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!