Tuesday ( 9-16-09)Bom Dia do Lago do Janauca! Good morning from the lake of Janauca, which is along the Amazon in beautiful Brazil. The light of day greeted us with the beautiful cool of morning. Some of our team members are early risers. Quiet footsteps and the sounds of running water are among the first sounds we hear.

We all arose and prepared for the day. Breakfast and devotional as usual were great. Soon it was time to go into the new village for the day. We setup the dental supplies, the pharmacy and the eyeglasses tables and supplies in one large room that is adjacent to the village school and the Catholic Church sanctuary. The villagers arrived to join those already waiting to sign up for medical and dental services.

This village was such a pleasure to serve in. They had such a hunger for something more. Many of them listened in very closely when the word was spoken. Chiago (xiago- the boy with the seizures who just accepted Christ yesterday) was from this village and we got to live closely with him for the day. It was a pleasure to see him in good health. He and his friends attended the informal youth service and really paid attention to the message with his friends. We prayed with them and gave them Bibles to take.

Not long after our services were done for the day, we challenged them to a soccer match. It was a pretty competitive game. And the Americans won… of course we did have a few Brazilian boys on our team helping us out. This was a very exciting game because there was so much support from the local people. They all came to watch and cheered on their team. .. it was great.

The whole team is doing great. We are all getting to know each other well and are working well in each of the ministries. It is pretty hot during the days but nothing too bad. The evenings are nice and I think most everyone is sleeping well. Of course we miss our families and friends but we are so happy to be here serving the Lord.

The joy of the Lord is our strength and it was such a blessing to minister to the beautiful people of the Amazon because of the love of Jesus that is our everything!

Written by Carol and Amanda (143)

Tuesday ( 9-16-09)Bom Dia do Lago do Janauca! Good morning from the lake of Janauca, which is along the Amazon in beautiful Brazil. The light of day greeted us with the beautiful cool of morning. Some of our team members are early risers. Quiet footsteps and the sounds of running water are among the first sounds we hear.

We all arose and prepared for the day. Breakfast and devotional as usual were great. Soon it was time to go into the new village for the day. We setup the dental supplies, the pharmacy and the eyeglasses tables and supplies in one large room that is adjacent to the village school and the Catholic Church sanctuary. The villagers arrived to join those already waiting to sign up for medical and dental services.

This village was such a pleasure to serve in. They had such a hunger for something more. Many of them listened in very closely when the word was spoken. Chiago (xiago- the boy with the seizures who just accepted Christ yesterday) was from this village and we got to live closely with him for the day. It was a pleasure to see him in good health. He and his friends attended the informal youth service and really paid attention to the message with his friends. We prayed with them and gave them Bibles to take.

Not long after our services were done for the day, we challenged them to a soccer match. It was a pretty competitive game. And the Americans won… of course we did have a few Brazilian boys on our team helping us out. This was a very exciting game because there was so much support from the local people. They all came to watch and cheered on their team. .. it was great.

The whole team is doing great. We are all getting to know each other well and are working well in each of the ministries. It is pretty hot during the days but nothing too bad. The evenings are nice and I think most everyone is sleeping well. Of course we miss our families and friends but we are so happy to be here serving the Lord.

The joy of the Lord is our strength and it was such a blessing to minister to the beautiful people of the Amazon because of the love of Jesus that is our everything!

Written by Carol and Amanda (143)

Sunday 9-13-09

Today started with a beautiful sunrise along one of the most beautiful rivers in the world. We all arose and prepared to start a day of serving the Lord. We ate breakfast, and headed off the boat to do our daily devotional in the church at the Village we were working at for the day. This is something that we normally do on the boat without the villagers, but today the new pastor asked us to do the morning devotion on land which seemed appropriate since it is Sunday.

After the devotion we all departed to begin the different ministries we volunteered for. VBS and optical remained in the church while medical and dental were down close to the river in a pavilion. Many people came from all around to receive help through our ministries and every single person we helped was prayed over. Each ministry proved fruitful. There was no idle time at the doctor, dentist and optical locations from 9-5 (with a lunch break of course).

