(Nov. 14, 2014 - by Roger Reimer)  From the headwaters of the mighty Amazon you can see a large three-deck riverboat maneuvering upstream, stopping periodically at remote jungle villages. This floating conference center serves as a place for teaching and training as well as a platform for serving the needs of villagers living along these remote river banks.

In September a team of medical and pastoral leadership staff set off again to offer conference participants training and hands-on service opportunities as they traveled on the Ucayali River from Pucallpa, Peru.

You can imagine the excitement in a village as this huge boat approached the river bank. When the typical form of river travel is in a narrow dugout canoe, the sheer size of this boat is gigantic in comparison.

At each community children and adults alike ran down to greet the visitors and see these travelers who had come from faraway places. Greeting friends is always a cause for celebration, so even in these rural communities hospitality is the generous response to visitors.

“About 35 participants, mainly from Peru but also from Bolivia and Ecuador, were part of the effort,” said Dr. Mark Nelson, the medical team coordinator from Reach Beyond (formerly HCJB Global). “The conference featured talks on the biblical basis for missions, cross-cultural aspects of missions, indigenous perspectives and mission strategies. There was ample opportunity for the participants to interact with the speakers. The medical and dental team worked in three different communities—one day in each place. We saw a total of about 365 patients.”

He added that the villagers were especially grateful for the help since medical care along the Ucayali is “limited and sporadic,” usually performed by nurses with limited access to medications.

“All of the medical residents expressed that this was one of the most meaningful weeks of their medical training,” Nelson said.

Dr. María Gabriela Mazón, a family practice resident at Reach Beyond’s Hospital Vozandes-Quito, said it was a privilege to take part in the annual Misión a Bordo (Mission on Board) outreach.

“It was a very important experience in my life because I had the opportunity to work alongside people who love God and have dedicated their lives to serving others with love,” she declared. “This was a time of learning in the context of peace, joy and gratitude to God for everything and in everything.”

Nelson said it was good to return to Betania, one of the communities where the Mission on Board team had visited a few years ago. Community leaders had invested in attracting European tourists, offering demonstrations on shamanism. Shamans (not part of the community) were invited to live there to make a center for tourists to experience this aspect of Amazonian life.

“This took a significant toll on the life of the community, especially on the church which had dwindled to a small membership,” he explained. “The community as a whole was very resistant to the gospel and unwelcoming to Abelardo Velasquez, an indigenous Shipibo missionary.”

“But eventually the community became disillusioned with the shamanic tourism and the outsider shamans, so the tourist center is no longer working,” Nelson said. “They are much more open to the gospel and to the Shipibo Christians. Abelardo was very encouraged and felt like our visit was positive.”

Nelson concluded that the outreach had a “really positive impact on the spiritual lives of our four medical residents. I think it represented a real spiritual milestone for all of them.”

As is usually the case, those who came to serve as well as those who were served were blessed and encouraged.

Source: Reach Beyond