Third day in the Amazon

HI!
Today was a very fun day, we went to a village named Paraiso. My mom and I met lots of

 

people with great stories behind them. I (Katy) worked at vbs this morning and in that we

 

told the story of queen Esther and colored crowns for the kids to wear and take with

 

them. After we completed that we sang songs and played outside. Jesse,Jackson, and Emily

 

O., and I played soccer for about two hours and even though we lost 2 to 8 we had lots of

 

fun.  Cally spent the morning videoing all of the various activities that were taking

 

place in the village.  I (Cally) also helped in the medical triage area. We came back to

 

the boat to eat lunch rest and continue to make family bags to hand out in the village,

 

we went back to the village and made pictures with the kids and continued to give medical

 

help to the people who needed it. After about two hours it was time for the church

 

service. Becky shared her testimonial with the people of the village and met a woman who

 

had the same background and was very encouraged by her story. we came back to the boat

 

when the service was over and had a yummy dinner! Now after a long day of work we are

 

ready to get some rest for another days work tomorrow. Tomorrow we plan to go to a

 

village which no one has gone to yet but we are just as excited! We miss everyone in

 

Texas and we cant wait to get home and share more of our experiences with y'all!
We love you!(go mavs!)

 

Love Cally and Katy:)

 

 

 

Oy yall!!!
this has been the experience of a life time. the kids are so precious. mom and dad- get

 

ready to welcome a little brazilian kid into the fam, because im going to bring one

 

home...seriously. it is very hot and humid even though it is only winter here; i can only

 

imagine what its like in the summer. God working in these villages is very evident, and

 

its so wonderful to see. everyone was right, this is really changing me spiritually. God

 

working is not the only work that is evident. sadly, satan's work is visible. oh the

 

stories i have to tell yall. dont worry, im fine. quit freaking out! love everyone!!!

 

Georgianna

Second day in the Amazon

hey bloggerpeople,
today was an interesting day on the river..i worked in the pharmacy with my dad and Jordan and our translator Geraldo.  We saw probably 60ishh patients and 95% were given worm meds in addition to other medicines. yum. Saw a few pigs near the "pharmacy" as well as a rooster and lots of wild chickens. only in the jungle.  Boat life is great, and the hammocks are even better..thinking of trading in my bed for one of those.  No, seriously.
peace out from the amazon jungle
laura

 

Hello everyone,
At the end of our second day we are all pretty tired. It is really hot and humid here...but probably no hotter than Montgomery. Even so a few trips back to the boat for items we needed in the pharmacy really tired me out.We saw a lot of patients, had an eyeglass clinic, did Bible school (like Eastwood this week) and had a worship service at the end of the day in the village. I shared my testimony at the service and a Brazilian pastor, Eduardo,preached. Getting to and from the clinic from the boat was a real adventure. In addition to the critters Laura mentioned, I also saw a few large lizards. Unfortunately several people got chiggers.(not me thankfully!). One of our translators is sick with some kind of stomach bug but so far no one else is sick. We do the same thing tomorrow but every day brings a new adventure. The people in the villages especially the kids seem to really look forward to our coming. Please continue to pray for us the rest of the week.
Allen

 

Hey y'all,
Today was a pretty good day, but long and hot. I worked with Sadler and Norman at the eyeglasses station and we just helped people figure out what strength glasses they needed and it was so cool to see their faces when they put on the glasses and could see clearly. We had the opportunity to pray with a few of them after we found them the right glasses. In the afternoon I hung out with some of the kids and took pictures of them and then showed them their pictures and they LOVED it. Please keep praying for our trip throughout the rest of our week!
Emily  

First Day in the Amazon!

Oye from Morgan :) Today was a good first day! Went to two villages - did a VBS with the story of David and Goliath in Sol Nascente and Esther in Bucuzal. The kids were adorable and seemed to have fun playing and coloring. God is good and I know He will continue to bless our trip and further His Kingdom! I love you, Momma and Daddy. Tchao!

