Maya and Bella
Bella is a cross between a german shepherd and a mix. She is tough as nails and can take anything that Maya ( our german shepherd) throws her way:)
Missionary friends and gatherings- American Thanksgiving
Each week the missionaries in our area have a regular lunch together. Most of the time everyone is able to make it. At other times it is sparse.
American Thanksgiving however, is a time where everyone wants to be together. So on the friday after the American Thanksgiving, We all go together. It was an awesome time.
Cyndi, Suzanne Simons, Denise Meyrs, Katie Dole,
Katie, Chelsea, Maria ( house helper) , Beth Woods ( guest speaker, friend from Halifax), Steve Dolan
Beth Woods, Cyndi, Elba Dolan ( leader of all the Vineyard Churches in the north of Brazil) , Kelsie ( missionary for 10 years. Heading home to Oregon to do ministry amongst the poor there, Suzanne Simon, Daisy Madeira ( missionary from Southern Brazil)
Clyde ( married to Kelsie), Chelsea, Katie, Steve Dolan, Christopher and Denise, Terry Price and in the far left , at the back is Bud Simon and Bob Leiser( new missionary)
River Trip to Gurupá and Porto de Moz
Ademir and Jeana have been with the Vineyard for almost 20 years. They came to Altamira when the mission was beginning and within a few years were asked to go to a community along the river, Souzel, to pastor a church there. They spent 15 or so years there and 2 years ago they moved to a community about 45 mins away from Altamira ( inland…i.e. not on the river).
Cyndi and I have met with him a few times to listen, counsel and pray with them. Because of our experience in pastoring for many years and my terrible experience in ‘burnout’, we have been able to help them out and will continue to do so.
Recently, Ademir has been asked to oversee a number of the river communities. That would include regular visits, training leaders and encouraging the pastors. Jeana thinks this is a great idea since Ademir comes alive on the river. He has asked me if I would participate with him in visiting regularly these river communities.
I took my first trip with him in November. We traveled 5 hours by speed boat to Porto de Moz ( where we have a Vineyard church). The next morning we traveled on another boat, 7 hrs , to a community called Gurupá. It we would have taken a regular ‘bolsa’ – a boat that transports people and cars, it would be a 16 hour trip in total.
Ademir , Jeana and Rebecca ( their adopted daughter. They have 3 married children)
Leao ( Lion)- Pastor in Gurupaá and his adopted daughter
Edna, Leao’s wife. This is the look inside the boat we traveled on. Lots of hammocks. very relaxing way to travel.
Edna is educated as a teacher and is hoping to be teaching this year in Gurupá.
We had a great time encouraging and praying for Leao and Edna. They have been working in this community for 3 years now and have seen God transform a number of families.
We are hoping to see them every 1.5 months to encourage them.
Typical passenger boat on the river
Resting in a hammock
bagged and salted fresh water shrimp!!!!
The worship leader in Gurupá. Great heart. big smile. Very short:))
I can’t recall his name at this time but he was ‘adopted’ by Leao and Jeana as well. Not officially adopted but practically adopted. He got married just a week ago and Leao and Edna have been building a small house out back of their place.
Part of the leaders that come out to the training on Monday night. I spoke in the service on Sunday and Ademir did some training on Monday night.
A neighbour boy climbing an ACAI tree.
Mario and part of his family. They are the pastors in Porto De Moz. Here is a great story. We were going to take a ‘balsa'( see below) from Gurupaá straight thru to our final stop. If we did that we would not be stopping in to see this family. The day before I had this ‘sense’ that we should take a speed boat to Porto De Moz, spend the afternoon with this family and then get on the ‘balsa’ when it arrived. Ademir prayed about it as well and felt we were to do that.
Well it all ended up being a ‘divine appointment’. There was lots of encouragement that took place plus this daughter that is seated in the picture above gave her life to Jesus during the lunch time. It was awesome.
This is the ‘balsa’ that we traveled on. It carries passengers in the first and second floor. Everyone justs grabs a hammock spot. In the front is where they put cars, dump trucks etc.
Soccer and Volleyball
The community comes together for the week-end before Christmas for a Children’s event, a volleyball game, a “Marrieds vs Singles” soccer game, and other similar festivities.