After the day of serving, some of us challenged the Brazilian boys to a game of soccer. Of course, we were no match for them but it was fun to try (and slightly painful)… We suffered a great loss scoring only 1 point to their 6. After the game, including multiple soccer balls to the face, fire ants bites and cow patty explosions, we gathered together for prayer and invited them to come to the Sunday night service. To our great pleasure some of them showed up and actually sat listening intently to the service. A seed has been planted and we are so grateful to watch as God pulls them in.

Finally, at the end of the evening we sat and shared the events of the day. God is working in this village and we pray that it will have a lasting effect.

Written by Amanda Starr (143)

 

Sunday 9-13-09

Today started with a beautiful sunrise along one of the most beautiful rivers in the world. We all arose and prepared to start a day of serving the Lord. We ate breakfast, and headed off the boat to do our daily devotional in the church at the Village we were working at for the day. This is something that we normally do on the boat without the villagers, but today the new pastor asked us to do the morning devotion on land which seemed appropriate since it is Sunday.

After the devotion we all departed to begin the different ministries we volunteered for. VBS and optical remained in the church while medical and dental were down close to the river in a pavilion. Many people came from all around to receive help through our ministries and every single person we helped was prayed over. Each ministry proved fruitful. There was no idle time at the doctor, dentist and optical locations from 9-5 (with a lunch break of course).

After the day of serving, some of us challenged the Brazilian boys to a game of soccer. Of course, we were no match for them but it was fun to try (and slightly painful)… We suffered a great loss scoring only 1 point to their 6. After the game, including multiple soccer balls to the face, fire ants bites and cow patty explosions, we gathered together for prayer and invited them to come to the Sunday night service. To our great pleasure some of them showed up and actually sat listening intently to the service. A seed has been planted and we are so grateful to watch as God pulls them in.

Finally, at the end of the evening we sat and shared the events of the day. God is working in this village and we pray that it will have a lasting effect.

Written by Amanda Starr (143)

Sunday 9-13-09

Today started with a beautiful sunrise along one of the most beautiful rivers in the world. We all arose and prepared to start a day of serving the Lord. We ate breakfast, and headed off the boat to do our daily devotional in the church at the Village we were working at for the day. This is something that we normally do on the boat without the villagers, but today the new pastor asked us to do the morning devotion on land which seemed appropriate since it is Sunday.

After the devotion we all departed to begin the different ministries we volunteered for. VBS and optical remained in the church while medical and dental were down close to the river in a pavilion. Many people came from all around to receive help through our ministries and every single person we helped was prayed over. Each ministry proved fruitful. There was no idle time at the doctor, dentist and optical locations from 9-5 (with a lunch break of course).

After the day of serving, some of us challenged the Brazilian boys to a game of soccer. Of course, we were no match for them but it was fun to try (and slightly painful)… We suffered a great loss scoring only 1 point to their 6. After the game, including multiple soccer balls to the face, fire ants bites and cow patty explosions, we gathered together for prayer and invited them to come to the Sunday night service. To our great pleasure some of them showed up and actually sat listening intently to the service. A seed has been planted and we are so grateful to watch as God pulls them in.

Finally, at the end of the evening we sat and shared the events of the day. God is working in this village and we pray that it will have a lasting effect.

Written by Amanda Starr (143)

Yesterday was quite the interesting day. Most of the team met at the Dallas airport at 1:15pm on Friday September 11, 2009. Others of us left from Houston and Memphis. We all united in Atlanta to jump aboard a Delta flight to Manaus, Brazil. For the most part everything went smoothly…. until we arrived in Brazil… Once we got off the plane (at 4:30am) we realized that a few of our team members were missing some very important pieces of luggage. Our leader, Rick, was surprised to find that his bag containing all of his clothes did not make it to Brazil. Two team members from Mississippi also had a bag that did not make it. The final piece of luggage that was missing belonged to our dentist from Houston. Everyone was understanding and accepting that this might just be a lesson from the Lord of some sort. God is super funny like that.

