2012… Already?!

Wow!  It’s hard to believe we are in 2012 already!  I remember when I was a kid I was sure we’d have flying cars by now, and although I am sure there are somewhere in the world, God has called me to a life that is in some ways 50 years behind technological advances elsewhere, and I’m more content than ever.  Although a flying car sure would make church planting and supervision more efficient… and pretty cool. 

We trust you all had sweetly blessed Christmases sprinkled generously with God’s love and grace.  Here are a few of the highlights from our Christmas season…

Ruropolis Youth Conference… and a Big Headache

Ruropolis Waterfall... Before the Headache!

In mid-December, Josiah and I were invited to be the speakers for a youth conference in the small inland city of Ruropolis.  Our church rented out the city auditorium and invited youth from all over to attend.  There were hip-hop performances, skits and God’s life-changing Word.  We pray that this event helped to grow the Ruropolis church with a permanent growth, in Jesus’ name!  In our free-time, the locals took us to a waterfall which was absolutely gorgeous!  However, after only about 5 minutes of enjoying God’s creation, poor Josiah busted his head on a rock beneath the waterfall and spent the better half of the afternoon a little nauseated and bleeding from the forehead.  Praise the Lord the cut was not too deep, and he only suffered minor soreness in his neck for a few days.  God’s hand of protection was certainly over us!

Remember Geandre??

Geandre and Monica's Engagement

For those of you who have followed our updates since the beginning, Geandre was our very first cell group member over 6 years ago.  We remember how he would tremble nervously when asked to give the announcements in the group.  Now he is all grown up, has a great job, is serving the Lord… and is getting married!  We had the privilege of announcing their engagement at church in December (in Brazil, the engagement is a big deal done in the church, the wedding rings are prayed over and exchanged, but only worn on the right hand until the wedding day).  He is marrying a beautiful woman of God named Monica.  Please keep them in your prayers as they plan their wedding and move toward a life together serving Jesus.

Praying in the New Year

Praying in the New Year

This year we decided to do something very special for New Year’s.  We held a prayer meeting in the community of Piquiatuba, invited the leaders from surrounding communities, and we all entered the New Year together on our knees praying and interceding.  As the fireworks were sounding, the church was on their knees interceding for the salvation of their fellow community members and for God’s perfect will and plan in this upcoming year.  It was truly a moving experience!

Amazing Testimony and Prayer Request

Conce

Conce, a lady from our church in the community of Jamaraquá has been praying for the salvation of her husband Pedro (the community’s Catholic leader and a heavy drinker) for years.  Just recently, he has begun to show signs of hope.  Over Christmas, he got extremely drunk and stayed that way for two days.  During this time, he wrongly accused her of having another man and said many other hurtful things.  After he sobered up, his own children called his attention to what he’d said to their mom and how unjust it was.  He told Conce he would not ask for her forgiveness because she wasn’t God and only God could forgive.  However, within only a couple days, he approached her as she was eating breakfast, threw his arms around and cried asking forgiveness for how he’d hurt her, and he also promised to never drink again!  By New Year’s when Conce was at our prayer meeting, he still had not had a drink praise the Lord!  So please agree with us in faith for his complete transformation and salvation, and for their family to be an exemplary Christian family in Jesus’ mighty name!

Homemade Banana Trunk Grill

 

Just for Kicks

What do you do when you have meat to grill, but no grill to cook it on?  Easy!  You cut down banana trees and use their soft trunks to stick various branches into, and there you have it!  A “modern-day” Brazilian grill ready for a grill-out!  (The meat was delish by the way…) 

Ruropolis Youth Conference

Exciting news… as always! :)

Officially Brazilian "Sailors"

Whew! We are finally finished with our 3-month boating license course.  And I must say I’m proud to have finished it, being a girl, first of all, and an American! Now I am officially a marine mechanic.    I have already gotten my hands dirty and have been fittingly (and lovingly) called a “grease monkey.”  We had the honor of marching in a parade with the Brazilian Navy on Brazil’s Independence Day, September 7, and we were even first in line!   By God’s grace, I was the “valedictorian” of the class, and received a special gift from the top navy commander on the day of our graduation!  I was one of three girls in a class of about 70 students, and the only American.  I love it when God shows off.

Now back to the grind…

After our graduation, we set out on a looooong boat trip to visit our river communities.  One of the main supervisors under our covering has been taken down to focus on his family for a while, so we have a lot more on our plate than normal.  But God is in charge, and the works are ultimately in His hands.  We are doing all we can to see them grow and multiply, and then wait on God to do the magic!  Here are a few things that happened on this last looooooong but exciting trip!

Jamaraquá

Cell Group at Jamaraquá (Clícia in the white shirt)

God has raised up some excited leaders in the community of Jamaraquá, and despite trials and tribulations, they are coming out victorious.  The couple leading up the work there, Gilmar and Clícia, were saved in January of this year, and have been enthusiastically serving the Lord ever since.  Because of our boating license course, we hadn’t been by to visit much, but they have faithfully held services every Saturday night, even in our absence.  Also, Clícia has plans to go in to the neighboring community of Maguary and witness to a friend of hers that lives there, in hopes of beginning a new work there!  Please continue to pray for Jamaraquá, and its surrounding communities.

