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My Grandson

Bob Hamilton, Brazil

Missionary Bob Hamilton with his spiritual
"sons," Preto (left) and Jaque (right).

Jaque came by to pick up the keys to the mission canoe, not to start the canoe, but to open the padlock that secures it and the small room at the far end of our floating hangar where the motor is stored. In the past few months, he has become the main driver for the missions canoe. He arrives well ahead of the missions team to bail out the canoe and attach the thirteen horsepower motor with its long shaft. He checks the oil and fills the gas tank, so they are ready to leave by 8:00 am.

Last night, I sat by this same young man in the young people’s meeting. When I asked about the wording of a question I planned to use to begin the message, he assured me that the sentence was correct and then went on to say that Job was his favorite Bible character. Quickly, he opened his Bible to Job 29 and showed me where Job remembers how his life was before God proved his faithfulness. Jaque is always interested in the Bible, always sharing his faith, always ready to help his spiritual father—Preto, our worker, a man who has spent many hours with me in Bible study.

Now a year and a half after leading Jaque to Christ, Preto tells me that Jaque is his right-hand man. They work together in the young people’s meetings, and they go to help at the only town we can drive to from here in Benjamin Constant, on the western border of Brazil’s rainforest. Jaque has shown his dedication regularly, even amid challenges. A few months ago, Preto, Jaque, and four other young men learned firsthand that it takes six hours to walk back from this town of Atalaia to Benjamin when the road is too muddy for even a motorcycle to use.

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. 3 John 4

Our pastor says that I have reproduced myself in Preto. Now Preto has reproduced himself in Jaque. At the end of our last term, Preto began to drive the mission boat, taking others and me to nearby communities to hold services. Today, Jaque is driving and often Preto is one of the preachers. Last summer as Pastor Cristiano baptized Jaque, he commented that Jaque was my grandson. When I heard this comment, I could not help but smile with thankfulness to God for allowing me to work with people who really love Him.