Deanna gathered a group after the youth service last night to plan some

children’s events. Art and Cyndi Rae and many young people are keen to

do this. July is a school holiday month in Brazil and the children have

lots of free time. It seems impossible to do the one huge thing that

will change everything, but many small acts of kindness are very

doable, and things change over time. May God continue to wash away the

effects of sin from our neighbourhood and to reveal Himself in small

and great ways. In our hearts we keep waiting for God to do the big

huge things too, like raising the dead, and giving sight to the blind,

signs and wonders, miracles and healings. When God shows up in tangible

ways it is very helpful.

Deyse preached a great sermon at the Saturday night Youth Service on

how God does not judge us or choose us based on our outward appearance

or physical strenth. He looks at our heart, which includes our

attitudes and our character. Her sermon was based on the life of King

David, and how God chose David instead of Goliath to be his leader. “I

don’t know if Goliath was beautiful, but big and strong he certainly

was. God did not choose Goliath to be the leader of His people.”

Several of the young people in our church are taking turns preaching as

they hone their skills. They need a lot of courage to do this, the same

as young people anywhere. “I kept wondering if I would have the courage

to speak, but I know that God looks at our hearts and He gives His

children courage.”

plants and sugar cane. The next day they gave us a bag of seedlings

including bananas, sugar cane, cupuaçu and pitomba fruit trees.

We have a beautiful ipé hardwood tree in our yard. Every year this tree

fills with yellow blossoms and looks like one huge flower. This is

considered one of the best hardwood trees in the jungle. Just to give

you some idea of how special this wood is, if you google “Bill Gates

floor ipe” you will find an article which says Bill used ipé in his

home.

Here are a couple of sunsets from the other side of our home.

Here are a few portraits from the Escola de Lideres Graduation Night. Please pray for us as we try to understand how God wants to include the energetic and vibrant people.

We are so proud of Ivanildo, Monica, Aline, Sammy, Eliel, Zezinho, Karen, Natalha, Deyse, Laine and Elismar. Congratulations!

Here is a cattle drive, in action. The cowboys are trailing this herd of 1,100 head to Paraupebas, still two days away. Below is a photo of the herd spread out over about a kilometer. This drive went past us as we were talking to a lady about some land in Tres Poderes.

Yesterday morning Emma got up at 5:30 a.m. to go on a motorcycle trip with me to the interior. We were eight explorers on four motorcycles. We travelled on gravel roads and encountered heavy dust, two flat tires and really nice people. We got home after dark the same day, hot, tired and dusty.

We stopped at a local eatery for lunch. Suddenly a herd of over 100 cattle came racing through town with a bunch of cowboys yelling and galloping in ever which direction. One calf fell down in the running so one of the cowboys roped it and tied it up to the house across the street from us.

We were doing another survey trip to Tres Poderes. We are planning to establish a beach head, from which to reach into the “colonias” scattered throughout this region. We don’t really know what we are doing, so please pray for God’s favor and clear direction.

* We are home, after a yearlong furlough.

* We are happier to see our cat than our cat is to see us.

* Two hawks love to perch about 10 feet from our front window. Sometimes one of them will fly and crash into the glass window, maybe 10 times in a row. I think he sees his reflection, and attacks.

* We are at the end of the rainy season now.

* God is showing us spectacular sunsets from our front window.