Pics to go with Justin's Experience

A few pictures to go with Justin's experience.

1. Justin and Ben learning to dance with a Brazilian girl at church.
2. Justin with the teachers of the Wizard School. Lucy made Justin a Birthday cake.
3. Justin reading a story to children at Childrens Church.
4. Justin sharing his testimony at Pastor Rogerio's church.
5. One of the English classes at the Wizard School with Justin.

Justin's Experience

I look back on our journey to Brazil and wonder where to start. So many awesome things happened in the time we spent there. As I reflect upon our activities, there are a few events the continually stick out in my mind. Most, I believe, have been mentioned in other blogs, but for me, they are the most memorable events of the trip.
One event was during my first experience of street witnessing. Andy has written about the two boys he shared with, that, when another boy came up later, took the evangecube and went through it with the new boy, and later a girl, who all prayed to accept Jesus. It was amazing to see him do something that so many Christians, new and old, have a very hard time doing, openly sharing their faith. Not just to strangers, but to friends, and they can be the hardest people to share with.
Another event that will always stick with me is the third day at the school when the whole class of students, teacher included, prayed to accept Jesus. That was probably the best day of the whole trip. That morning was the first time I was able to witness to a person. It was a man that was going house to house asking for food because he was in Rio Branco for medical problems and had nothing. We gave him food and talked to him. I shared with him and with Tiffany translating, he prayed to accept Jesus. That should have told us it was going to be an awesome day. We went into the school, completely focused on what we were there for. Which unfortunately, is something we had lacked the previous days. It was incredible to see what God can do through us when we focus on him. Ben spoke in the class and later admitted he had no idea what he said, it just flowed out. It was incredible. We had success in other classes, but that was the coolest class I experienced.
And the teacher that Rhonda witnessed to, was the most sincere person I met the whole time about her new faith, it was incredible. But I'll let Mrs. Rhonda share that one.
The third was when Alan accepted Jesus. He was the neighbors son we had met and hung out with. After finding out his family weren't believers, Ben and I decided that it was our calling to share with Alan. When the chance arose, we took advantage of it, and once again with Tiffany's help, he prayed and even asked to go to church with us.
Which, on Sunday night, he did. He told me he enjoyed himself, even though he had an initial problem with how hot it was in the building.
We also had many opportunities to play futbol (regular soccer) and futsol (indoor soccer). Both were fun, and me and Ben were able to, for the most part, hang with the Brazilians. The coolest part is that we were able to take playing soccer and turn it into a ministry one night.
Emily read a Bible story and Ben shared the evangecube. We believe there were kids present who were sincere when the prayed to accept Jesus.
One other cool thing was going to the Portuguese speaking churches, not having a clue what they were saying and yet knowing what they were saying. You could feel the presence of God in the church. It was powerful. We were talking to a missionary lady in the airport on our way home. She was talking about the teenage Christians in Brazil, her son is thirteen. She said exactly what I saw in the churches, "In Brazil you are either fully ablaze as a Christian or you are engulfed in the world, there is no real in between. There aren't passive Christians." That seemed so true. During the worship at one service they had songs that said dance, sing, jump in praise, and nearly the whole congregation did it, even Pastor Rogerio, and he's a big guy.
They didn't are if they looked stupid. The passion in the churches there was awesome. I enjoyed being there immensely, especially when they played "Open the Eyes of My Heart" and we were able to sing in English while they all sang in Portuguese.
I was also glad that we were able to help Tiffany around the house.
Granted Mrs. Rhonda did most of the work, there's no denying that, but the youth were able to help with cleaning the yard, sheds, and other things. Some of which have very funny stories of "giant killer ants with pincers that could slice your fingers off." But that needs to be told in person for the full effect.
Thank you all for praying for and supporting us.
Justin

