August 2018 Amazon Update!
Elba and I left the girls for about a week to travel to Macapá. To get to Macapá we took a line boat which travels up the Xingu River, and then into the Amazon. The journey took about 32 hours to get there, and about 36 hours to get back. We went to Macapá because the church recently had a young dear member / leader commit suicide. As you can imagine, it has made a dramatic impact on the church and they are doing their best to walk through the healing and understanding process of this tragedy. Our missionaries, Christopher and Denise Meyer, who just recently planted the 2nd Vineyard church in Macapá, have been doing a great job to help people work through this difficult time. We were blessed to be able to come alongside of them to support them and the leadership as they navigate their way through this time. Again, it is difficult, and prayers are appreciated. Pictured below is Jonas, he is Christopher and Denise new baby boy.
I am not sure if you knew this but we have church service in the evenings here in Brazil. There are a couple of churches that have early morning service but it is rare. Before the service, a bunch of the church members got together to go and hangout at a local creek. Each of us brought some meat, rice, and salad and we ate till we were full. Even though this was a simple and fun event, it is important that we get together outside of the church. Getting together outside of church allows us to get to know one another better, it is encouraging, it is fun, and the community attracts the Holy Spirit. I would not have thought much about the latter but I am reminded in the Bible that says the Holy Spirit is present whenever believers gather together (Matthew 18:20). A great example of this was the early church of Acts, which made a habit of meeting together, eating together, and worshiping together. As a result, “the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:46–47). This does ring true as not everyone that was with us was a part of our church and it promoted the opportunity to lower barriers to get to know the church and Jesus a little more.
The girls are doing well and they just started back in school the first part of August. We are very happy that they are thriving and doing so well in school. Praise the Lord! Here is a picture of them at a wedding that we had for a young couple from our church.
Oh my goodness, did this just come to Altamira….am I dreaming? Nope, it is here and I think we are now big time….Smile!!!
Please pray for the dentist team that is out helping many people along the river who do not readily have access to medical care. Update to follow next month.
Please also continue to pray for spiritual, physical, and emotional health for us.
Much love, Steve, Elba, Camilly, and Alyssa
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