PCA trip 2015 (God is Good All the time)

Bom Dia (or "Good Morning") from the Amazon River! Although we've had many
bug bites, a few stomach aches, and several sunburns, God has been working
through us for His glory these past couple of days.

On Wednesday, we split the day between two villages ... Santo Antonio and
Sagrado. The time spent in Santo Antonio was filled with door-to-door
evangelism, VBS, and a soccer match. We were able to share God's Love with
the women, men and children through our amazing Brazilian translators. After
we said "goodbyes" to our new friends in Santo Antonio, we departed and
stopped at a small beach and swam in the river (where most of our sunburns
occurred.) After a short swim and a couple of card games on the boat, we
arrived in Sagrado.

Sagrado was a smaller village than the past villages we had visited, but the
people were still filled with the same joy we experienced in the other
villages. During the day, Melody Jayroe, Caroline Ford, and Kacey Halbert
gave away reading glasses to villagers, who had a difficult time seeing.
Through the translators, they were able to talk to the people, pray with
them, and tell them about God's love. When the villagers were given a pair
of glasses, the joy they felt was contagious. The happiness we've
experienced in these villages is so different from the happiness we see back
home. At home, a lot of happiness is found through possessions, but we've
learned through these villagers that possessions do not equate to happiness.

During our men's ministry, Connor Ryan, Ryan Caldwell and Phillip Hazelip
shared their testimonies, while Mackenzie Cruse and Emily Cassil shared
theirs during women's ministry.

The following day, Thursday, Bryce Young and Caroline Ford used an
EvangeCube again to speak to a group of teenagers about the Gospel. After
Bryce presented the Gospel with his EvangeCube, five teenage boys had a
conversion moment and began their new walk with Christ. After praying with
them, Melody Jayroe and Michael Zebe gave their soccer cleats to two of the
villagers who had began their relationship with Christ.

It is now Friday and we have left the beautiful jungles and are traveling
back to Manaus on the amazing Amazon River. While we are physically the
same 34 people who left Dallas almost one week ago, the hearts of each one
of us have changed. Our prayer for ourselves is that our change would
remain in tact as we each walk back into our communities, and that we would
be immediately be known as someone who is "different." Please join us in
this prayer.

As Mr. Beeson refers to us as ...

#TheFinishers (or "The Underclassmen")

Ryan Caldwell
Emily Cassil
MacKenzie Cruse
Kacey Halbert
Caroline Ford
Melody Jayroe
Bryce Young

PCA TEAM-2015 Day 1-2

Oi from Brazil! We are having an amazing time and The Lord is moving in so
many ways! Our first day of traveling was long due to delays, but when we
arrived those delays were worth it. On our long journey down the Amazon
River we have made relationships with each other, the translators, and even
the amazing crew. We spent most of the time playing card games, journaling,
eating good Brazilian food, and seeing Gods beautiful creation. Each morning
we have started the day with a devotion time, as Mr. Beeson would call it,
"church." The first morning as we were traveling down the river, Birkley
Oliver shared the first devotion about God's love for everyone. The next
morning, right before our first day in the village, Caroline Carpenter
shared about how there is more to the American Dream, and the key is that we
use the Dream to glorify God. When we arrived at the first village, we were
greeted with warm smiles and joyful people. Each of us tried different
things at first, but eventually each of us found where we were needed. These
past few days have been filled with VBS, men's and women's ministry,
medical/dental ministry, door-to-door evangelism, and of course, a soccer
match. When we first arrived we gathered all the kids from the village and
taught them songs in Portuguese, followed by crafts and games. After one of
the soccer matches, Bryce Young and Caroline Ford shared the Gospel using an
Evangecube. We had the opportunity to have a Worship Service at the end of
Monday, where to local pastor spoke along with Caroline Raub and Landon Lott
who shared their testimonies. Specifically, Jenell Wyatt shared her
testimony with one of the translators during the medical ministry. This
impacted the translator greatly as it showed that we think we are only
coming here to minister, but we are also being ministered too.

