2/2/09 - 2/9/09 Prainha, Pará
Our first adventure began with a line boat trip to Prainha, a small city along the Amazon River. We left Santarém early evening in time to watch the amazing sunset over the Amazon River and get settled into our hammocks for the evening. We were packed onto that boat like sardines in a can. It is definitely an experience to travel by line boat. We were all very thrilled to arrive in Prainha about 4:00am and get a little more sleep before setting up and beginning clinics. School in Prainha was still out on break so we setup our clinics in the school building. We got everything setup in the morning and began clinics in the afternoon. We had each doctor with a translator and then we had our Brazilian dentist working as well. I was pretty nervous about translating. I remember thinking, "Lord, I am not sure I am ready for this. You are really going to have to help me here. Not only am I speaking another language but I am having to translate things I have never needed to talk about in Portuguese before." God, as always, was so faithful. It was so incredible to be able to attend to the physical and spiritual needs of the people. Knowing that when all seems hopeless there is hope in Jesus Christ. Each day of our trip we either had clinics the whole day or just in the morning. People would begin lining up at 3 and 4am to be able to get a consult and also wait in the extreme heat of the day. Can you imagine being that desperate in the US? We definitely take advantage of so many things in the States. We were very busy in Prainha and I will have to admit, I never thought it would be so mentally and physically draining to sit and translate but it really does a number on you. Prainha was also a little bit of a stretch for me as there were about 20 of us staying all in one home with one bathroom that ran out of water every other day. I know the Lord was working in my life during the week I was there. There was a lot of room for bad attitudes to creep in but God was faithful and helped :). We had 3 nights of church services out on the road in front of the pastor'
s home where many of the team was staying. One night I was able to be a part of the praise and worship team; which I really enjoyed as that was a huge part of growing up for me. Probably the greatest reward of being in Prainha was being able to pray with people and also see people that we had invited come to the church services. Prainha is a tough city with a lot of resistance to the Gospel. But praise the Lord walls are falling down in that city.
2/14/09-2/15/09 Pinduri, Pará
The next adventure would be a two day boat trip on the Amazon River on our PAZ boat "Portador da Luz" which means "light bringer". This time we would be going to an actual river community unlike Prainha which was a small city. We would be living, bathing and sleeping on the PAZ boat. Ever thought about taking a shower with water from the Amazon River? Have you ever seen a mosquito the size of a bird or almost ;)? Or how about slept in a hammock on a boat and had to jump up in the middle of the night to lower tarps because there is a torrential downpour? These are just some of the adventures to be had on a river trip. On this trip we actually did our clinics on the boat as there was not a place on land to setup. This community seemed to be spread out and it amazed me how people came from whatever distance to have a medical consult or to see the dentist. The community of Pinduri does not have a PAZ church started yet. This is a brand new project so Saturday night we had a church service out in a big soccer field. If I am not mistaken, 7 people gave their lives to the Lord. This is just the beginning of a great work of God in Pinduri. The people are hungry for the Lord and ready to see their community changed.
2/16/09-2/18/09 Porto Novo, Pará
The third trip would be a little break from traveling on the muddy Amazon to traveling on the beautiful Tapajós. Porto Novo is a community only a little over an hour drive away from Santarém but we went by boat which took about 3 or 4 hours. On this trip, I asked the boat captain Geraldo, to take the visiting American doctors on a ride through the jungle at night in his small boat. I went as their translator. What an incredible experience and treat! Just the sounds in the jungle at night are amazing. My favorite part was when he rowed us out more towards the open part of the river and we just looked up at the sky which was painted with stars. It is hard to explain but in that moment I couldn't help but think about the marvelous Creator we have. The Chris Tomlin worship song came into my head How Great Is Our God and He truly is so great. On our last morning in Porto Novo, an elderly lady came in for a consult. She was the sweetest little thing. I think she just wanted to come and chat because she already knew she had diabetes and she was already doing everything right to take care of her condition. She treated me like I was her best friend and was absolutely precious. When she was about to leave she hugged me and gave me kisses. She even returned after a few minutes to bring me a fruit spread that she made. When I encounter people like this it just is further reminder of why I am here and how much I love these people.
