After many years of praying, dreaming and visualizing about the mid-upper Xingu River, I was finally able to see part of it for myself.
I took a small team to the ranching community called Sao Felix do Xingu in our new (to us) Ford Ranger pickup and drove some 500 km in about 8 hours.
This was my fourth trip there and each time the road seems to get shorter. When we arrived, we went straight to the dock and talked to our boat driver about our trip. I knew ahead of time that there weren’t that many people that lived on this stretch of the Xingu. He confirmed by naming the families and communities. We were a bit discouraged, but my fellow missionary, Josh Pflederer and I made the decision to go anyway.
The next morning we loaded up the truck with our belongings, food and ice and headed down to the boat ramp to load up the boat and fuel up and head down river towards Altamira.
It always amazes me that their are rivers so huge and long and never dry up. In this case the Xingu River is 1200 miles long with it’s headwaters beginning in the state of Mato Grosso and eventually dumping in the mighty Amazon. I spent the first 2 years living in Altamira(located on the mid-lower Xingu) and the last 2 years in Porto de Moz(located on the lower-mouth of the Xingu). I had always wanted to see the middle to upper section and now we were starting to see that part I had only imagined. I had known that many sections of the Xingu (Amazon for that matter) had been logged for the purpose of the wood itself, but mainly to raise cattle. As we continuted down river we had seen that the riverbanks were untouched and virgin jungle like that of years ago. When I asked the boat driver about the trees along the riverbank, he had said that the land owners aren’t supposed to cut them but beyond the banks were pastures home to thousands of cattle that utilize the land.
After passing through several series of islands we came to a little house up off the banks. I had told the driver that we wanted to stop at every house that had a permanent resident. Many homes are temporary shelters for ranch hands and fishermen and are abandoned in the rainy season when the water is high. So we stopped and proceeded up to the house. We noticed a young mom named Sylvia and her young son. She had been washing dishes in an outside sink. Nothing but a platform with a board and a bucket of water. We greeted her and explained who we were and our purpose in the trip. After 20 minutes or so of talking and finding out where the majority of the people live, we asked if we could pray for her. She responded by telling us that her marriage was very difficult and about over. I asked Aline, one of the Brazilian team members from Maraba’ to pray for her. Aline prayed for her and I prayed for her husband that “his eyes would be opened and surrender to Jesus.” We really sensed the Lord touching Sylvia. It was a great start to the trip.
We continued down the river and stopped at what seemed like a dirt road that met up with the river. There we met and talked to a couple local guys who were “canoe taxi’s”. These guys shuttled people across the river leaving at 7am and returning at 1pm. Each canoe could fit 3 motorcycles and several people. I would have liked to see it be done as it wasn’t a calm stretch of river. There we found out a lot of information about the area called “Pombal”. Up to 400 families live inland off the main road and spread out in several communities. There are also two churches already established.
Continuing down stream we saw a huge “clear cut” area and several “white cows”. We stopped and talked to the landowner and found ourselves impressed by this river mans skills. He was building two boats at the same time. One was a cattle barge and he was using only hand tools. I was impressed as I myself am a carpenter. To build something that detailed with a couple hand tools and a file. I would have a hard time coming close to his detail with all my power tools.
This man also raised cattle, pigs and chickens. He also had several “American” dogs which I think are hounds. I felt a sense of being close to home knowing we shared the same name. His wife heated up some fresh “cows milk” to go with our coffee. Brazilians are so generous, even if they have very little, they always offer a fresh cup of coffee.
Afterwards, we hiked up to the top of the hill behind his house to check out the view. It was spectacular. The Xingu and it’s tributaries and all it’s islands. After we headed back to his house, a local cowboy showed up on his horse. He lived “just over the hill”-(7 km about a one hour ride away). We found out that his wife is a believer and goes to a church in the inland. After sharing with them we continued on our journey downstream and looked for an island to prepare camp and eat dinner.
