What It Means To Travel The Transamazon Hwy

What is it like to travel 300 miles by bus through the middle of the jungle with 4 kids?

In the State of Para', which is where we live, the TransAmazon highway (famously known) was cut back in the 1970's sometime to connect the cities. I can only imagine what it was like in the early days when they didn't have 4wheel drive and such. Today it's like traveling on the worst un-maintained back road that is pothole infested with bridges that are narrow and sketchy only held together by what looks like rail road ties and a few boards. In the rainy season the mud turns into soup and feels like snow conditions as we fish tail and spin up and down hills. The driver pulls the steering wheel hard and then lets it go to straighten out. It can by compared to an arcade game like Pole Position. In the summer, it's probably way dusty to the point of suffocation.

Anyways, spped is relative to the conditions. It would be like driving from Grants Pass to Portland in 12 hours and being jostled and vibrated in your seat for nearly the entire drive. The only reprieve is the 1 mile that is paved before and after the big towns. The rest is unbelievable.

I had lots of time to think of how to describe this to people back home. We just wouldn't tolerate this kind of travel. I mean a desperate person that has to travel on a budget takes the Greyhound cause it's cheap and takes forever. I pity the Brazilians who have no options so far as the governments don't make this a priority. That's a whole other blog I WON'T go into.

The kids did relatively well. I was praising God that Nate and Hannah slept for major portions of the bumpy trip. They would wake when we stopped but would soon drift asleep when we started up again. I think it was a way to cope. 

The part I was dreading was getting stuck and not being able to get out. It was an adventure to say the least. I prayed that it wouldn't rain so that we could get there in a decent amount of time. It was sprinkling when the bus came to pick us up at 4:30 am. I had to stay flexible on my expectations of the trip. God of course is in control and I knew we'd be okay... right?

We got about 4 hours down the road with slipping and sliding and seeing the other cars and trucks slipping and sliding. We ran into a few that had gotten stuck and we just laughed as we kept going, counting it a blessing to keep going and not be stuck with them. I knew our turn was coming and just about 9:30am, we came upon a hill that looked like the "Goliath" of all hills. It's mud ruts where deep and the hill was relatively steep. There was a truck slipping down and Motorbikes sliding down and 2 horses walking up as slow as molasses but not slipping a bit. Hmmmm?

The side of the hill looked good and I was certain he would go on the side less traveled and wait for the horses to get out of the way... but no, the driver gunned it, honked at the horses to move and went straight for the ruts!!!!! We were stuck on that hill for an hour and had several attempt with chains that broke off the back wheels. As we waited in the bus for the to get us out, we saw many trucks sliding down in our direction as we were smack in the middle of the mess. I had all the kids buckle up just incase we were hit, but nobody even got close. Finally we tried again and literally inched our way up the rest of the hill. 

We cruised to the next town still slipping and sliding and pulled in to a truck stop that had a restaurant behind it. It was a hoot. The bathrooms were equipped with showers for the purpose of those who literally have to get under the wheels of their stuck truck and get all muddy doing it. It was something else.

They just deal with it cause they know that as soon as the sun comes out it will dry up the mud in a short amount of time. So if your stuck and can't get out, just pray for sun and your on your way in no time. Sure enough, once we hit the road again, the sun had been out a bit and the mud felt like chalk. We weren't slipping near as much. Just the ruts turned into vibration under the wheels. A whole new attitude was created in trying to enjoy the ride. First the mud and fear of getting stuck to now the horrible vibrations that kept you from being able to sleep or read or do anything. The driver was dodging the potholes at the rate of what seemed to have been a race. It's just an experience you can't quite articulate. Well, I'm trying at least.

At about 5pm, we hit the big town that divided up the trip a bit. It's called Novo Repartimento. It means something like "New Share". The town sits at a crossing of the road that can go 3 different directions to the bigger cities.

We stopped for a potty break and grab a soda. The driver was in the driver's seat intensely starring at a guy outside, looking super serious. He excused himself after all of us were on the bus again and ready to go. I didn't understand what he was saying, but he was talking to a couple of guys outside. The driver returned and one of the guys he just talked to came into the van and said "Your going to Maraba'?" "Be careful!" as he pointed to his eyes as to say "look out". Clyde and I started asking some questions. Like "what is that all about?".

