Great time in Dominguinho and on the move!

Dominguinho has turned out to be an incredible expression of God's grace to this old community on the Lago Grande de Manacapuru (the Big Manacapuru Lake) and a great start toward the establishment of a New Testament church.  During the time of house to house visitation as well as during the worship services at night, 42 people gave testimony that they had met Jesus Christ as Savior for the first time.  One incredible blessing is that among the translators for our team is the pastor of a significant Baptist church in Manaus.  He plans to return and organize his church to begin to disciple these new believers.  Amazon Vision will undergird this effort, constantly praying that the Lord would fulfill the potential evidenced by these new believers.  Won't you join us in this prayer effort?

The medical team was very active in Dominguinho with over 140 patients treated; the dental team was able to work with over 30 patients.  This demonstration of the love of Christ in the village was undoubtedly used by the Lord to prepare hearts for the good news that was proclaimed in the services.  

The team leaves this evening and will travel by night toward the northeast.  Their next port of call will be where the Lake begins.  We will publish the name of the village and the initial results as we recieve news from this great team led by Westside Baptist Church.

First Team of the Year on the River!

Westside Baptist, Gainesville, Florida team on the river
Look on the map.  See Dominguinho?  Dominguiho is situtated on the Big Lake (Lago Grande) of the Manacapuru River, one of the tributaries that contributes to the western Amazon Basin.  A great team of doctors, dentists, nurses and evangelists (both laypeople and ministers) are currently working in Dominguinho.  They arrived yesterday   The afternoon schedule was compromised by torrential downpours that are happening right now.  Pray that the Lord would give them grace today to share with all the homes and in the worship service that will happen tonight.

(( AVM & YOU ))

AVM is Celebrating 10 years of Ministry in the Amazon and it is with great joy that we invite YOU to join us for a day of thanksgiving, great memories and inspiring moments for the future!

Come and share these moments with us!

This coming Friday...

What? Open Door Banquet

Where? Westside Baptist Church, Gainesville - FL

When? Friday, Feb 24

Time? 6:15pm
With? Dr. John Sullivan

Free to attend --Please RSVP.

We will wait for you!!! :)

Sarah Castro

Amazon, Brazil. 

IT'S JUST THE BEGINNING

AVM Moments

Westside Church on Missions Again! :)

It's coming the time to go back to the river! 

AVM had a blessed year in 2011 and we are so ready to continue to pursuit God's will and His kingdom in the Amazon. 

We are blessed to serve along side the Amazon Baptist Convention and many of it's pastors. It has been an honor to be blessed by their service and serve the Lord with them. We celebrate their life and effort! Please support these men and their families through your prayers.
Our first team of the year, lead by Bill Lassiler, is coming out of Westside Baptist Church in Gainesville, FL. We are going to Manacapuru Lake, an area where we have found great needs and communities with no work what so ever. They have about 52 communities of which 16 of those have no work. Dominguinhos is a community with 90 people approximately and there are 2 other communities close by in great need as well. Most them call themselves Catholic, but they are not very involved with the religion. We have one lady (believer) from Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais State working in those areas with the support of different churches trying to start a work there in. Gi (her name) is a dentist and is living in Santa Luzia (Baruá) close to dominguinhos e she goes back and forth to 4 communities.  Some of the people in the area have attended bible studies, but very few have surrendered their lives to Jesus. I believe our week in the lake can have great impact in the lives of the people there.


This team is coming to do evangelism, discipleship, VBS with the kids, and their are also bringing medical and dental clinics. We are praying that God will prepare these 3 communities to hear the truth of Jesus Christ and that they would want to have a true and close relationship with their Creator. 


It is time to pray:

1.      Please pray for Pr Francisco and his family– the community leader you will be working with.  

2.      Pray for Gi, the young lady who has been working to start a ministry in the area.

3.      Pray for the people we will be in contact with. A couple of weeks before you arrive at the community, Carnaval Festival will take place. Carnaval is a BIG party in Brasil, the whole country stops for this party that is similar to Mardi Guas. There is much drinking, smoking, drug use, unexpected pregnancies, etc. So pray that when we arrive people will be ready to hear of a Savior who will give them more joy than any party/material things in the world.

