PrayerGram - July 8th

Dear Friends and Family,

Your ministry partners at Amazon R.A.C.E. are very appreciative of your prayers.

Daniel and Chris, Amazon R.A.C.E. team missionaries from the USA, are currently “on the river.” They are returning from our missionary prayer retreat held in Belém via “hammock boat.” They are due to arrive in Manaus on Saturday.

Hammock boats are the main stay of travel in northern Brazil. Hammock boats normally have one or two stories of open space where hammocks are hung for sleeping or relaxing. The “decks” are open to the outside for ventilation. The open decks may have a hundred or more hammocks with people on each level. Basic meals are provided in the price of the ticket. Hammock boats may stop at many small villages, stop for small boats to approach with new passengers or to pick-up passengers and have a few scheduled stops in larger communities.

Passengers have lots of time on their hands. Chris and Daniel are seeking to be witnesses for JESUS during their “spare” time. On some trips, close communities develop and friends are made for a lifetime.

Please pray for Daniel and Chris to make new friends for all eternity. Ask the LORD to provide divine opportunities to be witnesses of JESUS. Pray for Chris and Daniel to make the most of every opportunity.

In HIS Grip,

Your Amazon R.A.C.E. Team

(Radical Approach to Church planting and Evangelism

known in Brazil as Radical Amazônia)

PrayerGram June 29

Dear Friends and Family,

Your ministry partners at Amazon R.A.C.E. are very

appreciative of your prayers.

The Amazon basin is flooding and it is official - the river level has risen to its highest level ever recorded. Even more families and entire communities are displaced. The river normally crests the first couple of days in July, in this area. Many homes will continue being flooded until September. The river normally reaches its lowest point in the first week of December.

Please pray for churches, believing family members and all believers to make the most of every opportunity during the flood – to show and tell of GOD’s love.

The IMB missionaries of Northern Brazil are meeting the first three days of July near Belem.

Please pray for this to be a special time of encouragement and learning from each other.

In HIS Grip,

Your Amazon R.A.C.E. Team

(Radical Approach to Church planting and Evangelism

known in Brazil as Radical Amazônia)

PrayerGram June 17

Dear Friends and Family,

Your ministry partners at Amazon R.A.C.E. are very appreciative of your prayers.

The Amazon basin is flooding. The news is saying this is the worst flood since 1953. We have included some pictures of flooded areas so you can see and pray.

Ribeirinhos (river people) are not complaining. Their lives are dependent on the rivers, whether they are up or down. Every year there is a cycle of low and high water. This season is very high. Entire communities have moved while others have little or no flooding and hence lots of people temporarily living with families or in schools. Some people have been flooded out of their homes for two months. They expect to return to their houses in another two months. The rivers in our area normally crest the last week of June or the first couple of days in July.

Please pray for churches, believing family members and all believers to make the most of every opportunity during the flood. Ask the LORD to teach all of us to be as utterly dependent and accepting of HIM as Ribeirinhos are of the rivers. (We can learn about simple living and trust from Ribeirinhos.)

This is missions focus month for many Baptist churches in Brazil. We are receiving invitations to speak at youth groups and in churches.

Please pray for obedience to the HOLY SPIRIT’s leading as we preach, share and speak in churches. Ask the LORD of the Harvest to send out more workers ready to make disciples that make disciples.

In HIS Grip,

Your Amazon R.A.C.E. Team

(Radical Approach to Church planting and Evangelism

known in Brazil as Radical Amazônia)

What’s missing in this picture?

YOU !

New Boats!

Dear Friends and Family,

Thank you for praying and please join in rejoicing.  We bought two wooden “john boats.”  These will be used during the training camps for missionaries going long-term in ribeirinho communities.  GOD provided the funds, ahead of time.  We bought them at a large ribeirinho community across the river where they are built at a floating house/work shop.  They are built by hand.  Please pray for wisdom as we purchase two 5 Horse Power motors to go on the boats (The motors are similar to lawn mower engines with a long shaft and propeller).

  

Eric and Chris (Hands-On volunteer missionaries) received their visa extensions this week, Praise the LORD.  

Your ministry partners at Amazon R.A.C.E. are very appreciative of your prayers.  Requesting your prayers for the following items this week:

Chris (Journeyman for two years – volunteer missionary to live long-term in ribeirinho communities) arrived on the 14th and starts Portuguese studies on the 16th.  

Team meeting with our Brazilian partners on the 16th.

Aaron preaching at Igreja Batista Nova Luz (New Light Baptist Church) on the 19th.

