Dear church family,

(6:01 PM)  We are back in Altamira from Porto de Moz.  We have been on the water since last Sunday in the back regions of the Amazon.  God has brought the Brazilian youth and the American youth together in wonderful ways and i'll let them share with you their joys and experiences.

We are very tired, very, very hot and getting ready to go out to a youth congresso with about 600
youth attending. Continue to pray for us-- we love you all and have felt your prayers!

See you soon,
Pastor Steve

(10:48PM)  The youth congresso was incredible! The music had kids dancing everywhere and the church (1 and a half times ours) was packed. The message was from a lady from Canada (didn't know her) but the ministry time lasted for an hour with a packed altar. She asked God to rein on us and there was a crack of thunder and a downpour of rain and a fresh wind that took the heat and the sale air out of the sanctuary! The praise went even louder with a passion that i've only seen in Brazil.

Josh Byrne started having some major pain in his foot so i left with his dad and a Brazilian young man to take him back to the guest house. They were beginning to dance all over again as i was leaving. I was wet (perspiration) from head to toe -- soaking wet -- and everyone i knew was trying to hug me. I had had no time to take a shower for going to worship.

I've just finished my shower and i feel like a new man. It has been incredibly hot the whole mission but we have faired well. There are too many things to say in a wall note -- but just know we all miss you and are excited to come home but Brazil has a major portion of all of our hearts right now -- especially our youth! I'll be praying for worship in the morning!

Give eveyone our love and don't forget to bring your friends to hear/see "Quiet Love."

Yours and His, Pastor Steve

Dear Church family, I have been so busy that I have not been able to get to a computer to report in. I am now in the office printing pictures of the over 100 kids that are here for the "Kids Camp." Carole, once again, and put together a camp that has the message of salvation laced throughout and the bright eyes of the little ones as they pray to recieve Jesus into their hearts is overwhelming! Everyone is doing above and beyond expectations.

The trip down was without incident yet the long flight sure jumped around a lot! The boys (Jay, Seth, and Josh) have blended in with the Brazilian youth perfectly. No one has been sick. The kids camp is again this morning (Saturday) and tomorrow (Sunday) morning. Tonight Wade will preach at a youth service and one of the youth will share his testimony. I'll be preaching tomorrow night (they don't have Sunday morning worship here -- too hot).

Directly after the service (we'll have already loaded the boat), we'll be heading into the interior back rivers for the youth evangelism mission. Our team along with the team from here PdM (Porto de Moz)...

(message continued later in the morning)

We will be on the river all week going into three main villages. There will be small groups and evening worship services. We will be sharing our testimonies, playing games and making friendships. The team will hand our their testimonies (which we had translated into Portuguese before we left) and doing kids crafts, and whatever else is asked of us. We will be in the back rivers working in areas where new church plants will be possibilities!

Our baths will be in the river and the boat will be our sleeping quarters.  I don't know what to expect because this will be all new and all knew for these missionaries, too!

We will leave late Friday night and head to Porto de Moz only to pick up Richie's family (about 4-5 five hours) and then head straight down to Altamira (another 10 hours) and arrive in time to head to a Youth Congressio of about 600 youth! On Sunday morning we will attend a Farmer's Market and is our only FREE day but it will be full, too. We will go to a Shahoscaria (Brazilian smorgasborg) and then return to the youth congresso until late evening. We will then pack and be ready for the long trek home on Monday morning. Altamira to Belem (2 1/2 hours), Belem to Sao paulo (8-9 hours), Sao Paulo to Washington DC (10 hours), DC to Columbus !1 1/2 hours) and home on the 20th.

We've already seen miracles and many little hands accepting Jesus into their hearts. A big miracle happen in Belem as they waived the baggage fee for all of us! Freed us to help even more than before.

Keep praying and know that we CAN FEEL those prayers!  We are praying for you, too!

Love  you all,
Pastor Steve