Two Firsts

Yesterday I experienced two firsts in my Brazilian missionary life.  The church in Piracãoera de Baixo was having their inauguration ceremony in the afternoon.  A team of Canadians went there on Friday to finish up the last minute details with our construction leader, Joaquim.  This community lies due north of Santarém, just a short 30 minute ride by speedboat, or three hours by line boat.  Having responsibilities in town on Saturday I was not able to go with the team, but decided to join up with fellow PAZ missionaries Silvia and Betty to make the short trip for the inauguration festivities.  It’s great to support these little river communities and I really wanted to be a part of the inauguration and pray over and dedicate this church.

So Sunday morning we were blessed by the supervising pastor of the community who offered to make the short trip into town to pick us up on a speedboat.  We took off just before 8 AM, expecting an uneventful trip.  However, about 10 minutes into the trip, as I was taking in the breeze, water spray, and beautiful Amazon morning, I was suddenly jolted in my seat and almost thrown out of the boat!  I turned around to hear the engine overspeeding and see it flipping up out of the water!  We had just managed to run over a rather large piece of driftwood.  So we immediately prayed over the situation, looked over the motor and began trying to get it running again.  This was all to no avail!  In the meantime, the wind and current was taking us back to Santarem!  Fortunately, after 30 minutes we wound up on the other side of the channel we were in and were able to flag down a passing boat.  In the Lord’s provision, the boat was headed right by Piracãoera de Baixo on it’s way to another community.  Praise God!

We were never able to get the motor started and I have yet to hear the status of the boat today.  But this was an indicator of the dangers and problematic situations that can arise out on the rivers.  Go here if you would like to help support the transportation needs of the river workers who encounter these types of situations regularly.  Prayerfully, there is not major problem with this boat motor!

Once we arrived at the community we checked up on the team who was  finishing up their projects and saw Pastor Geraldo, the captain of the mission’s main boat, the Portador da Luz, as he was painting the PAZ emblem and name on the front of the church!  Then we went around to visit with some of the people there that we knew.  They were cooking lots of food to feed all the folks in attendance for the inauguration that was set to commence at 3 PM.

We were privileged to listen to Pastors Nilton and Renaldo as they hosted the inauguration ceremony.  Pastor Renaldo is the supervising pastor over the church and Pastor Nilton is the head missions pastor for Igreja da Paz, overseeing all of the church planting efforts!  They carried forth a strong message for the community, charging them with the purpose of the local church and  the vision for disciples amongst the nations!  It’s awesome to see people that could be considered as at the end of the earth, carrying out a lifestyle and dedication for making disciples!

Join me in praying for the church in Piracãoera de Baixo.  Pray for the  Lord’s spiritual and physical blessings over this community and the labors of the pastor and workers in this church.  Pray for healthy cell groups and for growth and strength in the believers lives.  Pray for their protection from The Enemy and his schemes.  Pray for their ability to evangelize to those in the community and believe with me that this Amazon village will belong to the Lord and that great leaders will come forth from there who are willing and able to GO make more disciple-making-disciples!

Growth in the name of Christ Jesus!
JAE