Amor E Esperanca: 2010

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Amazon Team Impact Crusade Update

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Let's just get down to business. Praise God! Praise God! Praise God!

One of our team's went to a school in a poverty-stricken area known to be frequented by drug dealers. We saw some of the students and teachers wearing shirts that promote the Festival of the Bull. Our entire team could feel the presence of evil there. It reminds us that we must persevere. After Satan tempted Jesus in the desert, the Bible tells us that he departed for a time. Jesus knew he would return, and we know he will return to these schools if we aren't persistent in our efforts to win these students for Christ.

This afternoon, one of our team members gave his testimony. It centered around choices. Choices that we make when we are younger effect us for the rest of our lives. They shape how we will react to situation as adults. Choices are like roads that lead us to specific destinations. If we make bad choices as teenagers, we are likely to make the same mistakes as adults. He shared with the students that he a tough guy when he was young. He took drugs and alcohol, and hung out with the wrong friends. He quit all those things when he had the opportunity to become an athlete. Years later, he lost his wife, and the mother of his small children, to cancer. That loss caused a huge hole in his heart. In an effort to fill that hole, he returned to drugs and alcohol for a time. He later realized that the only thing that could fill that hole was and is his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. After his testimony, another team member noticed a teenaged girl that was totally focused on what was being shared. She asked the teenaged girl, named Johanna, what she thought of the presentation. Johanna said that it was the example about the road that caught her attention because that was the exact situation she had been in recently. She told us that the night before she prayed on her own to accept Christ and give her life to Him. We asked her what brought her to that point. She had been going through a rough time with her family because her parents had just divorced and her father moved to Germany. She realized that her life was going down the wrong road, and she realized she needed to give her life to Christ. Today, as she heard us talk about Jesus and what He provides for us, she was amazed that God had really listened to her prayers. She had been going to a Mormon church but has now registerd to attend a small group Bible study at First Baptist Church of Parintins.

Tonight, we heard Natalie's story. Natalie raised her hand to accept Christ before we finished extending the invitation. She heard the same testimony about choices from us and told one of us that she is now in the same situation as our team member. She is married and now has a young daughter. She is surrounded by friends who constantly getting her in situations where drinking and drugs are present. It opened her eyes because her current life is so similar to the past life our team member shared. She had heard of Jesus before, but tonight she realized that because of Him her life needed to change. She has been part of the Catholic church. She enjoys that church because when she's there she feels like Jesus is there. Because of the decision she made tonight, she now realized that Jesus is inside of her and that she can be with him wherever she is. She doesn't have to be in a church to be in God's presence. She also registered to attend a small group Bible study. The Lord has taken a testimony of one of our members who went through a difficult time of mourning and pain and is using it to bring redemption and joy to others.

At another high school, the gym was packed with 18-26 year old students. They were extremely receptive to everyone we did. One of our team members shared that he had been on drugs and alcohol and was thrown in jail. While in jail, he accepted Christ. People were totally drawn into his testimony. It was obvious that the hand of God was everywhere in that gym. At the end of the program, the principal came up to talk to the students. She told the students that she believed that God had sent this message to them and that we were His messengers. She quoted scripture saying, "Beautiful are the feet that carry the Word of God." Then, she encouraged her students to take advantage of the small group Bible studies being offered to them. Many of the students raised their hands to accept Christ. After the program ended, the principal told us that even before she knew we would be coming to her school, she had been praying and fasting for seven days that the gospel would come to the school in a different way.

At the same school, one of our team members noticed a girl crying. She wanted to talk with her, but she felt strongly that one of our other team members needed to talk to her instead. Thankfully, she followed the Holy Spirit;s prompting and had our other member speak to her. This young girl was going through was exactly what our team member had experienced earlier in her life. God led her to ask very direct questions. Every question she asked was a topic that the girl wanted to discuss but didn't want to bring up herself. She shared with this teenaged girl the verses she had read herself to get through these issues and encouraged her to read them as well. The girl shared that she had a good friend who is a Christian. This friend has been encouraging her to accept Christ. She did accept Christ tonight! She was super excited about getting into a small group. She told her Christian friend that she now realizes that God had brought this specific team member to her because they had experienced the same issues.

We can't make this stuff up folks! Tomorrow is the first night of the Crusade in the stadium. Please keep praying for us.

Happy birthday, Ellis Hernandez!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Tuesday, August 25 - An unbelievable day

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Let's just get down to business. Praise God! Praise God! Praise God!

One of our team's went to a school in a poverty-stricken area known to be frequented by drug dealers. We saw some of the students and teachers wearing shirts that promote the Festival of the Bulls. Our entire team could feel the presence of evil there. It reminds us that we must persevere. After Satan tempted Jesus in the desert, the Bible tells us that he departed for a time. Jesus knew he would return, and we know he will return to these schools if we aren't persistent in our efforts to win these students for Christ.

This afternoon, one of our team members gave his testimony. It centered around choices. Choices that we make when we are younger effect us for the rest of our lives. They shape how we will react to situation as adults. Choices are like roads that lead us to specific destinations. If we make bad choices as teenagers, we are likely to make the same mistakes as adults. He shared with the students that he a tough guy when he was young. He took drugs and alcohol, and hung out with the wrong friends. He quite all those things when he had the opportunity to become an athlete. Years later, he lost his wife, and the mother of his small children, to cancer. That loss caused a huge hole in his heart. In an effort to fill that hole, he returned to drugs and alcohol for a time. He later realized that the only thing that could fill that hole was and is his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. After his testimony, another team member noticed a teenaged girl that was totally focused on what was being shared. She asked the teenaged girl, named Johanna, what she thought of the presentation. Johanna said that it was the example about the road that caught her attention because that was the exact situation she had been in recently. She told us that the night before she prayed on her own to accept Christ and give her life to Him. We asked her what brought her to that point. She had been going through a rough time with her family because her parents had just divorced and her father moved to Germany. She realized that her life was going down the wrong road, and she realized she needed to give her life to Christ. Today, as she heard us talk about Jesus and what He provides for us, she was amazed that God had really listened to her prayers. She had been going to a Mormon church but has now registerd to attend a small group Bible study at First Baptist Church of Parintins.

We can't make this stuff up folks!

Happy birthday, Ellis!

Monday, August 23 - The Rest of the Story

Monday, August 23, 2010 - The Rest of the Story

Our focus this week in on the kids of Parintins. We forget that the teachers, principals, and other support staff of the schools all come out to see and hear us. The schools operate year-round in Brasil and get time off from just before Christmas through January. The kids go to school for half a day rather than a full day. Because of this schedule, the principals work 10-12 hours a day for six days a week. At one of the assemblies today, after the gospel presentation and after the kids returned to their rooms, the principal of the school expressed that she was burdened about the school. She asked us to pray for the school, for the kids, and for her. A group of us gathered around her to pray, and as we started praying she fell to her knees with her hands raised. Even though the principals see these kids and their living circumstances daily, they can become overwhelmed with the hopelessness that surrounds them and overwhelmed with the needs of these kids.

Tonight, a principal at another school came to us and also asked for prayer. After we finished praying for her, she was sobbing because she was overwhelmed with the needs of these kids.

Please pray for these principals and teachers who answer a call that goes far beyond making sure these kids get a good education. For most of these kids, the teachers and principals are the only role models they have. These teachers love the children in their schools, and it becomes a huge burden to know that they can't help every child out of their circumstances.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Monday, August 23

Monday, August 23, 2010

This was our first day to take Team Impact with us into the local schools. There are two things we always notice about the kids. The first is that they seldom smile. Secondly, you look in their eyes and see an emptiness and a longing for something in their lives that will make sense and bring them joy. They show an eagerness to see the Americans but a greater eagerness to see why we are here. The older they are, the harder and more closed they are. Their degree of wariness and doubt increases with their age. Their hopelessness becomes more apparent; their desperation more obvious.

It's difficult to make eye contact with them. But if we are successful, they have beautiful smiles! We try to hand them a tract, and they hesitate before they take it. If you wave the tract back and forth like it is a fan, they take it and reward you with a brilliant smile and shining eyes. It's as if they are afraid to be happy. As if their happiness will be taken away in the blink of an eye. The peer pressure here is to NOT show any happiness. They remain aloof and stoic. These observations can lead one to believe that while they can hide their individual hurts and disappointments, but they can't hide the burden of carrying them. And that is why we are here. While we can't change their physical circumstances, we can help them to see that they can shine where they are by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

The way the boys and girls react to the gospel is very different. Most of the girls listen intently. Most of the boys act like they aren't really paying too much attention. Yet when an invitation is given, we have the same number of boys and girls raise their hand, pray for salvation, and receive Christ. You see the same struggle in their faces as they decide to take a chance on Jesus. The same struggle with the emotion of FINALLY givng their burdens up to the Lord. Most importantly, you see the same peace move over their faces when the Holy Spirit enters them.

