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Every morning during the days on the river there was a meeting together for teaching and fellowship. “We had breakfast which consisted of scrambled eggs, bread, & banana. Then eventually our service started and went very well. We had some worship and then Phil ministered from the Word. It was a very good word taken from Hebrews 1 about who we are in Christ. Each team was told to get together and pray for 20 minutes sometime today”. Throughout the journey they were very close to nature and Rob describes many of the things he saw. “I spent a little while just looking at the water and the jungle. I even got to watch pink freshwater dolphin playing.… The boat was passing through a place where the river was not wide at all. They turned off the engine and lights. All you could see were the stars in the sky BUT you could hear all kinds of animals and insects. A few of us shined our flashlights in the jungle. You could see eyes looking at you from everywhere. There were monkeys in the trees. We even saw some crocodiles along the bank. HOW AWESOME IS THAT??…. The River is getting smaller as we head west; it's not so wide now and because we're so close to the jungle, it's getting easier to see parrots, monkeys & other wildlife…... We just looked into the jungle as we passed by & saw macaws, parrots, dolphins, huge bee hives and other stuff…… I woke up tonight and the boat had obviously stopped; the engine was off, the generator was off. Everything was pitch black. It sounded like we were in the middle of the jungle and the animals were all around us. I got up very carefully since I couldn't see and reached for my flashlight”.

  Stops were made at little towns to get supplies and the team had a chance to explore and then finally they were getting near Tabatinga. “We're definitely in Ticuna Indian territory. We're seeing more and more of them. We see them hunting in the jungle. Right now we're passing two boys paddling a canoe. It looks like they have fishing nets in the canoe. These people seem to be a little more primitive than those in Manaus, Maués and other areas we've been. This should be a neat and interesting end to our expedition. It's hard to believe that we've only been out here just over two weeks”.

On their arrival at the Bible School they met Pastor Eli, the Indian leader of the Seminary and had an interesting experience. “About a mile down the river, we stopped, tied off on a tree on the edge of the jungle and ate lunch. While we were eating a small boat approached us. It was the Head of the Bible School. He brought along a few more guys and a little girl. He said we would need to go to the near-by town of Philadelfia to buy supplies for the pastors conference he's doing which begins tomorrow. He also said he wants us to help build a chicken coup, as well as help with the ministry. During the conference, he plans to teach the pastors how to keep chickens. As we were preparing to set off for the town, the barometer dropped. I looked outside and you could see a huge storm on the way. Within minutes it was raining. We dropped all the tarps on the boat but suddenly the wind started pushing the boat into the trees. A minute later we were stuck in the mud. We all moved to the back of the boat to shift the weight out of the mud. It worked!” (Next morning) “About 5AM roosters started crowing from everywhere. Everyone will be up in 30 minutes or so. The sun is already up. As I lay on my hammock, my feet are almost touching the green foliage of the jungle. If I look the other direction, I see the flowing water of the Amazon. We should be on our way to the bible school any minute. The cool thing is this, when we teach, our words will be translated to Portuguese and then into Ticuna. This should be an interesting day…... We arrived at the bible school around 9:00 AM This was definitely a more primitive area. There was no electricity and the people were cooking over fires. We went into the building which had no wall on one side and the conference started. Different people spoke including Phil. They did a few songs and we did a few songs. It was very hot & there were lots of bugs. When the meeting was over, we all headed back to the boat. Robb & Bill had caught a piranha each. They put them in a big jar for us to see.

The team visited many Ticuna villages, as well as attend the pastor’s conference and were able to participate in several meetings. “We went up the river a ways to the little town. When we eventually stopped, there were Ticuna Indians there to pick us up in small canoes. They took us a few at a time back into a small cove full of tall grass. It looked like the kind of place an anaconda would live… Anyway, when we got there, we found a little church with no walls and a grass roof. The light came from two small light bulbs on the roof. Two of our team spoke. At the end, Dave had everyone start praying for people's healing. When the service ended, we walked down the hill to the edge of the water to wait for canoes.”

The team also got to go on a long jungle trek. “We hiked for over three hours. The jungle was so thick. The canopy kept everything a bit cooler & damp. Bugs were everywhere. We even saw a poisonous monkey spider..  In one village, we tasted fruit that was unlike anything we have in the USA, saw all kinds of cool stuff... 6 foot snake skin, people bathing in the river, chickens everywhere, joined in with kids playing “footchi-ball”, and I even got to pray for an old man with arthritis”. Then finally it was time to leave the Ticuna Indians and head for home.

The three weeks had come to an end. “I packed up all my stuff, changed clothes and ate breakfast. Everyone's taking pictures and such now. I'm sure this will be a sad experience saying goodbye. We'll be catching a flight out of Tabatinga in a few hours. This time tomorrow I'll be on my way to the USofA. I'm ready.

Rob’s final words are these: “I think the Lord did more work in ME during this expedition than anything else. I am definitely glad to be home but I'm a changed person. Things are different in my life. I see things differently. A trip of this magnitude humbles you and deepens your compassion for people”.

Would you like to go on a trip like this, young person? Contact Phil & Sharon for information at