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 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.

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!

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

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

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!

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!

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

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 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 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 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