| Spending quality time with others in a deliberate yet relaxed spiritual formation environment is how the Amazon may be reached with the gospel. The gospel is more caught than taught. Policies and procedure manuals may help remind us how we do things, but we need something more substantial to keep us together: community, humility, and loving relationships. Once you have experienced a series of spiritual retreats, you get an idea of how to help others—muscle memory. We hope that some of these men will host similar retreats with leaders in their churches, and some of those, in turn, will reach others. It seems like an impossibly slow strategy because the Amazon is so vast. Did Jesus ever wonder how the twelve would spread a fire that would encompass the world?  The Maranata 4 was our home base for six days.       Ricardo, far right, is a rancher. He has a disk from a farm implement used for breaking ground, welded into a large steel dish. The guys build a fire, fill the steel disk/bowl with cooking oil. Once it is boiling hot it is easy to deep fry enough fish and chicken to feed 35 men in a timely manner. Kenim has a new powerful flashlight. Others brought knives, harpoons, throw nets, fishing nets, and fishing rods—boy toys. |
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