The legacy of ACN’s Chapel Trucks in the Amazon. The Amazon, known as the “lungs of the planet” due to its rich biodiversity, is also home of inspiring and encouraging stories. One such story is centred on an old truck in a garage in Altamira, deep in the state of Pará, Brazil, which though surrounded by rusty old scrap, contains memories that are evergreen.
“This truck was used during the Second World War, and it came from Switzerland. But over here it was used in another kind of war, a war for peace. Here it served as part of God’s project to fight for peace and for families,” says Orlando Bragança, the owner of the garage, as he admires the now-retired vehicle which distributed so much love across the Amazon.
A total of 320 trucks such as this arrived in Brazil through Aid to the Church in Need’s support to the Salesians involved in Project AMA, which used to stand for “Motorized Aid for the Amazon” but was later changed to “Mobile Missionary Assistance”.
The AMA trucks have been more than just a pastoral help for the region. They helped guarantee that priests had contact with the people, to promote the growth of Christian communities, transport food, medicine, educational and construction material, and they helped to get local produce to markets, so that many people who were hitherto exploited were able to get a fair price for the fruits of their labour. “A beacon of hope has been lit in the Amazon, and this light continues to travel,” said Fr Werenfried, when describing the ACN project.
Although this particular truck won’t be travelling anymore, it remains in the Altamira garage as a memorial to a love that never breaks down. “At a time when it was almost impossible to travel on wheels across the Amazon, these trucks played a crucial role in the expansion of pastoral care in the region. They would haul building materials for the parish houses and the churches,” Orlando recalls, adding: “These trucks are true relics!”
“We have not been forgotten”
Thanks to AMA, bishops, priests and religious were able to visit and bring aid to many communities. The project included the delivery of 45 shipments of trucks to the Port of Belém, in Pará, the training of 300 mechanics in the region, the training of drivers in Belém, Manaus, Cuiabá and Boa Vista, and the distribution of trucks to 67 centres in 44 dioceses.
The project was inspired by the ACN Chapel Trucks that spread over Europe after the devastation of the Second World War, when dozens of trucks became “churches on wheels”, nurturing the faith of groups of Catholics in the diaspora by providing them with the sacraments. In a letter to the foundation, a young Catholic expressed his gratitude for the truck’s visit, saying that it brought with it not only the possibility of communion with Christ, but also with one’s neighbours: “We are especially grateful for the feeling that we have not been forgotten.” In the desperate situation of need and general neglect, the sound of the engines approaching towns and villages was a happy reminder that somebody cared about them and was searching for innovative ways to alleviate their suffering, because love is always creative.
Fuelled by hope
The trucks that made it to Brazil were also loaded with brotherly love and hope. Many people still remember the arrival of these trucks when they were young, and how they helped to build so many of the Church’s structures that we can still see today, such as parish houses and churches. This allowed faith to spread through small towns that are now cities with up to 100,000 inhabitants.
An ACN delegation discovered this particular truck during a Project Trip to Pará, in September 2024. The truck is worn out by time, but the help remains. Thanks to the generous help of benefactors, ACN continues to support the construction of pastoral structures and churches, as well as providing direct assistance to religious communities and to missionaries, through the provision of boats, cars or motorcycles which allow them to cover greater distances. Besides this, there are also solar panel projects which help to reduce energy costs, allowing for a greater investment in evangelization.
Meanwhile, AMA is not only the initials of the project’s name in Portuguese, but also a form of the verb “to love”, in the present tense, which is an apt description for an initiative which far from being some sort of business deal resulted from an act of restless love aimed at providing the only lasting form of comfort: the love of God.