On the 28th of February 2001, Buck and Luciene moved to the Amazon Basin of Brazil. We lived in Macapá, right on the equator. Why would a web designer give up his career and take his family from their comfortable life in Columbus, Ohio, USA, to live on the Amazon River? We came with a vision to save the Amazon, to tell people about Jesus, and plant a Vineyard church. We have planted a church, and we are turning it over to the national leaders, heading back to the States in Sept. 2009.

 
The meeting Saturday went great, God showed up again. The Holy Spirit was very real. About two hours of worship, and weeping and praying before the Lord. Lord, let Your Name be glorified!

On the way to a friends house yesterday, I noticed the battery light come on. When I stopped to see what was going on, I could see the ground. The battery of a Bug is right under the back seat. The whole floorboard was giving way, we almost lost the battery right out of the floor. I stopped at a friend's house, and wedged a board under the battery, to try to keep it from falling through and loosing it. Always an adventure :-)

We are having problems with our phone again, so e-mail will be more sporadic for a couple of days, I will try to check once every day or two. Hopefully it won't take them too long to get it straightened out this time.

Thanks to each one of you that prays for us, we do so appreciate it.
posted by Eduardo Buck at Monday, April 26, 2004

 
We had a meeting Wed. here at the house, about 15 in attendance, plus the kids. It was really the first meeting of the new church plant. It went very well. The Holy Spirit showed up. I don't think that there was a dry eye here. We all prayed and wept, and sang songs, and some saw visions. We ministered to one another in prayer, and received some words of knowledge. It was very powerful. We are all even more excited than before. We were all very thirsty for an authentic touch of the Holy Spirit in the corporate body. We are planning to meet today again to work through some more of the strategic plans for the church plant, but mostly just to invite the Lord's presence again :-)

We would sure appreciate your continued prayers for this new church plant, that God's presence would be authentic and powerful, for love and unity, and above all, that God's name would be glorified, and worship on earth would increase for the Lord of Lords!
posted by Eduardo Buck at Saturday, April 24, 2004

 
The sky clouded up quickly, as it often does, and the wind started blowing and whipping about. I grabbed the basin to run out and get the clothes that were on the line by the mango tree. With the wind, the mangoes started falling all around me. It was literally raining mangoes! We have been drinking mango juice, eating mangoes, freezing the pulp, and giving away sacks full of mangos. Truly the harvest is plentiful.
posted by Eduardo Buck at Sunday, April 18, 2004

 

I really like Bill Hybels book, Courageous Leadership. I read it in Portuguese, Liderança Corajoso. I am recommending it to all of our leaders. There is a lot of good stuff to meditate on, especially about building community. Highly Recommended!
posted by Eduardo Buck at Friday, April 16, 2004

 
Here is our latest e-mail prayer letter. If you don't currently recieve it, and would be interested in what is happening with us or willing to pray for us, just subscribe to our e-mail prayer letter by sending an e-mail to
Schmidt_Newsletter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

…“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Luke 10:2

God has been so faithful to us, and has done great and marvelous things among us. I marvel at His grace, His loving kindness, and His mercy. Truly we have a good daddy.

We took some friends to see the “Passion of the Christ”. What a powerful film. We are praying that God would use this film here in Macapá, and the world over, to prepare hearts to receive the Lord. I believe that God will use Mel Gibson’s movie as a tool to prepare hearts to give a great harvest. We would like prayer that God would raise up workers for the harvest here in Macapá. Pray with us Luke 10:2, that it would be the Lord of the harvest that raises up, sends out, and provides for the workers, and that they would go out in Macapá, in all of Brazil, and unto the ends of the earth!

Please pray with us that God would supply everything that we need to finish the construction project, so we have a place to start the children's ministry, have family groups, training sessions, and can move into the residence area. We are still living on the back of the land in a one room kitchenette, all five of us in a 12x15 room. Mangoes are in season right now, and we have a large mango tree so we are all eating lots of those. The girls just brought in another large bucket of mangoes today. We have been eating them like crazy, and giving them away too. God has given us a very abundant and fertile land!

Our transportation situation is precarious, we would like prayer in that area too. We have an old VW bug that we can barely keep going, and the brakes just went out again. Thank God that once again He protected us, and no one was hurt. We are praying that God would provide a new vehicle.

We would like prayer for one of our faithful prayer supporters. She is a freelance writer and editor in Columbus, a single mom, and now is without transportation. Please pray for her, that God would supply everything that she needs, work, transportation, and loving Christians to lean on in times of trouble. If you are aware of any writing assignments, please let me know.

Also, a dear friend and faithful supporter who is a project manager, and one of the best that I know of especially in the software and consultant areas is nearing the end of his current assignment, and is looking for the next. Please join me in prayer for him, that God would open the right doors, and he would get the job that God has ordained for him.

Thanks, and Lord bless you all.



posted by Eduardo Buck at Wednesday, April 14, 2004

 
Last week we got a chance to take some friends and go and see "The Passion of the Christ", Mel Gibson's awesome movie. It is a work of art. Never has our generation has such a vivid portrayal of the sacrifice that Christ made for us. I have been praying for Mel Gibson, that God would keep him safe. I know that there are fears that he may become a target for radical islamic terrorists. Would you please join me in praying for him? Also, that God would guide him in deciding what should be his next project, and that it would also bring glory to God.
posted by Eduardo Buck at Saturday, April 10, 2004