God is so good

Bom Dia from the Amazon! Our team is doing well and God is moving in powerful ways. The Rio Negro is a beautiful river… We wake up every morning to a glassy river that looks like a mirror (because there is no wind) and go to bed every night with the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen. Everywhere you look is picturesque and a beautiful reminder that God is here and ever present in the villages of the Amazon. The food is wonderful and the Brazilians serving alongside of us are gracious, kind and their love of God is evident.
This morning we docked at a very small village Costanao, only 5-7 families. It was by far the hottest day yet because there was no wind even at 7 am, yet our group continues to share the love of Christ despite not being comfortable or in the best of circumstances. Everyone is a blessing and encouragement to one another and I am honored to serve alongside of them. The key word is FLEXIBILITY… and we are demonstrating it! When we arrived, the children were at school in another village so there were only a couple children, but KyLea was able to minister and share the gospel with them through an Evangacube and their mom heard as well. There wasn’t a need for all the nurses so the ladies all served together and ministered to the women of the village. One neat story was that an 85 year-old woman led us through the jungle, without shoes on, to show us her mandioca field. She plants, harvests and prepares this plant to sell. Once we were back in the village some of our ladies followed her into her home to hear more about her life there and she was overcome with a sick feeling. They all prayed over her and she was able to come to the church service and accepted Christ into her life. Praise be to Jesus! The medical and dental teams are staying busy and serving to the villagers physical health as well as spiritual. They wouldn’t be able to do any of this without the patient and knowledgeable Brazilian translators. They estimated seeing about 50-60 patients today between the two villages.
We then loaded up and during lunch headed a little further down the river to another village, Bom Jesus. After our mandatory siesta, which I don’t know what we would do without, we went into the village to start ministering. The men went with the Vice President of the village on a hunt for a waterfall, which did not prove successful! They had fun despite the failed trip and they were able to spend that time sharing the Gospel with him. It was a hard village to interact with because the Assembly of God church has a big presence there and because of the restrictions placed on them by the church, the men are not allowed to play soccer and the women can’t cut their hair or paint their nails. Those are our main points of entry to get to know the people so we had to find other routes. The VBS team completely loved on the children by teaching them songs, playing games and learning Bible stories. Six children were added to the kingdom today because of their ministry! The women’s ministry organized a meeting for the ladies of the village to share our stories and get to know them better. We had about 10 women attend and Maryann introduced our group, I shared my testimony and Ally presented the gospel with the Evangacube. God totally ordained this plan because 3 of the women related with my story. One woman asked to share her testimony as well. At the age of 14, her sister and she accepted Christ when a visiting group came into their village. Once they came home and shared with their family, their father beat them and held a knife to their throat and told them to choose, God or their family. The girls chose Christ and had to leave and went to the church to pray for 3 months for their father. Eventually their father came to know Christ and has been Redeemed! Other ladies shared their stories as well. I have never been so moved to tears as I was today. We surrounded these sisters and laid our hands on them, prayed, cried and rejoiced in what the Lord has done and is continuing to do!
Thank you to everyone who is continuing to pray for us. Know that you have a hand in this and it would not be possible without all of you! God is moving mightily in the hearts of these people who have been forgotten by so many. Continue to pray for the people who have accepted Christ and for those who have heard but not yet received. Pray for the two villages we are going to visit tomorrow. God is good and we can’t wait to share all of our experiences with you when we return! God Bless you all, goodnight!

Story by Brittni Harrison

Trip Updates- The team is doing well & everyone is healthy. Our team has had an incredible time in the jungle serving people who have nothing We got to go on an alligator hunt last night & one of the Brazilian guys caught a small alligator with his bare hands. One of the men in the village yesterday showed us a jaguar he killed last week. He speared the Jaguar because it was coming afer him. The village ate the meat & we saw the fresh jaguar shin. The man then offered te jaguar head to me as a gift. Dont tell my wife but I am bringing the skull & teeth home to remember this incredible place.

Prayer Requests
Continued unity
Safe passage home (by boat &plane)
strength for me as I am staying for another week
Our team would process this trip well & see how God wants to use this experience to refocus our hearts for those at home.