13 of us from Delaware Vineyard arrived in Altamira on Jan 14th. From there, we met up with about 15 long-term missionaries and boarded a boat where we reached out to Porto de Moz and several villages in the Amazon Basin.
I may add more later and will probably write more in depth thoughts regarding particular events later...but here we go for now....
The Amazon is...
- walking onto a boat with a team of strangers and walking off with a team of new best friends
- holding hands and dancing with brazilian friends in a small village school
- canoeing to local villages to invite people to that night's service
- being invited into their simple, beautiful homes
- drinking milk that came from their cow right outside
- drinking cafe com leite
- all while exchanging smiles and laughs
- praying with people in these remote Amazon villages
- becoming their friends
- witnessing the courage of five men in a village dedicate their life to God
- being encouraged by the faith of people who live difficult, demanding, and painful lifes
- praying for them, praying for the sick
- meeting genuine people
- hearing testimonies of God's goodness, grace, and love
- having the privilege of seeing the indescribable beauty of the Amazonian people
- marveling at the beauty of the rainforest
- attempting to speak portuguese
- bathing in the river
- rainy nights
- eating exotic fruits
- walking barefoot up a mountain with 3 brazilian boys and 4 other friends
- falling knee deep into "mud" and having to be rescued
- diving under a waterfall
- walking out of the falls only to see a poinsonous snake was there
- exploring the forest with two friends, looking for caves but seeing a bright blue butterfly instead
- bathing in the river
- having conversations on the top of the boat
- comparing 'stupid human tricks'
- spending time with God
- building relationships with friends
- tudo bom
God's amazing--what else is there to say?
Prayer requests: that i may pick up the language quickly, physical and spiritual stength, wisdom and discernment, saftey, courage. Pray how you feel led :)
Kyla-Feliz aniversario do brasil!!!
I love and miss you Mom (mae), Dad (pai), and Kyla (minha imra). I love and miss all my friends and family and I appriciate your support and encouragment.
(p.s. aside from the boat i have already had my first tarantula in my room and saw my first big iguana--cool, legal)
Ate logo! (i will post pictures later this week...sorry im so bad at this!)
