Marabá has a zoo which has some animals in pens, and others that are not. We had a bit of trouble eating our lunch as these coati’s kept crashing our party. We would grab them by the tail, take them about 100 yards away, and let them go. But in the end, they had the home ground advantage. We packed up our lunch. It was a lot of fun.

Monday was a “free day” for the team. They chose to go to hang out for the morning, then go to the zoo, then have a pizza party with all who live on the chacará, plus Eliete’s family, many of whom went to Pacajá with them.

The Kid’s Encontro started with a church service, ministry, and games on Friday night. Then everyone went home. We resumed the next morning at 8:00 a.m., and except for a few hour break in the late afternoon, it went until 9:00 p.m. Then again Sunday morning. It was busy, with about 85 kids, and about 35 helpers. Deanna organized it all, the High Road Academy team pitched in where they could, and local leaders and missionaries helped out wherever they could. Children are amazingly energetic!

The Youth Team from High Road Academy / City Life Church helped Deanna and the team here host a Kid’s Camp this week-end.

Eliel bought new hats for the band.

Daisy made some very cool children’s games while she was at our house a few weeks ago. We had stations, late Friday, with different games at each station.

The presence of God was visible on some of the kids during the ministry time after the Friday night worship service.

They all went home for the night, and were back for a hot-chocolate-bread-and-butter breakfast at 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning.

We moved to Brazil because Luke Huber, the founder of PAZ Mission, invited us. This was back in about 1993 or so. We lived with other PAZ missionaries in Santarem for our first two years here, learning the language and starting to learn about Brazilian culture. Scott and Aldine were our neighbours then. They had been missionaries about two years at that time, and have children about the same age as ours. What a pleasure to spend an evening together here in Marabá. Scott is travelling with his friend Matt, another missionary, to Southern Brazil, to deliver a car.

Our friends at PAZ mission, including the Huber and Hrubik families, continue to be among the best examples we know of missionary families, whose children are also becoming great missionaries and Christian leaders. Their council to us in our first years in Brazil continues to bless us, and we do what we can to pass this family blessing on to the missionaries who have joined us in the Xingu Mission. http://www.projectamazon.org/

As I was thinking with Scott, back then Jim and Julie Brown had only been here 5 months. Bud and Suzanne came a year later. All these people are still missionaries, almost 20 years later, spread out across the Amazon.

http://www.projectamazon.org/missionaries/scott-and-aldine-blunier/

How do you plant churches? You just start doing it.

There are always many reasons why we cannot get started just yet. Things are not planned well. We do not have mature leaders. It will cost us money and time. Etc. And yet God’s church continues to grow. Our strategy is to cut the rope that secures our boat to the shore and to let God’s wind and currents direct us.

One of our key leaders has many friends in Tres Poderes. He lived there for awhile. City officials were giving away lots of land. We acquired two lots for  our church. Some guys went out and built a fence around the property and drove a stake into the ground with our name on it.

Tres Poderes is three hours from Marabá, on the road to Quatro Bocas. We drove out there this week. What is God’s plan for this church? We are not sure yet.

We are so pleased that High Road Academy has sent a team to Marabá. Deanna’s nephew Zach is on this team. Zach was born in Brazil, and lived here until he was 14. The group hit the ground running. They arrived at noon. That evening they ministered with testimonies and a drama at the Youth Service. Two ladies from our neighbourhood gave their hearts to Jesus at the alter call at the end of the service.

Thank you for all who prayed and gave to allow this team to come and encourage us!