We made it home - God is opening even greater opportunity…
We made it home. Just to give you an idea of the immensity of the experience in the Amazon - We have over 7000 pictures and 25 hours of video footage.
Just the trip from where we completed the wells back to Tom and Kathy’s home in Nova Lima took nearly 40 straight hours. 28 hours on the river, ending with a magnificent storm and rain so severe there wasn’t any way to keep from getting wet, even under the cover of the boats decks. After getting to Manues we had a frantic trip to the airport to catch a flight back to Belo Horizonte. It was crazy. Though in many ways typical Brazil. Because of such poor internet access we were unable to keep you all updated on the trip, and for that I apologize.
The three of us (Troy, Ben and Scott) are throughly exhausted from the 11 days in the Amazon. It is impossible to convey the intensity of the heat effect, high humidity, close quarters, and limited sleep other than to say ‘exhaustion plus.’ But in the same breath I would add every single drop of sweat, every discomfort, every inconvenience was nothing compared to the things which the Lord allowed us to see, experience and participate in on this trip. We saw the glory of Christ in the nations. Pure and simple.
The Amazon is a world unto itself. It exists outside of most of what we would call the modern world. Much of the area we spent our time was without fresh water (and therefore no plumbing), no electricity, and primitive sanitation. These houses pictured on the right would be examples of very nice dwellings compared to how people lived in the village where we dug and repaired wells. Life revolves around the river, and its rising and falling. Water is very much the source of the life of the people who live along it.
Going to the Satare people is a labor of love for Lamb of God and our colleagues in Brazil. Getting there is in itself an adventure. The project which we completed was the end of three years of planning. Tom and I sat with Marco three years ago weeping at the stories he told us of the sacrifices and trials of being a missionary in the Amazon. At that time we promised to come, and fulfilled that promise when Troy and I went two years ago. That was the beginning of this journey. It took two more years to fulfill our next commitment to Marco, and the work in the Amazon. We completed that commitment on August the 11th. 2008. And praise God for his incredible faithfulness, safe-keeping and love in all of this. Jesus really does desire the nations for himself. And the Word of God declares - (7)“I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You. (8) ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.
Here is an example of the wonder and sweetness of this trip. Here is a school, in Maues that takes in poor children and helps to feed them and give them education. Many of the children are from single, very young mothers. This is a work that we have supported with our giving to Brazil. This is also one of the places that Ben preached. He did a wonderful job and was a real blessing here, and in all the places where God gave us opportunity. We gave gifts, including some soccer balls donated by Joy Community (Pastor Doug Adams). We shared lots of hugs, pictures, and time with kids. Jason in particular was a huge smash hit with his I-Phone and his generosity in sharing at this work in Maues. The kids gave gifts to us as well (little hand made soaps).
Here is yours truly presenting the soccer balls to Chagas (the Satare missionary who made possible our entrance into the tribal regions). Chagas also leads this little school. I am trying to explain to him that these soccer balls were signed by the people from Joy Community, with messages of blessing and encouragement to the kids. It was a special time and a big hit with the kids.
The best thing was being able to share the Lord with the kids and the adults who were gathered together for what was their Sunday gathering. While you all were worshipping back at Lamb, this was our Sunday service in Maues.
Here are the kids from the school lined up waiting to receive the gifts which you all purchased to be distributed on the trip. It was quite a scene, and a joy.
This school is a great work, small and organic and a continuing opportunity for Lamb to invest in a really wonderful work. You would be amazed at how far a little money goes in blessing and maintaining a work of reaching kids with a somewhat bleak future. Sacrificial giving opens doors in the kingdom that God multiples many times more than our sacrifice. We’ve seen it first hand. We are witnesses of the direct impact of your giving. What a blessing to see how God uses what we freely give.
From here we began our trip to head out to the tribes. We loaded the boat with supplies, the drilling machine, the tubes which constituted the walls for the wells, the pumping mechanisms, tools and so forth necessary to dig the wells. The trip from Maues to the village where we were going to do our digging was about six hours (It ended up taking longer because of some navigational difficulties).
On the left is a picture which I hope gives you a sense of our sleeping arrangements. Pretty tight quarters, eh? One of the things that was truly amazing was how wonderfully well 40 people in such tight quarters got along with one another. People were considerate, they were gentle with one another, they tolerated smells, sounds, and various close quarter tensions with great grace and kindness. This is one of the two decks on which folks slept.
