Day 2 (3-23-2015):
Our first stop in the Amazon was at a village called “mipindiau”.
After a delicious Brazilian breakfast and brushing our teeth over the side of
the boat, we joined with the Brazilians for a devotional. It is a beautiful
experience to hear two languages sing the same praise song. I am sure this is
what Heaven is going to be like.
I was on the evangelism team today and myself, Patricia,
Chris and Pastor Juan Wilson went door to door sharing the gospel and treating
patients that were too sick or old to get to the boat for treatment. The second
house we came to we found out that the grandma other in the house had a stroke
5 years ago….and had never received medical treatment for it! God is so good
because she was able to ambulate with the help of the railing in the house
however not long distances. We brought one 4 point cane and with a little
encouragement she was walking around her house independently. The next house we
went to we discovered the grandmother in that house was suffering from severe “trigger
finger” from long days in the forest working with her hands. After putting our
heads together Sam and I were able to come up with a splint for her finger to
wear at night to prevent further damage. I am so thankful for collaboration!
At the end of the day we joined with the village and had a
church service with the local Baptist church. What an amazing experience to
worship with these people and share God’s love with them. Ashley gave her
testimony and talked about how her mother taught her how to pray and how Jesus
has always given her peace and comfort no matter the situation. You could
definitely feel Jesus through her testimony. It is such a wonderful thing to give
a testimony as uncomfortable as it may be because it really makes you stop and
think, ok how has Jesus impacted my life? What has He done for me? What am I
doing for Him? If you can not talk about how God has changed your life then how
can you expect to fully share His love and glory to someone else?
Before I sign off, I must say that the Amazon night sky is
another affirmation of how real and amazing our God is. Pictures to follow.
Boa Noite,
Heather B.
Day 3 (3-24-2015):
This morning, we started as usual with a wonderful breakfast
on the boat followed by devotions led by Pastor Joao Wilson. The village we
stopped at today was Aruau. Today I (Brittany) was a part of the evangelism
team led by Pastor Joao Wilson. This village was one that the IsleGo boat had
only been to one other time but the people were so welcoming and open to
hearing the gospel. While we were evangelizing I was so blessed to be a part of
the team today as we witnessed to many young people and an older man who prayed
to accept Jesus into his heart. Praise the Lord! I loved hearing stories from
the villagers about their lives and struggles they have been through.
During this trip, Dusty and Corrine (our leaders) have
challenged us to share where we see Jesus during the day. I saw Jesus today at
our church service in the village. During the day I prayed at a house for a younger
couple who had a new baby. They were open to hearing about Jesus but said they
needed more time to think about their decision. I prayed that the Lord would
work in their heart and send them to our church service to hear the good news
and as I looked up after sharing my testimony, the young mother was there! Through
this whole day, God challenged me to step outside of my comfort zone through
praying, evangelizing and sharing my testimony during the church service. While
I was nervous to stand up and share with these people, I was blessed after
doing so. So far, this mission trip or “missionary journey” as Dusty would say
has been amazing. Also, the relationships that our team is forming with each
other and the rest of the crew on the boat are amazing! I am very excited to
see what the Lord has for the rest of this journey!
Tchau!
Brittany
Day 4 (3-25-2015):
Bom dia from the river!
This morning, we began our day with a delicious Brazilian breakfast
filled with lots of fruit, and their twist on cinnamon toast. It was wonderful!
Today is my (Ashley) 23rd
birthday, so everyone sang me Happy Birthday this morning—in two languages!
This was my first Brazilian birthday and I loved it. After breakfast, we had a group
devotional led by Pastor Assis. Pastor Assis is a missionary to the people of
the Unini river in Jau National Park. He told us about many of his experiences
working in that area, and encouraged us to live out the Great Commission.
Then, we divided into teams for the day and set about our
work. The team I was with today was the evangelism team, led by Pastor Joao
Wilson, who is one of the missions pastors from Igreja Presbiteriana Manaus. We
visited with many families in the village, and went into several homes. One of
my favorite stops today was when we sat on the porch of a families house and
talked with a mother and her daughter.The daughter was close to my age, and had
been married for 4 years. She and her husband have been trying to get pregnant,
but she has no children yet. After visiting with her for a bit, she made a
decision to ask Jesus into her heart. It was amazing to see Pastor Joao walk
her gently through that decision. Then, I had a chance to pray for her to have
a baby. Pastor read the verse from James 5 that talks about praying for the
sick and anointing them with oil. He put oil on my hands and had me lay my
hands on her stomach while we were praying. It was beautiful to see the Holy Spirit
build the faith in her heart that she would be healed and have a baby. She
joined us for church this evening so I had a chance to encourage her again.
Today, we also were blessed to be a blessing to some of the
villagers by buying them much needed groceries and household supplies. Seeing
the joy in their faces was wonderful. Many of those we gave to had already
prayed to receive Christ earlier that day. They hope to start a church in the
village we went to today, which will give these new believers much opportunity
to learn more. So much more happened today, but I want to give Sam a chance to
tell you about some of what happened in PT today!
~Ashley M.
Today was an amazing day in PT. Leslie, Rachel and I were
able to work with a handful of patients that came in with knee pain mainly from
playing soccer or lumbar pain from working
hard in the fields. It was exciting to see Leslie and Rachel taking the lead
working with our patients. However the highlight of our day was a 15 y.o girl
named Maria. The Bible says that all of heaven rejoices when one sinner repents
and our team was fortunate enough to pray with Maria as she accepted Christ as
her savior. It was great to see the excitement on Maria’s face, it was
contagious.
~Samuca
Day 5 (3-26-2015):
Today we served the village of Aracari.
