Reflecting on what God did in the Amazon Jungle

Now that both 2010 Watermark Amazon teams are home safe, it is time to reflect of what God did through our faithfulness. Both trips were very different, (one was on the Rio Negro River & the other on the Salomoes River) but both trips were similar. We did medical/dental work, children’s VBS, women’s & men’s ministry. While providing free medical care & donations items for people who don’t have access to proper health care, our main focus was to share the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. Only in heaven will we know the full impact of our trip but there were many people in the Amazon who professed salvation in Christ while we were there. The best part is that even though the North Americans have come home, the work doesn’t stop since our Brazilian partner church will follow up with the new believers & disciple & shepherd them in their new faith in Christ.

A STORY OF 2 DIFFERENT RESPONSES TO THE GOSPEL
I will tell a story of two different men who had 2 different responses to the "good news of Jesus". Max was a young man we met on week 1. After sharing our testimonies & the good news of Christ with the evangecube we started asking Max some questions. He used to live in the big city & used to go to church but went down the wrong path & got involved in selling drugs before coming out to this small village to escape from the law for something bad he had done. The more we talked with Max he mentioned that he had been having dreams that he was preaching to villages in the Jungle!! Can you believe this. Forward to the next week when we met another young man named Jefferson. After playing soccer with the young men to establish a relationship, we shared Christ & Jefferson raised his hand that he believed this message & accepted Jesus Christ into his life. Max never made a decision even though it was clear that God was getting his attention. Jefferson accepted Christ & came to the church service that night. He was smiling & after the service came & gave all the North American men a huge hug & even teared up as he was telling us that he will never forget us. This type of behavior is not typical for Brazilian men to show emotion so we could tell his heart was very moved. Our prayer is that the soil of the hearts of the Brazilian believers would be receptive to the gospel & that they would bear much fruit in spite of the persecution which will follow.


SPIRITUAL WARFARE IN THE AMAZON
I have been working in the Amazon Jungle since 2001 & I have never experienced a situation like what happened on Thursday & Friday of last week. I really struggle whether to write this as I don’t want to sensationalize what happened but I will tell you the facts of what Lori Kjeldgaard& I experienced first hand. Below is an account of a girl we ministered to who had a demon inside of her.
When we arrived in Anama, an Amazon town of 6,000 people, I knew this wasn’t going to be a typical day when the local pastor told us that alcohol, drugs & prostitution with kids from ages 10-16 were some of the major problems in the town. We were called into a situation with a 14 year old girl named Raquel who was taken by her father to see a witch doctor. Raquel was very soft spoken & showed me the scars on both her wrists that looked like she had tried to kill herself. Her mother told us that she had a demon in her & that recently at school she put both her hands through a glass door. Her mother said that 5 adult school teachers couldn’t control her as she fought them. Geraldo, one of our Brazilian translators, began praying for Raquel & very quickly she began shaking. This wasn’t a shaking like anything I have ever seen but it looked like there was something inside her trying to get out. As Lori & I were praying, Geraldo commanded the demon to identify himself by name & a voice inside the girl in a gruff voice said “diabo” the Portuguese name for Devil. Raquel was shaking uncontrollably, her arms were flailing & her elbows pounded the wall, her legs were kicking & her face was in a snarl but the scariest part was her eyes. I have never seen a look like that before and the only way I can describe her eyes were “pure evil”. All I could see were the whites of her eyes & her fingers were contorted in strange positions. Geraldo kept praying for her & commanded the Devil by name to leave her & she immediately went limp. After 30 seconds she sat up & acted like nothing had happened. She adjusted the berets in her hair like she was a school girl getting ready to go to school. She said she didn’t remember anything & her demeanor was very calm. After watching this I lost my appetite & felt like I wanted to puke & I was reminded that Satan is real & he is like a roaring lion seeking to kill, steal & destroy. After some time of reflection on what I saw, I am encouraged that God we serve is in control & is mighty to save & we had an awesome prayer & worship time on the boat later that night.

ONGOING PRAYER REQUESTS
• Pray for the new believers & that they would be strong in their faith in the face of persecution
• Pray for the new believers that they would be discipled & grow strong in the faith
• Pray for our partner church (IPM) in Manaus
• Pray for Raquel & family that Satan would have no power over their family
• Pray for the North American teams that we would be forever changed