Home from Tarauaca

Yes, we are back on American soil again but due to limited access to the internet and computers equipped to handle picture files (and a fair amount of physical exhaustion) I have not shared what God is/was up to in Tarauaca. It was an amazing experience watching God's spirit move among His people and through them to touch others. We saw God change lives right before us. We were used by Him as instruments of His love and grace message. And we are shaped and changed as a result.
After a good night's rest (that began at 4:30am after a cold shower to remove the mud of BR364) we spent our first day in Tarauaca adjusting to the culture. It is not like Rio Branco. Busy city streets are replaced by cobblestone and raised wooden and/or concrete sidewalks. The congestion and noise of tens of thousands of motorcycles, cars, and trucks is now a quiet and picturesque scene from a small town in any southern US state. Most people are walking or riding bicycles from place to place. Motorcycles, cars, and trucks are only an ocassional sight and commerce is moved by ox and carts throughout the city. Mainstreet was once a landing strip for airplanes and is now a beautiful wide boulevard with a mall of grass and trees down its center. People gather here throughout the day and especially in the evenings to share life together... a life of much slower pace and deep community.
Completely cut off from the outside world (deep in the rain forest - one road in and out - mail delivery by plane only a few days a week), anything in Tarauaca has been brought in from somewhere else. It is a peaceful city of local trade and services. And God is at work here in a wonderful way.
After a full day of adjusting to this wonderful new environment, we began the work God had called us to ... planting the methods and concepts of small group ministry in the hearts and minds of an excited and eager group of young leaders in the church that Edinaldo pastors - FBC Tarauaca. Our first training was attended by no less than 30 such leaders who asked exactly the same questions I have experienced from churches in the US that are launching a new small group approach to church growth and planting. God has been preparing them for this day.
I will not try to include everything God has done through our journey in just one blog so check back for more later but I must tell one story of His amazing work in individual lives.
As the team was making its way to the river to visit a family in need of salvation, love, prayer, food (among other very practical things) we were witnessing along the streets. Anderson, our interpreter, and I stopped to talk with a group of men and boys standing outside the sawmill. There were about 15 in this group. We shared the gospel using the evangecube (a cube of pictures depicting the life, sacrifice, and salvation invitation of Jesus). I began by asking - what do you understand it takes for a person to go to heaven when he dies? They all answered the same - do good, obey God, and hope for the best. After sharing and praying together I asked each man and boy the same question again and without fail each one answered - only by faith in Jesus and yes, I put my faith and trust in Him today! It was awesome but it was not complete. God had even more in store for our little group of new believers. I asked them what they wanted to know about America and began to answer their questions about life, traffic, vacation spots, movie stars, church, and anything else you can imagine. This drew an even larger crowd as about 20 more men and boys joined in the questioning.
One man in the crowd finally asked me - why have you come to Tarauaca? That was my chance so I held up the evangecube to the original 15 (now new believers) and said - Should I tell them? They responded with a very excited - Yes! Tell them about Jesus!
After asking the same question and sharing the same beautiful message of God's love and Jesus' sacrifice, the group of 20 all prayed together. I once again went one by one through the group asking about their personal belief and salvation. It was true! God had added to the number of believers in Tarauaca 35 men and boys in less than an hour and a half. I will never forget the experience and pastor Edinaldo will begin the process of discipleship that will last a lifetime.
There is so much more to tell you - ministry in the park, worship with our new family, salvation in the schools and families, and amazing connections with key members of the community for future work.
But those are stories for another day. Thank you for going with us in your prayers. God blessed in every detail. I spoke with my father last night and he said that he had asked friends of his from Auburn, Alabama to Alaska to pray for us while we were gone and they reponde in mass. The prayer support was huge and we thank each of you for going (praying).
You have made a difference!

Home Sweet Home

We arrived home today about 1:40pm. It was great to see family and friends with smiling faces and warm hugs greet us. We will be posting pictures and experiences later in the week when we have all had time to settle back in home. There is so much to share and everyone has a something special to share with you about the wonderful things that happened. Thank you Emmanuel for your prayers, support and comments while we were away. We are already planning for next summer. Please continue to pray for our partnership with Acre, Brazil and especially for Aaron, Tiffany, Emma and Ethan as they do God's work in Acre. Also pray for the new friends and brothers and sisters in Christ that we met these last couple of weeks. Check back later for post from the team and for pictures.

