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March 15 Survery Trip to MarabáWhile there are 3 big river that merge right near Marabá, we did not find the predominant river culture like there is along the Amazon. The people seem to form new villages more along the roads, and connect more by transportation that has wheels. The exception to this was the resevoir/lake, which according to one government worker has 8,000 people living along it's shores. We went out there for several hours with a boat and saw some very poor houses. The resevoir / lake is 2,800 km2, about the size from Vitória to Porto de Moz, and twice as wide. You can travel up the rivers about a month if you like. They are long and big rivers.
We found out that no church or mission is working to intentionally plant churches in the interior. There Some Baptist missionaries moved out some years ago.
We talked to many people in the course of the seven day trip. Our primary questions were, "Are there a lot of poor people?" "Are there any other church ministries working among them?" The answers we got fell into two clear groups. The people from the Marabá region all said, "Please come help us. We really need help." At one town we stopped at up one of the rivers had about 30 houses and not one church, and according to the two people we talked to, not one christian. They said, "It would be great if you would come start a church here. People from along the river would come in to participate." Another fellow along the river bank in Marabá said, "I know Jesus is the answer to life. I just haven't gotten around to giving my life to him yet. If you guys come to plant a church here, be sure to let me know." He made sure we knew where his house was. To give the whole picture, there are a lot of christians and churches in the region, but the need also seems great.
The other clear response we got was, "There are more churches than people." This response came from several towns we visitted that were several hours from Marabá, the surrounding regions. We felt we were strongly invited by the people of Marabá to come help, and not clearly invited by other towns. This may be one of the ways the Lord is directing us.
The strongest attraction to Marabá: The people are calling us to come. It is the center of a large region. No other mission group is working in the region. It is one day's drive from Altamira. Teams can fly in and out. It has unchurched villages.
One the other hand: This would be farther from our Porto de Moz base. It would be nice to build with the church movement we have already started. It will be more challenging for the missionaries to stay in touch with one another.
Please pray with us as we seek to understand how the Lord would have us expand this work,
Warmly,
Rick Bergen. |
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