Tonight, one of our groups went to a high school filled with teens that have killed, have drug addictions, have evil spirits and hard hearts. In God's perfect plan, the Team Impact member who shared his testimony is a man whose own life was filled with alcoholism and drug addiction. He was a member of the US Bobsled team in the 1994 and 1998 Olympics and a pro-wrestler for 5 years with the WCW. He later lost everything, wife, child, and career due to his addictions. Because of his direct connection with these kids, they were so engaged you could hear a pin drop in the auditorium. After he completed his testimony and gave an invitation to accept Jesus Christ into their hearts, 52 hard, closed, and lost teenagers walked forward shamelessly, in front of their peers, and publicly proclaimed their new faith in Christ. Afterwards, we prayed with the kids and prayed a prayer of oneness. We let them know that while we may not see them again here on Earth, we will one day be rejoined in Heaven. All of them signed up for small group Bible studies as a first step in their new life in Christ.

1st Baptist of Parintins currently has 54 small group Bible studies in place. We had the church's small group leaders with us at the assemblies to take the new Believer's information and encourage them to start their walk with the Lord by attending a small group once a week. Please pray for these small group leaders as they strive to reach these kids. Pray that the kid's prayers of salvation were genuine.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

We split into groups and walked through the streets passing out tracts with Vitor Belfort's testimony and invitations to Impacto 2 later this week. As many of you know, Parintins is currently known for its pagan festival, Boi Bumba. Also, known as The Festival of the Bulls, it centers around a fight between the mythical blue bull and red bull. the city is literally divided in half to form the Red Team and the Blue Team. This festival is know for it's demonic practices. Some of us walked through the Blue Team headquarters yesterday. They were electing their Blue Team President and had music, loud speakers, etc. I handed one of the men a Vitor Belfort tract, and his eyes lit up immediately. He told me how much he loved Vitor Belfort. I told him that Vitor loved Jesus and that Vitor would be praying for him and the Impacto 2 event. He had tears in his eyes as he told me that he was against Jesus. You could see in his eyes how torn he is between wanting to hearing more about Jesus and staying with his friends and in a place that is known to him.

This evening we had a worship service and kickoff event for Impacto 2. The Team Impact team performed and spoke and invited everyone to attend the event this week. Marc Minter also gave his own testimony and an invitation for those in the service to accept Christ. We had 83 decision for Christ! Even more exciting was that one of those decisions came from one of our translators!!! It was an exciting evening and great to see how much 1st Baptist Church of Parintins has grown since the first Impact in 2006.

On the way back to the boat, I was looking at all the homes. Everyone in Parintins lives homes that are fronted by concrete walls, locked gates, and barred windows. It's so symbolic of their entire lives. Most of them live behind walls figuratively as well as literally. They protect themselves physically but leave their spiritual safety completely unguarded.

Our purpose this week is to help them find spiritually safety and liberty from those walls. The only way to liberty is through accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Please pray for the seeds that were planted yesterday and last night to take hold this week. Pray for our servant hearts to shine through to the kids in the assemblies. And, please make sure that you have liberty in Christ, and if you find the answer is no, pray to receive Christ as your Savior!

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Saturday, August 21

Saturday, August 21, 2010

All is well as we arrived with no travel issues. The first day and night are spent on the boat traveling down the river to Parintins. Many of us believe that this a day to rest and relax. It's much more than that. We laugh that it is a day filled with breakfast, nap, lunch, nap, dinner. It is the first day we spend together as a team. Most of us met each other at organization meetings, packing parties, and prayer times, but we know little of each other's heart for ministry and missions. Some of have been on mission trips together before and share a bond that cannot be explained.

This is the day that we hear each other's stories of salvation and the grace we've all received. It's the day we learn why each of us have been appointed to this place, at this time, for a special purpose. It's a day when we reveal our hearts. We talk and laugh about a variety of things, and somewhere along the way we leave the stress of daily life and, at long last, allow our Lord and Savior to cleanse us and prepare our hearts for the services we will perform to His glory in the coming week.

I'm amazed that the Lord chooses us as His children when our hearts are impure and our actions sinful. I'm amazed at how He again chooses each of us according to our gifts for His purpose and forms a perfect team from people with imperfect hearts. He brings each of us through varied trials to strengthen us and prepare us for His work. Some of us He has ordained at an early age; some of us He breaks so that He can heal us and mold us. He takes us in our new lives in Him and uses us to help others who are now where we once were.

Many of us spent today reminsciencing about the Impact crusade in 2006. Telling stories of families who touched are hearts then and still do today. We shared with some of the newcomers the story from August 2005 when the members of a youth rally trip went into a pagan stadium and prayed for the people who attended the pagan festival put on there every year. We shared how Hemily Rego and Mical Martins sang a beautiful song in Portuguese while the rest of us were praying. We told them how the winds picked up, the trash in the stadium starting blowing, and dark clouds lowered over the stadium while they sang. We shared with them that the song was completed the wind stilled, the clouds left, and everyone was silent because we know something special had just occured. We only later discovered that the song was a prayer to God to send the Seraphim and Cherubim into this place! It was also later that we learned one of our trip participants had seen an angel over the stadium that day. All of these stories help prepare those who come with us now for the work that lays ahead.

This evening we shared the Lord's Supper. The Word tell us that we need to cleanse ourselves of anything that separates us from Him before we partake of the Lord's Supper. To that end, we each spent some time writing down the things that are separating us from Him and asked Him to remove them. We also wrote down the names of people for whom we have a burning passion to see come to Christ. Some of us wrote down names of people for whom we have been praying for 15 and 20 years. After the Lord's Supper, we spent time in personal prayer and each of us took that paper with our burdens and released it into the river. Gone are our burdens and disappointments. Gone are our anger and hard hearts. It wasn't the paper that took the burdens away. It wasn't writing them down or throwing them in the river. Our Lord once again cleansed us when we asked it of Him. It was symbolic of how completely our Lord showers His grace and love upon us. It was a beautiful example of our privilege to pray to Him at all times. As I stood in the dark of night and watched my own burdens fall into the river and disappear, I was reminded that in I Thessalonians Paul teaches us that we are not of the night; we are of the day. We are Sons of Light! As Sons of Lights, we are to prayerfully and deliberately and specifically seek the lost and share the gospel with Him. But, that is only part of our purpose for the coming week.

First and foremost, we are to glorfy Him by our faith. We are to worship Him and Him only. We are to allow Him to work through us, His Sons of light, to bring the lost to Him. He gives the certain hope of eternal life to those that follow Him. For many if not most of the people we minister to this week, the hope of eternal life in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, is the only hope they have.

We reach Parintins on Sunday morning and hope to get to the pagan stadium early in the day to pray once again for the Lord to banish Satan from this place forever. Will you please pray with us tomorrow? At some point during the day, get down on our knees and ask the Lord to use each of us this week according to His perfect plan. Ask Him to send his lost sheep to us and to make us His shepherds. Ask Him to send the Seraphim and Cherubim into this place!

Friday, August 6, 2010

Hello from the Amazon River - literally! We just took our first swim (for some of us) in the river and it was so refreshing! In case you were worried - no one was eaten - yay! :)

Today was such an exciting day for us! We dedicated our second water well and not only were we able to provide this village with fresh drinking water, four children were presented with the gospel and accepted Christ into their hearts. The angels in heaven are celebrating because we have four new members in our kingdom. We left them with bibles and challenged them to be leaders of the younger children.

We are starting on our final voyage home, so this is our last blog. We do have some exciting boat news that occured this morning! Two of our members got engaged! :)

Praise the Lord for a safe journey and an amazing trip! Please pray for safe travels home and We will see you in the States!

In His Glorious Name,
The Village Team

Thursday, August 5, 2010

The Village Day 3

Bom Dia! Sorry for the delay in updating our blog. It has been such a full few days that we haven't had the time to really sit down and write.

We are on our 4th and last full day of ministry and I feel like we are all in agreement that we don't want to leave. We have visited a new village every day and even though they are all relatively close together, they each have their own unique 'feel' and demeanor to them. The first village was probably the most unsure of us, the 2nd one was extremely welcoming, the 3rd was full of excitement, and our 4th is definitely the most interesting. We are learning so much about their culture and some of the battles that they're dealing with in their community.

