Portel ~ A Small River City

On Thursday, April 22, at about 1pm, we boarded a "fast boat" operated by Bom Jesus, and headed for Portel.

Getting ready to board

Our journey from Breves to Portel took about an hour and a half.

We sat out in the front for part of the trip.

One of many rain storms we saw across the water. Very cool!

We docked at the "floating" gas station in Portel, where we then carried all our belongings off the boat.

Praise the Lord the church found a truck to haul our stuff across town to the hotel we stayed at. We arrived in the heat of the day and just walking to the church and then the hotel about did us in.
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We thought we would give the kids the afternoon off, but plans changed and we needed to work at the church right away if it was ever going to be habitable for a worship service while we were there. The students all handled the changes graciously, and we were soon back at the church ready to work hard until dark.
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Service Project Time

Both that afternoon and the next day were filled with a lot of HARD work. The kids worked tirelessly and without complaint, making us sponsors very proud of them.

The jobs were numerous & varied...

Sweeping down the rafters...
(The ceiling had been taken down a couple days prior to our arrival. It had been falling down in chunks and needed replacing.)

Sweeping & mopping the church, in preparation for use...

Removal of nails from the previous ceiling...
(The nails would be straightened for future use.)

Sanding, washing, and painting the light fixtures & fans...

Moving a large dirt pile...

And putting the dirt in a low spot & pounding it down so it wouldn't wash away with the first rain...

Scraping, sanding & painting walls in the sanctuary & two small classrooms...

Washing all the windows...

...and pews...

Wiring in some light sockets, so we could have lighting for our evening worship service...
(Notice how the ladder isn't quite tall enough. Note, too, Josh's face after getting a bit of a zap from the wire. A lot of ingenuity and caution goes into working in a rustic and unequipped area.)

Ronda Hagar, our PE teacher, shows us that "Many hands really do make light work." Well, it makes it more fun when there are many hands anyway. :o)
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The pastor's family cooked the food we bought so we could have dinner during our work day.

Caleb P. and Sofie help out with preparations.

Plywood on top of the scaffolding turned into a serving table.

The food delicious, even if there weren't enough knives to go around. :o)
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Worship Service Time

Freddie was one of six of our students who gave their testimonies during the three different worship services we had (one service in each community).

Jesus protects his child in the "Everything" skit.

Pastor Ananias & his wife, Genesis, preformed a play that told of the churches gratitude for all the many things that were accomplished by our group.

Rahel & Diana took the smaller children during the Bible study time, and played games with them.

There was prayer time following the service for anyone with special prayer concerns.
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Fun Time Too

We got a bit of "play time" in too. There was a swimming area across from our hotel, so several people went in to refresh themselves after our long day of work (before our worship service). Some of us just enjoyed staying in our air conditioned hotel room. :o)

We ate suppers at a little, river-side restaurant. It was great tasting food, where they apparently believe in cleanliness. There was a tiny door in the wall, with a tiny sink that informed us to "Wash Hands."
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Our time in Portel was very good. A whole lot of work was accomplished at the church, and the students did excellent in their second, completely student-led worship service.