one another
A Memoir of Faith and Friendship
Here is a memoir written for our increasingly impersonal, lonely, and distrustful age. Author Ken Lottis demonstrates that it is possible to develop strong, intimate, long-term friendships. One Another — written with humor, spiritual insight, and transparency — will inspire readers to live for what matters most: the people in our lives.
In the mid-1960s, Ken and his college friend, Jim Petersen, along with their wives and small children, embarked on a surprising Brazilian adventure. Moving from the United States to Brazil, they settled in the southern city of Curitiba during an era of deep political and social turmoil. Overcoming false suspicions that they were CIA agents, Ken and Jim began to develop friendships with university students. They presented the students with an authentic opportunity to learn more about Jesus through the Scriptures without any connection to traditional religious practices or structures.
This freedom gave their Brazilian friends the space to think about life's biggest questions and to strengthen friendships within the context of normal Brazilian routines. Gradually, these relationships extended organically to include classmates, hometown sweethearts, and relatives. What emerged--and continues today--is a simple but powerful expression of friendship and faith. Ken and Jim learned that the New Testament model for the church is entirely relational. The Brazilians taught them that our deepest human needs are best served when we love one another and live for God in daily life.
One Another will fill your mind with ideas for how to invest in your relationships and deepen your faith in God without religious structures.
Exerpt
It was noon, Saturday, November 28, 1964, our third day in Brazil. I was in a noisy restaurant in downtown Campinas. Seated next to me was Daví, a young Brazilian whom I had met the day before at the Sears store where he worked. He had invited me to meet some of his friends for lunch. My mind was spinning like a ship’s radar, picking up the sights, sounds, and smells. Waiters in white jackets streamed from the kitchen burdened with platters of rice, dishes of collard greens fried in bacon grease, and steaming clay pots filled with black beans and assorted pieces of meat, including spicy sausage, pig’s ears, and tail. Plates of peeled orange slices added a dash of color. I was about to be introduced to a feijoada, Brazil’s national dish.
“Let me serve up your plate,” Daví said in his heavily accented English. There was a mischievous twinkle in his eye as he picked up my plate and spooned on a layer of rice. Next, he ladled some beans and a few pieces of meat over the rice. He continued stirring the pot, searching, and then deftly placed a final piece of meat in the middle of the plate. At first, I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was a pig’s snout!
As I looked up from my plate, I realized every set of eyes around that table was watching me, including those of my American colleague, Jim Petersen, seated across from me. Daví completed my plate with a mound of collard greens and an orange slice, and then he filled his own plate in the same way. Meanwhile, the rest of the guys were filling their plates, and someone called out “bom apetite”, which was the signal to begin eating. I lifted a forkful toward my mouth, not knowing what to expect. That day, that restaurant, that table filled with young Brazilians, and that steaming plate of feijoada—it was more than just a meal; it became something of a cultural continental divide. I was crossing over into a whole new world, leaving behind all that was familiar and comfortable. It was the beginning of an adventure that was to profoundly affect every area of my life, including my understanding of the gospel and my relationship with God.
— Flavio A. Lazzari, Ph.D., e Sonia M.N. Lazzari, Ph.D.
“One Another tells the story of how we experienced together the true meaning of a community of Christ-followers, being part of a church without going to a church building. This was the beginning of a journey that continues today and that will endure for a long time to come.”
— Dr. Jerry White, International President Emeritus of The Navigators; author of The Joseph Road; Dangers Men Face; and Honesty, Morality and Conscience
“I have heard it said that the world is not made up of atoms, but of stories. Life is a one-and-only story with lessons, joys, and sorrows. This book is not just the story of Ken and Carol Lottis but one of the gospel changing them and gaining Brazilian clothes—distinctly non-American and boldly and frighteningly biblical. Friendship trumped methods. Pure motives trumped manipulation. Time and numbers lost their meaning. What counted was friends getting to know the real Jesus of the Bible. The shedding of their American evangelical clothes changed them as much as it changed their new friends. This book will challenge you to rethink how the gospel moves among your friends.”
— Dr. Carlos Bastos, dermatologist
“The narrative of this book shows us the wise and loving way in which Ken Lottis learned, in the context of Brazilian culture, to communicate the message of Christ. His life influenced us all. Even today were are strongly motivated to continue caring for our families and friends, as shown in Mark 5:19.”
— Bud Lindstrand, former CEO, ODS Companies
“A remarkable and exciting account of an ordinary young couple and their three children who left home to travel to a distant land. . . . Setting aside all of their preconceived notions, they allowed the Scriptures and the Spirit of God to lead them in unique ways . . . A must-read for those who allow God to transform them . . .”
— Janete Andrade, music coordinator, Curitiba Institute of Art and Culture
“One Another is a story about a profound time that we had immersed in the authentic friendship of the Lottis family in Brazil. . . . They entered our lives and left a legacy of love, trust, and the transforming power of the Scriptures.”
ISBN Print: 978-0-9600225-2-6
ISBN Ebook: 978-0-9600225-2-6
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