Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
Isaiah 6:8

Greetings in Christ!
Hello everyone in Internet land!
We just returned from the villages again. This trip lasted from July 8th – August 1st. As you can see in these two photos, we had a lot of stuff coming along for this trip. We are so thankful for a friend who lent us an extra boat just for this purpose!

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These photos were from when we were leaving the large passenger boat from the main river.  From here, we had another hours across the lake and up the flooded creek to arrive at our jungle house located on the Apurina Indian Reservation.
We had so many supplies to bring up on this trip that we had to organize the rest of the stuff to come up on the next cargo ship which would pass by two weeks later.  So, these photos were from the first trip, and then we returned to the river two weeks later and filled the boats again.  Such joy!

We arrived to find that Valdeci had never returned from his trip with his mother to visit family many days of travel up river.  They had left the day after our last visit 5 weeks ago. He had contracted some sickness along with being anemic, and he is still in the city getting exams to figure out what he has.  His mother Analia, on the same trip, contracted Hepatitis B.  She, too, is in the city, awaiting medicines.  The type of medicine she needs is not covered under the national health care program. You remember that Oscar and his wife Analucia left the same time Valdeci did.  They went to Sao Sebastiao to preach and teach the word of God, making disciples.  Oscar and Valdeci were the two main men of the church in Vila Nova.  Because they are both out, there was a need for someone else to step up.  It sure is a good thing that we have been training several other men and women for the last 3 years.
Armando and Guirlermi each took turns along with Domiginho to run church services.  Domiginho does not really have the desire or will to preach or teach the Word of God, but he is a leader in the community.  It is good that Armando and Guirlermi both answered God’s call to be ready in season and out to give a reason for the hope which lies within them!
The main focus on this trip was to find a place to use all of the stuff we brought with us.  We brought construction supplies and chairs to fill a church building.  We got right to it in Aldeia Nova.  On our last trip, we had started the construction of our first Church plant, and the second day in the villages now we continued.  Here are some photos.

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We had one skilled worker with us, Valmir, from a local river community outside of the Indian Reservation.  He, myself, and several of the men from Vila Nova and Aldeia Nova worked on the church building.
We worked for one whole week, mainly getting the work done between the hours of 8-12:00 o’clock.  It gets so hot after lunch that you cannot hardly lift a hammer, and when you do, you have trouble hitting the nails straight.As you can see, the work progressed fine.  In the second week, Benjamin and myself took an emergency trip to Tapaua to visit Valdeci and Analia.  We were concerned that one or the other may pass away before we ever see them again. They both looked fine, but they were both very weak.  There is talk that Valdeci may need to go to Manaus. They are in desperate need of your prayers.
Upon our return to the Indian Reservation, we continued to work at the church.  We were able to get it mostly completed before the Inauguration on July 27th.  Pictured to the right is the congregation of Aldeia Nova.  Remember that in July 2017 there was only one believer and we were teaching the bible on a weekly basis.

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After the Inauguration, we baptized all who were new and solid in the Lord.  Several more of the congregation accepted the Lord over the same weekend, and so we will have another baptism in the near future.

Oscar and Analucia came back during this time in order to fellowship with us and relate what had been happening in their mission field since we had last been there.  They said that the people in Sao Sebastiao do not read very well and this makes it very hard to teach them.  But, still they have started 4 services a week, 2 on Sunday and 1 each on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. 
Along with these, Oscar has started a School of Ministry on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and Analucia teaches the women on Friday mornings and a Kid’s Club on Saturdays.  The people are very open to the Word of God and want to grow in the Lord!
BIG NEWS!!!!  Oscar and Analucia had arrived the week before us.  Analucia started going down to another village, called Makauao where she was mentoring a group of young ladies, two of whom had received Christ in February when the SGWM team was here.  Also, Raimunda had decided to go down to another village, called Lazaru, to teach the Bible.  The people of Lazaru have been requesting for someone to come there and teach them for the last 2 years.  We made our first visit to them in May 2019.
Raimunda said that she could not keep from going since she had the Word, and it brings Life.  So, in the absence of a man to teach, she is filling the void.  We left enough gas for her to make another trip in August.  She will also continue a weekly trip to Makauao and keep up the mentoring that Analucia had started.  Please pray that the Lord lifts up a man to go to Aldeia Lazaru and preach, perhaps Emerson from Aldeia Nova.

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It was great fun spending time with the people, training them, teaching them, showing them how to not only know the Word of God, but to live it.
What a joy it is to live the Christian life, to make a difference, to raise a people up, to be the feet of those who bring a message of glad tidings, a message of hope!Look at how the Lord has used each of you to reach and touch these beautiful people in the middle of the utter most parts of the earth!
Meditate on the goodness of God, on how He cares for us.

We now have returned to Manaus.  Our next trip to the Village is scheduled for September 2-26th, 2019.  Brad, Josiah and Benjamin will be returning, while Melissa and Veronica take a trip to the United States and visit family members in Kansas and Nebraska.
You know, we have grandchildren there who are growing up without know their grandparents.  One of them, Melissa has never met yet.  There is a sacrifice to be made to answer the call of God.  We understand a little of what Abram must have sensed when God told him to get up and leave his family and go into a land which He would show him.  

Please consider how you can get more involved with the works of God. For we were not saved to live for ourselves, but to glorify Him who saved us.  Not all are called to go like we have gone.  But in that going, there are always those who are on the sending side.

Thinking about coming down for a visit?  Contact us and let’s talk about it.  We have space for individuals or for a group.  We would love to host you.
Be sure to check out the other areas where we post things, like Facebook, or the Ministries.  God is good!

Check out Upcoming Events!  and Email us at millerstobrazil@yahoo.com

God bless you all,
Brad and Melissa Miller, Josiah, Veronica and Benjamin