One of my favorite parts of this trip was seeing the beauty of God’s creation. I wonder what percentage of the world had seen this piece of His handwork-swirling rapids, huge trees, big white birds, river turles, even alligators soaking the rays on the beaches. And the fish we caught! Anytime we started in motion, we put the fishing lines out. Two to three lines about 50 yards out with various colored lures. As we approached the rapids, we’d get a sense of “brace yourselves” and then “BAM” fish-on!!!! Whether tucunare(peacock bass), Caibro(Bicuda) or Cachorra(Dog fish), they were all a blast to fish and try to reel in. Many got off...whether breaking the line or the lure ripping out of thier mouths. It was so exciting watching my young buddy, Francisco, fight and reel in fish for the first time using a “real” fishing rod. He couldn’t stop grinning from ear to ear. We had plenty of fish to eat and had lots of food left over. That’s a change if you’ve been on any “Brazilian” mission trips. Our main purpose for this 4 day river trip was to see the “need” of ministry on that section of the Xingu and the reality of the “ribeirinho” river people population. Many people if not most drank only river water. I mentioned to some about our water filters. They seemed to be very excited about clean, filtered water. This could obviously be part of meeting some immediate health issues as well as a great way to continue our relationships with these people.
We finally made it to our destination. Vila Sao Sebastiao by the morning of the third day. A small river community of about 5-6 houses, a Catholic church and a center hall. All built with wood or mud thatch walls and palm thatch roofs. Unfortunately only one family, a couple with thier 7 year old daughter, was there at the time we arrived. After talking with the mom we ventured into the jungle down a path in the direction of the noise of a chainsaw. Finally after a short trip of about 20 minutes, we met the Dad. He was carving out a dugout canoe with his Stihl chainsaw. A brazilnut tree had fallen in a wind storm 7 years earlier and had laid there until this man decided to turn it into something useful. He first had to get the governments permission to use this fallen tree for himself. Government officials actually went to the site and gave him the okay. I was a little surprised at the regulations needed to cut up a “naturally fallen tree” to be used as a “poor person’s canoe”. He continued to mention that the land he was living on for the past 30 years was now becoming a “national environmental park” and was being
threatened to be kicked off. Another issue was the lack of education there in the remote. Although his 7 year old daughter still lived with them, the majority of the river children at a young age are sent to town to study and be raised by a relative or friend or friend of a friend. I see both sides to the story. Either stay as a family and live where there’s no school and be illiterate or move to the city and get an education. I think either way is difficult. In fact it is a very hard life living on the river and off the land. Many stay at their homes for months at a time and hardly ever go into town. I could write a book (maybe I already am).
After 4 days on the river we returned to Sao Felix. We decided to take the fifth day to make a survey trip by road. We passed through several small ranching and farming towns that seemed to be thriving. On several occasions we got stuck in the “cattle drives” on the road. Their were hundreds of cattle at a time often bumping into the truck and hitting the side mirrors.One guy I talked to on the ferry said that there are over 12,000 voters. I can only imagine then between 30K-50K people living in that part of the region. We observed that most of the villages/towns already had several churches and I would consider that they’re being reached. It was a beautiful drive and we covered about 300 Kilometers in about 6 hours. It sure beats a boat when\if the roads are good.
I am so happy to have made this trip and to have seen a better layout of the rivers and land that are closer to Sao Felix. It helps us see how the kingdom of God is advancing in the areas that are more easily accessible.
I’m constantly looking at the maps and asking God and others “Where is the greatest need?” “What is Your heart for us?” “Where do we start?”
In comparing the various regions where we’ve worked, Porto de Moz, for example, the region of the Middle\ Upper Iriri-Xingu is ten times the size. It’s 150,000sq miles. Where and how should we focus to be more efffective in such a vast region? We are excited and nervous at the same time. I plan on doing several more survery trips to seek the Lord’s will for this area! Bottom line is Jesus says “To seek and save the lost.” But, He also says the poor we will always have. We need the mind of Christ. Please be praying with us about these decisions and our next steps as a family and mission team.
The trip was great and eye opening and definitely beneficial as we begin to see a little more clearly the land that God is calling us to.
This week I’m out again on another survey trip, but from the other end. I look forward to sharing my trip with when I return.
In Christ-
Clyde
