mUcH 2 sAy...nOt mUcH TimE...

here I am in the usual place where I work on my e.mails, blogging, etc, it´s a youth centre in Castelo Branco...
It's now 4.45pm, and I arrived around 10.30am... I just finished reading and replying to my last e.mail... I had too many as the last time I came to town the internet was too slow and I didn't have enough time...
So, to make it easier for me, I will just put some pictures and write some comments.

Bruno and Maio, his horse... we love having them around...Bruno had his sheep on our land to graze, but now they are having babies, so it's better for them to be in a safer place ...We miss them ... but Maio is still there 
the dogs found the best place to take their naps

Lassy and Snoopy also went with the sheep... 

Snoopy stayed behind one more day... he just wanted an extra night with us ...

we also got some visitors... Angela, a girl from Germany who was on her way to the Iberian Rainbow gathering...
she had a powerful time here... she told us she experienced the presence of God here stronger than any other place she has been before... I believe her...

She planted 2 kiwi trees...one for her, the other for a friend... one male and female, it works like that with kiwi trees to bear fruit, one male can have up to 7 females, cool neh ? 

Miri and Benjamin... Miri fell in love ...she's missing benji so much already ... I told her she needs to watch out, soon she will be a hippie... she would often mock the "softy" hippies who just smell flowers... maybe the punk is washing off her with too much rural life... 

she was the one taking care of Benji during his first days because he was born before time and it was his mum´s first baby...  Miri had to help him getting the milk from her mom who was often running away...and now benji goes after like a dog

 

Me and Angela went to help sometimes as well ...

And here is the second baby being born... so exciting ! with Benji we didn't know he was about to be born...suddenly he was there... natural cycles of life...

This is Rita... our snake ... she was just on the way and we could come close and touch her ... she's not poisonous, don't worry... the grand daughters of Sr. Rodrigues told me once that there were 2 snakes before when they use to go there, Rita and Joana, so I guess we met one of them ...

Our beach in front of the house...Miri was just laughing at me because she said I looked like a german tourist with that hat and sitting on that chair... I think I was missing the sandals and white socks to be complete...

Finally we planted our potatoes and onions next to the big pond... it is still hard to water it by bucket...Our friends from Lisbon want to donate a pump for us... they wanted to donate trees as well...that would be great !!! I explain how we are taking more than 2 hours now to water everything with a bucket, so they are interested in helping us with the pump first !!!

And finally , our little protest in Fundao... some young nationalist party was putting terrible posters everywhere against "freaks" like us, against migrants, black people, etc... What kind of a person would do that? So Miri made a poster to respond to it ...

It says something like "when we fear what we don't know that's how we become", and then you have a bunch of people without face , looking the same... 

I'm glad to know God loves diversity...Look at all creation ! Look at all of us !... 

RESPECT ONE ANOTHER !!! and do not fear whom you don´t know... they may be angels...

iT's dOnE...aLmOsT !!!

I will be quickly as my battery is nearly dead and it's a holiday in town so I find no place to plug in my laptop...
I just picked up the train with Ben at 5.30 am, and I stayed  to get

internet and do blogging and e.mailling... I didn't know it was a holiday today, so I'll not do much...

Ben came here yesterday on purpose to sign the check to buy the land in the name of White Stone...

It all seems weird still...
Yves and Regina were one more time at the land to ask me to write some documents in portuguese for them to cancel their internet contract... it was a good opportunity for us all to pray together... we were praying for different people, but then we went on praying for the land...

Miri started to cry in the midst and I could sense why...
We were done with prayer, but Miri kept staring down and sobbing...after a while Regina broke the silence and asked her if she had anything to say... she just looked at me, kept sobbing and looked down again...

when Regina asked the second time she said she would speak, even though she didn't want to...
She opened up the "game" and said directly and clearly that what they were doing was wrong, and God didn't want them to sell the land, because the land was God´s already anyway...

It was not a matter of land or money, but it was about them and their hearts...
I don't want to go into details here, but in the end they said they would pray again in the night and see if God would tell them anything...
For us it was all clear, but I was glad Miri was able to speak... I believe it was our responsibility to confront them with what they just did.

Another time when Yves was walking he also confessed he didn't believe we would get the money. 