It's hard to believe that we are almost done with our trip - I think we are all struggling with the concept that we will be leaving this beautiful place to head back to reality. None of us will be the same after this trip - we have seen some of the most beautiful faces and have gotten to be a part of God's great calling. The team has really bonded and new friendships have definitely been formed.

We don't want to get into too many of the details of the trip because we know that we'll want to tell you all the fun things in person, but one thing we will say - it is crazy to really grasp that although we may not speak the same language, and our way of living is completely different, we have met people that we will one day get to worship with in Heaven.

We'll try and write once more, but don't freak out if we don't. We are excited to share with you our experiences and are so appreciative of your prayers while we're here.

For His Glory,
The Village Team

The village day 3

Bom Dia! Sorry for the delay in updating our blog. It has been such a full few days that we haven't had the time to really sit down and write.

We'll try and write once more, but don't freak out if we don't. We are excited to share with you our experiences and are so appreciative of your prayers while we're here.

For His Glory,
The Village Team

The village Day 3

Bom Dia! Sorry for the delay in updating our blog. It has been such a full few days that we haven't had the time to really sit down and write.

We'll try and write once more, but don't freak out if we don't. We are excited to share with you our experiences and are so appreciative of your prayers while we're here.

For His Glory,
The Village Team

Monday, August 2, 2010

The Village Day 2

Hello from the River! We are all having such an amazing and eye-opening experience. I don't think there is one of us who will make it home with the same outlook on their lives as when they left.

Our first day in the Village was definitely more fruitful than any of us had expected. All ministries experienced a kind of joy and excitement that we know could only be from our God. We are moving down to another tribe for our 2nd day of ministry and are excited to see what our Lord is going to do there.

On a sidenote, I don't think any of us were prepared for how beautiful this place is. We have worshipped underneath the most star filled sky - getting to witness the Southern Cross, the Milky Way and what we think is Venus. (Or Mars, but its not red so we're going with Venus.)

We know this isn't much, but we wanted you all to know that we're alive, healthy and contemplating not coming home (just kidding...sort of). The ladies survived an alligator excursion and are ready to swim with the piranahs tomorrow (also just kidding...)

We'll write more later in the week! We truly appreciate your prayers!

All for HIS glory,
The Village Team

The Village day 1

Bom Dia! (Good Day in Portuguese) We have arrived and are all healthy and excited to be here! However, over 20 of our checked bags were not so lucky in their journey and were left stranded on the runway in Atlanta. Delta has promised to deliver our long lost baggage to us wherever we are on the Amazon, however, we're not keeping our fingers crossed for this.
We are on a boat…the Amor E Esperanca to be exact – about 15 hours down the Amazon and have branched off onto the Madeirinha River. Late this morning we were able to witness the meeting of the Rio Negro and the Solimões River – which was quite the sight! To see to 2 rivers come together but not mix was a reminder of elementary science fair days where you explored how oil and water do not mix. We were all fascinated. 
Our first night on the boat wasn't as restful as we had all hoped – swaying back and forth on the hammocks didn't provide the most peaceful sleeping environment, but was memorable and fun. There was much laughter this morning! We are all looking forward to calmer waters from less traffic on the river tonight. However, this did not stop us from having a wonderful and team-building day on the Amazon! We have prepped for our first day in ministry with the Indians tomorrow and expect to be there mid morning. As we are typing, we are watching cows meander on the river bank and pink dolphins jumping in the water. Our God is very creative!
Please continue to pray for our heatlh and safety, and our impact on our the villagers – we are so excited to see what God has in store for this journey!
For His Glory,
The Village Team

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Eastwood day 1

A great trip so far...Far from much loved families and friends, but enjoying the fellowship with dear brothers and sisters...Lee Ann, I am praying for you...Thanks for making it possible for me to be here and to serve God for His Kingdom advancement in the Amazon...Duggar

Boat life is interesting and different. But AWESOME! Nothing more or less. The villagers are open to us. The kids are adorable and wonderful and the adults are understanding. I couldn't ask for anything more. I never stop sweating....or getting eaten alive. Oh well. Amazon boat life is cool! Oh, and mom just inhaled a bug. Jordan

Thank you to all who have made this possible. Boat life is indeed interesting and the villagers have been very receptive to the gospel. We ran three different clinics today...medical, dental, and eye glass. What a beautiful sight to see their faces light up when they could read their bibles once again. We also had the opportunity to do a VBS for 30+ children, and had a separate time of ministry for the men and women. Before we returned to the boat, we had a sweet time of prayer, a bible lesson and singing. They all walked us back to the boat. Apparently they don't see "outsiders" but twice a year. More later, Kathleene

Well, we went to our fist village today. I helped with VBS and blew a large quantity of bubbles. In the afternnoon i helped with Women's ministry. The women are very open!!! Boat life is good except for the first night of motion sickness for me. I am so glad God blessed us with the opportunity to go on this Trip!!! I love you Dad, Mom, Marg, and Bud! ~Ansley

Having a great time in the Amazon..worked in the pharmacy today which was exhausting and definitely more difficult without my family of pharmacists!! -Laura

Telephone communciations are not available to us right now so if you have tried to text or call, this is the reason there has been no response. God has been so good to us. The crew and the missionary team we are with are wonderful. All of our Eastwood Youth has been outstanding in helping. We had to unpack all of the boxes and luggage with meds, dental supplies, gifts for people of Amazon and then separate out into 250 bags. Adults and youth alike worked hard in the heat and humity. God is honoring us interaction with these wonderful people. Everyone is doing well and are blessed by the work we are doing. Continue to pray for us. We miss everyone..............one thing we are looking forward to when we get home is ice........a glass filled with ice! We will blog again. Please let others at Eastwood know of the blog so they can track what we are doing. We send our love and prayers for the Uganda team that will be leaving Thursday. Ginger

Friday, March 12, 2010

PCA Day 5

Yesterday was yet another amazing day in the Amazon. We served in a village along the river again, bigger than the one we had served the previous day. We held VBS with the children again, performing the Christmas story with costumes, a clinic, and a dental station where Dr. Eli pulled many teeth. This station is where i spent most of the day assisting Eli. In these villages the people tend to not brush their teeth, leaving them rotten, and leading some into death. Dr. Eli, a full time missionary dentist, yanked teeth from strong Brazilians throughout the day, one lady having 12 pulled, leaving only a few teeth. I saw God's love through Dr. Eli who had devoted his life to this work, saving these people's lives. Throughout the heated day, Dr. Eli only took a short lunch break, and was out once again pulling teeth out of his love for the people. The eyes of Christ are reflected through these joyous children, as they giggle and laugh with all of the students. These children have nothing and yet they are the most happy kids i have ever seen. The first day when we visited the invasion area in Patintins, i encountered a group of girls. They were so happy to spend time with us, and a smile was spread on almost every child's face. At the end of the day multiple girls gave me their suckers or worksheets out of thankfulness, but one little girl's gift touched my heart the most. Earlier that day i had given her one of my rubber bands that i had been wearing, and when we returned in the afternoon she came back with one of her beautiful silver bangals to give me. It struck me that these children were so willing to give away their few things, to me who had much more, because of how much they loved us.

One man in the village today decided to accept Christ after hearing Bill Squiric's testimony. As well as this man, many others gave their lives as translaters, students, and adults shared the Gospel through tracks and testimonies. The most touching part of the day occured at the place where the well had been drilled to supply local villagers with clean water. In honor of Mr. Ellis and his father, this well was dedicated and prayed over by all of us. Here i realized that God truly does answer prayers. Though it seemed unlikely at first, we were blessed with this great opportunity.

It was humorous to watch Eric and Michael paint little girls nails and play with their hair. The Brazilians beat the Americans in soccer, yet again, 17 to 0. Also, three of our very students decided to be baptized in the Amazon river, which was a very precious moment for all of us. HAPPY BIRTHDAY HEATHER!!!!!!!!!!

We are airing up soccer balls to throw out to the small villages we pass on the way back to Manaus. The little kids swim out into the river to get the soccer balls and the baloons filled with bible verses and candy. It's like gold to them. Tonight we are going to cook dinner for the boat crew and the translators who have been serving us all week. We're going to throw a little party for them and serve them to show our appreciation for what they do.

It has definitely a trip that we are all going to remember and cherish throughout the rest of our lives. Thank you for all the prayers and support!

