The day after helping Joaquim and the short-termers with the finishing touches on our new church plant in Iruçanga (see the last article), I went out with Joaquim again, this time on the flooded Amazon River to go visit another church construction work in progress. The community of Piracaoera lies along the Amazon River and is completely under water. PAZ has been helping this area recently because of the devastating floods that have destroyed many homes. In the midst of these floods, we are also building a new church! This church was recently featured in a video I put up on the PAZ website – click here to see it. The purpose of our trip was to prepare for the next work team that will be helping soon.
We piled into the little speedboat and went out into the great Amazon. I was amazed by how high the water is, even after it’s gone down by about a meter. So come with us now on the flooded Amazon River. Just click the first picture below and advance the slideshow with your arrow keys. ?????? ?????? ????? ??????? ?????? ?????
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- The PAZ hanger is so flooded that our boats actually float inside without assistance. Although this isn’t ideal, it sure makes it easy to store the boats!
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- The PAZ water filter factory – under water and out of operation
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- Out on the river you pass many a line boat transporting people and goods down the highway of the Amazon
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- The river has gone completely over these islands – only the trees and tallest houses stand out
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- This whole area is usually green pasture
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- Many of the trees remind you more of the midwest, not the Amazon
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- A lot of this grass isn’t rooted in the ground- its a unique kind of grass that grows and floats in the river
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- Joaquim and his son enjoy the shade
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- A bird takes off from a patch of floating Amazon grass
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- Arriving in Piracaoera, the church is the only building above water level
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- Inside the church, Joaquim and the local church worker talk about the construction
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- Local fisherman use the church to mend their nets
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- I couldn’t help but to feel like we were in a modern Noah’s Ark – a great wooden refuge in the midst of a great flood
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- The worker’s wife and another local believer were there helping in the work
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- Right out the front door of the church line boats would pass by – a surreal experience to say the least
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- Done with our preparations, we head back to Santarém and say goodbye to our brothers and sisters in Piracaoera
The floor of this church isn’t even done yet, and people and fisherman are already using it for shelter! It’s one of the only places for miles around that is above the water. Because the church has opened its doors (that aren’t even hung yet), good will in the community has grown greatly, and by God’s grace we will see this church grow greatly because of it.
Thousands of years ago, Noah built a wooden ark as instructed by the Lord. It was a refuge to him, his family and all sorts of animals. Today we are still building arks as instructed by the Lord, but now for people. These arks are called churches and are a refuge for those in the flood; a place to find salvation in Jesus Christ.
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