Visiting Macedonia

6 am Dad was knocking on the girls' doors, and parting the sheets serving as walls for the guys sleeping in hammocks and blow-up mattresses, saying, “time to wake up!”. The only responses were groans. Too many late nights and early mornings in a row...

All sixteen of us sat down at the two long white plastic tables looking (as well as feeling) half asleep. Breakfast was boiled eggs, which after we pulling the soft inside out of these delicious croissant-like breads, they would fit perfectly in there... kinda like a pig in a blanket, only different. Many of us have learned to really like bananas smothered in peanut butter, and amazing “Ben-Franklin” orange juice (juice made by Ben and Franklin under the expert instruction of Paul Robert) made in the blender with ice. This is a common fast, good breakfast we have quite often here.

After eating, Durley showed up, and we started walking down the street in a posse looking group of gringos, accompanied by a Peruvian, Venezuelan, and Colombian. We all were carrying boxes of tracts, calendars, Bibles, candies, and food for a day on the river. None of us were quite sure what we were going to be doing... all we knew was that we were to be meeting up with Will Chowning (a man who lives across the boarder in Brazil with his wife Lydia, son Lee, three daughters, Tana, Sarena, Fairy, her Brazilian husband Miguel and little son Miguel) and he was going to take us out on the river to visit some of the villages along the way.

Arriving at the “dock”, it was clear to see the river was too low for a boat to arrive to where we were. So, instead of taking the road up above, where the ground was flatish, and the walking relatively easy, we took the obviously more “adventurous” route; the “dry”, steeply inclined river bank, which the rain had soaked the night before. Amazingly there was a pathway, but the wet clay/mud mixture was SO slippery, it was almost better to walk on the tall, wet grass. Walking single-file, we were falling left and right. It would have made an entertaining home-video. A bunch of various aged gringos walking along the bank of a muddy river in the Amazon carrying all kinds of boxes and bags, slipping all over the path, arms flailing, belongings falling in the mud... with a road just up to the left of them, how “tonto” can you get? We got a little tired of fighting nature, and decided to let Dad and Will battle it on their own to get a couple small pecky-peckys for the rest us to ride in.

They found some, and we climbed in carefully, each making sure we sat down on the opposite side as the person in front of us, knowing if we didn't, the whole canoe would capsize. They were only about four feet wide, twenty long, and the sides only came up out of the water about six inches. Then motor was on the back, attached to a long pole with a propeller on the end, slightly resembling a weed-eater. Using this, it was easier to navigate in shallow water, pulling it out whenever needs be, keeping the propeller from hitting dead trees, or getting caught up in river weeds. Sometimes while on the river you see a whole group of Indians packed into those things, the sides only rising above the water a couple inches. If one person was to rock the boat too much, water would pour in, and they'd have to increase the bailing speed, compensating for the incident, as well continuing as a result of the leaky sides.

Once all of us were in two, we rode to the larger canoe. It was about one and a half times as long, and about six feet across. This one was also tipsy as we loaded in, but not nearly as bad as those small ones. There were benches on both sides, then a place to sit in the very front. Our boatman had higher technology than most; he had a steering wheel, and some wires that went along the side to the outboard motor screwed onto the back of the boat that swiveled every time he turned the wheel. A large portion of the boat/canoe was covered with plastic, protecting passengers from both the strong Amazon sun, as well as the torrential rains we were to experience later on.

And we were off! Nate, Anna, Matt, and I all went way up in the front. It was awesome! You could lean over, and let your hands drag in the water that was just slightly cooler than the warm morning air, and feel the mist coming up. Those behind you felt a little more than mist though, and after getting a whole side of their body soaked, they would ask to keep all arms and legs INSIDE the boat. The best feeling was to lay on your stomach across the front part of the boat, feeling the bow rise and fall with the rhythm of the waves, the wind blowing your hair all out of the braids. We had to practically shout at one another while talking because of the loud motor, and wind. Being up there, Matt replaced Nate after a while, and we had fun trying to spot pink dolphins, native to the Amazon river. They would jump out of the water, but you had to be really quick, because after surfacing, they would disappear again. One time we were confused to see a bottle traveling UP-river, only to realize that it was attached to a piece of rope, and a dolphin was pulling the string and bottle against the current. It was awesome to see those dolphins (or at least the splashes they made).