The next day we met in town to sign the papers but they didn't mention anything about prayer or what God might have told them...
I felt weird all day but didn't know what else we could have done...
It felt wrong inside of us...and we felt sad...

Nothing changed for us really... and in the end we just got a proxy from them that will enable us to buy the land without their presence here anymore, and we gave them the 30.000e check for the land... giving back what they gave to God before... it felt weird again !!!
But , it's not in our hands anymore !!!

we are free to decide whatever, and we are free to make mistakes... God is not one with a wip in the hand to beat us up or force us to do anything we don't want... Yves said that all the mistakes he made God always turned them into good... what was weird was to hear that while he was making a mistake... or maybe he was referring to the first time he bought the land... this we knew it was not a mistake at all...

"God´s thoughts  are higher than our thoughts, God´s ways higher than our ways"

Everything is done now...well, not everything, I still need to figure out what to do to get the land under White Stone´s name, but to be honest, it doesn't really matter... all this paper stuff is an illusion, but I know it needs to be done in this reality...

We still live in this world so we need to play by the rules, and that´s it... 

But we don't belong to this world, and I don´t want to forget about it...We are to live in another dimension, another "kingdom", that is within, and it´s near...

GoD MaDe iT HApPeN !!!

Yves and Regina just came yesterday to the land to say they arrived and to start the process to buy the land…
And I just want to make clear about who made all this happen…
WE’RE BUYING THE LAND to White Stone Association next week… 

I want to give  thanks and all the praise to God, because without this faith and peace beyond my understanding, without all the signs and the dream I had to confirm this crazy move, I would never have taken this step …

I obviously also give thanks to Yves and Regina, for listening in the first place, for obeying the crazy idea, for getting in touch with me in Lisbon and for accepting me and my friends to come and join their vision...

They will leave on the 25th so everything must be done next week…

And one more big thanks to all those who generously contributed with their finances, those who shared beyond my networks and definitely for all those who prayed from the start until now.

 
Ben has to come  all the way from Lisbon as a board member of White Stone Association as he needs to sign the papers in the "notário"… Pray that he will have the possibility and time to come here…

We prayed to know what God wanted and we got signs and confirmation that this land (soil) was to be dedicated… we prayed for the money to buy it, and miraculously, through many people who promptly offer their money we are able to do it in a record time...even the legal process was not complicated and it didn´t take too long as usual… Most of these people were friends, but some I never met before...some gave big amounts, some gave the little they had, but all with the same heart…to give God the glory! my friend Ruben from Lisbon really impacted me… he took all his coins from his pocket and said :
“ Here, it’s for the land…it’s not much but it’s all I have”… and I knew it was all he had…2,19 E … And that’s how God is glorified… by people’s generous hearts ! This is God´s economics that turns the world upside down !

Many people said similar things, “- well, it’s not much, but it’s what I can give now…”… And I always said what I see and believe , " in the Kingdom of God, little is much and the poorest give the most..."

So, here’s the miracle for those who don’t know all the story:

it was only 5 weeks ago when I started to share about the need of buying this land after knowing from Yves and Regina that they didn’t want to give it to God anymore as they said one year ago… I came here in the first place because I believed this land was dedicated to God to be a place where people who want to live together could come freely …

Others joined me to spend the winter and we were between 12 to 15 people from October to January… We spent the winter in vans and tents and we fixed the old stone house to make our communal kitchen and to have a more secure shelter for all to be together…
Yves and Regina went back to Belgium to make the same business they sold before to buy this land…
In February we heard that they were selling the land to some business people to make turism… I asked Yves if at least we could buy the land as well (he never mentioned to us because he thought a bunch of punks and hippies with no money were not able to afford it), and he said yes, if we would have 45.000 Euros until the 15th of March… we had one month then…

I was at peace because I knew God had to have a plan… but at the same time everything was too confusing for me … I didn’t understand how could they use the name of God so quickly without taking it seriously… That was really annoying me… how come the land was dedicated to God and now is not anymore?!!!
One thought that would always bring me peace from the start, when things were not so sure with Yves and Regina, was this:
“Don’t trust men, trust me!!!” … and I believed that was God’s voice, because it was always bringing me peace when things seemed to be confused (and there was a lot of confusing times since we came)…
so , deep inside of me I knew I was not here because of Yves and Regina, but because of God… even if they failed in their commitment and stepped back, God would not fail… I knew He would do something, but still I needed a clear direction…

