NEW MEDICAL BOAT - 2012
Posted by Lenwood McCoy

Inauguration of CBM Amazônia, January 19-22, 2012

On Wednesday and Thursday, January 18-19, several Americans traveled to Manaus to join Earl and Ruth Anne and a number of Brazilians for the inauguration of the new medical boat, the CBM Amazônia. Attending from the U.S. were: David and Kim Haubner Whitacre and their daughter Meagan from Springfield, OH; Dr. Timothy Woodward,Bill Crawford, and Paul Tebbs from Jacksonville, FL, and Lenwood McCoy, from McCoy, VA.

Attending from Manaus, Brazil were: Pastor Geraldo and his wife, along with Boat Captain Pacheco, and other members of the boat crew Denis, Junior, Eldisa and Nete. Also attending was Jander, who served as Earl’s administrative assistant during the construction of the boat, and many friends from Manaus.

Attending from Goiânia, Brazil (in addition to Earl and Ruth Anne) were: Dr. Géser, a dentist, and his wife, and Salah, a deacon from the Novo Horizonte church.

On Thursday afternoon, January 19, after everyone had assembled on the upper deck of the boat, the crew moved us from the dock where the boat had been built out into the Rio Negro. While the boat was held stationary by the crew, a short dedication service was held with Earl leading the service. Prayers of thanksgiving were offered and Earl gave an overview of the mission’s work in the Amazon region. Pastor Geraldo from Manaus talked about the value of Christians continuously dreaming or setting goals for work in God’s kingdom. He reviewed how he had a dream of a boat to work in the villages in the State of Amazonas and how that dream had come true with the purchase of the first medical boat in 1999. Obviously, he was very proud and thankful for the new boat, the CBM Amazônia, that was being inaugurated on this trip. Bill Crawford, who provided funds for the first boat and made a substantial contribution toward the construction of the new boat also spoke, and Lenwood McCoy, who had assisted Earl in tracking donations made for the new boat, provided a summary of the sources of donations and amounts that were received for the construction of the new boat. Lenwood presented Earl with a booklet listing all the donors that will be placed on the boat for others to view as future teams come to help with the mission work. At the conclusion of the service, Capt. Pacheco properly christened the boat with a bottle of champagne (sparkling apple juice).

On Friday, January 20, the boat remained docked while supplies were transferred from the old boat and we waited the arrival of a new clothes washer to replace the one that had malfunctioned the day before. The delay gave us time to explore the new boat and learn where all the rooms and supplies were located. The first impression of the Americans was how big the new boat was in comparison to the old boat that was being replaced. The medical and dental spaces on the first floor are all air conditioned. The bedrooms, with private baths, kitchen, and dining room on the second floor are air conditioned as well. Those who prefer to sleep in a rede (hammock) may do so on the spacious top deck which has a nice canopy with clear plastic curtains for use when it rains.

Throughout the day, the Americans assisted Ruth Anne in moving supplies into the pharmacy from the storage trunks and in stocking the doctor’s offices while others helped in last minute tasks to prepare the boat for its initial voyage to a nearby village. Dr. Géser and his wife worked to ready the two dentist’s offices for patients. Finally, about 5:30 p.m. we left for Jandira, a village located west of Manaus on the Solimões (Amazon) River. We arrived at the village around 10:30 p.m. and the crew tied up the boat for the night.

On Saturday, January 21, the medical boat opened for its first patients. Dr. Woodward, the medical doctor, and Dr. Géser the Brazilian dentist, spent most of the day working with patients from the village. Jander and his wife checked the patients in, and Lenwood, Paul, and Bill weighed and measured the children and adults as they arrived on the boat. Ruth Anne and her daughter Kim, worked in the pharmacy and Earl translated for Dr. Woodward. The “practice run” of about 60 patients enabled us to test our procedures and facilities to ensure the boat was ready for its first long trip to the more remote villages with a team scheduled to arrive from the Church of Christ in Rushsylvania, OH, on Monday, January 23. After the patients were all seen by the doctors, several folks took walks into the village. Paul and Earl brought back cocoa bean pods and reported seeing some rubber trees at the edge of the forest. The day was closed with a service in the village church. Earl led a lively time of singing with the children and then delivered a message on God’s grace.

We left Jandira at 5:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, January 22 and traveled east on the Solimões to its intersection with the Rio Negro and the “encounter of the waters.” Some of the Americans and Brazilians had never witnessed the phenomenon where the Rio Negro’s dark waters flow beside the Solimões for several miles before becoming consolidated into the larger, more powerful, Solimões to become the Amazon which flows across Brazil into the Atlantic Ocean.On the way back to the dock, the boat stopped briefly at the Tropical Hotel to allow some of the Americans to disembark for their trip back to the U.S. where they could share the good news about the CBM Amazônia with
others who support the ministry of Central Brazil Mission. Earl and Ruth Anne, along with their daughter Kim and granddaughter Meagan, continued on with the boat to prepare for the arrival of the team from the Rushsylvania Church on the following day.