We just got back from our third trip this year. Things are going very well here in Altamira and the lower Xingu, and we are praying direction as the movement grows. Where are the needs the greatest? What are the greatest obstacles?

We arrived unknown and unannounced in São Felix. It is 980 kms by road,...rough dirt roads for the most part..eighteen hours of rough, dirt roads. Of all the places we have gone so far, we received the warmest welcome here. The hotel owner introduced us to several people around town who were able to inform us of the needs of the area. The leader of the local council of churches is a Presbyterian pastor. He explained the needs of the interior. The people are very open to the gospel right now. He feels the biggest challenges are communication and transportation. From here there are two ferries, crossing two rivers. There is a lot of illiteracy and malnutrition due in part to lack of understanding. We heard that many children live on milk and farinha and it is not uncommon for a child to have never eaten a vegetable. We saw one girl that was receiving help that was 5 years old and weighed 6 kilos. Another was 7 and weighed 12.5 kilos. We heard of one 13 year old that was having her third child. Naturally these are extreme cases. But they were right in town. It would be interesting to see how things are a ways into the bush. All in all it felt like a really friendly town...but it is a long ways into the jungle.