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 

 

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

 

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

TCA Day 3

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

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.