Wonderful last couple of days!

Oi! We are back in Santarem.  It is hot! We had a rest day yesterday in Alter do Chao. Some of us went on a tour to the floodforest but we all certainly had a lot of fun swimming.  Beach day was awesome!

God has been working on our lives.  At night we are able to share how God is working in our lives and for sure, we are growing in Him. Tears and laughter have never felt so good! We feel like we have known each other on the team forever ago.  Friendships are building. And we are sharpening each other daily, GOD IS GOOD!

On Saturday, we were in Boim, we got to share God's Word at a school, later we were able to partake in their folklore month festivities.  We were asked to be on the panel of judges to score folklore dances, it was like American Brazil Idol.  Ha, ha. At the end they took us out to dance. That was a lot of fun!

We are loving sharing God's Word and we are more bold in praying.  So far there have been over 125 people coming to know the Lord.  Amen! Thank you all for your prayers, we are loving sharing who GOD IS. 

We have a couple more days here, it has gone by so fast but yet it seems that we have been here forever too.   Pictures and videos to come...

Hello, family and friends! We are writing to you from Aveiro today. Yesterday we visited Santa Cruz, and Fordlandia on Wednesday. We have spent our mornings going into schools to do VBS and purity workshops. In the afternoon, the boys played soccer with some of the local teams. We have witnessed 50+ people give their lives to Christ! Our Lord is alive and with us! The people have been so inviting and welcoming to us. Our team is growing closer to each other and meaningful relationships are building. We praise God for his protection and strength. We invite you to pray for our team to stay hydrated, cool, and healthy.

We'd like to share some highlights from these past few days. In Fordlandia we had a lot of fun embracing their culture and participating in activities such as dancing! Yesterday we had some rain, and the boys took full advantage of showering outside. (pictures to come!) We are really enjoying teaching the kids about Jesus, and playing games with them. The land and people here are all so beautiful. We are in awe of God's wonderful creations. We will try to update with pictures and videos later today!

Love,

Courtney and Kendra

What a very exciting soccer game that was played in Itaituba!!  The field was out of only dirt with lumpy grass spots, the guys all adjusted well to playing on it. It was a very intense game, very close the entire time. Our guys never played together until then. They did great together! It was so fun to watch them play and have fun. Each player played with such great character. God brought a huge cloud for coverage during the game so that it wasn't miserably hot. Along with a most beautiful double rainbow. Our guys fought hard and came out winning 4-3. Afterwards, we joined in a circle to pray for and share the Good News of Jesus Christ! At least 20 boys accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior and joined us for church that evening!! Good is truly working here!

This Daniel Gerber! I would like to share with about the eventful day I and we as the mission team had yesterday. In the morning we played a futsal tournament. There eight teams total participating in the tournament. We American split into two teams because we had enough people. And both teams made to the semi-final.Even know that neighter of the teams made to the finals, we had an amazing experience. we tried to show Jesus's  love during the game.  At the end of the games, I was asked to give a little bit of my testimony and to pray. At the end of my speech, about a dozen of people accepted Christ as their personal savior. I was shocked because i did not expected that. In the afternoon, we played outdoor soccer with a very good team. At the end of the game we shad the same thing happened as in the morning. Afterwards we want to a local church. I was again asked to tell my testimony for the whole congregation. The cool thing was that the some of the soccer players who had accepted Jesus for the first time were at the church. After i finished speaking about my testimony, I had people coming to me and telling me that they were impacted by my story. Which was the main reason why I was will to goo up there and speak about my testimony. I was people to love god and to grow in there faith once they hear how God has been good in my life. Over all, it was a very powerful day. I never thought that i would one day serve God in the Amazon basin. Especially considering where I came from (Ethiopia) and the life style i had.  God is Good!!

Itaituba

Oi! It has been crazy good around here! We have had a lot of roller coaster experiences, mixed with high and lows. Each time we see a hiccup we pray and God provides. 12 pieces of luggages were lost in transit but thank God tonight we should be getting most of them.  Some people got sick but with prayer they felt much better- thank you JESUS for healing!

We had over 500 kids yesterday at VBS as we visited 4 schools. The kids were excited to meet the Americans. We shared God's love and Word as we shared the story of David and Goliath. 
We were able to worship at a local church here in Itaituba, with lots of up beat music and great message from the Pastor.  Gabe and Belle delivered their testimony, God gave them courage and the right words to speak to the people of the church. It was a great experience to see and witness how God worked through them. 

Today, we had a futsal tournament at the inside arena.  There were 8 teams total and the guys placed 3rd overall. After the tourney, we were able to share the word of God and how he works through our lives, and Daniel was given the opportunity to share his testimony with the eight different futsal teams. Daniel has a great gift of speaking, and really connected with the teams.  We prayed for them, and showed them love, after the prayer twenty, yes TWENTY boys accepted Christ as their savior-Glory to God!
This afternoon, we have a soccer game and then another church service.  We are excited to see how God is going to use us tonight.

Tonight we will be leaving Itaituba and traveling to Fordlandia, this is a community that was established by Henry Ford.  The area is known for the rubber trees and he was able to use this as resources for his automobiles.
Please continue to pray for us to have safe travels, healthy bodies, and keep our eyes on Jesus! 

We will update as much as we have access to internet! 
Thank you for the prayers! 

2012 Trip

2012 Brazil Trip
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/theshewards/3/1370794856/tpod.html

Day 6- Leaving Alter de Chao- arriving at Santarem.

After leaving Alter de Chao, we made it back to Santarem.  They boys played a game of basketball until sunset.

We were warmly welcomed at Igrejia Nova Jerusalem where we held a worship service that night.

Tyler gives his testimony that night.