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)