April Amazon Update!

This month the church went to the river and held a baptism.  There were 17 people that got baptized and the presence of the Lord was touching people.  I really love watching people getting baptized along the river.  First, I like the public testimony that it gives to people in the community.  Second, I love that during the baptism the church is along the river singing and worshiping God.  Lastly, the symbolism of letting the person be completely immersed in water being baptized into Jesus’ death on the cross and no longer being slaves to self or sin.  When they are raised out of the water they are raised into a new life in Christ and are with Him forever.  Praise the Lord and may His transforming power be upon each of them and us daily. 

At the church we had our annual Easter breakfast. We started the morning by worshipping the Lord, and then Elba shared a short message about the resurrection of Christ.  Then we celebrated the good news that Jesus is alive by eating breakfast together.  Members of the church prepared food at their house and then brought it to the church for all to enjoy.  We also cooked tapioca pancakes with butter on the stove.  This was a big hit.  Afterwards, we placed candy around the church and the children went looking for it.  This may have been the first time that these kids have ever hunted for candy on Easter.  It was a big success. 

The pastors always get the dirty work. 

The girls had a great Easter as well.  They got to participate in a chocolate candy hunt in our backyard and at the church, plus they also helped color eggs for the Easter breakfast at the church.  Below is a picture of them with the eggs that they colored.  Also, there is a picture of them after the baptism swimming in the river with their friend Eduarda.  The last picture is Camilly playing teacher with Manoela, Alyssa and her stuffed doll that my Mom made as her students.  I have never seen a teacher with a ruffled scarf. 

Please continue to pray for spiritual, physical, and emotional health for us.  Also, pray for Elba for safe travels and wisdom as she is teaching about church planting in Brasilia and Palmas.  Lastly, please pray for Allison as they start an English alpha circle this Friday at CDR.

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  43234

Or On-line donations at:

http://www.xingu.org/14d_dolan_donation.html

March Amazon Update!

The church has been doing well and we are seeing people coming into a relationship with the Lord weekly.  Below is a picture of a church service where we had many people come and accept Jesus as their personal savior.  However, with the amount of new people coming and accepting Christ the church has not seen much growth.  It seems like as wide as our doors are open in the front, they seem to be just as wide and open in the back.  This is not to say that we have not seen any growth, it is just slower than we imagined.  We try diligently to get people plugged into the community of the church to which some do and others do not.  I share this with you to ask if you could pray for us, the church and the leadership.  Pray for the protection of these new converts and for the Lord to reveal other ways to help people feel more a part of the community. 

We have been hosting a home group for quite some time at our house and it has been a blessing.  We meet once a week and have fellowship, usually play an ice breaker game, worship and teach the Word.  Also once a month we get together and share a meal with one another.  This is a good time because it allows people to relax a bit more and get to know each other more intimately.  This is really nice because it is not uncommon for people to come to our home group with their religious mask on which makes it hard to get to know them and understand some of the things they may be struggling with in a relationship, the church, or work. 

The girls are doing well and they just started back to school.  Camilly got to go to a girl’s 15^th birthday party.  The 15^th birthday for girls is a BIG deal here in Brazil and some parents go to all stops to have the best.  Camilly came back and said that it was really amazing.  I wish I had pictures.  Camilly got to wear her new boots that she saved for many months to buy.  She is pictured below with her cousin Apollo.  We really like this picture of Alyssa and her drawing.  Her artistic expression to paint her face was purposely done to blend into the work of her painting.  LOL. 

Please continue to pray for spiritual, physical, and emotional health for us. 

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  43234

Or On-line donations at:

http://www.xingu.org/14d_dolan_donation.html

February Amazon Update!

Thank you for your prayers for us and for Elba while she traveled back to the States.  Your prayers were answered and Elba had a nice visit back to the states.  Thank you so much! We hope you enjoy the below email.  

We had a couple’s meeting at our house and we had many couples come and participate.  It is so easy with our busy lifestyles to not stop and appreciate our significant other.  This time with couples helps us to stop and refocus on the more important things in our life.  It is really good to see couples engaging with one another and to be able share different tools to try to have a successful marriage. 

Missions are a part of the Mirante Churches DNA.  We have teams going out to visit remote villages monthly to share the good news of Jesus Christ.  We have thrown into the mix at some of the villages some multimedia assistance.  What we have discovered is that showing something on the television really draws people’s attention.  It works because these villages do not have steady streams of electricity and need to use generators in order to have electricity.  To run a generator is expensive because of fuel cost.  Each week at the Mirante church we video our sermons and then distribute them to some of these communities.  It has been beneficial because when we are unable to visit the community, the lay leader can play a video of one of the sermons and everyone is taught the Word of God. 

