A Special Surprise!

Mike, Matt, Jason and Wade in front of the tree Clyde found last year that reminded him of

Edgewater Christian Fellowhip

When we took Nana and Papa Steve back to Altamira to catch their flight, we stayed and caught our breath as we had another team coming to visit just a few days later.

We were privileged to have Edgewater Christian Fellowship plan a trip to see the ministry. Last minute, the team leader wrote and informed us for transportation purposes, there were not going to 3 but 4. We realized this was a possible surprise. We pushed in the back of our minds but when the day of arrival was upon us, we couldn't stop thinking and guessing who it could be.

We were thrilled to see our brother in law Matt come off the plane as the 4th member of the team! It was a great Christmas present to us for sure!

They had some mishaps on their travels, but their spirits were high and ready for the adventure ahead of them.

The way we travel on the Iriri River

We didn't lose anytime as we headed out to Maribel on Tuesday morning. Wednesday we planned to launched a 3 day river trip. Our dear friend, Josh Pflederer and his oldest daughter, Gabriella came along and made the trip more fun. Josh and his beautiful wife, Brin are moving to Manaus to follow God's leading in January. We were delighted Josh could break away and visit one last time as he and Clyde had made a visit together the previous year and had searched out remote areas to possibly start another base together. God has other plans and He is fulfilling them as we speak.

A Happy Camper!

House meeting for communion

The 3 day river trip was filled with sun, fishing for dinner and competing for the largest and most fish as we were in two boats, visiting houses and villages. We stayed 2 nights in a village and had a sweet time of ministry there.

Enjoying His Presence

The first morning after arriving, we had a communion service. Matt shared about communion and how Jesus wants us to eat of Him, partake of Him. It was a wonderful message of acceptance and those who came were filled up. The owner of the home is not a Christian yet, but said that God is working and she feels His tug. We pray for her and our next visit that she will partake of His glorious gift of salvation.

After communion, we headed out in our boats and had a lot to cover in a short amount of time.

We reached a house on a good size rapid.

Beating the Sun and Heat

We ate lunch and played in the rapids and had to kick off to invite people to the house for a 4pm service. We stopped in at some 5-6 houses inviting folks to come. When we got back to the house, we were a half hour late, but the house was packed!!!!! That service was gonna be brief! But God showed up and 2 people gave their lives to Jesus and I was able to minister to the Mrs. of the house.

We scrambled out of there and visited all the houses we could trying to get back to the village where we were staying as we were holding another night meeting there at 7pm. We pushed and made it, but along the way we received a great testimony of God's unexpected surprises!!

A lady came out of her house as we were pulling up in the hottest part of the day. Hannah had fallen asleep on me and I told Clyde "Make it as quick and sweet as possible!" I held her sweaty body with the only shade of an umbrella. After about 10 minutes, Clyde called me up to come and meet the family. Oh, how I just wanted to get going and get out of the heat. But okay!

So I made my way out of the boat. Wade, a new friend and member of ECF offered to carry Hannah's sleeping body up the steep embankment.

When I got up there, the warmth of the family was refreshing! I was kicking myself for having such a bad attitude. Jose' and Maria(Mary and Joseph) were all smiles and shared about how just days before they had sent a message through a friend to Clyde. The message never reached him. Maria explained that she met Clyde in Maribel when she was waiting to be tested for Malaria. Clyde remembered that she looked really bad and felt compelled to pray for her.

She testified that God touched her and she was healed!

Whoot! Whoot! Whoot! So cool! She went on to ask Clyde when he could come back and do a service in their home. She wants more of Jesus! We prayed for them before we left.

The rest of the trip was fun and very bonding with all the guys that came! We felt such a kindred connection with them and knew God had this orchestrated! He is so good! ALL THE TIME!

It was like a scene from a reality show about how to make something from nothing to perform at task and have only a day to do it with success!

These guys really did work hard

This is our well site. What a sight!

The team helped us with our water problems and with all their expertise came up with a bad report. It's not enough water in the new well we had drilled. We need a miracle to get water and make life smoother! Til then we will trust Him for the grace to continue to live there.