Heather Burns and Eric Shell

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Amazon PCA Update

Yesterday we worked in the village of Palhau which on a tributary of the Amazon called the Caburi. The kids and parents on the team gave their all to show the love of Christ to this village. It was a lot of fun to see about 60 children chasing around Claire and Chris Cowman, Eric Shell, Brennan Beeson, Sheridan, Mr Green and Chelsea Huss around the village! Heather Causey had a little boy follow her the entire day. I am going to check her suitcase to make sure she is not sneaking him home!

This is a village where Amazon Outreach has done some work in the past and has seen some from the community come to Christ. One man who came to Christ by the name of Adenil has since suffered because of his faith in Christ. He is not as welcome in the community because in his new faith he has been seen as turning his back on his own Catholic faith. The vision of Abimael - the local evangelist that continually travels to all of the villages under the ministry of Pastor Elmer Lessa in Parintins - is for a new community to be formed a couple minutes down the river so that Adenil can worship freely with some of the other new believers. Through prayer with Abimael we have come up with a name for this new community - Nova Esperanca - which means New Hope! There is another local believer by the name of Igino who is a hard working rancher and he owns a beautiful piece of land there in Nova Esperanca. There has been a simple structure raised where services can be held for discipleship in the months ahead. We are also in the process of drilling a well here in New Hope to provide much needed clean water for this new community. This well is of particular significance to me as we are dedicating it to my father - Perry Ellis for his years of missionary work in Brazil. Yesterday we were in prayer because the drill motor was not working for a period of time because it had struggled to break through the rock but by God's Grace the crew of the well boat drilling team got it back up and running!

I have attached a picture of several of our students as they shared the story of Mary and Joseph to the kids here this morning in the village of Terezinha. The people have overall been very receptive and welcoming of our team. Dr Huss and his nurse assistant Brittany Gadica saw over a 100 patients in the medical clinic yesterday. Stefan Ralston made an endless amount of trips to the boat to keep the pharmacy supplied with the needed medications that were being dispensed by Mike Beeson and Bill Squiric. They provided the only real medical attention to the village. Our team also dispensed several pairs of much needed eyeglasses. It was particularly touching to see Heather Burns as she assisted the dentist yesterday. She did all that she could to encourage the dental patients.

All is well with the team but please keep us in your prayers on our final day of ministry. Lord willing we will be making our way back to Manaus early tomorrow morning.

Christ Is Life! Johnson Elis

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

PCA Day 3 - Mission Trip - Amazon

Hello Friends and Family!! It's Lauren Kelley here and it is officially the end of day 3!! So far it has been such an awesome trip!! Today we were in the city of Parintins and we visited the school called Colegio Batista de Parintins where we held our VBS in the morning with the smaller kids and had a chapel service. After returning to the boat for lunch, our group decided to put on a skit for the afternoon chapel service for the high schoolers. In the skit, Kevin played the role of Jesus and the rest of the group played the roles of "sins" that people often struggle with. The main point of the theme was that each person acts out their sin and tries to tempt Jesus to get him to do the sin with us. Jesus refuses to be transformed to wordly things as each person tried to tempt him. At the end of the scene, Brittany played the role of a missionary and pretended to read in her Bible to be a model of Christ and conform her life like Him. Even through the language barrier, this skit had no words and we only acted to the music, which caused the students to understand much better what we were acting out. It has been so awesome getting to spend time with these children and play with them. It's so evident that they crave attention and love and it has been such a joy to share that with them!! We are leaving Parintins tonight and heading to the villages. Everyone is having a blast and we are so excited for the days to come!! Thank you so much for all your prayers and Mr. Green wanted me to tell his wife that he loves her!! AWW!!! We have had much joy making fun of Mr. Green the whole trip haha.

This is Mr. Green...I wanted to add just a little bit to today's blog. First, let me say that I have been so impressed with the students that we have on the trip with us. They have jumped right in and ministered to the children and students here in Parintins -- it has been very encouraging to see. It was really neat to see them perform a skit all together at the school today. Even students who are generally quieter and more "behind the scenes" participated, and the skit really ministered to the students at Colegio Batista. I anticipate that these next two days will be extremely eye-opening for them as we move to the village...this is going to be like nothing they have ever seen before! We are so blessed as well to have several adults with us who have been so helpful too...each one of them has been serving faithfully and enabling the students to do what they are doing. Overall, we can see the hand of God clearly as we work here in the Amazon. There is no other way that we could be doing the things that we are doing...we are doing this in HIS strength and not our own.

Pray specifically for God to renew us physically and mentally each day as we continue to work with these people. The heat can be very draining at times, and we always want to be able to give 100%. Pray, too, for the drilling of the water well over these next couple of days. I think it is going to be an amazing thing for our kids to see and participate in...I really believe it will revolutionize the way they look at the world. And pray for boldness in all of us, especially in our students. We will be sharing the Gospel with many people in the village over the next couple of days. Please pray that God gives us clarity and wisdom to speak His truth faithfully.

Thanks for your prayers and your support. We could not do this without you. And to Tara...I love you and I miss you! I can't wait to see you on Sunday!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

PCA Day 2

We have made it to Brazil safe and sound! As we spent our first full day on the Amor E Esperanca as we traveled, we bonded together as a group. At first when I read the list of names of the people on the trip I thought to myself about how it was a random group of people and no one will really bond...well God has proved me sooo wrong. I know for sure now that God hand picked this group of people for a certain reason and that each and everyone of us has His plan to answer to. There are no words to explain the beauty here. You can look off the boat and see every single star that God created, and you look at the tress and realize how every single one is created by His hands. It truly takes your breath away. God is so good! This morning after waking up from a night of brutal lightening storms we ate breakfast as a group and began to go out on our first day on land. We did VBS in a place called "The Invasion." This place is where kids and teens are raising themselves as their parents go back to the jungle to get money and make a living. We sang songs of praise and worship and performed passages of scripture for the kids as their laughter filled the room. A personal favorite from the crowd was the "fruits of the sprirt" song and dance. :) We made crafts and colored pictures, and the boys lost in a game of soccer to the natural Brazilian soccer stars!! As the day continued on, more and more children joined us! They would stand at the gates questioning if they should go in or not, and the second the stepped in the gates a smile grew upon all of their faces. The place was full and overflowing with the joy and happiness of God, and people could not turn away. I personally got to share my testimony to all the kids during VBS. As I told my story I listened to the translator repeat it to the kids and thought what a mighty God we serve! He is so great that He is praised in numerous languages!! We continued to play till the late afternoon, and Mr. Green was worn out after being tackled many times! Many of our students had created a special friendship with children here in the Invasion place. I had met a beautiful little girl named Sara. Sara was probably no more than two and clung to my hip as I spun her around singing songs to her. Sara had horrible scabs near her eye and mouth, but I disregarded them and continued to play and color with the sweet little girl. As I continued to play a woman came up and asked Sara what her scar was from. Sara said nothing, she was shy and her words still sounded as gibber gabber since she was a young toddler. The woman told me that she works with a company that goes searching for child abuse throughout the village. She said that Sara's scars did not look like she had just fallen, but that she had possibly been pushed or beaten by someone. I wanted to break down crying right there. How could someone hurt such a precious child of God?? After the woman walked away I held Sara closer wanting this child to know that she is loved by me and more importantly by a God of protection! As we left the place, multiple students left in tears as they realized that they would most likely never see these children again. The bus pulled out and the children began to run after us chasing the bus down waving. It proved to us all that the simplicity of kicking a soccer ball around or braiding hair meant the world to those children. We loved them and that was all they wanted, to be loved. Her in Parintins there is a festival that goes on in June. This festival is sponsered by Coca-Cola and there are two teams, the red and the blue. Parintins is the only place that you can buy a blue Coca-Cola can. This festival is based on old folk tales and stories. The people worship demonic creatures as they partake in the competitions of the two teams. This huge and famous festival brings thousands and thousands of people to the city and also brings prostitution, drinking, gambling and many more things. Our group got the chance to have a time or worship (led by Camryn Clark and Sheridan Ellis) and prayer in the stadium where the event takes place. In a stadium where sin happens, God was worshipped. We spread out around the stadium and covered the place with prayer. We prayed that God will work among the hearts of the people of Brazil. We finished the day off with some ice cream and have headed straight to our beds, since tomorrow will be an early start. Please continue to pray for us as we are fullfilling the plan of our great God. Pray for health as a couple of our team have grown weak due to dehydration. But mainly pray for the people of Brazil and that God will continue to work in this city and open hearts and minds as we students are His hands and feet! We love and miss you all so very much! Hugs and kisses are sent to the family members and friends of those on the trip! (and Mr. Green wants to give a special shout-out to his wife he says, "I love and miss you") Thank you for all the support and prayers!

