September Amazon Update!

We were invited to go to the Belo Monte Dam project so that we could start weekly church services.  The Belo Monte is a hydroelectric dam complex that will be third largest in the world and is currently under construction on the Xingu River (more pictures below).  The first night of church service had a nice turnout.  Many people from many denominations came to celebrate and praise God.  Everyone was so happy because they had not frequented church on the complex for some time because they just finished building the church.  We were the first ones to have church in their new building.  Pastor Athila spoke and when asked if anyone would like prayer, almost everyone came up.  The Spirit of God was present and we are praying for continued success.  Please join us in that prayer. 

This month the church went to the river and held a baptism.  There were several 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. 

On a personal note and somewhat embarrassing for me, I had a birthday, and our friends at our cell group had a surprise birthday party.  Unfortunately, it cannot be a just a little get together to eat cake and talk with friends.  No, they always need to take it to the next level.  Below they dressed me up and gave me a mustache with eye liner.  Such fun….Not….I guess I should be happy that they did not break any eggs over my head. 

We went to a local creek to get some relief from the heat.  The water was so cool and refreshing and we had a nice time.  The girls found this vine that was converted into a swing, however, it did not swing very high but it was fun for them.  These are the some of the benefits of being in the Amazon basin. 

We want to thank you for all your prayers for my Dad.  He is now at home and recovering well.  The nurses at the hospital were impressed on how fast he has been recovering.  The power of so many prayers!  Once he is recovered from the surgery, he will begin radiation treatments to make sure that all of the cancer cells are destroyed.  Thanks for your continued prayers for my Dad, Mike Dolan.  Below is a picture of my brother Jay, Marty and my Dad. 

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

The Belo Monte hydroelectric dam will be the third largest in the world.  I guess the Discovery Channel came here to do an episode of Megabuilders (I think that is what they call it).  The area pictured below is just one sliver of the total project.

 

August Amazon Update!

This month at our Training Leadership Camp in Altamira, we had our bi-annual regional “InterVinha”, a gathering from all the Vineyard churches in the region.  We had close to 300 people in attendance.  We were blessed to be able to have Phil Strout, the National Director of Vineyard USA, Danny Meyer, Pastor and regional overseer of part of the Midwest in the USA, and Celso Tavares, National Leader of Vineyard Brazil come and speak.  Phil was the main speaker and he talked to us about 10 pillars of leadership, Rick Bergen summarized the points on his blog http://rickbergen.blogspot.com.br/ and below is what he wrote:

1. Get people in front of Jesus, whatever the cost.  "Whatever it takes!"

2. This is the most important thing we've ever done...

3. It is amazing what can get done when you don't care who gets the credit.

4. Take care of your soul.

5. The ministry is not overwork, it is overflow.

6. Fruitful longevity.

7. Do to others what you want them to do to you. Treat others the way you want to be treated. Matthew 7:12

8. If it is worth anything, it is worth everything. Matthew 13:44-46

9. Everyday everything that happens is for the greater glory of God and the well-being of people.

10. Drink the cups of The Lord. (Galatians 4:19, John 18:7-11, Mark 10:35-40, Matthew 26:36-39)

More InterVinha pictures below

We also had the opportunity to go out on the river to visit two community churches.  It always amazes me the dedication that our pastors and missionaries have to spreading the Gospel of Jesus to these hard to reach villages.  There are so many challenges to get the Gospel to these people but praise the Lord the Word is moving forward.  Both of the church services were full and people throughout the community came in their canoes to worship God with us.  It is truly amazing.  Alyssa and Camilly rode in the speed boat to go invite people to the church service.  Alyssa is the one with oversized life jacket. 

On July 18^th, Elba and her twin sister Nira, celebrated their birthday.  The church had a surprise birthday party for them and brought a lot of food and we had a BIG party.  They loved it.  During our trip along the river to visit two community churches the girls got a chance to be with their friends and go swimming.  Camilly jumped off the top of the boat.  She is very courageous. 

