Claire's Corner

Orivis and a Landmark Event in Santarém

2011-12-13T08:20:00.008-05:00

Two weeks ago I set off on a 6 hour boat ride to the community of Orivis alongside a team from New York state, fellow missionaries and our brazilian team. Our goal was to work on the beginning stages of a wooden church building; as well as, evangelism in homes, children's activities and services at night. Each trip my roll is slightly different but generally I work with children or do home visits. This time I was on the "construction crew". We carried a lot of wood. It was hard work in the hot sun but it was also a nice time of fellowship getting to know the team as we were walking along carrying the big pieces of wood. I also learned about several tools on the trip as I spent some time as the assistant to the "boss". Basically that meant him asking me to grab him whatever tools he needed haha. But hey now I know what a plum bob is and how to start a generator and I know the names of more tools in portuguese :). Just cause I am the daughter of a carpenter doesn't mean I have any knowledge or experience in the area! We held two services during our stay, one in Orivis and one in Januário where a work was started this year. I had the opportunity to lead several of the team members in doing a children's program at the local school. We sang songs, played some games, presented the Gospel using a bracelet and even played kazoos. Here are a few pics from the trip:

Some of our wood carrying helpers!

Beginning stages and some of the wood we carried

Service in Orivis

Service

Last week, I was witness to an event that greatly impacted my life. I was able to be a part of a baptism of 1,467 people. I can't describe the emotion of seeing so many people taking the step to be water baptized as a symbol of the work Jesus has already done in their lives and their decisions to "bury" the old self and live as a new creation in Jesus. In less than 2 hours, everyone was baptized. Here are some pics to see the incredible work Jesus is doing here in Santarém and the Amazon through PAZ:

The line to get into the baptism

Lots of people!

Waiting...

As the year is coming to a close, I want to thank each of you for your prayers and support. Without them it would not be possible for me to be here. Prayerfully consider making a tax-deductible donation before the end of the year and also the possibility of the joining with me on a regular basis in 2012. May God bless you and your family! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Livin' the Vision!

2011-11-23T20:34:00.005-05:00

MDA Conference:

In my last post, I mentioned the upcoming MDA Conference and my houseguest from São Paulo arriving. The conference was an amazing blessing. There were over 2,000 participants from 23 Brazilian states and 5 other countries. The majority of the sessions were about discipleship and cell groups but the main speaker, Pastor Eddy Leo from Indonesia, talked about being a dwelling place for God. It was such a simple message but at the same time so profound. We can do so many things for the Lord but if we aren't first a dwelling place for His presence than it is in vain. Our relationship with Him needs to be priority. It is so neat to see people from all over coming to learn about cell group churches and the importance of discipleship. Praise the Lord for such an amazing time! During the conference, I had the opportunity to host Silvania from São Paulo in my home. I was hesitant at first because I didn't know her but it was one of the best experiences. In a matter of a couple of days we already had become great friends. God blessed my life through having Sil in my house.

Sil and I at the conference.

Cell Group Multiplication Party & Cell Group Celebration:

During the MDA Conference there is a big cell group multiplication party. All of the groups that are going to multiply and even those that aren't multiplying yet have a party during the Wednesday night cell group time. There is a quick message live on a local TV station where we all countdown together and set off firecrackers. In Santarém there are over 6,500 cell groups. Can you imagine that many firecrackers going off all at the same time?! It is an incredible thing to witness. My cell group didn't multiply this time but we still had a fun time of fellowship. Friday and Saturday during conference week there is also the Cell Group Celebration where everyone goes to the local stadium dressed in the color of their cell group region (mine is green). It is a beautiful site all of the colors in the stadium. There were dance presentations, music and Pastor Eddy Leo preached.

Cell Group "Princesses of the King"

Blessing over cell group leaders

A full house with guests from Manaus

Vanessa, Silvania and me at the Cell Group Celebration

Colorful Stadium!

The presentation forming the letters MDA and the MDA heart which has at the center one-on-one discipleship

Love Joy Team:

Friday there is a team arriving from New York. It has been awhile since we have had a team. I get the chance to go back out on the river. We will be going to the community of Orivis Sunday night and arriving back on Friday before noon. Be looking for an update when I get back :)

Please be praying for safe travels. Be back soon!

Cell group, River Trip and MDA Conference

2011-10-18T12:25:00.006-04:00

I asked for prayer a few weeks ago for Jacira, a young girl that gave her life to Jesus at cell group but was then not allowed to participate in the group anymore. Praise the Lord, last week she came to group as we were celebrating the birthdays of two of the girls and I believe she will continue to participate in the group. Here is a picture of myself with 2 of my disciples (Carol and Isabel) and a friend Vanessa. We were celebrating their birthdays.

This past weekend, I had the privilege of going with a small group of friends to the community of Correio do Tapará. Most of them had never been to a river community. I have been to Correio several times and absolutely love it. We spent the afternoon exploring the community. Saturday night and Sunday morning we held two church services. The presence of God was truly felt in that place. We went fishing at midnight along the river banks of the Amazon. Well, I was just watching haha. It was a great time of fellowship and serving the Lord. I was reminded how many times we can get so caught up with material things but for me there is nothing better than the simplicity of a river community. It is a great reminder of what brings true happiness. Here are some pics of the trip...

About to eat some fish!!!

Me with Yan

Our group getting to know the community

Service Saturday night

Next week begins the annual MDA Conference based on the Apostolic Discipleship Model that the PAZ churches follow. People come from all over Brazil and even from other countries to sit under the teaching about cell groups and discipleship. I have attended two times and will be attending again this year. I will also be hosting a lady from São Paulo in my home. She will be arriving on Monday and staying for about a week and a half to participate in the conference and get to know the area.

Prayer Requests:

- Cell group and Jacira

- Finances and Support

Bearing Fruit...

2011-09-27T09:44:00.003-04:00

Most of you know this year I became a cell group leader and have a group in my house every Wednesday night. My group is all girls and recently I found myself becoming discouraged not seeing much fruit or growth in the group. But I am reminded of Galatians 6:9, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Last Wednesday, this verse became reality in my cell group. The past couple of weeks we had a 13 year old girl visiting the group. She had never made a true commitment to Jesus. She said she prayed a prayer once but never really surrendered her life to Him. On Wednesday night at the end of cell group she prayed giving her life to Jesus. Another girl in the group prayed to rededicate her life to the Lord. We prayed together and talked through the basics of salvation. One of my disciples will begin to disciple her now so she can grow in her relationship with God. That moment was one of my most memorable since being here. I finally see the importance of cell groups in the local church. Join with me in praying for more fruit and growth in the cell group. All glory be given to God!

A little bit of everything...

2011-09-20T12:28:00.007-04:00

It has certainly been awhile since the last update so let me try to do a brief recap and tell you what is coming next. The last official update, I was heading into the last few weeks with our summer interns. We went on a trip to Parintins which was wonderful to be back with the people from there who hold a very special place in my heart. We wanted the interns to see another one of our bases and Parintins was the place. It was a wonderful trip and we all had a lot of fun. Two of the interns and myself ended up getting sick on the way back and were in bed for several days. I came down with a lovely case of strep throat and was definitely missing my mom lol. Intern Amy went off another trip immediately when we returned from Parintins while the other two opted to stay in the city. The last week or so of their time here was pretty laid back with shopping, church and a trip to the zoo. Praise the Lord we have received great feedback from the interns this year and hope to improve the program even more for 2012.

Me with the 3 summer interns at the Congresso

Mode of transportation in a Vila close to Parintins...poor guy =)

During the month of July, the jovens (youth/young adult) ministry has something called a gincana. It is a type of “Olympics” with 3 different teams. There are different challenges each week and the teams earn points. I was super involved this year with leadership on my team the ‘Brows’ (pronounced bro haha). Some of the challenges were the team who got the most people to donate blood (I did for the 1^st time), who could fit the most people into a VW bug, team with the most youtube accesses for an evangelistic video, team with the best decorations, cheer, song, etc… You get the idea. It was a month of a lot of fun and I even got our interns (Amy and Lindsay) involved. Well, the most exciting is that my team won this year. The purpose of the gincana is to win lost young people for Christ and also to make friendships. It truly was a special time. We even had to do a cultural dance at the Jovens Northeastern Night. Pictures below…

With our trophy!

After many practices finally presenting our dance...

The group

August and September have been time for me to get really focused on cell group ministry and discipleship. August included 2 milestones for me, which were my 26^th birthday and my 3 year anniversary in Brazil. The Lord has blessed with such a great group of friends here. They threw a beautiful and unforgettable birthday party for me at a local hotel. I definitely felt God’s favor! Pictures below…

My 26th bday party with some friends

Sabrina, me and Lidiane

In the past few weeks, I was asked to take over the administration of a ministry school (4 years) the PAZ churches are going to be offering in all of their churches eventually. I will be administrating this school in the river communities and smaller cities around Santarem. I will be going to our monthly missions meeting at the beginning of each month and will be required to get the new materials printed up and distributed to the local workers; as well as, take care of the financial side of the project. I am really excited to be working with this project as it will get me closer to the precious workers we have.

Prayer Requests:

- Financial Support

- English lessons – I have been presented with many opportunities to teach English here at my home. Praying for discernment to know what to say yes to and what to say no to.

- Administration of my time

Praises:

- 26 years of life

- 3 years of service here in Brazil

- Each of you who are faithful in prayer and/or financial support

Testimony

2011-08-03T09:02:00.002-04:00

Here is a video of a young in Santarem sharing his testimony of how God changed his life. I helped in the making of the video with the translation. The video was made for the jovens (youth/young adult) meeting. Hope you enjoy it!

Summer days...

2011-07-11T09:32:00.003-04:00

I am currently finishing up the schedule for the last few weeks our summer interns will be here in Brazil but I have been meaning to write a blog update for quite sometime. Since there has been so much going on, I will just do a quick recap because otherwise you will be reading forever :).

Within 27 days, I went on 3 different trips in May and June. It was absolutely exhausting and wonderful all at the same time. Here are some highlights of each trip:

Vista Alegre on the Maró River -

Community where 90% of the population are evangelical Christians.
My main role was as a translator and team support. I took the team members to visit different homes and also the local school where we helped with English.
Held a couple of services and a prayer vigil.
Boat ride was 21 hours from Santarém.

Parintins -

I lead the team from Oral Roberts University to the city of Parintins.
We presented programs for elementary school children in 2 schools.
The ORU team ministered in several of the services and I translated.
We got to do a service in a nearby village called Vila Amazonia.

* In between Parintins and the next trip to Tucumatuba, we had our annual March for Jesus in Santarém. I was given the responsibility to look after the 2 teams that were in town during the March. Unfortunately, early on in the March, as everyone was walking along happy and singing, we all stopped to pray for specific needs in the city. The street we stopped on has huge mango trees in the median that give shade to the whole street. I turned to say something to a friend and as I did, I was pooped all over by a giant iguana up in the tree. Needless to say, I screamed and quickly got on a mototaxi to go shower off and get back to the March. Looking back it was hilarious...not so much at that particular moment :).

