What a blessing as we made it safely to the boat and we all are ready to begin this wonderful mission of serving for the lord.

After introductions, we unpacked all of our care packages, medications, glasses, and treats that were to be given away. We took our large bottles of medications and separated them into smaller portion sizes. We have quite the work group who know what they are doing and getting their work done in record time.

What a wonderful group of Christians that we have on board. Some are serving for their 30th trip, some serving on their 1st time. Come old and young, we are all here to serve for the lord and to spread the word.

Before turning in for the night, many of us went for a walk up to Sao Sebastiao. It was bustling with activity, as all come out at night. Interesting fact—To gain village status, the people had to build a church in honor of Saint Sebastian. A statue of St. Sebastian stands as tied to a post and shot with arrows. He was killed by arrows for converting his fellow Roman soldiers to Christianity.

As Judy Grant says, `Be Happy.` We started the day with a wonderful devotion about how our bodies were made for music and singing. Over 400 times it is mentioned in the bible to sing, and to sing loudly. Singing helps us express our love and praise for God. In summary, know that God meets you where you are. He just wants you in his presence as he surrounds himself with the angelic choirs. Amen

What a blessing it was to serve 93 individuals and perform 24 dental procedures on our 1st day of ministry at the village of Bucusal. We treated their ailments and gave them medications as needed. All received sunglasses and those that needed them received reading glasses. It was so enjoyable to watch their eyes light up when they could now read. The children were excited to receive a balloon character from Judy as they entered the boat and a toy from Tammy and Mark as they exited the boat.

An interesting fact about the area—it has just been in the last few years that they received full time electricity. Up until then, they had electricity only from 6-9pm, where they would watch the news and their soap operas.

We again started our day with a devotion by Judy. We talked about where music originated. Music was around before Adam and Eve. Music is a gift to us, internally and externally. 1 Corinthians 14`15 tells us to sing with our spirit and with our mind. Some say music is as necessary as food and water. In conclusion, sing everyday knowing God is the Master Musician.

Today we visited the village of Sol Nascente, `the rising of the sun.` We were able to bless 110 village members and complete 19 dental procedures. What a blessing for all.

After treating the village members, Earl took us by motorcycle cart on a 3 mile ride to their 100 acre orchard. The mission has planted 500 Graviola trees and 500 Koopwasu trees. This is the 1st year that the trees have harvested a fruit. The fruit is picked and then taken by boat to the brand new juice factory. It is then processed, put into bags, and prepared to sell.

What a glorious day God has given us as many were up to see the magnificent sunrise this morning. It was truly spectacular.

Merle Franks gave a wonderful devotion today on Grace. The biblical definition states Grace is undeserved favor, it cannot be earned, and it is given freely by God. Grace was 1st mentioned in the bible in Genesis 3. It is God’s grace that keeps us from continually living in sin. The question to ask yourself, `how do you show Grace to others?` I believe the closer you get to God, the more genuine that Grace is. We all can work on that!!!

This afternoon at 4 pm, we all attended the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Juice factory. We were given a tour of the factory, shown how the process works, and ended with yummy snacks and juice. In all, about 80 were in attendance for this momentous event.

The evening ended on a gorious note with us all attending church on Sol Nascente. We sang, we listened to wonderful messages, we made our offerings and ended with communion. After church, the village offered us beef and rice for dinner. What a wonderful day spreading The Lords word.

We ended up treating 110 village members and seeing 19 dental patients.

What kind of cell are you? Dr. Woody spoke a wonderful devotion this morning comparing the physical body to the church body. The physical body needs all of its parts in order to function properly. The muscles or heart can’t decide to not just work 1 day because they are tired. What a disaster that would be for you. The same goes for the church body. God has structured the church with all of its parts working together. We all must be doing what God called us to do in order to fulfill His mission. Are you doing your part?

Today we visited the beautiful village of Paroisa, Land of Paradise. You walk up these steep steps to a landing and have this beautiful view in all directions. We were blessed in being able to treat 73 village members and performed 17 dental procedures. The children here are absolutely gorgeous!!

