I love being back home in Ecuador! I am so glad that God has
brought me back with my wife and my daughter to minister in this beautiful
place. It is hard to believe that we have already been here for 3 weeks. We
have been pretty busy trying to get unpacked and somewhat organized. I don’t
think we are close to organized yet, but we will get there. I had a break from
the unpacking/organizing last week when I had the opportunity to travel into
the jungle with some folks and it was a really great experience.
I heard about the possibility of going on a hike deep within
the jungle to a Huaorani village, maybe about a month before we were to arrive down
here. I immediately wanted to go, and hoped that it would work out for me to be
able to make the trek in. My dad told me the hike in would be rather hard, but
completely worth it, and it was! I was not involved in the planning and set up
for this trip, but I was so blessed to be able to go and be a part of it. I will
be glad when I get to go back, but I am definitely going to be getting in
better physical condition before then next trip in (yikes!).
Dad and Hermano Jorge Rodriguez planned and organized the
trip, unfortunately my Dad (Steve) couldn’t go in this time because of a
scheduling conflict. There was a very large group who went in to Kakataro (a
Huaorani village). There were six men from FBC Odessa, Texas on a weeklong
mission team, some of them had come in to the village before a few years ago
and had the chance to come back. There were several members of the staff and a
few guests from Camp Chacauco, which is where we are living right now and
settling in. There was me, a missionary named Bart who lives outside of Tena,
Hermano Jorge and his wife, and then to help all of us get into the Huaorani
village, there was a large team of Quichua believers from Huachiyacu Chico who
also helped in cooking for the whole group during the week.
To put the distance in perspective, it takes about 4 hours
to get to Tena (one of the larger cities in the jungle region) from where we
live at Camp Chacauco. From Tena, we went for another 2.5 hours on the bus
which I am pretty sure is as far as that road goes. At that place we were met
by a group of people coming out from Kakataro to take us into their village. And
from there we walked. The hike going in was very difficult for me, I haven’t
had to walk hardly anywhere in the last 13 years that I’ve lived in the States,
much less slop my way through a muddy, hilly, jungle trail. I will say that
thankfully it hadn’t really rained much in a few days before the trek, so it
wasn’t all that slippery, but it is the rainforest, so it was plenty wet and
humid.
I had been warned by those who had been before that on the
trail in, the first hour is the hardest because the steepest hill of the whole
trail is right there at the front. I was also told by several that if somebody
offered to help me with my backpack, I should go ahead and let them, since they
are used to the terrain and would want to bless us any way possible to help us
make the trip in. Before we even started, a brother asked if he could help me
with the pack (I guess he could tell I was going to need the help, LOL). But
no, I was determined I would carry it in as far as I could. Thirty minutes in,
we reached THE hill. It was steep. I began the climb, pushed through all I
could, gave it my all. At the “top” of the hill, I was spent. The brother came
to me again and asked to help me with the pack because there was still a lot
left before we reached the village. I accepted, and thanked him for the help.
Then I walked a little further and realized that I wasn’t at the top of THE
hill. Turns out, I was maybe half way up the big hill at that point. So, I
marched on, no backpack, just me. Honestly, it was all I could do. There were
many ups and downs, sometimes I was in the middle of the pack, sometimes at the
back, but I made it. It took me about 6 hours to hike into Kakataro. My
backpack made it there much faster than I did, ha.
Our first night in, everybody was tired from the hike, so
after dinner we met briefly for singing and prayer and called it a night. We
spent the next two days in Kakataro, we had services in the morning and in the
evening, each time with special singing, some in English, some in Spanish, some
in Quichua, and some in Huao. We had preaching each time from one of the guys
from Texas and then from Hermano Jorge one morning. We did some construction
and helped to extend the area on the back of the church building there, to take
in their kitchen and eating area. The ministry team from Camp Chacauco also
worked with the children of the village in the afternoons and did VBS. The
people of that community are so gracious, so loving. It is amazing to see a
village who has embraced the Gospel. They love God, and they were sharing with
joy about invitations they have received to go to other Huaorani communities
and share the love of Christ there.
During my time there, I began to think about how the body of
Christ works together. It was amazing how many different parts were working
together as one. We had fulltime missionaries from the States and Ecuador. We
had a short term mission team from the States, the ministry team from Chacauco,
the mission team from the Quichua church. Some laymen, some leaders, some
pastors. All working together for the glory of God and the exaltation of
Christ. I know the brothers in Kakataro were encouraged by the visit and the
help during the week, I know that all us who went in were encouraged to see
their faith working out.
I love it when we get those opportunities to see God at work
in such a practical way that it illustrates, and brings to life some passage,
or teaching of scripture. In thinking about all of this, I was thinking about 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 18-20: “For just as
the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though
many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all
baptized into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – and all were made to
drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many…”
“But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he
chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there
are many parts, yet one body.” I am grateful to God that He allowed me to
be a part of and see His body at work last week, through believers from the US,
and from the mountain region, and from the jungle region. All members of one
body and Christ is our Head.
The hike out was quite a bit easier, even though the trail
goes up and down, it is certainly more uphill going into the village, so I made
it out in just over 4 hours. I’m sorry to say, my backpack still made better
time than I did, ha. I was beat, I was thirsty and I was ready to see my wife
and daughter. They stayed home at Camp Chacauco while I went in the jungle, so
after 4 days I was ready to see them.
After a week, I think I can say that I have recovered pretty
well. My muscles have stopped hurting, so it’s about time to start the training
routine, so maybe I can do better the next time I get a chance to go in.
Around here, we are still unpacking and trying to find a
place for everything. We are finding out what is our new normal and trying to
find a schedule. Please continue to pray for Becky and Hannah as they continue
their language learning. Since I arrived 3 weeks ago, I have had some
opportunities to visit around and I am encouraged to see the work is growing. I
am looking forward to the opportunity to preach in my home church “Iglesia
Bautista Ficoa” on this Sunday, be in prayer for me as I prepare to share from God’s
word.
In Christ,
John
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