A little girl taking a bath in the river.

resting in the hamocks on a boat trip, your bed while on the river. :)

Free dental work for the villagers .

Meeting a few kids. I need a tan. ha!

Well, wow. I am back in Louisville. Most people ask, "How was it?"
I am have been wondering how you sum up this time there. HUMMM... I still have yet to land on anything. So here goes my attempt:
Brazil was both an amazing experience and a privilege. I was able to help out in tons of different ways. Boat trips (construction, health, evangelism, children's programs), graphics, cell groups, some big jobs and lots of little jobs that needed extra hands. And myself and a few other short-termers were just that, extra hands.
SO things I miss from Brazil: Cupuacu (I doubt I spelled that right, but it is strange fruit that I came to really like). Nap time (America needs to institute this). Really what I find myself missing are the friendships and relationships I was building there with the youth and young adults. And the purpose over everything (making disciples).
Don't worry I am not hating America or Americans now. But it is taking a bit to get used to it again. It is so nice to see family and kick back and laugh with friends.
Am I going back? Good question. I am praying about it, my heart misses it and is like, "Yeah, lets go." So right now I am taking time to adjust and visit with people here in the states. Please keep me in your prayers as I continue to seek what God has for me. I also want to say thank you for all of you who have supported me with your prayers and financial support. Is an honor to have people who are willing to get involved and get excited about the opportunities to share Christ with others. I pray the Lord is blessing you and your families in enormous ways. Hope to see you or talk to you soon.

SO what to write. Well, I just got back from my probably my last boat trip. AHHH. It was an Alligator hunting, spear fishing, grapefruit picking, snake dodging, fire ant biting extravaganza. No really it was a great time of worship, prayer, visiting, evangelizing, and preaching, testifying, and watching Jesus invade the earth and heal many many many many people we prayed for. There are a few that got away. But they are stuck in my heart and I will continue to pray for them. It also pushes you for more intimacy with the father.

Here is what my friend wrote about our trip and I thought dang it she did a far better job explaining things. So enjoy. :)

Wow has the time passed, we only have two more weeks left here in Brazil. We just got back from our last boat trip and God saved the best for last! All our time here has come down to this last boat trip, God used our abilities in Portuguese to minister to people on a new level that we haven’t been able to do this whole time. Around 60 people came to the Lord and another 50 people were healed from various things. Not only did we see headaches and backaches healed, we saw one lady get healed from cancer! Now let me stop all your thoughts right there with saying how do you know she got healed from cancer and let me tell you how it all happened.

One night during ministry time a lady came up having cancer near her left armpit. When she came up for prayer she was believing the Lord for a healing that night, and the Lord moved. She came up with a lump right were the cancer was, as we prayed the lump began to shrink! By the end of our time praying the lump was no longer there, and she said her skin where the lump used to be was completely soft. She had surgery scheduled but the Lord stepped in and did the surgery on His own time. Glory to God!

Another day as we stopped for a short while to talk to a local river pastor. A lady from church came to the boat saying, there is a man who wants prayer for healing and he is not saved. Marcos (Brazilian Friend) and Ben jumped up and left the boat right away. As we arrived at the house we sat down and just asked simply, “What seems to be the problem and do you want to be healed?” Then briefly explained that the Lord wanted to heal him and began to pray. The man had pain in his back and in his chest, after a short prayer the pain was completely gone. Then we talked to him for about 10 to 15 minutes and he received the Lord. How easy and awesome does the Lord make it to lead someone to Him.

We also spent a lot of time doing children’s ministry. As someone who has come to the Lord at the age of four, this ministry has always meant a lot to me.. I know by experience that children can feel the love and peace of God and make that commitment to the Lord. We did skits, songs, and shared the gospel message. About 50 kids came to know the Lord that week! How precious are our children to the Lord.

