Cicadas rasp in the distance and a brilliant sunset lights up the sky but I barely notice any of it; my heart beats so loudly that it distracts me from everything else. My legs feel weak and a little wobbly. I slowly climb onto the railing, assessing the drop with wide eyes. I hesitate momentarily, fighting the vertigo. One last deep breath, and then I fling myself from the bridge.
A second of pure exhilaration later and I plunge into the lukewarm water, eyes squeezed tightly shut to protect my contacts. When I emerge, spluttering and smiling, I hear the yells around me: “That was awesome!” and “Oh my gosh, that was so cool!”
This is how I will remember my team, aptly named Team River Jumpers for this very exploit. I will always think back to that sunset moment spent with my grinning, water-logged, passionate companions around me.
But let me first explain. It was Sunday evening, our eighth day at training camp and our first day spent with our new teams. While we drove out to the nearest town, we crossed several bridges overlooking a series of finger lakes in which we had swum several nights previously. We knew what we had to do.
See, the worship team at Adventures in Missions does some of their own song-writing. One of their songs that we repeatedly sang compared God’s love to a river. The chorus, which changed a little throughout the song, went something like this:
I wanna find freedom in the river
Wanna find freedom in the river of your love
Or:
I wanna swim in the river
Wanna swim in the river of your love
And of course:
I wanna jump in the river
Wanna jump in the river of your love
This was such a beautiful and satisfying image that it stuck with all of us for the rest of the week. Seeing the bridge over what was for all intents and purposes a river seemed to us the perfect opportunity to christen ourselves before we went out to do God’s work.
I’ll have you know that we were very careful about jumping; we asked the locals about it, checked for no diving signs, and made sure the water was deep enough. And then we climbed up the bridge and hurled ourselves over the ledge.
But that’s not the end of the story. That’s not even the best part. One of our team members didn’t feel comfortable jumping at first, but after returning to camp we decided to head out again so that we could all jump together. Strangely, the second time was more terrifying for me than the first.
High on our joy at being united as a team in doing this, we proceeded to have a great conversation with a family by the shore. We told them what we were about to do for the next year and asked if we could pray for them. That simple opportunity to share God’s love was the perfect ending to our first day as a team. We discovered that together we were fearless, a truth that will definitely be applicable in the coming months.
This is the team I present to you now, Team River Jumpers. The seven of us will live and do ministry together for the next three months in El Salvador and possibly for the full nine months. I could not be happier to be with them, for they are bold, hilarious, and deeply serious about their faith. They are Clayton Manche, Ethan Pugh, Brady Bortka, Rachael Robinson, Ryann Mcdowell, and Jenna Pawlak! Please pray for all of us as we spend these last two weeks at home and prepare ourselves for the next year.