Tucumatuba on the Amazon River -

An area where the work was abandoned for almost 12 years.
Very few evangelical Christians in this community.
My focus on this trip was evangelism and Children's ministry.
One of the home's we visited, was a man who was a Christian about 6 years ago but has been backslidden and is known in the community for being very violent with his wife when he drinks, etc... I went to his house to speak to him and his family along with 2 people from the Journey Fellowship team and the local worker's wife. We talked for a long time about how God is waiting for him to come back with open arms just like in the story of the Prodigal Son. He started to cry and said he would be at the service that night with his family. I was so excited that night when I saw him, his wife and their 3 sons at the service and I was even more excited when the next day he came out to help with the construction of the church. God was definitely moving in his life.

Since these trips, our 3 summer interns have been here. We have worked at an Encounter weekend, gone kayaking, participated in cell groups and church meetings, walked through the jungle in the pouring down rain, they went on a water filters trip, we participated in the 3 night Congresso (evangelistic crusade we have every year), studied Portuguese, etc... Now we are running to the last 3 weeks of their time here which will include one trip for me and 2 for them.

Praises:

3 trips that were a blessing
3 great summer interns
God's supernatural strength to help me with translation, evangelism, etc...

Prayer Requests:

Increased financial support. This is an area that I am really needing prayer and God to work. Please pray with me and consider becoming a financial partner as well.
Next 3 weeks of travel and time with the interns.

Link to pictures from ministry trips in May and June --> PICTURES

Ready to be stretched...

2011-05-09T11:47:00.004-04:00

It's been over a month since my last update and there are a few exciting things that have happened in that time. In the middle of March, I graduated from a Leadership Course that I took the second half of last year. This course is essential for all who want to become cell group leaders and grow in the ministry here. It was a 5 month course with topics of Evangelism, New Creation, Christian Family and MDA vision (the discipleship and cell group system used in the PAZ churches). It was an excellent way to get even more involved with the work here in Santarém. Another big announcement is that I am now officially a cell group leader! I am very excited to have a cell group in my home now of all young girls!!! This has been my heart's desire for sometime now and it is very satisfying to see God bringing it to fruition. Also, becoming leader of this group has given me the privilege to have 2 more disciples. I now will be discipling 3 young ladies =). God is faithful!!!

Wednesday a team from ORU will be arriving and I will be very involved during their stay of almost a month. Our PAZ guesthouse hosts are currently on furlough so there is a group of us that are going to be helping a lot with the teams that will be arriving in the next several months. God is going to be stretching me for sure. With the arrival of the ORU team, I am going to be used a lot for translation during services. Sometimes this will include using a translator set and translating the church service for the team and other times it will include being up front as a team member shares a testimony or preaches. This will be a stretch for me in so many ways. I know the Lord will give me the strength to do this and I count on your prayers to hold me up during the next several weeks. Saturday and Sunday I will be translating for the ORU team during the youth/young adult service and Sunday during the main service. Sunday evening around 7pm we will be leaving on a boat trip to Vista Alegre which is located on the Maró River. It is a 20 hour boat trip from Santarém so we will have a lot of time to get to know each other and to rest up for our work. It looks like our main job will be to pour the floor of the church and also participate in cell group and any services they have while we are there. I will be the main translator for any house visits and church services. Once again God taking me out of my comfort zone! We will be back in Santarém on Saturday morning the 21st. The team will travel again but I will stay in Santarém getting ready for our summer interns to arrive at the beginning of June. On June 27th, I will lead the team to the city of Parintins (I went last year with the ORU team). We will spend about a week there helping the church and being involved in different ministry opportunities. As soon as we get back from Parintins, the interns will be here in Santarém ready to start the 2011 internship. I will try to get a blog update out between the trip to Vista Alegre and Parintins and again after Parintins before I run off with the interns haha!

Thank you so much for your prayers and financial support! I could not be here realizing God's call on my life without each of you. May God bless and keep you and yours!

Some pictures from my graduation:

Waiting for our names to be called

Receiving my certificate with my Pastor

Me!

With my friend, Darlen

My class and our teachers and pastors

Exhausting but incredible...

2011-03-21T11:43:00.004-04:00

I think I have finally recovered from the two camps I worked at and participated in. The last camp I went to left me with a week long cold and completely wiped out for days but the time I had at both camps was incredible. February 24-27th I had the amazing opportunity to be a counselor for AcampTEEN (adolescents camp). There were over 400 youth that participated. I had a cabin of 9 amazing girls and my assistant counselor. God really blessed me with a great group of girls that didn't cause any problems and were very obedient! I was able to build some relationships with some very precious young girls and able to invest in their spiritual growth. Ministry time was amazing and I loved being able to just hug the girls and let them cry on my shoulder and pray with them. The presence of God was very real during the camp. One young girl gave her life to Jesus and I was with her to hug her and pray with her for over an hour as she sobbed. I felt like working at the camp showed me that my heart is truly for the youth. They are such a key part for the future of the church and the advancement of the Gospel in the world.

The following week, March 5th-9th I was able to participate in the Jovens camp. The camp was maxed out with over 500 participants. This time, I was able to relax and just soak in everything that God had to teach me and to do in my life. I was with my friends and made new friends as well. The theme of the camp was "Intimacy with God" and I can truly say that the presence of God was extremely present during this camp as well. God ministered to my heart so much in the 5 days that I was at the camp. It blessed me so much to see Him working in the lives of so many youth and young adults. God truly is doing something supernatural in the Amazon Basin. The youth here are hungry for God and to live in holiness and purity before Him. This is something so rare in the lives of so many Christians anymore and it is a tragedy.

Another post will be coming soon...stay tuned...

Prayer requests:

- Driving lessons...I am learning how to drive a standard car. Please pray for safety and that I would learn how to drive well.

- Car...I am believing for the Lord to provide a car for me within the next couple of months. Public transportation is getting more dangerous and also expensive as many days I have to go to several different places.

- Finances...Believing for the Lord to continue to increase my monthly support.

- Health...For the Lord to keep me healthy and free from all sickness.

Enjoy a few pictures from the AcampTEEN and Acamp2011:

First night with some of my campers

Adolescents praising the Lord!

Gleice, Iza and I

Cabin 1!!!

Jovens camp

With one of my best friends Hanna on the last night of camp

Karol and Manu from my cabin

Camp x 2...

2011-02-22T14:12:00.002-05:00

I have been back in Brazil for almost 2 months now and a blog update is way over due! Some of you may remember that my first month back was filled with 2 conferences. Both were for leaders in the mission and the church. The first conference was out at our camp and was a wonderful time where I helped serve each day in the snack bar and I loved it :)! The second conference was 3 weeks long and was a training on how to pray with people about past sins, issues, etc so they can experience true freedom in Christ. It was an exhausting 3 weeks but the teaching was so good. Since then, I was able to get back into the swing of things with my "normal" ministry. I started working with the adolescents at church every Thursday night, am getting more involved in cell group ministry and discipleship and currently revamping our intern program which I coordinate. This year I will have the help of a fellow missionary, Micah, as we seek to make a truly life-changing 2 month program. If you would like to see the blog Micah set up, go to www.thepazexperience.wordpress.com. We plan to have the interns blog during their time here so that future interns can see what the program is straight from people who have experienced it.

The next couple of weeks will be pretty crazy as we have our two youth camps happening. AcampTeen, which is our adolescent camp (ages 12-18), begins on Thursday evening. For this camp, I will be going for the first time as a counselor. I will be in a cabin with 10 teenage girls and will be responsible, along with another counselor, to do devotions and spend Thursday - Sunday with them. Most of the girls will be younger because our other camp is for older youth and once most of them get to 15 they go to the other camp. Please pray that the Lord will use me in the lives of these young girls. Also, pray for all of the adolescents that God would be moving in their lives and preparing their hearts for this time away with Him. I know we are going to have a lot of fun and that God is going to do great things.

Returning from AcampTeen, I will most likely need a couple of days to recuperate from waking up at 5am and not sleeping until really late haha. The next Saturday, March 5th, I will be going to Acamp2011, which is the "jovens" camp. The age range at this camp is anywhere from 15 til ??? Basically, there is no age limit. It is kind of like youth and young adults/singles mixed together. Anyways, this time I will be participating and just soaking in the ministry time and having fun with all of my friends. I will be in a cabin with some of my best girlfriends and I am looking forward to 5 days of fun and fellowship.

One thing to note is that the Jovens camp is held during the holiday of Carnaval. Camp is used as an alternative to the parties and such that will be going on all over the city of Santarem and country of Brazil. Carnaval translated means "flesh party" and it is very true to its meaning. Please pray that people will come to know the Lord during this time and pray for God's mercy here in Brazil.

Thank you so much for your prayers and constant support. Look for a blog update in a couple of weeks all about AcampTEEN and Acamp2011.

Here is a link to a video for AcampTEEN: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cV0qjjIVJaM

Here is a link to a video for Acamp2011: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdS9dXjfTeY

*They are in Portuguese but it will give you an idea of where I will be going :)

If home is where the heart is...

2011-01-01T13:28:00.004-05:00

...then I have more than one home. I am currently in the Atlanta airport waiting for my next flight in my journey "home"to Brazil while earlier this morning I left my "other home" in Virginia. One "home" means family and friends who have been apart of my life for a long time, comforts and conveniences of the US and being in my culture of birth. My other "home" means another type of "family" and friends including my fellow missionaries and the Brazilians I have come to know and love, a different culture and people in which I find myself often more comfortable with than my own and the place God has called me to be to share the love and saving power of the Gospel!

I am coming back from almost 2 months of a furlough that has been such an incredible blessing in my life. I can truly say I took advantage of the time I had to reconnect with friends and family and to also make new friends. The Lord opened the doors for me to speak at a few different churches and to some different groups of people. My previous entry was about my first month of furlough so I want to catch you up briefly on the second month.

In December, I was able to make a trip to Liberty University to spend a couple of days with my sister at her apartment and get to know her school and some of her friends. I was also able to spend some precious time with so many extended family members and to reconnect with friends that I haven't seen in years.

I was blessed to be able to share at Igreja das Nações Unidas a Brazilian church in Richmond. My parents were amazed at how while speaking in English at some of the American churches I seemed a tad nervous but at the Brazilian church speaking in Portuguese for over 20 minutes I transformed into a totally different person. I think I am Brazilian at heart :). I was also able to share at Calvary Chapel in Richmond, a church my family was a part of for a few years. It was so nice to see old friends and be encouraged by the body of Christ. An old friend of mine from high school invited me to share with the youth at her church which was a surprise invitation but was proof once again of God being faithful and opening up doors.

