A Fresh Perspective

One of the challenges of returning to ones home country as a missionary is in not loosing the ability to see things with a fresh eye, with curious and perceptive, and in some ways with an outsiders perspective as one who has never seen such things before. The landscape – if I may call it that – is all too familiar. The important details often blend in and are camouflaged in the scenery that makes up life.

But recently I had the opportunity to take a long road trip that put me out of my comfort zone and forced me into the unfamiliar. I love it when that happens. It gives you a fresh perspective on life and more importantly about people.

We where driving from central Brazil more than 2,500 kilometers (about 1,550) north to the city of Santarem which is nestled on the tropical banks of the Amazon River to the north and the beautiful Tapjos River on the West. We made the trip in a tiny little Fiat with a bold name (Mille Fire) with tires no bigger than a bicycles and completely loaded with three people and all of our luggage.

I wish you could have seen what I saw during that trip! At one point, traveling along Brazil’s foremost north/south highway we had to hit the brakes hard because the motorcycle in front of us suddenly decided to stop. It seems that the boy on the back who was wearing no helmet and only his shorts and flip flops lost his ball cap and was desperate to retrieve it before someone ran over it.

Twice we crossed mighty rivers on rickety barges flanked by huge semis and busses and barraged peddlers of local goods. Kids tried to make a living selling locally roasted cashew nuts or pirated DVDs while the more “wealthy” peddlers pushed their little cooler carts around the barge tempting us with the cold sweating bags of juices and popsicles. While the barges unloaded and loaded back up I observed, with envy, as several peddlers put their goods down and dove into the cool mighty rivers to escape the overwhelming heat.

On the banks locals came down for mid day baths, while lady’s slapped their clothes on huge boulders white with the suds of soap, and around the bend a fisher man climbed over large rocks with a bundle of fish in one hand and a hand made harpoon in his other wearing nothing but a soaked pair of shorts. Both of the mighty rivers we crossed slowly made their ways north to dump into the even mightier Amazon.

2,500 kilometers isn’t so bad really but what really draws out the trip is the 800 or so kilometers of dirt through some of Brazil’s roughest country on the trans-amazonic highway. Now that is worthy of a Paris-Dakar rally all its own! This trip is only possible during this time of the year when it hasn’t rained for a couple of months. During the rest of the year you can forget about it – the mud and road conditions make it nearly impossible.

To the surprise of many the Amazon is actually a hilly area which makes for some beautiful scenery. Along the roads the amazon jungle has been tamed into steep pastures landscaped with exquisite tropical ponds filled with flowering lilies and dotted with majestic “babaçu” palm trees. Here and there enormous towering trees stand as a testament to the forest that once covered that particular plot. But not everything is farm land; hear and there we drove through tiny settlements of ranchers living in wooden houses built near streams and shaded by “açai” palms or other tropical fruit trees.

I don’t believe one of the indigenous communities we drove by had missionaries working with them! It was always a sober reminder of the of the task before us. At times I feel like being three/five people so that I could leave one of me behind in each of the places that we passed, not only with the indigenous but with the little simple communities as well. Unfortunately I am only one and I can’t, but maybe, just maybe YOU can.

Often times I wish I could seen people through God’s perspective for just one minute. If a trip like this can change ones perspective so much imagine what seeing people through Gods eyes, even if for a second, would do to each one of us!