saturday afternoon saw us enjoying a relatively aimless afternoon in downtown city centre Lisbon. It’s unusually hot for the middle of October, people have told us, but we didn’t mind that one bit. We took the number 28 tram from the heart of the city, Baixa Chiado, to the old district of the Alfama. Think of one of those old wooden rickety rollercoasters at a fairground, but without the speed or the huge heights. Then place that rollercoaster in first in a crowded city centre plaza, then against the backdrop of some of the most dramatic and elegant architectural of Europe. And all for less than a euro. Wonderfully cheap Saturday afternoon entertainment!!

It was one of those afternoons when it was just nice to have nothing to do. We stepped into a big old church at the top of the hill, behind the Castle. Moving from the brilliant sunshine and the lively pace of the streets into the massive hall of quietness and darkness lit by a few candles, I got an overwhelming sense of weight. The weight of years, and all of the humanity that had passed through these doors, but over and above that the weight of the institution that this and many many other similar churches in old Lisbon represent.

Saturday was also an important day in the religious life of the nation. The 13th October and the 13th May are high points in the calendar of the shrine at Fatima. They mark the dates when the vision of the virgin Mary were supposed to have been given in 1917. The TV screens were full of the event with thousands upon thousands of pilgrims. The hierarchy of the clergy were there, including the Secretary of State from the Vatican to inaugurate the Church of the Holy Trinity what is to the brand new Sanctuary, and will be one of the largest Church sanctuary outside of St Peters in Rome in Europe. When an interviewer asked the reason for the name given to the Church, the reply was given that it was because God should be at the heart of all that this Church represents. Pity then that the whole of focus of the ceremonies and festivities should be not around the Father, nor the Son, nor the Holy Spirit, but on Mary and the institutions of the Church.

In a country of around 12 million people, it is estimated that around 4 million, will visit Fatima in the course of a year. May the Lord bring light, and lift the weight of years and tradition off the contemporary understanding of what Christianity is in present day Portugal.

My First Blooper

There’s always a danger in trying to show off the knowledge of the language that you don’t really have !!

My first blooper occurred on the second day of Portguese language classes! In the class we were going around being asked our ages, as we were learning numbers. I guess I was conscious that, at 54, I was older than all these young things, so thought I would be clever. (Oh, by the way, our class consists of us “fiftysomethings”, four young girls not too long out of high school, and two Roman Catholic missionaries preparing for Mozambique!!)

On the bus coming over I had noticed that there were seats reserved for the disabled and old people and noticed the word “gravidas" which, in my wisdom, I figured must mean elderly. So when asked, I didn’t give my age away, only said that I was “gravidas”. Only later in the afternoon. Patricia, a beautiful Brazilian lady we had met, told me, when I asked her, that “gravidas” actually means pregnant!! Woops! And double Woops!! Funny, come to think of it, the teacher didn't actually correst me on that one

Let us tell you about Carlos and Patricia. They are from Brazil,. A lovely Christian couple and God has brought them to live right in the Park of the Nations. Just like Ryan and Dana who are American and have two extremely lively girls, Kayla and Rachel. These families are not full time missionaries as such, but in the line of their business, God has seen fit to place them alongside ourselves as Christians living in a dark place. Carlos is away from home three weeks out of four, and Ryan also works long hours and travels a lot. So Patricia has to contend with an extremely lively two year old Isabella, and Dana with her two. We’re praying especially that Anna will have time to help support and pray with these young mothers.

Boxes, Boxes, Boxes!!

Today seems we're almost at the end of a long, long road. And tomorrow, Thursday, we're onto a brand new road, via Easyjet Belfast-Gatwick-Lisbon. Shippers have just this minute been and emptied the living room at 15 Somerset Park Coleraine of boxes and barrels. A lot of other stuff has already gone up to the roof space, and even more to the town dump!!

Thanks to all who have been with us on this long road, for your prayers, your interest and involvement and your support. Now the cloud of Gods presence lifts from 15 Somerset Park, and, we pray, settles over some yet to be identified apartment in the Park of the Nations, Lisbon. Stay with us for the next part of the journey. It will be exciting in a different sort of a way, but no less challenging.

Psalm 121 A song of ascents.

I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?

My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.......

.......the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.