Above: The Manfred Grellert, operating as the John Wesley medical boat, makes its way along the Amazon River near Manaus, Brazil. The boat is staffed by volunteer medical teams who bring care to remote communities along the river.
Since 2001, the “John Wesley” Methodist Medical Boat has sailed the waters of the Amazon River and several of its tributaries, providing faith, hope, love and health to many indigenous communities living in northern Brazil.
The boat is a missionary project of the Methodist Church of Brazil. The United Methodist Board of Global Ministries and several United Methodist annual conferences have provided support.
In April 2018, United Methodist News Service traveled with a volunteer medical team from the Methodist Church of Brazil and the Florida Conference of The United Methodist Church, and the professional crew of the John Wesley to document this vital ministry.
The boat works with approximately 600 families in an area known as “The Gateway to the Amazon.” Missionary teams provide medical care, dentistry and support to community schools with educational and recreational activities for children. They also visit homes to evangelize, offer follow-up pastoral care, celebrate worship and many other needs that arise in the mission.
“In these 15 years, we have served about 60,000," said Maria Teresa “Teca” Greathouse, a United Methodist Board of Global Ministries missionary and Brazilian native. "On each missionary trip, we serve an average of 250 to 300 people in five days."
NOTE: Click on any of the smaller photos to see larger, uncropped versions
Clockwise from upper left: Dr. Barbara Williams examines a patient during a volunteer medical clinic in Natal while medical student Gabrielly Soares watches. The medical staff was made up of volunteers from the Florida Conference of The United Methodist Church and the Methodist Church of Brazil. Estefania Regina de Oliviera Vieira visits with a patient in Natal. A rainbow forms over a home in Natal. Children arrive for school by motorboat in Murutinga. A rainbow forms over the main channel of the Amazon River near Manaus. Dr. Barbara Williams examines a patient in Natal while medical student Gabrielly Soares helps distract the child.
Children in Natal receive toothbrushes and a lesson on proper brushing during a volunteer medical clinic.
Light shines from a floating home at dusk in Murutinga.
Boys bring an extra bench while volunteers set up a free medical clinic at the community center in Murutinga.
Nelcilone Broga smiles upon seeing herself in a mirror after Dr. Dimas Hidalgo reconstructed one of her front teeth in the dental clinic onboard the John Wesley medical boat that was docked in Murutinga.
Volunteers enjoy the evening air from the top deck of the John Wesley medical boat as it makes its way along the Amazon River near Autazes.
The banks of the Amazon River, blurred by a time exposure, slide by the John Wesley medical boat near Manaus.
Under the watchful eye of Dr. Bruce McIntosh (rear), Brazilian medical student Gabrielly Soares examines Oliveira Cordeleiro, 2, aboard the John Wesley medical boat in the Jacaré indigenous community. United Methodist missionary Emily Everett (right) is helping translate Portuguese to English while Cordeleiro's mother, Naiamara dos Santos, comforts her daughter.
The boat makes five or six trips in the first six months of each year before the rainy season makes the rivers rise, making it impossible to navigate through these areas with a boat like this one. The rest of the year they use much smaller vessels to visit the communities because of the low water level, but this limits the number of people they can serve.
Clockwise from upper left: Naiamara dos Santos (left) helps her daughter, Pamela Oliveira Cordeleiro, 2, off the family's motorboat to visit doctors aboard the John Wesley medical boat that has pulled ashore in Jacaré. Dr. Bruce McIntosh examines Pamela Oliveira Cordeleiro, 2, aboard the boat in Jacaré. United Methodist missionary Emily Everett is helping translate Portuguese to English while Cordeleiro's mother, Naiamara dos Santos, looks on. Brazilian medical student Gabrielly Soares (left) takes the pulse of a patient during a free medical clinic in Murutinga. The Rev. Armando Rodriguez Jr. (right) leads a prayer with villagers at the start of a volunteer medical clinic in Natal. United Methodist missionary Emily Everett (left) reacts to a baby jacaré caiman displayed by boat pilot Izaias de Molvaol at a floating home on the Amazon River near Autazes.
United Methodist missionaries Teca Greathouse (wearing headscarf) and Emily Everett (wearing gray T-shirt) play with children in Natal.
The Rev. Armando Rodriguez Jr. (left) prays with Eliete Cochino during a volunteer medical clinic in Natal.
Clockwise from upper left: The Brazilian flag flutters in the wind off the stern of the John Wesley medical boat as it makes its way along the Amazon River near Autazes. The sun rises over the Amazon River near Manaus. Fishing nets dry on the riverbank along a tributary of the Amazon River in the Natal. The sun sets over the Amazon River near Manaus.