What to say. at the moment I am counting down the days. You can take that both ways.... counting down the days to seeing my family and friends, and some nice long forgotten convinces. experincing arts and media again is a excitement of mine too.
But on the other hand I am counting down the days a and feel like a little kid that doesn't want to go and is being dragged along, my feet are pushing against anything i can find for leverage and not to make me go. I have become accustomed to life here. I have made friends and at times they feel like family too. There is a mighty work taking place here and I hate to walk out on that.
I am asking my self this question a lot. How do missionaries do it. Leave there loved ones, some times for a lifetime. the only thing I can think of is to stay focused on the task Christ i s calling you too.
But with each day that passes I want to say that I realize how little I know.
So yep my time here in Brazil is almost up. I would love your prayers as I am seeing I am torn and need the Lords guidence.
But am so thankful that I have had the privillage of coming here and working with PAZ. I am continuing to learn from the missionaries here. I hope I have gathered as much drops of wisdom from them as possible.

Well it's me again. So here is my update, I will try and keep it brief because I am thinking you all could be getting tired of my ramblings about life on the mission field. This weekend has been jam packed for my brain and I am trying to keep up. Here in Santarém and PAZ we have had many "short-termers" varying in stay from weeks to 2 months to me at 6 months. Different ages, walks of life, and from very different places. As of late, three have left. ☹ All amazing people, seeking where God would have them and taking there time here with PAZ to hear if the Lord is calling them to missions full time into the future, or here to offer help during a summer break. They have been an asset in many ways let along just sheer manpower. I pray the Lord blesses them and we will see them again soon.
My time here is not usually this packed with great activities. Let's recount the days:
Thursday I was invited to a pray vigil, where some young people were crying out to God, awesome to be apart of that. Except for the fire ants, mean little buggers.
Friday baby shower for a friend here, Ruth. It was cool to see… Why? Well for one, I can't seem to get away from baby showers no matter where I go, ha-ha. But it was cool to see the Grandma's pray for this unborn child. The grandma's are working on the mission field, the daughter (the lady who is pregnant) was raised on the mission field and has returned to work here also and so a new generation of children coming and hopefully joining this work. What a blessing.
Saturday we (short-termers) were invited to spend some time with one of the main leaders of PAZ, Project AmaZon. Where she shared the vision of PAZ, why they do what they are doing. My heart got so excited. I will try and recount…
PAZ was started in the 70s I think, but the vision from the beginning was to evangelize the Amazon Basin, then all of Brazil, then the rest of the world. They compared it to Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth. Well, Paz is having a big effect on things here and spreading the word about Christ. I can't begin to tell how much things have changed due to PAZ planting churches. But really it's the Holy Spirit planting churches using the people of PAZ. And other missionaries here too.
PAZ has been sending out church planters into the deeper parts of the Amazon and having great success, and recently sent out workers to another city here in the basin called Fortaleza. It is a large city, not considered easy soil. But they are now running a church that has about 1500 members in it in 2 years. YEAH!
And so they plan to continue on in this, send a team to Sao Paulo to start a church plant there. They can't wait to see it boom into a great church that worships the Lord, and leads people to Him. And by going after the Judea (the Amazon, and reaching the unreached) and then going after Samaria (other parts of Brazil) and doing so in larger cities where they gather resources also. This will help the work continue on to the ends of the earth by funding more to go out to the rest of the world.
Two of my new friends here, Jennifer and Josiah, are actually planning on being part of that team to go out to the rest of the world. The excitement for me is so joyous. This is just the beginning… but what a pleasure to take the gospel to those who don't know, who NEED Christ. They need His companionship, His relationship, protection and provision for their lives. What a joy to introduce them to the God who created them and sees them like no one else can, with immense love. I love vision and hearing it cast. You get to see the big picture, the reason why we do what we do. The vision keeps you on the road.

SO what does this mean? It means please pray for me. As I get so excited about this vision of church planting, and discipleship.