Today, March 10th, Philip Hazelip led the church service with his devotion
about how the time on the boat gave us time to see God's creation in a
different perspective, and not get caught up in the worldy things going on
back home. Our day in the second village was different than most because of
how developed it was. This is one of the biggest villages Mr. Beeson said he
has ever been in. Each of us had to take on a bigger role and get out of our
comfort zone more to reach more of the people. Caroline Carpenter, Sara
Sterling, Birkley Oliver, Eric Stevenson, Rebecca Birkenmeier, Carol Young,
and Scott Carpenter got to witness in the home of an elderly lady and her
two kids (both 22 years old). She shared their struggles and we were able
to pray and comfort them. Each of them were taken back, butt God blessed us
even more through them. Also Hannah Causey, Philip Hazelip, Connor Ryan, and
Mackenzie Cruze had the opportunity to share the Gospel with a mother and
her two children. The mother was a believer, but the daughter was still
questioning why God allowed certain things to happen in this world, as her
nephew had an incurable disease. Through their testimonies and the Holy
Spirit, the mother accepted Christ into her life. Everyone in that room
realized how accepting Christ was a personal decision.

Although we are half way through the trip, we are all missing home and each
of our families. Scott Carpenter misses his little puppy Jace. This trip is
surreal and we can't wait to share all of the experiences we've had. To all
the families we love you and miss you!

XOXO <3
Sara Sterling
Hannah Causey
Caroline Carpenter
Birkley Oliver

Day 3 - Castanho

OI,

 

MORALE IS LOW(for some)...

    So here's the run down..

    -Allison Jackson currently looks like a cooked lobster

    -Mr. Williamson's feet are the size of Brazil

    -Mr. Delph is suffering from a bad reaction of his malaria pill and the sun, resulting in feet even bigger than Mr. Williamson's

    -Cathy Jean almost passed out while attempting to aid Thiago in Dental care

    -Meredith Cole has two ulcers under her tongue but with the help of numbing medicine she's feeling great... well maybe she's not feeling anything but same difference!

    -Melanie Marshall is still shaking from dropping the alligator the previous night

    -Multiple people making fashion statements with socks and Chacos due to bubbling bulging blisters

    -EVERYONE has various bug bites scattered around their bodies oozing with unknown substances....(just kidding but they really do itch)

    -BUT............................................ no one has died:)

    -All of the oatmeal chocolate cookies have ceased to exist, therefore morale. is. low.

 

 

 

    Dear fellow viewers, tonight we will be explaining our journey into the deepest parts of the Amazonas river thus far.

        Happy Birthday Sarah!!!!!! The sun rose this morning which I'm sure must have been very pretty if we had been awake to see it. Upon arriving at the village of the day, we were greeted by a stampede of eager children. So naturally VBS started off with a bang decorating cups, singing, and dancing. Women's ministry had a great turnout; from the perspective of Sherry Glosser and Milcah the women loved having the opportunity to be pampered with hair and nails. Despite the lopsided braids and poorly painted nails the women surely felt the love of the Lord through the sweet conversations they experienced. It was truly heartwarming to see women who have so little gain so much joy from these small acts of kindness. Poppy Erikson was led by Corey Page to the eye care clinic where she was deeply moved by the work of Mr. Woodward who was able to relate to the elderly men and form a relationship in which he was able to lead them to Christ. During door to door Jessica Pitts and Riley Crow amongst others had a moving experience in the home of a devoted Christian family, where with the help of a guitar, they were able to worship together in unity proving how big our God is.

     Meanwhile in the medical department Angel, Peyton Travis, Brooke Herman, Emily Parnell, and Macy Walker helped alongside Dr. Heber with the general health of the villagers. The most drastic case of the day was a young girl who had an ingrown earing needing to be lanced out. As she bravely held the hand of Brooke Herman this young girl barely even shed a tear not due to pain but due to the loss of her most prized earing. In the dental department Thiago, aided by Kenzie Glosser and Brooke Herman managed to make an incredible retraction of a very large and infected tooth of a 16 year old female. She was deeply moved by our gentle and loving hands inspiring her to join the service we gave later that evening. During this service Molly Legaband and Stephanie Woffard preformed the sin solution demonstration, Joey shared his moving testimony, and Mr. Wood elegantly and passionately shared the gospel and love of Jesus to the group of interested villagers. Some who were deeply moved repeated the prayer to accept Christ and then later received a New Testament from our team.

