Save the Amazon- one person at a time. BuckSchmidt.com |
|
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. ![]() |
Thursday, March 15, 2007
![]() We have some big helpers! ![]() Natasha is teaching English. ![]() These wasps have built numerous homes on our land. ![]() Homeschool on the Amazon. ![]() ![]() Ramputan looks really weird, but it is so sweet! It has the texture of a peeled grape, and is much sweeter. ![]() Josiah is a ham. Labels: english as a second language, homeschool, Ramputan (1) comments Wednesday, March 14, 2007
![]() We just had a servant evangelism outreach that went very well. Some women from the church came over and treated the hair of women here in the neighborhood in honor of the international day of the woman. It was a really cool thing to see all those women hanging out and talking while getting their hair done. I had been asking the Lord about evangelism, and exactly what He wanted us to do, and I felt like He lead me to "101 Ways to Reach Your Community" by Steve Sjogren, a Vineyard pastor. I preached on servanthood for a couple of weeks, then shared the vision for servant evangelism. It was like a fire was lit in the church. Right away the women planned the hair outreach, and it went so well that some of them want to do it every month. Others are currently planning their own outreaches- we want to do at least one a month, I would like to see the kinship groups each doing one a month. It is just so cool to see how excited people get when they get to see the kingdom advancing through their efforts. ![]() This past week six people accepted Christ. I had asked people to give testimonies of what God had done in them at camp, and a common theme was that they were no longer ashamed to tell their friends that they were Christians. God has renewed and restored so many people in the church just recently, during the camp and afterwards. As with any time, when God is moving and the Holy Spirit is bringing conviction of sin and purifying the Lord's church, there are times of counter attack from the enemy. Please pray for unity in the body, and that satan would find no foothold in us or in the church. ![]() These are the before, and the after photos of Natasha. Natasha is from New York, she came to check out Brazil, and help us get started homeschooling. The kids just love her, and she has been a real blessing. We so appreciate everyone that prayed about the homeschooling. God is faithful! ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Labels: Brazil, Equator, Macapa, Servant Evangelism (0) comments Tuesday, March 13, 2007
![]() A big thank you for your prayers for the camp. It went very well, God was very faithful. God showed up in a powerful way, the first night I think that there was hardly a dry eye in the place, even the children were weeping. There were many words of prophecy about missions, and people going to the nations, and the calling of God on our lives. We have seen that our church is a missionary church, many of the members are dreaming of serving on the mission field or planting churches at some point. Please continue to pray for these young believers, that they would never stop dreaming big, dreaming the dreams of God. There are photos of the camp that you can see at http://vinhamacapa.blogspot.com/ ![]() Luciene had this to say: "I always give praise to God when I remember you. Big thank you's to everyone that prayed for us, for the camp, and for the church. In the month of February in Brazil there is a big holiday, the biggest of the year, called Carnival. Many people die, women dance almost nude, and in the guise of "culture" the devil is given praise and much blood is usually spilled on these days. Every year, the news reports are filled with how many people died. It is at this time of year that we have our camp. Even though it is a lot of hard work and is very tiring to organize, it is something we like to do. Eduardo (Buck) as always made various trips, taking the big pans, the instruments and sound system, the ping pong table, food for the four days of camp, the chairs, tables, hammocks and bedding needed to make the camp a success. We had a speaker from another state in Brazil, Pastor Silvio, who is used a lot in the prophetic. There, in that place, God confirmed many of the things that He had spoken to us in the States, and confirmed to many others words that have been spoken over them. In that moment, when I saw many people with runny noses, tears running down their faces, in that very moment, God was calling many to other countries. Everyone was worshipping God, lifting their hands and giving glory to God, declaring that Jesus is Lord! One of the stories that the speaker at the camp told was of a girl whom God called to the mission field. She received a clear and distinct call, but instead said, "I want to get married first". She got married, and God called her again, but she replied, "I want to take care of my children." When she was old, and close to death, God showed her millions of people going to hell, to face torment for eternity. "Who are these people?" she asked of God. "Those are the ones that you didn't evangelize when I called you to be a missionary. They will spend eternity in hell because you didn't answer My call." Please continue to pray about Brazil, and if God is touching you to come as a short-term or long-term missionary, don't leave it for tomorrow. Millions are crying out to hear the good news. Pray that the Lord of the Harvest would send forth workers for the harvest." ![]() Floats like this are common- snakes, and dragons, demons and skulls, death and sex, those are the themes of Carnival, which means "festival of the flesh". ![]() These young children are looking through the trash, trying to find anything of value. ![]() Labels: Carnival Brazil, Cristoval, Vineyard Camp, Vinha Camp (0) comments |