Acaratinga

Service at Acaratinga (Damasceno in red shirt on left)

In the community of Acaratinga, we have had a work that has been steady but hasn’t grown much.  However, on this last visit, a man who we’ve been trying to win for months finally gave his life to the Lord!  We held a service at Damasceno’s house (with the goal of finally winning him for Jesus) on Sunday morning.  He pulled Josiah aside before the service and had a long talk with him.  Their talk was interrupted, then the service began, but Josiah’s message to Damasceno continued as he shared from the Bible about salvation.  At the end, Josiah gave the opportunity to anyone who wanted to give their life to Jesus, and Damasceno accepted!  He was even tearing up (Damasceno is a very “hard” man, one you’d imagine wouldn’t cry very often) as he shared about how he finally understood the message and gladly gave his heart to the Lord!  Please pray for Damasceno and everyone in the community of Acaratinga.

We thank you so much for your continued prayer and support.  Again, we could not do all of this without you!  Be on the lookout for more updates coming your way soon!

 

Be blessed!

Jennifer and Josiah Huber

Where do I begin??

If I tried to fill you in on everything that has been happening in our lives since our last update, I think it would take up more space than the blogging site would allow!  So I’ll just try to briefly bring you up to speed…

Bible Course at Piquiatuba Church in June

Bible Courses in the Communities…

We held our first intensive Bible course in the river communities of Piquiatuba  and Prainha in June.  Many local workers and leaders showed up from the river communities to learn more about how to be better leaders and how to be more effective in the Lord’s work.  It was exciting to hear testimonies after the course of how much more enthusiastic the workers are, making plans to win friends and family members for Jesus and plant churches in neighboring communities.  We hope to hold another Bible course about how to be good disciples and disciplers before the end of the year.  God is using these courses of fundamental Bible teachings and excellent leadership training to raise up much-needed workers for His harvest.  In the weeks, months and years to come, we believe we will see exponential growth in His work in these communities due to the knowledge and vision passed on in these teachings.  Please continue to agree with us in faith for this Bible course to produce leaders and missionaries for the Lord’s harvest!

Conferences and Events…

The Destiny Team, from left to right - Pr. Chris, Jamie from Oregon, Joshua, Jennifer, Miriam, and Josiah

We held a Family Conference in Piquiatuba June 26-27, that ended with a moving baptism at the riverside.   Pr. Chris McCall came with a team from Destiny Fellowship in Biloxi to be our conference speaker.  It was a wonderful conference where many were touched and families transformed by God’s wonder-working power.  We also held a Missions Conference in the river community of Nazare, and a Family Conference in the river community of Apace (so far our furthest community, about 12 hours up-river).  We also held an event in the community of Santa Rosa to raise money for their church  building.  The Lord

Nezi from Aramanai

is busy, busy, busy at work!  Please continue to cover all these communities in prayer – for victory, for the Lord’s peace to reign and His truth to be known!

Praise Report from the River Community of Aramanai!

Those of you who have followed our updates for some time now will remember that the community of Aramanai has been a dream of ours for years.  On a recent trip to that area, our main contact in the community, Nezi, finally gave her life to the Lord!  For a long time now we have tried to win Nezi for Jesus, but she has always refused and said she would get saved when she turned 65.  Well, this time the Holy Spirit went before us and prepared her heart, and she decided to receive Jesus!! While we were in Aramanai, we visited the local Catholic leader, Eduardo.  We have also been trying to build a relationship with him and win him for Jesus.  Eduardo was the person who shut down our last attempt to bring the Gospel to Aramanai.  He has now grown to like Josiah and me, and I finally got to meet his wife, Franca, and love up on her a little.  As the Catholic leader, Eduardo is a very influential man in the community.  When he finally receives Jesus, the community will likely follow in his footsteps!

New Church Plant in Sao Pedro

Praise the Lord, a new church plant has just opened up in the community of Sao Pedro!  This community has been so closed to the Gospel until now.  A family from our church in Alter do Chao recently moved there and started a weekly Bible study, and it’s growing!  The couple being trained up to be the local workers in Sao Pedro, Valdenilson and his wife Regina, are super excited about starting a church there.  In obedience to His Word, we have been praying for the Lord to send workers to His harvest, and He has been more than faithful!!  Continue to agree with us in faith!

First Aid Practical in Boating License Course

Boating License Course

Praise the Lord the boating license course finally started on June 6 and will continue through September 5 (3 months, ouch).  It has been a little difficult maintaining all our normal responsibilities now with this class every morning, but God has given us much grace and favor.  And now I can explain to you how a turbo-charged motor works just as well as the next guy… or at least come close.    In September, we will have our formal graduation and receive our licenses.  Although it has taken up much of our precious time, the course has actually been very interesting, and even fun at times with practical classes where they leave you in the middle of the river to swim to shore (when I came to think that was “fun” I may never know).