So I prayed and waited for almost 2 weeks and finally I felt peace about buying it and share with others to raise the money… We had 10 days to raise 45.000 E, even though I never felt the business people would buy the land anyway… Yves said if they would give up we could buy it for 30.000 E…

I also felt the power of money needed to be broken here, and so I challenged people to raise 33.000e so we could give the extra 3000 to some one else, or some other project.
It was amazing how people promptly offered money to participate in all this…
On the 15th of March we had about 12.000e and a possible loan of 12.000e more, without any interests for a year… I called Yves and said we’d buy it, so he said he would come here around the 15th of April and we could sign the contract…

We had 4 more weeks and now we have all the money… I accepted the loan of around 12.000e for a year and I believe we’ll be able to collect that even in less than a year… We also have 3000e extra to give as a donation and I also have a person to give it to, which I believe it’s another “good land to sow” as well … This is God´s economics.

"All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had." (Acts 4:32)
"All the believers were together and had everything in common." (Acts 2:44)

If we really believe in Jesus, we need to believe that's the way He wants us to share our lives with one another.
And I'm really happy and encouraged to see that there are many who believe this, and not only believe, but practice it !
When we step in faith into the wisdom of God and we practice it, we end up realizing that God keeps promises...  it's so cool when we live that out and see God at work in our lives and in other people's lives...

Among many things Jesus taught, the love of money and wealth was a serious thing... the only deity Jesus mentions in opposition to God was "Mamon", the god of riches and wealth... " - no one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. you cannot serve God and Mamon". It couldn't be clearer. They are in opposing spectrums. Therefore it is important to know whom are we serving...

And Jesus continues saying " - Look at the birds, they don´t sow or gather, yet your heavenly Father feeds them", This is the kingdom of God.

Thank you Jesus, for all your teachings, for all your work in our lives...

Thank you for all those you involved to make this miracle happen.

You made it all happen God, may you always be remembered by this story and our witness to it.

You are alive and real and I will always love you.

pLaNtInG hOpE...

Finally we are planting the trees...

It was hard to find the best time because I went away for a while and before that they were not at the shop yet...

now we're planting HOPE in this land that is about to be brought back to its purpose...
I really want to thank all those who gave money to buy these trees... 

we end up buying 22 trees, mostly fruits..and I'm looking forward to watch them grow ...

It´s almost too late in the season I know, so I will have to be on it watering them this summer...



PEACE

gReAt wEeKeNd...

I had a great weekend with Miri and some young people from Castelo Branco,my cousin Paulo´s friends... Finally we hang out with more alternative people around here... even though much younger than me, but well, I loved hanging out with them...people think I'm younger anyway, and in my heart I am ...
Most of them came to the land to celebrate the new year ... Joel is studying theatre in Madeira (Portuguese Island) and came on holidays with his girlfriend Silvia...so they had the chance to play together with their band "Blue Mind" ...

These guys rock !!! we had so much fun at their concert on friday night in a small village, in a place like the "Club" in Povoa de Atalaia, but a bit bigger and with a stage...

We went earlier to make the sound check and all that stuff, so we had plenty of time to wait until midnight for the concert to start...
we had a nice time just being funny and "breaking the ice" among the shy portuguese sitting in the corners just looking... Me and Miri also went with Lopes to his family's house in the village and got loads of nice food... Miri got to know more of the portuguese culture this weekend... she sat down at many kitchen tables and ate all sorts of things... That's so part of our culture!!!
We eventually went to the concert venue and they were playing "Pimba" music (that's really bad folk portuguese music), so we decided to play again and have a good laugh... I always find it hard to avoid understanding  the lyrics (they are really bad)...

The first band started, but they were not so good, just bad covers from other bands...poor guys, they're just starting... but we tried to cheer them up, singing along and "moshing"... in the end we had all of them jumping out from the stage and "body surfing" in the little crowd ... I think most of those people never saw that for real... it was fun !! they seemed to have enjoyed it ...

