John Roberts takes his new bride to the Congo where they serve as missionaries. Two years into their mission, their son, Joel is born. When World War II interrupts their mission, the family flees the country hoping to get home to the United States. Instead, they end up in Salvador, Brazil. With no money and no way to get home, John finds himself working in an illegal scheme. He makes a narrow escape and takes off to the United States leaving his family behind. Joel and his mom, Beryl, find ways to support themselves while they hide out from the black-market cartel as they wait for John to come back for them. Joel is a genius and really needs to get to the States so that he can go to school and develop his potential. The war makes it impossible for John to get transportation back to Brazil until he formulates a plan to drive a car all the way down and back again. Many questions arise: Is it possible to drive all the way to Brazil? Will the family get back together again? Will Joel ever get to attend school and pursue his dreams of space travel?