With a mixed crew from Jacksonville, St Louis and Richmond, we landed in Manus in the early morning hours on July 13th. Thankfully, all 23 bags arrived from Orlando and another 4 from St. Louis with Dr. Jim. We quickly made it through customs and jumped on the bus for the 30 minute bus ride to the boat. During this ride Earl quickly gave an overview of the next few days and was gracious enough to allow us to sleep in on the first day. We had a 18 hour trip up to the first village, but first we needed to stop in San Sebastian to pick up a few more crew members. Today we organized all of the medicine down below and counted out vitamins and other medicine into individual bags. We enjoyed the beautiful views of the Amazon and quickly began to know our fellow team mates.

July 14th- Devotional- The Lost Coin Parable

CBM mission is to make disciples, make more disciples and make even more disciples. We arrived in village of Arara and were greeted with smiles and laughter by the villagers. You could see the joy in eyes as we treated each of them and played with the children. It is easy to see how these children need little to make them happy. We treated 77 people that day including 17 in the dentist and 11 haircuts. Today highlight was we got to see Pink Dolphins which I am told are not as friendly or as big as the gray dolphins. This was my favorite day because the children were so loving and happy.

July 15t-h Devotional- The Parable of the Rich Fool

When we have noticed Greed we have moved away from the message and we must dive back into the Word Daily. Worrying is the thief of Joy. Clearly these villages have very little and learn to live a happy life. Each village we have visited has both a church and a school, along with houses, sheds, water collectors. They have learned to survive on the bare minimum. I can imagine they have little greed when sharing what little they have. Total we treated 63 patients in the villages of Leandro Grande and Bom Jesus. This included 21 dental visits and 36 procedures.

July 16th Devotional Jesus Calms the Storm

During the storm the disciples had little Faith in Jesus. As with the disciples we will often doubt Jesus but we must stand firm in our Faith. It is easy to see how much faith they have in CBM and Jesus. Today we visited 59 people in the villages of Abacate and Santa Luuzia. We jumped in the Amazon and that was on my bucket list- do it if you come on this trip! Lunch and dinner typically consisted of pasta, rice and beans, a meat dish, chicken or fish. With dessert usually banana pudding, chocolate cake and lots of Brazil cookies! Almost daily we were surprised with a smoothie of avocado, banana or fresh juice.

July 17th- Parable of Samaritan Women

Today was a awesome day. We visited the villages of Monte D. Oliveras and Caribi. In total we saw 114 people and performed 20 procedures. This was a special day because we got to go to Church that evening in the village of Caribi. It was so fun to worship and dance with the families that we treated. You could see the join their eyes when we hugged them tightly.

July 18th- Jesus Questioned about Fasting

Within this parable the Old Fabric represents the Old Testament of who God was and that we cannot remove sin on our own. The New Fabric represents the New Testament where Jesus frees us from our sins. Today Earl told us a little bit more about the family structure in the Amazon region. It was actually very sad and tugged at all of our hearts. These children don’t really know true love and intimacy. They have been barely hugged their wholes lives and to be touched by us was such joy to them. Within the family when a boy reaches manhood (13ish) he is told to go out and be a man. On the flip side when girls hit puberty they are protected as much as possible by their families. Sadly, when the sun goes down and it is dark out- things happen and in most of the villages the girls become pregnant at a young age. Once they have one baby with a man usually, they will continue to have children with this same man. They do not have multiple baby daddies like in the US. In one village one woman had six children by the time she was 20 and had many more after that.

July 19th- The Parable of the Tenants

In this parable the vineyard represents the people of God and the servants are prophets that God sent to obey. God has done everything for our salvation. It is our job as missionaries to show these people how to obey God and trust him in all situations both good and bad. Between both July 18 and 19th we treated 161 patients in the villages of Livramento and Jacarequara.

July 20th- We took the day to tour the greenhouse, drop off some of the crew and learn more about the history of CBM. We also took an inventory of what medicines are needed for the next trip. Many of us ended the day reading or playing UNO- which the Brazil crewmembers cheat at so beware of the UNO games!!

July 21st- Today we awoke to see the cool Meeting of the Waters- two-toned confluence of two massive Amazon tributaries. Here the dark water of the Rio-Negro meet the sandy upper Rio Solimoes. They run along each other for four miles forming a boundary visible from space. Very Cool!

As we end this trip I am reminded of how much God loves us, protects us and has his hand in every moment of our day. I am so blessed to have attended this missionary for the second time and can’t wait to return in a few years. Thank you Earl and Crew! We love and Pray for you Daily. Amy Macey Creekside Christian Church, Jacksonville, Florida.

Mark 16 Go into all the World and Preach the Gospel to all Creation