The driver started the engine up and began to pull away and talked about the "banditos"(Bandits/Robbers) on the road from Novo Repartimento to Maraba'. It's known for robberies and highjacks in search for cash and valuables like camera's, cell phones, computers etc.  They'll have groups scoping out the traffic and send word about good prospects to their friends awaiting on the roads. But there are also undercover guys who work with the truckers and bus drivers to protect those traveling. Our driver has been doing this for many years and has never been hijacked, but has seen buses right after him get taken. We got a little nervous. We just prayed and trusted the Lord for protection. Clyde took his camera off his belt loop and hid it just for precaution.

I wasn't having good thoughts about Maraba' at this point. I just wanted to get to Rick and Deanna's. Every suspicious activity put a panic in our hearts.  After several more hours on the bumpy road, I was ready to see asphalt that lead to Maraba'. It finally came at about 7 pm. 

When we hit the pavement, I knew we were safe and could enjoy the smooth ride. 

Rick had been calling on the driver's cell phone to see where we were. He planned to meet us at a gas station on his motorcycle and lead us to his place. We got there by 7:30 pm and I was so happy to see an end to this journey!!!

We pulled into the gate that lead down the driveway to the house we had seen pictures of. We also saw a outbuilding lit up and packed with people as it was Saturday night service. The driver gave a honk and all the people cheered and yelled as we pulled in. 

Getting off the bus was a trip. I felt numb from head to toe from all the vibration. My emotions were dry and fried. Hannah was alert and alive, giving smiles to everyone! I knew she was excited to be off that bus. Nate did well in waking up from the ride and being embrassed by all those who remembered him. Makenna and Maddy remembered the Bergen's and were chatting all about the trip.

It was crazy to finally have the trip over with. Looking back it was hard, but not so hard that I couldn't do it again. Do I want to do it again? Not any time soon!!!

We praise Jesus for His grace and love for us to get us through tough stuff.

Traveling with 4 kiddos wasn't unbearable, but definately challenging!

We'll try and post some more thoughts in the weeks to come!

Blessings, Kelsie

Arrival in Maraba'

Ease and comfort aren't in every situation. But I do believe God gives the grace to get through the tough challenges.

I knew the toughest challenge for us was going to be the saying good bye's in Porto de Moz and traveling there to Maraba'. Which by the way, it was. I think emotionally it was tougher and logistically. We had to pack up the house, say our last good bye's to the people we invested the most in and then travel. It's so much slower once you get outside the airports in Brazil. It's not like hopping in the car and going on a nice toad trip wtih nice rest areas and restautants. Ithere are no conveniences about it. I'll share that in another blog.

All toghether in travel from PdMoz to Maraba' exept for a night over in Altamira was 24 -26 hours of boat and bus travel. I thought the bus went well. We had a great driver, we had friends and we had the posh convenience of having our private bus. But even with that you wouldn't consider it a quick zip. We left PdMoz Friday the 19th at about 6pm in the rain and arrieved in Bitora at 6 am the next morning. I got a cab with the kids and drove 40 minutes to Altamira packed to the gill with our bags. Clyde stayed back with all our house stuff on the boat and waited for a truck to come and loat it up and take it to Altamira later that morning.

The next morning we loaded up the 20 some passenger bus with all our bags again and some of our house stuff like fans and the kids' bikes at 4:30am and were on the road by 5am. We drover 12 hours and arrived in Maraba' by 7:30pm Saturday night the 21st. (See the next blog for details on what it means to travel 300 miles by bus with 4 kids).

Rick met out bus at a gas station to show us the way to thier place. They have a place on the outskirts of the city with an enormous property that reaches down to the river. His vision is big and the city is huge and more industrialized to compensate this vision.

The bus pulled into the gate and down the driveway we saw an outbuilding lit up with people all inside sitting and standing. Deana was obviously gearing the gathering up for our arrival. The driver honked the horn and everyone cheered. It was a great relief to be in Maraba'.

We thank you for your prayers over the past 3 weeks while we get our family down here. The kids did really well. Everyone is healthy and we just praise the Lord for His faithfulness to get us here safe and sound. Now we will be at the Bergen's for a short time until we can find a house and get settled here. 

A few things we need in prayer support and action support!

