News From the Field
First Quarter 2007
Railson & Heidi Gil
developing Brazilian Community
building the Body of Christ
Monte Dourado, typical neighborhood
The Festa Junina is a cultural celebration held every June. In Monte Dourado schools and other associations collaborate with costumes, music and quadrilha, the Brazilian equivalent of the square dance.
Prayer Agenda:
Time and again, we have mentioned that we depend on your prayers. Over the years, we have seen exactly how true that phrase is. God responds to prayer in tangible ways. After all, He has made human beings His representatives on earth, with the power to bind and to loose, to bless and to release. For that reason, we do not hesitate to insist that you pray for us today! You may not feel that you are doing much, but don’t be fooled. Prayerfully agree with us in the following areas:
1) Protection for our family, spiritually, emotionally and physically. We were particularly reminded of the importance of this as we stepped over a poisonous snake in our path on our way to church in February.
2) Discretion
for us to chose which urgencies to attend and which to postpone. Unfortunately, it is amazing how easy it is to become over-committed. Everything seems to scream "urgent!" especially here on the frontier where we are separated from teammates. Pray also for our rest. As we have learned, rest is a weapon, yet we can easily let it slip down the priority list.3) Impact
on our neighbors and workers as our lives shed testimony of Jesus. Pray that people will begin to thirst for God throughout the city, that the "sparrow will find its home" (Psalm 84), and that the wanderer will settle into the Family. Pray specifically for the salvation of these families: Marlene, Nelson, Altevir, Eduardo, Francisca, Erlene, George, Rosildo, & Flávio.4) Divine encounters
with key people in the city, those who share our vision for community development and who can help provide physical and technical assistance.5) Prayer walks and intercessory times
. Pray that the Lord reveal divine revelation in relation to strategies for building the Kingdom in this peculiar city.6) Financial success for Amaster
. Through the business, we have acquired a good reputation in the community and our message has earned credibility in the eyes of the otherwise skeptical. Although these benefits are priceless, we are not yet seeing the financial revenue we desire for the support of mercy projects and travel.7) Permanent residency for Heidi which will enable her to go back to formally working in healthcare. This has been a frustratingly slow process.
Child playing on the bank of the Jari River near Monte Dourado
Monte Dourado literally means "Golden Mountain." While there is no mountain here, the city is located on a geographically high point, and is, like gold, a real treasure. In fact, we believe that its true treasure will be revealed as God stirs the hearts of its inhabitants to genuinely seek Him.
Situated on the Jari River about 56 miles south of the equator, Monte Dourado is a district of Almeirim with a fascinating history. In the 1970s, Daniel K. Ludwig, the American billionaire, established a wood pulp processing industry in the Jari Valley. Today, the operation is controlled by a Brazilian consortium and produces more than 350,000 tons of eucalyptus pulp and paper products per year, making it the second largest factory of its sort in the world.
Because of its history, the industry brought with it many distinctly western characteristics, such as curbside recycling and adequately treated city water, both rarities in the Amazon. It also brought strong motive for investors and technicians to relocate to Monte Dourado from many other parts of Brazil. For this reason, Monte Dourado, with its 12,000 inhabitants, has a peculiarly professional demeanor in relation to other northern Brazilian cities. Clearly, if it weren’t for our business, Amaster, we would never have been able to establish ourselves in this unique community. God truly provided the right avenue to get us here!
Over the last three decades, Monte Dourado, has become a common ground for sojourners, prospectors, contractors and hopefuls alike. Many come looking for an opportunity to obtain their one big dream: regular employment. We believe that this special city is where many will get more than a job! They will meet Jesus, gain eternal life, and then return to their home cities with this treasure in their hearts!
Monte Dourado is special for another reason: access to
underprivileged areas. The city has excellent access into the deprived
interior both by road and by river. A quick trek across the Jari River to
Laranjal reveals the characteristic neediness of most small cities in
northern Brazil. A trip down the precarious dirt highway to Almeirim city
attests to the lack of social and infrastructural development that plagues
these parts, making them excellent destinations for future health and
evangelistic outreaches.
(left) Paradox: Amaster is located in this tidy office complex on a bluff overlooking the unplanned, poverty-stricken city of Laranjal (background).