Sunday was their last day in Maribel and we had church at a neighbor's house on the river. It was a small group as many families were roasted thier manioc root to make "farinha(fah-drin-yah). It's their staple with fish and rice.The folks that were there were greatly blessed and we had a great time ministering and praying for them.

Altamira base leader, Bud Simone met us to look at the house purchased to start the ministry in Uruara'

The team gathers in the front yard of the property

Front view of the house with Bud and Poly, who is the new leader for the work in Uruara'

We are looking at building an apartment on the side of the house here where the guys are standing. The fence on the side is a dog area and will come down for more room.

We headed back out towards Altamira. The first stop was in Uruara' where we met with the Altamira base leader, Bud Simon and a Brazilian leader, Poly. We ate lunch with them and their wives and afterwards went to a new house that was purchased for them to live and begin a work in the city. We have been asked to move to the city in the rainy season(Jan-June) and work with them to plant a church. We are praying for how and when to make the move. Looking at February for a realistic time frame. We need to build a small apartment next to the existing house. This move will help develop leaders in the city to oversee the work on the Iriri and eventually we will be able to pass it on.

We made it into Altamira early evening with no problems with the car, but the kids in our car, Makenna, Gabriella, Maddy and Hannah were all suffering from what we thought was car sickness. Later we realized it was a virus or food poisoning or something. It ended up being a long night! But we are on the mend. The team left first thing today. My heart was sad to see them go and yet so warmed as we had them in our world and life for 9 days!

Uncle Matt with his nieces and nephew one last time before leaving.

Teams from your own home town are just special! Thank you ECF! Your love and support is so incredibly appreciated! Thanks for EVERYTHING!!!!

Merry Christmas to you and a Blessed and Purposeful New Year 2011!!!!!!!

Nana and Papa Came to Maribel!

My mom and her husband Steve came all the way from Temecula, California and the beautiful wine country to our rugged neck of the jungle. They did remarkable and I am so proud of them.
They arrived in time for Maddy's 8th birthday. Thier visit was a surprise for the kids and boy were they surprised! Especially our Makenna. We enjoyed a relaxing day at a man made lake and retreat center and then rushed off to do errands before heading on our journey the following morning. We took Mom and Steve on a river trip just a few hours up river from where we live to meet the folks we are building relationships with. Along with us was our dear friend, Tim Kubacki who is a doctor/missionary and our Brazilian friend Alison who came to lead worship. It was a treat to have such a team with us. We had services and medical clinics at 3 stops over the 3 days. Ministry was sweet and the people were so receptive to our family and team. My Mom had a few people touch her heart so strong that she was weepy. But I recognized it as the special thing God does when we encounter Him through the people we are ministering to. It was very cool.
When we reached Maribel again, it was Thanksgiving. Mom and I got to cook together in my humble kitchen with just a few buckets or water. Makenna rounded up a few free range chickens from our yard and took them to a native woman who rung the necks, plucked the feathers and prepared them for me. I haven't gotten to the point of killing dinner yet! Anyways, Mom and I pulled off a pretty amazing lunch. Mashed potatoes, steamed carrots, chicken(which was tougher than tough) imported cranberries and later pumpkin pie and pumpkin crunch!!! After lunch we gathered up all our dishes and laundry from our river trip and spent 2 hours at the river washing dishes and clothes. We rushed back to the house as I had a ladies group planned for 4pm. Mom shared her testimony and met 3 of the ladies who soaked up her testimony and shared some of their stories as well.
We had a special service on Saturday instead of Sunday because we were heading back to Altamira on Sunday. We gathered in a thatched roofed house with only 1 wall. It was so breezy and refreshing. Mom and Steve enjoyed the change. We had service and enjoyed lunch together. After lunch we gathered the Brazilians for a family photo. It went well. Then our family gathered for a family photo. I set up the camera on a timer, got everyone set up and pushed the button. I ran to sit down in my spot which was in the middle of the plank we were sitting on and BOOSH! the plank broke right when I sat down. Clyde, Maddy and Nate got hurt but thank goodness it wasn't too terrible. It was a memory we will never forget. The funny thing was that the camera caught it!
There is so much more to share, but my brain isn't expressing it all that well.
Speaking of well... we had an artesean well dug and we have water, but the pump got plugged up. We had to take it in to clean when we took Mom and Steve back to catch thier plane home. We are praying that the pump will work and we will have water. Please pray with us for the finances to hook it up. It will probably be somewhere around $4000 to have it completed!
God is our provider and we trust Him for all things including this well project. The cool thing is that it isn't benefitting just us, but the neighbors in Maribel too! So 5 houses will have water from one source!
This means too that when rainy season hits, we can wash our dishes and clothes up at our houses and not in the river with the Malaria bugs!!!!
More later...Blessings!

