It has been such a privilege to have each of your children here in the Peruvian Amazon for the summer. God has been moving in their lives and touching so many through their passionate pursuits of Him. I can honestly say that I have learned from each one of your children, their passions, their energy, and their wisdom. It hurts to see them go, but as much as they are sad to leave each other (with some jokes of a passport burning party!) they can hardly wait another day to see you all again and begin to explore how they can live out at home some of what God has been teaching them here.
As had been mentioned in some comments, I have posted a blog at www.bryan-carey.blogspot.com for those praying at home for me as well as pictures that can be found from links on that site. That post was mostly about what God has been teaching me personally and another post about what God did in the villages will be on that same site in the next 24 hours. I was slow to share that blog with you because many on the team are eager to talk to you personally, and I didn´t want to spoil that for them. However, you should know about the blog and pictures because I am sure you are all eager for whatever information you can glean. So please look at my posts and pictures if you would like whether that be before or after you hear about the trip firsthand from your kids!
May God bless each of you personally for trusting your kids´ summers to Him!
God has been so gracious to us is so many ways this summer. He has really held together and carried the team.
I would like to begin by telling about our last week of ministry, which was in Nauta. Nauta is very different from anywhere else we ministered. Nauta is a city of about 16,000 people,about an hour and a half from Iquitos. It is a city with a lot of darkness and a lot of need. In the beginning, the team was a bit overwhelmed with all the needs and had no idea what to do to meet them. But in our weakness, he is strong. As we depended on the Lord, and asked for his guidance, he showed up in big ways.
God lead us to an Institiute, where they taught French and English. It was fun for the team to teach in English, and also share about Christ in English. This lead to a lot of relationships being formed. We were also able to spend many afternoons playing sports with the students at the institute. One afternoon we were there playing sports, and we asked them if they were coming to church that night. They said that they couldn´t because they had French class. We asked the professor if they had to have French class. Instead of having French class, he took the whole class to church. God filled the church with young people. It was incredible!
There is a really stong youth group in the church in Nauta. They really love the Lord and want to follow them will all of thier hearts. They even go out evangelizing on thier own! It was awesome to get to talk to love and encourage them while we were there. We also prayed over several of them for thier families. Most of them come from very broken homes, and there families are not Christians. We taught them a couple of our dramas, and they performed them at church one of the nights. We left the CD, so they can continue to use them in their ministry.
God also brought us to Carlos, who is a young man that the team last summer meet. He is very opposed to the church. He has been very hurt in his past. We were able to love him, and we had several good conversations with him about Christ. He hasn´t accepted Christ yet, but he knows the truth and he felt our love.
I could talk about Nauta forever; it holds a very special place in my heart. In many ways it is a very dark city, yet God is moving there in a very powerful way.
The teams are arriving home Friday, August 1 and God has used the teams in great ways. It was great reading the updates and watching God at work in their lives and in the lives of those they ministered too.
If you are picking up your son/daughter by car, you can pick them up on August 2, at the hotel between 8AM and 11AM or at the airport between 8AM and 12PM. Below is the address to the hotel that debrief is conducted.
Debrief is the night before and parents are welcome to attend, but do realize that this is the last time they will be with their team and good-byes are hard for them. We have seen parents come and yes, your child is excited to see you, but they want to be with their team that they bonded with and will not see again. So don't go into it expecting too much.
Thanks for entrusting your child with our organization. We count it a privilege to have worked with you and your child.
I was able to connect with Kelli again today and got a few more details about how things are going. She said that the team is enjoying their time in Nauta. It is a different experience for them. up until now they have been ministering in pretty small villages but now they are in a community of about 15,000 people. This is providing a number of different ministry opportunities that they are excited about. let me share just a few.
They are switching their focus from children to young adults because there is such a large number of young adults in the area. They are having a youth service for them and are really excited about ministering to their peers.
They are planning on performing some drimes in different areas to reach the community.
During the afternoon they are keeping the ministry informal. They hope to meet people in the community and build relationships in order to share christ with them. Depending on where the people are this can take on a variety of forms.
Some of the team is able to teach english in the english institute there and they are therefore able to share with people without a translator.
The needs in the community are many and so the opportunities are varied. Pray that they don't get overwhelmed with the many needs but that God directs them to just the right places to minister in their last few days of ministry.
They are heading to Iquitos sometime this weekend, please pray again for safe travels and that they finish strong. Pray as well for their time of debriefing that they are able to pray through and process all that God has done and all that He is teaching them.
I wasn't able to connect much with the team yesterday although i did get a voicemail from them. Kelli said that they are now in Nauta after a long 9 and a half hour boat ride. The team is doing well and they are looking forward to ministering here in what i believe is the last stop before heading to Iquitos.
I am hopeful that the weather will be clear and that Kelli will be able to call me in the next day or two. i will write more if she is able to call me.