 

Oye! This morning was filled with sweet reunions in Sol Nascente. 2 adults were baptized this morning in Erika and Vanderley's church and 3 children were baptized as well. It was a beautiful thing to witness in the life of this church. We also delivered the playground parts.  The villagers are so excited! This afternoon, many of our young men stayed behind and started to assemble the pieces. It is closed to being completed. I can't wait to return to Sol Nascente Thursday! This afternoon, we went to Bucuzal and did medical ministries, dental ministries,VBS, and even spent time with the women and taught them how to make soap. The people were so open and hospitable. God is giving us opportunity after opportunity to share His word and love to the people here. Our translators are awesome. Our crew is amazing. God is using each and everyone of our stories to minister to someone. It is truly beautiful. I am so happy to be here. ~Jordan:)

 

This is the Lord's Day, the Sabbath, and what a day it was.  We worshiped with the people of Sol Nascente.  Over four years ago, a husband and wife confessed Christ as their Savior and were baptized.  Today, we witnessed their daughter and 3 grandchildren be baptized.  God is at work, even in the remotest parts of the jungle along the Amazon River in Brazil. Please continue to pray for Erika and Vanderlay as they continue to do God's work here.  Having spent more than 41 hours traveling together, we have really unified and become a team.  All of Ginger's hardwork paid off.  We had no problems getting through immigration or customs.  All of our baggage arrived with all of our supplies.  Today the medical team saw 46 patients, the dental team saw 13 patients and the women's ministry had 16 women in attendance.  Thank you to everyone who has supported us financially and most importantly with your prayers.  We would not be here had you not sent us.  God bless you all.  Kathleene

Baylor Trip Update

Hello from the Jungle,

 

Yesterday was another blessed day. The whole team spent all day in Bahaia loving on the people and finishing up dental care. We had a fun VBS time in the morning where we told the kids the story of Daniel in the lions den and Lexi made an excellent lion, the kids loved it!

 

For the rest of the day most of the team split up into small groups and went from house to house ministering to people. Because it was a weekday many people were working so we had some neat opportunities to serve them and help with household chores like sweeping and cleaning. Being willing to work alongside the people opened many doors and we were able to have many conversations about Christ with the people there. Many of them are hungry for the Gospel and are anxiously awaiting the church's arrival.

 

Please keep these people in your prayers. They deeply desire community and knowledge about God's Word. We need to also pray for the future leadership of this church because this community has been scared by hypocrisy in the former church leadership. We were invited into the school for their afternoon session and it was amazing to see the Holy Spirit begin to work there. At first, the teachers were somewhat closed off to having us there interrupting the flow of the day but as time progressed they were asking us to please come back that evening. A few people on our team stepped up and gave their testimonies which was great for the students to hear.

 

We stayed out and watched the sunset with a group of the village children and marveled at God's remarkable artistic ability. It never ceases to amaze me how creative our God is and the beautiful things he has created.

 

Today we are in the village Castanhal. It is a much smaller village that neighbors Bahaia. The people here are mainly Catholic so many of them understand who Christ is but have unfortunately been strongly influenced by the corruption of the local church. Our work today has not been easy but we are trusting that God is sovereign and His name will be glorified.

 

Most of the team is hitting the mid-trip wall and many are exhausted but in our weakness He is made strong. Pray for rest, renewal and continued health for our team. Pray that God would break down walls here in this village and that people would continue to pursue getting to know the Lord even after we leave.

 

________________________________________________________________

 

So that blog was suppose to go out yesterday but unfortunately I didn't get a chance to send it because we took off to go back into the village and last night we were moving and could not get a signal.

 

Today... God absolutely rocked our world.

 

There are so many stories I don't even know where to begin. We showed up this morning at a village we had not originally planned on going too but of course as we all know if you want to make God laugh, make your own plans. He has been getting a pretty good laugh watching me all week long.

 

We pulled up to the village Sao Sebastiao do Jurua in a lagoon here in the Amazon, there are about three communities here in this area and no Americans have been here before (which was obvious by the way we frightened a few of the children with our super pale skin). Pastor Sasa told us that they had a problem with pediphilia which was somewhat unsettling at first because... lets be real we didn't exactly have any training for that. But we had an incredible prayer time and hit the shore ready to roll.

 

It was a surreal experience for me because this was the first village I have been to where during VBS I had to explain to the kids what the Bible was and who Jesus is. We have so many amazing stories to tell.

 

This morning, we met the president of the village who happened to be a woman. She spent a long time talking to some of our team members and around lunch time she went back to her home to eat with her husband. While she was talking with members of our team her husband, the village preist, was sitting and listening during the men's ministry. Taylor and Troy both shared their testimonies and the Lord used them in a powerful way. Her husband went home for lunch and they both talked about what they had experienced that morning. Both were overcome by the love and joy they saw from our team that they had never seen before. Long story short, they both ended up receiving Jesus as their Savior and no longer want anything to do with the corruption of the Catholic church that they lead because they want to pursue a true relationship with Christ.

