On Monday of last week, my team and I packed up 4 days worth of food, water, and clothes, then headed out to – well, we weren’t really sure what we were headed out to. After a 3 1/2 hour bus ride and 30 minute boat ride, we found ourselves standing in a village in the middle of the rainforest. Upon first arriving, things were a little awkward. We weren’t able to communicate much with the locals, so we just went on about our business as they watched 8 crazy Americans set up camp in the home. We eventually found they the locals were very hospitable and found ways tp communicate (1 translator for 8 people isn’t quite enough, so we improvised).
One of the days we were there we spent doing house visits. I enjoyed this day because we were able to hear their stories and hear what they go through on a day to day basis. Many things I heard that day filled my heart with joy. Such as the stories of them coming to know Jesus as their Lord and savior, or hearing them worship with all of their heart. But there were things that also broke my heart. Girls become mothers as young as 15 or 16 and the husbands are not typically around for day to day life. The women are definitely spiritual leaders, some are married to men of different faiths/religions. The people are burned with things and have to worry about things that most people do not have to worry about. One of the biggest concerns and fears of the locals is having elephants come in and eat all of their crops, which happens often. They also have to rely on their husbands to go out and hunt for monkeys, bats, or whatever else they can find in the jungle for food. The most heartbreaking thing was how heavy the presence of sadness was. Most of the women know Jesus, however most have not found the joy that He brings. They focus on surviving and taking care of their families that they don’t have time to learn how to walk in joy and freedom from sadness and fear.
The Lord has put it on my heart to continue praying for these people while I am still in their country. If you feel lead to partner with me in lifting these people, heres how you can pray for them:
- Joy to surround their lives.
- Protection from elephants and tigers (both run wild around the village).
- Boldness in their faith.
- The women to be godly wives, even when the men don’t believe.
- Boldness is protecting their land (they have people who try to take their land and are often to shy or scared to stand up for themselves).
- For them to learn and use basic life skills (The people have recently become a little lazy and have forgotten how to do things such as farm, fish, etc.).
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The 4 days we were there were quite the experience and there we things we definitely had to adjust to very quickly (world race at its finest). For example, whatever food they gave us, we had to eat in its entirety to be polite. This sounds nice and doesn’t sound like a problem. However, when one of the boys catch a fish out of the lake that their sewage flows to, you have to eat it and eat it all (Im not the biggest fish person in general so this was fun). We also woke up with the chickens (literally) and went to bed at sundown. Stay tuned for my next blog: “And The Rooster Crowed.” Between these things, community tents, squatty potties, and no showers, I suppose you could say the living situations were not “ideal.” However, I loved every single moment of being in the village and would go back and do it all again in a heartbeat (I might reconsider jumping in the lake now that I know its also where their sewage pipes lead – apologies to my mother and doctors who told me to not swim in such bodies of water).
I am extremely thankful for opportunities to be uncomfortable and see the world through a different lens. I am only in month 3/9 and I have already been exposed to a countless number of things that have opened my eyes to what all the world has to offer. An encouragement I have from the race:
Never close your eyes to what else is out there, seek out the unseen and the unheard, listen to people’s stories, be okay with being uncomfortable. Who knows? You might learn something new.
– Ash