-Claire Cowman 10th Grade

Sunday, March 7, 2010

PCA Day 1

Bom dia from the Amazon! We all arrived safely by God's Grace. All of our bags made it and we moved easily through customs. I have always wanted the chance to see the team from Trinity Christian Academy but they usually have all departed by the time we arrive. We have been praying for their team and reading their daily blogs. Today though we had the chance to have Dave Delph (TCA Headmaster) and some of the TCA students as they came on board to send us off from Manaus. Dave has been a faithful leader of trips to the Amazon for many years. Both PCA and TCA are so blessed to have headmasters that have a passion for world missions! TCA and PCA compete in many areas such as academics and sports but on the mission field we are all pursuing the same objective - to make Christ's name famous.

All of our PCA mission teams were commissioned before we left Dallas in a powerful message given by Mike Fechner. He asked us to:

1) See People Through The Eyes OfChrist - Mike said that when Christ came to earth He didn't come on a mission trip - He came to give us life!

2) Love People As God Loves Us - Love unconditionally as Christ loves us. When you love someone you don't leave them the way you found them.

3) Be The Hands And Feet Of Christ - Mike reminded us that Jesus said that we would be able to do even greater works than Him!

We ask that as you follow the blogs that will be written mostly this week by our students that you voice a prayer for us as you read about our day. Thank you for the sacrifice you each have made for us to be on this wonderful journey with Christ! Tomorrow we will most likely work in the Invasion Zone - a very impoverished part of the Island City of Parintins.

A few lines from the band Unhindered that played at Freedom weekend recently -

"Father wont you come and open up our eyes. Fill us with your heart, Renew us with your life. Consume us with your majesty. Glory, Honor and Power Belong to You!"

Christ Is Life! Johnson Ellis

Saturday, March 6, 2010

TCA Day 7...the last blog

Day 7

Araunjo

Hello faithful Amazon followers!

Yesterday was our last day in a village, Araunjo. After discovering our upriver boat ride was actually ten hours longer than we had originally planned for, we only spent half of the day in the village. Araunjo was a village of about two hundred people. Logan Landry and Alex Beebe both boldly shared their sweet testimonies at our brief church service. Last night we enjoyed throwing a party for all of our translators and the crew of both boats with a classic tex-mex dinner. After dinner the team had a sweet time sharing what the Lord has been doing in each of our hearts and discussing what we have learned in Brazil this week. This morning (Saturday) at breakfast, the team shared who they were assigned to pray for during the week and spent some time encouraging one another with some sweet words. We are now on our way to Stuckey's to adventure on a jungle walk and buy some bracelets and other fun items from the Amazon. After Stuckey's we will eat lunch and then go to the Tropical Hotel to swim. We will go to the mall briefly to eat before heading to catch our plane and also to buy some soccer jerseys, because everyone knows you cannot go to Brazil and not come home without a jersey! I must say, after watching our American team fight through soccer games daily against the Brazilians, I have discovered that every single Brazilian is actually born with some serious soccer skills in their DNA. Although I am proud to say our Americans did win one game, tied another, and only lost about seven... better than losing all of them, right? The Brazilian boys have enjoyed learning a little bit about American Football from Kyle Cox and Trip Starkey, although I think it might have been odd to see a ball not bounce straight like a soccer ball. We all consider ourselves truly blessed to have been called by the Lord to go on this journey together this week, and although we all expected to teach the Brazilians about Jesus, I speak for everyone when I say that we learned more from their sweet, loving hearts than we could have ever dreamed of doing. I would like to give a special thanks to everyone who has supported us financially and through prayer, we could not have had this week without each and every one of you. I would also like to give a special thanks to the Delph family. The Delphs put so much work and heart into this trip, and we could not have done this mission without them. I never heard one of them complain, each of them led with a servant's heart and a compassionate spirit. We have all grown closer to the Lord and felt His love this week and pray that we will be able to live out that love when we return home. So farewell, this is our last blog of Amazon 2010 TCA trip. We cannot thank you enough for all of your support, and although I know everyone here will genuinely miss this place, we know that God has called us to be in Texas for a reason, and we hope that we will work to serve Him at all times, even at home.

In His Strength,

Gracie McCormack

It has been an amazing blessing to go into the schools in each village. Our Kindergarten students adopted the Amazon schools as their mission project at TCA. The students from home provided five large duffle bags loaded with a variety of school supplies that these villages desperately need. The schools are typically one room schools that serve students ranging in ages from 6-16. The schools do not usually have electricity, they are very small, and do not usually even have enough desks for each child. The students come to school in two shifts, morning and afternoon with adults coming at night. The schools are government run, and it is not unusual for the schools to have absolutely no provisions because the government did not send them money. In each village, we presented the school bag to the teacher of the school or a leader in the village. It was important to us that the villages understood the supplies were only part of the way we wanted to support their school. I was able to explain to each village that our students at home are praying for their school and many gave of their own money to bless and encourage them. Every teacher wept with thankfulness and appreciation. It was precious to hear them share that they had no way to get supplies because they simply did not have the money and the village families do not have the financial ability to provide for their kids. It blessed me beyond words to see the joy and incredible thankfulness in the eyes of these beautiful people who could never have imagined having such a bountiful provision.

Thank you all for praying for us daily. Your prayers have been felt every moment of every day! We love all of you and leave here having tasted and seen the Lord's goodness, grace, and mercy. We have seen God's mighty hand move in powerful ways. We look forward to sharing our journey with you.

His,

Dawn Pownell

Friday, March 5, 2010

TCA DAY 6

Boa Vista (Good View)

Today marks a great day in American history. The American soccer team achieved glory. The morning started off shaky. Ball-handling and teamwork were at a low. The 14 year old Brazillian boys, fully decked-out in matching jerseys, pulled out a decisive victory against the sleep-deprived Americans. Their glory was short lived. After lunch, Team Amazon (aka The Americanos), led greatly by Beebs and Corbin, who accomplished the single greatest athletic feat of their whole lives, put the first "W" on the board for the Americans. Both scored impressive goals. Both took their shirts off during their victory lap. Honorable Mention defenders of the day go to Brooklyn Hill, Logan Landry, Terra Samuelson, Katie McTavish, and as always, our magnificent goalie Tanner Robertson. After the game, a local reporter interviewed Mr. Azevedo and filmed a majority of the game. Mr. Azevedo made known our reasons for being in Brazil: to make God famous...

As the soccer team began to work up a sweat, the other Americans slowly began to dragg off the boat and into the schools and hospital to aid the townspeople of Boa Vista (which by the way is more like the Six Flags of all villages along the river). In the schools, the gospel was presented to 6 different classes of 45+ children each in the morning, and then the same in the afternoon. We demonstrated the way Christ washes away our sins with the "sin solution" visual aid. Led by our fearless leaders, Katy Clements and Nancy Turtletaub (of course), we also shared with the kids salvation bracelets, sang songs, and gave testimonies. Stand-outs for the morning in las escolas were as following: Storey Sheldon, Katie McQuilkin, and Kendyl Dawson, who really loved on the kids. Meanwhile, in the hospital, some of us got the opportunity to see first hand what a village hospital is all about. Be glad none of us have been in need to go there... Accompanied by Dr. Ku and Dr. Beebe, a group of kids toured the hospital, giving words of encouragement and lots of "bom bom" to the patients and nurses. Aren't we good in the nutrition department. Also, we gave out beanie babies to a group of kids at the hospital, who although were not sick were still very grateful. Despite the shocking atmosphere, it was a great experience in opening our eyes to how truely blessed we are living in America. I know the doctors thought so too.

We got a wonderful oppertunity to broadcast live to the radio station of the entire village. Mr. Azevedo, aka the brilliant Brazilian/American superhero translator/ ninja dancer (explained more later), the sweet Mrs. Azevedo, Trip Starkey, and Tanner Robertson all got to speak as hosts for the hour on air. Believing to reach only about 100 or so listeners, the group was soon informed they would reach an audience of around 10,000. Showing no fear, the group boldly spoke on many different scriptures. Trip spoke from Galatians while Tanner and Mrs. Azevedo gave their testimonies. All the while, Mr. Azevedo was translating!! Following after a "captivating" audience of Catholic priests, the group sure had stiff competition to overcome. Needless to say, the radio was a success.

