We're Back!!

We made it back, safe and sound in the US. After a 4 hour delay in Dallas we made it home last night at about 6. We are glad to be back home with our families, because let me tell you we missed you guys, but part of our hearts are left in Brazil.

The faces of the people of Anori we will never foget. The stories of hope that came out of Life Mission will continue to encourage and give us hope everytime we think of them. The faces of the kids at ACDD will always bring a smile to our faces. Our lives were changed on this trip. We were able to see God in so many different aspects of life, realizing his power and majesty in the most remote parts of the country. Thank you for supporting us so much during our travels, for the prayers and financial support.

We encourage you to ask us about the trip. We all have a different story of how the Lord worked in us and through us and would love to share it with you!

one last time from Brazil

Hello faithful blog readers!

We are currently in Rio enjoying the last few hours of our trip. We have been blessed beyond anything we could imagine, I mean to have church last Sunday on the Amazon and this Sunday on the beach, I don´t think there is anything more we could ask for.

We have spent the last couple of days here in Rio, seeing some of the sights and winding down. We are sad to leave, but also excited to come and share our experience with you. God has blessed us by meeting some amazing people. From the people on the boat, to the little homeless boy here in Rio, we have been moved to tears.

Continue to pray for us as we have almost 24 hours of flight and airport time in front of us.

See you on Tuesday!

ps. continue to look for pictures because once we get back to the states we will be putting a few up here, and also to let you know we made it safely!

lots of pictures for you!

Well, we have been busy it seems these last couple of days.


Yesterday we arrived in Iguassu and headed straight for ACDD, which is Christ Association for Disabled and Handicapped. While there we were able to play with and hang out with about 30 children and adults with disabilities. Our eyes were opened and our hearts were touched by their smiles. One girl, Victoria, came running up to us the minute we walked in the door. We played catch and held hands and helped them onto the buses to go home for the day.















Today we had the opportunity to go and visit Iguassu Falls which has over 250 waterfalls. We walked through the park and admired God's amazing creation. We took pictures and videos so that we could share them with you all, but pictures won't do it justice.
















the guy on the right is ken, he joined us for the trip. he's cool..we like him!


We just want to say thanks to everyone who is reading our blog and praying for us. We love being able to share our experiences with you and how the Lord is working in us and through us. Feel free to leave a comment if you want.

Life Mission

13 lives were changed today. The group from the small town in Kansas experienced the overwhelming presence of God today through 110 men who used to be homeless.

Today we visited the Missao Vida, Life Mission, in Annapolis. This organization goes out to the beggars in the city and offer them soup and then offer them the opportunity to come to the mission and experience a life change. They first spend 3 months in a detox clinic and then head out to a ranch where they spend the next 7 months working and gaining the skills needed to become integrated back into society. In the last 3 years, 70 of them men that have come out of this mission have become ordained pastors. We were able to go to church with them and watched some of the most authentic worship to the Lord that we have seen here. We left with our cups being filled and overflowing with the love of Christ.

Tomorrow we head out to Iguacu to work with a handicapped mission. We are excited to see what the Lord has in store for us!

4 Americans and a cheeseburger

Here is what happened today...


After hanging out today at the resort we decided to go to town to shop around at a little shopping center right off the river. We were walking around, looking at some very expensive items and found some ice cream. Let me tell you it was quite yummy.


But then....


The big story.


We were all talking about how much we miss American food. Jonathas, the head of the mission, was listening to our conversation and said he would see if he could find us a hamburger. Turns out, the hotel we were by had a Brazil cafe on the 3rd floor. Four of us went upstairs to find what we had been waiting for...an American cheeseburger. It was the best thing that we have bought in Brazil and well worth the money!





the hamburgers were big...really big. And they came with fries.

parrots..and other brazilian experiences

We are updating this while looking out over the Amazon river...pretty cool huh? Yeah I know we wish you were here too!

We finished up our time in Anori yesterday and got on the boat last night to travel the 18 hours back to Manaus. We are now at Tiwa-Eco resort enjoying a day of rest, and clean water showers, and a swimming pool, which all by the way are awesome!

The clinic pharmacy was completed. The medicine was moved down onto the shelves that were built and they look great. We had a final VBS with the kids and gave them some bombom(candy) and we just thought they loved us, but after candy they really love us. The kids were on the dock waving goodbye to us. Some of them were crying, which broke our heart. They didn't want us to go, and needless to say neither did we.

We went on a walk through the jungle today, which was really cool. Some people tried to climb the tree, but we weren't very good! There are 2 pet parrots here at the resort with us and they have attacked us a couple of times. They ended up in Amberli, Sarah, and Michelle's room...cornered Amberli, but no fear, a guy in a speedo came to the rescue. They also came and took some of our food we were eating at lunch.

We leave here tomorrow afternoon for Brasilla. Our plane leaves around 4:30 so it'll be another day of travel for us. Have a great week..here are a few pictures, hope you enjoy!

VBS kids in Anori. By the end of the week we had over 100!

the last night of church

we couldn't resist putting him on here...just one of the faces of anori

hello from anori!

well we made it. we are currently in the village of anori at a small internet cafe that we found. it only works about half the time so parents if you didn´t get an email from your kids, its because we couldnt get our email to work.

boy have we been busy the last couple of days. some are working with the kids doing vbs stuff, some are working with the doctors seeing patients, and some are helping to build shelves in the pharmacy. there is such a need here for medical care and just about anything we can provide. everytime we get off the boat we have at least 10 kids following us everywhere we go, in fact there is one looking at us right now as we type! we have had church with them in the evenings and the kids are very receptive to us.

some highlights:
- we got our luggage!! praise the lord for that!!
- our sweat is sweating, its a little hot here!
- no sunburns yet
- a few piranhas caught
- ashley`s 21st birthday cake for dessert, breakfast, and lunch the next day
- seeing jesus in the faces of the people of anori
- seeing the sunrise every morning on the amazon
- seeing a crocodile
- dr pepper slushie looking river, don´t worry no swimming here

thanks for all of your prayers. please continue to keep our team in your prayers as we have a lot of traveling the next week!!