Via heads down the hill to help with the Children’s Christmas Event.
Bella serves in the volleyball game.
The Marrieds Team won over the Singles Team, so now the teasing will go on for this next whole year, about how the singles need to drink more milk, etc.
Two of these three boys are brothers. Their mother was murdered last year, so they live with their aging grandparents just outside the church gate. I get the feeling they would like to be done with childhood so they could earn some money, earn the respect of those around them, and make their way in the world. They always want to show me how strong they are, and how hard they can work, and the love to play with my cell phone. Unfortunately, I hardly have any time for them, and their story is common in our neighbourhood.
Cesar played soccer on the Singles Team.
Anni and Via spent a lot of time by the soccer field when they lived here.
Anni and Via are Home for Christmas!
Even though Anni and Via have lived in Canada for three and a half years, when they come home for Christmas they still jump right in, and they can still speak Portuguese.
At the Children’s Christmas Party, Emma helps Aline organize an event.
At the Children’s Christmas Party, Emma helps Aline organize an event.
At the Christmas Youth Service, Anni played the keyboard.
Some of the neighbourhood boys watch the Christmas play. Monica made the artificial tree in the background by recycling two-litre pop bottles.
December Amazon Update! Steve and Elba Dolan
Praise the Lord the church continues to see new converts and disciples of Jesus Christ. Below are pictures of baptisms that we held during our worship services over the last weeks. One of the baptisms was not scheduled. The man in the last picture received Christ and in his excitement wanted to be baptized. We still had water in the baptismal from the week before and so we had a spontaneous baptism. Many people stayed around to celebrate his new birth in Christ as he was washed from his old self into his new identity in Christ. Please pray for these new converts.
This month we had Beth Wood from Canada come to Altamira. After working in inner city contexts in Canada for a number of years, Beth spent 7 years in Brazil mentoring and training in local-church based community development ministries. With her colleague Maurício J.S. Cunha she co-authored the book “The Kingdom Among Us” which was published in Portuguese in Brazil in 2003. Beth came to share a biblical and Brazilian perspective on the transformation which can occur when local churches actively pursue the fullness of the Kingdom of God in their poor communities. We were very pleased to have her because we are already working in this capacity through the church and CDR. We invited many of the church leaders throughout the community in the hopes of them catching onto to that same vision. The time that they spent together was very productive and we hope more fruit will be produced as the church continues to be good news to the community, and bridge the gap of the lost so that Jesus can reach more into their hearts.
I just wanted to let everyone know that all is safe and sound with our new power rangers in the house. You do not want to be caught on the opposite end of their powerful swords, unless you go to the local amusement park and ride the Viking boat that swings you up and down. Now that was scary!
Again, we pray that you have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. God bless you!
Please continue to pray for spiritual, physical, and emotional health for us.
Love and blessings, Steve, Elba, Camilly and Alyssa
Tax deductible donations can be written and sent to:
The Xingu Mission
P.O Box 340785
Columbus, Ohio 43234
Or On-line donations at:
Terry Price found this boa constrictor outside the mission. We got the opportunity to pet it.
The Bergquist
We are heading back to Maribel after a 2 week tour around the Amazon and Xingu visiting and saying our last good byes!
We had a wonderful time in Portel with Richie and Christie and their family! They lived and worked in Porto de Moz for years and we had the blessing of working with them for about 3 years. Our kids played together, did school together and we ministered together! They have started a new work in a region that is rough. We were blessed to see a few Brazilian go with them and leave their families in Porto de Moz to serve alongside!