An Incredible E Mail from Joe Posted 6/26

Hello from Rio Branco,Trust this finds all of you well. All here are well and in good spirits.Too much to tell in one email but wanted to give you some insight into what we encountered during our visit to Tarauca.Pastor Edinaldo traveled from Tarauca to Rio Bronco to meet us and accompany us back. The team making the trip included Bruce, Andy, Aaron, Wilson, Enderson, Edinaldo, Joe, and Theresa. Wilson is a multi-talented individual and served as our guide on BR364, the Federal highway/road/trail across Acre, Brazil. It was amazing to see how many people he knew along the way. Enderson is an English teacher and served as one of our translators. His interest in verbal expressions (y'all) was always entertaining. Both were critical enablers within the team.Count them, eight people in a Toyota truck (crew cab w/bed cover) plus clothing/personal items, road food, 16/8pks of water, Bibles, tracks, projector, DVD player, tools, and the hammer, hoe, and nail. We traveled with 5 persons in the cab and 3 in the bed; rotating all men through turns on the tailgate! Seating consisted of approximately 2ft inside the bed plus tailgate, on a thin piece of foam that got thinner with every mile. Visualize three men, sitting side-by-side facing rearward with a rope tied across the tailgate as a stirrup to keep them from sliding out. Our trip to Tarauca on Monday took approximately 22 hours along BR 364, which consisted of 400km of asphalt w/serious potholes/bulges, one-lane dirt road/trail w/butt jarring holes, and countless mud pits (approx 150km paved+250km dirt). We crossed three major rivers via ferry, dodged ranging cows/goats, passed out candy to roadside children w/ a "Jesus loves you", helped stranded vehicles, navigated around/through countless mud pits, and received a government tractor escort through the worst stretch late Monday night. The Warn winch on the front of the truck was invaluable because at times the truck was high-centered in the ruts of larger tractor trucks or just buried too deep in the mud to push out. Trees were rarely close enough or strong enough to serve as an anchor. We then resorted to driving the nail in the road ahead to give us the anchor we required. The nail was a 3 inch diameter/3 ft long steel rod with a large gear welded on one end. The hammer was a similar piece of pipe w/gears welded on one end to create a sledge (getting it back out of the ground is another story). I trust this sounds entertaining and it was at times. There were numerous times we just trusted God and pressed ahead, realizing that safe passage was totally in His hands. God was soverign over all we encountered! We arrived around 2am Tuesday in Tarauca, found our hotel, took a cold shower, and got a few hours of sleep before beginning our first day in the city.Details of Tarauca and the trip home (only 14 hours with better roads and lots of on-coming traffic) will have to wait until a little later but I want to share that God overwhelmingly answered two of my prayer requests...the ability to find and join Him at work...and the ability to make meet key people that are or will be critical to His plans for Rio Bronco, Feijo, and Tarauca.Look for a blog entry from Rio Branco later this afternoon (www.ebcbrazil.blogspot.com). Pics ( yes we have pics!) will have to wait until we get home because this PC will not support camera downloads.We travel to Manaus then Miami tonight (11pm departure), overnight in Miami, then home on Wednesday (4pm). Please pray for our health/safety and for God's work in Rio Branco, Tarauca, and Feijo. Love you guys and much appreciate the love you show us. Teary-eyed Joe

Quick E Mail Posted from Joe Gordon

All arrived safely in Rio Branco just a short time ago. Need a meal and some rest.God has been faithful! Please continue to pray for us. Your partnership has and continues to be critical.More tomorrow. Joe

Update

Sorry I haven't updated in a while but wanted to let you know what is going on here in Brazil.

On Thursday, we worked around Aaron and Tiffany's house. We cleaned out their storage rooms and made more room for storage and for their ministry things. We also watched USA get beat in the World Cup and we watched Brazil win again. This has been really fun with the World Cup going on while we are here. It is so amazing at their pride for their nation. We could stand to learn alot from them about that.