Thanks again for your prayers for Elba while she was in the States.  She arrived safely and almost everything (additional overnight before coming home) went according to plan.  She had a very busy time and she would have loved to visit with more of her family and friends.  During her time she got to see snow, which completely reminded her of how much she loves tropical weather.  She sent the below picture to the girls, and not to be outdone, they created their own snow using laundry soap. 

Prayer request: Could you please pray for long time friend and missionary?  Her name is Daisy and she was engaged to be married.  Unfortunately, her fiancé was hit by someone while driving his motorbike.  He seemed to be recovering well after the accident, but unfortunately, he passed away.  We are heartbroken for Daisy and we pray that the Lord will keep her strong, give her peace, and that her faith in God will be strengthened.  Please join us in a prayer. 

Please continue to pray for spiritual, physical, and emotional health for us. 

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/14d_dolan_donation.html

Before Elba left for the States, I carelessly said that I would not shave until she comes back.  As the words rolled off my lips, Elba, Camilly and Alyssa said OK and they sealed the deal with a pinky promise.  Here is the result of the 10 day shadow.  Interestingly, Elba was not one bit interested in seeing the beard when she arrived back home.  So I cut it off before she arrived. 

January Amazon Update!

On December 16^th 2012 I reached my 10 year mark as a missionary in Brazil.  Wow, can you believe it?  It is hard for me to believe.  Trying to reflect back of all the things that have happened since my arrival is so overwhelming.  There have been so many wonderful things such as getting married, having children, being part of church plant, developing friendships, and continually being transformed by God.  Thanks for all your prayers and support.  We hope you enjoy the below blog.  

We had a great Christmas service with a wonderful time of worship, Elba sharing the Word, and then follow-up by an amazing presentation to which Alyssa was a part.  She is the one holding the star on the stage.  I downloaded it to Youtube if you are interested in watching.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx_26EY9tuk  Then afterwards we served dinner to everyone in attendance.  The men of the church purchased a lot of meat 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.  Everything went so well up until we were just about to serve dinner, and then the lights went out.  However, in Brazilian style, the party continued….they brought a couple of motorbikes into the church and used the headlights for light.  Thankfully, our church is big and the risk of carbon monoxide was lessened.  After everyone left, we noticed that we still had quite a bit of food leftover, so members of the church packed up our truck and headed down to the bus stop where some of the homeless live and they served them a great meal.  We were all blessed!

The day after Christmas our whole family traveled about 1 ½ days by boat to Macapa.  We went to Macapa to visit the church and ordain Felipe as pastor.  The Macapa church has gone through a lot of transitions but it continues to keep hanging in there and staying true to the faith.  We were able to sit with the leadership and equip them with more tools on how to grow a church, and encourage the leadership.  We are very proud of Felipe, his wife, and the church.  They have come a long way and we pray the Lord’s continue favor upon them.  While heading back on the boat, we were just about to fall asleep when the boat Captain’s daughter approached us.  She asked “Are you pastors?” to which we replied “Yes”.  She went on and said, “My dad asked if you could pray for everyone on the boat for safety and protection because we just got word that we have been targeted to be robbed by pirates”.  Knowing the seriousness and the reality of this situation we prayed.  It was very nerve racking because these boat are very slow and you are just a sitting duck in the water with no earthly protection.  During my prayer in front of the boat while looking out onto the river, God showed me that he was carving a protective route through the middle and the water was calm.  I took comfort that God was going to protect us on our voyage home.  Unfortunately, the comfort only lasted a moment and I needed to continue to keep praying and remembering the vision that God showed me.  Praise the Lord, we got home safely, and guess what?  I have never ridden on the Amazon River and the Xingu River where the rivers stayed so calm.  Never!! It was incredible. We serve an awesome God. 

Elba is traveling to the States on January 28^th to participate in 5 all day meetings.  She then will head down to Florida to spend a couple of days with my parents.  Please pray for safe travel for her, successful meetings, and for me and the kids that all will continue to be well. 

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/14d_dolan_donation.html

We had a white elephant Christmas party with our home group and this is what I got.  The color is just not me.  LOL

December Amazon Update!

This month our church hosted a “dinner of love” for married couples in and outside of the church.  It was a huge success and we had a lot of fun.  Elba spoke about the challenges of being married and shared some tools to help resolve conflict and improve communications.  Specifically, about how men need to feel respected and woman need to feel loved.  She also shared the importance of having Jesus be the center of our relationship and reinforced the importance of using our marriage as an expression of God’s love for us and the community.  After the talks, we played some games with the couples like kissing each other for a minute straight, cuddling for a minute, and BINGO.  Then we had a raffle and the winner won a getaway weekend trip with their loved one.  All in all we believe that everyone had a great time, and the ones that were far from Christ drew a little closer. 

