Bearing Fruit...

Most of you know this year I became a cell group leader and have a group in my house every Wednesday night. My group is all girls and recently I found myself becoming discouraged not seeing much fruit or growth in the group. But I am reminded of Galatians 6:9, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Last Wednesday, this verse became reality in my cell group. The past couple of weeks we had a 13 year old girl visiting the group. She had never made a true commitment to Jesus. She said she prayed a prayer once but never really surrendered her life to Him. On Wednesday night at the end of cell group she prayed giving her life to Jesus. Another girl in the group prayed to rededicate her life to the Lord. We prayed together and talked through the basics of salvation. One of my disciples will begin to disciple her now so she can grow in her relationship with God. That moment was one of my most memorable since being here. I finally see the importance of cell groups in the local church. Join with me in praying for more fruit and growth in the cell group. All glory be given to God!

A little bit of everything...

It has certainly been awhile since the last update so let me try to do a brief recap and tell you what is coming next. The last official update, I was heading into the last few weeks with our summer interns. We went on a trip to Parintins which was wonderful to be back with the people from there who hold a very special place in my heart. We wanted the interns to see another one of our bases and Parintins was the place. It was a wonderful trip and we all had a lot of fun. Two of the interns and myself ended up getting sick on the way back and were in bed for several days. I came down with a lovely case of strep throat and was definitely missing my mom lol. Intern Amy went off another trip immediately when we returned from Parintins while the other two opted to stay in the city. The last week or so of their time here was pretty laid back with shopping, church and a trip to the zoo. Praise the Lord we have received great feedback from the interns this year and hope to improve the program even more for 2012.

Me with the 3 summer interns at the Congresso

Mode of transportation in a Vila close to Parintins...poor guy =)

During the month of July, the jovens (youth/young adult) ministry has something called a gincana. It is a type of “Olympics” with 3 different teams. There are different challenges each week and the teams earn points. I was super involved this year with leadership on my team the ‘Brows’ (pronounced bro haha). Some of the challenges were the team who got the most people to donate blood (I did for the 1^st time), who could fit the most people into a VW bug, team with the most youtube accesses for an evangelistic video, team with the best decorations, cheer, song, etc… You get the idea. It was a month of a lot of fun and I even got our interns (Amy and Lindsay) involved. Well, the most exciting is that my team won this year. The purpose of the gincana is to win lost young people for Christ and also to make friendships. It truly was a special time. We even had to do a cultural dance at the Jovens Northeastern Night. Pictures below…

With our trophy!

After many practices finally presenting our dance...

The group

August and September have been time for me to get really focused on cell group ministry and discipleship. August included 2 milestones for me, which were my 26^th birthday and my 3 year anniversary in Brazil. The Lord has blessed with such a great group of friends here. They threw a beautiful and unforgettable birthday party for me at a local hotel. I definitely felt God’s favor! Pictures below…

My 26th bday party with some friends

Sabrina, me and Lidiane

In the past few weeks, I was asked to take over the administration of a ministry school (4 years) the PAZ churches are going to be offering in all of their churches eventually. I will be administrating this school in the river communities and smaller cities around Santarem. I will be going to our monthly missions meeting at the beginning of each month and will be required to get the new materials printed up and distributed to the local workers; as well as, take care of the financial side of the project. I am really excited to be working with this project as it will get me closer to the precious workers we have.

Prayer Requests:

- Financial Support

- English lessons – I have been presented with many opportunities to teach English here at my home. Praying for discernment to know what to say yes to and what to say no to.

- Administration of my time

Praises:

- 26 years of life

- 3 years of service here in Brazil

- Each of you who are faithful in prayer and/or financial support