Jesus had deep compassion for the sick and suffering. He not only came as our Savior, but as our Healer — ministering to every part of us. The river villages in which we work generally have no doctor, no dentist, no health clinic, no drug store, little or no electricity, and no reliable source of clean water. Many people in these communities suffer from poor hygiene and poor nutrition, and few have the money to travel to a city hospital should they become seriously ill. Thus, even simple health problems — like an infected cut or abscessed tooth — often go untreated, leading to blood poisoning and sometimes even death.
Impetigo is easily treated with antibiotics, which are not typically available in a simple Amazon river village
Missionary and registered nurse Becky Hrubik (sister of founder Luke Huber) grew up in Brazil and recognized the need for not only the Gospel, but medical care. From an early age, the desire of her heart was to be a medical missionary. In the early 1980s, when she and her husband Jeff moved to Brazil, she began the Health Ministries of PAZ.
Since then, PAZ has built a number of medical boats equipped to treat patients and stocked with medicines. They are floating clinics that reach some of the neediest river communities in the Amazon and treat thousands of patients each year. The Lord has used PAZ’s health care ministry to take the Gospel into many unreached villages and to bring thousands of Brazilians to faith. Many doors for church planting have opened as a result of PAZ's health ministries.
Often, most of the village comes out for a medical appointment
Today, a number of professional nurses and dentists are serving as full-time missionaries with PAZ’s health ministries. Thanks to them and other medical professionals who volunteer their time and services on short-term missions trips, the medical needs of these precious people are being provided and the love of Christ shown in a very tangible way.
In our most recent mailing we tell the story of the community of Piracãoera de Cima, where a church was recently built in the midst of the worst flooding in the Basin our generation has seen. It’s amazing to see how much God uses a physical building to build his eternal kingdom, as evidenced [...]
Today marks the first day of the 3-day national fast for PAZ and our churches. All church leadership and members are encouraged to join in and seek God intensely during this time, especially in the following areas:
Direction and wisdom for PAZ leadership in how to strengthen our current churches and where to plant new [...]
Soon, the 4th generation PAZ site PAZ 2014 will go online. It’s an all new interactive experience, filled with the most recent stories, pictures, and testimonies from the Amazon. You’ll even be able to take it with you in the form of the new PAZ Pack – a package for download including a new [...]
Last night we here at PAZ headquarters in Santarém ushered in the New Year at the church on our knees, seeking the Lord’s blessing on 2010. During the service we looked back at all the successes of 2009. While we are still waiting for numbers to come in from across our bases, through [...]
This Christmas, Project AmaZon director Jeff Hrubik sensed God leading us at PAZ to make a very different type of appeal – one I’ve personally never seen done, even heard of being done before! All I can say is that I believe God has something very special in store for you this Christmas and [...]