Photos from Joel

We have been going to the Amazon since 2005. We always fly into Manaus, in the state of Amazonas. The first year, we wend to the village of Prego. In 2006, there werre enough people to minister to two villages: Boca do Jari & Prego. In 2007, we went to Lauro Sodre. This year we'll be in Barro Alto. Click on the map and explore the Amazon.

View River Reachers Previous Destinations in a larger map

Weather

noreply@blogger.com (Chicken Bog) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 18:49:42 PDT

Greenville and Manaus have very different weather. Greenville has four seasons: spring, summer, fall, & winter. Manaus has two seasons: rainy & dry. On the precipitation graph below, it’s easy to see rainy & dry.

It’s also easy to see that Greenville can get as hot as Manaus, but not all the time.

Data source is WeatherBase.com

40 Days of Prayer

noreply@blogger.com (Kirk E. Houston) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:12:09 PDT

Hi everyone;

Would you like to join us on our trip to Brazil? Unfortunately, we have no further spaces available aboard the riverboat Turimna, but you can certainly be a part of the team. Our desire is to blanket this trip in prayer. Please take a few minutes daily to remember the team and lift us up in unison with many other prayer warriors. It will be exciting to see what God will do!

]40 DAYS of PRAYER

Day 40 9/9/2009
REV 20:1-3(a) And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended.
Prayer: Lord, protect us from the evil one! Bind the efforts of Satan to thwart the work you will accomplish though this team on this trip.

Day 39 9/10
ISA 54:16-17 “See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to work havoc; no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the Lord.
Prayer: Lord, remind us no weapon forged against us will prevail!

Day 38 9/11
ISA 55:6-9 Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways”, declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Prayer: Lord, help us not to forget who is in control, and help us to seek you with our whole hearts.
Day 37 9/12
ISA 55: 10-11 “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

Prayer: Lord, we praise you because your word goes out and does not return empty or void. Help us to proclaim the word with boldness and passion.

Day 36 9/13
ISA 55:12 “You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.”
Prayer: Lord, surround us with your joy and peace, remind us of your presence when we go astray.

Day 35 9/14
PHI 1:9-11 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ-to the glory and praise of God.

Prayer: Lord, bless this team with love, knowledge and insight and help us strive to be pure and blameless.
Day 34 9/15
EPH 3:14-19 For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Prayer: Lord, strengthen this team through the power of your Spirit and remind us of the depth of your love.

Day 33 9/16
PS 51:1-2 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
Prayer: Lord, do not allow us to be stumbling blocks. Remind us to stay focused, confess and pray that we will have a clear vision.

Day 32 9/17
PS 51:16-17 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Prayer: Lord, break our “spirit” so that we may be yielded completely to you. Prepare our hearts to be used by you.

Day 31 9/18
EPH 6:11-12 put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Prayer: Lord, as you lead, remind us of who is opposing us and prepare us to take a stand protected by your and your strength.

Day 30 9/19
1TH 5:17 Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus
Prayer: Lord, remind us to be in a constant attitude of prayer for those we will encounter and help us to realize God wants us to proclaim the good news to all who will listen.

Day 29 9/20
PHI 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think whatever about such things.
Prayer: Lord with a world full of distractions, concerns, and seemingly insurmountable obstacles, help us to focus on you.

Day 28 9/21
COL 3:12-14 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Prayer: Lord, give this team unity based on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
Day 27 9/22
II TIM 2:2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.
Prayer: Lord, bless our efforts at witnessing and provide others to disciple after we are gone.

Day 26 9/23
JAM 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
Prayer: Lord, give us wisdom.

Day 25 9/24
PS 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Prayer: Lord, remind us that fear is not from you and you are with us every step of the way.

Day 24 9/25
II COR 3:2-5 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.
Prayer: Lord, we are incompetent in ourselves. Remind us our sufficiency comes from you alone. Remind us we (alone) are no match for satan, but he is no match for Christ.

Day 23 9/26
PS 118:8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man, it is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.
Prayer: Lord, help us to place our trust where it belongs.

Day 22 9/27
John 8:8-11 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
Prayer: Lord, help us not to condemn, but to love, according to your example.

Day 21 9/28
John 1:1-5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for the Word and thank you for the light. Help many in Brazil to see the light.

Day 20 9/29
I COR 1:22-25 Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.
Prayer: Lord use us to share the light with those you have called.

Day 19 9/30
I Samuel 17:45: David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.”

Prayer: Lord, help us not to attempt to operate in my own strength.

Day 18 10/1
Ps: 19:14: May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in you sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Prayer: Lord, may all we do bring glory to you, may you be pleased with our words, thoughts and deeds.

