High Spirits pushing through to the end

Hello Prayer Team,

The team had a great day of ministry yesterday in Tera Preta. They had a women's meeting with 15 villagers with a lot of honest discussion and openness.

Today they are in the smaller village of Chita. It is not quite as hot today as yesterday, but still very energy draining with high humidity. This village has had a bad problem with Malaria, so even though all of our team members are taking Malaria medication please pray that the Lord supernaturally protects them. On the plus side, the team is healthy and no one has had to miss any of the ministry. They are holding a VBS and a women's meeting right now and then later tonight will have their last evening meeting. The boat will start heading back to Manaus tonight.

Saturday the team will get to visit an orphanage run by the host church they have been working with, and later get to meet with the young adults from the church. Sunday they will go to services at the host church and then get to do a little site seeing and souvenir buying in Manaus. They are scheduled to fly back home on Monday.

Please pray for:
Continued strength and energy to finish strong
Safe travel - by boat and by plane
Continued team unity til the end
That the team will come home and continue their life of mission here in Dallas
That Watermark members will continue to shine The Light into the darkness where ever they are

Agape,
Chris Truax

Thursday Afternoon Update

Hello Prayer Team,

The team is now in the city of Tera Preta. A missionary named Susan Miller from New York first brought the Gospel to this village many years ago. Probably because of some of the ground work she laid down the team is having their best day of ministry including many great conversations with the men of the village. It is also the hottest day of ministry. 95 degrees and 95% humidity can really take it out of you, so pray for strength and endurance. Also pray for a few of the team who are experiencing minor stomach issues. Tomorrow is their last day of ministry before the boat starts heading back up river on Friday night to Manaus, so pray that the team finishes strong. Giving God their best at all times.

Their normal day looks like this:

7:00am -- Breakfast

8:00am -- Devotional

9:00am -- Ministry in the village

12:00pm -- Lunch

1:00pm -- Mandatory Siesta

2:00pm -- Ministry in the village

6:00pm -- Dinner

7:00pm -- Church Service in the village

9ish -- back on the boat and head to a new village over night

Santa Maria here we come

The team had a great evening service in Bella Vista Tuesday night with about 20 people in attendance. The team got to sing in English for the Brazilians, and one of them gave their testimony. A Brazilian gave a short message and then the team got to hand out some donated items to the people (hats, children's clothes, etc.).

The boat traveled the river again during the night and they awoke to the village of Santa Maria. It is a fairly large village with about 30 families. It has a small church presence, but not many of the villagers are believers. They set up for all their different ministries: Med Clinic, Sports, Children's, Women's. The team is doing well health wise, but you can pray for some of the guys who are really sore from playing soccer two days in a row against far superior competition. But they continued to play so that they could get open opportunities to share the Gospel with the men of the villages.

The team is enjoying the food. They are getting rice and beans for every meal with a variety of meats: chicken, beef, and fish.

Continue to Pray for:

• Open Hearts and opportunities to share the Gospel
• Repentance that leads to Salvation
• Good Health
• Team Unity
• No Language or Culture Barriers
• God's Glory to be Magnified

Agape,

Chris

Rolling Down the River

Hello Prayer Team,

I heard from Tim this morning. He told me the team is doing great. They are enjoying the food, environment, and ministry. Yesterday in the village of Araras they got the opportunity to share the Gospel with many Brazilians. One guy on the campaign experienced for the first time someone accepting Christ. He felt priveledged to be the one who shared the Gospel with the man, and was able to witness God changing the man's heart in front of his eyes. They held an evening meeting in the village that went well, and then they boarded the boat. While they ate dinner and slept the boat traveled to their next village.

This morning they arrived in Bella Vista. They again setup a medical/dental clinic. Also throughout the day will be doing VBS-style children's ministry, sports outreach, women's health clinics, and more to open up strategic opportunities to share the Truth of who God is to the Lost.

Agape,

Chris

NOTE: the pictures being used are from a previous Watermark Brazil trip. I have no way of getting up to date pictures, but these should give you an idea of what their ministry looks like.

Arrived in Manaus at 1 am

Hello Prayer Team,

I just heard from Tim Coblentz the leader of the Brazil trip and I wanted to pass on to you what he said. They arrived in Manaus at 1 am with all of their bags except one, and it was filled with donated items. The Lord guided them through the baggage and screening area allowing them to pass through unscreened while everyone else had to be screened. This was a blessing from God because any donated items or medical supplies could have been confiscated if their bags had been screened! After getting out of the airport they went straight to the boat. They got to the boat and started down the Amazon river at about 2:30 am.

They slept as much as they could and when they awoke they were at their first village, the village of Araras. They setup a medical clinic and got hard to work. This afternoon they have a meeting setup with the teens in the village to talk to them about drugs, alcohol, and sex and of course to point them to Christ who can help them with all things. In the evening they will have a meeting with the women of the village to talk about health issues and they will also have an opportunity to share Christ with them. Tomorrow they will minister in a new village.

Pray for:

• Continued good health
• Strength of the team (that they sleep well)
• Bodies to be healed both physically and spiritually
• God to receive all the Glory due His Name

Agape,

Chris Truax (Mission Trip Leader with e3, and Watermark Member)