Part of our life in October 2014

River Trip

That’s right, we are going to put those 2 motorbikes in that boat/Canoe:))

It took me a while to believe what I was seeing. I let the experts sit on the bikes and balance them.

my view from the front of the boat looking back

Arriving at the community across the river

having coffee after a time of teaching and encouraging. This community church has 20 or so families but most of the men work at the Dam and so are gone during the week.

More Transamazonia Highway pic’s:))

They are continuing to

carve out the transamazonian highway.

Cleni’s 21 year old uncle was murdered in the street and her 18 year old brother was shot in the stomach late one night last week.

Cleni is a member of our Living Water’s group whose was fir st introduced to Jesus as a young native whose family moved to Altamira from a village on the Xingu River.

Her brother was in a fight on the street outside these houses. His neighbour went home and came back with a shotgun. The shooter was about where I was when I was taking this photo. The brother was just to the left of the red door on the green house. The shooter took 2 shots. The first spray of bullets missed the brother and hit the house. ( see pictures below). The second spray of bullets hit him in the stomach. His uncle came out of the blue house and told the gunman to go home. “We don’t want this here,” he said, as he turned his back to the gunman intending to peacefully reenter his home. He was instantly shot in the back of the head and died in the street. The dark stain in the street in front of the couple in black and pink, is where he died.

Incidentally, this is why no one normally comes on to the street when fights erupt. There is so much lawlessness. The police show up 30 minutes after being called. They still haven’t captured the gunman, even though they know who he is. He fled into the interior.

Cyndi and I went to the hospital to pray for his healing on the Monday. I went back almost everyday that week to pray for him. He saw great improvement after we prayed. Everytime we or his sister prayed for him, he felt his organs shifting around inside, and the pain always left when someone prayed for him. That is amazing since he only received pain medication 2 times a day.

We also prayed for a woman in the final stages of cancer of the uterus who was connected to Cleni’s family. The next day she got out of bed and walked to the bathroom all by herself.

Healing in the Streets

This man in the red shirt came with ‘bottle cap glasses’ and left not needing them anymore!

Even the police got into it!!

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The Chacara

The kids love the chacara (church property) even more when it is fruit season. But some of them are kind of untrained. This week when some of our leadership was travelling, we were less able to keep a close eye on their activities. They ended up moving a hose out of our view, playing with water for hours, and left the water running overnight, which eventually burnt out the water pump. Then they got into our old car, which we are trying to sell. They found some powder graphite and sprayed it all over inside and outside of the car, making a terrible mess. If we can keep loving them, having patience, keeping the big picture, who knows the plans God has for these kids? And when you hear their stories, it really helps.

Thais, who is up in a choke-cherry tree, is one of the girl’s good friends. She has a cute little baby, Melany.

The children bring bags so they can take home the fruit on our trees.

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Bella is 16!

Bella turned 16 years old today! We made mango pie and vanilla ice cream, to celebrate.

First Birthday Celebration Without Mom, (but we celebrated together throughout the day via Skype).

Emma and Bella collected two buckets of Bacuri Mangoes.

Bella tested two mango recipes, and they are both good.

Birthday Breakfast.

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Permanence and Change

Bella got her inspiration one day this week from The Screwtape Letters, a book by C. S. Lewis, and from the pumpkin pie that she cooked up (her first).God gave his church seasonal rhythms, so that our celebrations (and our lives) can always have change, and they can always be the same, all at once! How cool is that?We celebrated a Canadian October tradition in Brazil, and it was delicious. I wish you could have been here.

Have a great week.

Warmly,

Bella and Rick.

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Our Hope

Monday morning Emma, Bella, and I, were sitting at our table, luxuriating over a meal after an exhausting week-end, which included the big wedding on Saturday, the baptism, preaching on Sunday, and studying almost every free second until 4 a.m. Monday morning (midnight PST) to submit a university essay, worth 30% of my grade.

We were telling stories, and enjoying fried eggs, potatoes, tomatoes, bacon, and fresh mangoes, which fell from the tree right outside our front door, suddenly the dog was barking and there were people at the door. “Could you take Bruno to the hospital!?” Then I remembered that at some point during the week-end Phil told me that he had taken Bruno’s grandma to the hospital. She passed out from all the violence in her home (which shares a wall with our church property) when the police came in and arrested Bruno. He had gone on a kind of rampage, I’m not sure why. Now, Monday morning, he had a broken knee. I took him to the hospital three times this week, and he is scheduled to get surgery next week. Bruno told me “William was arrested and thrown in jail last night.” When I told Bella, she told me that William’s girlfriend was pregnant. Bruno used to want to be a missionary. Bruno, William, and many others participated in church programs. Now they are repeating the stories their parents passed down to them. Bruno wants to reform his life. Please pray for God to transform him. There is so much pain in broken families. At least two of our neighbourhood families had no food in their homes this week, and lots of children. We brought one of them some basic supplies. Our hope is to help transform this neighbourhood. I think of 1 Cor 1:26b, 27 “Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth, but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong.” Maybe God will raise up a harvest of missionaries from this violent neighbourhood, people who will serve God with complete abandonment.