Day 17 10/2
2 Cor 1:3-4: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

Prayer: Lord, remind us you are the God of compassion and comfort. Use us to minister to a people who have been recently ravaged by river waters higher than they have been in 50 years.

Day 16 10/3
Ps: 20:4 May He give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.

Prayer: Lord, please place appropriate desires in our hearts. When our hearts are like yours, grand us success in all we plan and do.

Day 15 10/4

2 Cor. 10:3-4: For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

Prayer: Lord, remind us we are not of this world. Demolish strongholds that could be in our way.

Day 14 10/5

Ps: 20:7Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

Prayer: Lord, please make sure our trust and our faith is in you and you alone.

Day 13 10/6

John 20:29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Prayer: Lord, open the eyes of those who need to believe.

Day 12 10/7

Matthew 5:14-16 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your father in heaven.”

Prayer: Lord, shine through us and help us to be a light.

Day 11 10/8

Matthew 10:32 “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.”

Prayer: Lord, help us to witness faithfully, whatever the cost.

Day 10 10/9

Rom 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Prayer: Lord, remind us, it’s all good when you are in control and you are always in control. Help us to be yielded to you.

Day 9 10/10

Matthew 10:20 For it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

Prayer: Lord, allow your Spirit to fall fresh on us. Do not let us miss any witnessing opportunity. Thank you for enabling us to witness boldly.

Day 8 10/11

Acts 4:20 “For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard”

Prayer: Lord, grant us spiritual compulsion and boldness to share the gospel.

Day 7 10/12

Rev. 5:9 And they sang a new song; “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.”

Prayer: Lord, help us to remember your blood was not shed for just a select people, but for those from every tribe, language, people and nations.

Day 6 10/13

Ps. 46:1-3 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.

Prayer: Lord, remind us you and you alone are our refuge and strength.

Day 5 10/14

Ps. 91:14-16 “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

Prayer: Lord, thank you for these promises and answering when we call.

Day 5 10/15

Mark 9:35-36 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”

Prayer: Lord, bless our ministry to the children and help us to be willing servants.

Day 4 10/16

Ps. 51:7-13 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.

Prayer: Create in me a pure heart, O God.

Day 3 10/17

John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Prayer: Lord, help us to share Jesus is the way!

Day 2 10/18

Matt. 13:23 But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.

Prayer: Lord, bless the seeds that fell on good soil

Day 1 10/19

John 12:28a: Father, glorify your name.

Prayer: Through all that was said and done on this trip, glorify your name.

[i]

Our Destination

noreply@blogger.com (Chicken Bog) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 09:46:03 PDT

Our destination for 2009 is the villages of Barro Alto and Janawaca in the state of Amazonas Brazil. You can see Manaus and Barro Alto (pronounced Baho Alto) on the map below. Janawaca is not on the map. Click on the map to enlarge it and zoom in. In Manaus, the Negro River & the Solimões rivers come together to form the main Amazon River.

On Oct 7, we’ll fly to Atlanta then nonstop to Manaus. Once there, we’ll get on the boat provided by AVM and go up the Solimões river to Barro Alto. We will arrive back here on Oct 17th.

View RiverReachers 2009 in a larger map

AVM

noreply@blogger.com (Chicken Bog) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 15:31:29 PDT

When we go on mission to the Amazon, it’s very different than going to somewhere local, like Maine or West Virginia. It would be practically impossible for us in South Carolina to arrange for a place to stay, food, translators, transportation in a place like the Amazon. We work with a group called Amazon Vision Ministries to arrange these things. Their mission is to carry the Hope of Christ to the Ribeirinho People of the Amazon River Basin. They are partnered with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board, the Amazonas Baptist Convention, and the Brazilian Baptist Convention. AVM provides resources to short term missionaries like: a boat for housing and transportation, a boat crew and captain, three meals a day, translators, and a destination.

Click here to learn more about AVM

Chief Shoefoot

noreply@blogger.com (Chicken Bog) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 09:20:04 PDT

I came across a podcast by James Dobson of Focus on the Family that I thought would be interesting and put things in perspective. There are two podcasts containing an interview of an shaman (medicine man) from a tribe of Yanomamo Indians and how he came to know Christ. I remember studying about the Yanmamo people in high school social studies class. The tribe lives about 500 miles northwest of Manaus, on the border with Venezuela. This interview provides a unique insite in to the spiritual condition of the indians in Brazil.

Follow the links below to listen live and find out more about the interview.
Listen to The One True God (Part 1 of 2)
Listen to The One True God (Part 2 of 2)

Download an mp3 (Part 1 of 2)
Download an mp3 (Part 2 of 2)