South American Division

Pará Legislative Assembly Celebrates 90th Anniversary of the Boat Luzeiro

Special session brought together authorities and representatives of the Adventist Church in the North in celebration of the services offered to riverside dwellers

December 15, 2021

Brazil

Gerllany Amorim Dias

Bench for the solemn session celebrating 90 years of service provided by Luzeiro in the North region. (Photo: Stefany Nascimento)

The celebrations for 90 years of service by the boat named Luzeiro (English, “light”) to the riverside population of Pará included an extraordinary, solemn session on Tuesday morning, December 7, at the State Legislative Assembly (Alepa). The ceremony was proposed by Jaques Neves, state deputy and president of the Alepa Health Commission, who is also an Adventist and understands the importance of bringing health to the most distant communities in Pará.

“We celebrate and emphasize the importance of Luzeiro's service, which pays attention to vulnerable people, offering medical and legal care and many other types of care. The session was a recognition of Luzeiro's mission during all this time here for the people of the Northern region of Brazil”, emphasizes Pastor Sérgio Fuckner, coordinator of Luzeiro's services and other assistance initiatives of the Adventist Church for the Northern region.

Besides Neves, the celebration was also attended by Vanderley Oliveira, judge of the third family court, and several pastors from the Seventh-day Adventist Church, in addition to representatives of Adventist Education in Pará and the Adventist Hospital of Bethlehem.

For Neves, the project contributes socially, physically, and spiritually to the formation of the people of Pará. "The Luzeiro project brings light and hope. It is a project from the heart of God for the Amazon", he highlights.

Care Service

Luzeiro has been operating in Pará since 1931. The boats are part of the history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Amazon. The work takes place with the riverside population of the state, and the boats are equipped with offices, ultrasound and dental equipment, and a pharmacy, which serves around 32 communities a year. The vessel already has a history of navigating the rivers of the Amazon region of Pará with the aim of providing health care to riverside communities. In all, more than 60,000 km have already been covered along Amazonian rivers.

This article was originally published on the South American Division’s Portuguese news site