I met Arizete, Raimunda (pronounced Aree-zeh-chi and Righ- moon-dah) and Fernando while doing a retreat at a monastary in Manressa, Spain in 2022. And wow, what an incredible gift to meet these humans… Arizete and Raimunda are the most dedicated, fierce nuns I have ever met, working alongside Fernando who is a Jesuit priest. The Equipo Itinerante (Itinerant Team) serve the most hard to reach areas of the Brazilian Amazon outside of Manaus. Many of the indigenous groups they work with require 3 days travel up river by canoe in order to reach them. The Equipo Itinenerante has a number of ministries including providing basic health care, doing Bible lessons, and, importantly, working with local indigenous groups to help them understand their rights and how to protect their land from further exploitation.

While there are many “missions” groups working in the Amazon, an unfortunate number of them continue to practice colonizer missions models that often perpetuate the worst of western culture. Two things that makes the Equipo Itinerante different from many groups working in the region: 1. Their longevity: many on the team have been doing this work together for over 30 years.. 2. Their emphasizes on local leadership and not trying to change / westernize the Indigenous people.

I would love to invite the Origins community to come alongside me in blessing the work of this team and their ministry. It is truly such incredible work, and the longevity of the ministry + the development of many long term, local leaders speaks to the effectiveness of their ministry model (something that is very rare among the organizations working in this region of the world). Funds will support health care projects, some small construction projects such as community center, and other program needs for supplies, etc. 

More info: https://www.somos-amazonia.org/cimi/ (in Spanish, sorry! But there are translation browser apps…)