World Outback Goes to India!!

Check out this video of Pastor Airton Pupo and Dr. Diego Barreto's trip to India.

faces of brazil................

More pictures!

Here are some pictures from the Ingazeria library story told here.

Edileusa praising the Lord for the Bible

Another Bible, another praise

Precious

Edileusa and one of the twins in front of the library

Daniel with Edileusa's twins Els and Ens

The rest of the crew

(Thanks to Cheryl for the great play-by-play picture taking.)

Hey, how do you like the new look, complete with the ministry logo? Thanks to our friend Faith for her help!!

And now with pictures!!

We wrote about meeting Baby Wendi here. Now we have proof for you!!

Our Wendi first meeting Baby Wendi

Here they are the next day at church where Baby Wendi was dedicated. She's wearing a dress Wendi brought her that belonged to her niece.

~Baby dedication~
The family asked our Wendi to come up front with them. Isn't that the sweetest?

We'll try to add pictures as time allows. We're all trying to get back into the groove of "normal" life. Keep checking back!

Resting in the Lord....................

The team had a great time of rest and relaxation at Porto De Galinhas Thursday and Friday. It was so nice to finally have a shower with hot water, water pressure, and without little frogs staring at you. We had a little shopping time and were able to ride the doon-buggies to the beach to see the fish and coral. Some even had opportunities to do water aerobics, take dance lessons, and play a mean game of beach volleyball! Napping in the hammocks was another popular past-time. Did I mention that we finally got to eat some Brazilian pizza!? YUM! Okay..........so are you thinking that this is supposed to be a mission trip instead of a vacation? The Lord's work never ceases, even in the midst of fun and relaxation. A few team members went back into town to pick up some necessities and were able to share Christ with an awesome young man that sat on the street making beautiful carvings out of cashew tree bark. Come to find out he already new Christ but had become disillusioned by people that seek to make a profit from "religion". We were able to encourage him and gave him a Bible in addition to buying a few pieces of his incredible handy-work. He was so grateful for the Bible he said he would read it and carry it everyday with him in his backpack.


On the way back to the hotel we passed a couple selling cashews out of a wheel-barrow on the street. You could tell from their dress they were probably Christians (they were completely covered!). Airton asked them if they were believers and they were thrilled to find out that we were believers too. She asked about our mission, hugged us, and said she had a Word from the Lord for Bonita. It was Psalm 40:1. This lady had no idea that this was Bonita's testimony scripture. Bonita hugged her and they began to cry together. It was such a huge encouragement for both of them. It was amazing to watch God work through perfect strangers that met on the street!

Did I forget to mention the surprise birthday celebration for Diego (our Brazilian dentist friend)? At dinner we all slipped in a pair of bubba teeth and had them bring out a cake for him as we sang happy birthday. Oh my..........talk about some ugliness........we laughed so hard. Wait till you see some of those pictures!

We closed our time with group devotions and reflection as we each shared some of our favorite highlights from the week. God did amazing things. We discussed what happens when you return home from a trip like this. How do you transition back to your world with the reality of distractions, problems to deal with, cell phones, family responsibilities, etc? The conclusion was that we have a mission everyday. We are to share Christ, be like Christ, and live it out in our everyday lives. God called each one of us to the life that we are living. We must seek Him and stay close to Him as we learn to balance the tasks He has given each of us to do in life. Boy, that can be difficult!
The love and laughter we have shared together this week is unforgettable. It is bittersweet to go home. How can we begin to thank You Lord for the blessings and miracles that we saw at every turn?!

Final day in the outback........

Tuesday we started in Caçimbinha, the small village that's name means "little well". The first time we went there in May the village seemed very oppressed. This time there were many who had already received Christ and were reading their Bibles. We were able to encourage them and then witness to those who hadn't yet prayed to receive Christ.

Sheila, Airton, Bonita, KP, and Jill went to visit a lady named Rosa. When they arrived, she was able to mumble that she had been waiting for them to arrive. She had a stroke 13 years ago and has been very sick since and it was evident that she is in her last days. Pastor Carlos was able to get her a bed and mosquito net since our first visit in May. This time they were able to talk with her about assurance of salvation and she could only say "yes" and "Jesus". They sang to her while Jill held her hand and stroked her hair. They sang songs and prayed with her and cried with her. It was a very moving situation. While Jill stayed in her room massaging her legs and arms, the rest witnessed to her husband, daughter, and two granddaughters. All prayed to receive Christ.


Also at this house one of the granddaughters told them she had been reading the Bible she received in May. She had started in Genesis and was already in Psalms! She's 13! That is dedication and she hadn't even become a Christian yet!


Evan shared Christ for the first time with four people and they all accepted Christ. He was pumped!