While speeding slowly upriver, we saw other pecky-peckies on the water too. Some canoes, occupied by Indians, were carved out of only one huge log, and the navigator used a paddle that had a short handle, having a cross between a heart and teardrop thin, wide end.
Many were transporting fruits and other produce to sell downriver in places like Leticia, Tabatinga and Santa Rosa. Others were letting down their fishing nets, which were held up by plastic bottles, where the dolphin had probably obtained his from one such net; raiding a fisherman's day's labor. That is one reason the natives here do not like the dolphins. They make trouble for the fishermen, eating the fish, and breaking the nets.

Every once in a while, the sides of the river would contain an opening with a little wood jungle dwelling on stilts. Surrounding them would be all kinds of fruit and jungle trees, as well as cows and goats grazing on the grass around. Chickens and dogs would be pecking the ground, or trying to get cool laying in the shade. From the house would be an obvious trail (or one that would be not so obvious, being a pathway of trampled on mud) down to the river where a canoe would be tied to a steak stuck into the mucky ground. Sometimes there would even be a little floating dock made out of balsa wood. Indian women would usually be squatting on them scrubbing clothes, while kids would go swimming in the water, making sure they stayed right by shore as not to get stuck in the strong current of the immense river.

After being on the river for about forty five minutes, we pulled up at the first village. Our boatman roped our canoe alongside of others to a very wobbly stick stuck in the mud. To get out, we had to balance on the bow, and hop out onto the steep, slippery bank, then practically crawl up the side to where it actually flattened out, using our fingers like claws to dig into the ground, while it was a bit more difficult to do so with out toes considering most were wearing flip flops, but we tried- anything as to not slip and fall into the milky brown water below!
With Will leading the bunch, we all tramped down a narrow dirt pathway, paralleling the river, underneath the tall, shady trees on both sides. Finally arriving at a jungle house/store we met some Christian acquaintances of Will's who were sitting cooling off in the shade. In a nearby tree, they had pet parrots, whose wings were clipped so they couldn't fly. We had fun holding them on our fingers, and trying to talk to them (only they didn't respond). After chatting for a few minutes, we continued on our trek into farther inland. About five minutes in, we arrived at a very well built wooden bridge that was extremely long, leading us to the village. It was raised about ten feet from the marshy ground below. Off to the left we saw a group of women squatting on rows of logs that were lanced together. They were washing clothes they had lugged all the way down to the tributary's mucky brown water. Amazingly, the town was quite organized, and clean. There was hardly trash anywhere, and there were recognizable streets (even though there was absolutely no motorized vehicles in the town). Surprisingly, there were power lines; coming from the houses, you could hear the music from radios, and the soap operas from TVs, even way out here in the middle of nowhere! Because it was the middle of the afternoon, the hottest part of the day, all sane people were taking siestas in their hammocks or sitting on their porches, legs dangling off the side while mending huge, complicated-looking fishing nets.

As we walked up, people just stared suspiciously. Others practiced what English they knew “Heylow”, “Whachur naymae?”, then shied away giggling if we did as much as look back at them. Dad organized us in groups of three, and after getting handfuls of tracts, bookmarks and candies we dispersed. Just about then school got out, and a whole flock of kids wearing blue and white uniforms surrounded us, happily accepting the candies and bookmarks. We went around to houses too, giving booklets and other reading materials to mothers watching their kids, or young people who were just lounging around. Sometimes we would start talking to one of the ladies, whose response would be a blank stare or smile, only to realized she spoke Tacuna, the native language of one of the tribes. Interestingly, not very many of the children were very talkative either. If you tried to start a conversation with them, they would usually give you a one-word answer talking so quietly it was almost unintelligible, or some would just stare up at you with their big, brown eyes. One group of kids from 2 to 6 years old I saw gathered around in a circle, and decided to see what it was all about. One little boy had a knife in his hand, another little girl had a big spoon, and they were digging a shallow hole in the soft soil. I was kind of confused until I saw the limp form of a baby chick in a little shirtless brown boy's hand. They all looked serious as the funeral proceeded. It reminded me of all the animal funerals we had back home when we were little. When I walked up, and asked what happened, they replied “it's mom stepped on it”, quickly finished, dropped it in, covered it up, and ran away to their house. One little girl about two years old started crying. I'm not quite sure if she was scared of me... or if she was sad about the chick.

