Gloria Santos spent many years in tourism working as a jungle guide and speaks 5 languages. After a difficult period in her life she went to Bible school in Canada and received a word from her teacher that the Lord wanted her to return to The Amazon to work with the children in the jungle. The teacher handed Gloria an envelope containing $200 and told her 'This is for you to start your missionary work and God will show you the next step'.

One day Gloria's father Joaquim was travelling from the village of Iranduba when a boy with blood on his face ran in front of the car. He took the boy to the hospital but no one knew who he was. Joaquim returned to the area where he had found the boy and asked a man passing by if he knew him. 'I know him, he's Narciso the son of the crazy women' was the response. The boy lived in a shack in the village but the family were outcasts. The mother was mentally ill and suffered from epilepsy and the father was an alcoholic.

When Joaquim arrived at the boy's home the mother came out with sores all over her face. The boy smiled and ran to his mother and hugged her. It turned out that the local boys had kicked a football at the woman, she had shouted at the boys and they had started to throw stones at her and her son.

Joaquim bought a bag of food for the family as they had very little to eat. He returned to his home and spoke with Gloria and his wife Irineia and they decided to use the $200 that Gloria had been given to help this family.

Gloria decided to hold a camp that following weekend in the village and 100 children and 20 parents turned up. At the end of the day a little girl came to Gloria. 'Today was the best day of my life. I have never been so happy. I never knew that someone cared for me, that Jesus cared. I want to invite my brothers next time'. She asked Gloria when they would be back to do another camp. The intention had only ever been to do the one camp, but she replied, 'we'll be back next month, tell your friends to come'.

One week later a jungle pastor gave Gloria a word, 'Nations will come and help you and you will make a difference in the Amazon Jungle'. Meanwhile John Paculabo, Managing Director for Kingsway Communications, was working for his company in Roraima, Brazil's most northerly state on a project backed by the Government. It was there he met Gloria; she was their interpreter and guide.

Over the next year business circumstances brought John back to Manaus, and on one such visit he brought his family. By now he had established a firm friendship with Gloria, so much so that she felt safe taking him onto the river to meet 'her Indians' as she called them.

As they arrived they were greeted by Chief Gabriel. He informed them that the government had withdrawn funding for the village teacher and the children now would have no schooling that year. Quickly they huddled together to see if there was something they could help with, especially as the teacher's salary was less than £700 a year. This made John realize just how privileged we are in the west and just how tough life is for the Indians. Agreeing to do this he left the village knowing that he had helped somehow, but feeling that it was not quite enough.

John and his family decided they would visit the Amazon once more. They were warmly greeted by Professor Jonas (the village teacher) and all the children. During this visit John asked to see the school, no sooner had he asked than he was led to a wooden hut with one small window that doubled as the medical/emergency centre. On entering the hut the thing that struck him the most was the intense heat, there was almost no ventilation and it became clear that this was not a suitable venue for children, this was no school.

Six months earlier Wayne Drain a US church leader had given John a very distinct message, 'It's time to release worship to the poor'. In that moment John realised that the meaning of those words was not about indoctrinating the Indians with a Christian message, it was about loving our neighbour as ourselves, and although he lived 5000 miles away, these people were his neighbours.

Immediately John announced that they would build a school in this village. No sooner had he returned to Manaus, than several other village chiefs made contact with him through Gloria, all explaining their need of schools too.

It became clear that John and his family had been called to partner with Gloria and her team, and together build Ray of Hope. Today other nations have become involved and the work of Ray of Hope is growing rapidly. The little boy at the start of the journey, Narciso, is one of the most loved kids in the village. His father has stopped drinking and Ray of Hope built a new house for his family in the heart of the village, where they are now accepted.