Jungle Trip: I’ve been to the jungle a couple of times, but it’s always an adventure. Although we do similar activities, this trip is never the same.
Chimborazo—made it to 17,000 ft.: I finally figured out that the highest I’ve climbed to is probably around 17,000 ft. that’s 2,000 ft. higher than Mt. Rainer…crazy. Also, I discovered it’s really difficult, make that impossible, to light a match at that altitude. We tried to celebrate one of the girl’s birthdays on Chimborazo, but we couldn’t get the stinking candles to light because of the lack of oxygen. Haha, who would of thought?
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| Monkey!! |
Monkey Ambush: As we were getting out of the van just outside the monkey reserve, we got ambushed. A few of the monkeys had escaped from the reserve and one decided to take refuge in our van…and he did NOT want to come out. We quickly discovered that monkeys like Doritos, Gatorade, and Bubble Gum…he left a few wet spots and sticky strings of bubble gum on the seats…we finally coxed him out with a bag of bread. However, he outsmarted us in the end because when we finally got him out of the van and tried to toss the bread back in…we tossed; he jumped, snatched the bread out of midair with his tail and was 30 yards away, scarfing down our bread before we knew what’d happened.
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| One of the NILIs with Dewey |
Amazon--Meeting Dewey: I had the privilege of flying back into the jungle with this group to visit the Waorani tribe. The Waorani tribe is famous for having killed several missionaries but later being led to Christ by two women--a wife and a sister of the missionaries who were killed. This time when I went I got to visit a different community. When we landed, we were met by Dewey. Dewey was a part of the group of Waorani men who killed the missionaries. The first thing he did was pray for us in Waorani, his native language As I spent time with him and his community I couldn’t help but be struck by the power God has to change a man’s heart. Now, he’s people live in the peace and joy of Christ. One of the local missionaries shared a stat with us that hit me hard. Before the two women entered the Waorani tribe 70-80% of adult deaths were homicides. The Waorani people had literally been wiping themselves out. However, after just two years of living with the Waorani that number dropped to 5%. The death of five men brought life to a whole people.
Carnaval—soaking the NILIs: This year I was on-campus during Carnaval…and I had a BLAST! In Ecuador, Carnaval is a public free-for-all. Any stranger has the right to drench you with water or cover you in floor. People often start “playing” Carnaval weeks in advance. By the time we reached the actually holiday I was wearing my swimsuit underneath my clothes. I’m pretty sure I went through more changes of clothes than anyone else.
We made sure the NILIs “enjoyed” this tradition to the fullest...aka we ambushed them. We gathered together a group of seminary students and staff. Several of the guys climbed up onto the roof of the building where they were having class and the rest of us hid around the outdoor stairwell that they have to use to leave. As soon as they made it to the stairs, the guys on the roof started drenching them with buckets of water, while we pelted them with water balloons and flour. They got soaked, and as a result a seminary-wide water fight broke out and lasted for the next two hours….almost everyone on campus got involved seminary students, missionaries, and NILIs. Definitely one of my favorite days so far...
Next Up: Ministry Trip…off to the Coast!
