If Manaus was a city carved out of the rainforest, Tefè is a town that exists in defiance of it, squeezed Into the top edge of lake Tefè.
There are no roads to Tefè. The only way to get here is by plane or boat. Most locals travel to Manaus by slow boat: a 32-36 hour trip down the Amazon.
On our first wander round the town we came across one such boat about to depart. The dockside was lined with relatives waving their loved one's off, who were jam-packed onto the boat.
Inside hundreds of colourful hammocks were strung up. This is what your ticket gets you, a hammock in which to sleep in the open air as the boat makes its slow way down the river. If it sounds idyllic I can assure you it didn't look it. The idea of spending 30-odd hours packed in tightly with so many people didn't appeal.
In the evening we went to the church where the Bible Seminary we've come to teach at is based. (Seminary, college, school: all these terms have been used to describe it, take your pick, but apparently seminary is the official title.)
The service was due to start at 7.30pm so being British we arrived on time. This meant that we actually got there before both the preacher and senior pastor!
By 8.15pm, well into the service, the church had filled up with around 100 people. I brought greetings from Woodgreen and Peter shared a verse from the Bible. We then looked as absorbed as we could during a 45min sermon we couldn't understand a word of!
I was sitting next to Andrew and so had an advantage as he kindly translated so that I got the gist of what the preacher was on about. He was a guy in his 30s who had just graduated from Bible seminary and was clearly passionate about what he was sharing, because alongside his Bible and sermon notes he also kept a handkerchief on the pulpit that he used to mop the sweat that was running down his face!
In Brazil, January is recognised as 'holiday month', much like August is in the UK. However everyone is entitled to take the whole month off, which is why the Bible Seminary runs every year in January.
The students are mainly pastors or pastoral workers who come from Tefè or river villages along the Amazon. The picture below shows three pastors. The two on the far right live and work amongst the maracow Indians and the older man on the left was a pastor in a river community 3 days travel away near the Columbian border.
During their month at the seminary they live onsite upstairs in hammocks (see photo), which is traditional in this area of Brazil, and they have 'seminary class of 2013' T-shirt's they ate supposed to wear.
And boy are they worked hard!
They have already had two weeks of intensive lectures, starting each day at 8am and finishing at 6pm. In addition their evenings are timetabled as well going on to 10.30pm. They get 'homework' based on what they''re learning and are set a test at the end of each week.
But they are incredibly eager to learn!
Peter kicked off this morning with two lectures on the first two chapters of Paul's first letter to 1 Timothy. Amazonian women are known for their strength of character and we saw that first hand in the discussion generated by Paul's teaching about the different roles of men and women at the end of chapter two!
I also did my first two lectures looking at how to understand the Old Testament. A highlight for me was one student who said she had had a 'lightbulb moment' as we saw together that the whole Bible is really all one big story leading to Jesus.
Andrew also did two lectures on the pastors falling and character. I sat in for the first of these and although I didn't understand anything that was said it was great to see him interacting very warmly with the students.
We eat lunch and dinner with the students, which was really tasty traditional food. More about the local food tomorrow, as it deserves a full blog!
Another funny feature of the seminary is that the lecturers are all called 'professors' as a matter of course. Add to that the fact that 'r' is pronounced 'h' in portugeuse and I have had to get used to being called Professor 'Hicardo'.
Another cultural difference is the respect given to pastors. I am not Richard, I am Pastor Richard (well, Hicardo anyway!) - even outside the church. People in general seem to value and appreciate the spiritual counsel of pastors and are very willing to talk about Jesus.
It is also very noticeable how loved and appreciated Andrew's ministry is. He really fits in perfectly and has a wonderful humble, self-deprecating manner that Brazilians find endearing and worthy of respect.
We finished the day tired but feeling we had contributed in a positive way and grateful again for all those who are praying for us back in the UK. Please continue to pray for good health and stamina for us all.