Yesterday, we went back to Pastor Rogerio's neighborhood and did door to door again and just as the night before shared with many people and saw many lives changed because our students from EBC were bold in sharing Christ with them. We also went back to the school and carried Bibles to the two teachers that accepted Christ and the one that cried with me told me she had taken the tract home and read it with her husband and he too accepted Christ. They had never been told anything about Jesus. She also ask where she should start reading in her Bible. That was such an encouragement to me. Alcienea is going to go and do a Bible study with the two teachers and get them involved in a church. In the afternoon we went down to a soccer park in Tiffany's neighborhood and the boys played soccer. After a few minutes we ask the kids to gather around and Emily read a Bible story to them and ask them questions and then Ben shared the evangecube and a couple of kids prayed to receive Christ. It was so amazing. We then walked down to a place called SOS Burgers and experienced Brazilian hamburgers. They eat them with eggs, bacon, cheese. and ham, and many other things. We did not eat the eggs but the ham and bacon on them was very good.

Today the students went to a end of the semester party with the Wizard kids and played soccer and Emily got to talk to some students that she had not talked to earlier. They enjoyed it. This afternoon we are going to "The House of Indians" where we will meet Brazilian Indians that are here from their reservations for medical health. We each will be sharing our testimony. The students are looking forward to this. Then we are going to teach kids at Alcinea's childrens church again.

I think that this has been a very good experience for our students. We have learned a lot about sharing with the Brazilians and they have for sure stepped out of the boat many times on this trip. We have learned that being out of our comfort zones is ok.

Now about the team in the interior. They have had amazing results with home churches, sharing in schools, and Bruce was even interviewed on the radio station owned by a man that he shared and prayed with to receive Christ. The man was so excited that he ask if he could interview Bruce on the radio. That was for sure a life changing experience for the man. Andy was able to share with like 35 people on a street corner and Joe and Theresa have shared with people all over as well. I am not sure of numbers but today it doesn't matter they are all new brothers and sisters in Christ. They are on the long hard road or maybe I should say muddy road back to Rio Branco. Please pray for Aaron as he drives and for Wilson as he navigates them throught the mud. We are praying for a faster trip back than what it took to go. Also pray that everything stays working well with the truck. Bruce said that everyone had great stories to tell and so I don't want to steal their experience thunder and I will wait and let them blog it later.

Sorry I have not posted more pictures but we will when we get home because it takes along time to download them here. That is why we have only posted a few. Please continue to pray for us and we look forward to sharing all the other things with you later.

We saw fruit

Today was an incrediable day. We heard from the team last night in the interior. They are doing well. Today they were going to be flying kites with the school children after school and then tonight they were going to going door to door and sharing at church. Tomorrow and Friday they will be in the school sharing with children and then starting the home church tomorrow night. They said that the trip was very hard but that God had been with them the whole way and that they felt He had pulled them throught the mud at times because others were stuck and they were cruising right on through. I believe that Bruce put it that they enjoyed the challenge and gave God the succuss. The church is full of young people, much like Emmanuel and they are looking forward to serving there this week. This area has been a prayer for Aaron almost since he got here, so thankfully we are able to help him. Please pray for the bites that they got while driving out and for the itching that is going on.

Today in Rio Branco I woke up feeling like we needed to not go to the Wizard school and go some where else because I didn't feel like we were making a difference. Tiffany and I talked to Justin, Emily and Ben about it and they wanted to go back and say bye. So we spent the morning praying and reading our quite time by Dr. Mark Seagle and when we were finished they all came back to me and said "Go" (sound familiar Mark?) So we went and they shared in one room and 6 students became believers and also the teacher. In another room there was 3 and then I shared with a teacher that said no one had ever told her about Jesus. She prayed also to recieve Christ. When she finished praying she had tears rolling down her checks and said she felt like a new person. It was a great day at the school. We then went to do door to door evangelism with Pastor Rogerio in his church neighborhood. There we prayed with 6 to recieve Christ and 1 rededicated her life. Justin, Emily and Ben were so excited. Tonight we worshiped with Pastor Rogerio in his church and even though we did not understand a word we felt the presence of the Lord.

