In the heart of the Amazon jungle, a school pulses the message of Christ. Meet the IAAI, Adventist Agro Industrial Institute. Let's see how the 13th Sabbath Offering helped this school and its mission.
In the heart of the Amazon jungle, a school pulses with the love of Christ. Meet the IAAI [ee-ah-ee], Adventist Agro Industrial Institute.
The state of Amazonas is located in the north of Brazil and has the largest tropical rainforest in the world, in addition to the Amazon River, which is 7,000 kilometers long.
An hour away from the state capital, Manaus [muh-nows], is the IAAI, which was founded in 1964. There are 2,500 hectares of land. That's a lot of land! And because of that, this boarding school is focused on agriculture.
“We are now in our school with 40,000 açaí trees. We are self-sufficient in milk, eggs, and vegetables. It is a school that produces a lot. It is a school where students have the opportunity to learn a lot in these areas.”
Here you will find different fruits such as cupuaçu [coo-poo-ah-soo] and açaí [ah-sai-ee]. But have you ever heard of these delicious fruits? Our team tried them and we approved!
“Açaí is something different. What does it look like?? It doesn't look like anything you know. Açaí has its own wonderful taste. And cupuaçu is a wonderful fruit. It's a little sour, but delicious. You can make juice or cream. It's a delicacy.”
It is a school that has few resources to maintain its more than 300 students. Most students have scholarships.
The institution had the dream of having its own church because there was no place to gather all the students and employees.
“The difficulties were very great. And we met in what we call a chapel. It was a narrow, small, and very uncomfortable chapel. There was a need to have something broader, something capable of functioning as a church. And when I had the privilege of attending the inauguration of this church, a tear flowed for having known the difficulties of the past and today I understand that God was concerned about this school.”
That’s why in 2014, 13th Sabbath Offering funds from around the world were sent to help build this 500-seat church. It’s a beautiful church to honor God’s name, to promote mission, and to reach new people for Christ.
Employee José Brasil arrived at the school in the 1980s and helped build this dream.
“Look, we work a lot in this church, right along with employees and students. We worked in the morning, in the afternoon and at night. The entire community was involved, including the students, so that we would have this blessing that we are seeing today. Because we waited almost 50 years for this blessing and thank God it arrived.”
The inauguration took place in October 2016. Now the school is able to better nurture a spirit of mission in its students. Students love to sing, pray, and participate in church programs. They will be future leaders in their churches. They are students who come from different places, including riverside communities along the Amazon River.
“I am from a riverside community called Bom Sucesso [bohm soo-seh-so] where 98% of the community is Adventist. Since I arrived, it was a dream to have a church in the IAAI. I took part in carrying bricks, carrying rubble that was there. I took the students from the residential area to work. It was very cool.”
Today, the church is relevant to outside the Adventist community, with youth training and councils. For students, involvement in the mission took a leap forward with the church being built.
“We have a project called 'Caravan IAAI' where students have been going to the surrounding churches to preach and in the afternoon we do social missionary work.”
“This year, we are taking a step further as an institution and as a church. We are establishing a missionary nucleus here.”
Last year alone, 20 students were baptized because of this church and they will be a beacon in their homes when they finish their studies. It took 50 years of a lot of waiting, a lot of prayer, for the construction of this church.
“Brothers and sisters who sacrificed to send their donations, know that for our community, for our IAAI family, this money was very important.”
“We sincerely thank every member of our church who has helped with their donations to build our church here at IAAI. And we have grateful hearts today and we also offer to help in other parts of the world to make this dream come true.”
“Thank you!”
Thank you for helping to build this and many other churches around the world. Fruits are being gathered for Christ!