Here, your old pastor pauses as we unload pipe and other items which constitute our digging project. The heat was unbearable at times and big guys like me are particularly prone to melt in the heat. Think of a big chocolate sunday left out on a sunny day and you might get the image.
Below gives a better idea of what the work sight was like.
Here in the foreground is Saggy (husband to Melissa, a couple we support) carrying a section of pipe used in the drilling process. As we dug we would add a section of pipe (finishing at a depth of about 70 feet or so). All of it (over 1500 kilos) had to be carried from the boat to the sight. You can sort of get a picture of how that process looked from the picture.
What you see in this picture are the water pits being dug. These were necessary in order to keep water being pumped into the well as we dug. The pits were really challenging (digging in 90+ weather), but absolutely critical to the process of digging. Tom and I are trying to look involved, but this kind of work is definitely a young man’s game (though I did do some of it). The water had to be pumped up to the well from the river and then pumped into the well to lubricate the hole as we dug.
Here you see the rig set up and not long from beginning the dig. This part
of the operation took us over a day to complete. The actually digging is a combination of guesswork and knowledge. Its not really a sure science - sort of an art form. As the bit digs we would constantly check the condition of what the well was spitting out. I was never quite sure what they were looking for, but some of the Brazilians made a point of learning what the meaning of the various soils conveyed.
In this picture there are two men that God supplied to the project that made it possible to have success. On the right in the white shirt with long sleeves is Edral Adams. Edral has been digging wells all around the world. Just a few weeks before we left he walked into Tom’s house and ended up joining us. This was a remarkable blessing. On the left of the picture in the black long sleeve shirt is the other blessing God sent to us, Eloisa. He is an expert on digging wells in the Amazon region. He knew the specifics of what was necessary to dig in the particular area we were digging. The potential for egos to conflict when you have two men with a lot of knowledge about how to do a certain things was there - yet God gave us a great harmony. Edral was quick to defer to Eloisa and visa versa. Neither of these guys was known to us before this trip. At no time did we actively pursuit their involvement - God simply sent them to make sure that the project could be completed.
Here is the night sky in the Amazon. This is what we looked up at every night while we were in the Amazon. It is honestly overwhelming. I often thought that this was what Abraham saw when the Lord promised him that his offspring would be as numerous as the stars in the sky.
Many of the folks on the trip were dazzled by this sight. Living in an area with so much light shining at night we rarely ever see the night sky and its vast star-field. Sorry I could resist the digression. While we are at it check out the sunset ….
I can’t convey to you the incredible sense of the majesty of God that a a sunset like this conveys to the heart. This is the beautiful palette with which God paints his world. This picture is one of day after day of sunsets and sunrises we were privileged to witness. It was impossible not to be in awe of this sight. In the presence of much discomfort (heat) this sight was always a lift to our hearts.
Psalm 65:8 - You make the dawn and the sunset shout for joy.
Here we are near the end of the process (actually it still took us two days to complete the well after this point). We have at this point completed the digging and are not dropping in the tubes which will constitute the ’sides’ of the well. Into these tubes will go the mechanism that actually draws the water out of the well.
Ben is in the fore ground filming. We are planning on a feature length film of the entire project (which may take a year or so to complete, since 25 hours of video have to be edited and cut into a coherent whole). However, before then we will be making smaller sections available for viewing. I believe this coming Sunday Ben is planning on some short clips as part of the message. This would be a great Sunday to invite a friend or anyone you think might be interested in the project.
The picture on the left is taken at night and represents the project very close to the end of the process. The well is set, the well having been cleaned out and only the pump mechanism remains to be placed in the shaft.
I will post further pictures in the next few days. I also want to share a little of the extraordinary opportunities which God has opened to us as a result of the completion of this project. Stay tuned!
August 14th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
Scott: we are overwhelmed by god’s grace in your mission trip and in our own lives back here in the “civilized” world. Best love… rgs
August 15th, 2008 at 10:24 am
Praise God for these incredible efforts. You are loving in word & DEED! Seeking His Kingdom. Gerard
August 15th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
That’s great stuff, Scott!
August 16th, 2008 at 9:02 am
Scott
I’m going to have to steal some of these experiences for sermon illustrations this Sunday.