About Fabio:
This guy is super creative! He has a real artistic flare, which is displayed in various ways — from construction to web design, to guitar playing and cartoon drawing. He is a wonderful father, and it is such a joy to me to see him interacting with the children and discipling them as they grow. Best of all, I love who he is in the Lord, loving the Lord with his whole heart and life, seeking to become more like Jesus day by day, studying the Word, spending time in prayer, and always looking for opportunities to share Christ’s love with the lost and dying.
About Elizabeth:
I have a plethora of different hobbies, most of which I never have time for anymore, including sewing, scrapbooking, playing piano, writing, and assisting at home births. I love to teach as well, and that is one thing I do have/make time for – in teaching my own children, as well as in teaching the Bible in various situations. A “tent-making hobby”of mine is photography, which helps to provide a bit of our income on the mission field. I am passionate about motherhood and family vision, which is part of what we seek to impart as we minister on the mission field.
About Our Children:
Here is a smidge about our quiver-of-six (so far) children, who are our joy and crown. We put much of our life emphasis on discipling these treasures God has given us to cultivate. In spite of all the other “ministry” we do, our number one mission field is right here to these six little disciples. As much as humanly possible, they are right alongside us in everything we do, and we strive to share with them and instruct them and impart our vision to them at every step of the way. We are so excited to see the glimpses of a missionary heart in them, and pray for an abundant multiplication of whatever “work” we are able to do for the Lord, in the service our descendants can do for Him, expanding His Kingdom on this earth!
Joshua:
This is Joshua Sebastian, our firstborn. Hard to believe he is turning into a man before our very eyes! While he has often been a challenge to us with his firstborn strong willed debate skills, we are thrilled to see a new maturity emerging in recent times, the fruit of the Spirit, a desire to do what is right, a new level of patience with his siblings… Praise God!
He has many talents, interests and hobbies. He *loves* to read, and has read through the entire Bible over seven times now! He is also crazy about “cubing”… Rubik’s cubes, that is, of all sizes and shapes, although he hasn’t had as much time to practice recently. He has had the privilege of participating in three cubing competitions and was just in his element! He would love to participate more. He has developed a deep love for music, playing guitar, ukulele, bass and double bass, dabbling in piano and drums. He currently plays bass for our church’s worship.
For the past couple years, he has helped Fabio with his website business as part of his “man training”.
Dominique:
This is Dominique Joy, our little joy of a girl, although not such a “little” girl anymore. She is a blessing to have around – mama’s right hand girl! She is naturally attentive and sensitive to the needs of others. At nearly fourteen years old, she still loves to read and is now reading through the Bible for the fourth time. She has always been a girly girl, loving to play with make-up and paint her little sisters’ nails. She is now aspiring to be a make-up artist in the future, and uses her little sisters for manequins whenever I let her! She gave up violin, but still loves to sing and often has done special music with Joshua, and the two of them often do music just for fun. I am so thankful for her companionship as she grows into a godly young lady.
Israel:
This is Israel Lincoln – going on twelve years old now. He is our charmer in every way. He so easily conquers the hearts of those he comes into contact with with his sweet smiles and he is just naturally affectionate. His favorite hobby right now is coin collecting and he’s into it in a BIG way! School is not his favorite, but he does have a very mathematically inclined mind, and seems to have engineering genius. He is great with little kids and helps me out a lot with the little ones. I am so thankful to see a genuine friendship developing between him and Johann, after all these years of spending most of their time bickering! (Although they still do bicker sometimes….) He also made the decision to be baptized this year, which was a very joyful occasion for all of us. You can see pictures here.
Johann:
This is Johann Luiz. He is ten years old now, and continues to be… very active. We often say that our family would be dull without our Johann – our little clown. He loves to make us laugh, and has no trouble doing so with his antics and expressions and contagious laughter! He is a bright little guy, and learns quickly… IF I can get him to sit still long enough to do any schoolwork. Most of the time he would rather be running, jumping, biking, or irritating his siblings. (haha) And… he gives great hugs!
He also has a gift for making friends, which is being put to good use in this land where we are trying to build friendships with many people. He has invited over many children from school and isn’t shy at all! He nearly filled the church up on the day of Israel’s baptism by inviting people to “come see and celebrate with us”. Smile.
Olivia:
This is Olivia Glorianna, our self-declared “pretty, pretty princess”. We are SO thankful that God put her in our family! The year before she was even conceived, God spoke to my heart that our fifth child would be a catalyst of change, and she certainly has been that in so many ways. She is six now and certainly holds her own in our busy household! She is very strong-willed and tries to boss everyone else around. But she also is a sweetheart and it is so fun to watch her dance and sing and be all girly. Her favorite past time is getting manicures from her big sister Dominique and playing mama/baby with Annaliese.
Annaliese:
We are thrilled to have been blessed with a sixth blessing nearly four years ago, right on her big sister Dominique’s tenth birthday! Annaliese Victoria was our only child to be born in Brazil, and you can read the account of her wonderful home birth here if you like. She is fairly laid-back, which is a nice break since her big sister Olivia has enough intensity for both of them and then some! She appears to be very bright, and certainly lacks no amount of stimulation and affection with a house full of doting older siblings!
Updated September 4, 2018