Scott Gwartney was recently on a mission trip. Mr. Gwartney led a mission team to the Amazon River Basin as part of his longstanding work with A Doctors Heart. A Doctors Heart has teamed up with the Parker family ministry, SEARA, for about 10 years, annually providing both medical and building teams to assist the ministry to the river people. SEARA is the “SEARSA Mission (Service of Evangelism and Assistance to the Amazonian rivers) and an interdemonominational mission affiliated to the Word of Life – North Organization, which aims to work in harmony with Evangelical Churches, supervising and supporting the missionaries in the field.”
The team that Mr. Gwartney led built a dormitory for use in youth camp programs that serve the river villages. The dorm was built in Terra Vermelha, a village on the Mari Mari river, some eighteen hours by boat from the Parker’s home base in Itacoatiara, Amazonas, Brazil.
Take a look at the photographs we have shared from this mission trip! As you look at the photos, if you wonder why the dorm does not have beds, it’s because river people sleep in hammocks that hang from the beams that cross the length of the building. When the dorm is full, hammocks will hang under one another, perhaps even three deep. The mission team also slept in hammocks on the boat they travelled and lived in.
With cooperation from the tropical weather, Mr. Gwartney’s team built the dorm in record time, leaving time for fishing (black piranha taste great!), gator hunting at night, and trying their hand at cooking farina, a dietary staple on in the Amazon River basin.
We encourage you to click the link we have included to learn more! Do not hesitate to ask us questions about how you can help or more about Mr. Gwartney’s time in Brazil.