B R A Z I L

Our next stop on this amazing outreach trip was Brazil. We arrived in Manaus, a three million person city right on the river surrounded by jungle. When we got there we met up with another YWAM team from Switzerland, who we were going to partner with for the next week. Then we hopped on to a big boat to travel up the Amazon to Maues, a smaller city on the river where we stayed at the YWAM base there. We hung hammocks side by side just like all the locals and filled the three story boat. We travelled for about 18 hours and then switched to a smaller boat to get to the base. We arrived and were welcomed with a warm welcome from the leaders and a youth camp that was going on. After the first night in the jungle we all woke up with terrible diarrhea, because of the food we ate on the boat; they use the river water to cook the food and unfortunately that didn't agree with our stomachs. Almost everyone, fifteen plus people from the Switzerland team and our five people, were all sick and bedridden/bathroomridden for the majority of our time in the Amazon. As disappointing as that was it really brought both our teams together; everyone was taking care of everyone. I really got to connect with some girls from the other team, some from Australia, California, and parts of Europe. They were very sweet people and I miss them already.

I was pretty sick for quite awhile and I missed a couple of times where the teams went to town to evangelize and helped at the rehab center right next to the base. Although, God healed me enough on Saturday night to participate in a group prayer where we listened to God and who he wanted to do what at church the next morning. I was feeling like He was telling me to preach and I was very hesitant, but when three other people confirmed that they were hearing the same thing, I agreed. So that next morning we went to a tribal church a little ways down the river. I spoke on unity in the body of Christ, using Ephesians 4:1-16 for a reference. It was a short and simple sermon but God really used it. The rest of the service had other things brought from each group of people that was there, so my sermon fit right in. We had the Switzerland team, our Iceland team, another Brazilian team not from YWAM, and then of course the local tribal people were there. It was a beautiful service.

For a few days we went to a village and met some amazing people who live off the land. We had some really good conversations, worship nights, and prayer times together. I was also taught how to scale fish by one of the local Amazonian people. While we were there, I didn't see any snakes or alligators but I did see some tarantulas and lizards and weird looking bugs. We were also blessed to see tucans and some other birds. There were some amazing plants, crazy and different than the ones at home. The food was nothing too excentric, we mostly had rice and beans and sometimes beans and rice. We also had some fish and some bread and some weird fruits. One thing about the Amazon is they grow a lot of guarana, which is a source of caffeine. They ground up the seed and drink it in everything: water, soda obviously and more.

We then departed from Maues and said goodbye to the Switzerland team. As the boat was docking, one of our team members was very sick and we started talking about going to the hospital. He was very dehydrated and couldn't keep anything down, he was also starting to lose feeling in his arm and then his leg. But people came around him and were praying and giving advice and a few minutes later he was smiling and feeling a lot better. God definitely heals and answers prayers.

That afternoon we made it to the YWAM base in Manaus and stayed there for a week, helping out with a mission adventure program and some practical things around the base. It was very hot and humid, but so so beautiful. Most of my clothes I hand washed in the jungle but it rained every day and all the inside hanging spots were taken so I had to pack with damp clothes that smelled terrible. When we got to the base in Manaus, they had a washing machine so I gladly took advantage of that and cleaned all of my clothes, hung them and prayed that it wouldn't rain that day and it didn't!

Again thank you all for the prayers and support! I love and miss you all! Stay tuned for an update on Costa Rica next!