Tomorrow our students are going to be doing some work (world changers type stuff) around Aaron and Tiffany's house and of course watching the USA soccer and the Brazil soccer game. Like everyone else in Rio Brance. The schools and businesses are closed for the game (Brazil game) It is amazing at the Brazilian pride shown here for their country during the World Cup. What is so amazing is that most Americans don't even know the World Cup is on. They (our students )also plan to hang out with the boys next door and they are praying that the Lord will give them an opportunity to share with them. They both speak some English but Tiffany will translate for them. On Friday we will be going back to the neighborhood of Pastor Rogerio's church. Pray for boldness and that God will use us in powerful way there.

Thank you for your comments and for praying and lifting the team up. Please don't stop.

Happy 18th Birthday Justin

Today was Justin's Birthday and we celebrated at a Pizza place with the Abud Family and Tiffany, Emma and Ethan. Justin had birthday cake and the Abud Family gave him a birthday gift. It was a Brazil Christian Tshirt. There was a soccer field by the resturant and Justin and Ben enjoyed watching the teams play while we waited on our food. We celebrated the way Brazilians do by going around the table and talking about the Birthday Boy. Everybody share really nice things about Justin and then Abud prayed for him. It was a fun night for all.


Also today the team going into the interior made it there safetly. It took them about 23 hours by 4 wheel drive truck. They only had to use the winch 6 times and one of them they had to be pulled out by tractor. I'm sure that when they come back in we will have some good pictures of that. Aaron told Tiffany that Joe was really enjoying it. I'm not sure that we will hear from them again until Saturday.

Justin, Ben and Emily have been going to the English speaking school called "Wizard" The coordinator is a Christian man that is really enthusiatic. Emily enjoys talking to the kids and the question and answer sessions about the US culture. She is also learning some portuguese from the classes. She has shared the "cube" a few times. She also says "hi" to her Mommy and Daddy and of course you too Mitchell. Ben enjoys the talking to the students and the teachers are very nice to him. One of them thought he was Harry from the Royal Family. LOL We got a kick out of it. They think he talks very slow and calls him a cowboy. He too has shared the "cube" a few times. Justin has loved going to the school and sharing with the older students about the American culture. They have ask many questions about music and what he does for entertainment. He has had a great chance to share the "cube" during the questions. I (Rhonda) shared with a teacher and she said that she had never been told anything about God. She wants to be in a Bible study and learn more. Tiffany is going to go with us to meet her and we hope that she is able to share with her again. Tomorrow we will be going back and sharing with the adult classes. Please pray for us to be bold and to have clarity of what the students ask. We are planting seeds but our students would love to see some fruit. The students of the school are from a different social class than we have worked with here before and they are harder to reach.

Continue to pray for us and especially for the team in the interior as they start new Life Groups there. We love you Emmanuel Family.

An E Mail from Joe to his LIFE Group

From the Amazon basin to the hearts of EBC.... Friday, June 16, 2006

All are well. Spent most of yesterday getting some basic orientation on Rio Branco and catching up on needed rest. Motel accomodations are sparse but fine. Food safe for us to eat has been good. Celebrated Ethan's 1yr BD and got to meet many families that are a part of Aaron's and Tiffany's ministry. Met many of the Christian leaders who are a part of this local work.Got up today ready to go. Ladies/youth went to market area;guys spent the morning making plans for planned teaching sessions and trip to Taracua on Monday. Planning to be a part of planned soup/paint talk/Jesus film ministry tonight in an area of Rio Branco that contains indiginous people seeking a better life in the city. Area is in poverty and was flooded earlier this year. Leadership teaching and modeling home church are the main functions for tomorrow, church on Sunday with more modeling, and then comes Monday.Trip to Taracua will be rough due to late rains--4wd extreme! Will be taking a team of seven to meet with local leaders for training and modeling of home church. Important for us to enable and transfer the home church transfer to locals who can take ownership of sharing this strategy. Will stop in Feijo to prayer walk the city before returning to Rio Branco on Saturday/Sunday.Those remaining in Rio Branco will minister to the Epps and spend time in local schools being "celebrities" because they are American. Opportunities to share abound.Prayer needs abound from remaining healthy to communication to avoiding offending those in a culture different from our own but who need the Jesus we embrace. We are joing God "already at work" and anticipate Him using us far beyond what we can anticipate.Thanks so much for "standing in the gap" for us with your prayers. I deliberately strived to pray over every detail of our travel during the trip, only to find that there was some unexpected item I hadn't considered. I began to be amazed that God's favor was upon us even when I had not prayed and then realized it was the prayers of our family and friends that was sustaining us in ways I could not even imagine. Thank you all for your partnership in this endeavor.Miss home but am much enjoying this time we have set aside to join God in Acre, Brazil. Love you guys. Thanks for being with us. Joe