 

There are a ton of great stories and we begin our boat ride back to Manaus tomorrow. Please pray for safe travels and rest as we all work to digest what the Lord has done this week. It has been such an incredible blessing to serve alongside these college students who are so passionate about God's word. Their lives have been changed forever and it has meant so much to me to get to watch my peers serve the Brazilian people so selflessly. The next generation is definitely a force to be reckoned with folks. Keep us in your prayers and keep investing in us the way you have been it truly does make a difference. See you soon! Deus Abencoe :)

 

Go Mavs
Sic Em Bears
In Christ,
Landen, Harrison & the Baylor Team

Baylor Day 2

Howdy!

 

Day 3 of ministry here in the Amazon. Update from yesterday, the youth rally was incredible! Americans and Brazilians were blessed and relationships were formed that will not soon be forgotten. We got to work with a group of roughly 60 young adults from Pastor Elmer's church in Parintins. They were such a blast to be around. Gabi shared her testimony in church and encouraged so many with her words by letting the Holy Spirit use her.

 

We spent time split up into groups of guys and girls and shared powerful stories of purity, forgiveness and restoration in Christ. God really did some amazing things in the short time we were in Parintins. I want to personally thank the Young Singles at Prestonwood who worked so hard to raise money to make this event so incredibly successful. I got to spend time training the leadership in the church how to run a youth rally so that they can go out into local villages and reach the young people there.

 

Today we are in a larger village called Bahaia. Us Americans (mainly me) are learning to be flexible and roll with the punches. Harrison has done an incredible job leading and keeping my head on straight, he also just told me he scored a goal against the Brazilians in our big soccer game this afternoon.

 

The Bush family, Tori, Amber and Leah worked hard at the dental station pulling teeth all day. Lauren Simpson, Lathan, Lexi, Emily, Troy, Taylor, Jennie and Lauren Glavin spent the afternoon loving on kids. They were awesome VBS leaders and I was so blessed to watch them share the love of Christ with the sweet Brazilian people who are so dear to my heart.

 

We started some mens and womens ministry today and it went well. The Holy Spirit really spoke through Michael and Harrison's testimony to the men. We also gave the women some of the new evangelism aprons that were made and donated to Amazon Outreach and they were overjoyed, smiling laughing and posing for one another, it was a sweet sight to see.

 

Harrison and I had the opportunity to meet the President of the village and hear his story. He has been praying for 3 years that a church would be built in his village and here in a couple of months Amazon Outreach is bringing a trip here led by Bill Blythe that will build that very church to answer his prayers. The people here are open and hungry for the gospel so please be praying for the future leadership of the church here because the enemy definitely does not want such a large, powerful community on fire for Christ.

 

Everyone is healthy and we could not be more thankful for that. Keep praying for continued health, rest and that God's name will continue to be glorified throughout the nation. We look forward to a new day to proclaim His name but until then, "Soups On Baby" aka Dinner Time!

 

Deus Abencoe
Sic Em Bears
In Christ,
Landen Ellis, Harrison Ross & Baylor Team

Day Two, Part 2

Oi from Brasil,

 

Everyone has made it safe and sound. The Bush family, Amber and Michael and Leah all arrived safely in Parintins this evening. The past few days have been crazy because of weather and flights but we have all arrived and everyone is doing great!

 

This afternoon most of the team went to Good Samaritan Village here in Parintins (a city/island on the Amazon) where we had Vacation Bible School and played lots of soccer with the kids. Shelton, Taylor, Troy and Jennie made great disciples in the skit where Jesus tells the men in the  to cast their nets on the other side of the boat. Brent Adams, Lexi and Lauren were swarmed by kids, they were loving on them and having a blast just playing silly games despite the language barrier. It was a successful afternoon and no one wanted to say goodbye when it was time to head back to the boat.

 

There has been plenty of rain here but we are all going strong and aren't letting that stand in our way. Pray for us Saturday as we will be doing a youth rally (basically day camp on steroids) with a group of teenagers here in Parintins. It is a powerful opportunity for us to minister to kids close to our own age and really relate with them and share the hope we have found in Christ.

 

We can feel your prayers. We are so grateful that everyone was able to make it here safely. Pray for strength, energy and boldness in the days to come. We look forward to letting you know how the Youth Rally goes.

 

Mr. and Mrs. Jones-- Amber made it here safe and sound and she wants you to know that she loves you and is already having a great time here in the Amazon. Thanks for your prayers, God bless!

 

In Christ,
Landen Ellis & The Baylor Team

Day Two, Part 1

Hello from the Amazon!  We are in a city on the river called Paritin, and we are going to begin VBS with the kids soon.  This is the first chance we've had since arriving to connect with the satellite and let everyone know we're doing great and we're alive.  We will, God willing that it doesn't rain all night, post again this evening with more information about what's going on and how we're all doing.  In the meantime, don't worry and we love you all!