DAY 5 (Monday, Aug. 08)
As I write this, it is Wednesday morning, approx. 99 degrees, with a slight breeze. We briefly had rain this past Friday night and last night for about an hour. We are in the dry season, so it will rain less frequently until later in the year. There are only two seasons on the Amazon, dry & wet. The river level fluctuates approximately 30 to 45 feet between these two seasons. Just 150 feet from shore, the river along our journey can be 75 feet deep and drop to around 200 feet in the middle. So it is easy to see how the river remains navigable in the dry season.
Just to recap our Sunday activities, we had a morning Worship Service at Igreja Presbiteriana de Barreirinha (pronounced ge Bahadinya), then after lunch went to the second Church in Nova Con Quista. This second Church is where the water well is being drilled. We received a report that water was reached on Tuesday and they are in the process of cleaning out the well. The residents are very excited about having clean, fresh water. Until now, their water supply has been from an abandoned business near the town and it is has limited availability. The first Church is about a 20 minute walk from the boat and the Church in Nova Con Quista is about a 40 minute walk from the boat. After the first walk though, one of the leaders on our team got smart and contracted with one of the locals to transport the team and supplies each morning, afternoon, and evening. The truck wasn't big enough though, so some still got their exercise. Our trip sponsor, Ron Kelley, has labeled this trip a "Cooper Fitness friendly" trip. We spent about 3 hours Sunday afternoon in Nova Con Quista dedicating the Church and conducting medical & dental, and VBS for the children.
DAY 6 (Tuesday, Aug. 09)
The key word for our team has been flexibility, as plans often need to change with each new day…or hour, in response to the needs of four villages we have scheduled to visit. We mentioned in our Day Three blog entry that enough money was raised for two Churches and a water well, but the actual number is 5 Churches and a water well.
Church 1 Igreja Presbiteriana de Barreirinha
Church 2 Igreja Presbiteriana de Nova Con Quista and water well
Church 3 Igreja Presbiteriana de Terra Preta
Church 4 Igreja Batista de Barreira To Agira' (pronounced ge Badayda Tu Ahjir-ah')
Church 5 Igreja Batista de Castanho (pronounced ge Castanyo)
We spent Tuesday in Terra Preta (a little further from Manaus{pronounced Manows'} than Barreirinha), where a third Church (Igreja Presbiteriana de Terra Preta) is being built. Both the second and third Church have walls and a roof, but need the walls finished with stucco, painted, and the electrical wiring installed. As with most mission trips, there is more to be done than is physically possible. Since much of the construction work on these five Churches is done, our team has been able to minister directly to the people. Four groups of three people visited homes in Terra Preta to witness and tell people about the new Church. Other ministry activities included medical and dental, Vacation Bible School, pharmacy, and fitting people with eye glasses. All of these are standard ministry activities on any Amazon Outreach mission trip. This past Saturday, all clothes and toys were divided and placed into 230 plastic bags, which were then given out in Terra Preta at the conclusion of a Church Service. In Barreirinha, about 50 people were fitted for new reading glasses and in Terra Preta, 42 people were fitted with new reading glasses. Our prayer is that this makes it easier for them to read God's word. Also, on this day, several team members took a small boat to the fourth Church to check on its progress, but our team was not able to conduct mission activities at this Church. Only the walls are up.
As of the end of Tuesday's ministry activities, approximately 100 people have made decisions for Christ through personal witnessing and Church Service invitations. Pastor Mario and his ministry team plan to follow up on all people making decisions in the coming weeks.
DAY 7 (Wednesday, Aug. 10)
We began our journey to the fifth Church site last night and expect to arrive in Castanho on Thursday night which gives our team time to catch up on the blog. With our first three Church sites, we traveled east from Manaus, to arrive in Terra Preta (about a 12 hour boat ride). Castanho is about 6 hours by boat west of Manaus. Before anchoring just east of Manaus we enjoyed a time of fellowship and devotion. We assessed our trip to this point and Pastor John reminded us all that this mission trips may begin far beyond the US boarders, but the purpose is to take these experiences with us and back to America and be a better witness day to day and not just trip to trip.
DAY 8 (Thursday, Aug. 11)
Travel from Manaus to Castanho
DAY 9 (Friday, Aug. 12)
Planned is a full day of ministry and conclude the day with a Church Service.
Travel through out the night and arrive in Manaus on Saturday morning.
DAY 10 & 11 (Saturday & Sunday, Aug. 13 & 14)
Leave Manaus at 3:10 pm, Saturday for Estados Unido; Arrive in Miami around 8:30 pm
Brief overnight stay in Miami
Leave Miami at 6:20 am, Sunday; Arrive Charlotte, NC around 8:25 am
Leave Charlotte around 9:30 am, Sunday; Arrive DFW around 11:06 am, Central Time
No comments:
Post a Comment