An E mail from Theresa Gordon.... News from the frontlines Sunday, June 18, 2006

As you already know, we made it in to Brazil safely with just one delay in Miami. That was really to our advantage because our wait time was in the US versus in Manaus. Hotel accommodations are fine. We are transported by Alsenie and her husband Abujji in the VW Cumvee (of course, Aaron helps out also). The cumvee could be compared to an adventure ride considering that there are pedestrians, bicyclists, and other vehicles all over the road-I have not figured out the right of way yet. The cumvee is really quite comfortable. We don't need air conditioning because we go fast enough to keep the air circulated.The first night here was spent at Ethan's birthday party. The theme was Pooh. As we told you, it is a really big celebration. Met many of Aaron and Tiffany's friends from church and in the community. Aaron took the opportunity to share the gospel with the people there. One cultural difference concerning birthday parties-you do not open the gifts in front of the guests-you wait and take them home with you to open, and you do not put your name on the present-so you don't know who gave what. Other than that, it was pretty much the same.Our second day was spent with the guys meeting/planning/and working out the last minute details of our sojourn here and then lunch at Aaron and Tiffany's. New treat-pineapple sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, wrapped in tinfoil heated on the grill. During our running around that afternoon, Rhonda had an opportunity to witness to a man who was involved in spiritism. That evening we went to an area in Rio that had undergone major flooding to help serve soup. One of the local pastors had put this together. This pastor, Ivan, has a desire to plant a purpose driven church in this area. It is amazing how God prompts and places similar desires in multiple people to confirm His will. Aaron has had that same vision for the area. Aaron showed part of the Jesus film and then did a presentation called "paint talk"- a presentation of the gospel. Many responded. At the end of the evening, Ben and Justin took "lessons" in expressive dance from some of the dance team that had performed during worshipped. You will have to ask them about their ability. It's interesting, language can sometimes be a barrier, and then again, sometimes it is not. The streets of Rio are decorated with streamers and flags in green and gold in celebration of the World Cup. In fact, things will pretty much shut down on Sunday for the game.Saturday morning the team divided and those going to Taraccua met with area leaders and Andy led the training for small groups. The folks here are already acquainted with the idea to some extent. They had excellent input. This also gave us practice in using our translators. By the way, we met in a frame building beside Alsenie's and Abujji's home. Tin roof with plank floors and open windows. It served the purpose. Alsenie and Abujji use thisbuilding for meetings and church services just like this.I met a lady at this meeting with a sad story to tell. She told it to me in Portuguese, I listened in English and somehow we communicated. I checked with Aaron later. Somehow or another I had understood her.Saturday afternoon and evening we went back to the area that the team had been in last year. It was amazing to see the children recognize Rhonda. We then went door to door (or yard to yard) and visited with the folks. We had two kids accept Christ at the first stop. A man and his wife accepted Christ at the next one. And that was just on our team--not counting the decisions on Andy's or Aaron's.Remember the saying about the planting and harvesting. The group last year did a lot of planting and we got to harvest right off the bat this year.We had our first small group last night. It went well. There was laughter and a lot of testimony concerning scripture. Our translator, Marcus, hung right in there with us. I don't think we messed him up too bad. We ended that small group getting to witness to the couple that hosted us. They are not saved. Know all the details, they are just waiting until they have some things in order. Their names are Marcus (not the translator) and Dora.This morning we went back down to the same area. Alsenie and Abujji have a weekly Bible study for the children. Emily and Justin led out in the games and story time. Aaron and Tiffany were invited by their neighbors to come watch Braz/Aust soccer game with them. So, of course, we all went too. The food here is good-a little different, but good. Interesting, it didn't matter what language you spoke when you were excited about the score or a play. It sounds the same in any language. We leave tomorrow morning for Taraccua. The 300+miles trip will take 1-2 days w/8 persons in and on a Toyota quad cab 4wd truck. We are taking in our own bottled water as limited transportation into the area makes availability an issue. Cooked food will be safe but unsure of costs...last week a tomatoe cost about $3.50US. We will also be taking minimum supplies and will depend on buying what we need as we need it. Please pray for God's provision of what we require and success in sharing the home church strategy.All for now. More upon our return. Theresa