Once we stepped foot on the boat it was like coming home. I was lucky enough to be returning to see great friends that I had met in June. The people that were first timers all fell in love at first sight with the amazing beauty that we had been talking about for months. This trip is a new adventure for Amazon Outreach. We are working with a new pastor from Manaus. This means for us, that this trip is not planned. We are being forced to go with the flow of Pastor Marco!

Everyone ate breakfast as soon as we walked onto the boat, and followed it up by taking a morning nap. By this point most of us had been awake for 24 hours. It was a 7 hour boat trip from Manaus to the first village so we had plenty of time to get settled in and catch up on some sleep.

After naps, we had lunch and got to know each other. There is a nice variety of different people here. Some who have been here many times and some first timers… all different ages… in all different walks of life, an amazing team assembled by God, ready to serve Him in serving the Amazonian people.

We got all of the family packs and VBS stuff organized and had the opportunity to hear from the Pastor of the main church and the village Ley pastor.

Throughout the day the temperature began to rise and we were all hot so we decided to jump into the Amazon River and swim around. A few people started climbing up to the top floor of the boat and jumping in all together. It was a great way to have some fun and cool off. After swimming we got cleaned up for dinner then headed over to the church for their 42nd anniversary celebration, which was an amazing conclusion to the first day of missions on the Amazon River.

My final thought for the day is one of remembrance with a heavy heart. I am spending time in Brazil, while my heart is actually back in Texas. I would like to add an embrace of love extended to those left behind in the sudden wake of Michael Todd Fuqua's death. I love you all, and I wish that I was there to attend his memorial. Know that I am praying for you all!

Yesterday was quite the interesting day. Most of the team met at the Dallas airport at 1:15pm on Friday September 11, 2009. Others of us left from Houston and Memphis. We all united in Atlanta to jump aboard a Delta flight to Manaus, Brazil. For the most part everything went smoothly…. until we arrived in Brazil… Once we got off the plane (at 4:30am) we realized that a few of our team members were missing some very important pieces of luggage. Our leader, Rick, was surprised to find that his bag containing all of his clothes did not make it to Brazil. Two team members from Mississippi also had a bag that did not make it. The final piece of luggage that was missing belonged to our dentist from Houston. Everyone was understanding and accepting that this might just be a lesson from the Lord of some sort. God is super funny like that.

Once we stepped foot on the boat it was like coming home. I was lucky enough to be returning to see great friends that I had met in June. The people that were first timers all fell in love at first sight with the amazing beauty that we had been talking about for months. This trip is a new adventure for Amazon Outreach. We are working with a new pastor from Manaus. This means for us, that this trip is not planned. We are being forced to go with the flow of Pastor Marco!

Everyone ate breakfast as soon as we walked onto the boat, and followed it up by taking a morning nap. By this point most of us had been awake for 24 hours. It was a 7 hour boat trip from Manaus to the first village so we had plenty of time to get settled in and catch up on some sleep.

After naps, we had lunch and got to know each other. There is a nice variety of different people here. Some who have been here many times and some first timers… all different ages… in all different walks of life, an amazing team assembled by God, ready to serve Him in serving the Amazonian people.

We got all of the family packs and VBS stuff organized and had the opportunity to hear from the Pastor of the main church and the village Ley pastor.

Throughout the day the temperature began to rise and we were all hot so we decided to jump into the Amazon River and swim around. A few people started climbing up to the top floor of the boat and jumping in all together. It was a great way to have some fun and cool off. After swimming we got cleaned up for dinner then headed over to the church for their 42nd anniversary celebration, which was an amazing conclusion to the first day of missions on the Amazon River.

My final thought for the day is one of remembrance with a heavy heart. I am spending time in Brazil, while my heart is actually back in Texas. I would like to add an embrace of love extended to those left behind in the sudden wake of Michael Todd Fuqua's death. I love you all, and I wish that I was there to attend his memorial. Know that I am praying for you all!