São Jose 2012

We started off the New Year great with a trip to our interior work on the Arari River, São José. Otherwise known as St. Joseph. Plans were made and we were pumped and prepped to go. We knew that Jan. 10th would be an early morning, so we attempted to finish our board mtg early and get to bed early. I was concerned mostly for Stephen since he is the sole driver and that he had to drive 4hours starting at 3:30 in the morning. Well let's just put it this way...things don't always go as planned. You know the missionary motto right? Be flexible. We are learning this so well. :)

Well, we fell into bed at midnight. I doubled check the alarm clock and tried to sleep quick. We were rudely awaken at  1am when the electricity went off. No fan, no alarm clock, no AC, and hot, hot, hot! AND bark, bark, bark and BARK!! I think the power outage scared the dogs too. Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep. I awoke around 2am b/c I was nervous and worried that something would be forgotten and praying furiously that the power would come back on. At 2am I was rummaging through suitcases looking for our packed flashlights and trying to light candles so that I could  at least see what I was doing.  Feeling at little grumpy (at least I admit it), we finally pulled out of the  drive and it was  only at little past 3:30am. Not bad for all that we went through, only to discover that it was only our block with NO power. All the other porch lights and streets lights were shining brightly.  Pulling our shoulder's back in determination, we knew that not everyone  was  pleased with our  plans to make the trip  interior and we   were not going to let him defeat us.

As a Cookson (my maiden name) we  always seemed to have  exciting things happen on our family outings. You know  the exciting things, getting lost, mishaps, strange hotels, hair in food, etc. And we always  called them Cookson Adventures.     Well  daddy,  I haven't let you down. The Cookson adventure is still lives on. :)  And from the power outage and on, I knew that we would be in for one old Cookson Adventure.

4:10am we arrived at Rio Solimões to pick up Pr. Eraldo and his  son Israel. Sis. Gil  graciously was up and serving us coffee. That one cup of  coffee sure made a difference in the outlook of things. :)

Around 4:30 we were off to Itacoatiara, an easy 4 hours east of us, where we would board a boat to take us to our destination. The boat was leaving at  9:00am.



Route 010 leading us in the direction of Itacoatiara

Due to the lack of adequate sleep, my dear husband was fighting for all his was worth to stay awake. And at times failing. About an hour and half into the trip, we stopped to get  out and walk around. We also used this time to eat the muffins I made and hard boiled eggs that were brought along for breakfast.

Around 6am, the day began to dawn and made it a little easier for Stephen, except for the fog. We did our best to entertain him, we read to him, we did Bible trivia, laid bottles of ice water on his neck (that always caused a reaction  :) ), and fed him goodies and cups of coffee.



My dear one trying to keep awake

The group of entertainers in the back seat
L-R Israel, Pr. Eraldo, Sis. Nazaré and Bro. Alberi

 And then it began to...

RAIN!!!

 What a pleasant sight. We finally made it

Welcome to Itacoatiara

Have you ever ridden a motorcycle with an umbrella? I missed the picture of the lady riding a bicycle with an umbrella. Talented!



 We arrived at the port at 8:30am. Thirty minutes to spare, but now we had the adventure of getting ALL of our stuff from the Toyota to the boat in the pouring rain. Remember a Cookson adventure? After slipping and sliding our way down the muddy embankment, we climbed up the plank to be welcomed by a beautiful sight, a boat OVERFLOWING with people, hammocks,and cargo! There were people everywhere and the smell wasn't so welcoming either. Because they had the tarps down on the sides due to the rain, the boat had a wet "something" smell. We quickly found a spot, actually wedged Stephen's hammock in place. We wanted him to be able to rest. While the rest of us had the option of sitting on the little bench around the edge of the boat which was about the width of a 2x4, standing or when available a sitting on a little stool that was at the table.

9am the announcement arrives that the port authority is not allowing the boat to leave because it is over loaded. The limit of people for this boat was 53. I think I overheard them saying that there were about 3x's that amount of people on the boat. And that doesn't even include all the cargo that was in the belly of that boat. We were heavy and loaded. The problem was this was the ONLY boat going to the Arari river and no body wanted to leave. Eventually things worked out and around 10:30ish  we began to cross the big Amazon river. Only to  turn around again, because  of the waves the storm was causing.

Stephen let me lay down after lunch

Bro. Alberi

We eventually crossed the Amazon, crossed through some canals, a  few lakes and reached the Arari  River. We arrived at St. Joseph's 5:30ish. What a day! Do the math, we got up at 2am and arrived at our destination at 5:30ish pm. We were tired!