Life in Maribel

Since out move to Maribel in September, we have worked really hard on getting our new home all cozy, starting to have church services in the homes of the neighbors and learning to live without water.
This has been a very dry summer and record lows for river levels. This has messed with the water table too and there is hardly any water in our well. Besides that, our ministry life is very different and fun. The folks out here are simple and relaxed and are without any church background. It's like starting a nearly ground zero!
The kids are doing well even though they still complain about it being so hard. That is a true statment. This life is hard and I have even more sympathy for those who live out here. But to chose to live out here and be born and raised out here are two different things. We chose to live here because we knew God wanted us to for His purposes. Without that, I wouldn't "choose"!!! It's like eternal camping!!! The community is very small. About 5 houses and the other neighbors who surround the community frequent the house and come to services on Sundays. We have free range pigs, chickens and cows. All of which are mess makers and part of the "cost" to live here on the grace side of things. Overlooking all that, I am quite content here. Just really need water!
We are pursuing a artesian well and praying God for the finances for it. We bucket in our water from the river. I wash all our clothes and dishes every day in the river. I am so grateful for our truck to haul it back and forth because we don't live on the water front! We live about a 1/4 mile from the river bank.
Life is very different. And when I have more time, I'll write what those differences are!
Thanks for praying for us and we will continue to update as we can! Blessings!
PS, my mom and her hubby are here for the next week to see our new home and ministy! Should be fun and interesting to see how they do!!!

God is Faithful

I apologize for not writing anything for over a year. The reason? Well, after several research trips to Sao Felix and talking to key people, it seemed that Sao Felix wasn't going to be the place God had for us as we thought. I didn't know what to blog! In Jan 2010 we moved back to Altamira for a season to decide what the Lord wanted. He showed us that the river we were trying to minister to was going to be better accessed through Altamira via a little community called Maribel off the TransAmazon Hwy.
Clyde had been on research trip in Dec 09 and it was very exciting to him. He took a few other trips in early 2010 and it confirmed his heart to want to minister there. So in Sept 2010, we moved our family to Maribel, bought a house we couldn't refuse to buy and we are calling it home to our new ministry God is putting us to!
What is it like? Simple! We live in a small community of about 4 houses and a beautiful river with river folks living off the land with no power, no t.v. no running water and no bathrooms. God has stretched us and we are finding that simple is freeing.
The people have no church background. Everything is new. We are starting from ground zero and it is fun! Many cannot read or write. One man named Chico, has been the spiritual leader raised up from the Vineyard church in Altamira for the past 2 yrs. He cannot read or write. He has a talking solar bible and he has learned everything he knows from it. He listens to it so intently and has found a rock in Jesus. We are working with he and his wife and others that have opened their hearts to the gospel there.
We live where there is no internet, phones, cell phones, no power and no stores for 3 hours. We go to the city once a month or so to check in with everyone and give updates. We will keep you posted monthly as to our progress to share the gospel where there is no gospel presence! Pray for us as we are out there.
We appreciate your prayers for:
Health
Wisdom in ministry
Intimacy with the Father
Strength to live where it is harder

Thanks for reading~ we'll try and stay more in touch!