The Experience of the Amazon Basin

Enjoy these testimonials and stories of mission trips with Amazon Vision Ministires. Consider how you may play a part in ministry.

The Story of Benjamin -- July 2008

This is a story about Benjamin, who lives in a small village, one of thousands, along the flood-swollen Amazon River. Benjamin listened politely as one member of our Mission Team (of four) from Florida explained the Gospel to his family using an Evangicube. Our translator, Marcia, had explained that we came from the “other” America to tell them about Jesus.

Bradley's Story -- July 2008

The Highlight of this trip is difficult to pinpoint because so much of it is unique and cool.

Jerry's Story -- July 2008

The highlights of the voyage along the Amazon were the people and their lives. Visiting floating homes gave incite into the hard life along the river living day to day, depending upon fishing or farming. Two of the many visits are as follows:

A Mission to Anama -- May 2008

In mid-May 2008 we had the privilege of spending 3 days with the precious people of São Pedro and Vila Nova Canaá, in the Municipio (County) of Anama. Our time there was incredible as we held worship, told Bible stories to the children, and conducted awesome Men’s and Women’s Bible studies. The children performed a drama about how Jesus calmed the stormy sea during one of the worship services. We saw over 155 decisions that week and conducted over 1000 hours of discipleship. What an awesome God we serve!

Construction on the Amazon River

Today I stood on the top deck of our riverboat as we pulled away from the community of Bom Jesus. As I watched the children and the Church that we had poured our heart and soul into, I felt something that completely changed my life.

The Feeding of the 500

Words cannot express the incredible sense of fulfillment we experienced as we gave out the food in Surara... "This was the first time I heard laughter since we arrived." The joy of the Lord was there. There was a holiness about that moment as we knew we were right in the middle of what God was doing. We have affectionately called the event "the feeding of the 500".

Making New Jerusalems

For us a boat is a luxury but for people in the interior of the Amazon basin, where the rivers are the highways, a boat is as necessary as our cars... With the help of a Sunday school class from Westside Baptist Church in Gainesville, Florida, a floating house had been purchased to become a place for the new Baptist church to meet in that community.

Resurrecting Worship

In the community Deus E Amor (God is love) on Lago de Mateus (Matthew's Lake) we found a unique need. There was, for that area, a nice big Assembly of God church building... As we spoke with her, we found that there had not been a worship service there for three years. We decided that the praises to the Lord had been silent in that building long enough and planned a worship service.

Connecting with People

We also took the johnboats to another nearby lake where we found opportunity for ministry. At the first house Derek and the man there recognized each other. Last year the man's girls had malaria and Derek had taken them aboard the Marco Polo and taken them to the hospital in Beruri where they were treated; they are now fully recovered.

Lee Goes on a Boat Mission

About three years ago, three men from Westside Baptist Church in Gainesville, Florida, Pastor Gary Crawford, Navy Commander (ret.) Derek George, and businessman Joe Fincher, came to Manaus and bought a luxury bass fishing boat. They converted it into an evangelical mission boat to ply the waters of Amazonia with the Good News of Jesus Christ. This boat, the Marco Polo, embodies the Amazon Vision Ministries.

New Experiences

By Peggy Bennett

I was overjoyed when the ladies of the first village, Apuau, were excited about forming a bible study AND they volunteered to teach two of the ladies to read.

What a Way to Start a Year!

By Andrew Horvath

We went down the road and saw two boys sitting down on the side of the road. They told us that they already asked Jesus into their hearts. We talked with them a little more about Jesus and then we prayed with them.

Brazil - The beauty, the animals and best of all, the people

By Phillip Horvath

That is why I went to Brazil, to change hearts towards God. This trip was my first mission trip. What better way to start going on mission trips than with your siblings and parents?

Lingering Rewards

By Cindy Horvath

The AVM Family Mission Trip had such a profound impact on our family in many ways while we were there, but also during the short 10 weeks of preparation that we had together.

The Family Church Trip, 4-13 Nov 2005

As I sat on the airplane waiting to land in Manaus I heard a voice in my head say to me, "The work that you do this week, will not be of you but of me." It is very clear to me now whose voice that was. I was not ready for the experiences that God had in store for me.

Boyd Robinson's Dental trip, Sep 2005

You can find God's love in so many places, but sometimes the world is spinning to fast and you can't stop the merry-go-around long enough to see His love. I found a way to stop this spinning and see God's love afresh. Amazon Vision Ministries was that way and a trip to Brazil showed me so vividly God's amazing love. It started simply enough with someone asking me to go on a medical/dental mission trip.

I was ready to share the gifts God had given me in my dental skills, but ...

Lifeway trip 24 June - 8 Jul 2005

With a sweep of her weathered hand, Mariana motioned for Kenny Spurlin and his Brazilian translator to follow. They slipped past a row of stilted houses built above the Solimoes River, which, along with the Rio Negro, meet to form the world's longest river - the Amazon. Two young children played with tethered goats while pigs, chickens and threadbare cattle jockeyed for a place to escape the afternoon sun. At the end of the path, just beyond a curious shanty with a generator and a satellite dish, Mariana ushered her guests inside her one-room home.

"I want to receive Jesus as my Savior but am afraid."

Wayne's Story

The river people in a certain section of the Amazon give us an incredible object lesson based on Psalm 69. There is a certain village along the river where the houses are built on stilts right out in the water. During the rainy season, the family must board up the windows and the family must live in the rafters of the home for several weeks until the water recedes! The evidence of the height of the river is the water line stained within the porous wood of the home.

Now, imagine if you will, if you were an innocent bystander.

Village Stories

We were preparing to leave a small river village. In fact, It was just a couple of homes at the end of a lake. A thirteen-year-old girl who had just accepted Christ came to us crying and said "Thank you so much for coming. We are a forgotten village - no one ever comes to see us."