Round two of schools and hospitals took place after lunch, where more beanie babies and rainbow suckers were distributed to the masses. After another session of "Sin Soloution," around four hundred high school students gathered for an assembly of epic proportions in the gym coming to see the American "celebrities." All eyes and ears looked to Mr. Dyer, who spoke beautifully and passionately on his "come to Jesus" moment. Shout out to Kyle Cox and Karaline Coats who gave their testimonies to a restless crowd of Brazillian teenagers. With all of the attractive blondes on the team this year, keeping the attention of the Brazillian boys was not difficult. Making sure they herad what we had to say was a different story. Many of our girls signed autographs of adoring fans throughout the day. Mr. Delph made sure to call a meeting with the group about safety and the potentials of "stranger danger." No casualites occured.

After dinner the gang headed back up to the village, which really acted like a small city, for a gathering of the local church and the villagers. A skit was performed by some of our trip members, Chloe Robinson and Corbin Blount gave testimonies, and Mr. Delph once again spoke with conviction to a rowdy crowd of Brazillians. This rowdy crowd consisted of many children, candy venders, and a group of crazy awesome dancers. These dancers are called ... and performed ritualistic fight-dancing-shenanigans. Mr. Azevedo could not contain himself and joined in on the Ninja Dancing fun, along with many of our translators. It was a big day.

To top of this glorious day of amazement and wonder, we were escorted back to our boat by nearly two hundred small Brazillian children, who stood at the edge of the water chanting whatever Trip Starkey commanded. As the boat finally pulled away, all Americans looked longingly back at the villagers who at this point in the night were indeed chanting "Go Cowboys!" I kid you not. We have clearly made a greater impact than we could have ever thought.

Over 2,000 students heard the gospel today via school.

Over 10,000 locals of the village heard testimonies and scripture via the radio.

Over 500 villagers gathered for the service.

And countless were effected by the love shown by all members of the group.

-Katie Feldman and Kyle Cox

Thursday, March 4, 2010

TCA Day 5

Day 5

Sao Benedito (St. Benedict)

Despite chiggers and utter exhaustion, today's ministry was a success. Not to worry the mothers, chiggers are nothing serious.. just bothersome. St. Benedict's was the largest village we have visited yet. From the evening's reflection, everyone seemed to have been lead by the Spirit to the ministry where God could use them most.

VBS: The kids today were crazy. Because it was the largest village, the multitude of children were a challenge but a blessing as always. The two Camillas (our translators) were extremely helpful and Mari's love for the kids was so evident in the way that they flocked to the games that she initiated at the end of VBS. Preston Pownell's story was one of the sweetest of the day. There were two mentally disabled boys in their mid-teens that Preston completely adopted. He never left their side and loved them in a way that impressed us all. Although none of us on our own had the energy to handle these kids, everyone ministered to these hyper kids very well. Several of the children watched for specific Americans after their return from lunch. Nancy as always was fantastic. Her energy amazes us all. She truly loves each child and leaving them brings tears to her eyes everytime. I have never seen such a child magnet. They are drawn to her immediately. The trust that these children display is absolutely mind-blowing. For example, in the meeting at the end of the day one little girl, probably just over a year old, came up looking for a seat and since there wasn't much space, I (Anna) hugged her into my lap with one other girl. In about 2 minutes her head rolled down a little, and I realized she was sound asleep. I switched around and cradled her in my arms. After the meeting, her mother came up to me to take her home and gave me the sweetest smile. Even though i was pretty much just there to receive this child and did absolutely nothing to win her trust, I loved her, and her mother appreciated that in a way that I have never quite experienced before.

- Anna Heffner and Chrissy Thompson

DOOR-TO-DOOR:

Tuesday night, Mr. Delph said that today was the day when in years past, the kids, translators, adults, etc. "hit the wall," so to speak, in the adventure that is the Amazon Mission Trip. The Day of the Wall began with a hike up an extremely steep flight of 76 stairs...but who's counting. The rest of the day was just as difficult and utterly terrifying as the trek up the stairs.

We began our morning ministry of Door-to-Door conversations with the villagers that were willing to speak with us. The first few were very hesitant to delve into conversation, which was a greatly disappointing way to start off the day. It only gets better from there. The next few hours consist of Trip Starkey and Karaline Coats in particular stepping up to the plate and listening to the Holy Spirit guide them in spreading the gospel with the villagers. Trip and Mr. Clements led a teenage boy to know Christ in what was possibly the coolest moment of the trip so far. The boy asked us a question that was terribly hard to answer, and good 'ole Trip comes up with a verse from the Bible that completely applied to the situation. Here's the part that makes this story awesome. Trip didn't know what the verse said. He merely told Mr. Azevedoe to read 2 Timothy 3:12 to the boy. Un-Real. This happening is a perfect example of how God is doing so many different things through so many different people

Next, Karaline Coats acquired two coconuts, three mangos, and some fruit I've never seen before from the kind people of the village that we got to talk to. Even more spectacular than the attention and love Karaline, and all of us really, received from the people today, was how well she shared her faith with a struggling family. Context: Husband a believer...wife, not. Karaline did an excellent job of on-the-spot giving her testimony and applying it to the woman and her life. While we are uncertain as to how much this lady really took away from Karaline's story, it was obvious that the Lord had great plans for us today, despite the "wall."

As a group, we pushed through "the wall" together as a team, and were able to accomplish what we felt the Lord had called us to do: making disciples of all nations.

THINGS THAT NEED TO BE MENTIONED ON THIS BLOG:

After lunch on the boat, we lost some good soldiers that could not continue the day. That's how large this wall was. Austin Gregg and Alex Beebe fell to dehydration and exhuastion, and the doctors decided that it would be best if they did not go out for the rest of the day. Our fallen friends will not soon be forgotten. But really, they're fine. Both have recovered quite swiftly due greatly to the care of Dr. Ku and Dr. Beebe on our boat. They are awesome.

To all the parents that have never seen a picture of these villages in Brazil: If you can't wait to see the pictures on Sunday, rent Jurassic Park in the meantime. It's basically the same setting.

To my Mommy: I am applying sun-screen and insect repellant twice a day, and I'm having a wonderful time. I love you.

P.S.- The blanket you secretly put in my bag is not being put to use at all. It's hot.

-Kyle Cox

Also the teen women Bible study continued again today led by Katy Clements, Karaline Coats, Taylor Landry, Sean Ku, Catherine Chesnut and Amber Betts. The young women really opened up today and not only allowed us to talk to them about identity, but got very personal with us, sharing their problems and struggles. One even shared her story of her father who did not want her anymore. While we were all very touched by their willingness to open up to complete strangers, it was encouraging to see the Holy Spirit work through us to each give our testimonies to these young women despite the language barrier. I'm excited to see what God has in store for us on our last two days.

Love you mom and dad! ... Tell Bozzly I miss him!

-Karaline Coatshh

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

TCA Trip - Day 4

Day 4

Sol Nascente

Today we went to the largest village on Lake Carara with approximately 80 families. We were informed that this village has been resistant to people sharing God's word in the past. For example a church was built for the people, and the people who were strongly opposed to this idea destroyed the church and threw it into the river brick by brick, so after this, the Christians that did come had to base their relationships with the people on kindness. As the pastor's wife said, "You must set a foundation of pure kindness and not just throw the gospel at them." So, upon hearing this, we prayed that the Holy Spirit would reveal himself through playing with the kids and learning about the men's and women's daily lives, but if willing to hear the gospel, we would share how God personally had changed our lives.

Although it's difficult at first due to the language barrier, the parents become much more comfortable when they see us playing, singing, and loving on their kids. I (Shannon Thompson) had a very sweet moment with a 10-year-old girl I fell in love with last year, and when we saw each other today she ran up and gave me the biggest hug. She kept telling me I was beautiful and all I could think about was how much more beautiful the God is that I love. She kept kissing my cross knecklace that I had on and eventhough I am not sure if she is a believer it made me feel that all my actions had somehow made an impact. Kelsey Dyer was reminded of how much trust we need to have with the Spirit when she saw how the kids had complete trust with us even though we are complete strangers to them. Everyone has begun to notice how humble these villagers are in the way they treat their families and the way they share the little they do have.

