What an amazing experience with our Rolling Hills Mission Team serving Jesus in Brazil for the past week! It has been such a joy to serve our God in villages along the Amazon River with Justice & Mercy Amazon. I am writing this on the plane as we are flying out of Manaus and back to the United States. Our entire team is so full of love and joy after seeing God’s amazing work this week in the lives of so many. I feel like we have left part of our hearts in this beautiful place and with these amazing fellow servants and river people that we all love.
Through Justice & Mercy, we are blessed to have our own boat on the Amazon. Our boat is called the Splendor, and by God’s grace, we were able to build it specifically for mission trips. Last Spring Break, I was able to serve with my family on the inaugural mission trip of the Splendor. It was so great to be back again. We sleep in hammocks on the boat at night and wake up in a different village each day. In the villages, we run medical and dental clinics, and children’s camps, give out food bags and clothes as well as make home visits. It is a full day of ministry in multiple villages throughout the vast Amazon region.
What I love so much about this is that we are able to go to the villages of the pastors who we serve at our annual Jungle Pastor’s Conferences. For the past 10 years, we have hosted two Pastor’s Conferences a year at our Conference Center in the Amazon. It is an incredible time of teaching, encouragement, and respite for pastors and their wives from all over the jungle. I have been so encouraged to be a part of serving and leading at these special times each year.
Now, on the boat Mission Trip, we go to serve in the villages of some of the pastors from our conference. How special! The pastors and their wives are always so excited when we come. They know the sick, the needy, the widows, the special needs families, and all those who need help. The villages are so poor, and yet so generous and filled with joy. These pastors, their wives, and churches serve alongside us and you can truly feel a little piece of heaven. After hot days filled with amazing ministry with adults and children, we fill their church with worship and praise to our great God.
So much stands out to me from this past week, but first I think about serving with my family. Lisa, my wife, is amazing at leading the kids in the villages and she is so encouraging to the pastor’s wives. Also, serving alongside my children Grace (last year), and Mabry and Kate for both years is truly a dream come true. Seeing them use their spiritual gifts, pray, lead, and serve overflows my heart with joy. In addition, our entire Rolling Hills team was amazing. Everyone uses their gifts and serves with all their heart. No one complained and all of us are leaving changed. Then, serving with our Brazilian JMA Staff Team, translators, cooks, crew, doctors, nurses, and more. All of these are Christ-followers and many take a week off from their own jobs to serve with us. We had over 70 people on the boat filled with joy, laughter, prayer and worship. It is truly so special to be with my family, my church family, and my Brazilian family.
In the villages, there are such dedicated Christ-followers. We cannot comprehend the poverty or the challenges they face. Yet, they have so much love in their hearts for Jesus. The pastors and their wives sacrifice so much for the Gospel. They want to make a difference for Jesus in their villages and in their region. I pray that we all can have this kind of passion for Jesus. Sometimes in the United States, we have so much that we forget about God. Here they hold close to Him every day.
I loved taking our team on house visits. We had a good number of high school students with us, and it was amazing to watch our team be invited into homes to read Scripture and pray over people in some of the toughest circumstances. While we went to bless them with food, clothes, and prayer, we felt like were given much as well. To see their tears turn to hugs, to see salvation come alive in hearts, and to see hope being born is something we will all never forget. To see the river bank filled with people smiling and waving as we would leave at the end of the day showed us that while we may only be there a short time, Jesus was moving in and staying for eternity.
I asked the question one night, “How do you change the world?” And, one of the students on our team responded, “One village at a time.” This is what, by God’s grace, we are endeavoring to do at Rolling Hills and JMI. God has called us to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. We are training pastors and sharing the love of Jesus in one of the last unreached areas of the world. It is truly special to be a part of something only God can do. I hope you will one day have the opportunity to serve on a mission trip. You will go to serve and change the world, and in the process, you will be the one changed. I know I am.
