Saunders does greet Olson at the airport, and so Olson stays in a hotel for his first night in Venezuela. The next day, he meets a young man named Julio, who invites him to stay with his family. Julio introduces him to Dr. Christian, a man who provides medical aid to the Indigenous people of the Orinoco River. Dr. Christian invites Olson to join him on a month-and-a-half-long medical visit to the Orinoco River tribes. A week later, Olson and Dr. Christian begin their journey. Partway through, on Dr. Christian’s advice, Olson decides to stay with the people at the Mavaca settlement for three weeks while Dr. Christian travels further upriver. Nearby is a Christian missionary compound, which houses the missionary Saunders. Olson tries to establish a friendship with him but is rebuffed because he is not part of a mission agency.

While speaking to other missionaries at the compound, Olson learns that the Indigenous people who have converted to Christianity are being persecuted by the rest of the tribe. Olson is amazed that people who treated him so well could be persecutors. When he tries to bring up Christianity, they tell him that the Christian converts have rejected all the old tribal customs; they dress as North Americans, build buildings differently from the tribe, and sing Western songs.