I never get comfortable when I hear the words, “We’re going to the jungle.” In fact I get even more uncomfortable about the thought of being one with the nature. Don’t get me wrong I like being outside but….in comfort.
I recognized this trip would be a little different from the others. We had been warned,
“Guys you’re going to get parasites, chiggers, eat grub worms, and drink chic cha(someone’s fermented spit with chewed yuca/alcoholic beverage if you drink too much of it). You have to eat whatever they give you guys. It’s disrespectful for you not to.”
Yes you read it right! Fermented saliva, worms, parasites, chiggers, and all.
Up until this point I’ve had to eat armadillo and chunky plaintain which I strongly dislike. I remember gagging every bite asking the Lord to help me not vomit in front of the family. We got served rice that nearly overflowed off our plates every meal. I felt like an overstuffed kid on Thanksgiving ready to explode any minute. The bathroom was behind a chicken barn in the woods. There wasn’t opportunities to shower. The closest thing to my safe haven was my tent.
So you see I wasn’t that excited this time around when they said we were going to the jungle again. Would you?
We had two full days of presenting a program with all kinds of activities for the village kids. I had never danced, hopped, jumped, skipped, crawled, sang, and been out of breath all at the same time in all my life. If you ever want to know if you’re in shape just go in a room full of children under the age of 10 for a couple of hours. It was solidified then I wasn’t called to children’s ministry and greater level of appreciation came for those individuals who taught elementary school students in any capacity.
The hugs, smiles, and laughter of the children made it all worth it at the end of the night when I was drenched with sweat and in die need of some water. The parents even had smiles on their faces.
The next day we went to a sister village to do the same program. We got there and there a an open field to play ultimate frisbie with the kids. As we were playing all I could notice was lice in the heads of many children. You could see them jumping all across their heads. As much as I wanted to hug and pick up some of them I couldn’t get pass the fact of the lice playing hop scotch in their heads.
We are at it again with the singing, jumping, dancing, crawling under legs, tickling, hugging and hopping. I didn’t have to time to catch our breath. We eventually prayed and started to dismiss. I was drained, hungry, and ready to take some type of nap.( I regretted not taking my afternoon naps in elementary school in that moment.) A girl walks up with a beautiful smile and says,
“I want to give my life to Christ.”
My heart fluttered and every tired bone in me meant nothing to this moment I was experiencing with this young lady. I walked her through the understanding salvation and she gave her life to the Lord. We hugged and departed but 15 minutes later our leader called my name and said, “She wants to get baptized too.”
I could’ve hopped, skipped, jumped, sang, danced, and been out breath all over again. Every moment of uncomfort compared nothing to hearing those words. Lice, parasites, drinking chicha, armadillo, chiggers, not showering for 4 days and every other thing that could come along with going into the jungle was temporary but giving her life to God was eternal.
I’d trade all my uncomfortable ways to see someone being comforted in the hands of God. This is what mattered.
Our leader had been going to the jungle for two years and he said he had never had this happen. He never saw someone come up and say they wanted to give their life to the Lord and he had never done baptisms in the jungle.
The day we were leaving we got to take part in seeing not 1 but 8 get baptized in the river. It was one of the most beautiful sights I had seen on the race. Seeing quarter lakes and beautiful mountain good compared nothing to seeing 6 seeing come up out the water forever changed.
When I came on this race month one I didn’t sign up for comfort. I didn’t sign up for luxury. I didnt sign up to play with kids for a couple hours for a great photo. I signed up because I wanted to experience moments like this. Do you ever wonder what could come if we stepped outside our comfort zones? What would it be like to experience amazing encounters of others coming to know Christ in foreign lands across the world, with different language barriers, and different cultures.
In your work place, in your family, with your friends, in the store, at church, in the park…dare
to step out of your comfort. There are people are around waiting on you!
Thank you to those who have decided to give and if you want to join the team there are two ways you can donate
1. Paypal: using my email [email protected]
2. Squarecash: $CandaceRae