It was time for "Blue mind" now...  Petra, the drummer girl , lost a piece of her pedal... very punkish... they say it's already normal for something to go wrong...


Then they started and people really liked it... everyone was having fun and the concert went on and on... They have a great presence on stage...they're not so much looking for perfection in their music, but really having fun together... and they really set people free while they play... it was a cool atmosphere...we never knew when it was really over ...

Miri also went on stage to sing along... she was really excited... she really misses her punk-rock friends... and she really loved these guys...

Joel on guitar and vocals, Paulo on bass, Petra on drums...

Petra was already out of the drum set and the guy from the other band came to play along ...nobody cared about anything anymore 

It was really cool !!! Thank you "Blue Mind" !!!

We slept in Paulo's little farm house, just next to my aunt's ... and we woke up late after the long night... we had "brunch" with my aunt and uncle... we went to visit another cousin in the city and then we were ready to go out again to another concert in Covilha...about one hour from there... It's crazy that most of the time we had no place to go out, and this weekend was too much...
this concert was supposed to have a punk-rock band, but they failed, so it was only Metal, which is not particularly my kind of music... none of us liked it, but it was cool to be together one more time...
well, I was totally exhausted on sunday... I made a nice bath with fire and relaxed...

hOw cReAtIoN mAkEs yOu mOrE hApPy...

I was very lucky to get this woodpecker on camera, just behind my hut in the woods ... What a beautiful creature !
I was lying on my bed almost all day so I can recover well...I'm still not well and the weather is not helping either... It´s windy, the sun comes and goes, there is a bit of rain now and then... Not so nice for me at this stage...
I was also trying to read and study some things, but Michu was making it hard sometimes... Or maybe she was saying "-Stop complaining and look at me ! "
What else can I do but laugh...

I love Nature...
It´s also nice to watch Miri, the "hardcore city punk girl" totally marvelled at all the animals we now have in the farm... the sheep, the dogs and now Maio, the horse... she 's all excited telling me how cool they all are ... she's also helping to prune the olive trees, she's excited about all those things she never thought she would find herself doing ...
It's so cool to have Nature around, and live in it ! We are Nature, right? That´s where we belong.

When I was living in the city, I remember telling a friend, we can always appreciate the trees, the flowers, the birds, the sky,it´s all there too... we don't notice them sometimes, or we can ignore them, but they are there... I love when I find trees and bushes coming out of roofs and things like that...or the roots of a tree breaking the concrete... nothing can stop it !

This post was just for you to remember this ...
PEACE...

hOmE sWeEt hOmE ...

"Home sweet Home", that's how it feels to be back to the land...
I had a wonderful reception as I got off the train... a sweet old man who was also coming out offered me a ride on his tractor... he's my neighbour ... I didn't recognize him but he imediately offered a ride as we were coming out of the train... 
It's nice to have this feeling of coming home... especially being sick still ...


Miri was still in Fundao because she was going to the dentist ... I got to know later that she was not well for the last week because of her tooth... 
Now she's going to have her tooth removed... she hates that !!! pray for her if you remember !!!

The land is so different from 2 weeks ago... the plants grew a lot ...
even inside my hut in the woods, I have tiny oaks growing now...so funny !!!

it was nice to enjoy the view and the fire from my "balcony"

Miri also built a new shower place next to the bath place so we can move the tools back to the room in the wooden house... well done Miri...

And we have great news... check this out !!!

We have sheep and dogs (Leon and Lassie) in our land... and we'll have a horse as well sometimes ...
they're all from our friend Bruno, a young shepherd who saw how big our grass was and asked if he could have his sheep in our fields... Of course we wouldn't say no...first it's handy for us because we won't need to cut the grass, then it gives the land nice compost, and above all, we loved the idea of having sheep in the land ...Me and Miri are all excited about it !!! It couldn't be better !!!! Sooo cool !!! look at them, they are so sweet !!!

O.K, I'm gone...
More on the land situation  for next post... things are going well I can advance...
I'm so thankful to God and all those who are joyfully participating in all this... This is the Kingdom at work ... This is God's family being one ... Thank you all !!!

Ireland & Emma...