This morning we awoke to another amazing variety of Brazilian food. A new commodity
was Brazilian donuts, not quite as sweet as U.S. donuts. ; ) Chris (Ashley’s
husband) gave us a wonderful devotion to start off our morning. I (Leslie) began
the day on the painting team. This village feels very small compared to the
previous ones and is in the process of building some more. We were able to give
one house its first coat of paint! By lunch time 6 of our team and 2 village
members who got the whole house painted. After lunch we got a treat, our first
swim in the AMAZON river!! = D We were fortunate enough to jump from the trees
into the river with the locals, see dolphins about 30 feet away and even saw
the heads of river otters poking out of the water!
This village
has a missionary presence already, so for the first half of the day the
evangelism team went with Pastor Wilson to assist the preachers there, the
second half of the day he cut the local mens' hair. = ) I helped assist with VBS
after lunch and it was a great turn out (around 18 kids.) The kids were eager
to participate and answered the teachers questions easily. We got to teach them
some words in english, which you could heard them repeating later in the night.
We sang songs with them that we saw them doing the motions to hours later. I
did not hear a report from the PT team today, but I know I heard some of the
crew members saying they felt better with the PT’s help. ; ) Women’s ministry had
the best turn out its had so far! There
were about 14 women there and they had a great time. They got to pick a pair of
shoes and a goody bag. After they opened the bags they were all gathering
around each other and putting on the necklaces or perfume spray they received.
We had
church later in the night as we are closer to the last village we will visit
and do not have to travel far tonight.
The service tonight with this village was special in its own way. The
people had a lot of enthusiasm about church, they were repeating the pastors
prayers and singing with their whole heart. I ended up giving a testimony that
flowed right into Pastor Wilsons sermon and I can promise you we did not
coordinate that before hand! We walked back to the boat under a sky full of
never ending stars, some played Uno others painted nails together to end
another awesome day of serving.
Tchau,
~Leslie
Day 6 (3-27-2015):
Today is our last full day on the boat and we are visiting
the last village, Sobrado, we are going to serve. We are sad to have the week
coming to an end but that is part of it. I am going to share the mornings
devotion from Dusty because I feel it is really important to keep all of this
in mind. We came here to do what God called us to do and now we are getting
ready to go home. Just like we are called to the throne of God. Sometimes our
journey will have us in the US, Brazil or other countries but it’s all apart of
the same journey and we have the same task from Jesus Christ in every place we
go. The environment may change but God doesn’t change. What He has given us to
do as children doesn’t change. We have to remember that we are agents of
change, but our God is not.
Our life starts at salvation and ends at the throne; in the
meantime our life will take us many places. We are to show justice, mercy and
humility. What does this look like? Isaiah 61:1-3. It’s to preach the good news
to the poor, consolation to the broken hearted, liberty to those who are
enslaved by sin, freedom from the darkness for the prisoners, comfort to all
those who mourn, provide to those who grieve, bring a crown of beauty instead
of ashes, oil of gladness instead of mourning, bring them a garment of praise rather
than a spirit of despair. That’s a lot of stuff to do! How in the world are we
supposed to do all this? Well it is not about us, it’s about sharing Christ’s
love. We can only give to others what we have received ourselves. If we have
not received this redemption that how can we share it with others?
What is an apostle? Saved and called to go wherever God
calls us. The second part we aren’t keen on. We want the grace but we aren’t
sure about God sending us some where. We are afraid of where God may send us.
Alas! Don’t be afraid, more often than not we will fall in love with the place
that He sends us. He will bless you more than you can know if you surrender
your life to Him and go where He calls you. Because we have been sent to
reconcile His lost Creation. If you live your life being saved but miss the
part of sharing Christ’s love, you have missed the joy of being a Christian.
Can this be uncomfortable and terrifying? Absolutely! Will God guide you and
take care of you if you put your trust in Him? ABSOLUTELY. Last thought, keep
this in mind. We are saved to go. “Isle Go”, will you?
Deus te abençoe,
Heather B.
Day 7 (3-28-2015):
The week has come to an end and I
write to you at 5 am in the Miami airport after about an hour of sleep. As
exhausted as I am I would do it all over again in a heart beat. God really
worked in our hearts this week and gave us all a new love for helping and
serving others. I am so proud of the team as I watched each individual serve
the communities; I saw Jesus in each of them. Last night, we stopped at
different villages on the way back to Manaus to hand out bags of food and provisions.
I was so proud of our team because earlier in the week because when Pastor
Wilson asked for donations for groceries we quadrupled the amount he asked for
within 5 minutes. It wasn’t the fact that we quadrupled the money, but the
immediate willingness to give without question. After getting off of the boat
this morning we were able to go enjoy Manaus for a little while longer and go
shopping. It’s such a fun experience, especially trying to communicate with the
little Portuguese I know. After the shopping spree, we all sat down together in
fellowship with Dusty, Corinne and Deny and enjoyed some guarana and some sort
of cheese bread that was heavenly. Also, if you haven’t had guarana, I
recommend flying to Brazil just for that ;-)!
Before the start of each day, we
were reminded to ask ourselves ‘where do I see Jesus today?’. While this may
seem like a simple question to some and a strange question to others, it is
very important to keep in mind especially when serving. If we don’t seek Jesus while
serving others, then why are we doing it? If we are doing it for our benefit,
then we are not furthering the kingdom of Christ. I saw Jesus in the eyes of
the villagers, in the hearts of those who were being stirred by the Lord, the
striking beauty of the Amazon forest, and in the giving hearts of my team.
No comments:
Post a Comment