2/21/09-2/24/09 Surubiauçu, Pará
For this trip we were back on the Amazon. We set our clinics up in what looked like a bar as it is used for parties after soccer games. The people in these communities are so desperate for medicine. One such gentlemen we saw did have a problem with his eye that Dr. Jonathan noticed right away. I had the opportunity to look through the doctor's instrument into his eye and see a huge blood vessel completely blocking his vision in that eye. While in this community, we were able to have two church services. The first night, the turnout was amazing. People came from down the river and all around to participate and a few people gave their lives to Jesus. It is amazing to see the sacrifice people make to go to church in these communities. Whether it is the pouring down rain or there are tons of bugs the people make the effort. It was a humbling experience. From the time the team arrived, I told them about alligator hunting and they were all pumped and really wanted to go. So on the very last trip we were able to get 3 of them on an alligator hunt. About 9:30 our second night, we set out on an adventure. I was very nervous. Our two Brazilian guides and alligator experts were telling us how they had killed alligators that gave 150kg of meat. That was enough to freak me out. I can't even imagine an alligator that big nor did I want to encounter one. So off we went on our journey back through the brush of the Amazon out onto a lake. We were gone for several hours. After just a short time, one of the Brazilian men spotted a small alligator. He slowly put his hand down and grabbed him up out of the water. Each of the doctors held him and took pictures as a "momento" of their trip to the Amazon. Then they all said it was my turn but I only managed to grab his tail for a quick picture. We let him go and continued our search for a larger animal that could be used for food. Our Brazilian guides continued to call the alligators and they responded all around us in the dark of the night but we never did encounter another alligator after we let the little guy go. I will have to admit I was kind of relieved because he would have ridden back in the boat with us. YIKES!!!
Lessons Learned...
After a month of traveling with the team of doctors, I learned many things. One thing I learned is how to cure stomachaches, headaches, worms and several other common ailments among the people of the Amazon. Just call me Dr. Claire ha! Another lesson I learned is to be flexible and show the love of Christ and realize that even when I am tired and really don't feel I can continue that there is a person that Jesus loves waiting for just a few minutes of my time. The last lesson that really hit home for me during these trips came from a devotion that Pastor Nilson gave one morning on the boat. He spoke out of Genesis 12:1-2 "The Lord said to Abraham, 'Go out from your land, your relatives, and your father's house to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing'." As he was speaking, it really struck me that this is what I have done. I have left my land, the USA and my family and my father's home and gone to the land the Lord put in my heart which is Brazil. It was so encouraging to later hear the promise the Lord gave Abraham that He would make him into a great nation and bless him and make his name great, etc... For me, I could care less about having a name that is great in this world. It is enough for me to just be able to be a blessing to others in need. I know that the Lord working through me will bless others and I am so thankful for the opportunity I had in the month of February to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Words alone cannot express my gratitude to all of you who have enabled me through your prayers and financial support to bring Jesus to the people of the Amazon Basin.
Please continue to pray for me as I will be joining on other trips in the future and also as I take on some new projects. One of these projects is being the point person for a 4 year Bible school. This Bible school is different because it is all on a device similar to an iPod, called a MegaVoice. All 4 years of Bible school are on this small device and have been translated into Portuguese. It is a study from Genesis to Revelation. My responsibility is to keep in touch with our leaders all over the Amazon Basin and monitor the progress of the course. As I monitor the course, I will report to the ministry that provides the materials for this course on a regular basis as to the progress of each group of students. This program will be very useful out in the river communities where a Bible education of this nature is not available.
I ask that you would pray about joining with me on a regular basis as a financial supporter as well. Exciting things are happening here in the Amazon Basin and as we say at all of our PAZ churches "Isto é só o começo" (This is just the beginning)!
To see pictures from February follow the links below:
