Happy Easter

Easter weekend turned out great. Friday, we showed the movie “The Passion”. There was a large turnout. If you have never seen the movie, it is very dramatic. It really helps visually show the suffering that our Lord bore for me and you. It is a wake-up call to realize the love that Jesus has for us. I keep thinking, WOW, my God and my Lord suffered all that for me? I know the answer is “Yes”, but, WOW! I feel so unworthy, but in that same breath, VERY BLESSED! That evening, one person came to Christ.

For Easter Sunday, we had an early morning celebration service. We started off early in the morning worshipping the Lord, and then Elba preached about the resurrection of Jesus and its importance in our lives. We finished by having breakfast together to celebrate the day. Later on that evening, Elba preached the Word of God and it was a powerful service to which 15 people came and accepted Christ into their lives. It was very emotional for a lot of the members of the church because they had been praying for months, and sometimes years for these loved ones to receive Christ. There were lots of tears of joy shed that night in the church.

On a personal note, the girls are doing well and they had a good Easter as well. They got to paint eggs with the missionary children at the mission guest house. As you can see in the above picture, the members of the church enjoyed the fruits of their labor. We also had an Easter egg hunt in our backyard, or should I say, chocolate candy hunt. Nevertheless, they had a great time.

Thanks for all your continued thoughts and prayers. Keep them coming. Love and blessings, Steve, Elba, Camilly and Alyssa

Here is a picture of the girls just before church service on Easter Sunday. They look so beautiful!!

March update

This month we had a short term team from the Madison County Vineyard come and help with one of our local churches. The church’s pastor is Marcio from Independente II, and he is passionate for the Lord and the lost. Their church is meeting in his backyard, and for the last year they have been raising money to build a church by selling pizza during the weekend. Through the sales of the pizzas, the church was able to buy a piece of property. The Madison Vineyard came along side of Pr. Marcio and some of their congregation to help with the construction of the church building. It is really great to see sister churches from two different continents coming along side one another to support, help, encourage, and pray. The church still has a ways to go before completion, so please keep this in your prayers.

The high speed internet that we received several months ago at CDR has been a huge blessing to us and the community around CDR. CDR was given the high speed internet because of our ongoing work to teach students basic computer skills. Also we have expanded our computer program to teach people how to fix and repairs computers. We are excited for this new program, so please keep this in your prayers.

English was also a big success again and we maxed out our enrollment. English is a hot topic and many Brazilians want to learn English in hopes of furthering their lives and careers. The CDR English program is also very favorable because we provide students with native speakers, excellent teaching material, good environment, and a low monthly fee of $16.00. We are proud of the work that CDR is doing and for being an extension to the church. It is a blessing and even though CDR and the church are legally completely separate, CDR is recognized with our church. We had an end of the semester party for the English students at the church. The students came up and sang Christian English songs, and another student essentially preached the Gospel in English to everyone in attendance. It was really cool.



On a personal note, the girls are doing well. I really liked both of these photos that I took of Camilly and Alyssa playing in the rain and hugging one another. Since we are in the rainy season they both love to play in the rain. Once the rain starts, then it is time to suit up the bathing suits or just strip down to your panties. The umbrella is a pretty sorry excuse for an umbrella, but I guess that is all the fun.

Thanks for all your continued thoughts and prayers. Keep them coming. Love and blessings, Steve, Elba, Camilly and Alyssa

February update

In January, Elba and I had the pleasure of going to Agudos in southern Brazil and spending some time at a catholic seminary for the Brazil National Vineyard meeting. It was a really great time to relax and hear some very good teachings. The teachings concentrated on one of the spiritual disciplines, solitude and silence. It was nice to get away from the busyness of everyday and spend time with God. Personally, I have been trying to do this these last several months but was not hearing anything from God. I was going through a time of spiritual dryness and it was really affecting me personally and professionally. On the outside, I am sure that I looked normal and healthy, but on the inside, I was struggling. During my time at the seminary I was calling out to God to hear His voice but did not hear anything. On the last day and during our closing prayer, Penny Meyer came over and started praying for me. To be honest, when she was praying, I just wanted her to stop so I could go and eat lunch. When she got done praying, she said “the reason I came over to pray for you was because I saw a dark cloud over you filled with rain, and the cloud was over very dry ground”. Once she spoke those words I knew that it was from God and I became overwhelmed with emotions. God was using His people to speak and I was being filled up with His presence. The spiritual dryness was starting to melt away. Penny continued by saying that God will be moving me into a new direction or role within the church / mission. I welcomed that and have been seeking God for this new role. Please keep me in your prayers.

At the church, we had our first couple get married that had never lived with one another or had children before marriage. Rabelo and Elielma have been long time members of our church. During their time of dating we really encouraged and challenged them to walk out their relationship with Jesus being the center. They participated in our premarital program and walked out their relationship with God in the middle. It was a great example to the youth of our church. We are so happy that they chose this path instead of the more convenient path that is more often traveled here in Altamira.

While we were gone, the girls stayed with Elba’s Mom. She traveled two days by boat to stay with them and we were so grateful. It was really nice not to have to worry about the girls while we were gone. Below is a picture of the girls trying to be doggies. They are so sweet except when they want to eat off the floor. YUCK!

Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Thanks and blessings, much love, Steve, Elba, Camilly and Alyssa

January update

December was a very busy month and in the midst of all the busyness 6 people were baptized in the Xingu River. During the baptism, the members of the church that came to witness this monumental moment, worshipped along the river’s edge. Whenever I participate or watch a baptism I always remember when I was baptized and how life changing it was for me. Please pray that it will be life changing for each of these beautiful souls.