We celebrated Maddy’s 12th bday and enjoyed our last missionary reunion!
 |
| Mission kids jumping from the dock in Portel |
 |
| Church on the Maranatha 3, the mission boat in Portel! |
 |
| Maddy’s 12th bday with homemade pizza! |
 |
| Opening presents with the mission family |
 |
| Elizeu moved from Porto de Moz to help with the water filter project and the church plant. He and Nate were best buds when we lived in Porto de Moz! |
 |
| Richie and Christie and their family with ours! Final goodbyes! |
We traveled to Porto de Moz to say our last goodbye’s!!! It was a good time and we enjoyed seeing everyone there! Here are a few pics from our time there!
 |
| The Porto de Moz gang. Waldenilson, Waldni and Waldomiro…domino junkies! |
 |
| Opening prayer to our lunch on the beach in Porto de Moz! |
 |
| Our Porto de Moz Family!!!! |
 |
| Sitting with my girls, all grown up and sharing some pearls of wisdom with them!!!! |
 |
| Clyde shared at the church |
 |
| Prayer time |
 |
| Our warriors in Porto de Moz, Mario and his wife who are pastoring |
 |
| Our final good byes to Porto de Moz from the line boat! |
 |
| Special friends that will last a lifetime! Rosi and Nazare! |
Kelsie turned 40!!!!!
 |
| Clyde and I on a surprise birthday retreat!!! |
 |
| I just had to take a picture with this capybara trash can!!! So cute!
So little time to post, but at least a few pics paint the words! Enjoy the Christmas season and bringing in 2015!! We look forward to sharing our last 30 days with you in January! |
Emma Returns
Emma got home Monday night, with four other young people from our church. They came home by bus on the Trans-Amazon Highway, a fourteen hours journey with about half the road paved. All was well until they came to a river where the bridge was gone. Washed away. Everyone had to get their bags and pay a motorboat to cross the river. Then they had to get on a different bus on the other side. Except there weren’t enough seats, because many buses were doing this, but there was standing room. Needless to say, they had a fun adventure. But that was not the best part. They were part of a prayer conference, and saw many outstanding instantaneous healings. Saturday morning they prayed for people in the marketplace with very cool results. Emma has lots of stories, and this is a week that will mark her life. And the same for these other youth.
Luciano, Paulo Roberto, Adriana, Sammi, and Emma
Happy Thanksgiving from Allison Rupert
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
I hope you all are enjoying time with your families. Now that I am living in Portel, and the only other missionaries are from Canada, it was easy to forget about Thanksgiving in November! But don’t worry, I’m not one of those people who get really sentimental about the holidays. Of course, I miss my family, but not just during the holidays.
As you know, I have been working on all the details to get the English classes started in February of 2015. There have been some great developments in the past month. We are still working on the building to house the school, but unfortunately, the funds to complete it are coming in slowly. I had been a little worried about how we were going to move forward without a building. Then Richie told me about a small university located in the city where he had rented out space for a missions meeting. He explained that there were rooms there available for rent. I went there and talked to the cooridinator of the school. It turned out that not only did the university have the rooms and times available for rent at a reasonable price, but that they were also looking for an English teacher. The English classes that they offer are only held on the weekends, so they wouldn’t interfere with any of the CDR classes. Also, the classes they offer are really only introductions to the English language, so it is a great opportunity to recruit students for CDR. Lastly, the money that I receive from the teaching position will be used to pay the rent for our own English classes! All this totally felt like something God had prepared for us! I can see that He is setting us up for success.
This past week has started our application process for the classes, and I have been walking around the city giving out flyers with information. As I have been speaking to those at the local businesses, many have expressed interest in joining the classes, especially interest in enrolling their children. Being that I am a native English speaker, it gives our project a lot of credibility in the city, as well as all the connections Richie has been able to make in his short time here. We are on our way. We are starting small, but I do believe we will start well.
Now that we are not under pressure to finish the building, we can work on it slowly as the funds become available. Of course, if you are interested in helping us finish, please contact me.
As I said before, I feel that God is moving things along in the right direction. Being a missionary, you find out quickly how little control you have over everything. We are so dependent on God and his provision. That can be very scary and very exciting at the same time! But of course, when you experience God coming through for you, you feel humbled and loved. Thank you, God, for your faithfulness!
As always, I want to thank and bless all of you. I know your prayers are a large part of my success here. There is no distance in the spiritual realm. I ask that you would continue to pray for the success of the CDR English school and for the funds to finish our building. I ask that you would pray for me to continue to build meaningful relationships in my new city. I want to bless you as well, that you would experience success in the projects that God has put in front of you to do. That he would show you his provision. I also pray for the health of your relationships, that God would touch those relationships in your life that are lost or broken. I pray that he would bring restoration and healing.