We had a great time with the leadership and the church in Recife encouraging and teaching different tools to help grow their church.  They are a young group of believers that are very energetic and passionate for the Lord.  They have had many challenges since the church was formed but we walked away very encouraged because the Lord is doing a great work there and lives are being transformed.  Please pray for more of God’s presence and favor upon this church.     

We found these masked superheroes in our backyard (thanks to my Mom and sister who recently came and visited).  They said that their goal was to fight crime, eat M&M’s and promote justice throughout the world.  Also, this is a picture of Elba and I scuba diving in Recife.  This was the first time either of us have ever scuba dived.  I believe in North America you must go through training and get certified, but that was not the case here in Brazil, 10 minute of instructions and they threw you in the water.  It was a blast and thankfully we had a trained person with us the whole time.  We also went to a mall and took this impromptu photo with Santa.  It turned out pretty good and we hope that you enjoy.  The Christmas season was in full gear in Recife. 

Thanks for all your prayers for us.  Please have a great CHRISTmas and a Happy New Year!

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/14d_dolan_donation.html

November Amazon Update

I am writing this update from Recife in Brazil and it was an adventure to get here (see below).  We are here visiting a church and getting to know the leadership better and possibly ordaining a Pastor.  Recife is very far from Altamira and we only get to visit the church once per year.  We will also be visiting with another pastor as well who is interested in joining our church movement.  We are staying in a favela called “circle of fire”.  Not sure why they call it circle of fire and I think I will leave it that way.  Below is the view from our window.  Please pray for wisdom and favor for us.

Thank you so much for your prayers for Elba.  On our last update the doctor drained the infection and we were waiting to see if the infection would go away.  Unfortunately, it did not and instead, began to grow again.  The doctors recommended that Elba go back to Maraba and have the infection surgically removed.  We left the following day by car for another 530 kilometer drive along the rough terrain of the Amazon highway.  We arrived safely but beat up from the roads.  The following day Elba had her surgery and it was a success.  He removed the infection, which was a little smaller than a golf ball, and we got it biopsied.  In good taste, I will omit the photo.  Moving forward to today, the infection seems to be completely gone and the test results show no sign of cancer.  AMEN!!!  Thanks again for all your prayers. 

Before leaving to visit the church in Recife we had 5 couples get married in our church.  All of the couples have been living together for many years if not decades.  However, since starting to participate in the church, the Holy Spirit has been convicting them to start living a more righteous lifestyle.  The couples were so excited and you could sense a renewal of love between the couples.  It was really special and a great celebration.  One of the other cool things was that there was a father and daughter who got married to their significant other.  It was special for him to be able to walk his daughter down the aisle, and then turn around and wait for his soon to be bride to come down the aisle (photo 1).  We are so proud of these couple to buck the trend of the culture and get married.  We know that the Lord is pleased as well. 

                                                                              

On a much lighter note, here are some pictures of the girls at a local water park, and dressed up for a school project called “Festival of the Nations”. 

Please continue to pray for spiritual, physical, and emotional health for us.  Please pray!

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

We almost did not make it to Recife because the big machinery workers at the Belo Monte Hydroelectric plant went on strike and blocked the highway.  The workers burned the offices, dormitories, kitchens, and anything else that was flammable.  They displaced 12,000 workers and did significant damage.  When we were driving and getting close to the strike we saw hundreds of men leaving the area.  We were unaware of the strike until we came to the crossing line.  No one was trying to cross the line because the situation was violent and unstable.  They blocked the road with a bus, and real big earth mover.  We were in a predicament because we needed to get across so Elba could see the doctor in Maraba, as well as catch a flight to Recife.  We stopped a guy and he told us that he knew the person who was in charge.  Elba asked if he would go with her to go and talk with him.  He agreed and they went.  I stayed with the girls and was praying for great favor and mercy.  They found the man and by the grace of God told us that we could pass.  We jumped into the car and maneuvered passed the big obstacles in the road.  Two other cars followed behind us and then they decided not let anymore vehicles cross.  Later, they blew up the big earth mover and bus as you will see in the below video.  Praise the Lord for He is so good and His love endures forever.  He is control of all things. 

http://globotv.globo.com/rede-globo/jornal-nacional/v/policia-reforca-seguranca-nos-canteiros-de-obra-da-usina-de-belo-monte/2240738/

The Belo Monte Hydroelectric plant will be the third largest hydroelectric plant in the world.