Meanwhile back in the jungle...

Amidst the humidity of the Amazon forest, God is at work! The city of Leticia is the southernmost city in Colombia, on the border of both Brazil and Peru. It has about 40,000 people who live there plus a Colombian army-training base. Unless you have access to the Amazon River, there is only one way to get to Leticia, by air (there is only one flight a day!).

Going in we were aware that the largest gathering in history was a political rally of 7,000 and that there was only one adequate place for the Festival, a soccer field that turns to a quagmire when it rains. And believe me, it rains in the jungle! The day of the festival, our volunteer team was found on the field, emptying it of the mounting rain puddles bucket by bucket.

Some of those who live in the Leticia area are bilingual, Spanish-Portuguese. However, the greater part of the people either speak one or the other but not both.

The first adventure was a two-hour trip upriver to visit a community where the Mayor promised that the entire population would stop and come to the evangelistic rally. This didn’t happen but there were several hundred in attendance and “Miss Tani” ministered to the children and Mike Silva presented the Gospel with an invitation to receive Christ.

A group of Americans accompanied the MSI team with the express purpose of going upriver and visiting remote villages. In all they visited four different river villages and provided a lunch for the entire tribe. In each instance the “Curaca” (tribal leader) had to give his approval. We also worked with a local missionary who works with the Yagua tribes and helped translate the New Testament into Yagua. We left 50 audio bibles in the Yagua language for her to give to the pastors and leaders in the tribe.

The teams performed skits, gave testimonies, performed musical numbers and gave the Gospel. Each tribe had one functioning Bible believing church and the pastor was present to follow-up the new converts.

The teams also visited an orphanage in Leticia itself. The team was greatly impacted by that experience and many returned back for a second and third time throughout the week.

Two “God thing” opportunities presented themselves during the week. The manager of the hotel told us at the beginning of the week that he was a skeptic but had an open mind and would be watching us. Later in the week, he asked Mike if he would present the “message” to the entire hotel staff if he gathered them together. At the invitation every one of the staff indicated that they wanted to receive the Lord including the manager.

Since the army is not really welcome in town, a Major asked if we could give a concert on the army base. The MSI coordinator, Bayron Lechuga said the concert does not come without the message. So they accepted both! Raza for Christ, three wonderful young men from Honduras (music: reggaeton), put on a concert that was both inspirational and entertaining! Over 400 people attended. Afterward Mike gave the Gospel. Over 2/3rds of the crowd raised their hands to receive the Lord including the “Commandante.”

Two evangelistic meetings with teenage girls turned out to be both powerful and fruitful. There was one in Colombia and the other was held on the Brazilian side. In each, one of the visiting children’s workers, a teenage girl from Guatemala gave her testimony along with one of the visiting Americans and afterward Mike gave the Gospel. Several of the girls received the Lord and others sought his forgiveness.

The local pastors and their wives gathered for a daylong conference. Dr. Jaime Mirón had the chance to speak about what the Bible says about the home, about bitterness, moral purity and unity.

On Saturday we ventured over to the Brazilian side where Mike and Dr. Mirón spoke to about 100 pastors, leaders and spouses. The messages were simple but the Lord blessed in an unusual way.

A conference for women was held and several women from Morningstar Community Church in Salem, Oregon gave a powerful message on our value in Jesus Christ. They brought simple gifts for each woman in attendance which was very meaningful to them.

Heavy tropical rains turned the soccer field where the Festival was to be held into a quagmire. We went to prayer and asked the Lord to hold off the rains on Friday and Saturday. Teams of people worked all Thursday night to drain off the standing water. There were no pumps available so ditches were dug and buckets and large sponges were used. The field was cleared, saw dust was put on the mud and the Lord held off the rain for the two days.

On Saturday “Miss Tani”, the MSI children’s ministry group from Guatemala, ministered to the children at the Festikids event.

At night, Jaci Velásquez sang along with Raza for Christ and Mike Silva gave the Gospel in Portuguese and Spanish. The crowd was largely Christian but a large number of the non-Christians who did attend made public decisions to receive the Lord! In all for the week hundreds gave their lives to the Savior.

The over 50 team members who went on this trip were greatly impacted by what they saw and experienced. Mike Bayly, a pastor from Pennsylvania said, “This motivates me to share Christ more in my own city!” Donna Grubaugh, from Washington, said, “I got to be rescued and be a rescuer! I was rescued from all my fears and insecurities. And I was a rescuer in that I was able to serve food to a community in need and share the message of salvation to the children in the orphanage.”

For the future, it looks like the Lord is directing us back to the Dominican Republic! Please keep looking on the WEB site and as we will notify you as soon as the final decision is made.