I woke up at 7am (an hour later than I had been regularly waking up at). It was pouring rain. Lindsay had been up doing her devotionals and crawled back in bed to watch NCIS. Our cook Alejandro and I said “Feliz Navidad” to each other. I read the day’s entry of the devotional that the team sometimes reads together called “Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young (which we highly recommend). I did my devotional time (reading the Christmas story that my Dad usually reads to the family on Christmas Day- Luke 2:1-20). I read both the NIV and Message versions.
I also started “the Message//Remix Solo: An Uncommon Devotional” reading the first entry. It was regarding Genesis 3 (the first sin- Adam and Eve and the apple). I found it ironic to be reading about the first sin while celebrating the birth of Jesus, who was came to Earth to take away our sins.
While reading my devotional, Julio called for Dex and Greg. It turned out that two of the cows had escaped from their field. Julio, Dex, and Greg were able to track them down and bring them back to their field.
Our breakfast was rice, beans, and tortillas with cheese in them. After breakfast, Nikki, Julio, and Becca were playing cards (ERS: Egyptian Ratscrew).
I read all of the book “Radical” by David Platt while they were doing that. It is about how Christians (particularly in America) need to do more- to become more radical in following Jesus. They need to be willing to give up material things, family/friends, comfort, and safety. They need to be willing to “tak(e) Jesus at His word and sacrificing everything to declare Jesus to the world, no matter what it costs them, because they believe He is worth it.” I highly recommend it if you are looking for a good book to read.
Becca was going to take a shower but hesitated since it was so cold. She stood outside the shower door for a few minutes trying to will herself to go in. So I suggested to put some hot water in a bucket and mix it with the cold water so it would be warm. That gave her the motivation to take her bucket shower which she said “was amazing.”
We then listened to a Podcast by South Carolinian Pastor Stuart Fuller on Greg’s computer about Jesus’s birth. It was about the shepherds, Joseph’s original thought about divorcing Mary since she was pregnant and it wasn’t his child, the grossness of the manger- the feeding trough in the stable which smelled like manure. How willing are you? How far are you willing to go? Eating with the lowest of the low?”
A group of us (Greg, Becca, and Cara from Team Brady; Dex, Mary, and myself from Team Arrow along with the 15 year old Julio) decided to go down to the river to fish. We walked down the 2-3 miles near where we catch the bus to Santa Rosa. We looked for a good fishing spot.
Julio liked one area so he threw the line in but it became caught a hidden tree in the water. I suggested that he cut the line since he could not free it. He handed me the line but in the process, my water bottle in my hand fell into the river. He tried to get to it by standing on the shore but couldn’t reach it. I suggested he use the machete to bring it closer. He brought it to where it was within his reach. He was standing on some wet sand/dirt. As he was reaching, the sand/dirt fell into the water which took Julio with it. Julio was then soaked and cold. He picked up the water bottle and brought it to me. He handed it to me and I said “Muchas gracias.” He said that he was cold (in Spanish) and then said “but I love you” (in English).
We decided to move farther down the river to where Dex could see the fish swimming. The women stood by the shore with the men fishing. Greg cast the line in a few times but did not catch any fish. He was able to catch another stick which Julio climbed into the water and disconnected it using only his foot.
As we were standing there, Mary found a great stick that looked like a sword. Side note: our team has come up with a tradition of giving a broken knight to the person who says/does something that is not thinking. So we will use this sword stick (in Central America) to knight the person who now receives this. So far, three of our seven members have had it over the course of the three days that we have had this “award.”
We switched fishing holes again a little farther down the river. The men and Julio went even farther but the women decided to stay at a lookout point. While the women were standing there, I started talking about how much I liked a nearby tree so we took a picture of it. We continued talking about another tree that was in the far distance. I was saying that if I were a monkey, that was the tree that I would want to live in.
Right about then, two of us (Becca and I) saw something black moving in the nearby tree. As we continued to watch, we realized it was a monkey. We started taking pictures. We saw him jump from one tree to another. We also saw another monkey which was farther away. He was growling at us. The dogs from our farm had followed us there and were barking at the growling monkey. We continued to watch the monkeys for some time.
We decided to go back to our jungle farm. As we were walking, Julio was wishing the horses and cows “Feliz Navidad.” He then raced Greg back to the farm.
After getting back to the farm, the women on my team played the card game “King’s Corner” which I had grown up playing with my Grandparents on my Mom’s side. It was a great reminder of my loving family on Christmas!
We ate dinner which was chicken fajitas. Julio, Nikki, Greg, and Lindsay started playing ERS again after dinner while the others watched the movie “Inception.”
As they were playing, Nikki was going for some cards and her forefinger and middle finger were smashed by Julio. Because she is double-jointed, her fingers were hyper-extended in the wrong position. I found a small crayon box and we wrapped it completely in duct tape. We used that as a splint attached to those fingers with medical tape.
Because it was raining hard, we cooked our “S’mores” and “Banana Boats” over our kitchen fire instead of having a bonfire. We also had a white elephant exchange with both teams contributing. I won an newspaper article about Phil which he had autographed.
Team Arrow finished out the night by playing the card game “Continental Rum.” It has become the favorite game of most of my team members. I also helped Julio play a computer game similar to “I Spy.”
P.S. Cara Parker will probably have a video blog about our Christmas soon.
