There are many ways that you personally can see the Amazon won for Christ. Take a look at the various opportunities that range from 1-week missions trips to long-term missions service.
PAZ is thrilled to have short term work teams come down and partner with us for a week or two. There are two principal needs for short term work teams: health and construction.
Providing health care to the people of the Amazon is one of the mission’s most active and fruitful ministries. Time after time we have seen people come to Christ because their hearts were first touched by someone who genuinely cared about their physical needs. Health volunteers generally stay in the Amazon for one to two weeks, traveling aboard one of our large health boats. The PAZ boats typically visit two or three river villages during the trip, offering medical and dental care to Brazilians who rarely if ever get to see a doctor or dentist. Truly, this is a life-saving ministry that bears much eternal fruit. Many of the Christian health professionals who have come to the Amazon and participated in one of our health trips say that the experience has changed their lives forever. We invite you to come and be the hands of Christ to these needy ones.
A Missions Team infront of the church they're helping to build
There is no adventure quite like helping a community build it’s first church. Many of the Christians who have come here as team leaders or members say that the experience has profoundly changed their lives. Our Construction Team size ranges from 4 to 12 people, with 6 to 10 people being an ideal size. We have welcomed people of every age, ranging from 10 years old to 70. You need not be a professional builder, or even very handy with tools to get involved as a team member. All you need is a heart that’s willing to serve.
For our visiting teams, PAZ provides guest quarters, interpreters, meals, local transportation and other logistical support. You’ll get to work and play side-by-side with other PAZ missionaries and Brazilian brothers and sisters. Over and over again we have seen the Lord accomplish wonderful things in and through our volunteers, changing hearts forever.
Whether you're interested in helping for just a summer or for the long-haul, whether you know what God has called you to do or you're still searching, whether you have much experience in missions or simply a heart to serve, PAZ offers short-term missions opportunities and interships to those who want to serve and are approved.
Short-Termer Hannah hard at work
We are currently offering two different short-term experiences at the PAZ Base in Santarém:
For those who are interested in the possibility of serving as long term missionaries with Project AmaZon, we offer an intensive 2 month internship program. The 2009 dates are for the months of June and July.
For those looking to come down to visit and check out PAZ, we will try to connect you with a team scheduled to come down. This would be a trip of about 10-14 days.
During this time, you will be involved in a variety of ministries—from joining construction and heath teams out on the rivers, helping with water filters and assisting long-term missionaries where needed (like homeschooling, administration, etc).
You’ll get a good taste of the adventurous life of a missionary and the challenges that it brings: the heat, the stress, the excitement, the bug bites, the slow internet, and most importantly seeing God at work and being a part of it. You'll discover gifts and traits in you valuable to missions work, and God will confront you in ways that will leave you changed forever.
For our short term missions experiences, PAZ charges a fee which covers housing, food allowance and boat trip charges. You also have the option of language study. Come ready to serve. Leave changed.
Brazil is experiencing a tremendous outpouring of the Spirit, which makes it a very exciting and challenging place to work. The Brazilian people are incredibly open to the gospel and are giving their lives to the Lord by the hundreds and thousands. Workers are needed to help reap the awesome harvest, already ripe in the fields of Brazil.
More than a desire to serve, a PAZ missionary should also have clear direction from the Lord. A healthy relationship with the Lord and desire to grow personally will be needed to endure the many new and challenging aspects of the Amazon: unrelenting heat, the language barrier, new culture, no Wal-marts, boat trips, the feeling of disconnection, etc. But a PAZ missionary also has the joy of being in the middle of God’s amazing work, and even being the means by which God works.
Long-term missionaries must balance the life of family, missions (work with the missions organization PAZ) and ministry (being a part of a local PAZ church and involved in cell groups and discipleship—M.D.A.). Some roles with PAZ lean more heavily towards missions, and others toward ministry.
PAZ missionaries are sustained on the mission field by the prayers and financial gifts of their supporting churches, family and friends. Each missionary is required to raise their own prayer and financial support prior to coming to Brazil. Unless you already speak Portuguese, language school will also be required. A further requirement for new missionary applicants is a short-term missions experience with PAZ.
If you believe the Lord is calling you to the mission field in Brazil, we encourage you to contact us and request an application form.
"How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’" Isaiah 52:7
June 4th, 2009
May 14th, 2009
March 7th, 2009