PAZ is a bit different than most of the organizations I have worked with, in the fact that they are a cell group church. And I am not gonna lie, I am still trying to get used to it. But I see the fruit of it. The goals are to get everyone involved in a cell group and everyone is discipled and has a discipler. So the church is not ONLY the pastor's responsibility, it is in the hands of the people. Who are going out and making disciples. AND then multiplying, and growing.
And as for the team they sent to Fortaleza, they used a very different mode there also. Here is my best description. You can take a seed and plant it in the ground and water it and grow it and it will grow, but it will take time. Or you can transplant a tree, a fruit bearing tree. One that has proven in the past it can bear fruit and plant it and it will continue to bear fruit. You will get a crop (small but good). Or you can transplant a whole orchard and bear a huge crop after you have watered and adjusted to the new place. The yield of the crop will be huge. The first is a believer but staring out. The second is a believer who has learned and proven himself; fruit bearing raised up leaders, lead a cell group discipled…. The third is to transplant a team, a group of these believers who have proven fruit bearing in the past. Transplant that and your start will be great and people are attracted to what's happening, growing, the thing in motion.
They have proven this new method effective. As I think they sent either 100 or 50 couples or families to Fortaleza and in two years are at 1500 in their church. What a blessing to that city and people.

So I would definitely ask for your prayers. As excited as I get about vision, I am still human and am homesick. But as a friend put it "you need to fight for an eternal mindset." I really liked that I knew I needed more of an eternal mindset, but I don't know how well I have been fighting for it. SO Lord speak to us all and give us the courage to follow.

PS: I heard an interesting (not sure if it is fact) tidbit that America is one of the 3rd largest unreached people groups in the world. Really hit me. Wow, and think of all the immigrants to the US daily. AGBC, be lifting up Michael and Erica as they are in the heart of it in Miami.

So as we were chugging away at our cell group we were puney. But remember I spoke about the congresso and how many people came to the Lord or came back to the Lord? Well, Sylvia and I get to see some of that fruit. As a girl name Chyoni came back to the Lord, and on fire. And we are merging our cell group with her and a few of her friends. So we had our first meeting last night (Saturday), which went very well. She is so pumped and I am excited to see what God has up His sleeve. As we had more than ten people there I think. Please remember to pray for Fajita and Gabriela, and Fabioani, as they are the girls in our cell who are not so consistent. I pray they will have more of a desire to know God and get involved in the cell where they can fellowship, learn and be encouraged.

Why is it again that we are not bold and staring into the face of spiritual warfare and growling back? Just asking my self a few questions. Why are we not bolder? Or why am I not.... that is the question. (sigh) Never the less the Lord again is teaching me intimacy with Him, it is the fuel for everything.
I am reading a book called "The Shack". It has such great timing in my life, as God had intended I am sure. But really just reminding me of God's goodness, and His measure of Love towards us. I have to admit I have a hard time swallowing even a drop of the measure of His love He has for us. That is where I go wrong, that is where worry comes from. Insecurities, distrust, whatever it may be.... it seems to me that we should just try and understand that God loves us more that we can imagine. It will change our perspective. I don't say this as a Sunday school lesson, but really try and grasp the depths of His love. How deep how wide, how long. Like Paul writes in Ephesians 3:18.

By the way, alligator tastes pretty good. :)

