Happy Election Day from Brazil, everyone! It’s a bit weird not being in the U.S. right now. Just remember that no matter who wins, Jesus is still on the throne.
I feel like I haven’t updated you in a long time, even though it has only been about a week I think. We have spent the last week and a half in Manaus, Brazil. We had our second debrief with the entire squad and spent some great time relaxing and getting geared up for the next few months again. We also had our normal one-on-one meetings, team debriefs, and inner healing sessions. Chris and Darla, our squad coaches, came out to this debrief, as well. Our teams stayed the same, so I will be with the same girls you all know until at least Christmas.
My team and I won the lip sync competition as NSYNC with “Bye Bye Bye” (don’t worry, the dance will be shown in a future video) and then we headed off for a two-day adventure in the Amazon.
One of our teams made a contact with a company run by Christians, and we really wanted an adventure, so we used personal money to head out with that contact into the Amazon and fish for piranhas, hunt caiman (only to find them, not to actually hunt them), dolphin watch, and hike through the rainforest.
I caught four piranhas and two sardines (impostors) and then we cooked up our catch for dinner. They tasted a lot like chicken! What an incredible experience!!
Then we found a little caiman so we could all hold her. We named her Nancy. Fun fact: caiman are found in South America, crocodiles in Australia, and alligators in the United States. They are all of the same family, but differ in mouth size and shape. They are prehistoric animals from before the dinosaur age, and they often live well over 100 years. They also do not have tongues.
We also went dolphin watching. They were everywhere! Here in the Amazon there are little grey dolphins and big pink dolphins. The grey ones are cute and friendly, but the pink ones are ugly and aggressive. The pink ones don’t even have a dorsal fin. They’re quite alien-looking, in my opinion. But it was still amazing to see them. I screenshotted my video of a grey one below:
There are also bull sharks in the Amazon, which is why most people don’t swim. But, we are not most people. And, spur of the moment, we decided to jump into the Amazon River. I did it just to say I did it. Whoop!
This was by far the coolest adventure we have had since coming on the World Race. I am so grateful to have had this opportunity!
And here are some of the photos I couldn’t upload last time.
This is when I spoke at the Amazonian village.
This is from the huge conference we went to with people from all over Brazil. This session is from the youth conference where they all held their chairs up in the air to symbolize that they are no longer going to sit down but they are going to stand and fight for the kingdom of God.
And here are some pictures from boating the Amazon.
We will be doing this again for the next nine days. We are taking a six-day boat to a border town in Peru and then probably another three-day boat to Iquitos, Peru. I am leading Bible studies on the boat, and throughout all this boat travel we have been able to delve into ministry with each other. We also make friendships with people on the boats and continue to be open to whoever God wants us to touch. This is how ministry should be every day, regardless of where we are or what we are doing.
We will be continuing on with expedition work until Ecuador, so I can’t wait to send you the stories about all that God continues to do. As of right now, I believe we will spend Thanksgiving in Iquitos with the whole squad and then move on to work with hosts in Ecuador.
Another update is that I was made the treasurer of our team. This has been growing me in a lot of ways because I am neither fond of it nor do I have any desire to do it. You cannot lead until you serve, and I know that it is a way that God wants me to serve my team from the bottom up. It will take a lot of time and sacrifice, and I may have to make fewer videos, as well.
Overall God is moving in many ways and time is continuing to fly by. Here are some prayer requests for my team and me:
-That travel is safe and that we are content under circumstances that can be rather draining sometimes.
-That God continues to do miracles and that He leads us to men and women of peace in these cities.
-That our team continues to bond and we continue to delve deeper into how God wants to grow each of us.
-That we are open to all that God has for us.
-Please pray I continue to let God mold me the way He wants, whether that is being a treasurer or anything else He has in store for me.
-Pray that my team and I become better at resting. We not only need to physically rest, but we need to rest spiritually, as well. This is something we are working on.
I also embedded the videos I have uploaded since the last time I had good enough Internet to send them in a blog. I hope they give you a much better picture of expedition work and the ministry we have been doing.
I love you all and thank you, times a million, for all of the prayers and love you tirelessly send my way.
With a hug from Brazil,
Tera