Field Update from Andy

All is well in Brazil!
Why? Because Brazil has just beaten Australia in World Cup Soccer! It may not be a big deal to you but, let me tell you, it is huge here. Streets are painted with the colors of the team, everyone is dressed in soccer shirts, huge parties are everywhere, and the entire country is shut down...really! You cannot find a store, gas station, restaurant, or anything open right now. We just left a party where we ate some amazing food and watched the game with the Epp's neighbors. It is really fun.

Hope all is well with you! Happy Father's Day Dads! I received a wonderful surprise this morning when Bruce, our team leader, handed me a package from Lee, Drew, and Sydney filled with wonderful handmade cards from the kids, a beautiful card from Lee, and gifts ... CD's of two of my favorite country artists (Brooks and Dunn and Rascal Flats). Thank you so much family and I love you too! I haven't been able to listen to the CD's just yet because we began our day leading a children's Bible study in the neighborhood we worked with last year. It was great to see old friends and to make some new ones. The kids are bigger but most remembered us. About 50 gathered for Bible study and games. The work continues!!

One of the highlights of our work has been the street witnessing. We go up and down streets sharing the evangecube. I worked with Justin and Anderson (interpreter) and we lead 7 to faith in Jesus. I was sharing with 2 boys when a third walked up. One of the boys, who is about 14, wanted the third boy to hear what was being shared so he stopped me and said, "start over." Instead of starting over, I simply handed the evangecube to the boy, Mizea, and told him to begin at the first picture to tell his friend the whole truth. He did with just a little help from me and all three boys prayed together to accept Jesus! It was amazing ... but there is more! As I was sharing with a girl down the street about 20 minutes later Mizea walked up again and so I handed him the evangecube again and he lead her to Jesus! She prayed too! I was in complete amazement. There is no telling how many others he will tell. I think that is what the Great Commission is all about.

We are all in great health and are probably even a little heavier than when we arrived. The food is great! It is hot here now that the clouds have moved out. Travel to Tarauaca will begin around 5am tomorrow (Monday) and it will be very difficult but we are ready for the adventure. Please pray for us as we go across some very rough terrain. It will take us at least a day to make the journey and could be even longer. We will need to ferry across three rivers. And we will most likely need to dig out of the mud several times along the way. We are carrying a man with us who has made the journey many times in case we need to spend the night on the highway. He knows the safe places. We are in God's hands and no one seems nervous at all.

Rhonda will remain in Rio Branco with the student half of our team to witness in several schools (English Classes). The schools are wide open and they have been invited to visit more every day. The team is very excited about the work. Justin and Ben are also going to visit a soccer club and I'm sure God will use them in that evironment as well. Opportunities abound!

I love you all and thank God for the blessing you are to me. I will be thinking about you and praying for you. Prayer partners please know that all is well here and keep praying as we move into the second phase of our work... the interior.
All my love,
Andy

We are here

We are here!!! We made it great and had no problems just a flight delay. Met some missionaries from Florida in the Manaus airport on the way and even saw one that we met last year on our way home.

After traveling all night and very little sleep we got to celebrate with Ethan Epps on his 1rst Birthday. It was a wonderful celebration and even got to see a lot of people that we met last year. We made many new friends and locals that will be helping us over the next couple of weeks. The whole city is decorated in yellow and green and has Brazilian flags flying everywhere for the World Cup. We even got a offer to go watch it at someones house.

More tomorrow when we can think a little more clearly. We love you EBC family and thank you for your prayers, cards of encouragement and please continue to pray for us.