In HIS Grip,

Your Amazon R.A.C.E. Team

(Radical Approach to Church planting and Evangelism 

           known in Brazil as Radical Amazônia)

April 9th 2009

Dear Friends and Family,

 

Your ministry partners at Amazon R.A.C.E. are very appreciative of your prayers. 

 

      Chris Taylor (journeyman on the Amazon R.A.C.E. team) should receive his visa on Thursday, April 9^th.  Once he has his visa in hand then travel arrangements can be made.  Please pray for Chris as he completes the visa process.  Ask the LORD to give favor with the Brazilian consulate officials and for Chris to be a bold witness. 

      Please pray for Chris as he says goodbye to family and friends for a two year term (saying goodbye well can make the two year absence easier for both Chris and his family). 

      Please pray for wisdom as travel arrangements are made and his witness to the Brazilians traveling on the same flight. 

      Please rejoice with us for GOD’s wonderful provisions.  We inspected the house where Chris and Daniel will be living in Manaus.  It is better than we hoped.  Our LORD provided so wonderfully in every respect.

 

      Thank you for praying!!  Our first obedience-based discipleship seminar at an interior church, Igreja Batista Urucurituba (Urucurituba Baptist Church) went well.  The first session challenged everyone to tell the Bible story just learned to someone outside the church prior to the second session.  Almost everyone did! 

      The testimonies were wonderful accounts of GOD’s love and faithfulness.  Many shared of nervousness at first, but forgot their nervousness as they told the story.  There were never more than 24 people in any discipleship session, but 34 people shared at least one Bible story with someone outside the training during the weekend.  More than 60 people in the community heard at least one Bible story during the weekend. 

      Please pray for your brothers and sisters-in-CHRIST to keep sharing GOD’s stories with people outside the church.  Ask the LORD to guide them as they learn new stories to share.  Pray for the lost in Urucurituba to come to CHRIST while hearing GOD’s story from faithful witnesses.

 

      Thank you for praying!  In March, the Lee family joined the Igreja Batista Boas Novas (Good News Baptist Church).  We are enjoying our church home.  It is “bem brasileira” (very Brazilian).  It took longer than expected to unite with a church, but we are thankful GOD placed us in this church.  Please rejoice with us as we finally feel settled in Manaus.

 

In HIS Grip,

Your Amazon R.A.C.E. Team

(Radical Approach to Church planting and Evangelism

known in Brazil as Radical Amazônia)

April 6th

Dear Friends and Family,

Your ministry partners at Amazon R.A.C.E. are very appreciative of your prayers. 

Amazon R.A.C.E. is in the process of completing our ministry manual for all the aspects of this new ministry.  The end is in sight, but is not yet accomplished.  The writing is in Portuguese, but once completed then we will translate into English.  You and others may read what we are about and how we are seeking to obey the LORD’s command to make disciples among the ribeirinhos (river people) of Northern Brazil.  Please pray for perseverance in this important task of setting down our vision, what we believe, goals, strategies and guidelines.  Ask the LORD to link us with more ministry partners that share this vision.

Thank you for praying!  In March, the Lee family joined the Igreja Batista Boas Novas (Good News Baptist Church).  We are enjoying our church home.  It is “bem brasileira” (very Brazilian).  It took longer than expected to unite with a church, but we are thankful GOD placed us in this church.  Please rejoice with us as we finally feel settled in Manaus.

In HIS Grip,

Your Amazon R.A.C.E. Team

(Radical Approach to Church planting and Evangelism

known in Brazil as Radical Amazônia)

March 30

Dear Friends and Family,

Your ministry partners at Amazon R.A.C.E. are very appreciative of your prayers. 

Please remember Rebecca Lee (daughter of Bill & Sylvia Lee) on her 18^th birthday, April 1st.

Our first obedience-based discipleship seminar at an interior church is April 3-5, at Igreja Batista Urucurituba (Urucurituba Baptist Church).  This is one of the few communities in the state where driving is an option (until the last 24 miles).  Our plans are to take a taxi or bus since interior roads are notorious for being rough.  We will leave “bem cedo (very early)” on the 3^rd in order to arrive in Urucurituba by late afternoon (it is only 168 miles by road with the last 24 miles by ferry).  The training will be an expanded version of the obedience-based Treinamento Na Igreja Radical (Radical Church training) used at Igreja Batista Manancial (Manancial Baptist Church).  Please pray for your Amazon R.A.C.E. team as we travel and for your brothers and sisters-in-CHRIST in Urucurituba as well as the lost, that will hear Bible stories from their neighbors.  Ask the LORD for a movement of His Spirit in this river community. 

In HIS Grip,

Your Amazon R.A.C.E. Team

(Radical Approach to Church planting and Evangelism

known in Brazil as Radical Amazônia)