Nate, Durley and I were in one group, and were sent down to the ladies we had seen earlier cleaning clothes. While walking on the path, I saw a unique plant, that slightly resembled a fern. Each “branch” had five branches off of that, with tiny leaves on each. When you would touch even one leaf, the whole string of leaves would close up like a tortilla. If you touched the main stalk, all the leaves, as well as the branches would close up. It was so awesome. We'd seen that kind of plant five years ago when we'd been here, and I've been looking for that plant since. We got a little distracted in passing out tracts, touching all those kinds of leaves, watching them respond to our touch, closing up. As we got closer to where the women were, it was really mucky. Nate and I had our flipflops all dirty, but poor Durley; she was wearing cute white and pink shoes that were perfectly coordinated with her pink and white shirt. She was making an effort to keep them clean, balancing on a piece of plywood that had been placed in the watery mud. In trying to walk carefully on it, she lost her balance, and fell in. Her shoes were now even more yucky than ours, so was her leg and pants. But she was a really good sport. This isn't quite her type of thing. Even though she lives here in Leticia, this was her second time on the river, and had only been to a village like this once before.

As we came close enough to the bank to see below, although we were still a ways away, it was evident a few of the older ladies in the group were not wearing anything on top. Nate kinda froze, and turned away, awkwardly standing back while Durley and I attempted to slide down the bank in getting to where they were. Although not ashamed, they pulled various articles of clothing out of their washtubs to put on, while others just held them up to their bodies when they realized Nathan was giving out candies. They were agile as they walked up the slippery bank we had been struggling to get down in order to get some from him. They loved the laminated texts we gave them, containing a picture and verse. We said goodbye, and they got back to washing, chatting excitedly in their native tongue one to another as we walked back to the village.

It was so hot, walking all these places in direct sunlight. Even attempting to sit in the shade of one of the trees didn't help much, considering the air was stagnant and so humid. After taking a break for a while, we trekked back to the boat. We were exhausted from getting up so early, and walking so much in the intense sun and humidity. Durley lay on the bow of the boat, Paul and I sat behind her with Martha and Matt. I fell asleep to the hum of the boat engine, rocking of the boat, and the cool wind off the water making the warm sun actually feel good. We stopped at one more village before arriving at our final destination upriver.

Macedonia. That was the furthest community we were planning on visiting before returning, making a stop in one other community, then re-visiting Santa Rosa, the second place we'd been, and having a Bible talk. Here we did the same we'd done in the other two villages. Dad met one of the pastors there, the son of a faithful Christian man and his wife who had like twelve kids and together have made an immense impact on the Indians in the tribes all around, bringing them to Christ.

While Dad was talking to him, we were just finishing the last of our tracts and saw a guy picking on a guitar. When we asked him to play us something, he handed the instrument over to the guy sitting next to him, who began to strum. The strings seemed lose or something, but he was doing an amazing job of keeping up a melody. As he sang, I realized he was singing a Christian song. That really impressed me. He didn't know we were Christians, but every single one of the songs he played were worshiping the Lord, or talked about how we as young people need to step up, and follow Him, because of all that He has done for us. It was so awesome to just be able to stand there, listening to the sound of the guitar, and Spanish songs, spending time with other Christians, we didn't even know, enjoying the Lord together. Seeing other vibrant young people, on fire for the Lord, who are not the least bit ashamed of their faith, and are ready to share it with anyone who comes along. After standing there for a while, another guy, who had a mullet came along the path, and even though we didn't know him, he shook all our hands, then went up with the group of guys listening to the one playing the guitar, and started playing himself. He played some songs in Tacuna, then translated them into Spanish for us. I translated for Lydia into English. They were beautiful. He was part of the Christian church there in town, and was teaching others in the youth group how to play the guitar too.

