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!