Austin Chandler, Taylor Landry, Kyle Cox, Kelsey Dyer, Annie Wells, Gracie McCormack, and Alex Beebe performed a skit for the Brazilians that demonstrated Christ's persistent love for us. We worshiped with the Brazilians and Tanner Robertson and Katy Clements shared their testimonies. Tonight we met again as a group to discuss the day and what God is teaching us. As we read Forgotten God, I (Chloe Robinson) was convicted why mission trips like this leave you feeling completely satisfied. Francis Chan writes "We are most alive when we are loving and actively giving of ourselves because we were made to do these things. It is when we live like this that the Spirit of God moves and acts in and through us in ways that on our own we are not capable of. This is our purpose for living. This is our hope." The reason we feel emtpy or purposeless at home is because we get comfortable in our "easy" lives and forget to be the servants that God has called us to be as his disciples. We all discussed the possiblities of becoming more involved back in Dallas, and Preston commented on the need to have child-like faith just as the children in the villagers have faith in us. The discussions each night have truly brought us all closer together and have been eye-opening for everyone.

This week as we have been doing a women's Bible study led by Mrs. Delph and Mrs. Pownell, we have engaged in some really awesome conversations, but it really only pertained to the mothers. So, I (Karaline Coats) and Taylor Landry decided to start a teens Bible study for all girls without babies. We got a wide range of ages from 12-years-old all the way to 21-years-old among about 20 girls. No matter the nationality, all girls struggle with identity, appearance, are we "good enough"? (in the world's eyes), are we "beautiful"?, and our relationships with men. These are all topics we included in our discussion. We first began by getting to know the girls and asking about their life here in the village, and they asked the same about our lives back in Dallas (through translators of course). After about 30 minutes, we began to get more personal and ask about their own relationships with their boyfriends, "how far is too far", their struggles with comparing themselves to other girls, and things in which they put their identity. We told them how God should be the foundation of their relationships in order for them to work, so we made purity bracelets for each of the girls to remind them to be pure until marriage (just like our purity rings). After about an hour and a half we split up into two prayer groups and asked them if there was anything we could pray for. Overall, I think we did a really great job interacting with the girls and preaching our love for Christ over all other loves here on earth.

We end tonight giving "all the glory to God" as Mrs. Pownell said and in awe of His magnificent creation. A few kids had a discussion on predestination, and I think we concluded that we all have differing opinions but at the end of the day we are so thankful for a gracious God that is willing to save us. As we travel to the next villages, we ask for everyone to keep praying for safetly and health but most importantly that through our words and action the presence of God invades the hearts of all the people we touch.

Shannon, Chloe, Karaline, and Preston

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

TCA Day 3

Bucuzal, Paraiso

Today, the whole team was really really encouraged by the receptiveness of the villagers to the message of Christ and the healing, love and community He brings.Through many one-on-one conversations, group meetings, and classic TCA student craziness, the people of Bucuzal and Paraiso truly felt the love of Christ.

At Bucuzal, it was very special for many of the students because it was one of the villages TCA went to last year on the spring break trip. I (Nancy Turltetaub) was so ridiculously excited to go back to this village because one particular little girl really touched my heart last year. I pray for Isabelle regularly and her picture is hanging in my room. It was so cool to see her again (in the exact same shirt as last year!) and how God truly loves and protects every one of His people.

At Paraiso, our team was so encouraged through many of the different conversations and group times with the Brasilians. After spending an hour talking with three teenage girls, one spefically came to Katy Clements thanking her for talking and engaging in conversation with them. Another woman that Angie Azevedo got to spend time with said that she had been praying for months for God to send people to encourage her in her own personal walk with Christ. As Mrs. Azevedo, this Brasilian woman and one of our precious, hard-working translators prayed under a tree, she said that she truly felt God "hugging" her. Sometimes we all wonder about how much these villagers really want us to come to their village and hearing how excited some were to have us there, was truly a blessing from God.

A couple other special stories...

In the eye glasses ministry, Dr. Ku and Dr. Beebe were able to provide glasses to an 11-year-old boy who had never been able to see past his hand. They said seeing his face light up was incredible. To us Americans, it was crazy that he had never been able to see the ridiculously beautiful place he lives for 11 years!

During the women's meeting, one woman shared how 3 months ago she lost her 3-year-old child to cancer. As she shared her story, the entire group...both the Americans and the Brasilians...were brought to tears at this precious villager's story. Karaline Coats was able to love on her as she shared her story, and Taylor Landry got to relate with her through sharing how she lost her grandfather to the same kind of cancer.

This afternoon, Clarissa and I (Gracie) were a little discouraged feeling like we hadn't quite had the opportunity to talk with any of the villagers on a personal level. A few minutes later we noticed an 18-year-old girl named Daniele sitting off by herself. Daniele has a 16-month old baby, and the father is out of the picture. We grabbed our translator, Nadyr, and went to talk with Daniele. At first she seemed uninterested and indifferent, but as we continued to talk about our struggles in our own faith and walk with Christ, she began to grow more receptive to what we were saying. Forty-five minutes later, after discussing prayer, loneliness, and repentance, Daniele had something to say. She then told our translator Nadyr that she wanted us to pray with her to accept Jesus! Clarissa and I were overwhelmed and overjoyed to get to experience God opening Daniele's eyes to His love. Clarissa then gave Daniele a salvation bracelet and explained what each color meant in the story of Christ. Daniele told us she has an entire Bible in her possession, and we encouraged her to continue to read it although it is hard to understand sometimes. We rejoiced in the fact that even though we may not ever see each other again on Earth, we will be together one day in the most perfect, glorious place.

On the whole, it was an incredible day, but please continue to pray for our team's strength, energy and confidence because the heat and Satan can take its toll! God is continuing to work in this area of the Amazon even as we leave each village. One of the main goals of this trip is to encourage the missionaries here as they often feel isloated and lonely in this very hard lifestyle. The missionary's (Vanderlei) wife, Erika, had a baby at 40-years-old (Emmanuali is now 20 months and adorable), and she suffered with loneliness during this time. She always talks of how important our encouragement was to her last year because it is so needed... especially the daily struggles of ministry...as a wife and mother. Our work here is not a one-day deal, but it is God using us to both love the Brasilian villagers and encourage the dedicated missionaries in this area who will continue working with these same villages when we leave.

We hope all of you who have taken the time to read our perhaps too-lengthy blog are safe and enjoying the beautiful creation surrounding you in Dallas...even though it is not quite like the Amazon :) Thank you for your prayers and support; it is felt and greatly appreciated by all of us here. Remember your prayers are powerful and effective! (James 5:16)

Clarissa Pavey, Nancy Turtletaub and Gracie McCormack

Monday, March 1, 2010

TCA DAY 2

We were awakened this morning with Amazon rain...surprisingly cooler than Texas rain. Very moist. Uncomfortably moist. Due to the unceasing rain throughout the majority of the morning, we waited till after lunch to go out onto the village grounds. After watching an inspirational video about spreading the gospel, we were ready to change the world as the Amazonians know it. Maybe a little too ready. We stormed the beaches with our care packages, soccer gear and shear courage. In order to do this, we had to trek courageously up the slippery, moist slopes of Divino village. It was dangerous but well worth the trouble. We started off with VBS, medical and optometry clinics. Very fun but very humid. At 4:30 was the long awaited soccer match. Corbin gave up 4 early goals to a less-than-10 year old boy, but Tanner took one for the team when he saved a goal by diving into a puddle o' mud. By the end of the match, everyone's bodies were moist as can be. Everyone wanted to head straight for the showers (MUCH more on that later (except for Kyle Cox and Austin Chanandler)), but we needed to hold a worship service and share testimonies.Kyle Cox and Gracie McCormack shared their testimonies and Mr. Delph preached to the villagers. God's work was evident in the hearts of the people with whom we came in contact.

Around 6pm, the church service ended, and we were all very saaaaad :( that we had to leave our little children behind. We began the trek back down the dangerously moist hill and the boys victoriously claimed the showers before the ladies for the 1st moist shower of the night (again MUCH more on that later). Showers consist of bonding, cleaning, and pinesol?! (i'll explain......later). Literally THE most refreshing shower in the world, behind the boat on the Amazon. We then ate dinner. yes. Then we broke into 4 groups and went alligator hunting! All groups caught alligators but the last group got the biggest one, about 5 feet long. One group even caught one with 3 legs and a nubbin...cool story hansel.

But all of this is nothing compared to the epic male bonding experience. It was soapy. It was spectacular. It was moist. It started off as just a second shower at night to refresh ourselves before bedtime. But it quickly escalated into an experience many of us will not soon forget. This experience lasted a good 30 minutes and consisted of a combination of everybody's soap, shampoo, facial wash, and possibly even pinesol. It was after we combined all of these that we realized there was indeed a pinesol bottle in the mix. Only God knows if pinesol was in the mix, but either way...the boys hair will be glistening and smelling amazing all through the night. That's the power of pinesol, baby!

