This was our final day in the villages! This morning, we were prepped to expect a smaller village (7 homes) with shyer members. Another nearby village also came over by boat to attend the medical clinic and VBS. VBS ended up seeing about 65 people, including lots of parents/adults that sang songs, learned our Bible verse (Luke 19:10), listened to our Bible story (Jesus calms the storm), and joined in on our craft. As expected, this group was pretty shy, but we did have lots of kids join in on the games and we saw lots of smiles! We ended the sessions as we always do - playing beach ball & soccer and handing out candy! The medical team cared for 85 patients and felt they were all receptive to our care and prayer. We worked with a teacher to set her up with enough solution to treat the children for lice. We unfortunately learned today that one of the older women we met on a home visit two days ago had fallen after we left and fractured her hip, was brought to the city, and is deemed not a surgical candidate. We helped arrange for more medications to be delivered to her via Jonaze. Please join us in praying for her comfort and to feel the presence of God. Her granddaughter Ketlen is a believer and we pray she is instrumental in helping care for her spiritual needs along with our prayers.
This afternoon, we went to another village with our usual setup. VBS saw about 50 kids this afternoon - they started off very shy but ended up being quite rowdy! We could not have pulled this off without the amazing work of our translator Anne. She has been so energetic with the kids and patient with us. We had a busy afternoon at our final clinic and saw over 100 patients and ended our final count for the med clinic at 1,008 patients for the week! (Silly and arbitrary, but very fun goal). Afternoon clinic was highlighted by a mother in her 30s and a 16 year old daughter coming to accept Jesus as their Savior at their visit with Justin and Matt. Their testimony highlighted 11 years of work that Missao Seara had contributed to - evangelistic trips by local missionaries, countless VBS’s, and medical clinics. It was a great reminder of how many small seeds planted over the years of mission work (short and long term) can come together to add to the body of Christ.
We split ways with Jonaze before we left to return to the Word Of Life base, as he returned to his village. He will begin construction for the next mission church building (where we visited on day 2 in the villages). Tonight, our fearless leader Greg Parker will drive the boat through the night back to the missionary base for a 15 hour trip. We look forward to sleeping through the steady hum of the boat and rocking gently in our hammocks!
Please continue praying for:
⁃ Safe travels with Greg, Matt, and Rick navigating the boat through multiple rivers/channels in the dark
⁃ No rain and clear skies which makes navigation easier
⁃ Continued health for the team as we approach our almost 24 hour travel day home
Boa noite (good night)!
-Jackie & Justin
This afternoon, we went to another village with our usual setup. VBS saw about 50 kids this afternoon - they started off very shy but ended up being quite rowdy! We could not have pulled this off without the amazing work of our translator Anne. She has been so energetic with the kids and patient with us. We had a busy afternoon at our final clinic and saw over 100 patients and ended our final count for the med clinic at 1,008 patients for the week! (Silly and arbitrary, but very fun goal). Afternoon clinic was highlighted by a mother in her 30s and a 16 year old daughter coming to accept Jesus as their Savior at their visit with Justin and Matt. Their testimony highlighted 11 years of work that Missao Seara had contributed to - evangelistic trips by local missionaries, countless VBS’s, and medical clinics. It was a great reminder of how many small seeds planted over the years of mission work (short and long term) can come together to add to the body of Christ.
We split ways with Jonaze before we left to return to the Word Of Life base, as he returned to his village. He will begin construction for the next mission church building (where we visited on day 2 in the villages). Tonight, our fearless leader Greg Parker will drive the boat through the night back to the missionary base for a 15 hour trip. We look forward to sleeping through the steady hum of the boat and rocking gently in our hammocks!
Please continue praying for:
⁃ Safe travels with Greg, Matt, and Rick navigating the boat through multiple rivers/channels in the dark
⁃ No rain and clear skies which makes navigation easier
⁃ Continued health for the team as we approach our almost 24 hour travel day home
Boa noite (good night)!
-Jackie & Justin