Hoje, eu vou falar simplesmente sobre uma palavra. É uma palavra que nós vimos na vida da Rute muitas vezes no livro da Rute.  É uma palavra em Hebraico, a palavra é “hesed”. Antes de eu falar sobre essa palavra, vamos lembrar a história da Rute.

No livro da Rute, nós lemos que Rute era casada com o filho da Noemi.  Mas, o marido da Noemi e os filhos da Noemi morreram.  Então, Noemi, Rute, e a outra nora, chamada Orfa, não tinham nada-nem maridos e nem dinheiro.  Agora, nessa história apresenta vários exemplos da palavra “hesed”.

O autor do livro, “The Gospel of Ruth-loving God enough break the rules” descreve “hesed” como isso…

“Hesed é o jeito que Deus planejou para os seres humanos viverem juntos desde o início, o amor ao próximo como a si mesmo, a marca da vida, uma forma ativa, solidária, altruísta e de sacrifício um para o outro que vai na contramão de nossa natureza caída … Hesed é conduzido, não por dever ou obrigação legal, mas por um profundo compromisso, um amor, Fiel altruísta que motiva uma pessoa a fazer voluntariamente o que ninguém tem o direito de esperar ou pedir a eles … É o tipo do amor que encontramos mais plenamente expresso em Jesus … Em suma, hesed é o Evangelho vivido.”

Depois o marido e os filhos da Noemi morreram, ela queria voltar para Judá, onde ela nasceu.  As noras dela não nasceram lá e eram moabitas, mas elas começaram ir com ela.  Noemi falou com elas para ficar com suas famílias para achar outros maridos.  Elas falaram que queriam ficar com Noemi, então Noemi disse,

“Voltem, minhas filhas! Por que viriam comigo? Poderia eu ainda ter filhos, que viessem a ser seus maridos? 12 Voltem, minhas filhas! Vão! Estou velha demais para ter outro marido. E mesmo que eu pensasse que ainda há esperança para mim — ainda que eu me casasse esta noite e depois desse à luz filhos, 13 iriam vocês esperar até que eles crescessem? Ficariam sem se casar à espera deles? De jeito nenhum, minhas filhas! Para mim é mais amargo do que para vocês, pois a mão do SENHOR voltou-se contra mim!”

Noemi queria que as noras entenderam que se fossem com ela, Rute e Orfa teriam mais dificuldades do que se elas ficassem com suas famílias.  Orfa decidira ficar com a família dela, mas Rute disse:

Não insistas comigo que te deixe e que não mais te acompanhe.

Aonde fores irei, onde ficares ficarei!

O teu povo será o meu povo e o teu Deus será o meu Deus!

17 Onde morreres morrerei, e ali serei sepultada.

Que o SENHOR me castigue com todo o rigor,

se outra coisa que não a morte me separar de ti!” -Rute 1:11-13

Rute não tinha nada a ganhar se ela fosse com Noemi.  Conforme a sociedade, ela tinha tudo para perder. Olha, Rute era uma moabita.  Ela seria uma estrangeira em Judá e naquela época, era muito difícil viver.  Mas, para Rute, isto não era importante.  Ela queria fazer o que era melhor para Noemi e Noemi precisava de ajuda e uma companheira.  Isso é um exemplo muito bom de “hesed”  Rute não tinha obrigação com Noemi, Rute simplesmente tinha amor altruísta e ela vivia como este amor.

Quando elas estava morando em Belém, elas precisavam de comida.  Então, Rute disse a Noemi,

“Vou recolher espigas no campo daquele que me permitir”.  Rute 2:2

Esse ação era muito interessante porque as pessoas que recolhiam e juntavam espigas após os ceifeiros não ganhavam muito, mal bastante para a família.  Também, era muito perigoso, especialmente para mulheres, nos campos das espigas. Mas, de novo, isso não era importante para Rute.  Ela sabia dos riscos, mas ela sabia que precisava fornecer para Noemi.  De novo, Rute é um exemplo muito bom de “hesed”.  Ela não tinha nada a ganhar, Noemi nunca pediu a Rute para fazer isso nos campos, mas ela fazia o sacrifício por Noemi e nunca pediu por agradecimento.  Simplesmente, ela fazia porque amava Noemi.

