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| Twins! So glad we both managed to pack the same camp shirt! Jeff probably owns two, and I probably own 100... |
Pray for...safety for the maintenance staff, renewal for the staff who work with the kids, and finances for Casa de Fe. It costs $30,000 each MONTH to run it. Pray for the tribal people groups in Ecuador--that they can achieve a healthy balance between their traditional ways, and modern medicine, etc. that can improve their lives. Pray for those who are ministering to them, for more lives to be transformed, like Dewey's was.
Long Version:
Tuesday:
Tuesday:
Tuesday started off with the same breakfast at the hotel (I
like scrambled eggs, but don’t really enjoy eating them EVERY DAY!) with
drinkable yogurt as my always favorite part of the meal. Rae led us in a
devotional on a different fruit of the Spirit each day and in prayer. We had
devotions again at the bodega and then began our workday. What was in store for
us today? Machetes!!!!!!!!!!
Jenica, Rita, Rae, and I were assigned to help clear the
path that marks the property line at Casa de Fe. New skills take time. As
Jenica and I perfected the art of whacking down tall plants, we discovered that
if we held on to the tops of the plants, they cut better. The leaves themselves also cut
my arms pretty well. We sang “The Alligator is My Friend,” and other silly songs as we worked.
Rita, always the adventurer, accidently let go of her
machete on the very first swing and it went flying toward Jaime, who had to
jump out of the way. Good thing she was scheduled to go to the school to teach
a couple of pilates classes a while later, or Jaime might have been too nervous
to keep working.
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| Kendra and Jenica |
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| I felt like singing "Sisters, sisters..." |
We walked back to the hotel for a much needed shower, and then went back to the Casa for….drum roll please…PIZZA NIGHT! They kids were excited! We were hoping for some time to play games with them, but we pretty much just got to eat pizza. I was sitting at a pre-K table and a little boy sat on my lap and peed on me. Oh well.
When we got back to the hotel, I was going to change right
away, but somehow got distracted by two college-aged guys who got dropped off
by a bus and wanted to be in Puyo, but realized they were in Shell. I gave them
some Spanish help, then Rita and I decided it would be a good time to go next
door to the ice cream place. I had a shake and then finally changed out of my
peed-on pants. We had just had some laundry done and it was clear we’d need
another load. You paid for your laundry by the pound. The clothes came back
cleaner than they’ve ever been, pressed, and folded to perfection.
I was very thankful to be able to Facetime my family almost
every night of the trip. I would have been fine not talking with them, but I
think it really helped the kids to have some connection with me. The WiFi at
our hotel wasn’t great (I couldn’t get it at all in our room), but if I stood
on just the right tile, I could get service.
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| Looks alien to me... |
Tracy was often down using the internet as well. I really
enjoyed taking a few minutes at these times to get to know her better—to hear
about all her kids and grandkids, and her job at the Lake Park Café (and the
antics pulled by the regulars when they get a new waitress).
I’d then slink back to the room. Sometimes Nancy and Rita
were still awake, sometimes asleep. I’d spend some time reading my Bible and a
book, and then try to get to sleep. I honestly didn’t sleep well on the trip.
Part of it was so much excitement, part of it was snoring, although I wore
earplugs and that really did drown out most of the noise. I never really did
feel overly tired though, except on the last day after not sleeping at all, but
more on that later.
Wednesday:
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| Baby time |
Wednesday was amazing. I spent the morning with the
babies—loving on them, trying to teach them everything I could in the few short
days we had with them. Studies in the U.S. often show that first-born kids are
smarter because of the time their parents spend working with them, vs. the time
given to subsequent kids. I grieve for these babies who don’t have a chance of
having anything close to the interaction of a first-born, or even the last child of a
large family. There is one “tia” caring for 8-10 babies, 3 shifts of tias per
day, just keeping them clean, changed, and fed. Please pray that these babies
will get adopted or get reunited with their birth families. One little boy did
go home with his family during the time we were there!
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| Arucely |
I spent the most time with Sol, a three-year-old who looked
more like a 7-9 month old. Her given name is “Soledad,” which means “solitude” or “loneliness.” They
decided to call her “Sol” which means “sun.t” I think meanings of names are important,
so I’m so glad they changed hers to speak something more positive into her
life. It took the therapist six months to teach her to sit up this past year,
and now they are working on crawling. She refuses to put any weight on her
feet, and was fairly unresponsive to the games I’d play with her and to the
songs I’d sing with her. My prayer is that Sol’s brain will be healed of
whatever is wrong with it. We serve a big God who can do big things, even heal
Sol!