I have a special prayer request.  Could you please pray for my Dad?  He was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in the back of his mouth.  During the discovery phase of how to treat the cancer, the doctors discovered that he had 2 abdominal aortic aneurisms.  They are scheduled to do surgery on the aneurisms on Monday August 19^th and then at a later date do surgery to remove the cancer from his jaw.  The Doctors seem optimistic but acknowledge that the process of recovery would be rough.  Please pray for a miracle healing, and if that should not happen, then a successful surgery and fast recovery.  Thanks!

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

Rick Bergen and Alyssa took this picture of this monkey in a tree fairly close to our house.  He was a pretty big monkey. 

Additional pictures of the InterVinha

July Amazon Update

If I had to sum the common theme of this month I would say the word children.   The reason that I say that is because we had two events that stressed the importance of caring for our children.  First, CDR did an outreach called "safe touch", and we had our annual March for Jesus and one of the strong messages of the march was a quote by Dietrich Bonheoffer which states "The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children."

CDR had an outreach to the local schools presented to one school each semester and the message we came to give was about "safe touch".  Sexual and physical abuse is a major problem here in Altamira, Brazil, and the whole world.  The implications of abuse on a child's life can be catastrophic.  Child abuse and neglect can affect all domains of development - physical, psychological, cognitive, behavioral and social - which are often interrelated.  It is our hope that we could make children aware of abuse, and give them a better understanding of what is abuse.   We used different mediums to teach the children the rights and wrongs of appropriate touch.  The CDR students played games with the kids, the teachers performed a theatrical play about safe touching, and then Elba taught the children about safe touching.  We also opened the door for students that may have or are experiencing abuse to come and talk with us or to talk with their teachers.  The director of the school was so appreciative to CDR for taking the time and effort to share about safe touching.  It is our great hope that through this time of interaction these children will be in a better position to ask for help and recognize when they are being abused. 

In addition, we also had our March for Jesus.  It is an annual event that is not only here in Altamira but throughout Brazil.  We had thousands of people come out to publicly testify to their faith and to walk around the city and pray.  It was a huge success and people were dancing in the streets in celebration.  I always love it when multiple churches from a variety of denominations can come together under the banner of Jesus Christ and give Him praise.  We hear so many times why one church is different from another and we can get fixated upon our differences instead of embracing our similarities.  The body of Christ united together as one whole body is a wonderful and magnificent thing, and one that I will always be proud to be a part.  

On July 4^th Alyssa celebrated her 7^th birthday.  She had a great time and she had a bunch of friends come over to celebrate.  I say this often, but time sure goes by quickly.  Even knowing that and trying to enjoy the moments, it continues to fly by so quickly.  I guess this is just the way life is in regards to time.  Let's continue to enjoy the moments and be grateful to the Lord for His grace and mercy in our lives.  Also pictured are Camilly, Alyssa and their friends on the stage at the March for Jesus.  As the man worshipped the Lord, they danced in celebration.  It was great to watch. 

 

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

June Amazon Update!

One of the highlights this month was a short term mission team that came down from the Vineyard Church of Delaware County to partner along side of us to minister to our Brazilian friends.  The team came down for 2 weeks and got to experience the wide variety of ministries that the church is participating.  We started off the trip be visiting some river communities along the Xingu River.  The team brought toys and candy to share with the people to help create a bridge of friendship so that Jesus could cross over.  When evening came, the team got the opportunity to share God’s love for them.  Most of the evenings it was rainy and damp but we still had many people come and listen.  We got to pray for people that were suffering from illnesses and after the prayers they said that they were healed.  Amen!  The team members also got to share their personal testimony of God’s mercy and love in their lives, and how God helped them through very difficult times in their lives. 