No fim da história, Rute se casou um homem chamado Boaz.  Rute e Boaz tiveram um bebe.  Rute 4:16-17 disse,

16 Noemi pôs o menino no colo, e passou a cuidar dele. 17 As mulheres da vizinhança celebraram o seu nome e disseram: “Noemi tem um filho!”

Este versículo é muito interessante porque não diz que Noemi tem um neto, este versículo diz que Noemi tem um filho!  Rute, que era estéril, deu Obed para Noemi porque Rute queria que Elimelech, o marido morto da Noemi, tenha um herdeiro! Isso é um muito grande sacrifício.

Assim, esta história sobre Rute demostra um tipo de amor, “hesed”.  Hesed é um amor sacrifício que nós fazemos em nossas vidas sem expectativa de ganhar alguma coisa.  Ás vezes, “hesed” amor pode ser um risco.  Mas, nosso amor por pessoas e nosso amor para Deus são maior do que nosso amor por viver confortável, ter reputação, e ás vezes, viver com segurança.

Como nós mostramos “hesed” amor?

1. Ativamente saiba o que são os necessidades das pessoas.

1. Rute sabia o que Noemi precisava.  Seria muita facíl por Rute focalizar nos próprios problemas, ela era uma estéril viúva!  Mas, ela estava mais interessada nas necessidades da Noemi e ela queria fazer o que era necessário para glorificar Deus e ajudar os outros.

1. Peça a Deus para te dar a coragem e abnegação para fazer os oportunidades que Deus te dá para demonstrar “hesed” amor.

1. Amor não é natural e amor com sacrifício é mais difícil.

Rute é um exemplo muito bom de “hesed”, mas a Bíblia tem um exemplo melhor.  Nosso salvador, Jesus Cristo.  Ele fez o último sacrifício, morte.  Ele morreu na cruz simplesmente por que ele te ama.  Ele não tinha obrigação legal, ele morreu na cruz simplesmente por que ele te ama.  Ninguém pediu para Ele fazer isso, ele morreu na cruz simplesmente por que ele te ama.  Ele fez “hesed” amor e ainda faz em nossas vidas e Ele quer que nós o façamos nas vidas dos outros.  Simplesmente por que nós amamos os outros, mas mais importante, por que nós amamos Jesus.

Every Saturday night we attend a small group in the Rincão.  At the end of each study, like at any good study anywhere, there are snacks of some sort.  Something salty, something sweet, it usually varies depending on what house we’re at.  Saturday before last, at the end of the study, we were served pastéis. Pastéis are like empanadas. They are a pastry filled with meat, cheese, or yummy sweet stuff, the stuffings vary. (On a separate note, my personal favorite is stroganoff…amazing!!) Anyway, we took one and dug in, we love pastéis!  I took my bite and thought to myself, “this tastes interesting.” but continued on eating. With each bite it got a little more difficult to enjoy. I then looked over at Lucas. The look on his face was priceless. Without words he said to me, “Help me. I don’t know what is going on inside of this pastel, but it is really not working for me. I need to stop eating this right at this moment. In fact, if it wouldn’t be too obvious and rude, I would potentially vomit all over the floor.”  Seriously, I’m not making this up, that’s what the look on his face said.  He then whispered to me, “What’s in this?”. I decided to ask.

Me-“Oh Marcinha”

Marcinha-“Sim, Teresa” (yes, Teresa)

Me-“O que está dentro desse pastel?” (what is inside this pastel)

Marcinha-“Sardinhas.”

I was hoping Lucas didn’t really hear because it translates just like it sounds. The pastéis were stuffed with sardines.  Yes, sardines.  I was sorely afraid of what was going to happen next. You see, we didn’t want to come across as rude. This family cooked food for us, which is a sacrifice for them, and we did not want them to think that we were ungrateful. So, I quickly finished my pastel. It appeared as if Lucas had as well, I didn’t see it anywhere.

Lucas-“Dude! Sardines!”

Me-“I know dude, that’s new! How did you handle it?”

He then gently and discreetly patted his hand on his pocket.

This last Saturday we returned to the same small group at the same house. This time, we were warned by our friends Geferson and Marcia.

Geferson-“Cara, sabe Seu George fez pizza com sardinhas?” (Dude, you know that Seu George made sardine pizza, right?”)