Update

I am home for a bit again in Santarem. Someone pointed out that I have 7 weeks left here. It made me shriek. Counting in weeks makes it sound so small. It's such a hard thing to express the great want to see you again (friends, family, familiar places and customs), and yet the other half of me feels like, "No, I am not done here, there is so much to do." As my time is coming to an end I pray that the Lord will guide me as to what steps He wants me to take when I am finished with my 6 month commitment here. BUT, if you know me, I think, contemplate, and wrestle with little decisions let alone big ones. And so I have been asking the Lord what He wants me to do, even before I arrived here. But I am learning over and over to give it over to the Lord.
He is also teaching me to seek His face, not his hand. When I heard this the first time in a message I thought I would never do that, and As I have heard it more recently I had the same reaction, I am not seeking Him for physical things, but then it dawned on me, I am seeking Him for a decision and not just seeking Him. Thank goodness He is patient. I am banking on that cause I seem to keep messing up. And I think of the task we have been given to make disciples of the whole world. That feels daunting to me.
So I am helping with this new cell group for twenty-something girls (yet I haven't been there much due to travel). But they are more affluent and educated, and in my experience that adds challenges to evangelize to. When I really take in the task God has called us to no matter where we live (make disciples, love the Lord your God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself). It I feels like I am standing at the bottom of a huge hill. It actually has brought me to tears a few times. How am I to get people to hear me about Jesus. But at the end of the day, it has nothing to do with me. He has to do it. He has to bring the people, He has to soften their hearts, He gives faith, He saves. He does it! (sigh) All the sudden I feel air returning to my lungs. I am a tool, He does it. SO I have to pray for Him to smooth the path, give me words, give me people, opportunities. Try to wrap your head around what a gracious God we have. He calls us to work, and then says you can't do it without me. He is the key component. So yeah I have responsibility, but once I do my part and step out in faith, be obedient, He has to do the rest.
If anybody from AGBC reads my updates, know that I miss you all. I miss worshiping with you guys, crying out to God together as a body. I miss those challenging messages from Chip and the communion times. Keep pushing on the Doors of Heaven.

Yesterday I was giving an English class and my two students blew me a way for there love for the Lord. They are around 18, but so on fire for God it encourages me. And our English class ends up being a Portuguese class for me too, so I only had one student that day. His name is Mardin Junio and yes, I spelled that right cause he corrected me. Hehe. So God has given him a sermon about running away or going up the mountain. He was talking about how God wanted to talk to all of the Israelites on top of Mount Siani. But they all ran away scared. And told moses to go. They were afraid of intimacy. When that is exactly what God wants. Are we gonna be scared of going up to God, being in His presence in the "cloud of God" as he put it? Or are we running away? The Lord told him to give this message at his cell group. He said people were coming off the street and half of them were not Christians in the group. So He was thinking, "I am scared to give this message, maybe I should talk about love or something else." But God was saying, "Give this message." He said even his mom was saying stop inviting people, we don't have anymore chairs, your crazy. But he quoted to me where Paul writes how he is crazy for Chirst. Juinio reminds me of a sermon he heard called Dangerous People. A previous discussion on how God is looking for Dangerous people. And continued to tell me about Rinhart Bonkie, a preacher who started with one person coming to hear him speak in Africa. One person. He was discouraged but God told him keep going, and his numbers grew form 1 to 1,000, to 2,000, 5,000, to 1mil, to I can't remember the insane number. That people have come to his crusades and also met their Savior. But at some point Rinhart said, "God that the maximum" and God said, "No I don't have a maxium." And how this man has gone into countries that have been closed to him but saught the Lord and it took 9 years but He got in and 2 million people came to the Lord.

It encouraged me tremedously and I thought, "Man, I am privileged to know this guy , Junio. I am the teacher yet he encourages me pretty much every time we meet. It spoke to me, "Am I runny scared away from the moutnain, or am I willing to go up?" But going up is not easy, you have to put the work in. It's a hike. Intamacy takes you putting the time in.

I can relate to Paul more and more as I am here. Where he writes in the Bible I long to see you, and thank you for your prayers, and I am thankful for you every time I think about you. Man those statements are so true. And when He says to the Philipians (I think) thank you for being the first to take care of my needs. To walk to make sure I was fed while in prison. Or those who gave without being asked. I reiterate those sentiments every time I get to speak with someone from home. But want to say to you all thank you for your support in prayers, encouragement, and financial gifts. They are all such a blessing to me and all equally important. Please know if you would like to join in on these I would love it. I will continue to search for the right words to express my gratitude, yet I have suspicions that I may never find sufficient words for my gratitude.

Written with love -Becca