Happy August! There's definitely some similarities between August in Illinois and August in Santarém; back to school and crazy HEAT! The rain has stopped and we're into the dry and HOT season. July is a holiday month in Brazil, but it seamed that Silvia and I were far from vacationing!
In the last update, I asked for prayer for our annual evangelistic event in the city, which we participated in through the theatre ministry. There was lots of long hours of rehearsal leading up to the event and some late nights, but it all came together in the end. Hundreds of people came to saving faith in Christ and now the church is on to the task of discipling them all. You can see a highlight video of the event here. I played the role of Jesus, which was a definite honor.
In the past month, I made two separate trips with our church construction coordinator, one by boat to the village of Mucambo, just down the Amazon River, and the second by dirt-bike, to Santarém Miri as well as Mucambo for a second time. Yes, Mucambo is reachable by both water and land. By boat it takes about ten hours and by dirt-bike about five hours, including the crossing of a river where the bikes are loaded up on a canoe. It was quite the adventure, which you can read about on our website. The purpose of these trips are to supervise the construction projects of our new church plants, prepare for upcoming American teams, and equally important, minister to the local church and leaders. It's always a true blessing to participate in the growth of a local church body!
Don't think that I do all the traveling, my wife gets out of the city too! Just before I left on the second of these trips, Silvia returned from a health trip to Aninduba, on the Amazon River. The health team was there ministering as part of a cell group conference hosted in that community. Her pictures are here. During that same time, I was on a trip with some fellow PAZ missionaries to document and evaluate future construction sites for new churches!
Silvia and I traveled together to the villages of Uruari and Jacaré, participating in health clinics, evangelism, and water filter supervision. These two communities are located along the Amazon River as well. We had with us many young adults who were very passionate to evangelize and share. We had a couple great services as well. And as a first for me, I was asked to share the Word in the worship service! I have shared before, but this time it was to be alone, with no translator, so of course, in Portuguese. I was hesitant at first, but ultimately succeeded. It has helped my confidence to know I am capable of ministering in Portuguese! It's also given me reason to be more faithful in my language studies!
We just celebrated our one year wedding anniversary this past weekend. So to do something a bit different, we headed out to a local beach and went camping for the night. We had it all to ourselves and spent the time reminiscing about the goodness of our God, where we've been this year, up and downs, and where we are praying to be in another year. We were very thankful for some time to pray and enjoy each other's company! What an honor to do ministry together!
Praises
Fabulous first year of marriage.
Successful first time ministering publicly in Portuguese.
Safe traveling by land and water in the name of Christ.
For the Grace-upon-Grace that is showered on us daily by our God!
Prayer Requests
Continued desire and time to study Portuguese (I definitely still need to improve!)
Strengthening and growth of our cell groups as well as our disciples.
Consistency in our intimate time with the Lord and in the Word.
Serving Him,
John & Silvia Eisenmann
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