We have three major goals:
1. Help develop the local church.
2. Build a training center and host regular events.
3. Plant many more churches, especially among the unreached.

We are low on support. I say this just so you know. (1) We need funds for building maintenance and improvements (2) We need a caretaker home in the church yard so we have someone to keep an eye on things. We need funds to develop the training center, (3) especially an eating area, and (4) a new shop, so we can use our existing shop for a conference teaching room.

One day this church will have enough offerings to care for itself and to help many others. Right now you have an opportunity to invest in a startup organization that will produce missionaries, healthy families, and countless acts of kindness until Jesus returns.

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Nine People Baptized

Nine People Baptized!

Last Sunday morning many of our church members had breakfast together and walked down to the river on the edge of the church property to baptize nine more people. Felipe was in trouble with the law not too long ago. Now he is training for the worship team, and his life is turned around. Other baptism candidates included Eliete and her daughter Shianne, the Snells daughter, Faith, the Leao’s daughter, Bruna, and several others. It was a great morning.

Phil, Felipe, and Monica

The Tocantins river, at the foot of our property.

Phil, Monica, Jen, and Ivanildo – the baptizers. (They paired up so there was one fluent Portuguese speaker per team).

Nine people were baptized at the river this morning.

Marques led worship.

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Josias and Vanessa

First Josias started coming to our church. Then a girl started coming with him. They are both not from our immediate neighbourhood. Here is how some conversations went. “Who is the new girl?” “Josias’s girlfriend.” “Ohhh (and an opinion).” After several months, Josias and Vanessa started to think seriously about marriage, and Ivanildo and Monica set up regular pre-marital counselling meetings.

Yesterday, at the wedding feast, at about 10:30 at night, I was walking along the food line-up, talking to people, and reflecting on what a beautiful wedding it was. One of the 14 year old girls had a different expression on her face, so I stopped. She said, “One day I am going to get married.” It seemed to me like this was a new thought for her. Many girls in our neighbourhood get pregnant young, and go from their boyfriend’s house, or his mom’s house, and back to their mom’s house when things don’t work out, and many relationships are full of pain and difficulties. The beauty of a community of people supporting a young couple as they make marriage commitments is very profound.

Vanessa

“I do!”

Married!

The church transformed their front yard for the wedding.

Huge amounts of food capped off the evening celebration.

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October Amazon Update!

As promised from our last email updated I wanted to share about CDR. CDR, our non-governmental organization has continued it’s focused on social service outreaches throughout the community and assisting the underprivileged, plus helping people come into a deeper relationship with Jesus. This month we had a free dental clinic at CDR for one week. We had 2 dentists and 3 helpers from our sister church in Brasilia come to Altamira to help people in the community get free dental treatment. It was such a blessing to the community. Many people just could not believe how professional and nice they were treated. We converted one of the school rooms into the dental clinic and they served over 100 people with 267 procedures just in our city alone. In addition, we did fluoride treatments for 226 children, as well a clinic to teach the children how to care for their teeth.

The following week the dentists headed out by boat to treat people living on the river. They converted the boat, and even the church into a dental clinic to serve the needs of the people. The dental needs along the river were very severe. They were able to treat 110 people with over 250 procedures done. Most of the procedures done were teeth extractions. Of the over 250 procedures, there were a total of 141 teeth extracted. OUCH! This is due to people along the river not having good access to healthcare, and dental accessories. The dentists were desperate to save their teeth but they were too far gone. We had one gentlemen get 15 teeth pulled. In addition, we did fluoride treatments for 181 children plus taught them and the adults how to care for their teeth. After the dental services, the team had the opportunity to share God’s word and pray for people.

One of our English classes taught by Cleide learned a worship song called “No place than I rather be”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnGmsk46b0w Please check it out it is only 1:36. We think that they did a pretty good job. We hope you think so as well.

The girls are doing great. We were very blessed to have my twin sister Lynn come and visit. She helped out tremendously with the dental team and it was so nice to have her here with us. She really enjoyed her time here getting to know everyone. She loved every moment, except for the cockroaches (almost all the houses here have them…including ours) and all the other little crawling things. It was sad to see her leave.L Here is a picture of Camilly getting her teeth cleaned. She is being comforted by Alyssa and Hanna. Alyssa has chicken pox and by the grace of God is doing well.

It is with a sad heart that we write about the death of my niece last Saturday, Caitlin Dolan. She was found in the bathroom not breathing because of an overdose of heroin. The doctors did everything that they could but she did not survive. We are completely shocked by her death. Please pray for my brother, Kris, Michelle (Mom), Courtney (sister) and Nick (brother). I cannot even imagine how they must be feeling. They will be having the showing this Wednesday October 15^th and the funeral on Thursday. Please also pray for our whole family, it has not been an easy year. Caitlin was an organ donor and she donated many of her organs to help others in need.

