Keeping church house groups going during the Coronavirus Lockdown!

Leading a church “lifegroup”(aka small group, house group or Bible study meeting) once a week is usually a case of going to somebody’s house and physically meeting, BUT yesterday it was a bit different! what with the Coronavirus lockdown currently happening in the UK, we decided physically meeting was off the cards! Anyone over 70 has been advised to “social distance” themselves for the next 3 months and everyone else has been told to avoid any unnecessary social meet ups. Our church – Everyday Church, Wimbledon – also announced yday that all Sunday services are to be cancelled, until government guidelines change. As Christians we know that meeting up to worship God, pray, study the Bible and for fellowship/socialising reasons is very important, so what can we do?

Free car ferry on the Amazon River from Manaus via the BR319

Like many others, I’ve wanted to see the Amazon river since my Dad first told me about it when I was 5 or 6 years old. The biggest(and back then longest) river in the world! Then in October 2019, was lucky enough to find myself on a 3 week trip to Brazil, based in Rio de Janeiro. Had just gotten married and my wife randomly suggested we go and see the Amazon! What a Brilliant idea! So, after a quick bit of research, I discovered that Manaus is the main Amazon experience town and where most Amazon tours depart from + it’s the cheapest Amazonian place to fly to in Brazil. So, booked return flights from Rio to Manaus town, for a 6 night stay and found a bargain tour to go on.

Then I discovered a slight problem!

The tour was all well and great, BUT upon checking the map I noticed it was primarily a “rainforest tour” and wasn’t along the actual official Amazon river either! In fact it turns out Manaus isn’t actually on the “Amazon”, but sits on the Rio Negro river instead.

Now, my wife did not mind this one bit and am sure 99% of people that visit Manaus are booked on tours and don’t mind either, most people really want to see the rainforest and the animals, BUT I really mostly wanted to see the Amazon river! So what to do?…