Railson & Heidi Gil

Christian missionaries in Pará, northern Brazil.

Railson, native to Pará, is called to developing projects which exemplify the Kingdom in practical ways, specifically through communications development and digital integration (that is, making computer technology available to disadvantaged classes). Heidi is a pediatric nutritionist and English teacher from Oregon, USA. She enjoys putting the Gospel into practice as she counsels nutritionally needy families. Our gifts bring us into contact with people of all levels, which often leads to house visits and impromptu gatherings around the Bible. We love it when God surprises our unsuspecting visitors with the tangible sense of His presence! Here you will find our current and past newsletters as well as photos of our family and region. Have fun exploring our site!

• Update on Radio Project

  Filed under Business
  Oct 25

  Although we are in a holding pattern with the Jubilee Foundation and proposed radio project, we are doing what we can to research and plan for future advancement. We have identified property that would be perfect for the radio tower, studio, and possibly living area. The property is managed by the Jari, a paper pulp manufacturer and one of the largest businesses in the area. The lot is at the end of a housing project on an overlook above the Jari River. From this vantage point, one can see the whole sprawl of the Laranjal do Jari in the neighboring state of Amapa. Since it is at high point and in located in a central location among three cities, radio transmission would be a natural prospect. The last two homes are apparently abandoned, which is unusual because the Jari company usually keeps its homes in good condition. We are scoping out the possibility of asking for authorization to renovate the two homes and use the space in the yard for the radio tower. For the time being, we are tracking down the history of the homes and prayer-walking the area regularly. Pray with us for the Lord’s will.
  
  photos of the area

• Community Health–Cooperating with Brazilian socialized health

  Filed under Community, Health
  Oct 25

  Praise God! I am back to working in Clinical nutrition at the local public hospital. Since my permanence was granted in March, I have a little more leverage to begin recognized service, even though my green card hasn’t come yet. So, I took advantage of few strategic relationships I had developed, including with the hospital director and the current nutritionist. While the other nutritionist manages mostly food service and patient diets, I do outpatient consultations. Word has spread throughout the community and demand has grown. I may soon have to add a third day to my work week.

  My work is still volutary, which gives me a certain satisfaction and conveniently keeps me out of the political bureaucracy rampant in Brazil’s socialized health system. For the time being, our sponsor’s donations are enough to subsidize this work.

  Our satisfaction in health care is two-fold. First we are able to aleviate individual’s health issues to some degree, and second it gives us many, many opportunities to share the gospel. Having access to the hospital wards puts me in contact with people at all levels of trauma. Last week I prayed for a child who had to have blood transfusions while recovering from malaria and for a 10-year-old with Reyes Sindrome, a health complication for which our hospital does not offer any specialized treatment. I also get to share Jesus in a relevant way to other hospital staff, and even those in administration at the government level.

  You may note from the photos that the local hospital and heath posts are by no means luxurious. But they do offer basic doctor’s examinations, first aid, and, interestingly enough, nutritional surveillance. The hospital in Monte Dourado is in disrepair, mostly due to corruption. It lacks medications, many surgical items and even food at times, a definite consternation for us nutritionists. Still we are hopeful that with the newly elected government, this situation will improve.

  By way of explanation: You will not see photos of patients or the inside of the hospital very often in our Space. This is because we want to protect the privacy of the patients, and we do not want to unintentionally take on a journalistic image inside the hospital. People may become suspicious of us taking photos if they do not fully understand the philanthropic reasons behind what we do.

• On the Way to Our House

  Filed under Family
  Oct 25

  The scenery on the way to our house is fantastic. That’s one of the advantages of living in the world’s largest freshwater basin–lots of waterways, tropical forests, exotic animals, and an endless variety of housing structures at water’s edge. We took the boat home this time, rather than the plane. Although it increases travel time by about 54 hours, it decreases travel expense by about $700. We have found that if you pack enough snacks, books, coloring items, DVDs and patience, the trip serves as a good wind-down time. Plus, we can take a large amount of baggage in the boat’s cargo area, usually at no extra cost.

  This time, we stayed in hammocks on the main deck with most of the other passengers instead of in a tiny cabin with a bunk bed. The hammock is cooler and serves as bed, sofa, and even dining space! Plus, it’s less accessible to cockroaches and ants. Besides, the last time we stayed in a cabin, the kids got head-lice even though we took our own bedding. Good thing it’s easy to get rid of, but still, avoidance is better than treatment.

  On the boat’s main deck it’s fun to get to know you neighbors, the ones in hammocks above, below and beside you. Nope, no “comfort zone.” You learn to brush your teeth together with 120 passengers over two pedestal sinks. (That’s perhaps one of the lesser-celebrated missionary skills.)