PS,

MORAL IS THE OPPOSITE OF LOW!!!!!!!!! GOD IS DOING AMAZING THINGS HERE

With love,

three junior girls  

TCA Amazon Trip - Day 2

Bom Dia!!! Day 2 of Amazon Trip 2k15 was a success!!

Today was an eventful day because we visited not one but two villages! In
the morning we visited Botafogo, a village with about 30 families. After the
absolutely stunning sunrise, we were greeted by a beautiful village. At
first, the villagers needed a little encouragement to come out of their
homes. The clinic was busy from the get-go, with our wonderful doctor and
dentist seeing patients one after another. A big shout out to them for all
their hard work! VBS was exciting for the little kids, with plenty of
activities (including LOTS of bubbles) to play with. It's great to see their
sweet smiles and have them humble us continually with their generous nature.
Even though they were shy in the beginning, the villagers were all so nice,
and genuinely happy to welcome us into their homes.

Before lunch time, a group from our team went early to the second village,
Aguia (which means eagle). Some of us, including myself (Lili Figueroa)
went door to door inviting people to VBS and other ministries. We were
walking along with our group and we happened to notice three young girls
shyly accompanying us. Priscila, our amazing translator, asked the girls if
they were following us. They guiltily admitted that yes they had been
following us. Guiding us from house to house, the girls led us around the
village. The youngest girl was surprised to see us taking photos of their
village. We told them we wanted to have memories of their beautiful village
and God's incredible nature. That girl formed a sweet bond with Addy Gibson
and they became inseparable friends. By the way, VBS was a huge success and
the kids were super engaged and intrigued by the stories we had to share.
While VBS was occurring in the school, other teams were visiting houses,
door to door.

In the midst of VBS, I (Lauren Roquemore), noticed three young mothers
hesitantly standing outside the door of the school. Each had a small child
in her arms and they seemed quite shy. I approached them, not realizing the
amazing experiences God had in store for me. The women and I began by
talking about their families and lives. I really connected with a young
women named Flavia who was only twenty-two years old yet already had two
daughters. Poppy Eriksen, Monica Choi, and Caitlin Hickney showed up at just
the right moment. All four of us started talking to them about our own
testimonies and their faith with the LORD. We had the opportunity to share
with them the difference between works and grace. We read to them from the
Portuguese New Testament which deeply connected with them on a whole new
level. We formed a day-long relationship by spending time with them in both
villages. They even invited us into their own homes in the afternoon, giving
us new fruits to try and lots of love. Even though these women have such
different lives than us, we really connected with struggles similar to our
own.

In the evening, by some type of miracle, the Americans managed to tie the
Brazilians in the soccer game. Unfortunately, the girls who played next were
not so successful. :( For the children too young to play, it was an
opportunity for us to play with them by simply kicking a soccer ball around.
After the soccer game, we all gathered for a church service. Caitlin Hickney
and Chase Rea led a skit that brought some tears to the audience. This
powerful drama without words illustrated how much God loves and will fight
to protect us from distractions and temptations. It was very difficult to
say goodbye to the sweet people of these villages who welcomed us with such
love.

The night brought new adventures for everyone with the chance to go
alligator hunting!! Groups of seven were put into small motor boats and
spent about twenty minutes each searching the waters. Sizes of these
intimating reptiles ranged from one foot to almost seven feet! However we
were unable to catch the seven footer of course! But it was still
exhilarating to be so close to these creatures in the Amazon River. What an
amazing day this was!! We are so excited for the rest of this week and can't
wait to see all the amazing things God has planned.