The second half of December, I was busy spending lots of time with my family. We were able to take a family vacation to NYC and boy did we have fun. God even showed us favor with the weather. It was cold for sure but each day was sunny. We didn't have a drop of rain or snow which was such a blessing. All of the snow came after we left and just in time for us to have a "white Christmas". I am so thankful to God for my family and the time I was able to spend with them in the past couple of week. Saying goodbye was definitely hard but skype will help us get through :). Now it is their turn to visit me in Brazil (and anyone else who wants to come just let me know).

Please keep me in your prayers as I continue my journey back to Brazil and get back into the swing of things. A couple of days after I get back, I will be participating in a leadership conference for about 5 days out at our camp and then will jump into a 3 week training for deliverance.

As the new year begins, please consider how you can be a part of the work in the Amazon by supporting me with a one time gift or regular support. May God bless each of you in this new year of 2011 and may it be the best year yet for you and your loved ones.

Some pictures...

With Erin and her Christmas tree @ school

Pastor Geriel introducing me to share

With some special ladies from Calvary Chapel

In Little Italy, NYC

Lady Liberty

Helring ladies at Rockefeller Center

On the ferry from the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island

Sisters in Central Park

Don't see this in the Amazon ;)

With my Grandmere

Twins...we love Brazil!

US Trip Part 1

2010-11-28T19:43:00.006-05:00

I cannot believe that I have been in the US for almost a month already. The time is flying and I am sure that has to do with the fact that I have been quite busy so far. I would like to share briefly some of the highlights of my trip and a few photos to go along. Some of my time has been spent just resting and refocusing for next year and the work God has in store for me in Brazil. I spent a week in FL which was absolutely amazing. For those who don't know, I lived in southern FL over 10 years ago and this was my first time back in as long. It was such a wonderful time to catch up with old family friends and to be able to share in person about the work God has called me to in the Amazon. While in FL, I was also able to participate in a conference in which I was trained as a prayer counselor. It was such a special time as I was not only trained but also ministered to. I am very excited to be able to use this training as I minister to young girls in Brazil. After coming back from FL, I was given the wonderful opportunity to share at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church (my home church) about the work in Brazil. God was very faithful and I know He is and will be opening doors for prayer and financial support. This past week, I have been busy spending time with my family getting ready for Thanksgiving, shopping and all those sorts of things. I truly treasure the time I have with them because soon I will be heading back to Brazil. Here are some pictures of my trip so far:

Gotta take advantage of the yummy food :)

Retreat

Sharing at Mount Pleasant

Sisters on Thanksgiving

Ready for Thanksgiving!

Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support. I need to boost my monthly financial support and ask for each of you to prayerfully consider joining with me on a regular basis as a financial partner. There is a link on my blog to give online or you can go to www.projectamazon.org for more information on how to give. Blessings to all of you especially during this Holiday season!

Here we go...

2010-10-16T09:32:00.003-04:00

The past month has been a whirlwind. My dear friend and soon to be fellow missionary, Rachel, stayed with me for about 3 weeks. We were short term missionaries together at PAZ in 2007 and since then she has come to visit twice. Lord willing, she will be returning in 2011 to work full time with PAZ. We had a great time visiting and doing all sorts of fun things during her stay.

Next week, I will be participating in the 10th annual MDA Conference here at the local PAZ church. This is a conference that draws pastors and leaders from all over Brazil to Santarém. I participated two years ago and am very excited to participate this year. The conference will focus on the discipleship and cell group model that our church uses. It is primarily to train leaders to be more effective in their cell group ministry. We even have a speaker from the US, Ralph Neighbour coming to speak. In a few short days, Santarém will be filled with people from all over Brazil who are hungry for God.

Some other news that you may or may not know is that I will be in the US from November 4th thru January 1st. I will be using these 2 months as a time to share with as many churches, groups, people as I can about the ministry here in Brazil in an effort to raise more monthly support. If you know of anyone who may be interested please let me know as I am working on a tentative schedule for any speaking engagements or visits. I will be making a trip to Florida November 10 - 17th to visit friends and participate in a workshop. I would love to see as many of you as possible during my trip. Also, I would really like to keep my expenses during my trip as low as possible. If anyone knows of a car I can use while I am in Virginia so that I can be flexible to make visits, etc... please let me know as soon as possible. Also, I will be flying to Fort Myers, FL and would like a vehicle to drive while in FL. Any help in finding or borrowing a vehicle would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much to each of you who take the time to read my blog, pray for me and to those of you who support me financially. If it weren't for your participation, none of this would be possible. May the Lord bless and keep each one of you!

See you soon!

My Field Trip to...

2010-09-10T18:42:00.004-04:00

São Paulo. Most of you have heard of São Paulo and know that it is one of the largest cities in the world. I am not talking about that São Paulo though but rather a community located about an hour and a half outside of Santarém. A few weeks ago, I set out on a field trip with classmates from my church leadership class to put into practice what we were learning in the classroom. We had several different things going on in the community from dental and medical clinics to children's activities to home visits and evangelism and even haircuts for the men. I was able to work with the children and also take some pictures of the different activities. I started by visiting several homes inviting children to come join in the activities and then I worked alongside one of my classmates ministering to the children. A few children prayed to receive Jesus in their hearts' for the first time. The groups that made home visits also reported several decisions for Jesus! It was a wonderful day hanging out with my classmates and serving the Lord. Here are a few pictures from the day:

Our children's group!

Isaura, head of our mission health team, explains the health clinic

Painting faces!

Precious!

Fellow classmate giving some haircuts!

Our group in front of the bus used for the dental clinic!

I would like to ask for prayers for a couple of different things. First, I am going to be opening a group for young adults on Saturday evenings in my home. The group is evangelistic and the purpose is to eventually become a cell group. Pray for the Lord to use me and that the hearts of each one who participates will be open to the word of the Lord. Second, one of my roles in the mission is team support when we have teams from US or Canada. This next year, I will be even more involved because our guest house hosts will be taking an extended furlough during our busiest team season. I was given the challenge to learn how to drive a stick shift and not only a stick shift but our mission van called a Kombi. I am very nervous about driving here as traffic can be crazy with motorcycles, bikes and pedestrians and also bad road conditions. Please pray for the Lord's protection over me as I learn and that I will learn quickly. Here is what I will be driving:

Can you picture me driving this??? haha!

Blessings!

River trips, cousin's visit and upcoming milestones!

2010-08-13T09:11:00.011-04:00

Since my last blog update, I have been on two more river trips, my cousin has come and gone and the summer interns have returned to the States. The last 3 1/2 months have been absolutely crazy busy but they have been incredible ministry wise. Thank you so much for the constant prayer support and also, the financial support. I would not be able to continue here in Brazil without it.

Here is a recap of the past few weeks and the river trips I participated in and a look at what is to come in the next few weeks...and of course, lots of pictures because those always say a lot more than me writing :).

2 weeks ago, I set out on a boat trip to the communities of Lago Central and Uquena (3rd time!). In Lago Central, the project was to pour the concrete floor, clean up the area around the church and paint the front. We had one full day of nonstop work to get the church ready for the inauguration services. We had one service on a Saturday night that was led by our team from Michigan. They shared testimonies and the youth pastor gave the word. On Sunday morning, we had the official inauguration of the church followed by water baptisms and a huge celebration lunch. The service was incredible and packed. Several people gave their lives to Christ and afterwards around 20 people were water baptized down at the river proclaiming to all around that their old way of living was dead and they are now alive in Christ and living for Him! What an amazing thing to witness! Sunday afternoon, we left Lago Central and headed to the community of Uquena. The work here was to get the roof on the church and get the floor ready for the concrete to be poured. We also had children's activities going on at the same time. Our first morning, I helped at the construction site pulling branches, etc out of the dirt being put down to prepare the floor in the church. Needless to say I was covered in dirt. I had to use a brush to scrub my legs during my shower to get the dirt off and it still didn't come all the way off. Unfortunately, I do not have a picture to show how dirty I was haha. In the afternoon and second morning, I was able to work alongside a team at the local school with the children. Due to my cousin's flight, we left early to head back to the city. A few days later (last Monday) I embarked on another river trip. This time, our destination would be Urucurituba, a community about an hour and a half by boat outside of Santarem on the Amazon River. Part of the team worked to move the wooden church to another location and make it bigger while the other part worked in dental and health clinics. My job was to translate for the nurse practitioner. It was a nice change of pace to be translating. We saw a lot of patients! Praise the Lord, all of these trips have been so blessed. The Lord is doing great things in the Amazon Basin and I am excited to be a part of it.

So now, I am back in Santarem trying to get caught up on life and sleep :). This has been such a great few months but extremely tiring. I have two exciting milestones coming up this month: my 25th birthday (1/4 of a century...aghh) on the 26th and 2 years in Brazil on the 29th!!! My focus for the next couple of months will be the Mini-Bible college I am administrating. I will be working with the Missions pastor to get the project organized in the river communities. I will also continue my course at church for leaders. My church leadership has also asked me to start a cell group for young adults at my home on Saturday evenings. I hope to be starting this group in the next couple of weeks. I already have a girl that lives close to my home that does my nails and she said she is excited to come because she needs God in her life!!! Talk about someone ready to give their life to Jesus!!! I pray I can win her for the Lord and begin to disciple her. I also have a good friend recently accepted to be a missionary with PAZ who will be visiting for a few weeks toward the end of September.

Life is good and Jesus is great!!!

Enjoy some pictures...

One of my favorite people :)

Lots of painting to be done and concrete poured in Lago Central!

So precious!

working hard!

Still smiling after a very long day of hard work!

I was scared to death to hold this little guy :)

Love that face!

Church in Lago Central ready for the inauguration!

Emily Cristina

Inauguration service in Lago Central

Several people giving their lives over to Jesus during the service!

Group waiting to be water baptized

God of wonders beyond our majesty!

He thinks this dog is his mom!

Such a pretty dragonfly!

Sharing the gospel with children in Uquena...3 gave their hearts to Jesus!

Love these faces!

A home in Uquena

We had to walk from the speedboat in the back of the pic in about 6 -12 in. of water and mud to get to shore :)

Emmaline (cousin) and me

Crazy cousins!

Urucurituba...people waiting for dental and medical clinics

so cute!