While standing there enjoying the songs, I looked up across to the river, and saw what appeared to be a very white Indian riding a log down the river. It looked very odd to me, and after a few minutes of trying to make this picture make sense, I realized it was Dave! He and Nate had just slipped on their swim shorts, and started swimming in the river! They even were jumping off a big boat that was just docked on the side of the river. Crazy boys. I was a little worried about them, but decided not to say anything, and they were fine.

I was sad to leave the music, and other Christians, but Dad said it was time to be heading back. We said goodbye, and re-boarded. While we were almost back to Santa Rosa, out of nowhere the sky started getting darker, and we could see the wall of rain rapidly approaching our little boat. It looked kinda scary, especially considering we were in the middle of the Amazon river, and a storm didn't sound like the funnest thing to experience at that moment. It was scary enough being on the huge boat coming to Leticia when the storm hit a few weeks ago, but being in this little canoe, that had a tiny little motor... some were beginning to get nervous. Nate was deep asleep on the front of the boat, but somehow he woke up to realize nobody was up front with him, and looking ahead he decided what we all had made up our minds about ten minutes before; we were all under the blue tarp, covered in all the rain gear we had brought. When it came upon us, the strength, and power of that rain and wind was incredible. Although most of the boat was covered, mist, and droplets soaked us who were all the way in the back; the plastic covering us didn't do much at all. Outside it was like a garden hose had been turned on, soaking everything. Will shouted above the sound of the torrential rain and wind, telling us Amazonian rainstorm horror stories, while looking worried. When Wilmer saw how much water was in the bottom of the boat, he started bailing. He wasn't going to take any chances. It was actually pretty dangerous being out there during such a downpour, with all the waves, in a boat like that, and we decided to try to make it back to Leticia instead of stopping in those villages to have Bible readings, especially when you never know how long the storm will last, and if it will get worse. It ended up that two days later, there was a river tornado, and the roof of the school in Santa Rosa, the second village we'd gone to, and were planning on returning to, was ripped off. We were thankful not to have been on the river that day.

About a half hour after it had started, the storm ended almost as quickly as it had appeared. Looking behind us, we could see the rain still pelting down in sheets on the stormy, turbulent water. Back in Leticia, the streets were hardly damp. The rain here is so crazy, it can be completely pouring in one part of a city, then another part is completely dry, and doesn't get a drop of rain all day!

Stepping off the canoe, we paid our boatman, and thanked the Lord for keeping us all safe...

Los Kilometros

“Daniela, time to get up” I rolled over, not feeling like getting up. It was 6:30, and Dad was ready to leave. Finally I jumped off the top bunk of Bethany's bunk bed.

It wasn't long before the two of us walked out the screen door, and started down the street to find a place to rent a motorcycle.

Across the street the neighbor had motos to rent, but after knocking on his door for a while we decided he'd had a late Sunday night, and probably wasn't getting up anytime soon. The next place we tried had what we were looking for. After showing his motorcycle liscence, the lady gave Dad two helmets and the key. Our “cascos” were small, black rounded helmets that look almost like baseball helmets. As usual, with ones that are rented, the chin strap didn't work, and I had to hold the thing on with the hand I wasn't using to keep me aboard the moto. Dad swung his leg over and got on. After getting it kick started, I jumped on behind him.

As we rode I thought about where we were going. The week before Dad, Ben, Nate, Wilmer, Matt, Franklin, Anna had gone in the jeep and on motorcycles passing out tracts. Eighteen kilometers out, they had arrived at a place where the owners of a ranch like place were Christians. Apparently it was a Bible seminary where Indians from the neighboring tribes could come and learn more about the Bible. The hope was that after intense studies for three months, these people could go back to their tribes, and tell others the good news, as well as spread the word about the seminary. Dad had been out there before with some of the others, and said there were three young people, two ladies and a guy, just out of Bible school themselves, who were in charge of teaching the third session of students they'd had so far. Three men, and two women from three different tribes, all speaking different languages had come to learn more about the Bible, despite the fact that they might not have been saved before arriving.

