A Very Exciting Week

Hey Everybody!

This past week was very eventful and I can't wait to share everything with you guys! We have been learning so much more about the culture here in Parintins and we are improving on the language alot which is such a blessing from God. This past week, "love was in the air". Here in Brasil, Valentine's Day is on June 12 so for the first time ever, Michael and  I celebrated Valentine's Day twice in one year hahaha! Throughout the week, there were many events celebrating Valentine's Day. The first event we were able to attend was a wedding, but not just any wedding. Once a year, the city hosts a "complementary" wedding for everybody in the city who wants to get married by the state. If they choose to get married on this date, then they do not have to pay the marriage fee so as you can imagine, many people take up this opportunity. They also have a pastor from each denomination there to read the vows for the couples getting married. The pastor that we are living with represented the Evangelical denomination. There was also a Catholic representative and an Assembly of God pastor to represent those couples under those catagories. So the wedding is held in a city building and people from all over the city came to see it. You will never guess how many people got married!! I thought it would just be a handful, but there were exactly 130 couples who got married. Isn't that crazy!! They played the music and all of the couples walked down the aisle one after another and then they all sat down, and whenever their pastor or representative came up to the microphone, the couple stood up and repeated their vows. I have never seen so many people get married at one time! It was quite a sight! Continuing with the theme of love this week, the church we are serving here had a Valentine's couple dinner on Saturday night. It was a blast! There were about 40 couples from the church that attended. The night was complete with good food, funny couple games, and the most amazing chocolate dessert I have ever had! Hahaha! We had a great time, and plus who wouldn't want two Valentine's Days in one year!
Well, enough about the love, hahaha! Yesterday was a very very special day for me because after three years, I finally got to see a very precious girl (now a woman) whom I befriended my first trip here. Her name is Camila and she lives with her grandparents here in Parintins. Their family is a huge help to Pastor Elmer's church here and they help lead a church plant in the most impoverished area of Parintins called the Invasion Zone. We went to the church plant yesterday and that is where I was able to see my sweet Camila. She is now 14 years old and about a foot taller haha! It was so good to see her and God is using her in amazing ways at the church plant. Even though she is only 14, she is leading a sunday school class for all of the children at the church. It was such a blessing to sit with her while she shared the love of Jesus with all of these children, most of which are abused and neglected. After the church service we sat together and talked about everything. She was very surprised that I could speak some Portuguese now haha! I was so blessed by her and I am so thankful that I got to see her. She was very excited that we will be here for 4 more weeks! I'm sure we will be hanging out alot!
I also had the amazing opportunity this past week to spend a day at the hospital here in Parintins. We went to the hospital because we were trying to recruit a doctor to come on an Amazon Outreach boat trip this coming week for village health care. We met with the leaders of the hospital and they agreed to send one of their doctors with us on the boat trip to treat some of the sick people in the villages. It is a great deal for them because the city requires the doctors to go out into the villages a certain number of times a year, but if they come with Amazon Outreach they are able to use the resources and medicine available on the boat at no cost to them. So basically they meet their quota and don't have to use any of their own supplies. They were very excited to take this opportunity haha. I am very excited as well because I will be coming alongside with the doctor this coming week to learn how he does village medicine. It will be a great learning experience for me and I am very excited for this opportunity. After we met with the head honchos of the hospital, they offered to give me a tour since they knew I was a pre-med in the U.S. It was such an eye-opening experience to see how this hospital works. The facility was very nice and they have alot of departments, such as an E.R and a neonatal unit, but the problem is they only have 6 doctors for the entire hospital and it is the only hospital for the entire city. It breaks my heart that there are so many needy people in the city that are not receiving adequate care, not because of a lack of resources, but a lack of workers. I have begun to notice this reoccuring theme: lack of workers. There are simply not enough people to do all of the work that needs to be done. Of course money is always an issue, but without people to do the job, nothing gets done. It is my prayer that more Christians would respond to the command given by Christ in the Bible and go out into all the nations and become workers for Christ. It is the very purpose of why we are here on this earth. The reality is, God has called all Christians to all the nations to proclaim his glory. But why is there still so much work to be done and so few workers?
The final story I want to share is something that Michael and I got to do this morning. It was called our "Great Adventure"!! A man by the name of Abimael is the leader of the village outreach ministry at Pastor Elmer's church. He invited Michael and I to travel with him and his wife to a village on the river to ask permission for an Amazon Outreach boat trip to visit that village this week. We have never been able to travel the Amazon with just a small motor boat for about 4 people. It was an incredible experience to say the least! It was about a 2 hour boat ride to this village. Once we got to the village, Abimael spoke to the vice-president of the village (the pres was MIA haha) and asked his permission for a boat trip to come and visit this next week. They haven't allowed Evangelical Christians in their village in 10 years, but this time they agreed. Please continue to pray that the people will be open to hearing the good news of Christ. It was such a cool experience to travel side by side with Abimael and his wife Fransisca. They are such faithful servants of Christ and it was such a blessing to learn from them. Hopefully we will be able to accompany them on more trips in the future. On the boat ride back as we are just cruising along the Amazon, I was just overwhelmed with how much our Savior loves us. His creation is so beautiful and the people that he has created are beautiful as well. I think we often forget that everything we have and everything that we are is all because of the mercy and grace of God. He created us for one purpose: to know Him and to make Him know unto all the nations. I encourage you to think about the nations this week. Not just Brasil, but everywhere. Intentionally pray for the unreached people groups all over the world who have never heard of Jesus Christ. Make it your prayer this week to pray for all peoples all over the world because the same God that created you, created them as well. Pray that God would open your eyes to opportunities for serving Him throughout all the nations. After all, if that is our sole purpose here on this earth, why would we waste our time doing anything else.
Thank you for your prayers and support, we love you guys!!

Michael and Leah