Today was a super fun day! We started in our third village putting on a VBS for kids. Several of our students said this was their favorite village because the kids were happy and very much wanted hugs and love from our VCS students. We started with the puppet show, singing “I’ll Fly Away” with a choir of bird puppets, then told the story of Daniel in the Lions Den. We then colored, shared bracelets, and played soccer for a couple of hours, while the teachers went over to the school and got some wifi to get connected to our families & teachers for the first time since our first night! We then went back to the boat for dinner and moved to a new location to go swimming with dolphins! This was not only a super exciting experience because we got to jump in the Amazon and swim with and pet wild pink river dolphins, but it was also the first time our kids got service and got to call home, so they were very excited! Everybody got in with the dolphins and even though there were a lot of screams, it was a really cool experience. We then walked to the dock next door and had a fishing competition - we were fishing for pirarucu, a HUGE fish. The goal was to be the one to pull it out of the water the highest - most of us couldn’t get it out of the water at all. We then got back in the John boats, separating by guys and girls, and moved to another location where we went fishing for piranha! The competition was fierce, but the girls pulled out the win. After dinner we went back out on the John boats at night for a thrilling crocodile hunt. It was pitch black outside and Jesus (our incredible Brazilian adventure guide), spotlighted in the dark and immediately picked up some glassy eyes of a crocodile across the river. He didn’t go after that one because it was the most aggressive species, but we kept moving through the jungle and ended up finding a few more with each boat. The craziest part was when Jesus and his brother just jumped out of the boat on top of the crocodile and wrestled them back into the boat. They taped up the mouths and then we all got to hold them and take pictures! The adventure finished by us all being quiet and listening to the sounds of the Amazon. It was a really cool day getting to see God’s creation!
VBS
“We started the day with two puppet shows; one with bird puppets & a bird song, and the second where we retold the story of Daniel In the Lions Den, but instead of using a lion puppet and human like puppets, we used a sheep, a crocodile, a monkey and a dog. The kids seem to really enjoy it and some got really into it. After the puppet show, we made the evangelism bracelets with the kids and enacted out what each bead meant. Then we colored pictures with the kids while getting to know them! Someone brought out a soccer ball and we all ran over to the soccer field nearby and started playing a chaotic but fun free-for-all game of soccer, with no teams or rules. We ended our time in that village climbing trees with the kids, putting flowers in our hair and letting the kids climb on us! We all came away with tons of flowers to press.” - Kinley
DOLPHINS
“We took a small boat ride to the place where we could swim with dolphins. The owners gave us instructions about how to swim with them and gave us some background information. They split us into three different groups because only nine people could go into the water at a time. It was so fun watching the dolphins jump out of the water and swim around. After we swam with the dolphins we did fishing for some monster sized fish. The goal was to pull the fish out of the water the highest. It was so cool and kinda crazy to see fish that big. This was a super cool experience that we will never forget.” - Avery
PIRANHA FISHING
“The girls and guys split into two teams and two boats, to see who could catch the most piranhas first. Jesus drove the girls boat as we set out on our exploration to beat the boys. We parked at the first location and immediately Juliette caught one! We ended up going to three different locations to fish, listening to worship music on Nick’s phone. We ended up with seven fish in total and even though I didn’t catch one, it was still a crazy experience, and now I can say I’ve been piranha fishing on the Amazon River.” - Ellie E
CROCODILE HUNTING
“We went out at night to look for the crocodiles. The guy at the front of the boat had a massive spotlight to find them by looking for the glowing eyes when they reflect off the light. When we found one, my jaw dropped to the floor as the guy jumped off the boat into the water full squirrel-style and grabbed the crocodile with his bare hands. Then they would tape up the mouth temporarily so that we could each hold the crocodile for a picture. My group ended up catching two adolescent crocodiles, and they also taught us all about the different species of crocodiles in the river. Overall it was an incredible experience that I’ll never forget it!” -Kaden Haase
VBS
“We started the day with two puppet shows; one with bird puppets & a bird song, and the second where we retold the story of Daniel In the Lions Den, but instead of using a lion puppet and human like puppets, we used a sheep, a crocodile, a monkey and a dog. The kids seem to really enjoy it and some got really into it. After the puppet show, we made the evangelism bracelets with the kids and enacted out what each bead meant. Then we colored pictures with the kids while getting to know them! Someone brought out a soccer ball and we all ran over to the soccer field nearby and started playing a chaotic but fun free-for-all game of soccer, with no teams or rules. We ended our time in that village climbing trees with the kids, putting flowers in our hair and letting the kids climb on us! We all came away with tons of flowers to press.” - Kinley
DOLPHINS
“We took a small boat ride to the place where we could swim with dolphins. The owners gave us instructions about how to swim with them and gave us some background information. They split us into three different groups because only nine people could go into the water at a time. It was so fun watching the dolphins jump out of the water and swim around. After we swam with the dolphins we did fishing for some monster sized fish. The goal was to pull the fish out of the water the highest. It was so cool and kinda crazy to see fish that big. This was a super cool experience that we will never forget.” - Avery
PIRANHA FISHING
“The girls and guys split into two teams and two boats, to see who could catch the most piranhas first. Jesus drove the girls boat as we set out on our exploration to beat the boys. We parked at the first location and immediately Juliette caught one! We ended up going to three different locations to fish, listening to worship music on Nick’s phone. We ended up with seven fish in total and even though I didn’t catch one, it was still a crazy experience, and now I can say I’ve been piranha fishing on the Amazon River.” - Ellie E
CROCODILE HUNTING
“We went out at night to look for the crocodiles. The guy at the front of the boat had a massive spotlight to find them by looking for the glowing eyes when they reflect off the light. When we found one, my jaw dropped to the floor as the guy jumped off the boat into the water full squirrel-style and grabbed the crocodile with his bare hands. Then they would tape up the mouth temporarily so that we could each hold the crocodile for a picture. My group ended up catching two adolescent crocodiles, and they also taught us all about the different species of crocodiles in the river. Overall it was an incredible experience that I’ll never forget it!” -Kaden Haase
Love, love, love this!! Christ, Culture, Children! Team Brazil is nailing it!! The puppet show is the best!!