I also spent time with Arucely (I’m sure I spelled that
wrong). Her mom is HIV positive and can’t breast-feed her, and probably can’t
afford formula, so the baby is at the orphanage until she is weaned. So far,
she shows no signs of having HIV herself. Please pray for her as well—for
health, and a normal life.
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| Ashlynn with Sol |
An Ecuadorian pastor named Manuel spoke to us for our
missionary time that day. He became a Christian after attending some sort of
tent meeting for a week when he was a young man. He had been a bitter, angry,
vengeful man. His mother had been murdered some years before, and he wanted to
avenge her death. He was radically transformed by the love of Jesus, and has
been a pastor for many years. He also told of how he and his wife were on the
verge of divorce several times years ago, but God changed his heart and saved
his marriage.
I enjoyed a teenaged girl named Yulisa at lunch that day.
She had saved a copy of the song sheet I had typed up for the team for the
Sunday services, and was learning the new songs very well. She is a little bit
of on outcast among the older girls—she tends to hang out with and help the
staff and to be ostracized a bit by the girls. Pray that she will find her
place and be able to make friends with the other girls.
That afternoon, we got to take a couple hours off to go on a
JUNGLE FLIGHT! Upon arrival at the airport, we all had to get weighed, and then
oriented to the plane. I was chosen to collect $50 from each person going on
the flight and was told that we’d pay when we returned. I didn’t have room in
my passport pouch for such a large wad or cash, so I passed it off to Barb for
safe keeping.
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| Getting "Initiated" into the Tribe |
A Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) pilot named Dan took us in a 10-seat
plane to a village. The villagers get paid $5 per visitor, plus they sold
hand-crafted items to us while we were there. A young woman from the village
translated from Waorani to Spanish. The temperature was noticeably warmer at the lower elevation of the village than in Shell (which is 7,000 feet). The translator showed us their radio for
communication with the pilots, and their infirmary and then took us to their
church. Several village leaders spoke to us about the love of Jesus, and prayed for us. They spoke for A LONG TIME before the translator translated everything, and although I could
understand most of what she said, I had to give a very abbreviated version to
the group because it was way too much to remember.
One man who spoke and prayed was one of the killers of the missionaries back in the
‘50s (see my writing about Sunday). I felt like I was meeting a move star! This
man reminded me of Saul becoming Paul in the New Testament. He began life in a
tribe that was dying out because of members killing each other, participated in
killing Nate Saint and the others, and eventually became a follower of Jesus
because of the love of family members of the slain men. He is a spiritual leader
in his village, and has even traveled to Mexico City to preach to word of God.
We serve an amazing God who can change anyone, no matter what the
circumstances!
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| Kendra and "Dewey" (My Brush with Fame!!!) |
We got “initiated” into the tribe in some sort of conga line
dance. Several from my group enjoyed using blow guns to shoot at pieces
of fruit. One young man in the tribe then shot a bat with the blow gun. I
bought some bracelets, a purse, and a blow gun for my dad, then lent $20 to
Ashlynn so that she could buy some gifts.
We briefly met our translator’s pet monkeys, and then
boarded the plane to fly back to Shell. The pilot politely asked one group
member to sit in the front of the plane because he had trouble getting the tail
up on the first flight. As we flew past mile after mile of rain forest, and
over the beach where the missionaries were killed so many years ago, I couldn’t
help but marvel at the extent of the forest, and the lack of deforestation in
this area.
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| Our Translator, with her Pet Monkeys |
Back at the airport, we found out that it was about $10 more
per person for the flight than we had previously thought, so we scrambled to
find enough money. I had $4 left after lending the $20 to Ashlynn, so I had to
borrow the money. I handed the clerk the newly collected money, as well as the $450 we
had previously collected and triple counted. The clerk informed me that it was
only $330. I recounted. She recounted. I started getting worried.
When we arrived at the village, Barb had asked the pilot if
it would be safe to keep her purse in the plane, and he said yes, and she
assumed he was locking the plane. It turns out it wasn’t so safe. $120 had been
stolen by some kids from another village who were visiting while we were there.
Rita also thought she had about $100 stolen, but later found her money safely
where she had stashed it—in her bra.
Back at the airport, we scrambled for another $120, which
Barb thankfully had. We reported the stolen money, and miraculously, it was
returned to us by Friday. The airport radioed the village and the money was
found!
That night, we had dinner in the town of Puyo with the two
Casa de Fe maestros (maintenance men) and their families. I had a kebab style
meal that was actually hanging on a hook over my plate. We enjoyed our meal,
danced the polka a bit, went next door for ice cream (avocado ice cream is
amazing!) and headed back to the hotel for the evening on the city bus. Their
city buses are the nicest I’ve ever seen—if the ones we rode in Ukraine were a
“one”, these were a “10”!
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