Translating for Sharon @ the medical clinic

A family who came to the clinic

Uquena (round 2), Congresso da Paz and more

2010-07-16T15:29:00.012-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, I participated in a 2 day trip to PAZ's camp to help control the erosion at the beach and then back to the community of Uquena. Joining with fellow missionaries, Isaiah & Erin, Betty and Katie, we led a team from California and our 3 summer interns to do construction, children's programs and health clinics. The first 2 days, I worked in the health clinic translating for a doctor and physician's assistant. It was nice to have a change of pace and I really do enjoy translating. We saw a little boy that had a broken arm for several days and the team was able to get him set up with a sling to help until he could get to the city the next day. The last 2 days of the trip I led a team of young people in working in the local schoolhouse. In the morning we worked with children around 5 years old and in the afternoon with children ranging from 6-12. We put our brains together and came up with some lessons based off of crafts that one of the young girls prepared. One lesson we did how we are fearfully and wonderfully made and the children decorated their names. The other lesson we did was about the Lord being our Shepherd. The children made little sheep. Two of the evenings we did services and I was able to translate testimonies for a few team members. I praise the Lord constantly for the supernatural ability He has given me to speak Portuguese. To His glory, I have received numerous compliments on my Portuguese from Brazilians. It really is a blessing. The trip was wonderful and many people gave their lives to the Lord. This community has definitely grown a fond spot in my heart. It looks like I will be returning once again at the end of this month with another team.

July 2nd, 3rd and 4th was our annual Congresso da Paz. This is an evangelistic crusade held in our local soccer stadium. There were many healed and saved this year!!! Praise the Lord! For a more detailed story about this years Congresso, follow this link: Congresso da PAZ

Since the Congresso, I have been working on organizing and scheduling activities for Rebecca, Caroline and Corrine (summer interns), getting back involved with my cell group and church. I recently started a 5 month leadership course at church that meets every Thursday night. I am enjoying the course and excited about getting more involved. I am also very excited to have my FIRST family member visiting. My cousin Emmaline arrived yesterday to spend 3 weeks here with me. The next 3 weeks should be packed with working at camp, a boat trip and lots of adventure.

Quick story: For my class at church, we had a homework assignment to share the Gospel with someone using a bracelet with different colored beads that explain salvation. I was asked to share at a missionary kid's cell group with about 8-10 kids ranging in age from 5-12 or so. I shared and at the end had them bow their heads to give them the opportunity to ask Jesus into their hearts. Praise the Lord, every single one raised their hand to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior! God is good!

Thank you all for reading and praying! I appreciate you and would love to know how I can pray for you. Please feel free to leave a comment or email me with any prayer requests. Now enjoy some picture from the last few weeks!

The interns and me :)

Rebecca and I working out at camp

Translating for the health clinic

Precious

Let's go Brazil! In the middle of nowhere watching the World Cup using a generator...sooo much fun...and they won this game :)

Our home for about 4 days

With the younger children

With the older children

Two precious little boys!

Aline

Me and the local teacher

I love the kids!

Our team!

Hundreds giving their lives to Jesus

Big theatrical piece about the life of Joseph at the Congresso

Uquena, World Cup and more

2010-06-21T15:32:00.008-04:00

A little over a week ago, I returned from a river trip with a team from Journey Fellowship in LA and several others to the community of Uquena, located on the Tapajós River. This village has a population of around 200. We had the job of getting the foundation of the church made and starting the brick work. It was several days of very hard work in the blazing Amazon heat but it was all for Jesus and His kingdom. Since I am not very strong my jobs on the construction site were easier but it was still hard work for me. I helped unload hundreds of bricks from our boat to take to shore, worked with rebar, shoveled a bit, broke bricks in half and made the runs to get the afternoon snacks for the team :). During the construction work, there was also children's programs going on with a fellow missionary, two of our summer interns and a personal guest of a missionary. Two evenings, we were able to hold services in the community. Team members shared testimonies and one evening a team member preached. The second service we held, I was able to translate for the two team members who gave their testimonies. The power went out right at the beginning which was interesting but calmed the nerves of all of us in front :). What used to be a huge fear for me (being in front translating), is slowly becoming familiar and I am enjoying it more. I am happy to see the Lord using me in this aspect. The second service, 3 adults gave their lives to the Lord and during the week around 30 children made decisions as well. It was such a blessing to travel with this team and also to visit this community. The body of Christ is growing and it is so exciting to meet more brothers and sisters from different places and walks of life.

On a different note, at the community we were able to see a couple of monkeys and there was even one monkey who rode around on a dog's back. I didn't believe until I saw it!

Here are some pictures from the trip to Uquena:

The work begins!

Samuel, Angelica and Aline

One of my favorite things!

With the local workers' daughter, Adara

Translating for Kathy

Translating for Malachi

A group shot

Ready for alligator hunting with my kid's life jacket :)

Breaking bricks

This young lady accepted Christ while we were visiting.

Cooling off in the cold stream!

Catching a ride :)

Love it!

The good life!

In other news, it is WORLD CUP time!!! As most of you know, I live in football (soccer) country and oh how exciting it is at a time like this. Brazil has won 5 World Cup titles and is looking for #6! I never was a big fan of soccer growing up but there is something so exciting about watching the Brazil team. I think it is the passion of the Brazilian people. I have my Brazilian flag flying, my green, blue and yellow T-shirts and my noise makers for the games. Here everything shuts down during the games...literally. There is not a car, bus, bike, motorcycle or person on the street during the game. It is a ghost town until Brazil makes a goal and off go the firecrackers and noisemakers. As soon as the game is over everyone is back on the street and with the past two games being wins for Brazil the celebrations go on for hours. I love it! Go Brazil (and USA haha)!!! I pray that the passion that the brazilian people feel for soccer would translate into their spiritual lives and they would have that same excitement and passion for the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ! Amen!

Well, all 3 of our PAZ summer interns have arrived and are staying with me. The next month and a half will be filled with boat trips, work days, ministry and of course fun. Please pray for this time for strength for me physically, emotionally and spiritually. Always on the go can be draining but then so rewarding.

I don't talk about this often but I would like to encourage you to pray about joining in the ministry here in the Amazon by partnering with me on a monthly or quarterly basis. Even if you can only help with a one time gift right now that is a seed being planted. My monthly expenses are a little higher than before because I have my own place now and I really need more support to be able to continue strong here in Brazil. Thank you so much for those who already have or are currently supporting me in prayer and financially. It is a huge blessing and an investment in the lives of the people here.

Blessings!

Claire

Trip to Parintins -- conquering fear and growing in ministry!

2010-06-04T16:08:00.008-04:00

So my latest missionary adventure was to the island city of Parintins situated on the Amazon River. 3 years ago as a short term missionary with Project AmaZon, I went as part of a team to Parintins and I loved it. I made some great friends in 2007 and was very eager to get back to work and see everyone. This time around, the trip would be slightly different. I would lead my first team by myself and praise the Lord everyone came back in one piece :). Leading the team from ORU was such a privilege and a lot of fun because they are in my age range (at least that is what I tell myself...not ready to admit that I am almost 25!) We arrived in Parintins to 2 brazilian families who have only been in the city themselves for 2 months but they were the perfect example of true servants. I cannot truly express my gratitude for everything they did for us. During our stay, we worked mostly at the church's campgrounds painting the dorms and a new kitchen. The team was also able to minister in 2 Sunday services in the city, one youth service and one service in a smaller city called Vila Amazonia. For the first Sunday service, we had an American missionary translate one of the team member's (Peter) sermon so I only had to get up in front and introduce the team and their skit. Just from this short time in front, I was shaky with nerves. I have never been a fan of talking in front or being the center of attention. Little did I know that God was about to break me out of my shell and help me overcome fear and cause me to grow. The American missionary (Angie) became ill while we were in the city and I was needed to translate 3 services up in front of everyone. Listening in English and translating into Portuguese for the brazilians! I prayed beforehand that God would give me a clear mind to think and also calm my nerves. Praise the Lord I did not get shaky and my mouth didn't get all dry and sticky (ha). There were a couple moments where my mind went blank but overall it went very smoothly. Now I know that I am capable. Sometimes we need that extra push to step up and grow. Once again, I will end this post with pictures of my time. I don't have any of the painting because other people got those and I haven't had a chance to get those pictures yet.

In other news, 2 of the summer interns have arrived, Caroline and Rebecca. They are living with me for two months. Please pray for us and the team heading out to the river community of Uquena. We will be starting a church building and doing children's ministry. We leave Sunday afternoon and return on Thursday evening...stay tuned...

Now for the pictures...

Chico, the monkey out at camp :)

Me with Pastor Samuel and his wife Fatima

The family I stayed with (L-R) Ana Cristina, Ana Rosa, me, Kleber and Ana Beatriz

Kleber opening up a pod that has a kind of nut inside it. This grows in a tree and when it is ready the bottom falls out.

Lunch time at camp!

Translating Maria's testimony at the youth service

Apparently a little nervous here ;)

Service in Vila Amazonia

Leaving the vila on the barge to go back to Parintins

Translating for Peter at the Sunday service

Group of friends!

Very special friends!

Blessings!

Claire

Youth Encounter was Tremendo (Tremendous)!!!!

2010-05-21T10:46:00.006-04:00

Last weekend, I worked the Youth Encounter that I talked about in my previous post. Although very tiring, the weekend was a success and all glory be to Him who sits on the throne! Lately, I have been feeling so completely humbled, honored and blessed to be a part of God's kingdom and His work in Brazil. The count of youth on the retreat was over 200 with about 130 being girls! We had our hands full :). Over the weekend, I did a little bit of everything. On Friday afternoon, before the youth arrived, I helped in the kitchen cutting lots of onions (crying was involved haha) and then later cutting the fat off of huge slabs of beef (gross...all for Jesus, right?). Over the remainder of the weekend, my roles included washing lots and lots of dishes, translating for our awesome ORU Team that was such a huge blessing and prayer & ministry support. I was able to pray with several young girls over the weekend which was a real encouragement for me. I am amazed and saddened by how much people of such a young age have already experienced of bad in this world. Lots of hurts to be ministered to. At the end of the weekend, we had a water baptism for the girls who wanted to be baptized. There were so many girls that several of us workers had to help in baptizing them. I was so excited to get to baptize some of these young girls. One of the girls is a part of the children's cell group that meets where my cell group meets and I was so privileged to be able to baptize her. An exciting part of the weekend is returning for the 7pm service at church on Sunday. Everyone was decked out in the Brazil colors (world cup is coming soon) and we went into the church singing and praising for all the Lord did over the weekend. Since a picture is worth a thousand words...here are some from the weekend...

Washing dishes :)

Girls session

Baptizing Renata

Yay!!!

Me with Tamires, a young girl I was able to pray with and also water baptize.

Arriving at the church!

Renata and me at church

O Encontro é Tremendo! (The Encounter is Tremendous!)

Well, I have to run and get packed. Tomorrow (Saturday), I leave with the team of 7 from ORU to go to Parintins. I will be back May 31st with many stories to tell. Please pray for our safety and for the Lord's work to be done!

Blessings!!!

Ready...Set...GOOO!!!

