Floods in Altamira

Easter morning started off like most morning.  We got up early and went to the church to have breakfast with the congregation and worship the Lord.   It was great.  We returned home and at 10:00am our electricity went off and that is when we heard the first reports that 2 dams broke above the city.  Within hours, the lower half of the city was flooded.  Unfortunately, there were a few children and elderly that lost their lives.  It is a tragedy.  Thousands of people are misplaced, and they have lost nearly everything of their already small possessions.  Personally, we are currently housing several people, and the church is hosting several families.   These situations become even tougher because the support from the government is very little.

 

Below are some pictures.  One is during the flood, and another is the house of one of our church members that is staying at out our house.  Her house and everything in it are completely trashed.  We know that we cannot help everyone but we definitely want to help as many families as we can.  Would you like to partner in helping these families?   If so, there are two ways to get this accomplished below.  

You can send a tax deductible donation to the Xingu Mission at

The Xingu Mission

PO Box 340785

Columbus, Ohio 43234

Attn: Altamira Base

Or on-line at http://www.xingu.org/15a1_altamira_donation.html

If you decide to make a donation, please let us know.  This will give us a general idea and allow us to start putting your money to work quicker. 

Please pray for all the displaced in Altamira, and pray that we as church can assist families not only physically but spiritually and emotionally. 

Thanks and blessings, Steve

Happy Easter!

We pray that you have a wonderful Easter holiday.  Needless to say this is such a special holiday for Christians.  Everything surrounds this moment in time and praise God, “He has risen”.  Jesus defeated death and for those who put their faith in Him can now have eternal life with Him.  Praise God. 

This month we had a children’s conference at the church and it was well attended.  We brought in Pastor Wanildo from Santeram, a neighboring city, to teach at the conference.  He has his Masters in child education and he has a huge heart for children.  Our children's ministry leaders were taught many new teaching tools to reach out to children.  They left the conference feeling more encouraged and excited.  It was a success!  As a church we are committed to raise our children in the ways of the Lord. 

To give you an update from an email several months ago.  CDR, our non-governmental organization moved to the Mission base because it would give us a better opportunity to reach more of the underprivileged.  We were nervous about the move because students believe that the neighborhood surrounding the Mission base is not safe because there is a lot crime.  We did not know if the enrollment would decrease significantly because of this belief.  Praise God, we are happy to report that we maxed out our enrollment for English as a second language with 170 students, and we have 68 students learning the basics of computer.  Please keep CDR in your prayers as we plan to open up a Christian Preschool next year.  Also, we have been promised from the government to receive high speed internet (YES!!!!) by the end of this month.  This would be a huge boost for our computer program.

 

Also, this month we had the opportunity to go to our sister base in Marabá and see the good work that Rick and Deanna Bergen have started, and now with the assistance from Clyde and Kelsie Bergquist.  Elba had the opportunity to share the Word to these new hungry believers.  It was really nice to see the Marabá base doing so well.  After we left Marabá, we got the opportunity to take a mini vacation at a place called Salinas.  It was really fun, and the girls were definitely addicted to the beach and the ocean. 

Again, we pray that you have a great Easter and that our Lord Jesus will touch you in a special way.  Check out the other photo’s below. 

Love and blessings, Steve, Elba, Camilly and Alyssa

 

Tax deductible donations can be written and sent to:

The Xingu Mission

P.O Box 340785

Columbus, Ohio  43215

 

Or On-line donations at:

http://www.xingu.org/6_giving.html

 

Check out our new redesigned website at: www.xingu.org

 

Here is a picture of a little monkey at a house in the Assurini.  Notice how I am keeping my distance.  That little sucker has some sharp teeth.  I did not want anything to do with him, but he wanted everything to do with my hammock. 

 

Picture of Elba and Alyssa on the beach

 

 

Here is a picture of Denise having some quiet time.  She is a beautiful woman of God.