Internship Description 2011

The following is a sample of our schedule for 2011. Activities our subject to change from year to year but could potentially include the following:

Week 1

This year the program will kick off with a brief orientation Monday morning and then kick-off with a construction river trip in the community Tucamatuba with Journey Fellowship. The program participants will be working alongside the JF team.  On Sunday, they will attend church service with a translator.

Week 2.1

This week will be focused on basic Brazilian living and teaching the program participants how to live and function during their time in Brazil. The home economics class will teach the students how to shop at the local market, grocery stores, and also how to cook basic typical Brazilian meals. They will also start Portuguese classes with a Brazilian instructor who has just recently graduated with a degree in BA in Portuguese Grammar and Literature.

The interns also will be taught how to use the buses to go to church, grocery stores, the market and downtown.

Group activities also have been scheduled such as kayaking and a jungle hike. These activities stretch the student’s comfort zones, strength inter-team relationships and show the students a good time.

Week 2.2

The ministerial activity for that week will be the Encontro for the Região Verde II. The students will work in support of the Encontro with cooking, cleaning, and other odd jobs. They will also observe the ministry times and receive a briefing about the purpose of the Encontro and it’s importance in the spiritual growth. After the Encontro, there will be a time of group reflection about the past week events and the Encontro.

Week 3

The program participants will continue their language lessons and start attending cell groups.

The students will also engage in regional and environmental studies that will teach them about Santarém and the environmental difficulties in the region. They will (tentatively) have a guest speaker, Steven Winn Alexander, who will speak about the history of the region and see his Bosque Santa Lucia.

Week 4

The focus of this week will be the annual Congresso da Paz. The students could work on the support team and be involved in the maintaining and setup of the various theatrical stages, makeup and stage security. The event will be considered to be full-time and Portuguese lessons will not be held for during the days worked at the Congresso. **

**Subject to change

Week 5

The participants will continue language activities

They will also plan and prepare for their ministry trip to Parintins.

Over the weekend they will go to Alter do Chão for R and R at Jeff and Becky’s Chalet and see a Aviva Jovem and Sunday Service at the Igreja da Paz at Alter do Chão.

Week 6

Parintins or Monte Alegre: TBD

Week 7

The interns will conduct service activities inside the city of Santarém.

They will wrap up souvenir shopping and host a going away party with regional food and guest.

They will continue their language classes

Week 8

TBD

Final boat trip

debriefing with Member Care.

Paz Intern Blog: Memories of Missions

This is a blog written by Stephanie, an intern from the 2009 program.

When I decided that I would join the 2009 summer internship with Project Amazon, I had many hopes and ideas in mind. I went with the hope that I would live a two month adventure, see some cool animals/jungles, love on some people who were lost, sharpen my Portuguese, and maybe get a nice tan(it’s true!).

Let me tell you that while all of these things happened, nothing could have prepared me for what God had in store. All of my hopes and expectations were greatly surpassed. I arrived in Santarem with a heart and a mentality to reach out to others and see their lives changed by Jesus. I had heard many stories of brokenness and hopelessness in the native people, but what amazed me was that while I came to bring change to others, they really changed me. As I grew closer to the other missionaries, I saw the way that they laid down their lives and their “American luxuries” for this cause, for Jesus. I was nothing short of humbled and taken back by all of it. I sensed a sincere new hunger and passion in my heart that was growing more and more for all people. I wanted to connect with the people in the way that the other missionaries had.

What I loved most was the way that they befriended the nationals and empowered them. I never sensed a mentality of superiority, but instead, of servanthood. Their lives are lived out of passion for Jesus and for his people. I was honored to build true friendships with the missionaries of PAZ and the interns who today are still some of my closest friends.

Coming together with other interns who have a similar heart and different gifting will challenge you, stretch you, and it will ultimately bring you closer. I have nothing but love for each intern that I was there with that summer. They are amongst my greatest memories of Brazil. I have even established very real friendships with several Brazilian people, with whom I still stay in contact with to this day.

Outside of the mission base, there were many adventures to be had. I will briefly share a few that stand out in my mind. My wildest adventure had to be alligator hunting(voluntarily!) in the middle of the night on the Amazon River. That was quite the rush and that night I witnessed the most beautiful, star smashed sky that I’ve ever seen! One of the more special times for me was the time I rode horses in the Tapajos River with some of the children in our neighborhood. The adventurous side was great, but what I enjoyed was the inviting, open kindness that I constantly felt within this culture. I met a few of the kids on a road one day, and although my Portuguese was faulty, they were very sweet and warm to me. They invited me to play soccer, my favorite sport, and there began a new open door to disciple these kids. We played a few times. I remember playing with them for three hours one Saturday. It was so hot after, so we found some trees to rest under and there was my first opportunity to connect with them and share Christ with them. I was able to ask them about their own lives and offer my thoughts, prayers and love for each child’s situation. These are only a few of the many, many, adventures and special moments that are forever kept in my heart.

The PAZ internship was hands down one of the greatest things I have ever experienced. I am forever grateful to the Lord and to my loving friends at PAZ, who labor day in and out to reach and disciple the Brazilian people. I have yet to experience a summer that compares to the one I had in Santarem as a PAZ intern. I hope to return one day to support and give to this mission, even if just for another short term trip. They truly have found understanding of what it means to lay their lives down for others.

Isto é só o começo….

The title of this blog means, “This is only the beginning”.

In this blog, Project Amazon missionaries, Claire Helring and I, Micah Gregory, will be writing and detailing the creation of Project Amazon’s internship program or better known as the PAZ Experience.

You will be able to follow the progress in the development of program and see what it has to offer.

In addition there will guest posts by each intern during their stay as well as videos, photos and downloadable language materials.

We really hope that this blog interests you in the program and allows you to better understand what the PAZ Experience is really all about.