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.

Next door we met a family that we were able to minister to as well. The kids had very threadbare clothing. One of the ministries we do on the river is to bring and give away clothing. Leah later told me that one of the little boys took the shirt we gave him and just held it tightly to his chest for a few minutes like it was one of the most precious things he had been given.

A somewhat humorous thing happened later with this same family. We were visiting across the lake and the place happened to be the daughter of the old man we encountered on the previous visit. We found that she was an expectant mother and made plans to take some of our medical people the next morning with the johnboat as the larger boat moved up the river to Surara. At this visit the older man related how he had been bitten by snakes on three occasions. Incredibly one of these snakes was a Fur-de-lance. Out of curiosity I asked him how he treated the snakebite. The old man threw his hands up in the air and basically said, "Help, me Jesus!" After all, He is the great physician.

Reaching People Where They Are

There were two more memorable visits in Surara. One was at the local pool hall. For North Americans that statement conjures up images that would be completely misleading in this case. The pool hall was a pole building with a thatched roof, raised wooden floor and no walls. As you walked across the floor the miniature pool table moved. We walked by and watched a game end. I introduced the team and myself. After a moment of small talk, I asked if I could share with them about Jesus. They politely agreed.

I shared a gospel presentation with them and asked if they had any questions. Most of the men were young but there were two men older than the rest. One of the older men took his pool cue and pushed the cue ball across the table and asked if it was a sin to shoot pool. I knew where this was coming from. Many of the churches there are very legalistic in their teaching. These men were accustomed to Christians and even the local pastor walking by and looking at them with distain rather than trying to engage them with the gospel. This began a great conversation about what it means to be a Christian. We then left Bibles with all the young men and urged them to pick out someone who can read and spend a few minutes before they begin their game reading from the Bible when they get together. Derek ended up playing a game with one of the guys and was very obviously allowed to win.

The other visit was in the house of a young couple. The young man was 17 years old and the proud father of a 12-day-old son. As we spoke to him it became evident that he was making some lifestyle choices that were not healthy for him or his family. This struck a cord with me because that was about the age when for four years I left behind everything that pertained to God. I shared some of my testimony with him and stressed how he needed God in his life to be the husband and father he needed to be. Dave, sitting on the floor beside me, tapped me on the arm and asked it he could share with him. What happened next was one of the most powerful expressions of selfless ministry I think I have witnessed. Dave shared how he destroyed his first marriage with drinking and wrong priorities. As Dave shared he broke down and wept, allowing this young man to see the pain involved in the consequences of these choices. Dave and Leah were able to go back and visit with him again the morning I was in Beruri buying the food for the village. We are praying that God will establish what we shared in this young man's mind so he will be a blessing to his family.

Something about Widows and Orphans

Most of the houses in the village of Cuiuana are floating on a channel just off the Purus River. We docked our boat, the Marco Polo, by one of these houses. A young widow and mother lived there. We became aware that she was in dire straits. Although her husband died about two years earlier, she had not begun to receive what is the Brazilian minimum wage from the government and did not expect to do so for about two more months. This is equivalent to $175 per month.

She had a balance at the local store (which also floats in the channel) of about the equivalent of $135. She had no money, no way to earn any and had no food in her home. She had not eaten that day. Derek, Pastor Eli, and I met with her after the service to dedicate the church building. We found her to be a wonderful godly woman who has a great trust in God. The next day we took her to the store, paid off her balance and purchased food for her family.

Bottom Lines

During our 10 days we traveled 4 days and had six days of intense ministry. We worked in and around the communities of Cuiuana, Deus E Amor, and Surara on the Purus River in the Brazilian state of Amazonas. The Purus River is a main tributary to the Amazon River.