area! As far as the eye could see, people were gathered, buying and selling. It seemed that all of Belem’s two hun dred thousand people were down there to buy their day’s supplies of meat and vegetables and fruit. And what a va riety of things were offered for sale! There was every kind of tropical fruit known, and some that were unknown as far as we were concerned! Everything in the food line was there, and many other things that might eventually end up as food. There were spotted deer, monkeys, toucans in brilliant hues, other tropical birds in every color of the rain bow, besides many other things- of interest, such as huge piles of cocoanuts and Brazil nuts. After we had seen and photographed much of interest, we used the PA system on the car to invite the people, and Keith Altig, Ed. Miller' and we began to give out tracts. We were almost mobbed by the crowd that gathered at once with outstretched, hands, plead ing for the gospel in printed form. There was no time to stop until all of the literature was given out, and then it was difficult to persuade those who did not receive any that it was really all gone. In the afternoon we headed out into the jungle, for it was surprising to find that the jungle closed right in to the very edges of this great city, and that we did not have to walk far to be right in the midst of it. Here we saw many tropical birds, and many kinds of trop ical animal and snake life in their native haunts. Of great interest also was watching a Brazilian climb a cocoanut palm and cut down the cocoanuts with his machete, then climb down the tree and dance around, slapping at himself to get rid of the ants that swarmed all over him while he was up the tree. Wednesday, April 18th, 1951: Another day to be up and away to an early start. This time it was in a Catalina Plying boat, and in it we went 1,000 miles up the mighty Amazon in one great leap. It was a thrilling sight to climb up into the early morning sky and look down to see branches and chanriels of the Amazon stretching as far as the eye could reach. The mighty Amazon is indeed a thousand rivers and ten thousand islands! The Catalina was very noisy, so those who wished it were given cotton for their ears. The steward spoke to Dr. Talbot dur ing the flight, but with the cotton in his ears, Dr. Talbot did not understand him, so he said, “ You will have to speak English.” The steward also had cotton in his ears, so he replied, “ Oh, you do not speak English.” Then, turning to me he said, “He does not speak English and I do not speak French, so will you kindly translate for me.” I was very happy to do so! We arrived at Manaus, Brazil, in the middle of the afternoon, and were very glad to be met by Miss Velma Fries ( ’45) and other missionaries of the Mid-Mis sions group there. Again we had the privilege of finding a Biola graduate hard at work in the midst of great darkness in this jungle, and also to meet and have fellowship with another group of very fine missionaries. They put us right to work, as they had us speaking in their school within a few hours of our arrival, and kept it up in various places After speaking to the group of very fine students in the seminary, we got away by launch for a three-hour trip down river to visit a leper colony with over six hundred of these poor unfortunates in residence. It was a beautiful trip across and down the mighty Amazon River, to a place where we saw the buildings of this leper colony on a little cliff above the river. As we looked up, we could see the faces of many of the patients who ran out to see who was coming. As we went up the path, word of our coming soon spread, and all began to crowd into the assembly hall. Of course, we could not touch anyone or anything, for all of the grounds, benches, etc., were contaminated. Words fail when we try to express our emotions as we stood talking to these hundreds of lepers, especially to the children. There were about a hundred boys ranging in age from ten to eighteen or twenty, but we only saw three girls. They all listened very attentively as the gospel was presented to them. It was a great joy to tell them of a salvation which gave assurance of perfect bodies in the glorious future. After we finished Page Twelve during most of our stay there. Thursday, April 19th, 1951:
speaking, students from the seminary dealt with those who raised their hands, and reported that nine of them had ac cepted the Lord. How we praise God for this privilege! After visiting the worst cases confined to bed in the wards, we were obliged to take our leave. It was most touching to see this great group gathered in front of the main building, calling out their farewells and asking us to hurry back for Rain, rain, rain! All day long it poured, so there was nothing much to do but try to catch up on our letter-writing and take care of a few matters of business in the city of Manaus. We did visit the very famous opera house which was built in the days o f the glory of Manaus when it was a great rubber center. In olden days whole opera troupes were brought over from Europe to give performances in this beautiful building, so out of place in the heart of the Amazon jungle. In the evening we met with the whole missionary group from the city and had a fine time of fellowship to gether. Saturday, April 21st, 1951: At 7 :30 a.m. we were called by the airline to be at the airport at 7:45 a.m. This meant a great rush, but we were on time to wait an hour for a 9 a.m. take-off. This time we were headed on up the Amazon River for another great jump of 1,500 miles. As we went up over the city and out along the river, we could see jungle as far as the eye could reach on either side. We were right in the heart of an area of unbroken jungle larger than the whole United States. In it are thousands, or perhaps even millions, of Indians that have never been contacted for the gospel. After about an hour’s flight, the weather closed in, and the plane had to go right down and fly along the river. To be caught above the clouds and thus lose contact with the river below is dangerous. The clouds and rain became so bad that it was difficult to follow the river, so the plane turned back. An hour later, we found ourselves circling the city of Manaus again, and we were soon back with our missionary friends there. The added time in Manaus gave us an opportunity to see something of the work being done by Velma Fries (’45), and others there, as we attended a crowded outdoor children’s meeting with them. The meeting was to be held in a little school building called the “ School of Humility,” but there were too many children so the flannelgraph material was moved out of doors and the meeting held outside. That evening Dr. Talbot spoke at a young people’s meeting of the church. It was thrilling to see the good time that a group of Brazilian young folks could have as they enjoyed fellowship together. Sunday, April 22nd, 1951: This was a really early start, for we were up at 4 a.m. and to the air field by 5 a.m. for another try at flying to Iquitos, Peru. We got away at daylight, and spent ten and a half long hours before we finally reached our destination. It was an interesting trip, as we made five stops on the water en route. It is really thrilling to come down in a great flying boat, land on the river, and see the water as it rushes by and finally covers the windows in a great sheet of spray. The sensation of speed is terrific as the plane rushes through the water, both on the landing and the take-off. After one stop where we refueled, the plane was so heavy and so low in the water that two attempts at take-off were of no avail. Finally the pilot had to turn around and go downstream on a third attempt. Finally the plane pulled up out of the water and was airborne. At the airport in Iquitos, we were met by Laurada Thompson ( ’48 and Miss. Med. ’49) and a group of workers of the Association of Baptists for World Evangelism, and Don Burns and Frank Matthis of the Wycliffe Bible Translators who flew up from their jungle base in Pucallpa, Peru, to get us in a Norduyn “ Norseman.” Sunday evening we visited and spoke in three churches, one of which was a native church in a little shack lighted only by two little lamps with open smoking flame. These folks really love the Lord and we had a short time of happy fellowship with them. The other two services held were in larger churches, and in each we had real joy in meeting sincere believers and joining them in their worship of our wonderful Saviour. T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S another meeting with them. Friday, April 20th, 1951:
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