Hola!!
Welp, we made it! For the past 7 months, I’ve been holding on to my northface pullover in high hopes of the possibility of being in the mountains in Central America… the Lord loves to give us the desires of our heart!
Our host, Debbie, and her 6 year old son, Andy, picked us up from our hostel and took us to a friends house who graciously let us take over their house for the night. Not only did they give us a place to stay, but also had prepared a homemade meal, lots of snacks and a good ol breakfast for in the morning… as they were getting on a plane to China! I’d say it’s cause they love the Lord, but when I saw the Aggie blanket on the couch, I knew thats how we got so blessed!
Anyway, my friend, Mel, captured our experience on the mountain top beautifully, so I wanted to share with you just a small glimpse into our lives with the Ngobe Indians on the mountain for a few days.
“The Ngobe Indians are an amazing group of people who live in one of the most beautiful places in the world. Away from the hustle of the city, so high on the mountain top it seems they live in the clouds. The smell of wood smoke floats by on the breeze. Birds singing and the occasional shout of children playing can be heard echoing through the valley. Horses roam free and are still used as transportation to get to homes deep in the hills.
It seems like a peaceful way of life, but its a hard life. Meat is not common and any other form of protein is scarce. Rice, oatmeal,creamed corn, and boiled green bananas are the typical meals. Women and children carry heavy buckets of water up steep hills for bathing and cooking. Pregnant women and sick children don’t have immediate access to a real doctor. Fighting is normal, and some people even file their teeth into sharp points as a form of intimidation or to use as a weapon. Like many places when Jesus is absent, things like physical and sexual abuse in families are common, women are treated like livestock, and girls are having babies at an age as young as 12 years old.
The Ngobe people live in Tugri and are an indigenous tribe to Panama. They were, until recently, living completely off grid. In the last year, the government has paved a road to them as well as brought in electricity. There was a need for better living conditions as children were constantly sick or dying from living in huts with dirt floors. When it rains 9 months out of the year the homes do not stay dry and with dirt floors this can be an issue. YWAM saw this need and started building homes with concrete floors for the widows, elderly, or families with young children. Soon after, the government followed suit and more people are being offered better living situations. There are negative as well as positive influences coming in from the outside, but they are proud people and value tradition and their way of life and hold strong to it. A positive is that the more they are reached out to the more they hear about Jesus and learn that there can be a light in their darkness.”
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i think I was laughing at his double chin and he was probably laughing at mine!?
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