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Jeremiah 29:11. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a future.”
Since August 2025, OUR plan was to return as a medical mission team to Uganda July 17-27, 2026. In May of 2026, the deadly Ebola virus broke out in the Republic of the Congo, which borders Uganda. After much prayer, at the end of May, I contacted my Master Care friends to tell them that our group would not be serving in Uganda given the current Ebola situation and the 21-day quarantine imposed there if exposed to the virus. My heart was sad. God, now what? “For I know the plans I have for you” rang in my ears.
Refusing to give up on serving, I prayed about it, then called my Kenya, Mexico, Nicaragua, Canada, and Jamaica connections, seeking a place for our team to serve. In a conversation with Kitty Ramsay about our dilemma, she offered to call Jed Thompson, a high school friend and one of the founders of a ministry called Amazon Outreach.
Within ten minutes, Jed called me and said it would take a miracle for our dates to match up with their needs on the same dates. I graciously thanked him and prayed for that miracle! Amazingly, Jed called me back five minutes later to ask if I had ever heard of Alba, Texas, or Lake Fork Baptist Church. I laughed and assured him I knew them well. “They have room for your team!” Miracles still happen!! Tears of joy filled my eyes.
Hmmm...the Amazon...quietly reflecting on my spontaneous “Yes.” God, you know I am terrified of snakes – small, large, humongous – it matters not! In Kenya and Uganda, my eyes were constantly on the lookout for boa constrictors – now anacondas, and throw in a few piranhas! God truly has a sense of humor.
Amazon Outreach Ministry was started in 1999 by several men who served on short-term mission trips with the overlooked, underserved villagers along the Amazon River Basin in Brazil. Their passion for sharing Jesus, fueled by the Holy Spirit, sparked a fire that burns brightly along the Amazon. This ministry not only changes the lives of Amazonians but profoundly impacts those who go there to serve.
As the Mt. Vernon team joined hands and hearts with the great team from Lake Fork Baptist Church, our gifted translators, the local missionaries, and the incredible staff and crew of our boat, Amor Esperanca, or Love and Hope, we served and loved the “Forgotten People,” as they call themselves.
The Holy Spirit moved mightily; hearts and lives were forever changed as many villagers prayed to receive Jesus as their Savior and Lord. The world may have “forgotten” them, but neither Jesus nor Mt. Vernon had. Jesus said, “I have come to seek and save the lost.”
“For I know the plans I have for you.” Our plan was to go to Uganda – sleep in a bed – in a room – in a building built on the ground which did not move. God’s plan was for us to go to the Amazon in Brazil – sleep in a hammock – on 1 of 3 decks – on a big boat that always moves – open air, not enclosed – river breezes day and night – moving from one village to the next as you sleep.
All 23 of the Mt. Vernon and Lake Fork Baptist Church teams, 8-10 translators, and our crew and skilled captain together 24/7 for 7 days. Breakfast at 5 am, devotions and prayer at 6 am, then into the villages to work until 12:30, lunch on the boat, back into the village at 1:45, back to the boat at 5, dinner at 6, take turns doing dishes, worship at 7, and then fall into our hammocks at 10. Our hammocks were a welcome sight.
Each morning the sun peeked over the horizon on the equator, causing the vast river to shine like glass, displaying God’s power and majesty. Motivated by His love, our team would trek up the hill to the village, eager to treat the sick, share Jesus’ love and joy with children, and do door-to-door evangelism, sharing the gospel with many of them for the first time. The joy on their faces was priceless.
Early one morning, the Evangelism Team climbed up a hill equal to a 3-story building - no steps - just dirt. We knocked on the flimsy door of a tiny house, and a tiny, frail elderly woman opened the door with tears streaming down her face. “Thank you, Jesus,” she said. “I have been praying since 4:30 a.m. for someone to come help me, and here you are. I need your encouragement and prayers for my son.” Together we shared a morning prayer time for her son. We encircled her close in our arms as we prayed for her. “For I know the plans I have for you.”
I want to challenge each of you reading this with Jesus’ final words to us before He returned to heaven.
“Go you, therefore, and disciple all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all I commanded you, and I am with you always to the end of the age.” The Great Commission – not the Great Suggestion.
This is God’s plan for you and for me. Respond as Isaiah did many years ago when God called, “Here I am, send me.” Someone is waiting for you.
The people of Mt. Vernon answered the call to the “Forgotten people” of the Amazon.