Daniel, Cheryl, Wendi, and Monica met and shared with a woman whose husband had left her four years ago. She had three sons and she was just waiting on her husband to come back. So sad. The 16 year old and 10 year old sons and the mom accepted Christ. It was the 10 yr old's birthday and they were able to give him snacks and a soccer ball.


After lunch at Pastor Carlos's apartment in Ingazeira, two groups went out to do door to door evangelism. Doug, Evan, KP and Airton stayed at the church to play futsal with local boys.


Sheila, Cheryl, Bonita, Kesia, Daniel, and Jennifer went door to door. After a few uneventful visits involving major strongholds and age-related difficulties, a little girl came running up. We recognized her from previous visits. She wanted us to come with her to encourage a new believer her mom had led to Christ. We went to the public library and met the mom. Unfortunately the new believer had already left. We were just chatting with them and asked if the library had a Bible. She said no and we offered her one. We are having a hard time even describing the reaction we received. She was raising her hands and praising the Lord. It was precious.


Then she said her new believer friend didn't have one either and now she could come to the library and read this one. So we gave her one to give to her friend. She started jumping up and down!! She kept praising the Lord and we kept wanting to give her more!! We gave her daughters Bibles and left her a stack to give to local believers who didn't have one. She told us how expensive Bibles were there and how people had to share. By this time she was out of control with tears of joy and shouts of "glory to God". We looked over to her 13 year old daughter and tears were rolling down her face........okay......there wasn't a dry eye in the house! Oh to be that excited about God's Word!

In the evening we went to a local home and held a service for about 20 people. Diego did his tricks, we all sang, and Daniel brought a Word of encouragement to the people. It was awesome! Several decided to follow Christ. We were able to leave each person a Bible.

What an awesome way to end our time in the outback! God has done AMAZING things over the last 5 days. We praise Him for using us and for keeping us all safe and healthy. We don't have a count but many received Christ and many were discipled and encouraged. Keep praying for our travel back to the USA. You never know who might meet Jesus along the way.

We have traveled the long trek back to Recife on the bus today. It was a great time of sharing testimony, fellowship, and much laughter. We had a couple of hours to shop this afternoon and enjoy Brazilian pizza. Tonight we surprised Diego at dinner by presenting him a birthday cake while we all wore bubba teeth. Can't wait to share those pictures. The dentist was quite surprised! Tomorrow we rest and relax as we prepare to travel home. Again, thanks for all the encouraging comments and prayers. We know God moved because you asked. We love you and will see you at home.

Pelo Sinal

Today we travelled on the truck/taxi (turnip truck, as Monica calls it) to Pelo Sinal. We were able to use the local Catholic church for Diego to his tricks. How about God using the Catholic church as the setting where tons of children prayed to receive Christ?! Very cool.

Lunch was at the house of the vice-mayor of the city. This woman welcomed the May group as well. She is Catholic and apparently the leader of the church. (They don't have a priest right now.) Pastor Carlos has established a relationship with her and has been teaching her about the Bible. She has a 4 month old baby who she wanted to be dedicated to the Lord today! By Pastor Carlos! It was so neat to see how the Lord is moving in that city. This lady is so close! It will be a BIG deal if she receives Christ. Pastor Carlos and Airton have said that it is truly a miracle that she has welcomed us into her home, the church, and the school.

Pastor Carlos and Pastor Moab each shared their testimonies with us. It is amazing to see how God has orchestrated their lives and ours together for His work.

We were also asked to speak to the older kids at the school there. After lunch we divided into teams and were assigned to a classroom. We shared the gospel with the students and teachers and many accepted Christ.

Many of us have reconnected with kids and adults we had previously met. Relationships are being developed and God is working through them.

One of the girls Daniel witnessed to in May is named Jussara. He took her an NC State shirt this time and had promised to visit her family. At the church this morning she told him that she had been reading her Bible and had read a very interesting story she wanted to share with him. This afternoon Daniel, Sheila, Airton, and Evan went to visit her. Jussara said the story she had been reading was "about a man who took his son to be killed. But at the last minute angels of the Lord told him not to kill him." (Abraham and Isaac!) Airton explained the story further and Daniel was able to relate it to Jesus as a sacrifice for us as he witnessed to her friend and her mom.

KP witnessed for the first time to four people at the dental clinic and they all accepted Christ. We're so proud of these teenagers for being so bold!

Sheila thinks it's funny that a few of the teachers were enthralled with the idea of homeschooling. Once they found out she homeschooled they were asking tons of questions. I'm pretty sure they thought we were all crazy. (This team is made up of all homeschoolers!)

Keep on praying! Thanks for the comments too. We've been so encouraged by them. Tomorrow we are in Ingazeria all day and it's our last day in the outback.