Thank you Emmanuel

We are on our way!!! Thank you so much Emmanuel Family for making this day possible. We are so excited to be sharing "Home" churches in Brazil. So many people have donated things for Aaron and Tiffany and finiancial support to make this trip happen. "Thank you" from all the team. Pray for us and we will be praying for the Emmanuel family. We love ya'll and we will post when we arrive.

More recent picture

Wanted to share a more recent picture of the Epps Family with little Ethan in it. We will get to celebrate his 1rst birthday with them on June 15.
1rst and 15th Birthdays are big celebrations and we are so excited to be part of their family for this celebration.

Pray for our Team

Want to pray for the EBC Brazil Mission team?
Pray for Rhonda, Theresa, Emily, Ben, Joe, Bruce, Justin, and Andy.

You can also pray for Aaron, Tiffany, Emma, and Ethan - our missionaries in the field. (pictured here)

And don't forget our interpreters and area pastors who will be joining us in ministry and making communication possible.

We love you and appreciate your desire to join us in this mission by praying. Our prayer for you is that God will touch your heart in a very special way for the people of Brazil. Teaching them the 'House Church' approach to church planting and growth is awesome in itself...but...watching God spread the gospel across lives and down vast rivers of the Amazon basin into hundreds of remote villages is to observe His kingdom on earth. Let's pray like that!

More pictures to come as we move across the nations carrying the gospel of Christ and expanding His worship.

Final Preparations / The Team

The Brazil mission team met tonight (Monday the 12th) to finish packing, weigh bags, and continue in prayer for their upcoming trip to Acre and the Epps family missionaries. As they gathered, team leader Bruce Baber contacted Aaron in Brazil only to find out that it is still raining and travel across Acre is quite a challenge. Plans for ministry may change a little. It is certainly possible that God would allow for safe passage on the highway just in time for the first leg of the trip. If He does not the team is convinced that God has other plans and have already considered several wonderful options for introducing the Acts 2:42 House Church approach to church planting in Rio Branco among area pastors and lay leaders. The second leg of the trip into the rain forest is certainly possible as drier weather is expected to set in as early as Tuesday the 13th.
Since many of you would like to track the team as they travel and pray for them I am including a tentative schedule.
14 Jun EBC to Pensacola ~ Pensacola to Atlanta ~ Atlanta to Miama
15 Jun Miami to Manaus, Brazil ~ Manaus to Rio Branco
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26-27 Jun Rio Branco to Manaus ~ Manaus to Miami
28 Jun Miami to Atlanta ~ Atlanta to Pensacola ~ Pensacola to EBC (3pm)

In country schedule: (Subject to change)
Friday 16 Jun Travel to Taruaca
Wed 21 Jun Travel to Feijo
Sunday 25 Jun Travel to Rio Branco
Tuesday 27 Jun Arrive Miami (1 night layover)
Wednesday 28 Jun Arrive home

Prayer needs:
- God's plans for ministry - clearly revealed as weather changes
- Aaron & Tiffany Epps - concerned about ministry plans and weather - peace
- Travel safety and good health for travel team
- Comfort and safety for families back home (and little ones)
- Transformed lives everywhere we go - they will know us by our love

Matthew 1:23

Emmanuel means, "God with us", "Deus esta conosco" in Portuguese. On June 14, 2006, a team from Emmanuel Baptist Church will embark upon Acre, Brazil, to share Jesus to one of the last unreached areas of the country. Bruce, Ben, Joe, Theresa, Andy and Justin along with the IMB missionary, Aaron will be teaching Brazilians in Tarauca and Feijo how to lead group Bible studies in their homes. Rhonda and Emily will be staying Rio Branco with Aaron's wife Tiffany and their children and going into the English speaking schools and having conversation (sharing Jesus) with teenages and adults.

Our team prayer requests are:
Travel into the country
Effective translators that travel into the interior with the team
Aaron, Tiffany and their children
Our families that we leave in the states
Hearts open to the word of God
People that want to open their homes for a home study (church) especially in Feijo because we have no contact with a Baptist in this city
Health for the team and missionaries and also for the family members at home
Safety

I will post pictures as often as possible, check back.

Thank you for praying with us and for us.