2010-05-06T13:37:00.002-04:00

I feel that my life right now consists of getting ready for the next few months. Here at the mission, each of us have our times that are busier than others and mine is arriving. I am really excited for the next few months because it will involve a lot of hands on ministry (as opposed to behind the scenes stuff), meeting new people from the US and Brazil and seeing what God has in store. The specifics of what I will be involved is not completely decided yet but I hope to keep everyone informed regularly as I believe there will be many praise reports and blessings to report!

For now, we will just talk about what is coming up for me this month. This past week, I have been participating in daily prayer meetings at noon in preparation for an 'Encounter with God' weekend for adolescents. Some of you may remember that I worked one of these in November of 2008. I am so blessed and excited to be able to serve again. The Encounter will be held May 14-16 and I know that it will be an incredible weekend for these young people. Up until the day of The Encounter, my schedule is filled with prayer meetings, planning meetings and preparations. Please be in prayer for the safety and health of all the participants and workers, open hearts for the participants and a servant's attitude for all the workers. More to come when I return...

Next week, we have a team arriving from ORU. I will be involved with this team during The Encounter weekend and also toward the 22nd - 31st of May on a trip to Parintins, an island city along the Amazon. This trip is very exciting for me for a couple of reasons. First, when I came to Brazil as a short termer in May of 2007, I went to Parintins with a team from ORU. Since I was able to speak Portuguese fairly well at the time, I was able to make some great friends in the city. I will be returning exactly 3 years later and am beyond excited to see everyone. Second, this will be the first team and trip I will be leading alone (yikes). This trip is also different because we will not be taking one of our mission boats but will be traveling by line boat. I can't remember how long the trip is but I believe it is about 10-12 hours by boat. We will string our hammocks up and travel up the river. We will be doing a lot of evangelism on this trip. This trip will definitely be a stretch for me, as I will be leading, translating and be the main person responsible for the team. Please be in prayer for this trip that God would open up doors and opportunities for us in the local schools and wherever He leads. Also, as always, pray for protection and health.

Hopefully I can get an update done after The Encounter and before the trip to Parintins so I can keep these entries short and to the point :)

Blessings and please leave a comment below, email me or facebook message me if I can be praying for you about anything! I appreciate so much the prayers and financial support from each one.

Breaking down barriers...

2010-04-06T13:30:00.004-04:00

On March 23rd, I set out on a trip with a team from Seacoast Church in South Carolina. We headed to the community Correio do Tapará on the Amazon River to work on the walls of their wooden church building. The local PAZ workers, Orivaldo and Vanda greeted us upon our arrival and soon after the work, physical and spiritual began. The community of Correio do Tapará is spread out and hás two clusters of homes. One cluster on one end and the other on the other end. The decision was made to build the church in the middle to be about the same distance for everyone. This caused some issues among several church members who wanted the church closer to their home. Please pray that this will not be a problem and that unity will be restored among the body of believers. We did not have a service our first night. On the second night, we held a service at the home of a local church member. I worked with the children along with Amie and Germaine of the Seacoast team. I helped translate as needed and we had a lot of fun playing games, face painting and sharing the Gospel message using a bracelet with different colored beads. On the third night, we traveled a little ways down river to the community Barreiras (meaning barriers). I only realized later the significance of this name. At the time of our visit, there were no Christians in the community. Talk about some barriers!? We went in with faith believing that would change. I worked with the children again and this time was able to share more candidly because of a smaller group. They listened attentively as I presented the Gospel. Three young girls (Adria, Mayra and Sílvia Helena) gave their lives to Jesus that night.

I was so happy to have played a small part in such an important moment in their lives. I found out the next day that one of the girls is the daughter of the president of the community of Barreiras and she gave her life to the Lord the day after the service. God is awesome! Our last night, we were able to have our service in the new church building! We did a program with the children in the afternoon to allow for everyone to participate in the evening service. Once again, we had a wonderful time playing and learning about our sins and the forgiveness of Jesus.

On the last morning, I was able to go evangelizing with fellow missionary, Betty and two of the Seacoast team members. We visited the home of an elderly couple with many health problems who had not made commitments to the Lord yet. Praise the Lord, after Betty’s presentation of the Gospel both accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. During the trip, 6 adults and 3 children came to know the Lord! What a blessing! This trip was incredible. I hope to return when the church building is inaugurated in September to see my friends.

I am also so thankful for the wonderful team from Seacoast Church. I made great new friends and look forward to seeing them again either in Brazil or stateside. I am truly blessed to be a part of the work God is doing in the Amazon Basin of Brazil. Those of you who support me in prayer or financially also are a part of this work. Please consider joining with me on a regular basis in prayer and financial support. These are very important for me to continue the Lord’s work here in Brazil.

Changes and Travels...

2010-03-20T14:43:00.002-04:00

I am very sorry for the looong gap in between posts. My goal is to be more faithful in my postings so you all can really be a part of what is going on here in Brazil.

Today a team from Seacoast Church in South Carolina arrived to spend about 9 days here with us at PAZ. I am very excited to be a part of the group of missionaries that will go out on the river with them. The trip is Tuesday morning - Saturday afternoon. We are going to a community on the Amazon River called Correio do Tapará. The main project will be to help with the construction of their church, a wooden building. We will also, hopefully, be ministering to children and making house visits to share the Gospel. Some of the prayer requests for this community are: salvation, unity in Christ and freedom from idolatry. Please lift these up; as well as, protection over all of us in everything we do and that God would use each one of us for His glory!

In other news, after looking for a little over 2 months, I finally was blessed by the Lord to find a place to call "home". The location is great, as it is just a couple blocks from the rest of the missionary housing. God really blessed me with this place. I am looking forward to expanding my ministry by having a place to minister to girls, have a cell group, prayer meetings and fellowship.

Well, that is all for now but be checking back after the trip for pictures and testimonies of the Lord's work in Correio do Tapara!

Update & Exciting News...

2009-10-19T14:16:00.009-04:00

Well, the last time I updated I was on my way to São Paulo for a week. The trip was nice and São Paulo is like nothing I have ever experienced before. The city is huge. I believe it is one of the fastest growing cities in the world just to give you an idea. You can see in the picture the view as the plane was making its descent into the city.

I was blessed to meet many wonderful people on my trip. The family I stayed with were especially a blessing. Their daughter will be studying in the US in January so I was able to help her with her English in filling out essay questions, etc.

Since returning from São Paulo in the beginning of September, I have been working diligently to finish an online TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course. My deadline is next week and I am just about finished. I hope to use this certification to open doors to share the Gospel with individuals wanting to learn English and also as a part of PAZ's English school which we plan to open in the near future. I have been learning a lot and have found the course to be quite enjoyable. I always liked school :).

Another project I am responsible for is the ICM MegaVoice Bible School. What is this you might ask? The project is a 4 year Bible school on a device like an MP3 player called a MegaVoice. The program is used in many countries around the world and is now being used here in the Amazon. The audio and materials have been translated into Portuguese and the device is solar-powered. In our larger cities, we already have different Bible school programs and leadership training. In the river communities; however, we were in need of an efficient tool to train up the people. The MegaVoice Project is an excellent tool. The lessons start with the Sermon on the Mount and then go from Genesis - Revelation. My involvement is to do the administrative tasks (thank you degree from Belmont) of getting reports, testimonies, etc. and reporting back to ICM on the progress of the groups. The idea is to have groups of no more than 10 people that meet on a weekly basis. Currently our groups are working on the Sermon on the Mount and Genesis/Exodus. One of the difficulties is getting feedback. This has to do with the fact that the groups are out on the rivers which makes feedback more difficult among other reasons. Please pray for patience and more feedback ;).

Anyone, 18 & up who is interested in setting aside 2 months to serve the Lord on the mission field please check out www.projectamazon.org to see the really awesome flyer put together by Nate Reutter and myself (more credit goes to Nate and his awesome computer skills).

Tomorrow - Sunday will be the MDA Conference. This is an annual conference here in Santarém which draws pastors and leaders from all over Brazil to learn about the PAZ church's discipleship model. The week will be packed with sessions about discipleship, cell groups and looking after your sheep. I participated in the actual conference last year but this year will only be participating at night which is open to those not registered for the conference. I am very excited as we will be having a guest speaker from the US (yay English)!!! On Saturday night, we will have a huge event in one of the local stadiums celebrating the multiplication of many cell groups. The night will be filled with presentations, fireworks and all-around excitement at what the Lord is doing in Santarém through cell groups.

And now for the EXCITING NEWS...

On November 22nd, I will be boarding a plane and heading "home" to the US for a visit. I am very excited to see my family, friends and supporters. I look forward to reconnecting with as many of you as possible. I would love to speak at any of your churches, groups or events if the opportunity presents itself. I will be in the greater Richmond area for most of my trip which will be Nov. 22 - Jan. 9th. There will be about a week Dec. 3-8th that I will be staying in Nashville, TN. My trip will be here before I know it and I am working on getting my projects, etc. organized here before I leave. Please contact me to plan to get together and also for any opportunities to share about the ministry here in the Amazon. I want to make the most of every day of my trip.

Blessings and see you soon!!!

Summer in pictures, birthday and 1 year mark!

2009-08-25T15:31:00.013-04:00

March for Jesus, June 6, 2009: All of the evangelical churches in the city gathered at the São Sebastião Park to walk through the streets of Santarém singing, praying and proclaiming the name of Jesus!!!

Congresso, July 10-12, 2009: A 3-day evangelistic crusade that packed out the local soccer stadium. Every night was packed with anointed praise & worship, incredible dances and dramas and powerful preaching. Over 700 people committed their lives to the Lord during this years Congresso!!!

Work project at camp: In July, a team from Samaritan's Purse Canada, our PAZ interns and a few others set off to camp for 3 days to work on finishing the expansion of the floor in the auditorium.

Boat trip to Piracãoera, Amazon River, July 2009: A group of us set out on the PAZ medical boat Portador da Luz for a 4-day boat trip. There was lots of painting to do in the church building in the community and visits to be made to homes with water filters. Also, food baskets were given to several families. This particular area was hit hard with the floods this year.

Interns June and July 2009: We were privileged to have an AMAZING group of interns this summer. Here are a few pictures of these great men and women of God. If anyone is interested in the intern program for next year please contact me!

The big 2-4, one year mark and São Paulo: Tonight I will be leaving for a week trip to São Paulo. I will be celebrating my 24th (yikes) birthday tomorrow the 26th and Saturday the 29th will mark 1 year here in Brazil. It is hard to believe it has been 1 year already. Thank you so much to all of you for your prayers and support! It means so much to me and to the Kingdom of God! Please be praying for my trip to São Paulo. I am really excited about this trip! It is winter in São Paulo so it will be a relief from the extreme heat we are experiencing in Santarém. Also, they have McDonalds!!!

Next update will be pictures from São Paulo!

July = busy, busy, busy!

