The missionary experience of the seminarians of the Amazon region happened in the vicariate of Óbidos. This small diocese (in terms of population, number of parishes and number of priests) but vast geographically is located in the Amazon basin. When we talk of Amazon basin two things should come into our mind; 1) Big slow-flowing rivers, and 2) big and dense forests. Basically people occupy the margins of these rivers. They live on fishing and small-scale farming of horticultural crops. The latter is normally done on the lowlands covered during flooding season. They also continue with their traditional cultivation of mandioca. Nowadays some families have started small ranching. Most farming is for domestic subsistence.

Another characteristic of these areas is the distance from one community to other. The region is made of small community, most of the times of the same family. There are small communities that are situated kilometers and kilometers apart. In fact, we have very big dioceses and very big parishes but in terms of Christians they are very small. Due to the separating distance, most of the time is spent on the water, dislocating from one community to another. The boats they commonly use are slow moving vessels which take time to cover even a relatively short distance. Almost all the parishes have a boat which is equipped as a house and as an office. That means a priest can spend a month or two visiting his parishioners e executing his priestly duties.

Our experience is no different from this one. We are facing all these challenges of the mission in the interior of Amazon. However, we do not have any boat and we are entirely depending on the generosity of Christians, and in deed they are. We are taken to one community and from there they pass us to the next. Like the disciples of Jesus we enter in the community without knowing what to eat and where to sleep. But for practical reasons we carried a spare “tunic”. The hosting community gives us hospice, food and is responsible of taking us to the next community. Walking can be an alternative, but it is hindered by the topography of the region, thick forests and steep margins without any walking space.

Our project contemplates basically family visits. There is no prospect of coming back here in the near future nor are we here as forerunners to some greater prophet to come. Owing to this situation we were careful not to start projects with people which will need accompaniment. Ours is a presence of witness and sharing our charism of consolation with these abandoned people. We also meet with groups to encourage them continue with the spirit of unity they are having. As a priest I attended those who were in need of anointing of the sick, confession and spiritual conversation. We also celebrated mass in some of the communities depending on availability and arrangement of each of them.

The visit revealed how hungry these people are for spiritual nourishment. The mission is more urgent than ever thought of. The only content of catholic faith a majority of the young people know is just what learnt in the few hours of catechesis they had. After that it is mass that is celebrated thrice or so in a year. Those who preside over the liturgy of the word on Sundays practically have no formation. They entirely depend on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, if at all they get time to prepare themselves for the celebration. There are some communities which are counting three to four years without any stable catechesis. Other than the association of the habitants of the community no other group functions. We met only one group of the youth which we can say is the only hope in the region. The responsible for the group assured us the group is stable and has plans to propagate itself and to help form groups in the other communities. Unfortunately, the mobility of the youth in the area, in search for better education and better jobs may affect this dream.

The visits of the priests to the area are brief and basically sacrament oriented with no or little time for sharing their experiences wit the people. The formation of catechists, extraordinary minister of communion and the word is very scarce or it happens after a very long interval. In fact most who start these formation courses find it difficult to conclude. Everything can be justifiable; due to the distance and the time factor; that is from one module to the next. In this aspect they need good and adequate formation.

In spite of all these challenges, the habitants keep their faith burning with their devotional prayers and service of the Word among themselves, but it will do them a lot better if they are frequently visited by well formed and trained ministers, or better, missionaries. That means there must be more ministers and the size parishes be reduced. It is easier said than done. Although the country enjoys the biggest number of baptized Catholics in the whole world, vocationally, it lags behind. There are very few young people who are ready to offer themselves for religious and priestly life, even for local congregation and for diocese. In this sense the amazon region depend heavily on foreign missionaries. The service for missionary and vocation promotion should be intensified in all level and different ages. The youths and the families at large should be made aware of the urgency of need of missionaries in the area.

We gathered most of this information when we visited these families located near each other along the margins of river Juriti velho, tributary of the River Amazon. They live a very humble life, where they exploit the nature only for their domestic substance offering no danger to the environmental degradation like the mega-projects of the big companies who explore the region for financial gains. With the locals the forest is well conserved with minimal pollution. Although we find families with TVs the scarcity of electric energy make the children value those old games of chasing each other in the open giving live and happiness to the communities. They also find pleasure of their own hand-made toys.

At the end of the experience the wish of every one was to continue the mission over. Unfortunately, it is not our time. May be by time, if our flock increases, we come to open a mission over here. It is a very missionary area indeed.