Lucas-”Cara…” (Dude)

Geferson-”Fala ‘não obrigado’, tudo ok.” (Tell him no thank you, its ok)

Lucas-”ok”

When it came time for food, I was offered the pizza first. I politely said “não obrigada”. BUT, when Marcinha offered it to Lucas, he paused for a second and took it!!!  He is so nice he didn’t want to seem rude if both of us said no, so he took one for the team, even though it wasn’t necessary :-)

Oh, if only that were the end of the story.

Last night, on the way to church, we stopped at a padaria(bakery) to pick up something to eat in the car. Lucas went in and came out with a variety of mini pastéis-ham, cheese, hamburger, and pizza. There were 12 of them. I took my first, it was a really yummy ham one. Lucas grabbed his first one that looked just like mine. He took a bite…

Lucas-”THIS IS SARDINES!!!”

Me-”No, its not!! There’s no way!”

He handed it to me. I couldn’t believe it!! Of all the mini pastéis in that bakery, he happened to grab the one that was on the wrong shelf, buy it, and choose it to eat!! And it was sardines!!  What are the chances….

Yesterday after school, Jackson asked me if one of my language school teachers, Gabrielle, could come over to our house. I thought it was kind of odd, he doesn’t really know her, she’s not one of his teachers. Anyway, I kind of brushed it off and said maybe sometime. Well, he didn’t let it go. He kept asking and asking if she could come over. I decided to do a little prying as to why he wanted her to come over so badly.

Me-”Jackson, why do you want Gabrielle to come over so badly?”

Jackson-”I want her to play lego star wars with me.”

Me-”Why?”

Jackson-”She looks nice…”

I think my 7 year old son has a crush on my 24 year old teacher.

This morning Nathaniel woke up with Bible in hand. He wanted to show me all the pages he had read last night. It was quite a bit!

Me-”Wow Nathaniel, that’s awesome!”

Nathaniel-”You know last night when I forgot my pillow in the hallway? When I got it, I hid my Bible behind it so you wouldn’t know I was bringing it to bed to read. Then, when I told you it was too dark and asked you to turn a hall light on, it was really because I wanted light to read more of my Bible.”

We then proceeded to have a talk about how it is great to want to read your Bible, but it probably isn’t the best idea to lie to do it.

Nathaniel-”I have a challenge for myself. I want to read my whole Bible today.”

Me-”That’s awesome! Read away!”

Nathaniel-”I have an idea! How about if I read my whole Bible today, you pay me $5?!?”

Talk #2…we shouldn’t read the Bible for monetary reward. I wasn’t expecting that conversation!  At least he wants to read is Bible though, right???

Anyway, Lucas gave his devotional on Friday. I tell you, even with our small vocabulary, it was a great devotional.  The Lord has certainly blessed my husband with a gift to teach His Word. I can’t wait to hear what his messages when we’re done with school!

At the end of each session, we have oral exams with the director of our school. I did mine on Friday. I had to recite 5 memory verses and the irregular verbs up to this point.  Portuguese has quite a few different tenses of verbs (ie. present, perfect past, imperfect past, and I think 4 more).  Each of these tenses has some irregular verbs that are conjugated differently than the rest of the verbs in its tense.  Each verb has a 5 conjugations. That means for each tense of irregular verbs we have to memorize 100 verb conjugations (I think my math is right).  This is definitely my biggest language school challenge. I don’t have the type of brain that memorizes lists. But, God was so good and I was able to rattle them all off!  And, this weekend, I even found myself using those verbs…correctly!  Lucas does his this coming week.