2009-07-02T17:30:00.003-04:00

Wow, so it has been quite awhile since an update but instead of going back I am going to talk about all that is coming up in the month of July. I cannot believe we are already halfway through 2009 and I have been in Brazil for 10 months now. Woah where did the time go?! July is definitely one of the busiest months here at the mission. We have teams coming and going, interns and also our 3 night evangelistic crusade -- The Congresso.

Here is a little idea of what I will be doing over the next several weeks. Monday through Wednesday I will help co-lead a team from Samaritan's Purse in Canada and our group of interns in a work project out at our PAZ campgrounds about 30min. outside of Santarém. There are several renovations going on at the camp so we will be doing mostly construction work for a couple of days. The camp sits right on the beautiful Tapajós River which is great for swimming in the afternoons after a hot day in the sun!

The Congresso will be the 10-12th of July. Like I mentioned earlier, this a 3 night evangelistic crusade that packs out the local soccer stadium here in Santarém. The Congresso includes powerful dramas and dances, special music and powerful Gospel messages. Each year many people give their lives to the Lord. Please pray for the Congresso that it would not rain and for the Lord's protection over each worker and participant. Most importantly pray for the Lord to begin softening the hearts of those who are to attend and that each one who gives his life to the Lord would stay firm in that decision and continue to grow.

The 13th-16th there will be a river trip on the Amazon river to the community of Piracãoera. This is a flooded community. There will be several projects going on in this community from construction, medical clinics, evangelistic visits, distribution of basic items to families, etc... This trip should be a wonderful time.

As always, please pray for the safety of everyone. Your prayers are so much appreciated and very necessary. If there is anything I can be praying for in your lives please let me know.

Blessings to all of you! Hopefully there will be pictures and more updates in a few weeks!

Pray for the people of the Amazon!

2009-05-29T10:37:00.003-04:00

I am sure many of you have seen even on the news in the US the flooding going on here in Brazil. I mentioned in my previous blog that Santarém where I live is flooded in some parts. The river has started to go down finally, praise the Lord, but we still need to continue praying. Many people in the river communities lost their homes and have been left with nothing. The Paz church made a short video to show some of the flooding. Please watch this video and remember to pray for these people. Also, please visit www.projectamazon.org if you would like to donate to help those who have lost everything.

Should I buy a boat?

2009-05-04T12:01:00.006-04:00

Just a quick update to let you all know what is going on here in Santarém. Thursday, I will be heading out onto the Amazon River for a short trip with a team of young adults from Canada. They are from a church in Calgary but the trip is in conjunction with Samaritan's Purse. We will leave early Thursday and return by noon on Sunday. During the trip we are supposed to be putting up a roof on the church building. This trip will be a new experience for me because this is a flooded community which means we go everywhere by canoe and all the buildings are on stilts, etc... Please pray for the safety of everyone and for the name of Jesus to be glorified on this trip. I will post later with pictures.

And speaking of flooded communities...Santarém, the city I live in, and come to think of it many of the cities along the Amazon are every day becoming more and more flooded by the intense rainy season we have been having. The river each day is rising. I am beginning to think they will be docking the boats on the streets here and that maybe I myself should invest in a boat as my mode of transportation. Just yesterday I went down to the riverfront and there are already large portions of the main road that are completely flooded which results in the shutting down of businesses, etc... Also, in certain parts, there is only about a foot or so until the river passes the front wall. Even if it is not raining a lot here, the rains in other areas along the Amazon push the river and cause it to rise higher and higher. Please be praying for these cities because this has a huge impact on businesses but also the spread of disease and the dangers of flood waters. Lets pray for a flood of the Holy Spirit instead!

Here are some pictures I took a week ago:

The sidewalk is about to be a boat parking lot!

This boat is on the street!!!

This is what it's all about...

2009-03-30T14:16:00.009-04:00

It is overwhelming to even think of where to begin to sum up the month of February. How can I share the experiences I had so that you too might experience them? The month of February was a month of new experiences, friendships, challenges and lots of learning. As a quick recap, I was asked to travel during the month of February to help translate for a team of 5 medical students from MUSC in South Carolina who are about to start their time of residency. February began by meeting 5 strangers and ended with 5 new friends (Ben, Ian, Jonathan, Matt and Young). I guess the best way to do this update is to start with the first trip and go from there...so here we go...

2/2/09 - 2/9/09 Prainha, Pará

Our first adventure began with a line boat trip to Prainha, a small city along the Amazon River. We left Santarém early evening in time to watch the amazing sunset over the Amazon River and get settled into our hammocks for the evening. We were packed onto that boat like sardines in a can. It is definitely an experience to travel by line boat. We were all very thrilled to arrive in Prainha about 4:00am and get a little more sleep before setting up and beginning clinics. School in Prainha was still out on break so we setup our clinics in the school building. We got everything setup in the morning and began clinics in the afternoon. We had each doctor with a translator and then we had our Brazilian dentist working as well. I was pretty nervous about translating. I remember thinking, "Lord, I am not sure I am ready for this. You are really going to have to help me here. Not only am I speaking another language but I am having to translate things I have never needed to talk about in Portuguese before." God, as always, was so faithful. It was so incredible to be able to attend to the physical and spiritual needs of the people. Knowing that when all seems hopeless there is hope in Jesus Christ. Each day of our trip we either had clinics the whole day or just in the morning. People would begin lining up at 3 and 4am to be able to get a consult and also wait in the extreme heat of the day. Can you imagine being that desperate in the US? We definitely take advantage of so many things in the States. We were very busy in Prainha and I will have to admit, I never thought it would be so mentally and physically draining to sit and translate but it really does a number on you. Prainha was also a little bit of a stretch for me as there were about 20 of us staying all in one home with one bathroom that ran out of water every other day. I know the Lord was working in my life during the week I was there. There was a lot of room for bad attitudes to creep in but God was faithful and helped :). We had 3 nights of church services out on the road in front of the pastor'

s home where many of the team was staying. One night I was able to be a part of the praise and worship team; which I really enjoyed as that was a huge part of growing up for me. Probably the greatest reward of being in Prainha was being able to pray with people and also see people that we had invited come to the church services. Prainha is a tough city with a lot of resistance to the Gospel. But praise the Lord walls are falling down in that city.

2/14/09-2/15/09 Pinduri, Pará

The next adventure would be a two day boat trip on the Amazon River on our PAZ boat "Portador da Luz" which means "light bringer". This time we would be going to an actual river community unlike Prainha which was a small city. We would be living, bathing and sleeping on the PAZ boat. Ever thought about taking a shower with water from the Amazon River? Have you ever seen a mosquito the size of a bird or almost ;)? Or how about slept in a hammock on a boat and had to jump up in the middle of the night to lower tarps because there is a torrential downpour? These are just some of the adventures to be had on a river trip. On this trip we actually did our clinics on the boat as there was not a place on land to setup. This community seemed to be spread out and it amazed me how people came from whatever distance to have a medical consult or to see the dentist. The community of Pinduri does not have a PAZ church started yet. This is a brand new project so Saturday night we had a church service out in a big soccer field. If I am not mistaken, 7 people gave their lives to the Lord. This is just the beginning of a great work of God in Pinduri. The people are hungry for the Lord and ready to see their community changed.

2/16/09-2/18/09 Porto Novo, Pará

The third trip would be a little break from traveling on the muddy Amazon to traveling on the beautiful Tapajós. Porto Novo is a community only a little over an hour drive away from Santarém but we went by boat which took about 3 or 4 hours. On this trip, I asked the boat captain Geraldo, to take the visiting American doctors on a ride through the jungle at night in his small boat. I went as their translator. What an incredible experience and treat! Just the sounds in the jungle at night are amazing. My favorite part was when he rowed us out more towards the open part of the river and we just looked up at the sky which was painted with stars. It is hard to explain but in that moment I couldn't help but think about the marvelous Creator we have. The Chris Tomlin worship song came into my head How Great Is Our God and He truly is so great. On our last morning in Porto Novo, an elderly lady came in for a consult. She was the sweetest little thing. I think she just wanted to come and chat because she already knew she had diabetes and she was already doing everything right to take care of her condition. She treated me like I was her best friend and was absolutely precious. When she was about to leave she hugged me and gave me kisses. She even returned after a few minutes to bring me a fruit spread that she made. When I encounter people like this it just is further reminder of why I am here and how much I love these people.

2/21/09-2/24/09 Surubiauçu, Pará

For this trip we were back on the Amazon. We set our clinics up in what looked like a bar as it is used for parties after soccer games. The people in these communities are so desperate for medicine. One such gentlemen we saw did have a problem with his eye that Dr. Jonathan noticed right away. I had the opportunity to look through the doctor's instrument into his eye and see a huge blood vessel completely blocking his vision in that eye. While in this community, we were able to have two church services. The first night, the turnout was amazing. People came from down the river and all around to participate and a few people gave their lives to Jesus. It is amazing to see the sacrifice people make to go to church in these communities. Whether it is the pouring down rain or there are tons of bugs the people make the effort. It was a humbling experience. From the time the team arrived, I told them about alligator hunting and they were all pumped and really wanted to go. So on the very last trip we were able to get 3 of them on an alligator hunt. About 9:30 our second night, we set out on an adventure. I was very nervous. Our two Brazilian guides and alligator experts were telling us how they had killed alligators that gave 150kg of meat. That was enough to freak me out. I can't even imagine an alligator that big nor did I want to encounter one. So off we went on our journey back through the brush of the Amazon out onto a lake. We were gone for several hours. After just a short time, one of the Brazilian men spotted a small alligator. He slowly put his hand down and grabbed him up out of the water. Each of the doctors held him and took pictures as a "momento" of their trip to the Amazon. Then they all said it was my turn but I only managed to grab his tail for a quick picture. We let him go and continued our search for a larger animal that could be used for food. Our Brazilian guides continued to call the alligators and they responded all around us in the dark of the night but we never did encounter another alligator after we let the little guy go. I will have to admit I was kind of relieved because he would have ridden back in the boat with us. YIKES!!!

Lessons Learned...

After a month of traveling with the team of doctors, I learned many things. One thing I learned is how to cure stomachaches, headaches, worms and several other common ailments among the people of the Amazon. Just call me Dr. Claire ha! Another lesson I learned is to be flexible and show the love of Christ and realize that even when I am tired and really don't feel I can continue that there is a person that Jesus loves waiting for just a few minutes of my time. The last lesson that really hit home for me during these trips came from a devotion that Pastor Nilson gave one morning on the boat. He spoke out of Genesis 12:1-2 "The Lord said to Abraham, 'Go out from your land, your relatives, and your father's house to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing'." As he was speaking, it really struck me that this is what I have done. I have left my land, the USA and my family and my father's home and gone to the land the Lord put in my heart which is Brazil. It was so encouraging to later hear the promise the Lord gave Abraham that He would make him into a great nation and bless him and make his name great, etc... For me, I could care less about having a name that is great in this world. It is enough for me to just be able to be a blessing to others in need. I know that the Lord working through me will bless others and I am so thankful for the opportunity I had in the month of February to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Words alone cannot express my gratitude to all of you who have enabled me through your prayers and financial support to bring Jesus to the people of the Amazon Basin.