4.      Pray for Christians among the area to rise up to disciple those who will give their lives to Jesus. 

Its been a joy to be a part of the AVM family and to follow God through this ministry. Stay connected!

Blessings,

Sarah Castro

Amazon, Brazil

== News from Manaus ==

It's been a while since I have posted on our blog!
I hope you all have been well...
I write you today with a few updates on our ministry and news for 2012!
We had a couple of changes in the ministry and we are now moving forward and planning an amazing year of ministry.


Translators are very anxious for our great beginning of 2012!


We have reserved our boat for the year and its called TUCUNA - we are praying for God's leadership and protection upon us and our crew. 

              I know you want to see it, so please visit 

http://www.amazonnemo.com.br/pt/barco-hotel/index.php?var=tucuna

Our trip calendar you will find on are website www.amazonvisionministries.com under "Resources". Please notice the open dates and if you interested in leading a team contact us. Also, if you are desiring to come but your church is not coming, let me know as well and maybe we can plug you in one of our teams! :)

If you are on facebook follow us at: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=51914987232 There you can leave comments on our wall, ask questions, post pictures from your past trip and interact with others that have been to the Amazon or are coming sometime. 

We are also on twitter: @AVM_BRAZIL

Stay connected and let 2012 come -- We are SO ready!

Blessings,

Sarah Castro

Amazon, Brazil.

sarah@avmbrazil.com

PALM BEACH ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY

Upon reflection of the trip I truly feel honored to have served the Lord and also very blessed to have met so many wonderful people. From patients to our mission families and translators on the boat, sailing down the Amazon River was an amazing experience and one I will never forget for the rest of my life.

...says Alba Medrano a team member from PBA - May 2011.

During their days in the Amazon they were able to visit three main communities being Trincheira, Darawuba e Careiro da Varsea. This team was in the Amazon for the first time in 2010 and they did an amazing job evangelizing and providing social assistance to the river people.

Most team members from their first trip came back in 2011 and it was an awesome trip. This trip was led by Angela Clauson and Marco Correa. They were able to assist over 300 people, had several activities for the kids in the community and Evangelized the areas they were able to reach.

Alba medrano was here for the first time this summer and she says that..

"Being born in another country other than the US, I definitely feel honored to serve those that we have met, because they remind me of what my own family has lived. We were only at the 3 sites for a few days, but in those days I feel like the world stopped leaving us, them, and the Lord guiding us to heal both medically and s

piritually. It is very fulfilling to use a gift that we have been given to help others.

Another thing that I remember that always brings a smile to my face is the children.

The children and babies I encountered during this trip were absolutely beautiful. Having a 2 ½ year old brother, it was great to spend time with them, whether it was playing with beach balls/jump ropes or thru sharing the Bible with them it was always refreshing to spend time with them. A child’s face always offers a symbol of hope and of happiness.

I know that I cannot change the life of people with just a few days, but I know that we can make a difference. With this mission trip, I know that my faith is strengthened and that my passion for the mission field has grown. I hope that the Lord is with me in my life so that I can once again be privileged to meet other brothers and sisters of ours that need our help, not only medically, but spiritually, and in all aspects of life."

[[ That is her story... come write your own! :) ]]

Please pray for people and leaders in Careiro da Varzea.

Living it,

Sarah Castro

AVM Missions Coordinator

Amazon, Brazil.

[[ Summer -- BUSY BUSY! ]]

What an amazing summer so far!!!

I am sorry for the lack of updates on our blog for the past couple of months, but we had several teams here in the Amazon and things got very busy - and we Praise God for that! :)

The next few posts will be retrospective of our summer, when I will share with you some of the great and at times tough things that happened with the teams we had this season.

We very grateful for what God has done and will continue to do this year through this ministry.

Please, do not cease to pray for us:

Pray for:

1. Lost in the Amazon

2. Our local leaders

3. AVM leadership and Board

4. Volunteers - that God will continue to call people to come!

5. Resources

You can adopt our ministry as well with any amount per monthy, see:

https://www.egsnetwork.com/gift/gift.php

More is to come... Go on a summer journey with us!

Sarah Castro

AVM Missions Coordinator

Manaus, Amazon - Brasil