Dear Friends and Family,
When we think about what God has allowed us to be a part of the past few weeks, we cannot help but think of you also. We are very greateful in your parntership of the ministry opportunity we had to lead a team to serve in Brazil. You prayers and financial support paved the way for God's work to be done!
Even before we left, we saw God's hand at work. All of the necessary funds that were needed to make this trip possible came though. No only that, but we had an excess that we were able to use to purchase needed equipment for Camp Paraidse! We loved being able to purchase equipment to further bless the camp and allow them to be more effective in their ministry to chidlren and teens.
While we were in Brazil, we had numerous opportunitites to bless the camp through our manual labor. We cleared several areas of jungle, we painted multiple projects, and we helped to wash dishes and clean up after meals.
Even though there was a lanugage barried, we also had a considerable amount of time to interact with people. And that's why we will never think of Brazil like we used to - because we've met some of the wonderful people that live there and had the chance to share with them our hearts!
As leaders, we also played a large role in helping to guide our team of teenagers to grasp all that they were experiencing, doing, and feeling. For some of them, this was the first time to even ride on an aiplane! So needless to say, taking them out of the country was a huge thing for them! It was so amazing to see them serving even though they were exhausted, share their testimonies in front of a large group, love on children, and come to love another part of God's world. When we shared with our church about our experience last Sunday, several of our youth were even brought to tears as they talked about what they experienced and how God had worked in their lives. We're sure that God will continue to use this experience to challenge all of our hearts to live our lives more fully for Christ.
We also were very grateful for the connection that we had with a missionary family that our church supports. We had read prayer letters and heard reports from Dan & Kelly Cook about their work in Brazil, but to actually be able to spend time at Camp Paradise and visit their church plant - Koinonia Baptist Church - it was a new way for us to engage what they had been called to do. It puts a very personal face onto world missions for us. They were excellent hosts and we enjoyed having a lot of interaction was them as they shared their home with us, fed us, saw to our health needs, took us to tourist spots, and educated us on many cultural and spiritual things about Brazil that were helpful to know.
Thank you again for allowing God to use you to be a part of this ministry opportunity!Blessings,
Adam and Becca
P.S. By the way, Landon and Tate had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa Vig! They did a lot of special things together and made some wonderful memories.
(Sorry for the lack of good pictures. I literally took 25 pics. I knew our team would share all of our photos after the trip and some of those teens were shooting pics every 3.5 seconds. I just haven't gotten access to those photos yet)
