Hello!
I hope everyones been having a great week. Ours has been full of excitement as we've been preparing for English camp which starts TODAY! There is still so much preparation left and we would ask for your prayers. Specific requests would be:
- For many students to come. We have NO idea how many might or might not show up!
- For health. Jon and I are both sick and its going to make the weekend challenging. Pray that Nate, Bethany, Pastor Joni and everyone else involved stays healthy as well!
- For opportunities to share Christ. Its not a specifically Chirstian camp, but we're hoping it will open opportunities to share.
- For the safety of everyone there. We have lots of activity and excitment planned!
Also, the two new babies at the Infant Home, Artieres and Thavilidy, are continuing to do well. We've taken them to 4 or 5 doctors appointments this week alone. They are well taken care of and they are eating a ton!
Stay with Jesus,
Amanda
Friday, April 30, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
Exciting things
There's lots going on here in Brazil! My posts are getting farther and farther apart...I apologize for that.
This last weekend we were in Foz de Iguacu- home of the biggest waterfalls in the world! We were there for the tent revival meetings that Pastor John Abel was putting on. It was such a wonderful trip! From a touristy standpoint we covered lots of really amazing places. We spent a morning at the Bird Park where there are birds from all over the world. It is INCREDIBLE. Birds are some of the most colorful and unique creatures in the world! After the bird park, we headed to see the falls. WOW. Those are truly one of God's greatest creations. I will post pictures soon, but the pictures couldn't capture the beauty! The falls just keep going and going... there are some points where you're surrounded by mist and can see rainbows everywhere you turn. Absolutely breathtaking! Our afternoon was finished off with a trip into Argentina. It was great for all of us to see a new country! We did a little souvenir shopping there and then took off for church.
Each night we had services that were a few hours long. They included sermons, worship, special music, and a film at the end. We shared a song in Portuguese each night. It was a great blessing to be involved in the ministry. We saw several people commit their lives to the Lord, and would ask that you keep them and their new faith in Jesus in your prayers!
One of my favorite parts of the weekend was the children's ministry. We held three childrens programs with singing, a Bible story and games. Kids make everything so fun! It was a really great experience trying to lead a VBS type event in another language. The children loved it. It was definately a great way to get more kids involoved in the church.
We're now back in Campo Mourao and busy as ever! We were surprised to find out that over the weekend we were gone, two new babies came to the Miriam Infant Home. They are 9 month old twins and come from a home where they were severely malnourished. Its heartbreaking how tiny they are, but it is very encouraging to see them in a good environment. Bethany and I spend the majority of the afternoons taking care of them and love every minute of it! They absolutely adorable! Please pray for their health and growth over these next months.
Sorry this update is rather short, but we need to take the babies to another doctor appointment today. Please continue to keep the ministry here in Brazil in your prayers!
In Him,
Amanda
This last weekend we were in Foz de Iguacu- home of the biggest waterfalls in the world! We were there for the tent revival meetings that Pastor John Abel was putting on. It was such a wonderful trip! From a touristy standpoint we covered lots of really amazing places. We spent a morning at the Bird Park where there are birds from all over the world. It is INCREDIBLE. Birds are some of the most colorful and unique creatures in the world! After the bird park, we headed to see the falls. WOW. Those are truly one of God's greatest creations. I will post pictures soon, but the pictures couldn't capture the beauty! The falls just keep going and going... there are some points where you're surrounded by mist and can see rainbows everywhere you turn. Absolutely breathtaking! Our afternoon was finished off with a trip into Argentina. It was great for all of us to see a new country! We did a little souvenir shopping there and then took off for church.
Each night we had services that were a few hours long. They included sermons, worship, special music, and a film at the end. We shared a song in Portuguese each night. It was a great blessing to be involved in the ministry. We saw several people commit their lives to the Lord, and would ask that you keep them and their new faith in Jesus in your prayers!
One of my favorite parts of the weekend was the children's ministry. We held three childrens programs with singing, a Bible story and games. Kids make everything so fun! It was a really great experience trying to lead a VBS type event in another language. The children loved it. It was definately a great way to get more kids involoved in the church.
We're now back in Campo Mourao and busy as ever! We were surprised to find out that over the weekend we were gone, two new babies came to the Miriam Infant Home. They are 9 month old twins and come from a home where they were severely malnourished. Its heartbreaking how tiny they are, but it is very encouraging to see them in a good environment. Bethany and I spend the majority of the afternoons taking care of them and love every minute of it! They absolutely adorable! Please pray for their health and growth over these next months.