The boys had their first sleepover at our house last night. This is their friend Junior. He is the son of our friends Geferson (the pastor of the Rincao church) and Marcia. They have been wanting to do this for weeks and it finally worked out this weekend.  I have no idea how late they stayed up. I just know I was asleep by 1:30 and they were still talking! I have a feeling the rest of the day will mostly consist of this…

“The Precious Blood”

Before the cross I kneel and see
The measure of my sin
How You became a curse for me
Though You were innocent
The magnitude of Your great love
Was shown in full degree
When righteous blood, the crimson spill
Rained down from Calvary

Oh, the precious blood
That flowed from Mercy’s side
Washed away my sin
When Christ my Savior died
Oh, the precious blood
Of Christ the crucified
It speaks for me before Your throne
Where I stand justified

And who am I that I should know
This treasure of such worth
My Savior’s pure atoning blood
Shed for the wrath I’d earned
For sin has stained my every deed
My every word and thought
What wondrous love that makes me one
Your priceless blood has bought

A crown of thorns, pierced hands and feet
A body bruised, and Mercy’s plea

Oh, the precious blood
That flowed from Mercy’s side
Washed away my sin
When Christ my Savior died
Oh, the precious blood
Of Christ the crucified
It speaks for me before Your throne

Where I stand justified.

Praise the Lord for His precious blood.

This is my best friend. I used this picture because this is how I knew we would be friends for life, totally selfish, I know. 10 years ago this month (last week actually), I attended the NANC training in Lafayette, Indiana. I went there with a married couple from our church and this single girl I didn’t really know. She and I roomed together. Our first night she gave me a back rub. I knew she had to be my friend forever. Actually, God brought her into my life at a time where I was very lonely. He knew just who I needed.

We could not be more opposite. She’s quiet, I’m not really so much. She’s an amazing writer, she blogs alot, I think we all know how good I am about blogging. She has 2 girls, I have 3 boys. She used to chop wood, I’ve never mowed a lawn. Actually, after several years of picturing her with an axe in her hand, I learned she used a wood splitter, it was devastating. Anyway, the list of our differences go on and on. I think that’s why this friendship is so beautiful. We mesh perfectly together. We never argue. We can sit in silence without it being awkward. She’s a great mom. She let’s me pretend her girls are mine.

Someday, these two are going to get married.

Our husbands are best dudes too. They understand each others quirks. They laugh at each others jokes. They play video games together. Its a beautiful friendship.

This is one of their proudest moments together when they won the Halo tournament at the Impact Superbowl party 2006.

Becca officially found out she has cancer this week. She’s had a tumor in her lung for 2 years now, but it was confirmed this week that it is cancer, along with some small spots in her liver. What her cancer is going to learn, if it doesn’t know this already, is that she is one tough chick. She used to chop wood, you know.
It’s not easy to be so far away while she’s facing this. She has walked hand in hand with me through every difficult thing I’ve faced in the last 10 years and I so desperately want to do the same for her. Unfortunately, thousands of miles hinder that a little. God has been reminding me, though, that His plan is for me to be here. My favorite verse is Psalm 18:30.

“As for God, His way is perfect”.

Becca gave me a bracelet before I got on the plane to move here that has this verse inscripted on it. She now wears one on her wrist with the same verse in portuguese.

“Este é o Deus cujo caminho é perfeito.” Salmo 18:30

This verse is so true (duh, its from God’s Word). God’s plan in her life is perfect, no matter what it is, as it is perfect in mine as well.

I am asking for your prayers for our dear friends. They have some big decisions to make in the immediate future. They meet with an oncologist next month to figure our where to go next. Pray for God’s working in Becca’s body. Pray for strength and wisdom for her husband, Dustin. Pray for those beautiful girls whom I love dearly, Karis and Gabi. Pray that in all of this we remember that “As for God, His way is perfect.”

THE END

Our Photos on Mobile Me

We are praising the Lord that in this past week we have officially breeched the 70% level in our monthly support. That means we have raised $4600 of our needed $6600 of monthly support. That amount goes toward our living and ministry expenses in Brazil. We are in the home stretch of fund raising and our departure to Brazil is getting closer! We will not be able to leave for Brazil until we have raised 100% of our required support.

Here is where the personal request comes in. While we are busy ministering and presenting in churches, we also want to give individuals the opportunity to partner with us financially if they choose. I am aware that committing to a long term monthly donation can be daunting. What I am suggesting is that those who are interested would consider partnering with us at $25 a month. Some will be able to do more and some less. Every donation is appreciated and needed. If you would like to partner with us in this way please use the following links.

• One Time Donation
• Monthly Support Setup

This email will be going out to over two hundred people so be praying that God raises up individuals to help reach our goal and be sent to Brazil. Thanks again for all of your prayers and interest in our ministry to Brazil.

Lucas and Teresa Bair