Team Deliverance has been living in the jungle for almost two weeks now. Today is our day off and we have come into the nearest town to check in with civilization and buy some fruit and toothpaste.
We are staying in Huaticocha, a small town off the main highway. Its not quite as rustic here as we were preparing ourselves for, but it is definitely far off the beaten track. My next blog will be about our accommodations here, but for now I’ll just give a quick update on our adventures.
I’ll just start by saying that I am in love with Ecuador. I knew I would be – I have always felt drawn to this area of the world. I’ve heard people say that when they have arrived somewhere it has felt like coming home even if they’ve never been there before but I’ve never understood that until now. Being here in the Amazon just feels so right to me, and I am at peace here. It is so amazing to go for a walk and see forests of bananas, papayas, cacao, cafe, oranges, and so many other trees. Black birds with bright yellow tail feathers flying overhead, while clouds of butterflies surround us. Eating chickens we have killed ourselves, and being fed agouti when we go as guests to other houses. I am in love with Ecuador.
Our day to day lives are just one adventure after another. For example, last week we went to visit a family of Christians in Nuevo Esperanza (translates to New Hope), a town on the top of a nearby mountain. It was about a half hour drive on dirt roads until we reached a bridge the truck couldn’t pass. Time to walk!
We went little early to first bathe in the river, which for us involves soaping up, climbing up to the bridge 20 feet up, and jumping off into the water to rinse off. (So, mom, if all my friends are jumping off a bridge, I guess my answer is count me in!). After feeling cleaner than I have since I left home, we hiked half an hour up the mountain to Nuevo Esperanza. No longer feeling so clean. Then we find out the family we are visiting actually live on a farm outside of town. Okay. No problem. But this farm is another half an hour up the mountain – through a mud bog! Walking up to the house was pretty fun and I managed pretty well to keep my shoes clean by jumping from high ground to high ground. When we arrived, they fed us rice and agouti, which is a large hopping rodent. It was delicious, but the hair still attached to the skin was a little unappetizing. We ate with the family, then prayed with them before heading back down the mountain for church.
By this time it was dark – and it was time to face the mud bog again. With only 4 headlamps and 1 flashlight to get 12 people through the mud bog, it was a comedy for sure! No chance of staying clean anymore. But I can’t remember the last time we’ve laughed that much. Leaning on each other to stay upright while wading through knee deep mud, digging for lost shoes and socks, trying to balance keeping the headlights on to see where we’re going, and turning them off to avoid the bugs. Being a little bit of a klutz, I kept my team amused as I spent almost as much time on my knees or back as I did actually walking.
We finally arrived at the local church in Nuevo Esperanza, ready to lead a service, completely covered in mud. But the people were so welcoming, so excited to have us there that they didn’t care about our appearances. They were just so thankful that God had sent a group of foreigners to their small church in the jungle. After the service, we hiked back down the mountain, our group singing and laughing all the way down. Then we waited on the side of the road until the truck came to pick us up.
