Last day in the Amazon

Oi,
This week has been a fun and great time! It was a hot week but still had fun. each day we did vbs, with the kids and the medical clinic and denital work on all the families and kids. today we traveled 24 hours on the boat from Sol Nascente to Manaus.It was great! when we got to manaus most of us went to the mall but Izzy, my dad, and I went to Izzy's church. the people there were nice and friendly to us. my dad did the service which was awsome and afterwards we ate with Izzy's mother and daughter. This whole week has been a blast and i can't wait to get home and see everybody!
I love you mom, daniel, cami, and gracie;

 

John Luke

 

 

 

Eastwood family,

 

We had the privelege to harvest some of the fruit of 6 years of hard labor of two faithful servants of the Lord at Igreja Presbiteriana do Sol Nascente (The Presbyterian Church at Sol Nacente).  Vanderley and Erika de Oliveira began this work in Lake Carara by loving the people and developing relationships.  They have been plowing hard ground faithfully and are gaining the trust of the people.   There is a family at Sol Nacente that has been profoundly impacted and are coming to Christ one by one.   We had the joy of seeing the first five baptisms in the church.  God is blessing the faith and perseverance of these beautiful servants of the Lord.

 

A wonderful moment for me was Erika's message to us on the last day in Sol Nascente.  In tears she told us that words could not express how thankful they are for our partnership with them in this work.  She and Vanderley, like all faithful servants of the Lord, get discouraged.   The work is difficult.  Our trip to Sol Nascente was a great encouragement to them and I believe honored our King.  Thanks be to God for all of you who sent us!  I shall assure you,God took your gifts and did something wonderful.

 

I want to give a shout out to Camille, Daniel, Cami and Gracie!  I miss you!

 

Love,
Matt

 

this is Jay.  i'm not a typist.  but i had a great team.  sonja, i'm coming home with your boys.  i miss you.  this trip was fantastic. God did great things.  He is good.
Jay. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

forth day in the Amazon

well... this is really fun, beans and rice are my new favorite meal. and spray paint desert is the bees knees...
deuces,
jackson
well, here's jesse's thingy muh bobber.

 

 

 

Dear peoples, the Amazon is crazzzzzzy!!!!!! It is no where near what I thought it would look like. It basically looks like a lake or an ocean, but its a river. It is so much fun here because your kind of living off of God's time instead of our own. You wake up when the sun hits your face and you go to sleep when it gets dark. The food is actually really good on the boat too! They try to make us southern U.S. food which I think is kind of funny, but it is preety good. I also like being around different kind of christians for once. They have different outlooks on things that get you to think about God in different ways. The language barrier is much harder here than in India and you need to use translators most of the time, but it is still really fun interacting with the people in the villages. Somehow by the power of Jesus, I also won the boat-wide arm wrestling contest for the lightweight division on Wendsday night. All these people on this boat are amazing. They are always really encouraging and I am learning new things everyday. I really wish I could talk to you right now, but I guess this is good too. Oh by the way, I stubbed my toe really bad today and it is black and blue all over. It is kinda cool to look at. Oh also, the brazilians are really good at soccer, but I like taking them on becuase it is always fun when you beat them. Pictures can't really describe this crazy enviornmnet and I can't wait to tell you all the stories I have about the time here. :)
Love,
Jesse Jones

 

Greetings from the Amazon,

 

I hope all is well back home. Here on the Amazon, we have been hard at work providing aid for the physical and spiritual needs of people living along the river. We have all experienced a great trip. It has been incredible to observe God's handiwork in nature. The star-filled sky, the river, and the land all give proof of Divine Creation. I look forward to telling you all the stories from my adventure in Brazil. Until yesterday, I took many pictures of what life is like in Brazil. The screen of the camera will never be the same after slipping in the sand and falling on the encased camera. Do not fear Mom, I will replace your camera as soon as possible. This trip has been a great experience; one that I will treasure my entire life. I long to be back home, in a place where insects do not swarm on my body. Everyone on our crew is exhausted from the heat, humidity, and hard work. I look forward to returning home; I miss you all very much.

 

See you Soon,
Ben Moody 

 

Everything here has been going... well.... tiring. We have had a good bit of progress in each one of the villages. I think everyone has made a new friend and some have met some old friends. I do believe that we have had a very good trip. I hope the trip home goes as smoothly as it was on the way down. We have also had a good bit of bug problems. (chiggers, gnats, flies, mosquitoes, and fleas) I look forward to seeing you all soon.