Sis. Nazaré is happy to be arriving. Finally. She was very scared on the trip across the Amazon d/t the rocking and swaying of the boat.

Pr. Eraldo giving us last minute instructions

I have learned (I think) that just because we gone to the same place that it does not necessarily mean things will be done the same way. This was my 3rd trip in to St. Joseph's and I thought this time I had all the bases covered    when it came to sleeping arrangements, bathroom arrangements and so forth, but surprise, surprise, everything changed. :)  The family that we stayed with last time, the place where the bathroom, actually an outhouse,  had a 360 view from the toilet,  was not home. So we stayed with a cousin of Pr. Eraldo. Well, if I had known (there really was no way of knowing) I could have cut down on luggage. Because you see, I had brought materials  to "redecorate" the out house. haha

This is the family that we stayed with. At night the table was moved out of the way and hammocks were hung.

 Wednesday, we did some maintenance and outside work around the church. Cutting back the weeds to keep the jungle from taking over.

Bro. Paul - Pr. Eraldo's brother met us in Itacoatiara and made the trip in with us

During the morning Sis. Nazaré and I held a children's service. We spoke about obedience, played some games, introduced them to Victor (my puppet), and taught them two chorus (Let's talk about Jesus and I have the joy, joy, joy). They then sang those 2 choruses during the evening service.

Sis. Nazaré telling her Bible story

The captive audience. We even had 2 mothers join us

Bro. Alberi taking his turn with the weed wacker

Don't know the name of this creature/insect, but it was a Live Stick, or a Walking Stick
Neat!

Grilling us some fish for lunch. Can you tell me what this grill is made out of?
The stand is a old metal chair. In place of the seat we have a brick with a clay pot. The charcoal is in the pot. The grill is an old metal fan casing.

 The people of the St. Joseph community are beautiful people. The welcome us with open arms and are willing to share all they have.

overlooking the river from where we slept. Beautiful!

She is having fun swinging around in her hammock

a bridge on the back side of the community

Wednesday afternoon, we did some visiting and calling for the evening service. So we hopped in a little boat and away we went.

At one of the homes. Wouldn't like to see this view everyday out your front door.

Visiting

Looking at the family's land that they are clearing so that they can plant yucca root

visiting and inviting him to church

breath taking view

Kezia concerned that they are going to get caught in a storm on the way back

The family makes farinha from yucca root. Her tub on the ground is an inverted truck tire

The liquid is from the yucca root. The yellow is very poisonous unless it is boiled and the white is what settles at the bottom of the yellow. They rinse the white globby stuff and set it out to dry. Then it is grated and used to make different things

The mother

their kids

a very interesting flower. It reminded me of 3 red maple leaves with a bloom coming out of the center

The family wanted to share their things with us. They gave us  farinha, tucupi - the yellow liquid, after it is boiled they use it as a seasoning. It is very sour. They gave us  goma - the white globby stuff and they caught a duck to give us for supper.

The sunset as we were headed back to St. Joseph's

Thankful that it didn't rain

the crew in the back

Caught Pr. Eraldo dozing

Wednesday evening we had church. We were thankful that the community generator was working so that we  could have a few lights. Pr. Eraldo preached a good message about Jesus coming as the Light of the world.

the children's choir

Stephen giving a greeting

the congregation

 Thursday morning - we got up early and waited for our ride back to Itacoatiara.   Our time interior is so limited and has to revolve around the schedule the boat going back to Itacoatiara.

Early Thursday morning

Br.Alberi and Sis Nazaré

Our ministry team
L-R - Stephen, Kezia, Pr. Eraldo, Br. Paul, Israel, Br. Alberi, and Sis. Nazaré

Pr. Eraldo    - these are his people. He was raised in this community. His heart is there. He carries such a burden for them

Eating breakfast, visiting and waiting for the boat

 One of the last adventures of the trip included the trip home. The pilot of the boat decided to take a short cut that would take an  hour off the trip. Well this is what the short cut looked like. He did a  very good job  weaving around the grass. It looked impossible to me, but  he did it. We only stopped a few times because the rudder was tangled.

sights along the way  - lily pads, alligators and beautiful birds

Which way are you traveling?

Yes an adventure and at times a Cookson one at that. :) We were so privilege to go along on this trip and help  plant the Gospel seed. Pray for our people there. Pray that God would give us a couple that feels called to go there. It is a very different lifestyle interior and it's a hard and difficult life. We don't have people lined up voluterring to go.  Pray for Pr. Eraldo as he makes monthly trips in.

We now have a responsibility! They have accepted us. Pray that God will help us all (those that pray, those that give and those that should answer the call, and those that have gone) to be faithful!