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:

http://www.xingu.org/14d_dolan_donation.html

Water fight.

Oct, 20

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Stepping Out

One of the main roads in Altamira

It is easy to pass by others in their need. It really is.

My wife and I were driving down the road at 60 mph on our way to lunch together. I drove right by them. “Them” was a young couple with a small child walking along the edge of the road, pushing their scooter which had a flat tire. My wife said something about helping them and I turned around. When we pulled up beside them, they were both surprised and thankful. We gave the mother and her child a ride home which was a detuor from our route but one that was well worth it. It got them out of the midday heat and helped their four year old get lunch more quickly.

Bonus benefit – when we dropped this young mom and her little son off at their home, we met her sister-in-law, who was an old friend that we hadn’t seen for a few years. They live out in the bush and it was good to be able to reconnect with a brief visit.

When we step out in small ways from our normal routine, usually we reap unexpected rewards. God uses these moments when we are outside of our predictable pattern of life to speak into our lives, to lead us to new relationships, to open our eyes to new realities, and to soften our hearts with greater compassion. One thing that we just don’t find in the Gospels is anything that says, “And then Jesus just did pretty much what everyone expected”. It seems that God’s way is often to touch us when we step outside our self-imposed boundaries and expectations.

May God keep us sensitive to where he is guiding and our eyes open to the needs of those around us, even when it seems inconvenient.

upport the Simon Family (click the link to support our ministry)

Support National Church Planting

One of the many children in the Altamira region of Brazil

Oct, 16

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Adventures on the River

Hello Friends, Family, and Supporters!

Always good to write to you all and tell you about all the good things that I get to be apart of on a regular basis. This is my first month in Portel, and already, I feel a sense of purpose and connection to work God has started here.
Last week, I had the privilege of going out on the river with the team that delivers water filters. This is a project that was started in Porto de Moz when Richie and his family were based there. Now, they have moved the project to the Marajó region, which is where Portel is located. The project is very simple and effective. The team spends a few months making the filters which are basically made out of sand and concrete. The sand filters the water making it drinkable. Then, they load all the filters (which are very heavy) onto the boat and head out to the communities who live on the river.
Most of the people who live there go directly to the river for their drinking water. As you can imagine, they are constantly struggling with diarrhea and parasites as well as other health problems because of the quality of the water. The filters give them clean, drinking water with a system that is easy to maintain.

A Water Filter in a River Home

I wanted to go on the trip to experience the project for myself, but also to see how I could bless the people that we visited. I brought some goodies along me to give away: candy, markers, tooth paste, tooth brushes, and some basic medicines. As we stopped at each house, we were able to bless some of the people and the kids by giving away the gifts until we ran out. We also offered to pray for the families, and they willingly accepted.


Some of the kids with their presents

At one of the houses that we stopped, there was an old woman who could no longer talk or move very much and was being taken care of by her daughter. I assume that she had probably had a stroke, and her daughter said that she had been that way for 5 years. I laid my hand on the woman and as soon as we began to pray, she began to cry and moan. Of course, we had no idea what she was feeling, but I could imagine the suffering she might be experiencing from being literally trapped in her own body for years. I asked God’s Spirit to fill her and comfort her and give her peace. I prayed that His presence would let her know that she is never alone. I felt blessed that God had called us out onto the river to be a light to the people there.
I was also very impressed with the team of men who were responsible for delivering the filters. You can’t imagine how hard they worked everyday to deliver 90 filters in a week. There were so many challenges for them, but they faced them all. Loiro is the leader of the team, and he went to each house, asking the families if they wanted the filters as well as explaining to them how they worked. Elizeu not only worked hard all day, but then also gave a short service for one of the families later one night. And all of them, after each day, played soccer with the people from the communities, building friendships with them. I felt truly honored to be among such great servants.


Delivering a Filter

The day after we came back from the trip was Children’s Day here in Brazil. So, our church had an event for the neighborhood kids in the morning. It was a lot of fun, and we had about 50 kids show up.

They had to dance and balance the orange at the same time!

Now, I am back in Portel, and working hard toward the goal of preparing for the school. There is a lot to be done, but I have faith that God is helping to move this dream to a reality each day. I recently created a page on my facebook that will give updates about the progress of our school as well as our other projects, like the water filters. It’s CDR Social Marajó. Please go check it out!

As always, I want to thank all of you for your sincere support and faithfulness to our mission in Brazil. Our goal is to bring the Kingdom of God to Earth, and we do that everyday in big ways and small. Thank you for being apart of that. Thank you for seeing the possibilities and investing in people you have never met, but have decided to love because of Christ. I believe that what you are seeing here is only the beginning. My dream is to continue to grow a place where the people of this region can come in and experience the goodness of God in every area of their lives. God bless your families. Bless you with a deeper knowledge of God’s love and delight over you. That he sacrificed it all to give you freedom in the inner parts of your soul.

Love you,

Allison

Please see the rest of the pictures from my trip on the link below.

Water Filter Trip

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