October Update - It's a little bit of everything

Hello Fall!  I'll admit that this time of year brings on a little bit of "climate jealousy," with the fall being my favorite season of the year back in IL; harvest time, leaves changing, breezy days and nights with sunny brisk mornings.  But lately we've had a few rainy nights here to cool off the Amazon steam.  I was just thinking this morning how much more I enjoyed a cup of coffee in the "cool" 80 degree morning!


We are thankful that even though thousands of miles separate us, in Christ, we're side by side working together!  Our hearts are full of gratitude, recently passing my second anniversary of moving to Brazil in September and also our first wedding anniversary in August.  The Lord continues to reveal His steadfast presence in our lives and ministry, and so we persist in our declarations of His boundless pleasure in being glorified through the ministry of the saints!  Thank you so much for your specific acts of support for us, prayerfully and financially!  Just imagine the thanksgiving overflowing towards our God because of your service!  (2 Corinthians 9:10-15)

The Cement Crew for the pour in Santarém Mirim.

You'll remember in the last update that I had been traveling with our church construction supervisor.  Well, these past 50 days he's been in Japan with a team of American and Brazilian PAZ missionaries serving in the Tsunami disaster area and ministering at the PAZ Japan churches.  So I took up the slack in his absence, supervising the two churches that were in-progress when he left.  I made another follow-up trip to Mucambo, again by dirtbike, but alone!  Dirt and sand roads in the middle of the jungle are a bit longer without a traveling partner!  I also returned to Santarém Mirim to help pour the floor and supervise the ongoing work.  I made a second trip there to follow up on the finishing work.  Overall, I now have much more respect for all of the dedication and supervision that must take place to ensure these churches are being built with excellency!  But what an honor to serve in this capacity!


I just returned from a water filter supervision trip to a couple Amazon River communities.  It was a short trip, but we accomplished our goals.  These two communities are situated in the Amazon River flood plane.  It was an honor to help the people of these communities escape the realities of polluted drinking water.  We pray for them to come to know the true fountain of life, Christ Jesus, so that they may never thirst again!  I look forward to a return visit.  Silvia has also made a couple trips recently with the health team, one inland and the other to a river community.  One of the trips she coordinated and even had to be the driver of the 4x4 truck!


Our two cell groups are growing!  We've had two conversions in the past month, one in each group!  Praise God for His faithfulness in salvation!  We also held a baptism for our area where I had the pleasure of baptizing one of my disciples!  What an honor to share in that grand moment and declaration of faith in Christ!  Continue to pray with us for the growth of each individual in the groups, for their spiritual growth and for our ability in ministering to them.  This coming weekend Silvia and I will be participating in our churches Disciplers' Retreat.  We're looking forward to learn how we can improve our personal ministries.  Then next week begins the annual MDA Conference here in Santarém, where hundreds of church leaders from all over Brazil will come to learn about the vision and move of discipleship that began with the PAZ church.  We're excited for this week full of learning!  Pray with us for the application afterwards!


Be sure the check out the embedded links to get more details on our website!

Praises
Two people coming to saving faith through our cell groups!
Safe travels throughout the region by dirtbike, 4x4 truck, and boat!
The Gospel that travels on the feet of faithful men and women in the Amazon.

Prayer Requests
Ability to receive and then apply the teaching that we will receive in the coming weekend retreat and then next week's conference.
Continued desire and time to study Portuguese (I definitely still need to improve!)
Spiritual strengthening and growth of our cell groups as well as our disciples.

Serving Him,
John and Silvia Eisenmann

Celebrating the graduation of Silvia's father from law school!