Due to the alligator hunting, we did not meet to talk about "Forgotten God" tonight. But we will be sure to make tonight's session up tomorrow night! It is now about 10pm and the ladies are sleeping on the 2nd deck, while the strong, handsome, young lads are writing to you. We want all of you to know that we love all of you with all of our hearts, and we miss you dearly. For serious.

That's all for tonight, folks!

Moist count....it's up to 8. Moist, moist. There, that's an even 10.

Sincerely,

Tregxander Barrett Coxersonler, IV.....(Trip Starkey, Austin Gregg, Alex Beebe, Corbin Blount, Kyle Cox, Tanner Robertson, Austin Chandler)

P.S.: The women don't exist anymore.

FIN.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

TCA DAY 1

Hey Friends!

We have made it through day one, the absolute longest day of the entire trip. After our six and a half plane ride from Atlanta, we arrived at the airport around 6:15 AM, went through customs (quite slowly I might add) and reached the boat around 9 AM. Delta Airlines unfortunately misplaced sixteen of our bags, which are supposed to reach us tomorrow by speedboat, Delta has informed us how sorry they are and how hard they are working to fix the problem... Wonder when we will actually get them... Thankfully nothing direly important was in the misplaced bags. The team has spent the day taking naps, sorting through our big bags to organize family packs and such, playing card games, laughing at Austin Chandler's white afro (in a kind Jesus way, of course), and of course, enjoying cold outdoor showers on the back of the boat. Taylor Landry enjoyed her belated 17 wet birthday kisses (Alex Beebe claims his kisses were the absolute best, Taylor strongly agrees ;] ) this morning at breakfast, according to tradition on the Amazon trip. Overall, it's been a very slow day. Setting up all of the hammocks was probably one of the high points of the day... who knew so many hammocks could fit on the girls' deck of the boat?! I'm glad to announce there have been no serious hammock accidents yet, although Kyle Cox fell out of his this afternoon- luckily his hammock was a mere five feet above the ground (or 3 inches...). The team is now enjoying time relaxing after our night meeting discussing Francis Chan's book Forgotten God, listening to music and spending time together talking. Austin Chandler says this blog "IS SO BRAZIL!!!"- the new saying that has spread like wildfire among the team.

Tomorrow we arrive at our first village, after travelling down river 18 hours. We will spend the day interacting in all of the different ministries such as VBS, door-to-door, clinics, and women's and men's ministry. The American team will get the chance to get to know the Brazilian crew and translators better as we did not have the opportunity today. The American team is on the big boat "Amor Esperanca" and the Brazilian team is on the smaller boat "Linda Esperanca".

We thank you for all of your prayers! God is good and kept everyone safe through all of our traveling done in the last twenty-four hours. We would greatly appreciate your continued prayers for boldness and strength to be a light to all of the people we come into contact with this week. May the Lord use us as a reflection of Him and help us grow to be more like Him daily.

In Him,

Your Favorite Amazoners:

Taylor Landry & Gracie McCormack

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

day 5

Day 5

I wanted to start off by saying thank you for all your prayers. They are so very important to us. It's been said a few times on this trip that the most powerful thing we can do is pray. For all those moms, dads, and loved ones back home in the states, your prayers are the greatest support that you can give. So Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, because your prayers are being honored by God. So please continue to pray as we head into our last day of ministry tomorrow. Pray for safety, pray for us to completely submit to the Spirit and the work He will be doing here. Pray for the people that God has sent us here to encourage and to share the Gospel with, and pray that the enemy have nothing to do with this place. Lastly, as we have only two days left, you can pray for a safe trip home.

The night brought cool breezes off the water that made it one of the best night's sleep of the trip. The morning was breakfast as usual, followed by an extremely thought provoking devotional about the greatest thing that Christ ever did for us. After our thoughts were stirred, we loaded up and headed out for the village of Cinturao Verde where God had plenty of work to be done. The Medical team had well over a hundred patients, and the dentist pulled more than seventy teeth today. On a personal note, our dentist has a record of pulling 155 in a single day, so I think brushing three times a day sounds like a great idea. This also kept our pharmacy plenty busy.

The women's ministry once again made bracelets for the ladies in the morning, but the afternoon took an amazing turn. The women came and sat with us to talk, but we did much more than that. In the words of a fellow missionary from that group "It could have been a normal Bible study from home." We went around the circle and spoke about our families, prayer request, hopes and dreams. Then, we all decided to read our favorite verses to the group and tell why they meant so much to us. The American thought that this was just going to be them sharing, but once we were finished the Brazilian women wanted to read us their favorite versus. It was so encouraging to my soul. Some of these women had come to know Christ on our last visit in September. They had actually been reading their Bibles! Our prayer to come and disciple those same people was met, and the odd things is that I felt as though they were disciplining me. One woman told me about how she would read the words of David in Psalms 121 and remember all he was going through at the time, and that would help her to press on and place herself in God's Right Hand!

The Men's ministry was very fruitful as well. It was amazing how for the first time this week the men out numbered the women. There were over 30 men that came to hear Stuart preach about how to lead their family in a Godly way. The men were very receptive, and even made comments about how much they knew they needed to hear those words. There were also women that told us that they had been praying for us to come to talk to their husbands. Our arrival was an answered prayer!

The eyeglass ministry was another area with evidence that the Holy Spirit was moving. The Lord sent the powerhouse AKA "Tha Don" to share the Gospel with every person that sat in his chair. He was persistent and purposeful in the words that came from his mouth. It was a beautiful! They prayed for hours with fervor over the wonderful people he encountered. There was two decisions made to be reconciled to Christ! All in all another normal day… =)

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

DAY 4

day 4

God right now I feel as though I can understand this language. I am amazed by You. You turn the rain off then on, off then on again. The world is at your command. This man seems to know of You, but he dosent know You. Lord God heal him only so Your Glory can be shown. Save his life Father God spare his old soul. Izzy has placed his hand on the old mans heart. I believe he is telling him how important it is to know You personally by accepting you with his whole heart. The old man just looked up at me. Though blind, I felt he could see me. God if You don't heal him on this earth, then I have faith that You will save him, and make him new in the kingdom. I cry and plea for this man. I see his heart, but not as you do Lord. I'm standing here thinking of Your glory and what You've done. God your amazing, always on time, and forever mine. I have realized through this trip that You are calling me to search your scriptures. You want to show me great and mighty things.

- this was written by a member of our team. i think it shows the kind of hearts that God has placed on this mission. the comment tonite was made that we have these seperate groups from different parts of the country, that God has brought together and now there are no divisions, its one team that God has pulled together, each with different talents and abilities that God has used for his purposes. its such a the power of the spirt is so beautiful to witness and be apart of. i feel spoiled and have this amazing sence of joy, that i get to be aroud people with such a servents heart.

ive been told by those most experianced here in the amazon that "every trip is different. you will see different things and God works in many different ways." now being on my second trip i can see what that ment. last september i came with a team (many of which are also on this trip) to this same area and it was like harvest time. God chose to glorify Himself by using us to share the gospel. the Spirit was so powerfull and many lives were saved. this time around, it feels like we've been sent to plant the new seed in those who are still lost and to encourage the saints here. but i must be honest, many here feel that the enemy liked having those previous in the dark and, now having lost that battle, is starting to fight back. The truth that the Spirit has shown us is allowing us to see the spiritual warfare that is going on here. many unbelievers that we would speak with knew the gospel and could tell us who Christ is. some even have personnaly seen the power of Christ. but kept saying that they were not ready to accept Christ as their savior. many of our team testified that they could feel something fighting against them. i am reminded of John 3:8 "The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can't tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you cant explain how poeple are born of the Spirit" the Spirit comes when it comes and goes when it goes and God will save these people when He has planned it and not before. in the words of one of my brothers in Christ "we serve a Big Big God" it is also clear to us all that God is far from done here.

God did wonderfull things here today, some we witnessed most we may never know of. and what we saw will be included in tomorrows blog.

but i wanted to share that a commen theme throughout the week has been for us to turn to God and Pray, Pray, and Pray for the Spirit to be present and working and for any opposition to be bound and cast away from here. so i pass along that prayer to all our family and friends. Resistance to the Gospel has been less and less as the days pass. with your prayers as well anything can happen.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Monday, August 23, 2010

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Friday, August 6, 2010

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Monday, August 2, 2010

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Friday, March 12, 2010

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Friday, March 5, 2010

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Monday, March 1, 2010

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

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