I was driving when the team called this week so i wasn't able to write as man details down. i will do my best to remember the specifics from the call. The team is doing well they have moved villages a couple times since i wrote last.
A number of people have given there lives to Christ due to God's grace and the committment of the team to press hard into relationships even if they are only in a place for a few short days. the most notable story was a lady that was very oppressed. She had a very negative countenance and the team could tell by her words and the spirit in the air that Satan had control of this lady. They prayed and spent considerable time with her and before they left she gave her life to the Lord. Her countenance changed significantly after she accepted Christ. I know that i am not doing this story justice but it will give you all a reason to ask questions when the team gets home.
A sad story from the team was That the deaf man i wrote about last week did not regain his hearing. it was sad because the team was so persistant in prayer and they were hopefull that God would heal him. They really struggled with this seeming unanswered prayer and they had a long talk about why doesn't God answer prayer. It seems to me that the team is coming face to face with some serious faith issues and they are having to walk them out together. Pray that God would give them grace in these situations to continue to trust and rely on Him. i would also ask that you would give the leaders wisdom to help the team deal with these struggles in a healthy way.
It sounds like the team is doing well. from my experience i can tell you that at this point everyone is tired and in desperate need of Gods strength to help them finish strong. It is less than two weeks before they head to Iquitos for debrief. Pray that as people run out of steam the team keeps unified and singularly focused and that the leaders have great wisdom in how to encourage and help the team walk faithfully until the end.
Thanks again for your support, prayers and encouragement.
The team took a couple of needed days off this week. during that time they celebrated the 4th of july. One of the leaders had to go into Iquitos and on the way back brought hamburger with them so they could celebrate the 4th with a traditional US meal!
A group of the students have been able to teach in the school in San Jose (Rachael, Sarah, both Ryans, Nina & Hillary). They were able to really connect with the kids and as well as teaching them what they would normally learn taught them one of the Drimes as well. The students even performed it for the teachers and explained what it meant. What a great opportunity for the gospel to get shared.
One of the boat drivers family lives in San Jose as well. He has only been a christian for about a year and his wife wasn't a christian. The team was able to go and visit his home and his family and while they were there sharing his wife accepted Christ!!
The team also lead a youth service while they were in San Jose. They played games and shared testimonies and many youth came.
While in Paranari the team was drawn to minister to a certain Deaf man there. They continually prayed for his healing but also fealt draw to love him and encourage him. They drew with him which was one of his passions and help him with his work as well.
All in all the team is doing really well. they are rested and healthy and ready for more. They met up with the Ambassador team that was in the jungle as well and they spent a little time together sharing stories with others on a similar journey.
The team is well and didn't mention anything about the earthquake when I talked to them yesterday so I wouldn't worry about that. it is far from them and I would be they didn't even know there was one.
It was great to talk to Crystal today. It sounds like the ministry is going really well. She was able to relay a few details to me that will hopefully give you a better picture of the ministry they have been a part of.
They have a good VBS series that they have been doing the ends with a really good salvation message. It has been effective and God is using this to really impact the kids in these villages.
There is also a Womens bible study that Erica, Amanda and Christin have been leading. There has been a good group of women coming from the village and the girls are doing a great job leading this study.
Amanda was also able to help out a guy in Santa Rosa that had a bad cut. She spent some time talking with him as she cared for his wound. It was a blessing that God had her there to be able to care for both his physical and spiritual needs.
The guys helped a lady in her field and they were able to use their machetes too! I don't know all the details but they can fill you in more later.
The team has had great unity and God is using that to help encourage the team as they minister to one another. The team has also been very healthy, every once in a while someone will get a little sick but prayer has quickly turned that around!
There was a baby(3-4 months old) with a cleft pallet who was very malnourished. The team was very touched and took up an offering to send the child to the city for treatment. This will likely allow the child to live since many children with this condition don't live very long if it is untreated.
The guys have all preached at least once and some have preached multiple times. Good job guys!
Other than that they have generally had great conversations with people about christ. the team has as well really blessed the church and have challenged them to reach out to those around them even when the team isn't around. The boat drivers are as well going hut to hut with them and that has been an encouragement for both the team and the boat drivers.
Praise the Lord the connection was better on the satellite phone today. when i talked to Kelli she was excited about how the team is doing and how the Lord is using them. They are leaving Roca Fuerte today and moving on to Santa Rosa.
Everyone on the team is healthy and doing well. Changing locations every few days has been hard for some of the team members. The constant developing of relationships and then leaving has been hard emotionally for them. Pray that they would continue to press into these relationships even though they may only know them for a few days.
Kelli is going to relay some more personal stories the next time she can call in. hopefully we can get those up on the blog soon. I know they have alot going on there but i also know that everyone that is reading this would love to hear some more specifics. I will do my best to get some more into as soon as I can but for now know that all is well and pray that God would be glorified as they poor out day after day!
