The Power of Prayer

This past week and a half I have spent at the home of a Brazilian missionary living in the jungle. I had been there before and have always loved being with him and his family! This trip was much different than the others I have been on. He wanted to show myself and Mark, who is also staying the same amount of time as I am, what daily life is like being a missionary. He did not want to show us how it is when you come for a couple days with a team, but long term what day to day life looks like. It’s much, much different than I had in mind!

We helped him and his wife out with their daily chores and projects. Some days we had more work to do than others, but all in all it was very good. They are in charge of a school and feeding program for some of the kids in their village, they come every Tuesday – Friday from 2pm – 4pm sometimes 5. I enjoy working with these children and playing with them. For some of them it is the only love and food they will have all day. Many of these kids do not get to have a childhood, but are in charge of taking care of their brothers and sisters and doing many chores that we in America do not do until we are older. It is such a blessing to be able to give them a few hours a day of just being a kid.

The biggest thing I have learned from this family is how lightly we take prayer in America. When we sit down to pray before a meal we say the same, mundane prayer every time. “God, thank you for this food, bless it to our bodies, and bless the hands that prepared it.” Sometimes I wonder if God gets tired of hearing the same old prayer 3 times a day. It’s more of a habit to us, than actually speaking with God. What a privilege to come before the Almighty God, to speak to Him, and to have Him listen to us!!

When this family prays, they pray with their whole heart. It is the most sincere prayer I have ever heard. When they pray before a meal it is not just the same old prayer over and over again because it’s habit. They are truly thanking God from the bottom of their hearts not only for the food, but for everything they have. They don’t have much, so what little they have they take care of and are so grateful for.

Prayer is a very powerful thing. God would not instruct us to pray if it was insignificant and meaningless. What an honor we have been given! My prayer life will forever be changed because of this family.

Thank you again for all your prayers and your support. I will be returning to this missionary’s house again on Monday for 4 days, then heading up the Javari River on a medical trip!! 

Changes

Things have changed drastically here at the Amazon house. I was here with a team of 20 from Christ for the Nations Institute, and on Sunday evening they left Leticia, Colombia to start their trip back to the United States. The house went from being very loud and filled with people, to very empty and quiet. The first night it took some adjusting to get used to sleeping in the room by myself instead of with 6 other girls. I am here with another friend that came with us last summer, Mark, that will also be staying for 7 more weeks.

Before the team left we had a very busy schedule, which made time fly by! We went to a town called Islandia, Peru to minister. This town is completely on 15 foot stilts!! There were so many kids there to love on and play with. Amazon Xpeditions has installed one of their biggest water purification systems at this town and have pipes running to different spots of the village. People will come to these water spouts to fill up their water cans and take the clean water back to their homes. They work so hard just to have clean water!

We evangelized on the streets of Leticia. We saw many salvations and we were able to pray for so many people! One incredible testimony came from a very sad man sitting alone. Two guys from our group went over to talk to him, only to find out his wife had left him a couple days ago. He said that morning while he was sitting there he prayed to God asking that if He is real, to send someone to him!!! What an incredible God we serve!

What I will be doing the next 7 Weeks

The remainder of my time here is going to be extremely busy, and will keep me from being able to get to the internet often. Tomorrow I leave for Brazil, to the Brazilian missionary’s home we went to earlier. Mark and I will be there for 9 days helping them with anything they need, with VERY limited Internet connection. We will return for one day to then go on a medical trip down the river, along with another team of doctors. This will be for a week and we will be spending many, many hours on the boat to reach these villages. After returning from this trip we will be in Leticia again for a couple days, then we head out to Brazil again for 3 weeks. After these 3 weeks, our time here in the Amazon will come to an end.

I am very excited and nervous about what is in store for the next 7 weeks. One of the main things I will be doing is teaching English to the Brazilian missionaries. I will definitely need God’s help because they speak Portuguese and I barely speak Spanish!! But I am able to do all things through Christ who strengthens me and I am so excited to see how He uses me to help them!

I ask that you continue to pray for me daily as I embark on this journey God is taking me on. I need His strength to help me and to guide me. He has proven to me over and over again of His faithfulness and I know this will be another testimony of how great and how awesome our God is. I want to thank you with all of my heart for investing in the Amazon with your prayers!!