Greetings from the chilly Amazon Jungle. Yes, you just read that correctly. Yesterday was teeth chattering cold with a low of 63 degrees and a humidity of 82%. Add in a steady breeze, clouds and mist and you need to dig out the warm clothes. Houses here are pretty open. Our windows are screened but they do not have glass to close them. This house was built with plenty of good sized windows to help let air circulate, especially on those hot days. There are usually a couple of "cold spells" a year and I am told they last 3 days, finish with a heavy rain and then normal weather patterns resume. This cold spell is on day 5, although it is warmer today at 69 degrees.

Saturday afternoon I headed to Amaturá with Julia, Jessica and Jonei (Joe-nay). Jonei had approached me last month asking if some time he could go to Amaturá with me. He is a young man from church who has been growing spiritually and gradually is taking on more leadership responsibilities. I enjoyed getting to know him better this weekend. He gave the Saturday night youth lesson and for one of his first attempts, did a great job. I'll be sitting down with him later to share some pointers and encourage him. In Sunday School, I've been going through The Story of Hope with them (a booklet published by ABWE, www.SowAndHarvest.com). While reviewing the Fall, I talked about Hell and how the unsaved would spend eternity there. I noticed Isaque, a faithful young man who leads songs at church, with a look of complete bafflement on his face. I asked him what was wrong and he responded, "Well, this is the first time I'm hearing this. I had no idea that Hell was eternal. I thought people would go there for a time depending on how bad they'd been and then they'd just simply cease to exist." I sat down with him Sunday afternoon and we talked about Hell. I think on future weekend trips to Amaturá I will leave earlier so I can sit down with the church leaders to do some studies and work at answering questions they have. During my next visit, they'd like me to bring sample by-laws so they can work at putting their by-laws together. They are wanting to have the church formally organized. I admire the believers there for making forward progress even in the absence of a pastor. Please pray for them as they continue to desire a full-time pastor and as they work through the process to be a formally recognized church.

I believe God is leading me in a different direction as far as teaching in Betânia. I have talked some with the students and they are open to a new approach. I'll write more about this in our next update. Their current lessons will be completed in another 2 weeks and that will be the time to make a change. I'm still thinking through the specifics and would appreciate your prayers as we work on this new material.

Many have written asking for an update on Jessica and Jacob. Jessica's abdominal pain is much better. She complains off and on about it hurting, but nothing like before. Jacob has still struggled with headaches that are most times not relieved by Tylenol or ibuprofen. The pediatric neurologist had asked for us to keep a headache log which we are doing. We are trying to eliminate some foods that can sometimes trigger headaches from his diet to see if we can find a link. Please pray with us to know what the next steps need to be in getting to the bottom of these headaches.

Thank you for praying for us and the ministries here in the Upper Amazon. I'll be sending an aviation update out with our next letter.