Well here I am in Manaus, Brazil. We've been here for almost 3 weeks now, and I have fully enjoyed every day so far. Our main focus is still the orphanage, which is about a ten minute walk from where we're staying. It's so green here-- truly how I pictured the Amazon, except there are less monkeys and wild, ferocious animals, at least that we can see. Sometimes you can hear them at night.
Anyway, the kids are amazing. Even though we can't really speak to each other, they have welcomed us with open arms and hearts. The oldest is 15 or 16, youngest being a little over a year old. We usually spend time there every day either in the morning or afternoons. With the Christmas and New Years season, a lot of the staff and volunteers have left town, so some nights we've stayed over to help the few that are still around. They are wonderful people. Words just can't describe!
Tomorrow we are leaving to go on a 10 day boat trip down the river. As far as we know, it will take us a while to get to the village we'll be staying with, and our trip is focused on building a church for them (not sure what that will be like!). Our new friends who are on staff here, Josiah and Megan, (Alabamians!) are coming with us for a few days and possibly taking us gator hunting. What an excitement that will be! The sleeping arrangements for the trip consist of our newly purchased hammocks (mine is black and pink and somewhat resembles lingerie...) which will be set up on the boat somewhere. It's quite fun not really knowing what we'll be doing in detail. That's basically how our whole trip has been; it's a bit stretching at times, but I've really enjoyed it.
I'm not too nervous about being in the jungle now. We went the other day to visit the family of a couple on staff and it was so fun! We thankfully had a boat and didn't have to walk as far as expected (the river here has been down for the last several months- we are now entering the rainy season) though I still got some gnarly (our official outreach word) blisters from my flip flops. It was a muddy trek, we had it splattered all over us, but we enjoyed an afternoon at their home. We had delicious coffee, popcorn, chicken & rice and beans for lunch, took naps (this is mandatory in Brazilian culture) and then trekked back to the boat, stopping for a swim in the creek. Seriously, this is my life! What a blessing it is.
I'd love to sit here and type more stories and details for you, but I must pass on the computer for someone else to use. I'll have much to tell once we're back & tons of pictures to share. Be ready!
Some prayer requests:
Safety for our team as we venture into the Amazon jungle
For my friend Cat's health
For grace with the language barrier
and for all the awesome kids at the orphanage: that they would feel and know the love of Christ through our team and through the workers there, and enjoy the life that they have been given.
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