What a great joy to get to do Mission work with your husband, but what a greater joy to get to see your son join you in sharing God's Word. This year Bruce and I got to experience Brazil with Ben. He has told us since he was 9 years old that he wanted to go to a foreign country to be a missionary, well this summer he experienced his calling to that country. Almost as soon as Bruce and I committed last year to going to Brazil, Ben starting asking to go with us. It was amazing to see him working and playing soccer with other students and sharing Jesus with them. He was also a great help to at Aaron and Tiffany's house, playing with Emma and Ethan. One day as Tiffany and I walked down to where Ben was playing soccer with boys and men from the neighborhood, Tiffany commented that he had crossed the cultural barrier and was playing as a Brazilian, barefoot in the sand lot. This was huge to me because Ben doesn't like to be barefooted and he sure hasn't ever played soccer that way. I thanked God that he felt comfortable enought to shed those shoes. Please pray for Ben as he continues praying about where God will lead him.



Last year God placed Alcinea and Abud in my life and everyday since I met them I have thanked God for them and their ministry in Rio Branco. They are Home Missionaries from Brazil. They have the most incrediable servants heart. Alcinea found out shortly after we were in Brazil last year that she has Fibromyalgia. She hurts most of the time but this does not stop her from doing ministry. She and Abud go every week to Maram Serigo (a neighborhood that we lead Backyard Bible Club in last year and Alcinea and Abud were introduced too) and do home Bible studies and work with the children in that neighborhood. As we entered the neighborhood this year and the children heard Abud honk the horn on his Volkswagon Van that provided as our transportation while there, they all came running. You see the children know that when they hear that horn every week that he and Alcinea are there to invest in their lives and share more about Jesus with them and also with their parents and grandparents. They have been doing ministry in a lumber yard next to a hardware store because it has a cover to provide shade. They each week carry chairs for the kids and also a snack. This year they are going to be renting a building to have church. This a such a blessing and Emmanuel you help start this church in Rio Branco, Brazil.

Ben, Justin, Emily and I stayed in Rio Branco with Tiffany while the rest of the team were in the interior. This was to be a week of doing somethings for Tiffany and Aaron that they needed done around their house and also in going to the English speaking schools and sharing Jesus. We went to a school called the Wizard School. At the school the first class that I shared with the teacher told me that no one had ever told her about Jesus. On the last day that I was at the school I had the oppportunity to share with her and she prayed to receive Christ and went home and shared the tract with her husband and he also prayed to receive Christ. This was a highlight of my week. Her name is Lucy and her husband is Eric. On the day I carried her a Bible, Alcinea went with me and she set up a time to do Bible Study with her. It was so amazing to see the difference in Lucy. She even said "I feel so different." God was so good to us at the Wizard School and many seeds were planted and now there are teachers there that can not only teach the students English but also God's Word. Please pray for this school, the students and the teachers as they grow in Christ.

We spent another day cleaning and working around Tiffany and Aaron's house. It was hot and it took us all day to do the job but when we were finished it was so rewarding to see how happy Tiffany was that the job was complete. Aaron and Tiffany are so precious and we have developed a special relationship with them over the past year and a half. This trip I really realized how much they need our prayers and our support through emails and phone calls. It is very hard living away from family and friends and things that you are use too. They do an excellent job of balancing things but they are working so hard to grow Christians in their area. Pick a day out of the week and devote it to praying for Aaron, Tiffany, Emma and Ethan all day that day.

I really can't list final thoughts about our trip because my thoughts of Brazil are never final. I long for the smells, the food, but most of all its Brazilian people that I love. Everyday I wake up with a prayer on my heart for the unreached people of Acre and for the many servants of Christ that are everyday pouring out for these people. God has not yet given me the knowledge of the language and most of the time I really mess up the words that I do know but God speaks in every language and He is speaking through the people that do know the language and I can pray for them and support them in their ministry, it's partnership.

Coming home is a hard time to reconnect with our lives, mine has never reconnected from last years trip and this year only made the attachment greater. Thank you for encouraging words, prayer and support financially to make this trip. Also, thank you to those of you that called to check on Betsy and my Momma while we were gone.

We will be using this blog to keep you informed of our upcoming trip in August 2007. We will also use it for prayer request from Aaron and Tiffany. Check back from time to time to see what is happening in our (Emmanuel) partnership with Acre, Brazil.

-Rhonda

"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1 3-6