Thank you so much for all your prayers and support. We'll see you
soon! -Lauren Roquemore, Poppy Eriksen, Lili Figueroa

TCA Day 1 - Santo Antonio (Campinas Area)

Oi team! It is day one in the beautiful country of Brazil, and we are
already blown away by all the ways the Lord has shown His love through
protection. We'd like to tell you our modern version of the story of Exodus.
(Dave Delph= Moses; Amazon team= Israelites). As you know by now, our first
flight was cancelled, and it only got more difficult from there. We'd like
to call this, Israelites stuck in slavery under the Dallas airport. After 4
hours in the Dallas airport, our flight got delayed an hour, giving us a
total of 5 hours in the airport before boarding our plane to Miami. After
running out of room in the overhead compartments, we wandered the terminals
looking for baggage claim in the Miami Airport. This, my friends, is the 40
years of wandering the desert. We then found ourselves at the TAM Airlines
kiosk at 3:30 am waiting for boarding passes. Keep in mind, we haven't eaten
or slept since Dallas. Currently, praying for provision. A hunt ensued for
bagels (aka manna), which most would say was unsuccessful. Let's just say
it's called Dunkin' Donuts for a reason (subpar bagels). It was only fitting
for us to grumble through the manna provided. (#grumble). Why did we have to
wait for our boarding passes? Since we had to change airlines, our boarding
passes given to us in Dallas were not sufficient for TAM, causing us to have
to wait for new ones. After 3 more hours in the Miami airport, we finally
began to board the plane. Then, tragedy struck.
In line to board the plane, Ellie Buchanan realized she didn't have her VISA
(she had her sister's). By the grace of God, the TAM Airlines worker only
checked her passport, allowing her to board the plane. We were finally free!
Just kidding...immigration awaited us when we landed. After a lot of prayer
from the group and conversation back and forth with the immigration worker,
he thankfully had a change of heart, showed mercy on Ellie and allowed her
to enter the country. After the Lord brought us through Satan's first round
of trials, we made it to the Promise Land. (#milkandhoney).
After loading the boat, we were off to the races. Oh, contraire. Satan
hadn't given up just yet. We had been en route for less than 30 minutes when
the Coast Guard approached our translator boat for an inspection. A
miniscule error in paperwork required the boat to turn around. As 63
Americans joined together in prayer, we opened our eyes to see the
translator boat turning around to travel with us again. What a
blessing!!!!!!!!!!!! #success #Heisable #getbehindusSatan
Now for our first day in the village. We had an eventful day of VBS,
dental/medical ministry, eye glass ministry, door-to-door, women's/men's
ministry, gospel presentations in the schools, and futebol (soccer) games.
VBS was a hit, successfully led and organized by Ellie Buchanan. (What a
rockstar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) (Ellie didn't write this part, this isn't
self-praise) (#awesomesauce). Also, special thanks to our Academy Award
winning serpent, Ben Thorton, during the skit of Adam and Eve. (With a show
like that, I would've eaten the apple too ;-) ).
STORY TIME!!!!!!!!!!!
First, let's hear from Mary Clayton Wood. While inviting villagers to come
to VBS, Mary Clayton led her team of Peyton Travis, Brooke Herman, and Macey
Walker to nearby houses. After being in conversation with a woman and
praying with her, she asked them if they would speak to her mother. She
brought her mother into the room who appeared to be in her mid-sixties. One
of the group members was able to connect with her through sharing her
testimony-- it's so cool to see how the story of the Lord's love and
redemption can bring two completely different people together! What a
reminder that we all struggle in the same ways, and the Lord's love is
universal!
Tonight Corey Paige shared a story of encouragement that she witnessed
through Joe Foster. While working in the eye glass ministry, Corey became
overwhelmed by the abundance of villagers in need of help. She quickly
became focused on getting through villagers as efficiently as possible to
help as many as they could. She soon looked over to Joe Foster who had her
same job, and saw that he had physically helped only 1/3 of the people that
she had. Confused, she stopped to watch. She realized that Joe was not only
helping them physically, but spiritually as well. Joe took time with each
individual person to intentionally talk with them about the gospel of Christ
and the subject of their eternity, always ending with a prayer. Joe reminded
us all of the beauty of intentionality, and the true reason we are here-- to
tell others about the awesome love of Jesus!
We are so thankful for all of y'alls prayers, support, and love sent our
way. Keep it comin!!! The Lord has provided abundantly, and it's only been a
few days! We know that the Lord has BIG plans for this trip because of
Satan's persistence in trying to slow our efforts. But greater is He who is
in us, than he who is in the world! We are so excited to see what He has in
store, and share it will you all in this blog. Stay tuned!!!

XOXO,
@StephanieWofford
@MollyLegband
@KenzieCimpl
@Illegalimmigrant123 (ellie hehe)

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