CBM | Central Brazil Mission

AMAZON BOAT TRIP

7 - 18 JULY, 2026

By: Julia Friedrichsen

Participants: Southwest and Lakeview-Akron, Ohio.

July 6, 2026

When we got on the boat after the last flight, the sun was already starting to rise. There is nothing like a Brazilian sunrise. After we went to sleep at 6 am, we got to sleep in later because we got there so early in the morning, we had a good hearty breakfast. The rest of the day we traveled. We got to see some amazing sights, including new plants, houses the size of my living room, and a few animals like dolphins, and birds. After a disappointing loss for the US during the World Cup, a few of us went up to the top deck to look at the stars that were no longer hidden from the storm that passed through earlier. It was very interesting looking up and realizing I saw some constellations that I could recognize such as the Big Dipper. I did not think that I would be able to see the same ones that I could see at home right now. It was a great reminder that we all look up at the same sky no matter where in the world we are.

July 7, 2026

With an early morning for 7 am for breakfast and devotions, which include worship and then a short message, we were off to the races. We saw just over 120 people today. I was in the pharmacy with Francimaria, it is a small room with shelves on half of the walls and a little sliding window where we can give the medicine to the villagers. We get the clipboard, after Micheal is done seeing how they are doing, with what medicine we should give each person. Some people got just vitamins and others had upward of 6 items for one person. It took 2 sessions to see everyone, one in the morning and one after lunch. Once we finished, we had some free time just to ourselves, which I like to spend my reading the books I brought. After dinner about half of our group wanted to play some games so we went into the waiting room which is small with benches around the perimeter. We played a few rounds, and once we were all tired, we called it time to get some rest to get ready for the next day ahead of us.

July 8, 2026

The village invited us to breakfast, it was cool to see how their village operates, and the foods they like. After breakfast we continued to see patients from that same village we were in the yesterday. We finished up with them in the morning and then around lunch we headed out to a new village. I was a part of the triage group. It was overwhelming to start with, however, after the first half of the day I got into a nice rhythm and found my place taking people’s blood pressure. I would wait for them to be weighed and measured, then I would be handed the card with their information and write down their blood pressure. After another long afternoon, and a delicious dinner we had some free time and this time we played euchre. The cards did not go in my favor as I did not win either round but then we were off to bed.

July 9, 2026

We left for the new village in the morning before breakfast. I was a part of the triage group again and for the first half I did blood pressures, however after lunch my knees were not doing as good as I would have liked them to so I switched with my Mom who was previously weighing and measuring the villagers, so took her spot for the afternoon. It was difficult to figure out who was who because each family got a clipboard with all of their cards on it so we got to figure out who was who in each family. With more free time before dinner, I decided to take a short nap in a rege, pronounced hedgy and is a Brazilian hammock. After dinner we got to count more vitamins and ibuprofen because the pharmacy was running out, surprisingly it turns out that I am very fast at it. Another great end to a great day.

July 10, 2026

Once again leaving for a new village, however I was back in the pharmacy today. Once we got back into our routine, we were a well-oiled machine. It is interesting to learn more names for medicine that are not in my normal every day life, also seeing that some of them are very similar in Portuguese. Today the village was not as big so we did not have as many people come on the boat as in previous days and finished shortly after we came back after lunch. I decided to take a nap in rege, surrounded by the warm Amazonian air, part of my afternoon routine. Today after dinner we decided to play golf, the card game, and the cards liked me a lot better than when we played euchre.

July 11, 2026

The next village was where one of the boat crew’s family was. On my last trip I got to see them in the mission house and got a picture with them, so naturally I would want to re create that photo. She was a lot smaller 3 years ago so it was cool to see her a little more grown up. It is also special because her name is Julia Victoria and my name is Julia and my sister’s name is Victoria which just makes it that much better. Also, Francimaria gave me a little feathered headband that I wore the rest of the day. I got to see some ducks, and cows, both of which were in the water. The cows found a little group of grass that was long enough to stick out of the river and decided to go into the river and eat it. During our game time today Telles, one of the cooks, came in and we asked him if he wanted to play golf with us and he learned, and played very well.

July 12, 2026

Since it was Sunday, during devotions we had a time of communion at the end. This village had a lot of stairs to walk up, some of us went up them after we got our group picture. I got a lot of pictures of some of their native flowers, and cacti that they had planted. I also got to have a little conversation with one of the girls who lives there. She was really cute I just wish I could have understood more of what she was saying. We had to count some more vitamins because we saw so many people, a very good problem to have, but that took over some of our game time however we still played a few hands of king’s corners after.

July 13, 2026

Once we finished up with the first village in the morning, we headed to the next one for tomorrow. We walked around the village, and saw some kids swimming in the river. After some convincing, a group of us got in, it was great, a very nice temperature and the kids were playing on the front door of a refrigerator and they let us use it after they got out. We found some good spots to jump in, thanks to the harsh drop off, and we played on the door. Dinner today was probably my favorite meal that we had the entire time so far. It was a great end to an eventful day.

July 14, 2026

I slept in the rege last night so I was awake with the sun, which meant that I got to see the beautiful sun rise but also that I woke up at 5:30 and not 6. We went to Urucara, a larger city, and we got off the boat to see one of our missionaries and a church that CBM planted a few years ago. It was nice to get off of the boat and see what the city looks like. I saw maybe 5 cars, everyone else road on a motorcycle or a bike. It was also interesting to see what their church looks like, and reassuring to know that they look similar to ones in America just that this church only had a sanctuary unlike how some have many different rooms. Regardless it is great that they have a place they can go to worship and learn, it is the same just a little different.

July 15, 2026

We were in San Sabastian today, where the mission house, green house, and multiple of our churches are. It was about a 30-minute walk but was worth every second. We got to really see what life was like in a bigger city, and the mission house with the green house. They have done some amazing things there. The greenhouse is huge and they just built a church in their back yard. It was cool to see how CBM is affecting the city around it and not just different villages. Most of the boat crew lives in San Sabastian so we got to see some of their houses which was fascinating seeing how different they are than the ones in America.