Please continue to pray for me as I will be joining on other trips in the future and also as I take on some new projects. One of these projects is being the point person for a 4 year Bible school. This Bible school is different because it is all on a device similar to an iPod, called a MegaVoice. All 4 years of Bible school are on this small device and have been translated into Portuguese. It is a study from Genesis to Revelation. My responsibility is to keep in touch with our leaders all over the Amazon Basin and monitor the progress of the course. As I monitor the course, I will report to the ministry that provides the materials for this course on a regular basis as to the progress of each group of students. This program will be very useful out in the river communities where a Bible education of this nature is not available.

I ask that you would pray about joining with me on a regular basis as a financial supporter as well. Exciting things are happening here in the Amazon Basin and as we say at all of our PAZ churches "Isto é só o começo" (This is just the beginning)!

To see pictures from February follow the links below:

February Part 1

February Part 2

Coming Soon...

2009-01-13T10:38:00.002-05:00

An update is long overdue from me. I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. I spent mine away from my family for the first time. Thankfully, I was surrounded by my second family here in Brazil. I also was blessed to have a friend, Rachel, from the States stay with me for almost a month. It was nice to have company. Rachel and I had a lot of fun together and now I am adjusting to life without her here. I wanted to use this blog entry to talk more about what is coming up in 2009.

Thursday, starts the bi-annual PAZ Leadership Conference. This is a 5 day conference at our campgrounds in Alter do Chão with leaders from all of the PAZ bases. We will have morning and evening sessions with a speaker from South Africa (yay for preaching in English haha). I am really looking forward to this time with leaders from all over the Amazon Basin of Brazil. There should be about 400 or so in attendance I believe. When I return from this conference, we have one day back at home and then all of the American missionaries have a retreat for a couple of days. So starting on Thursday, I will be gone for about a week and a half. The theme for the leadership conference is faith. We are getting ready to launch a new campaign of 1000 churches by 2014. We currently have 500. The conference will be a great time to catch more of the vision for the Amazon and to increase our faith.

Another exciting thing about this year, is that it looks like I will be traveling quite a bit to help with translating. I guess that is a testimony to the Lord's faithfulness in regard to my portuguese. It is almost certain that I will be going on a 9 day medical trip sometime in the beginning of February. There are several doctors that are needing some type of internship credit that will be coming from the US and they will each need their own translator. I am really excited to get out on the river. Since I have been back there have not been many boat trips so I am excited for the opportunity to go in February. Also, it is exciting because my leadership is wanting me to travel more this year as we will have many trips. So in 2009, I am looking forward to getting more involved and being more hands on here in the Amazon.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. Please let me know of any prayer requests you all may have. I want to be standing and believing with each of you just as you do with me! God Bless and may the Lord reveal His heart and desires for each of you in 2009!

Did You really choose me Lord???

2008-12-05T11:43:00.010-05:00

"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit -- fruit that will last." John 15:16a

As I think back over the past couple of weeks, I am truly humbled by the fact that the Lord has called me here to Brazil to serve Him. It is such an honor to be here and be able to be the hands and feet of Jesus to the people of the Amazon Basin of Brazil. I am nothing special and am definitely not worthy but Jesus in me is what the world needs! From my last update, you may remember that I was leaving to work at the Encontro (Encounter) for adolescents. The 3 days of the Encontro were incredible. There were almost 200 adolescents who participated in the weekend retreat and of the 200, about 120 were girls! We had our work cut out for us :). I worked doing anything and everything I was asked to do from cleaning bathrooms to doing skits, washing dishes to praying for young girls. I mentioned in my last update that I was going to play a "patricinha" in one of the skits and also the Holy Spirit in a couple of skits. Well, I do have a picture of me as a "patricinha" and the picture of me as the Holy Spirit is unfortunately on someone else's camera but hopefully I can get ahold of it to show you all.

Also, due to the importance of the girl's really focusing on the Lord, I was not able to take photos actually during the sessions.

My absolute favorite part of the Encontro was being able to pray for the young girls. I can't really explain how it feels to have young girls come up to you crying because their father never wanted them and wanted them to be aborted or because they don't feel loved in their own home. Or young girls crying because they have already been so used and abused by the things the world has to offer. My heart broke for them as I took them in my arms and prayed for them, as I looked into their eyes and told them they are beautiful and that even when our earthly father fails we can know that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us so very much and will never fail us. Our Heavenly Father has always wanted us and will never leave us. The Encontro for me was truly amazing!

A week later, we had a baptism for those who went to the Encontro who had never been baptized before. 100 adolescents were baptized last Sunday at a local residence here in Santarém. Once again, it was such a privilege to be a part of such an important decision in the lives of these young people.

With the holiday season upon us, there is a lot going on here for me. The cell group that I am involved with will be having a big Christmas party on the 17th of December. The idea is to invite people who do not know Jesus as their Lord & Saviour to the party to enjoy a type of variety show explaining the true meaning of Christmas followed by a dinner. Please be in prayer for this as their are so many people who need to hear the Good News of Jesus! Also, on Saturday I will have a guest arriving to stay with me for a little less than a month. Rachel, was my roommate here in Brazil last summer and she is returning to visit. It will be nice to have a friend staying here with me. The other exciting thing happening this Saturday is the wedding of my friend and first disciple here in Brazil, Aline. I will actually be a bridesmaid in the wedding and hope to share more about this in the next update. Here is a picture of Aline and I about a month ago.

Also, if any of you all have Skype please add me because I would love to be able to talk with you. Just search my full name and you will find me!

Conferences, Evangelistic Outreach and Encounters...

2008-11-19T15:40:00.009-05:00

Wow! Are we seriously already more than halfway through November??? Well, I have now been here in Santarém, Brazil for 2 1/2 months and an update from me is long overdue. The week of October 21-26, there were two big conferences going on here at our main PAZ church. The first conference was the MDA Conference. This is a national conference that happens every year and is for pastors and leaders from all over Brazil. Just to explain really quickly, MDA is a model used in the PAZ churches with an emphasis on one-on-one discipleship and cell groups (small groups). The heart shows the MDA Vision. This year I decided to participate in the conference and it was a great experience. Speakers from all over Brazil came to speak and impart the vision of having a “cell church” and the importance of one-on-one discipleship. The conference was Tuesday - Saturday early morning to early afternoon. Each day was filled with a wonderful time of worship and teaching.

During the same week, beginning on Wednesday night we began our big cell group celebration. Wednesday night is the night most of our cell groups meet all over the city of Santarém. On this particular night, there were several groups multiplying. When a group grows to a certain size, the group multiplies and then there are 2 groups. It was planned that at 8pm a few of the pastors from Igreja da Paz would speak for a few minutes on the television and that when Pastor Abe said the word “fogo” (fire) people in all of the cell groups would set off fireworks all over the city. Just imagine more than 2,000 cell groups setting off fireworks all over the city. It was quite a sound!

Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights were the big celebration of the multiplication of so many groups. Each night was filled with music, preaching and lots of celebrating. The cell groups at the church are divided into regions which are represented by different colors. Many people came dressed to support their region.

Another big event recently was Minha Esperança Brasil (My Hope Brazil). This was a 3 night evangelistic project that was shown on TV in all of Brazil in association with the Billy Graham Association. The first two nights were 30 minute programs with brief testimonies from well-known Brazilians and brief messages from Billy and Franklin Graham. On the third night, the movie “A Vow to Cherish” was shown. The idea behind this project was to invite people to your home each night to watch the program as an evangelistic outreach to the unsaved. I am not sure of the final numbers but I believe that just from our main PAZ church here in Santarém, there were over 1,000 decisions for Christ made. Just think of all the other churches participating in the whole of Brazil!!! God is awesome!

I am really excited because this weekend I will be working at the Encontro (Encounter) for adolescents. Some of you may remember that I went on this same retreat for adults at the end of September. This time I get to be behind the scenes working. I will doing many different things including being a part of the drama pieces. I get to be the Holy Spirit, an angel, one of the ten virgins and also a patricinha (a prissy girl that dresses all in pink). I will try to get pictures to show you all. Please pray for this weekend that the youth would be open to the work the Lord wants to do in each of their hearts.

Be looking for another update soon with more news about what is going on here in the Amazon!

Camping is so much fun!

Interesting Story/Fact

Ok so its been awhile since I have updated and I have been trying to keep track of stories and things that go on that I find interesting to be able to use in my updates. Something you may be interested to know is that I ride a motorcycle here in Brazil on a weekly basis. Yes, Cautious Claire rides a motorcycle. Well, actually its a taxi but on a motorcycle. Its quite convenient. But seriously, pray for my safety not only on the motorcycle but just in general. I do a lot of walking in the city as well.

A little over a month ago, I was getting ready to go to cell group when we had a power outage. This doesn´t happen all the time but it is about a weekly occurrence usually at night when we are sleeping though. This time though it was right when it was starting to get dark. Well, I found some candles thankfully because I had to finish getting ready. So I ended up getting ready in the bathroom with two candles on a tiny table doing my very best to put on makeup without getting too close to the candle. It was quite the scenario.

To see more photos of my time here in Brazil click here

Also check out my bio on the PAZ website click here

Getting into the swing of things...

2008-10-03T19:06:00.001-04:00

Wow! An update is long overdue. Has it really only been 5 weeks since I got here? It seems like I have been here for so long already but yet at times I feel like I was in the US just yesterday. Time is a funny thing. Lots has been going on with here in the Amazon Basin of Brazil from getting adjusted to moving and getting adjusted again to weekend “Encounters” with God and learning what my role will be at the mission and building relationships with the Brazilians.

First, God is so good and faithful and He continually reminds me of that in His response to the big details of life to the very small details. My first month here in Brazil I was blessed with the opportunity to live in the home of a missionary family as they were traveling in the US. I was living with a Brazilian named Dolores who lived for 12 years in the US. After my first month, I was blessed again to be able to live in the home of another missionary family (which happens to be next door to the other home) until possibly mid-March or later. Both of these families are huge blessings to me as I am able to save on some of my expenses in the coming months (although I still desperately am in need of your one-time gifts and monthly commitments). The first month I was here I kept think about when I would be moving into the other house and how I would be living alone. I like to be alone at times but I was really hoping to find someone who could live with me. God put Dolores in my heart. I knew she was looking for a place to stay as her parent’s home does not have space for her so I asked her what she thought. She loved the idea. I can tell you how good God is because her and I get along so well. We are able to talk to each other about different things going on in our lives and to encourage each other in the Lord. So a week ago today we moved into our “new” place for an indefinite period of time :).