The Trimaran Prototype is on its Way!

We have now received about 40% of the funds necessary to build our trimaran prototype, and the plans are underway to start building soon!  We are super excited that God has heard our prayer and has touched the hearts of His children around the world to give to this worthy cause.  The trimaran will provide a much more stable and economical means of transportation for church-planting and supervision.  Please continue to pray with us for the rest of the funds to come in, and for the whole process of planning and building to go smoothly without hiccups.  We hope you can make it down for the maiden voyage!  :)

 

As always we covet your prayers in every area of our lives.  There are some situations we pass through and realize that the outcome is 100% due to the team of powerful prayer warriors we having fighting the battle with us from all around the world.  We would love to be able to personally thank every single one of you who has consistently lifted us up in prayer, and somehow repay you for the difference you have made in our lives.  But we know that in Heaven you will receive your reward, all of us soldiers will stand together as Jesus welcomes us in saying “Well done, good and faithful servant!”  Until then, we are together on the front lines in this spiritual battle for souls of the Amazon!

Falling for the Lord’s work… Literally

Josiah and João Lopes walking up the steep hill in the community of Martanxim

The Lord truly has been so good to us.  In spite of many obvious attacks from the enemy, God has been faithful.  I feel like Jesus’ disciples did when, after being flogged by the Council, they left rejoicing for having been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name (Acts 5).  And did they stop preaching in the name of Jesus as they were “ordered” to?  NO!  And neither will we!

Falling for the Lord’s Work… Literally

The more we travel, the more we fall in love with what we do and with the people the Lord wants to reach.  We recently held a missions conference in the community of Cametá.  About 200 people from Cametá and surrounding communities came to praise the Lord and be challenged to dedicate their lives to the Lord’s work.  Saturday night we all packed into the tiny church building to dance and sing before the Lord, and to hear His Word.

Jennifer sharing Sunday morning

I was asked to share at the Sunday morning service, and I felt the Lord was leading me to speak about being willing to give your all, letting go of your own dreams and desires to let God’s dreams and desires be yours.  I planned to speak especially about desiring health for yourself (something I’d been dealing with), desiring protection, and even things like desiring to be close to your family.  Jesus said we had to literally hate our life to gain it, and if we loved our life we would lose it.   “Hate” here means that nothing in your life, not family, not health, not dreams and desires, not protection, nothing can be more important to you than Him.  And the only way to ever really have any of these things, is to be willing to give them up.  To “hate” them for His sake.  Sunday morning came and I was ready to let the Holy Spirit speak through me.

Watching the Billy Graham movie Sunday night

As I went to get off the boat, I slipped and fell on the board, hitting the side of the boat on the way down to the river.  Now beat up and bruised, with my foot cut open and bleeding, I was more sure than ever that the Lord wanted me to share this message, and somebody didn’t want me to.  Josiah bandaged me up, I changed into dry clothes, and limped up the steep hill to the church.  The Lord truly blessed the service that morning, and I trust that lives were transformed.  Mine certainly was.  Sunday night we played a Billy Graham movie to close out

Alter call Sunday night - 11 souls were saved!

the conference, and 11 precious souls were saved.  Carlinho, the former missionary who rededicated his life to the Lord on our last trip, won 4 of them to the Lord!  He has stuck by his decision, and is already growing the Lord’s Kingdom, praise God!

We visited several other new communities on this trip, including Martanxim, Itapaiuna, Paraiso and Apacê.  The work in these communities is growing, praise the Lord, despite many challenges.  In the community of Paraiso, most of the community is closed to the Gospel and to our church.  However, Isabel and her mother continue

Isabel and her mother, from the community of Paraiso

strong in the Lord, waiting for the manifestation of His Holy Spirit to sweep through the community.   If you remember Luiz from the IBAMA Brigade, he is the president of Paraiso. Unfortunately he was not home when we visited, but we left a heartfelt message for him.  We believe the connection we made with him at the Brigade will be an open door for the Gospel to enter in to the community of Paraiso!  In the community of Apacê, about a year ago the church suffered a split due to a group of women who began “prophesying” strange things  like fireballs coming down from the sky and wiping out most of the community, saying God had revealed to them that

Mattias, local worker in Apacê, and his family

our church was of the devil.  They took about half the church with them when they left, and they hold meetings that seem almost like spiritist rituals involving witchcraft.  But praise the Lord He is shedding light on HIS truth, and people are returning to church.  Please pray for Apacê, that soon all will return with repentant hearts, and that the church will be even bigger and more blessed than before!

Praise the Lord for all He is doing!  We are super excited that He is constantly adding to His Kingdom here, and we are honored to be a part of it.  We thank you so much for your prayers and support that make all this possible!  God bless!

Jennifer, also for Josiah