O Sertão

 

 Imagine a place where it just doesn't rain sometimes for years on end.  That's the Sertão of Northeast Brazil.  It's a unique biome the size of Texas and makes up 10% of the country.

Day-time temperatures can reach more than 100 degrees Farenheit  in the hot months of December and January.

Imagine a place where most of the plants are cactuses and thorn bushes.  That's the Sertão!  Plants need those prickly parts so animals don't eat them up in the dry times.  Even many trees have thorns!

Imagine a place where most roads have no pavement at all.  That's the Sertão!  Actually all of Brazil only have around 20% of its road system paved, but that number decreases to around 10% in the dry Northeast.

But all along those dirt paths there are small communities where few missionaries go.  Communities, farms, and small cities can be found with few churches of any kind let alone a Baptist.  People live and work and exist with a unique culture and old traditions, with an open hospitality and friendly smiles, and always ready to share a cup of strong, black coffee if a person would just sit a little while.

This is where we work and have been riding our sandrail for the past five years - in the Sertão.  We visit in homes.  We stop to show the Jesus film in small communities.  We take evangelistic missions teams in the small cities.  We try to help families on small farms.  We work to see churches planted - Baptist churches.

So what is the Sertão?  It's a place where the ground is dry, and people need to know about the Living Water of Salvation - Jesus.  Pray for our work and for its continuation in the Northeast of Brazil.