Hello
Thank you for continuing to pray, encourage, and stand with us—we hope you are blessed and encouraged as you read about what God has been doing!
Last month, we shared the incredible news that God had provided a permanent home for Vineyard Belém. Thank you for celebrating with us, praying with us, and giving toward this dream!
NOW THE RENOVATION BEGINS!
Purchasing the building was a huge step of faith, but it was only the beginning. This month, we have been working hard to transform the building into a place where our church can worship, children and youth can be discipled, leaders can be trained, and people can encounter Jesus. Our goal is to hold our first worship service this Sunday on August 16th!
There is still a lot of work ahead of us, and we continue to trust God for the resources needed to complete the renovations. Every wall repaired, every room prepared, and every improvement made brings us one step closer to seeing this building fulfill the purpose for which we believe God provided it. Pictures below were taken last week.
10 DAYS ACROSS THE AMAZON BASIN
This month also took us on quite an adventure! Many months ago, we accepted several invitations to travel throughout the interior of the state of Pará to celebrate with and encourage the churches.
In just 10 days, we traveled more than 3,500 kilometers (over 2,100 miles) across the Amazon by car, barge, and speedboat.
We left Belém and traveled to Altamira, where we had the privilege of celebrating 30 years of the Vineyard Church in Brazil. This was especially meaningful to us because Elba was part of the team that helped start the first Vineyard church in Altamira when she was just 16 years old. Looking back over three decades and seeing the churches, leaders, and ministries that have grown from those early years reminded us once again of God’s incredible faithfulness.
From Altamira, we drove to Pacajá, where Elba preached on Sunday. We were there to celebrate the incredible work God is doing through the church and the completion of their new church renovations.
The next day, we drove more than 600 kilometers and spent 2½ hours on a barge to spend a couple of days with Elba’s parents. It was good to spend some time with them.
Our next stop was Jacamim, near Santarém, where we visited the team serving through our dental project. It was encouraging to see people giving their time and professional skills to care for communities in practical ways and demonstrate the love of Jesus. The dental team is now here in Belem and is serving the people in the river communities. We’ll share more about their work in our next newsletter!
From there, we continued to Vitória do Xingu, where we traded the car for a speedboat and traveled four hours by river to Porto de Moz. There, Elba had the opportunity to teach, preach, and encourage churches serving communities along the river, helping them put our Vineyard values into practice.
And then came the long journey home! We left at 3:00 a.m and finally arrived back in Belém at 11:00 p.m. That night—after 20 hours of traveling! We were tired, grateful, and very ready for our own bed. Unfortunately, Elba came home with malaria. Thankfully, she has now turned the corner and is feeling much better.
Elba and her twin sister Nira celebrated their birthday together during the trip on July 18th at a local restaurant and church. 😊 Elba got to eat her favorite fish called Acari. It is a bottom feeder, and has a very hard shell. Alyssa likes it as well, but Camilly and I are completely fine with chicken.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers:
· Pray for God’s continued provision for the renovation and preparation of our new building.
· Pray for wisdom and strength for our team as we make many decisions and work toward our first service.
· Pray that the church would become a place where thousands of people encounter Jesus for generations to come.
· Pray for our church, leadership, and congregation—that together we would help people draw closer to God and faithfully follow His plans for our church and for us.
· Pray for our family’s spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, and financial health.
· Pray for Elba’s book, Reino e Discipulado—that it would get into the hands of the people God wants to encourage and equip through its message.
Thank you for being part of this journey with us. Your prayers, encouragement, and financial support allow us to continue going where God sends us and investing in what He is building.
Much love,
Steve, Elba, Camilly & Alyssa
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