To end the evening we traveled to the village of Divino. Many swam in the river, cannonballed off the boat and just relaxed in the cool refreshing water. Others hiked up the steep hill to check out the village and beautiful catholic church.

I have seen some of the most beautiful scenery here! Sunsets and sunrises are simply spectacular.

A few went out this morning to try to catch some early morning fish. No fish!!

Our daily devotion was given by Mark Lewis. As Christians, we know how important it is to love God. But do we love our neighbor as though we love God? Our neighbors should know that we are Christians by our love, by our actions. As Christians, we should love our immediate neighbor just as much as we love someone in another country. To sum it up, 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verse 13 says it beautifully, `And now these 3 remain, faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.

We stayed at the village of Divino and treated the rest of the villagers. 66 members and 7 dental patients.

We then traveled to our next village of Batista, where we treated 73 village members and 2 dental patients. It was a beautiful day meeting all these amazing families. Our oldest was 90 years old. She arrived on a boat and walked right up the steep hill like she was a 50 year old. What a blessing.

A few ended the night going out on a late evening alligator hunt. They spotted a few in the distance.

Are you a Mary or a Martha? Tammy Lewis gave our devotion this morning on the verses Luke 10’38-42. Are you a Martha who always focuses on the details and never stops to smell the roses or are you a Mary who will sit at the feet of Jesus and just be? We can be both of these people, as long as we always do everything for the glory of God. Psalms 46’10 says Be still and know that I am God.

The 1st village of the day is Adventista. We started our morning with a very serious burn victim. He is 5 years old and he had a boiling pot of bananas spill onto his leg. He had a severe burn to his leg. The team was amazing in getting him urgent care, antibiotics, and Tylenol for the pain. We gathered him supplies for his mom to do dressing changes on it for the next 2 weeks. It absolutely was a God thing in us arriving today. Poor baby had a 104 degree fever. Within 48 hours, he would have probably have been septic and the outcome may have not been good. Great job team!!

We were busy in this village most of the day. In all, we treated 76 villagers and saw 17 dental patients. The people are just so thankful for everything we do for them. Thankful for the reading glasses, sunglasses, medicine, toiletries, and toys for the kids. It truly is our pleasure to treat them.

The men finished the evening with some euchre playing and the women/girls played UNO.

We arrived at the village of Santo Antonio last evening about 5 pm. Lots of activity at this village. Bike riding, volleyball game, kids playing, adults sitting around laughing… The kids were so excited to see our boat arrive and blow our horn.

Dr. Woody gave our devotion this morning. He talked about how our faith is microscopic sometimes. We put God in the backseat when things are going well. Instead, we need to show more joy in our daily trials. We need to be more thankful for our daily blessings. Have the faith of a watermelon as we continue to grow in Him.

It was a full day here at Santo Antonio. We treated all morning, had a quick lunch, and then a full afternoon. Many large families here. Unfortunately, we have run out of sunglasses and a lot of medicine. We gave the families all that we had and they were thankful. In all, we treated 120 village members and saw 26 dental patients. Whew, our feet are hurting!!

We have finished our time of treatment. We have been very busy the last few days. In all, we treated 603 villagers, saw 111 dental patients, performing 142 procedures, and gave out 109 pair of reading glasses. We must start our trek back. What a blessing we have been to so many villagers, and even more so, they have been a blessing to all of us. If you didn’t before, we all should thank our Lord above for all that he has given us. We truly don’t know how lucky/blessed we are to live in the USA. I hope we all go back home and remember our time here, together, and with these amazing Brazilians. As Dr. Woody says, show more joy in our trials and more thankfulness in our daily blessings.

To our new friends, Earl, Dr. Woody, Merle, Mark, Tammy, Dana, Michele, Judy, Maddie and Olivia, it has truly been our pleasure and honor to work along side you! We will never forget you all, the brazilian village members, this boat and crew, and this trip in whole!! The Bible says to serve and to give to others less fortunate. What we get from doing those things, is beyond measure! Until next time friends, God Bless You All!

With love, Tim and Michelle Gierke