 

Sadler Hinton
 

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

 

Today we visited the village of Sororoca.  It is a small village situated on a hill

 

overlooking the Amazon River.  Approximately 30 families live in this village where men

 

work as fishermen and mothers care for the children.  This was our first visit to

 

Sororoca.

 

As a member of the medical team, our day began by creating a medical clinic underneath

 

the shade of a few trees.  Our team consisted of two physicians, two nurse practitioners

 

and a pharmacist.  Our interpreters sit with each provider and are available to relay our

 

questions to the patients.  They are our biggest asset and communicate most effectively

 

with the villagers. Most of our patients suffer from joint aches and pain, upper

 

respiratory infections and headaches.  It's pretty safe to prescribe Ibuprofen, worming

 

medicine and vitamins to every adult and child that is seen. The sickest patient seen

 

today was a 6 year-old little girl with bilateral pneumonia. She never complained...

 

Another patient, an 18 year-old boy, cut his leg with a machete, requiring 6 stitches. We

 

treated 81 patients in 99 degree weather, 100% humidity. 

 

While the medical team worked, the VBS and women's ministry teams sang, danced and played

 

volleyball with the children.  Everyone has rosey cheeks:)

 

A group of 7 from our team went on an adventure by motor-boat, to another small village

 

about a mile away from Sororcoa.  This was the first time Americans had visited their

 

village.  Their biggest obstacle was gaining access to the village by boat.  After

 

several unsuccessful attempts to reach the village (secondary to a floating rainforest of

 

grass, trees, and brush) the team was transported into the village by members of the

 

tribe.  The had a nice visit with the people and were able to conduct a service in which

 

the gospel was shared.

 

The best part of the afternoon was congregating for our evening service in which we sang

 

"Jesus Loves Me" in  English and Portuguese.  The children clapped and sang, afterwards

 

several from our team shared their testimony.  "Pastor" Matt ended the evening with a

 

short service.  There were more children than adults in attendance; however, the children

 

are well-behaved and listened for most of the service.

 

Tonight has been an evening full of entertainment.  We had a "what not to wear on the

 

Amazon" fashion show, exhibiting the leftover paraphinalia from the Eastwood yard sale.

 

There were several buck-teeth, sparkles and hats involved.  It gave us all a good laugh.

 

Later in the evening, yells, shreaks and laughter could be heard miles away [I'm sure] as

 

our group competed in a arm-wrestling competition between the Brazilian crew and the

 

Americans.  The Brazilians won. **Note- Jackson Hinton was the last American standing.

 

Tonight we are tired and most of us will be sleeping soundly because we will all be

 

taking Benadryl to find relief from our chigger and flea bites...

 

 Tomorrow we look forward to visiting our friends in the village of Sol Nascente where we
will dedicate the new playground. 

 

Emily Holcombe & Terry Watkins

 

 

 

 OY americanos! Wow! I can truly see God's hand in Brazil! the People are amazing!

 

they are very REAL! Today in the morning i helped with VBS and i absolutley in love with

 

the brazilian children! they are all bonita (beautiful). mom just let me know if you want

 

me to bring one home because i will in a heartbeat! they lovee us americans. they make us

 

feel as we are celibrities.. or at least so i think! they love saying my name. "emily

 

emily emily!" haha i am trying very hard to speak their language but its just not

 

working.. they all just stare at me like im crazy then burst out lauging. so hopefully

 

they are lauging with me not at me. (: after lunch Jay, Ben, me, and some others took the

 

speed boat and went to another village, Maranhao. it was so lovely. i am speechless at

 

God's beautiful creation. so if a third world country is magnificant then imagine what

 

heaven will be like! anyways i was able to share my testimony and norman translated for

 

me! (obri gada norman) Jay shared with the people and Vanderlay shared the gospel/ his

 

testimony with them. I thank God so much for the opportunities he has given me to share

 

the gospel with these people. two weeks ago if you ask me to share the gospel i would

 

probably be very nervous and barely be able to, and now i am much more confident sharing

 

the gospel. I quite enjoy it actually. Usually after vBS ill grab a translator (Amanda)

 

and go talk with a group of girls and then eventually share the gospel. one girl was

 

Fehananda who accepted Christ! So i now have another sister in Christ(: I cant tell you

 

how exciting it is seeing people come to Christ! It keeps me on fire for Christ and

 

encourages me to continue what God has called us to do. Be his disciples. i cant wait to

 

get home and share all the stories! i miss you owen family! i wish yall were with me so

 

bad! i love yall!
                      Emily Carmichael Owen

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