| Save the Amazon- one person at a time.  BuckSchmidt.com | |
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	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.   | Sunday, February 27, 2005 Here are some recent fotos. Here is Josiah, wearing Hannah's raincoat.  Here are Hannah and Raquel holding a sloth.  Here is a photo of church last week. (The main church service is Sunday night here in Brazil)  Here is a photo of a macaw.  (2) comments Saturday, February 26, 2005 If you have tried to send me an e-mail, and haven't gotten a response, please try again. I am just now looking through my spam folder at yahoo. When I started, there were 1,800 spams. I try to check once a week or so, just to make sure that nothing slipped through the cracks, but you know how it is. If you use a subject line that is original, like "Hello", well, chances are I didn't catch it. If you are one of the people that writes every day wanting to give me millions of dollars from Nigeria, sorry I didn't reply, your letter probably didn't make it through the spam filter. You can simply make a deposit to PayPal, it will be easier for everyone involved. :-) (0) comments During the Carnival season, which literally means festival of the flesh, we held our first Vineyard Camp, Cristovál, a festival of Christ. It was such a blessing! Thanks to each one of you that held us, and the camp, up in prayer. We had Chris and Susanne Donaldson, YWAM leaders from New Zealand giving the talk the first night and the next morning, and Steve and Elba Dolan from Altamira giving the rest of the talks. The presence of God was so real. We are still receiving feedback, and trying to gather the testimonies of what God did in the lives of those that went. So many of those that went to the camp are now excited and wanting to get involved in ministry. It seems that God has used the ministry and preaching to breathe new life into the church. We had various people accept Christ, and many reconcile and rededicate their lives to Christ. We had 57 adults and kids at the camp, as well as another 15 that came out to hear one of the talks or visit the camp. (Please note: the original prayer letter had a wrong figure of 47- the actual number was 57, and 15 visiting.) The food was good, and there was abundance. The last night of the camp we had an "Israel Night". We killed a sheep and had a barbecue, and everyone put sheets on their heads, and danced and danced. It was such a joyful, happy time! See photos on our site, www.holylamb.com Regina just shared her testimony at church. She got home from the camp to find that her husband had locked her and the children out of the house. They managed to get in through the back door, but when her husband got home, he started yelling at her that she served satan, and she needed to get a lawyer because he was going to divorce her. She started sharing some of what God had done, and some of the teachings that Elba had given, and her husband started crying and asked forgiveness, and said that she can go to church whenever she wants! She shared that God had used the camp, not only to change and transform her, but to transform her home also. God is so good. The biggest complaint that we received about the camp was that it was too short, only three days. People are already asking when we will have the next camp. The best thing is that it seems that lives have been truly transformed, which is what we had asked you guys to pray for. Thanks! We have another praise report. Right after we sent out the last letter asking for prayer for Hannah and Raquel's health, right away, they both got better. That is no coincidence. That is a God thing. The construction has progressed beautifully, we are really happy with the way things have been coming along. We are currently out of resources though, and don't have enough to continue the construction. Please pray with us that God would provide everything that we need to finish the house soon. I put some photos up on the site at www.holylamb.com if you want to see where the construction currently is. Another thing we would like prayer for, our computer is giving us problems. The monitor is going bad also, and must be replaced. Our computer is so important to us in our communication. It is really hampering our ability to use digital photos, and get out letters. Please pray that God would provide us with a new computer. We would like prayer for the modern travesty called the IRS also. Our accountant has said that he has never seen anything like what we are going through, they loose forms, claim they never got them, demand them to be resent, ignore the power of attorney, in short, acting like the IRS Gestapo. Our accountant, Chris, asked for prayer because it is sure looks like a spiritual battle. Please pray for us, but also pray that the American people would just get rid of the IRS Gestapo altogether. Perhaps it is time for a Tea Party? Thanks so much for praying for us, and for the work here. Please continue your prayers as we work together to bring the gospel to the Amazon! Pray that the good work that God began at the camp would continue at the church, and that God's Spirit would move in power on our congregation. (0) comments Wednesday, February 23, 2005 Here are some recent construction photos. Cementing the concrete beams on the second floor.  Bringing in more wood for the scaffolding for the second floor.  Building the scaffolding to cement the bricks on the other side of the second floor.  (0) comments (0) comments Wednesday, February 02, 2005 We have been having computer problems. Our monitor is about to give up the ghost I think. The computer is acting up too. It has really cut down on the communication, photos, and web site updates. I have been praying that God would supply a new computer for us. The house is coming along, they are working on cementing the ceiling now, and finishing up the walls. It is really exciting to see it all coming together. The camp is coming along well, lots of loose ends to take care of. It looks like there will be more than 50 people there. I have been quite ill today, cough, sore throat, normal flu symptoms. (0) comments |