We have a great update for you – the youth retreat in Rio Branco went wonderful! Thank you for all your prayers, for a great retreat, safe travels, and a good time: they were sure answered powerfully. Now come with us and see what our trip was like!
Don’t forget, you can click any one of these photos to see them in a larger slideshow window.
Traveling Through the Amazon
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We left super early Thursday, Feb 19 – a 2 am flight from here to Manaus, a large city of several million people situated another 500 miles up the Amazon River. This is our preferred entrance point when coming from the States, as it cuts several thousand miles and many hours off of a trip that otherwise goes way far south to São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro.
We arrived in Manaus around 3:30 AM and were graciously picked up by fellow missionaries Grant & Regina Cail and Jim & Julie Benson (actually just Grant and Jim came to the airport!). We crashed at their house and got a few hours of sleep before getting up and touring the new houses they’re building. It’s a beautiful plot of land in a good area of town. The Cails and Benson just recently moved to Manaus from Santarém to help the base develop their medical and church planting program.
They live very close to the PAZ campground in Manaus, so we also went there to visit and see around as well. The campground is a nice piece of property in the middle of Manaus, although you wouldn’t be able to tell because the grounds are surrounded by jungle. They also were preparing for their big youth camp. There were lots of great plants and flowers to photograph, so I had a particularly good time!
That afternoon we left to go to Porto Velho (“Old Port”), where we had a one day layover! Porto Velho is one home to one of our PAZ bases; a city of over a half a million people. It is also capital of the small Brazilian state of Rodônia. We stayed with Pastor Jango and his family. There, we were thrilled to go to a real shopping mall and have real mall food! That may not sound great, but when you’re away from it for over a year, it tastes great! 🙂 We staked out the deals so that when we came back through Porto Velho, we could take advantage and do some necessary shopping.
8 replies on “There and Back Again: The Reutter’s Tale about Rio Branco”
What a cool trip! I love the pictures!
I had never really understood the story behind Carnaval, but now it’s much more clear why we need to pray against this sort of festival. Thank God for PAZ and all that you guys are doing!
did you sit in the same seat on every plane? lol 😛
Ha! Funny you say that: seat 20F
After reading all of that I’m still just amazed that pineapples don’t grow on trees….that picture really opened my eyes to a whole new reality.
Totally joking of course. 🙂 Awesome update and pictures. It must feel amazing to know you are making such a difference in so many people’s lives.
….but seriously….they really don’t grow on trees????
I loved the update and that first picture is so GREAT of RUTH!!!!
Wow! What a great trip – great post – great pictures!!!
Love to you, Nate and Ruth! I am enjoying your update this morning as part of my worship time. I am loving not only seeing the pictures, but your sense of humor, Nate! Aunt Do
Thank you for the beautiful pictures and the trip diary. I can visualize better what your work is like and be better prepared to pray for you. I am praying for you to have God’s strength as you continue to meet the challenges of making more disciples.