Hello Everyone,
I pray all is well with you all. Sorry that it has taken awhile to write.
I wanted to let you all know that I/we made it to Brazil safely. We arrived on Saturday about 6:30 AM. Our friends Tiago and Dieggo met us at the airport to take us to their hometown of Campinas, Brazil. It was a wonderful day. We didn't really get any rest. We are staying at another friend house. Their name are Carlos and Malu Franco. They all belong to the church called "Familia da Fe". After we got settled in at their place, Tom and I did a little shopping at a "Hippy Fair", it really is like a Flea market. They had meany interesting things. We picked up a few things. We then met some other members from Famailia da Fe church for lunch. We had a wonderful time of fellowship and catching up on things. Tom, Carlos and Alex Fonseca and his wife Toni helped to translate things for me and them. Sergio, Tiago and his family and Dieggo were there as well. They have been extremely gracious and so welcoming to us. We probably spent at least 3 hours there just catching up on our lives and telling them about you all back home. The people that I have mentioned earlier, had come to Kenya with us last year. Tiaggo and Carlos have organized this mission trip and had asked if we would be interested in joining them in Brazil. That is how things got started.
Later that evening, we had gone to the church for Hip Hop concert that was being held by the youth ministry Their ministry is called Usina Jovem. The idea behind the name is a refining time to become a mature and better disciple. That is one of the principles that is impressed upon the youth there. The artist name is Ton _____. Sorry I forgot his last name and didn't write it down. I will let you know the next time I can write. Needless to say, this was an energy filled, extremely exciting concert. The band was very good and Ton had a great message in his songs. All I can say was WOW!!!!! We finally got home, had a chance to unwind and finally went to bed around 12:30 AM. What a full first day.
So, Sunday morning, Tom and I arrived to Familia da Fe church and participated in a Sunday school class with Carlos (our host). They were doing a study on David by Chuck Swindoll. We had a good discussion. We then entered into worship. This was an AWESOME TIME OF WORSHIP. Their praise team was so good. They opened up with "Open The Eyes of My Heart". It was so great to hear the congregation sing this song in Portugese while I am singing this song in English. This is one of the reasons I really enjoy doing mission trip. I really love the opportunity to be in God's house in another country. It really shows me How omnipresent God really is. It also show me how music is so universal and how it can touch so many hearts. They then had this female choir come out and sing. They sang 2 song. Their second song was one that I knew, because my choir at Oak Grove Baptist sang this same song with the same arrangement. The song called "Jerusalem". I am trying to take video shots of the worship service and trying to not drop the camera as I am getting into the service. It was a great juggling act. Alex Fonseca's brother, who is the senior pastor , gave the message this morning. His name is Joncymar Fonseca. He preached on Act 9: 32-36. For those of you who has met Alex, and know how energetic he is, well, when Joncymar get fires up, he is more animated than Alex. Both are powerful speaking and both are extremely passionate when it come to talking our Lord. It was such a great time of worship. At the beginning of the service, the Pastor had the mission team come up on stage so that they could commissioned us and pray for what we will be doing there. All in all, it was a wonderful time of worship. We later had lunch with other members of the Church. Later that evening, Tom and I met up with and old friend of Tom's whom he helped to mentor when he was living in Brazil earlier in his ministry. It is such a great beginning to this mission opportunity that God has placed before us again.
Tomorrow, we leave to fly to Belem. We will meet up with rest of the team from Mountain. We will board the mission boat owned by the Bible Society of Brazil, and head to a village along the Amazon river where we will hold our medical clinic and serve the people there for their medical needs. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us these next few days. I am excited about the people that we are going to meet. Hopefully for the people that may not know God, that we will be able to plants seeds. The harvest is ripe for the pickings. Please continue to pray for our team and for the people that we will meet in these next days. This will probably be the only update that I can share with you because we will not have internet access on the ship.
I am placing some picture that I have taken so far on this trip. Enjoy them. Thank you all for your prayers, encouragement and support. It is appreciated far more than my words could truly express. May God continue to richly bless you all.
In His Mighty Name,
Kevin
[Pictures in OneDrive folder, no log-in needed}
https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=3C01D0691467B3C2&id=3C01D0691467B3C2%21809&authkey=%21ANRh7QNhlJuO7SM
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