The construction team at work on our house in the tribal village

The construction team

This is the small team working on our house in the Pawanewa Zoró village.

From left to right:

• Renny Maki, our Canadian friend who is donating two weeks of his vacation break to help us with this project. 
• Ourípio de Paula, a missionary who works at the mission base here in Ji-Paraná. He left his family and  interrupted his work in the base for a time in order to offer us his indispensable help. Ourípio has helped us with the house plant and the calculations of materials and budget necessary for this project. His experience in this area has been of great help in this initial stage, and his willingness to help out with the construction has been a blessing to us. 
• Donald Austin, my father, missionary with the Gavião in Rondônia. Dad took some time off his ministry to give us a great hand with this project. Making use of his car he´s made several trips to the village through poor roads that leads the Rio Branco (river) in the state of Mato Grosso, a distance of obaout170km. He is also helping out with the cnstruction work. Thank you Dad! 
• Wellington Machado, my lovely spouse, a go getter, despite never having built a house in his life! His hope of soon having a home amongst the Zoró encourages him in this new experience.

SO LET US PRAY!

- For protection during travel and construciton. 

- For wisdom and good progress in the construction. 

- For participation of the Zoró living in the area.

- For a good relationship between this small construction team and with the people of the village.

SOME OBSTACLES ALONG THE WAY

the broken bridge that leads to the Pawanewa village 

Unfortunately, the bridge that crosses the Rio Branco to the Pawanewa village was taken by the heavy rains a few years ago, and the only access is with the canoes of Zoró dwellers. For this reason, the materials have to be howeled accross in this lengthy process, by canoe.  After crossisng the river, there is a 450 meter walk to the village. 

a Zoró canoe

Also, the piuns (a type of blackfly) form black clouds near the river, and their bytes can be very irritating. 

Please pray for this process of transporting materials, and for good health in spite of the bugs and hard work. We hope to have plenty of help from the natives in the area so that the process will be less time consuming.

SHELTER 

The villagers furnished the team a covered shelter where the staff will set up two tents, where they will be sleeping during their stay in the village. Sleeping in a tent for so long might be a bit challenging, specially for the older folks. Please pray for the health of the team and for the rest necessary for the good labor. 

THEIR STAY IN IN THE VILLAGE

My dad and Renny will be staying until the 13th of this Month, as they will need to return for Renny´s trip back to Canada. 

Wellington and Ourípio will be staying for an undetermined time, depending on how long construction material and food will last them. 

SOME PICTURES OF OUR CONTACT WITH THE ZORÓ