Day 1 - Wednesday July 11, 2007
Greetings from Brazil. After a long, but safe and uneventful trip, we have managed to arrive to city of Manaus, in the Amazon area. During the flight from Miami to Manaus, we met two other groups of missionaries from different denominations, and it was exciting to share together our projects, pray for each other and even sing together. Judi Roberts led us into singing "Oh, God, you are my God" in the Miami airport, a heartfelt testimony about how wonderful our God is.
Since we arrived on Wednesday morning around 4 am at our host families, we had a later start at the construction site. First of all, we were all touched by our families' generosity and loving heart, because they were willing to have us in their homes and cook for us. Because three of our trip participants could not join us, we had to reshuffle the members to different families.
For those home, we would like to tell you that Janice and Hali, Melissa and Karie, Pastor Ortiz and Daniela are staying with Maria Biti and Fernanda (Ph. 3638-8259). Pr. Yensho, Chris and Matt Ferguson are staying with John and Mara Miller (Ph. 3223-4703), the Miskimens with Aldo and Eunice (Ph. 9198-0952), Don and Judi Roberts with Francisco and Vera (Ph. 3681-1480), and Reba and Bonnie remained with Zilma and Joelma (Ph. 3681-0313).
After an organizational meeting, and an exquisite lunch, we managed to start laying bricks to the church. Together with the Brazilians, we have raised the walls to the middle, and it is exciting to see how fast the work is progressing. We pray that God will continue offering us the strength and willingness to work for Him.
The night Evangelistic meeting was a new experience for most of our trip participants that have never been to Brazil before. We presented each other and some even tried to use the Portuguese they have learned, and then we listened Pr. Ortiz present us the Word of Life. The members of this Brazilian church have started Evangelism for several weeks, and they now are ready to reap the results. Therefore, it was touching to see more than 40 persons answer to the call for baptism that Pr. Ortiz made tonight. Tomorrow actually we will have baptism and we cannot wait to witness it.
The Vacation Bible School will start tomorrow as well, so we invite you to please pray for all the events that are taking place here. We just want God to use us in His might way and be good witnesses to all around us.
We miss you all, and you are always in our hearts and prayers. Thank you for all your support and we will continue to keep you updated with what is happening here, so stay tuned.