Sorry this update is rather short, but we need to take the babies to another doctor appointment today. Please continue to keep the ministry here in Brazil in your prayers!
In Him,
Amanda
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
A BIG Update.
There's lots to talk about! Hopefully I can cover it all.
On wednesday, we took off for a side trip to Florianopolis in Santa Catarina, Brazil. Everyone had been telling us that we HAD to go there while we were in the country. It is an island connected to the main land with a bridge and has what are considered some of the most beautiful beaches in the world! People were not joking when they told us that! It is absolutely amazing...not only are there beaches, but lakes, mountains, and fun cities. Brazil continues to blow me away with its intense beauty. Whenever I'm in places with such magnificent scenery, I'm reminded of Psalm 8. "The majesty and glory of HIS name..." I encourage you to read the Psalm and reflect on the incredible God that we have! The trip was a wonderful time of rest and adventure, all mixed together. We are so blessed to have had the opportunity to go!
We had a great time with Pastor Paul and Becky last week. Easter was a wonderful time with lots of people around! We went to church in Bateias in the morning and shared a song. We all loved being back there and seeing everyone again! The highlight of the service had to be when we sang "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" in Portuguese! What a powerful and festive song. In the afternoon lots of the Abel family came over to Paul and Becky's. It ended up being around 30 people! There was of food, laughter, games, and fellowship. Our night ended off with a trip in the bus out to church in Campo Largo. That bus us one of the things I miss the most about living in Bateias. With tons of people piled in we have crazy times- singing kids songs, learning worship songs, and attempting to talk in Portuguese. Its loud and exciting! We shared in church the same as we had that morning. The service was very nice. Unfortunately we recieved bad news afterwards that Pastor John and Ruby had been in a car accident. We're thankful that no one was hurt, but both cars involved were totalled. Please keep Pastor John and Ruby in your prayers, as they deal with all of the trouble of having to deal with the accident.
Another highlight of the trip was spending lots of time with the local youth! It was great to hang out, play ping pong, and sing together. Here are a few pictures:
On wednesday, we took off for a side trip to Florianopolis in Santa Catarina, Brazil. Everyone had been telling us that we HAD to go there while we were in the country. It is an island connected to the main land with a bridge and has what are considered some of the most beautiful beaches in the world! People were not joking when they told us that! It is absolutely amazing...not only are there beaches, but lakes, mountains, and fun cities. Brazil continues to blow me away with its intense beauty. Whenever I'm in places with such magnificent scenery, I'm reminded of Psalm 8. "The majesty and glory of HIS name..." I encourage you to read the Psalm and reflect on the incredible God that we have! The trip was a wonderful time of rest and adventure, all mixed together. We are so blessed to have had the opportunity to go!
After traveling all day on sunday (we had a short stop in Curitiba and were able to go to church with Paul and Becky!), we arrived back in Campo Mourao bright and early monday morning. This week consists of alot of preparation for the tent campaigns going on in Foz de Iguacu. Pastor John and Ruby are there already holding the meetings which will last for 10 days. We're joining them on thursday to work with the children and also share our program ( songs, testimonies, sermons, etc). Please pray that the Lord would work a revival through this event!
Keep serving Jesus,
Amanda
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Mission Trip to Canha!
On Good Friday we had the opportunity to participate in a mission trip that the local people of Bateias were going on. It was to a place called Canha in an area of Brazil known as "The Back 40". There are very few towns or people in the area so its relatively unreached. The mission trip went on for a whole weekend, but we, along with Pastor Paul and Becky, only joined them for friday. Although it was only 70 kilometers away from the Abel's house it took over 3 hours for us to get there! Along the way the car overheated...a little excitement for the trip. 
An hour or two into the trip we stopped at the home of friends of Paul and Becky. It was a really awesome opportunity because we were able to sing one our Portuguese worship songs for them! They were not all Christian's so we are praying that it had an impact on their lives. 
After lots of driving around (we didn't know exactly where we were going!), we finally arrived at the place were the days activities were going to be held. A few of the boys from Bateias spent part of the afternoon driving around in Pastor Paul's bus, talking on a loud speaker inviting people to join us. In the late afternoon, they showed up with a bus full of excited kids. There aren't many people who come there, and its a very poor area so any visitors are a big deal! Which makes a wonderful chance to share Christ. Becky had a great children's program planned for them, complete with songs, a Bible story and coloring! I've never seen little children color SO precisely! They don't get many opportunities to do even these simple things. It was beautiful to see them care so much about their art! 
