tWiNs oN tHe LaNd...

My sister Edna and Paulo came to visit with the twins, Nelson and Joshua, and the proud sister Pamela...
It was such a nice time...and the babies are getting more and more beautiful...of course !!!

They came twice and the second time they brought my cousins from Castelo Branco, Nela and her daugther Ana...sorry, I didn't take pictures ... it was nice because they could stay for the opening of our 24-7 prayer week... we had a nice time sharing the bread and wine around the fireplace... remembering Jesus and his disciples and that humanity is one body...

- Thank you Jesus for coming to show us how God is like, filled with grace and forgiveness... and I´m sorry for the way humanity misunderstands your message, to the point of handing you to the imperial authorities to torture and kill you.

Your Love for each one of us is really amazing and I guess it's hard for us to understand with our human minds and hearts... Help me  to grasp this more ...

DiReCtIoNs 2 tHe mOuNt oF oAkS...

I was not expecting so many people to come and join the prayer week, especially from so far away... Anne and Jonathan from Germany are on their way now, and also Lucy and another friend who are coming from the UK...Emma is also somewhere around Barcelona and will get here hopefully soon... Lyna and Cami have already arrived from France...

Last night we had a nice gathering at the fireplace with Simone, who was part of the first group in 2006... She came with Judith also from Germany and of course Anne who's still here until September...

Most of these I already have a deep connection from previous trips and gatherings in the past 2 years, so it does feel like a family gathering ...

We had to make signs for people to follow from the train station because it will be impossible to walk back and forth to collect people... it will be part of the process already...

If you come BY TRAIN, you have to come out in CASTELO NOVO, this is between "Castelo Branco" and "Fundao" or "Covilha"...
coming out of the train you go to your right and start walking...you will cross the road and you should keep walking next to the rail track on the right side...soon you'll see a sign hanged on a tree saying "Mount of Oaks" (red letters on a black slate stone)... keep walking... after maybe 10 minutes you will see another sign on your right, both in portuguese and english, turn there...
a bit ahead you will find another sign next to some stone houses for you to keep going on the road....you'll be almost there, but you still have maybe 10 minutes to the next sign...this will point to your right and a few steps further you will see another one pointing left...you go through some tiny pine forest until you get to a fence...you will see the signs pointing right, but you have to cross the fence...you have to lift one of the ends and please, live it closed, as you found it ...

so, then you just need to follow the fence until you get to the land, you will see from afar the water barrels that stand on a little tower, and once you see our big pond go down to the house to your left... Enjoy the adventure !!!

If you come by CAR, you have to get the high way A23, between "Guarda" and "Entroncamento", and you leave on the exit "CASTELO NOVO" (but you don't go to Castelo Novo, we are on the opposite side), follow the directions to "ALPEDRINHA" and you will eventually turn left, entering on a national road, the N18, towards "Alpedrinha"... you don't drive much there, and you will see a sign next to an old house with "MONT OF OAKS" and "MONTE DOS CARVALHOS" (we'll put that one up soon)...
you will enter a country side dirt road full of holes... and you keep going... you'll pass the rail tracks, PLEASE DO STOP AND LOOK, and you keep going...then you will find different signs on your way , but if you have doubts the turns are always to your right... The last turn is almost a "turning back", so , be aware not to miss it ... then you'll go down hill, to your left, and up hill, to your right, and you're in the land already...


WELCOME HOME !!!!

O.k, I hope it's clear

If you get lost, don't stress out, maybe it's part of your journey...you might meet someone on the road, maybe on a donkey cart, who will lead you on the way...

A big thanks to all those who came ahead and are helping with all the preparations...

PEACE to ALL...

Whitney and Anne, who helped me to make and put up some signs... Thank you !


we're also making some signs on the land, as it might be helpful for those who have never been before ... It´s very useful, especially if you need to poo and there is no one to ask directions...

24-7 pRaYeR cAmp @ mOuNt oF oAkS

I´m organizing a 24-7 prayer camp at the Mount of Oaks...
we don´t have a room to pray , but we will have a nice place in one of our little forests...

Anne, Oona, Whitney, Lopes, Silvia and Joel are some of those who have been helping to make the forest a nice cozy place for us to meet God around the clock for one week...

It will happen from the 22 to the 29th, this month...well, next week...from wednesday to wednesday...

we'll have a shelter for corporate times of singing and praying and we'll have some discussion groups under some trees about prayer...

I know it's a bit last minute, but I haven't been having much time to organize things, and it doesn't take much to prepare a place to pray, especially if we have a forest already ...

we just need to provide a shelter in case it rains and to have some art material to encourage creativity...

People will come prepared to camp and seek God...
I would like to serve the village in different ways, like visiting some old people at the day centre or at their homes... we might make a party for the young people in the "Club", but we'll see how things go, after asking what their needs are.

If you have availability, come!

If you don´t, join us in prayer !

I feel we'll not be too many, but it's just a first step to dedicate this place to prayer and connecting with The Divine... that's what I felt God was saying when we were about to buy this land... I'm not totally sure of what God meant by that, but I do feel God desires to meet people here...and God wants to lead people here to pray ... It´s always hard work to try to discern what is God´s "voice" and what is ours, but when it comes from different directions and passes the test of time, we get assured that it was God´s idea... That´s how I see it.

That´s why it is so risky when people read the Bible as if it´s "God´s inerrant word"... Sacred text are nothing but humans trying to discern what God is trying to say at a given time, to a given generation...

- Teach us God ! Wake up this generation to pray and listen to You Great Spirit !