We had a great Christmas service and there were about 450 people in attendance. We had wonderful time of worship, a presentation from some of the kids in the church, and a great Christmas message. Then some of the members of the church performed a Christmas play about the birth of Jesus. The actors did a great job and the play really held the attention of all the people at the church. Also, the men of the church purchased a cow and with the help of the members of the church we had the opportunity to serve dinner to everyone that was at the church service. To top off the night, 7 people gave their lives to Christ.

We went to Elba’s parents for Christmas. It was a really good time to be with her family. Camilly and Alyssa had a great time as well. Both girls received handmade baby dolls from my mom for Christmas and they were a big hit. Alyssa also received a DVD called “Barbie and the 3 Musketeers”. She loves this DVD, and as you can see in her oversized bathing suit, she loves to impersonate the character. Unfortunately, she loves to practice on her unsuspecting Dad. OUCH!!! Camilly finished her first year of school. Since she started a year early she will be going back to the same grade. Even though she was young for her class, she did very well. We are very proud of her.

Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Thanks and blessings, much love, Steve, Elba, Camilly and Alyssa

Amazon December update

We pray that you had a great Thanksgiving. We did. We were able to celebrate it with all the missionaries, and a team from the Cleveland area. They brought down some pumpkin filling for pumpkin pie, cranberries, and supplies for a green beans casserole. It was great and it felt very close to being at home.

As I mentioned above, we had a short term mission team from the Cleveland area this month come and visit. It was really nice to spend time with them and visit a variety of communities along the river. Each community that we visited the presence of the Lord was present. One particular community named Trapachino was particularly special. We had to tromp through almost knee high mud to reach the community and then we met outside under the mango trees. Trapachino is a new work and most of the people had not received Christ. We had worship and then preached the love of God. The response was amazing with 12 people receiving Christ as their Lord and Savior. It was an honor to be a part of this special moment for these 12 people.

At the church we had a group wedding and 5 couples got married. It is really great to see couples that have been living together for years, having children, finally go before God and lift their marriage up to Him. These couples have been regularly attending our monthly couples meeting and we were pleased to see the Lord changing and growing them in their faith.

On a personal note, I want to introduce you to Miss Japanese. Yes, Camilly was elected to represent her class to be Miss Japanese. Camilly’s school held a competition to see who could collect the most money so that they could rebuild their playground, and send money to missionaries to help spread the gospel throughout the world. It was really fun and in the end, Camilly, with the help of her class, earned the most money. Camilly was so happy. Alyssa joined in the fun by imitating her big sister. She was little Miss Japanese.

We pray that you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!!

Love and blessings, Steve, Elba, Camilly and Alyssa

I took this picture from the guest house in Altamira. I love the reflection of the moon off the river.

Amazon update - November

At the church, we held a neighborhood outreach to the community. We specifically invited two neighborhoods on the outskirts of the city, where many community services are of greater distance. We organized an event to serve these communities with such things as immunization, doctor appointments, document preparation, legal guidance, haircuts, and oral hygiene. Even though our church members are not rich they are always willing to give a hand. We had a wonderful turnout and around 350 people were served. It reminds me of Mother Theresa quote “Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough, money can be got, but they need your hearts to love them. So, spread your love everywhere you go.” It is really great to be a part of a church that puts their faith into action.

Does the church look different? It should, we had an all church member painting party. Again, like the above story, members of the church came out in force and painted the whole church in just one day. Amazing!! It has taken so much time and energy to get the church to this point. Below is a picture of our first year (2005) in the church. Of course, we would of like to get the church done as soon as possible, but, our priorities are more centered on salvations, discipling, training leaders, and serving the community with the love of Jesus.

On a personal note, Elba and I celebrated our 6th year anniversary on November 8th. We had the great privilege of getting away for a night and getting some alone time. I never imagined how important those times can be especially with little ones. Below is a picture of Alyssa with Apollo and Célio and they just got done picking Acai from one of our trees. Acai has become a very popular additive for vitamin drinks and supplements. Camilly found this dead python outside our house. It looked like a car ran over it. YUCK!

Thanks and blessings, much love, 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

We found this bottle of pop at a local store. YUMMY! Doesn’t “Flesh” pop sound so refreshing. You probably did not realize that flesh taste better with lemon-lime. Lost in translation!

Amazon Update - October

This month we had a healing conference at the church. It was a great time of worship and teaching. The teachings focused around healing and that when we ask or pray for healing we should be in full expectation that the Lord is going to heal. We should not pray in the hope that the Lord will heal, but pray in the expectation that God is already healing the situation in prayer. Elba had the opportunity to pray for a few people. One of them was a lady who had a large bump on her foot due to an infection. It was very painful. During prayer Elba felt the bump starting to move. Elba asked the lady if she could feel the bump moving and she said “Yes, it feels like a burning sensation”. The lump that was on her foot then started to go down and the pain eased. God was at work and he healed that lady that evening, along with a lot of other people.



We also had an “encounter with God” weekend retreat. The retreat is for new believers and it is a time of teaching basic biblical practices and reflecting on God. It was highly attended with 68 men and 69 women participating. It was a huge success and everyone seemed very excited about their time at the retreat. This is a great opportunity to fulfill the churches and mission’s vision of training leaders.



On a personal note, our little 4 year old Camilly has learned how to ride a bike without training wheels. For the last several months she has wanted to ride a bike. One day she was riding her bike while I was holding and running along side of her. I then let go and off she went. She has not looked back and each day she is getting more courageous. It is awesome to see. Alyssa is doing well and is learning more and more words. Thankfully, one of her favorite words is “Thank you or dank you”. Whenever you do something for her she almost always says “dank you”.



Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Thanks and blessings, much love, Steve, Elba, Camilly and Alyssa