One of the highlights of the trip was being able to witness some new believer being baptized by Missionary Richie Bouthillier in the Xingu River.  The Brazilian team sang worship songs along the river’s edge while they were being baptized.  It seemed liked most of the community came out to witness their public declaration of faith.  The lady in the middle picture is one of the community leaders and she has a lot of influence.  Please pray for her and her family that God would use them to continue the good work Jesus has been doing in their lives to touch others in the community. 

 

After the boat trip, the team went by vehicles around 200 kilometers along the dirt roads of the Transamazon Highway to visit our church in Uruará.   The church is being pastored by a couple named Poli and Nega.  They are doing a great job gathering people to the church, which does not surprise me because they are so welcoming and loving.  Their home / church are non-stop with people coming and going and they receive everyone with much love and care.  They are in the process of building a church and the team came to offer their support and sweat.  The church just got a roof but they needed to get a cement floor.  The team came and gave a helping hand and by the end of the day they had a new cement floor.  Everyone worked so hard and God blessed their efforts.   

In the end, being a part of a short term mission team is a wonderful experience for the Brazilians, missionaries, and the team.  I love the fact that when short term missionaries come to serve and “give it all away”, they are blessed back in so many ways such as physical and emotional healing, recognition of gifts, and seeing the Holy Spirit use them to touch others.  I truly believe that most short term missionaries are more deeply impacted after their trip and walk away from the experience more enlightened and blessed. 

Have you ever consider coming on a short term mission team?  Or forming a short-term mission team to come and serve?  If so, email me and let’s talk. 

We also celebrated Mother’s Day here and the girls did a dance at the church.  They made Mom and Dad very proud. 

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

On the way back from dropping the team off to go back home, we saw this anaconda on the road.  It got ran over by a truck probably no more than ½ hour before we got there.  The anaconda was about 16 feet long.  WOW.  Also, during our trip we got to see the beginning or ending of this double rainbow.  I looked for the pot of gold but none was to be found.

May Amazon Update!

By the grace of God we continue to see more people coming into a relationship with the Lord at the Mirante Church and throughout the movement.  Below is a picture of several weeks at the church where people came and accepted Jesus as their personal savior.  I love the first picture of Junior receiving Christ.  Junior has been coming to the church for over a year faithfully and consistently.  His wife is very involved in the church and works with the youth, the dance group, and the adolescents.  Both of them have been wonderful additions to the church.  Throughout the time that Junior has been coming to the church he never made a commitment to receive Christ as his personal savior.  Personally, I am not sure what he thought about Jesus all the times that he came to church.  Maybe he thought, Jesus is a good guy who did many good things and it would be good to replicate what he did in his life.  I am not sure, but what I am sure of is that when Junior decided on Sunday to receive Christ he was very emotional and deeply touched as well as many people in the church who knew Junior.  I really admire Junior for waiting until he was ready to accept Christ.  He did not give into peer pressure but instead waited until it was the right time for him.  It was a powerful moment in his life and it was an answer to many prayers. 

This month we hosted a pastor’s retreat for our regional pastors.  Every year Elba and I, along with other leaders, get the exquisite honor to go and be ministered to by Godly men and woman in the Vineyard USA.  We always walk away from the experience feeling refreshed and recharged.  In addition, we always walked away saying “how can we reproduce this experience for our regional pastors?”  Well this year, we were able to make this a reality.  We had the honor of bringing in a wonderful counselor by the name of Dan Thiessen who taught on a wide range of psychological patterns in people and warning signs.  This really helped equip the pastors.  Later, we then taught on the Lectio Divina which is the practice of scriptural reading, meditation and prayer intended to promote communion with God.  It was a great time and very refreshing for our pastors.    

Below are pictures of the girls.  We took these photos and gave them to Elba for Mother’s day.  She was so happy and surprised.  The pink foliage on the ground is from one of our fruit trees called Jumbu.  It matched perfectly with their dresses and the pictures turned out really nice.  We hope you enjoy as well. 

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