Flying Leaps
Henri Nouwen once wrote, "Trust is the basis of life. Without trust, no human being can live. Trapeze artists offer a beautiful image of this. Flyers have to trust their catchers. They can do the most spectacular doubles, triples, or quadruples, but what finally makes their performance spectacular are the catchers who are there for them at the right time in the right place. Much of our lives is flying…" Pondering that, we see that we only fall when doubt causes us cringe at precisely the moment that God extends His hands to catch us.
The past few months have been a series of flying leaps for us. Thank God we haven’t cringed, despite the temptation to do so. Our move to Monte Dourado was the only rational option we could follow, but it was anything but simple.
Family housing is difficult to acquire in Monte Dourado because most homes are managed by local firms and are reserved for employees. When we announced we would be moving to Monte Dourado at the end of 2006, we had not yet come upon a suitable place to live. In December, however, at just the time our rental contract expired in Almeirim, the Lord turned the heart of a homeowner in Monte Dourado to allow us rent her house. Perfect catch.
The second leap was agreeing to pay three months’ advance rent, but, again resisting the urge to cringe, we agreed we would. Amazingly, that same week we sold property in Almeirim which loosened up the money we needed. Now we are living a spacious home in a good neighborhood at a lower price, and we didn’t have to double up on rent for a single month! Once again, perfect catch.
Currently, we are leaping into the Lord’s wisdom with respect to church planting strategies and community development. We are temporarily without a team, so we are naturally curious to see how God intends to catch on this one! Whatever the case, we can certainly see how our work with wireless transmission is a potential springboard for building key relationships and possibly returning to radio ministry. Pray for us as we leap! Each day is an adventure.
Radio Project
(right) Vitória do Jari is one of many underdeveloped communities that would benefit from educational radio
Years ago, we had the privilege of broadcasting Tempo Jubileu (Time of Jubilee) six days a week to the city of Porto de Moz. When financial coverage dwindled and local bureaucracy became a hardship, we brought the program to a close. Still we always missed working with radio.
Having tucked that phase of our lives far away in our memories, we were taken aback when a colleague brought to our attention how simple it would be for us to go back to radio ministry. It’s true: today, we have all the initial infrastructure in operation. For instance, we now have our very own 160-foot tower (which we use to transmit Internet signal to 90+ clients) and space in our office suite to incorporate a studio. Rather than using city hall’s space, as we did in Porto de Moz, we could use our own!
(right) From a mile away across the river, factory towers (background) chide the stilt houses of the grossly underdeveloped town of Vitória do Jarí, Amapá.
From our previous research, we are aware that the Brazilian government subsidizes certain classifications of radio broadcasting, including educational. Our dream is to work within the realm of "educational" programming which encompasses Biblical messages, Christian music, political awareness, social education, and health (particularly nutrition) topics. We could reach a huge listening audience from two states.
We have our fleece out on this vision, waiting for the Lord’s confirmation. Naturally, this confirmation will in some degree necessitate firm financial commitment from international supporters. Please contact us if you share this vision and think the Lord is leading you to invest financially in it! This is an opportunity in the Kingdom we don’t want to miss!
Many Reasons for Thanks
We thank the Lord for His sovereignty over our lives and work. Here are a few things He has done lately:
- legalization of our radio signal for Internet We did not have to form a merge with our competitor after all!- a good move to Monte Dourado, a good house, neighborhood and school for the kids
- fantastic supporters who collaborated with 3 containers full of useful items, as well as several boxes of children's’ materials, films, and first aid supplies
- teaching tapes & CDs, sent by friends & churches, which have bolstered our spiritual walk and have provided good material for translation. We can always use more!
If you were one of those who recently sent items for our family or ministry, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We do not necessarily know who sent which items, since several parcels were mixed. Please know that we felt refreshed and loved as a result of your expression of support.
In case the Lord has equipped you to help further, we want you to know that our four biggest needs at this time are:
- monthly financial support (through the Xingu Mission until Dec
2007)
- financial resource for vacation and visits to supporters in the US
- a laptop computer
- a car or motorcycle for our incessant transportation needs
