Day 1-2

Dear Family and Friends, we made it! I am writing this blog from the Amazon River, Brazil.

 

Our journey started last night around midnight (although for a few, it started a bit earlier). Most of us met at church (Davis Islands Campus of South

 

Tampa Fellowship), traveled down to Miami, took a 7:40am flight and arrived around 12:20pm in Manaus, Brazil. A short bus-ride later and we were

 

aboard our new home! The boat we are on is just like the pictures (snoop around the Amazon Outreach website if you are curious).

 

Once we arrived on the boat we unloaded our belongings and had lunch. The crew made us a great American lunch: hamburgers and fries! By this

 

point, we had been traveling more than 12 hours... and if you haven't traveled recently, the act of sitting for 12+ hours can cause you to feel just as

 

tired as a full work day. So, some of the group tested out our bed for the next 11 days- hammocks... they were comfy!

 

Later that evening, we met as a group. We shared a little about who we are and why we felt God called us to the Amazon River. We spent some time

 

in prayer and worship. Rebecca and Francisco, our devotion leaders, led us in a devotion. As a group, we will be reading the book Crazy Love as our

 

devotion. Did you know that there are more than 3,000 types of trees within one square mile of the amazon forest? The book and our leaders

 

challenged us to think about how great our God is... much more great than we can really fathom.

 

To get to the village that we will be working with, we have to travel down the river approximately 24 hours. Since we are traveling, it actually seemed

 

"cold" to many of us while sleeping! Heather and Andrew noticed music from different villages throughout the night as we passed by.

 

This morning, after breakfast, we spent more time in prayer and worship. Rebecca led us in a devotion and gave us a challenge to ponder: If we were

 

only given X amount of time left to live, would that change how we are living our lives? Then, Brent shared his testimony with the group. The sharing of

 

our testimonies not only allows us to get to know one another, but it also allows us to see how the Lord specifically allowed us to go through certain

 

trials to make us who we are. When hearing testimonies from others, I often think of James 1:2-4 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face

 

trials of many kinds, because of the testing of your faith develops perseverance and perseverance must finish its work for  us to be complete in Christ

 

Jesus."

 

We would like to thank ALL of you who donated goods for this trip. I was overwhelemed as we unpacked suitcase after suitcase of clothes, candy,

 

meds, blankets, toys, etc. for the people of the villages!       

 

Until next time!