Day 3

Family & Friends:

 

What an amazing trip so far. Day 3, which was also our first full day in the villages, was a huge success. We spent the majority of the day in a village that consists of 30+ families. Later in the afternoon we visited a village that was up the river a bit. That village consisted of less than 10 families. There were a number of things that we focused on: men's ministry, women's ministry, VBS (vacation bible school for the children), dental, eye wear, medical and evangelism. Typically, Amazon Outreach pairs two groups together to make those ministries function. Praise the Lord for allowing us to still implement each of those ministries with only one team and a few extras.

 

During our nightly meeting, we shared with the group the things that stood out to us. I will try to relay as many things as possible to you.

 

First, VBS had a huge turn out! The joy on these kids faces was unbelievable. When we get back to the U.S., we will have a link for friends and family to see all the photos. You will see how much joy the children got out of games, singing, and crafts!

 

Our women's ministry was a hit! There were so many more women that turned out than we could have anticipated. A theme that many of us have noticed (from previous mission trips), is that women's ministry is very difficult... mainly because they are holding babies and have kids running in searching for them. This can be a bit disruptive. In the U.S., we would quickly eliminate that behavior. We learned that it is important to work with those cultural factors. The women had SO many women turn out that it was almost overwhelming. Thankfully, the Lord had equipped the team to work under such pressure!

 

The men were able to have some quality time together. They were able to share testimonies and encourage one another in the Lord. They also were able to share a game of soccer... I'm sure you can image who won that game (if you didn't know, Brazilians LOVE soccer)! The men were also able to spend some time talking and praying with the Chief of the village. He is a believer in Jesus Christ. Our prayer for him, and we ask that you join us, is that the Holy Spirit would continue to move in his life, that he would continue to lead his village towards faith and righteousness, and that this legacy would continue from generation to generation.

 

The medical team consists of a doctor and a physician's assistant (Heather from the Tampa team). One of the things that Heather mentioned is that at home, she see's patients and is able to "fix" what is going on. Here in the Amazon, people are suffering from things like Type 1 Diabetes and Malaria. It broke her (and many others) heart knowing that medically speaking, there isn't much that can be done. Situations like this, as Heather shared, make us realize how much we need to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. That our true mission here, goes far beyond some medicine, but to eternity. Next was a story about a medical miracle. One lady, according to the people of the village and the local missionaries that are working with us, had cancer that was so bad- she was miserable. She recently prayed to receive Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior, and she was healed... when we saw here, nobody suspected that anything was ever wrong with her. Her story is a testimony to so many people of the village.

 

The dental team was a huge blessing to the village. He pulled teeth that were so rotten that it was painful to live with. One story shared, was about a man who had a tooth that no doctor would pull. The tooth, rather than looking like a normal root, sprung out into the gums making it nearly impossible to pull. This young man even went to the closest city, but was told the tooth required much surgery. Our dentist was able to pull the tooth with NO problems! Praise God!

 

The eye wear team had no idea what kind of ministry they would be in for. The way it is set up, in one of the open shelters, medical, dental and pharmacy set up stations. After each family tried on eye wear, Rebecca and the eye wear team would then ask questions like- do you know why we are here? Do you know who Jesus is? Simple questions like that led to some amazing talks.

 

Photos. Something we, as Americans see on a regular basis. It is nothing surprising or extremely special to us. Andrew's team last year printed photos for some of the village. We decided to do the same this year. I (Kim) was able to do the photography since I work with it a lot. We had each family come together to take a family photograph and gave them a hard copy of it. The reaction- amazing! They looked at themselves on this paper... for the first time in their lives. Some people said that once they received them they just looked and laughed. Then they went from neighbor to neighbor showing off their photo. For me, it was a blessing to see that something so simple brings so much joy.

 

Below are some specific prayer requests for people of the village. Kandace, one of our missionaries was so touched by the people she met, that she wrote down information about them. I hope we all take what she did to heart and do something similar to remember who these people are so we can pray specifically for them. I want to mention of few of these people and ask that you would join us in prayer for them.

 

Maria Aimunda is a little over 80 years old (one of a few elderly people in the village). He is very regal, quiet and still.

 

Pedro (village leader mentioned before). Please pray for a stronger relationship with Christ. Men are watching him. Please pray that they don't abuse alcohol or anything else. Also that the men of this village will be who they are called to be in Christ Jesus.

 

Jose accepted Christ into his heart. Please pray for his health.

 

Amarildo has 4 kids. He is shy at first and gave some confusing information regarding whether or not he accepted Jesus Christ. Please pray for his faith.

 

Luiza, 23, has a 3 month old baby. Please pray for the health of them both.

 

Deborah has a 2 month old baby. She accepted Christ! Please pray for the Lord to make her path straight.
The time we spent in this village was powerful. We were able to reach people, share the love through goods, and able to see some people trust their lives to Jesus Christ.