Christmas Trip 2013, part 2

As we depart for our last full day of ministry we can't believe the time has gone so quiclkly. We won't forget the children we have encountered and their smiles.

One thing that stands out as a tremendous blessing and a reminder of the needs we all have but are accentuated by poverty was a medical visit turned prayer session and gospel presentation. Chuck and Felipe were headed to a house call for a lady that has had several strokes and could not walk, talk, or care for herself. Nate tagged along, mainly because he wanted to see the village (we had already done the presentation that morning). They checked the ladies vitals, meds, and talked to her husband about general health and practices for health. When they got back to the med site, Chuck asked Rebecca to go and check her blood pressure and blood sugar. Nate led Rebecca back to the house, and this time Noah tagged along. No one spoke Portuguese and all three are first timers to the Amazon. The husband spoke to Nate on the walk back and Nate could only smile and nod.

Later, Chuck asked Rebecca to make one last call, not for meds this time but for prayer. Chuck had a strong prompting from the Spirit that the lady needed prayer. Both Chuck and Nate both felt a spiritual cloud hanging heavy over the house when they had visited that first time. This time, Nate, Noah, Rebecca and Rose went to the house and all prayed for her, with Rose interpreting for them. After the first round of prayers, Rose, an amazing translator and precious sister in Christ, launched into a Full - Gospel presentation. 5 minutes, 10 minutes of laying out Jesus' love for this broken and desperate woman, lying helpless on the floor. The woman prayed to receive Christ and her spirit came to life. Noah, Rebecca, Nate and Rose prayed for her again, petitioning our Lord and Saviour, The Great Physician, to heal her body that she may testify to others the redemption she had received. As they left, our new sister in Christ gave each unprompted kisses and hugs, reaching up from her place on the floor to pull them down to her level and with smiles. Nate and Rose followed up with the wife of the pastor in that village. She told them that the lady had not been receptive to prayer or talk of any kind about spiritual things. Her husband is a heavy drinker, purchasing alcohol from a travelling alcohol salesman who comes to the village and supplies many of the men there. The stranglehold that the enemy has there in that village is definitely something we should continue to pray about. The husbands name is Manuel, travelling salesmans name is Francisco, and the sweet lady who needs to grow in her new faith in Christ is named Magdalina.

Last night the team attended a church service in Bela Vista where Rebecca and Nate gave testimonies and we sang Joy to the World and Silent Night. Although it doesn't feel like Christmas due to the climate, the carols and the multiple daily re-enactments of the Christmas story keep us focused on task.

We heard reports of the weather in Dallas and we hope everyone is ok. We will keep you informed of any flight delays once we are in Miami.

Christmas trip 2013

Good Morning Friends from the Christmas on the Amazon team

It has been an amazing few days of presenting gifts and sharing the good news of Jesus Christ to the children in the Amazon region of Brazil.

On Tuesday, the team spent the whole morning organizing nearly a ton of donation items that were brought by the team and purchased in Brazil. A HUGE thank you to all who donated items for this trip. We wish you were here to see the smiles as the children rifle through their gift bags and to receive the hugs of appreciation.

The last 2 days have been especially busy. Wednesday morning we visited the village of Sobrado. After our doctors and dentist provided free medical services to the village, the team presented. The presentation consists of: songs with the children; a dramatized re-creation of the birth of Jesus, God's perfect gift to us; a puppet skit about a gift for a King; the gospel presentation and lastly, distribution of the gifts! The recreation of the Christmas story is complete with props and full costume and requires most of the team to perform, both Brazillian and American. I am sure the Academy will be looking to recognize some of the stellar performances from our team members. Later that day we continued on to Novo Airao where the team received permission to present at Joaquim De Paula public school. We were well received and over 300 children at the school heard the good news of Jesus Christ.

The gift of Jesus ties nicely into the puppet skit "For The King" where 3 children decide what to give a King for his birthday. A boy decides to give the king an expensive ruby and a girl decides to give the king the biggest gift, an elephant. A girl with no money is teased when she suggests giving the king flowers or a card. When the gifts are presented in the skit the king is not happy with the first 2 gifts, he already owns many rubies and has a fleet of elephants. When the poor girl presents her gift all she has to offer the king is herself, to serve and honor him for the rest of her life. The king is pleased and anounces that her gift is the greatest gift. Isn't that what God requests of us? To do what we were created to do, worship him? Our puppeteers, Grace, Rebecca, Danelle, Noah and Thalita have done an awesome job!

Yesterday afternoon the team had a unique opportuniy to feed and swim with boto, pink fresh water dolphins. The Kautz family, Nate, Noah and Dan decided to jump in with the boto for a swim. It was awesome to get a break to do such a fun activity.

We look forward to the next few days where we will be visiting 6 more villages. The days are hot and long but the team focused on finishing strong. After a long, sweaty day the american team has offically dubed ourselves the Dirty Dozen. The showers last night were a blessing :)