I just want to leave a quick note about my time in Ireland because I didn't have the time to post while there... It was short, but intense, as I would expect from being with Emma... she totally runs on a different speed than mine, but somehow we get along quite well...
Emma is a great and special friend...and I'm so thankful to know her...we get closer as we get to meet more often... this is the 8th nation we meet since our paths crossed 2 years ago in UK... All together we didn't have much time together, but it's always deep and intense... Also between our meetings we often call each other and pray for each other on the phone (yes, it´s weird, but possible)... 

even in different countries, we journey together and support one another...things that new technologies provide for us today...

well, it's like we know each other for many many years...does this ever happened to you ? so you know what I mean... God is an expert on crossings people´s paths...

Emma invited me to visit her for a week in Ireland... she picked me up in Dublin centre after she finished school... she has been having intense subjects in her studies and it's such a delight to listen and learn...

she's doing a masters in Philosophy... Peace and Reconciliation studies, and it is so her heart... she's so passionate about that...well, she's generally passionate about people...
So we did our catch up at a nice reggae cafe in Dublin and in the end of the day we went for a beer on a typical Irish Pub... I don't appreciate beer that much, but I enjoyed it... we met there with this amazing guy, John, one of those people Emma meets everyday... she met him on a bus stop and they realize they were both on the journey with Jesus... he used to be a drug addict and now he's helping kids on the streets of Dublin not to mess with that stuff like he did... we had such cool conversations at that pub and in the end we just hold our hands together and prayed for each other... it's like God is networking all these connections all over the world.

we went to sleep at a really cool place as well... Emma's friends... A family who has been in Tanzania for 20 years and now they live in the suburbs of Dublin... I immediately connected as I saw the African leather map on their wall... once in Africa you can´t take Africa out of you... I loved meeting them,Tiffy and Brian Allan, and their older son... I forgot his name... I'm so bad with that !!!

Next day we went to the Hill of Tara, a very historical place where all the kings use to go, and now is being threatened by a Motorway that is planned to cross it ...we were going to join a protest against it ...

Until we met Eugene who gave us a different view of the issue... well, we went to Tara to know more about the place and Eugene came up and started to speak with us (that's so normal for Irish people, I loved it...such a friendly people ) ... he was explaining us about the place and how he loves to go there... then we asked about the Motorway and he said he wants it because it will make traffic so much easier... "it's always nice to hear the local's oppinion" - said Emma...
he went on his way, but soon after, as we sat to have our lunch break, he came again and kept chatting...we end up counseling him to take flowers to his fiancé, because he said he was annoyed with her that day... well, too long stories to share here...
but he ended up taking us on a historical tour, to Slane Castle and where christianity first started in Ireland through St.Patrick, and also the spot where the battle of Boyne took place... I hope I'm right on this, because I'm pretty bad in history, but that was the place where all the divisions between catholics and protestants started... I know it´s not that simplistic, but you can do your research...


He finally left us on the road and we hitch-hiked to a city near Belfast and then we had to get the bus because it was dark already...
We had 2 nights in Belfast before going to the farm where Emma grew up and her parents live... the first night after the bus trip we just slept... the second night, after a sort of reggae party and a few glasses of wine, we didn't really sleep before the sun rose... A fun night and again, nice chats with different people...


Finally we got some rest... Pheeew !!! I am not used to these city rhythms anymore...
It was really nice to meet Emma's Mom, Rosemary, her Dad, Jimmy and her younger brother, John... I have heard so much about them before... Emma really loves her family, and it was so nice to see that...

Next day I was already weeding the little green house, I cut some grass and pruned some bushes... I miss to work in the land...
what I didn't think of was that it was not a good idea to cut the grass bare-footed ... Oops...it was sunny actually, the whole week... but it was not as warm as in Portugal...
I got a bad cold with my "smart" idea...

My days were not so pleasant after that...

I still got to meet more of Emma's family, but I could only seat on the couch and look like I was going to fall apart...
not so exciting !!!

We took an early bus in the morning to the airport... I flew to Porto... Emma went on a ferry to U.K...she was going to Synergy in London... A cool project where SPEAK  (the campaign network she used to work for)  usually have a room and participate in different ways... Emma went to be an "angel", handing out hearts and messages to people, and I'm sure she had good chats as well ...
This is just a bit of my journey away from the land ...
I feel I wrote too much already