What a day- 7/19

Finally, we are resting in our hammocks while our boat continues to motor up the Amazon river. It's a wild thought, we are on the Amazon river in a boat going to villages telling them about Jesus. We have seen the Amazon dolphins, alligators (dead ones in the city), piranhas on the end of our fishing poles, and the people known as "river people." In the words of Sarah Micklos, "this is discovery channel stuff!" This area of creation is truly a sight to see.
However, there are other sites to see in this place as well. Peeking your head inside the door of a classroom to hear Taylor Locke sharing the Gospel like he does it everyday is a sight to see. Seeing Mark Haley realize how much God really wants us to depend on his strength is a sight to see. To be with Jessica Couch almost all day everyday (she is in my group) and hear how her confidence grows is a sight to see. Or how about seeing Sarah Micklos so sensitive to God's Spirit that she cries all the time. To watch Mikey B is like watching someone in their element. Ashley Wilson's passion to share the Gospel and her compassion for people is beyond me. To see our pastor able to have fun, connect with college students, and be a great spiritual leader has been amazing as well. Folks, I have had a blessed time. I miss my family, we all do, but we know and walk about knowing that what we are doing is right. Mission trips like these confirm or re-confirm so many things in our spiritual life. Here is a thought for the church BACK HOME to ponder. So many times youth and college students return home with a newfound passion for God and his work after a trip like this. The neat thing is the sending church (RBC) gets to experience the trip with the group and partner with them. We have been praying that God would work in the lives of these kids during this trip, but have you been praying that God would work in your life? Parents, if your child comes home and says God has called them to be a missionary would your prayer life increase with the anxiety or would your worship be greater because you prayed that God would work in your life? Church member, are you ready to welcome back an on fire college student with a splash of water or a splash fuel? Will you be part of the fire going out or will you expose your heart to catch the flame? People in Memphis and across your street need to hear just as much as these do in Brazil. You'll have eight people land in your city Saturday morning who NEED to keep up the good work. They will go wherever you want and sit down with whoever you want to share the Gospel. They may need some rest, but not much. What will it be...?
This morning we went into a school to interrupt their classes in order to share Jesus with them. It was a very neat opportunity. After that we got on our boat to travel to a remote village. It took about three hours for the people and president to decide if we could get off the boat. The place was different than the city, there was a weird feeling about it (Satan's territory). When we got the go ahead, our teams went forth as we have the whole trip. My team got to our first house and met a lady who had been told she would die in less than a month. As we all got on the porch the boards cracked and we fell through! Our translator Nick, Jessica, Larry (74 year old man from FL), and myself all went tumbling down...straight down. After we made sure our hearts were still beating, Jessica and the translator went into the house as Larry and I picked up the pieces. The picture below shows only the staircase that was actually where I stood to take the picture. There was three generations in the house, all females, and Jessica prayed with each one of them as they received new life! God dropped us off at the right time for the older lady and it was such a neat experience to sit outside the house listening to the conversation. The other groups had some difficulties. The village is slowly turning into alcoholics and people were very apathetic. All in all it was a good experience (spiritual warfare is good to experience). Tomorrow we will go into a similar situation and try to start a church. On Wednesday we will be in a city called Alvareas (shows up on google) and then back to Tefe to jump on the speed boat and head to Manaus. Continue to pray for our safety, unity, and witness. Thanks and God bless, Bill.