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.

 
May the grace of our Heavenly Father be upon you and your family! We want to thank you, our family for your prayers. It is so important to us to know that our Christian family is lifting us up in prayer.

The church has been growing, and things have been going very well. In July, we had a church retreat, played together and ate together, watched a movie about the plight of the Brazilian Indians (you can download it for free at www.hakani.org ), and prayed together. We also held a weekend retreat for the worship team that went very well.

In August we planned a party for Father’s Day (brazilian father’s day is in august), and we were reminded again of just how deep run the scars and pain of the fatherless here in Brazil. According to one survey, 37% of Brazilians don’t even have a father’s name on their birth certificate, and many many more know only their father’s name, but never or rarely see them. Our church is no different. Most have been raised by grandparents, or aunts and uncles, and most don’t have a stable home life. It has been difficult to minister about the Father Heart of God, when the majority have never experienced a father’s love. It is also a great opportunity, to be and show the love of the Father, and to minister healing to the brokenhearted. We have seen many set free from the feeling of abandonment, and the bitterness of past hurts.

One answer to prayer has been the situation with our internet. We went through a long time where we could barely read our e-mail. This has affected our site updates, our prayer letters, and all of our communication. We asked people to pray, and after being on a waiting list for over a year, were finally able to get a cell phone modem and internet connection that has been a real blessing. We are trying to get caught up on communication, and hope to be able to send out more regular updates.

Thanks again for your prayers, your support, and your notes of encouragement. May God bless each one of you.

Prayer Requests
• A team from Tuttle Vineyard that will be here in November, and the leadership conference that we will have here during their stay, and for safety for the whole team.
• We will have an all English service here on the 20th of September. Please pray that many non-Christians will come and will come to know Jesus.
• Please pray that the construction could go forward and that we could finish the bathrooms upstairs so we can receive teams with more comfort, that we could finish the kitchen and get a drinking fountain.
• That God could guide us in making faithful disciples, and that we could generate a place of real family for those that are hungry for family.
• That God would reveal to us how missions and business can complement one another, and tentmaking endeavors that we can undertake here to raise support for missions.
posted by Eduardo Buck at Tuesday, September 09, 2008