Many of you have asked me what I am/will be doing down here and the truth is, a lot of different things. It looks like a role I will be stepping into is one of administration which is good cause that is what my degree is in. I will be helping PAZ with various proposals for buildings, projects, etc. and also writing reports/testimonies on the progress of those particular projects to the donors. There is also a possibility that I will trained on the accounting process here at the mission so that I am able to step in as needed. I think it is great how the Lord has called me as a missionary and I am still able to use my degree. I mentioned some of the other areas I will be working in in the last update so check it out. Please be in prayer for me as there are many needs and ways to get involved. I want to do exactly what the Lord would have me to do.

O Encontro foi TREMENDO!!! “The Encounter was tremendous!!!” Last weekend I went as a participant in the Encontro. It is similar to DeColores and other weekend retreats many of you have participated in in the US. Anyways, it was a little less than 3 days of “one-on-one” with God time. We were not worried about the people around us but rather focused on HIM. It was a wonderful time of refreshing for me. It was so awesome to see one lady accept Jesus into her life and see many water baptized out in the Tapajos River (tributary to the Amazon). The weekend was great and you should have seen the celebration when we arrived back at the church on Sunday night. We all went in together jumping, singing and giving praise to the only One who has the power to save, set free and transform lives! I wish I had pictures to show but as participants, we couldn’t take pictures. Next time, I will be working the retreat and will definitely get some pictures.

Random Fact/Story:

Monday afternoon I was sitting in the living room/dining room of the new place I am living and I had the door open to get a breeze in the room. There is an outside door that is made of iron or something and most houses it has screen in it to keep bugs and things out but this house doesn’t have it. Anyways, I was sitting there when all of a sudden a bird flew in the house. I freaked out for a minute and then went to shut all the doors in the house to keep the bird in one area. The only problem is that the office doesn’t have a door. Well, the bird kept flying back and forth in the house and I had no idea how to get him out cause he was up high and I didn’t want to hurt him in anyway. He went back in the office so I had to direct him back to the front of the house and hopefully out the door. It was quite the site. I honestly wish someone would have been videotaping me. I was screaming and laughing at the same time. Thankfully, the cute little bird finally found his way back out the door. I am sure this is one of many funny stories I will have in the future :).

Thank you all so much for your prayers, encouragement and support. It is so nice to have a wonderful team of people supporting me and cheering me. Also, I would like to ask for special prayer for fellow missionaries Nate and Ruth Reutter. They lost their baby a little over a week ago. Both of their parents are missionaries down here as well. It has been a difficult week but God has been and continues to be so faithful in this situation. If you would like to read their story please go to www.reutterfamily.com

Love to you all!

Claire

Cheguei!!! (I arrived!!!)

2008-09-09T14:32:00.000-04:00

Some days I wake up and think it is still a dream but then I get out of bed and realize I am actually here in Brazil. I have been here in Santarem for about a week and a half and I still do not really believe that I am here and this time to live. I am so thankful to the Lord for bringing me here to the Amazon of Brazil and to the ministry of Project Amazon. Because of the obedience of my parents several years ago to the Lord’s call, I was exposed to a ministry that I have incredible respect for and am excited to be a part of now.

So many of you are probably wondering what I have been up to over the last week and a half. Primarily, I have been getting adjusted to being here. I have been blessed with the opportunity to live in someone’s house for them while they are traveling so thankfully I do not have to “set up” house yet. I did make my first trip to the supermarket so I can actually have a real meal. This is definitely going to be an adjustment for me because in the States, when I lived on my own, Lean Cuisine was the extent of my cooking :). So I have some new learning experiences coming. It has also been an adjustment getting used to the heat. August until December are pretty much the hottest months of the year here in Santarem. We are currently in the dry season so it only rains at times which isn’t very often. It did rain the other night for a bit which was nice. I think the heat seems so much more intense because there are not very many places to go for relief as very few places have air conditioning. Other than a couple things here and there, adjusting has not been too difficult. I have a great team here surrounding me, Brazilian friends and also the prayers of you all holding me up.

Over the past week, I have also been learning about some of the ways I will be ministering and getting involved. Every Wednesday we have cell group meetings which is basically a group that gets together for a time of worship, prayer, reflection on the message given at church the previous Sunday and fellowship. I will be helping to lead a cell group of teenage boys and girls as the current leader will be traveling for several months. I am very excited to get involved in the cell group ministry. I also plan to participate in the Encontro (Encounter) a few weekends from now with my section of cell groups. The Encontro is a weekend retreat where the focus is to have an encounter with God as you set aside the weekend and completely focus on Him. I have lived here before and have never participated in an Encontro so I am really excited to be able to go in a few weeks.

Another ministry I will be working on is forming and training a team with another missionary here at PAZ to go into public schools, churches and pretty much anywhere else we can to teach about sexual purity. We will be using a curriculum from Focus on the Family as our base and then adapting it according to the need here in Brazil. This is an area very close to my heart and I am excited to see what the Lord has and the doors He will open with this ministry.

A couple other things I will be working on during this time is taking on some of the responsibility of communicating with people interested in short term opportunities here with PAZ and also working on getting my TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certification which has the potential to open many doors for the sharing of the Gospel.

Random Fact/Story:

Here in Santarem (and I guess in all of Brazil) it is election time just like in the US. It is interesting to see the difference in the way things are done. In the US we have bumper stickers, yard signs and televised debates. Here, there are cars that drive by with loud sound clips and music about the candidates. People have the candidates’ pictures put on their cars to cover the whole back window and sides of the cars. Their are parades of motorcycles that drive up and down the waterfront promoting a candidate and little boats that go by with music and advertising.

Well, that is it for now. Please do keep in touch and keep me in your prayers. If I do not get back to you right away please do not be upset. I do not have internet in my home yet and the internet here is also very unreliable and slow at times. I do appreciate each of you and pray for God’s blessings to be poured out on your lives and homes.

I hope to get some pictures up on the blog soon for you all to see!

God Bless and All For His Glory,

Claire

Coming soon...

2008-06-24T12:42:00.000-04:00

I am hoping to get this blog back up and running with updates very soon...Keep checking back...I have added two new links on the right side bar...check it out!

<3 claire

2007-06-22T16:34:00.000-04:00

For some reason the link to my pictures from Parintins is not working. Hopefully it will work here: http://belmont.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2032253&l=fdb7a&id=34100423

2007-06-17T11:33:00.000-04:00

Yay for internet is all I have to say! I am not quite sure how we ever lived without it haha. Anyways, my hope is to use this blog to keep everyone up-to-date on my adventures in the Amazon this summer. I am going to do a quick recap of the past month. First of all, as many of you know, I graduated from Belmont University on May 12th with a Bachelors of Business Administration. Just over a week later I boarded a plane on my way to Santarem, Brazil. When I first got here I was exhausted and a little overwhelmed. I had no internet to get in touch with anyone which was quite frustrating and I felt very alone. Once I finally got to talk to my family I was much better. The day after I got in myself and a team of students from Oral Roberts University left on a 6 day boat trip. We had about a 14+hr boat ride on the Tapajos River which is a tributary to the Amazon River. We went to two different villages and stayed at each for about 2 1/2 to 3 days. In the first village, we attended cell groups, church meetings, helped make the foundation for the church building, made house visits and did programs for children. One night we went alligator hunting. There were about 10 or more of us in a large wooden canoe. We didn't have a harpoon so we went to a man's house who had one but he wasn't home. On our trip back to the big boat it was lightning and thundering. Then we heard a loud noise and in the distance we could see the wall of rain coming straight for us. We got soaked. It was quite the experience. It was hard to leave the first village because we grew to love the people and especially the children. The second village we did similar things. We did not stay in this village as long and it was more difficult to build relationships with the children because they were in school majority of the time. To see pictures from this part of my trip go here: http://belmont.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2032251&l=075d7&id=34100423. When we returned to Santarem we had just about a day or so to get ready for our next adventure. We were headed to the island of Parintins. This city has a reputation for its sinfulness and demonic activity. To get to Parintins we took an 18hr. line boat ride up the Amazon River. A line boat is quite an experience. Everyone strings up their hammocks and sleeps on the boat with their luggage all around them. Our trip had a rocky start when 3 of the girls had substantial amounts of Brazilian and American money stolen from them while we were sleeping. This would not get us down though. We were going to Parintins to do a lot of ministry and we knew Satan would not sit quietly. We arrived in Parintins on Friday, June 1st at mid-morning. The church there has a Healing and Liberation service on Friday nights. When we arrived the pastor decided he wanted us all to share our testimonies or parts of our testimonies. I was silently freaking out because I like to prepare before I get up and speak. I sat there thinking and decided I would share the part of my testimony involving living in Brazil previously, leaving and then returning this summer. It went really well and while I was speaking I started choking up which made me realize even more the love I have for the people here. One of our tasks while in Parintins was to paint some of the church buildings. A lot of times during the mornings we would work on painting and then we would have services in the evenings. We also made several house visits to pray for sick people or people who were struggling with different things. The first weekend we were there we attended many church services. After the youth meeting on Saturday and the church service on Sunday they had what was called "Cristotech" it was like a christian dance party. It was so much fun. The topic of Sunday mornings service was relationships and I was asked to speak a little bit. I spoke about modesty and emotional attachment. I felt very scattered because of the translation but I feel that it went well. One of the nights several of us were eaten alive by mosquitoes. I woke up and my face and neck were covered with bites. I got bit the next few nights even more. I looked like I had chicken pox or something. There is a picture in the photo album link below. After the weekend was over, the next several days were spent going into schools and doing presentations with skits and speaking. These presentations could not have gone any better. There was truly favor from the Lord over our group. My friend Davi said that a lot of times when people come do similar presentations that they are booed and have things thrown at them but we were widely received. It was really funny because at most of the schools we couldn't even leave without being mobbed with students wanting us to sign their notebooks. It was quite an interesting experience. It was like we were the Beatles or something haha. Being in the schools was such a blessing because we were able to reach out to thousands of children and teenagers. One of our free afternoons we went out to the camp owned by the church to relax and swim in the river. It was a lot of fun but I am a major scaredy cat so they were teasing me about the snakes and alligators, etc. Praise the Lord I didn't see any of those things. Really the best part of being in Parintins was the relationships that I made. The people at the church there are so wonderful. The church has a lot of young people that are such a blessing. You will see many of the friends I made in the photo album. Our last night in Parintins we got up on stage and some of us had the opportunity to share about our time there or whatever we wanted to say. I couldn't speak because I was so choked up. I started crying while other people were talking. It was very difficult to say good-bye to these people. Lord willing I will see them again soon. To see pictures from this trip go here:
http://belmont.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2032253&l=fdb7a&id=34100423.
Santarem, I have been doing a little relaxing and recuperating from travelling so much. I am excited to see what the next weeks hold and will do my best to keep everyone updated.