1. FINANCES...Starting up again takes cash.  We don't know our budget yet and don't know how our support looks either. We trust the Lord we can get into a place that won't eat up a major portion of our budget with rent and utilities. We start looking for a place Wednesday.

2. TRANSPORTATION...we are really asking the Lord for a vehicle. Clyde would love to have a truck to do his exploratory trips to Sao Felix and it would be nice to have for getting around Maraba'. It's 3 times the size of Altamira. And then of course there is the maintenance for a truck. In the mean time we will look at buying bicycles to get around with for now.

3. THE VISION... It's long term gang! We are needing to really gear up for long term and that means doing things a bit different. We are blogging to make things aware of the needs.

We're praying for a team to work with us on the field, a strong team in finances and in prayer support. As we put one foot in front of the other, we pray that our vision will inspire vision in others. 

Thank you again for your prayers and stay tuned to our blog as we update on the progress here as we are in Maraba' and in route to Sao Felix.

Blessings to you!

We made it!!!!

It's obviously not a small thing taking 4 kids and all our 10 boxes and bags from here to there.
Shuffling through airports, planes, shuttles/taxi's, hotels and boat trips is not a piece of cake. BUT, God is my Father in heaven and when I have a need, I can ask Him like any child would. I love the scripture in Luke 11:11 that talks about if a son asks his father for a fish, would the father give him a scorpion or if he asks for bread, would the father give him a stone... well, I love this scripture because of course a good father wouldn't do that. So why would God do that to us? In everthing in our lives since I have known the Lord, His promise never failed and will never fail in the future. It may not look like what we think, but it will never fail.
We are back in Brazil and it actually feels really good. I wasn't sure how I felt about coming back. I always try to put my trust in the Lord to prepare my heart and the family's heart to make us ready for wherever we are going or what we will be doing. He is SO faithful and I feel so bad that I actually doubt and compain in the natural.

I was totally dreading the travel to Brazil. Hannah is now 11 months old and more active. Like reaching for the person in the seat infront of us on the plane and wanting to grab thier hair! Nate is 3 and much more chatty and active too. The girls can now take care of themselves a lot better. I was amazed at each one and how well they did. God gave us provision in the sense that we got 5 seats and had another seat on 2 different flights come up empty next to us!!!! My big joke was "buy 5 and get 1 free"! AND, American Airlines never charged us for our baggage like they advertise!!!! We saved a few hundred dollars there! All the little things added up to a huge pathway filled with ease.
The transition into Brazil was suprisingly sweet. We boarded a packed American Airlines and saw the expressions on the passengers faces when they saw our crew boarding. There were a few smiles but many rolling eyes. Our family is "Huge" in American standards. The kids are little still and I know what they were thinking. I use to think the same way! "5 hours of screaming kids??? YUCK" Our culture doesn't tolerate it well.
We made it through and many people commented that they didn't even know our kids were on the plane! "Well done KIDS!!!"
When we got in line the next day to check in to the Brazilian airline TAM, we no more pulled up with our 10 boxes and bags, 4 children and our 7 carry on's and the people in line came alive. The Brazilian women would goo goo at Hannah and started in thier cute little voices admiring her. It was also very welcoming when we could interact with them as "gringo's" and see that they were surprised we spoke thier language so well. I loved it! If Nate was on the florr singing loudly while I was busy with handwriting all 7 labels for our carry on's, they didn't make any comments or make us feel pressured that our child was misbehaving. We could "let it go". As a parent it is a hard balance from the US culture to the Brazilian way. They are polar opposites! So, we correct our children regardless and NAte was distracted by some Brazilian who "helped" us, not just watched and judged.

Ease and comfort aren't in every situation but I do believe God gives the grace to get through the tough challenges. Like for instance, we arrived in Miami and before heading to bed I talked to my sister-in-law, who just got back from India. All 4 of her kids came down with chickenpox and were throwing up on the plane that was 17 hours long plus all the other plane and train transfers they had to go through. They made it and I know it wasn't easy but His grace is sufficient to have gotten them through.

Se we are back and we are packing all our stuff from Porto de Moz and we'll move to the new city of Maraba' on the 19th of February. I'll send an update when we arrive. For now, keep us in your prayers. Blessings to you and missing you already!
Clyde and Kelsie