It was night time in the Amazon. The sky was pitch black as clouds had quickly rolled in after sunset, dashing any hopes we had of seeing stars over the Amazon. The fresh smell of body odor, bug spray, and river air was carried by the cool breeze of the night.
We had just finished a 12 hour boat ride on the river where we enjoyed sleeping in hammocks, pink dolphins, and an awesome Amazonian sunset. Now we were getting onto another, smaller boat. This one was about 40 ft long and only about 10 ft wide with a thatched roof. It was crowded with men, women, children, and chickens. Our team and sat in whatever “open” spot we could find, though we were still shoulder to shoulder to beak. This boat would take us to our destination: the little pueblo of San José. We were visiting for the 1 year anniversary of the church in this town. Our plan was to evangelize, encourage the church leaders, and love on these people.
I sat by Josh on the edge of the boat, Abigail was in front of us on the floor. Josh is a man from South Carolina in his early 40s who had developed a strong friendship with the river ministry leaders, Julio and Yola, the year before. Now he was back for round two. The boat pushed off into the night. It’s destination was San Jose, the small Pueblo we would be visiting for a few days. Navigating only by flashlight, we began to make our way along the river.
The beginning of the ride was silent; only the sound of the boats motor and the small waves it created filled my ears. Josh and I dipped our hands down into the cool Amazonian water. I felt no fear of what may lurk beneath, only gratitude for this opportunity, as I felt the water splash up my sweaty arm. Then Gail, Josh, and I had a conversation about food back home. Most of it revolved around seafood: crab legs, lobster, catfish, Mahi Mahi, salmon, and a hot pocket thing Gail’s mom makes with mango salsa… I also learned about gumbo! Our stomachs were a bit hungry, since we didn’t really have any dinner.
Our conversation died down. Josh told me he had a headache and I prayed for healing and peace that it wasn’t malaria. He traded places with Gail and laid down and it was quiet again.
They continued navigating by flashlight. Sometimes we saw other boats in the distance, sometimes we saw flashes come from the shore. The thought occurred to me that maybe they were just playing a big game of flashlight tag on the Amazon river.
Around 9 pm some fog rolled in, but we continued forward. Tom said we might have 2 hours left, according to Julio. A chicken began to click next to me. I tried to stretch my legs out a bit in front of me because my butt was falling asleep. I’m pretty sure I put my foot on a sleeping guy‘s face, but I couldn’t see anything to be sure. A couple lightning bugs floated past us.
I began to think about the life of these people and I felt God filling me up with love and excitement for their way of life. We were coming to love and serve these people, and I felt a determination to do so in whatever way it may look like.
Finally, around 10:30 pm, we arrived at San José. We made our way to the place we would be staying at: the town pastor’s house. His name was Lanz and he greeted me immediately with a smile and a strong house hug, already calling me his brother and friend. Josh and I climbed up into the rafters to help set our hammocks up for sleeping. Once that was done, and after Lanz killed an unwelcome tarantula, we called it a night. I stayed up just a bit longer to the rain, crickets, and frogs as I gave thanks to God.