In early December, I will be returning to Altamira to spend the month visiting with my friends there. Being here alone in Portel can be difficult, and it is important that I go back to get some much needed relational time. I will talk to you all soon!
Love you and God bless!
Allison
 |
|
| Kids playing Volleyball at the Mission |
November Amazon Update! Steve and Elba Dolan
This month was really exciting because we participated in a conference with Marc Marx called “Healing on the Streets” (HOTS). HOTS was launched out of Causeway Coast Vineyard in Colerain Ireland on Easter of 2005. Adopted by many churches the Healing on the Streets model is spreading around the world. It’s a gentle, non-confrontational way of connecting with people on the streets of our cities and introducing them to Jesus. The conference was really good and I even received a healing. (Read below)
After the conference we put our training into practice and hit the streets. We went to a busy part of the city, and the city traffic cops blocked the road so that we could put chairs and ask people if they needed prayer for healing. We prayed for so many people and they were healed. We also helped lead them into a loving relationship with Jesus. The most verifiable healing came to Lica (1st picture). Lica was in a horrible motorbike wreck and she broke many bones. She was bedridden for many months. She has been on the mend but it has been a slow process. Her hand still had a broken bone that was clearly visible and had little mobility. The doctors told her that they would need to re-break and reset it again. She sat down, and the team started praying. Christopher Meyer put his hand on top of hers and he felt the bones moving back and forth. After they ended prayer the bone that was extruding from her hand came down significantly and she had about 90% of her movement again. Praise the Lord!
The girls continue to do well. However, Alyssa wanted so badly to give Camilly a gift, and actually, Camilly wanted to receive the gift with great eagerness. Well she got…Chicken Pox…. and she was not happy. We always need to be careful what we ask for. Alyssa is learning how to play the flute. She is learning Christmas songs like O Holy Night, and Jingle Bells. She has pretty much mastered the songs. Both Camilly and Alyssa would like to play songs for us during Christmas. Camilly on the keyboard, and Alyssa on the flute.
Please continue to pray for spiritual, physical, and emotional health for us.
Love and blessings, Steve, Elba, Camilly and Alyssa
Tax deductible donations can be written and sent to:
The Xingu Mission
P.O Box 340785
Columbus, Ohio 43234
Or On-line donations at:
My healing came in the form of a leg growth. I always knew I had one leg shorter than the other because of x-rays and confirmation by Chiropractors. One of the other missionaries, Jen, also had the same problem and her leg grew. Athila (the Central Senior Pastor) started pushing me to sit down to see if I would get a healing. Out of embarrassment I sat down. There were about 40 people surrounding me, and I was nervous. I mean, what if nothing happened. Marc grabbed my legs and confirmed what I already knew. He started praying and I felt something pulling my leg, I looked at my leg because I thought he was the one pulling it. However, his hands were not even close to my calf. Then I saw my leg grow, and everyone gasped so loudly. It was amazing. Afterwards, I started walking on it and it felt so weird because I was landing so much quicker. What an amazing experience….I still questioned if it really happened….but in the end, I know God touched me, and many others. Pr. Athila after seeing what happened with me, jumped into the seat immediately so that God would heal him….He did.
Elba’s sister Elbaleine was in the hospital and Elba went to be there with her and to pray for her. During her time with her sister another woman came in with a terribly swollen and infected foot. Elba felt God tugging on her to go and pray for her and she did. Once she started praying she heard bones cracking and then the lady’s swelling was gone and she had complete mobility. She was so amazed at the power of prayer that she asked Elba to put her hands on her head because in her words “my life is a mess”. Elba then shared God’s love for her and the lady left the hospital. After her visit with her sister, Elba left the hospital and saw the lady that she prayed for outside talking to a bunch of people and she started screaming “there’s the lady with the holy hands”. This was so embarrassing for Elba and she reaffirmed that it was not her but Jesus that healed her. Elba also prayed for her sister, and nothing happened and she is still not well. These are the things that are difficult because one person gets a healing, and another does not. But should we give up? No, we need to keep pressing in, and just keep praying.