In the evening they held a church service at the same location. They brought more bus loads of people- it was a great turn out! We shared two songs, Nate did a short talk, and Jon preached a sermon. The boys both did a great job sharing! Please pray for everyone who heard the message of the Gospel there!
Monday, April 5, 2010
Photo update:
The three kids from the Miriam Infant home with us. We had a short Easter "celebration" together as we gave them Bibles and the extrememly popular Easter Eggs (which are everywhere in Brazil!) The kids from left to right: Deisy (15), Josevaldo (16), and Vitoria (4). Please keep them in your prayers!
On Wednesday morning we got the awesome opportunity to work out at the Fazenda Retiro, which is the AFLC camp in Campo Mourao. It was by far the most exciting work day we've had! Pastor Joni put us to work pulling trees out of the river and cutting back the jungle around it. We were knee deep in mud and having a great time working! Hopefully the entire camp will be cleaned up before English Camp at the end of the month. The two boys in the picture with us are Saymon and Thomaz, our two new students at Bible school. Its been great to have them around campus!
In an attempt to clean all of the mud off ourselves, we climbed aroung the waterfall for awhile. It was definately a great morning!
In the afternoon we split up for our various activities. The boys were able to go on a house visit with Pastor Edson from the local church La Parana. They really enjoyed visiting and getting to know people from the congregation! Hopefully it will be a regular opportunity for them to go. Bethany and I were invited to an Easter party with the participants and staff of our tuesday morning art class. The Psychologists that work with the program planned it and it was quite a bash! Everyone was taken on a bus to an event center where there was huge lawns, eating areas, soccer fields, and trampolines. There was tons of food like ice cream bars, popcorn, hot dogs, cake, etc. Our first brazilian party was definately quite an experience! In the picture with us are Vitoria from the Miriam Infant Home, Ines who works with the art program, and the baby of a lady who was there(she wanted to take pictures of us with her baby because we're American's! I guess its pretty neat to be an American:P )
On Wednesday morning we got the awesome opportunity to work out at the Fazenda Retiro, which is the AFLC camp in Campo Mourao. It was by far the most exciting work day we've had! Pastor Joni put us to work pulling trees out of the river and cutting back the jungle around it. We were knee deep in mud and having a great time working! Hopefully the entire camp will be cleaned up before English Camp at the end of the month. The two boys in the picture with us are Saymon and Thomaz, our two new students at Bible school. Its been great to have them around campus!
In an attempt to clean all of the mud off ourselves, we climbed aroung the waterfall for awhile. It was definately a great morning!
In the afternoon we split up for our various activities. The boys were able to go on a house visit with Pastor Edson from the local church La Parana. They really enjoyed visiting and getting to know people from the congregation! Hopefully it will be a regular opportunity for them to go. Bethany and I were invited to an Easter party with the participants and staff of our tuesday morning art class. The Psychologists that work with the program planned it and it was quite a bash! Everyone was taken on a bus to an event center where there was huge lawns, eating areas, soccer fields, and trampolines. There was tons of food like ice cream bars, popcorn, hot dogs, cake, etc. Our first brazilian party was definately quite an experience! In the picture with us are Vitoria from the Miriam Infant Home, Ines who works with the art program, and the baby of a lady who was there(she wanted to take pictures of us with her baby because we're American's! I guess its pretty neat to be an American:P )
Have a wonderful evening!
Amanda
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Almost a Whole Week...
...since the last update. Sorry! Things have been very, very busy with very, very good things! We are in Bateias right now staying with Pastor Paul and Becky Abel. Its been so fun to be back here and see everyone again. This afternoon there was the huge Abel family Easter celebration, and it was a wonderful time of fellowship and celebration of Christ's ressurection!
Soon a more detailed account of this weeks adventures should be posted. Thank you for your continued prayer and support!
HE IS RISEN!
Feliz Pascoa! (Happy Easter!)
In Jesus,
Amanda
Soon a more detailed account of this weeks adventures should be posted. Thank you for your continued prayer and support!
HE IS RISEN!
Feliz Pascoa! (Happy Easter!)
In Jesus,
Amanda
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