While leaving Leticia, the road was absolutely horrible, the cement used probably hadn't been patched since the road was made. We were constantly zig-zagging back and forth across the road trying to avoid the ginormous potholes. Another complication included the fact that there are usually no mirrors on the motorcycles, and others riding around you cut back and forth without warning, so you definitely have to be a defensive driver. I was glad to I wasn't the one driving. Everyone in this town rides motorcycles. Because Leticia is landlocked, and there are no roads to or from here, everything has to come in on a plane or boat. Because the motorcycles are easier to transport than cars, that's pretty much all that is imported in the way of vehicles. Unlike most places where the vast majority of drivers are men, here women drive just as much as men. It's funny sometimes to see a whole family riding one, small motorcycle. I think the most I've seen is four or five. Sometimes you see a little kid who's completely wiped out, fallen asleep between his two parents while driving. It's so cute!

After turning off the main street in Leticia we headed off for the “kilometros”, a long road that is about 28 kilometers long, containing little towns all along. It was a beautiful ride. An early morning mist covered us making us a little chilly, but it felt so wonderful to feel the wind, and droplets blowing over us. Because we were late, as we usually are, Dad had to go fast, making it that much more fun. Here too, the road was in bad shape, and Dad would have to yell “bump”, while I would put one hand on my helmet to keep it from falling off (I honestly don't understand the point of wearing a helmet, if it has no strap, and will fall off if you just tip your head to one side, let alone if YOU fall off! But I guess people just do it because “it's the law”, and not really to protect their lives... ) and the other to hold on as tight as I could. Driving on that road is almost like a video game. There are “road repairs”, which I think were forgotten about that you had to drive around, trying to make it before the motorcycle coming the other way got there first. But if you didn't it wasn't that big of a deal... one lane can fit two motorcycles. Trying to fit a vehicle and a motorcycle is a bit more complicated, but not impossible... you just have to make sure you don't mess up. There are constantly dogs crossing the road too, and you just have to hope all the little shirtless, barefoot kids playing on the side of the road stay where they are, and if they don't, you have to make quick swerves. As you get further out, the “road” turns to a pathway of two strips of cement, meant for cars or trucks to put one tire on each, but on the motorcycle, you have to try to balance on it, now just running over any debris that exists instead of trying to avoid it. On either side of us was beautiful jungle. As I took it all in, I realized that THIS must be where landscapers get their ideas. Beautiful palm trees, all different hights clumped together, little ponds with bulrushes all around, gorgeous flowers, butterflies of of all different bright colors fluttering all around, parrots flying overhead, big black birds with long yellow tails cawing at us... and it was all natural! The houses were all made of wood planks, and were perched up on stilts in case of flooding during the rainy months, with a ladder to get up inside. If the door was open, you could usually see hammocks where the families would sleep. Some had tin roofs, while others' still consisted of the braided palmfrawns the Indians have used for years. In the yards are various types of jungle fruit trees, including maracuya, lulu, as well as more known fruits such as bananas, pineapple and mango. There was usually a clothes line up containing the family's apparel all hung up that had been washed in one of the Amazon tributaries nearby, to which the women have to carry all the clothes, and back.

After being on the road for a good half hour to forty-five minutes, Dad slowed down, and we bumped over a small bridge made of sticks layed tightly together, that allowed us to go over the small stream on the side of the road. We had arrived at Kilometer 18. In front of us was a building that reminded me a little bit of longhouses I'd heard about in elementary school, exept this had a tin roof. To the left was a large covered area made of wooden poles, and a palmfrawn roof, where hammocks were hung up, as well as tables and chairs made out of logs, where it looked like the instructors and students would take their breaks. Between that, and the longhouse, there was a small soccerfield, which upon seeing it, remembered what the guys had said about playing when they had come. The students were all really good, and they said one girl was better than any of the guys. Past the soccer field they had an area fenced in where they had chickens. Behind that was a water tank.

We drove up to a little cement patch in front of the door where we parked the moto, and walked in with our helmets. It took a couple seconds to get used to the darkness of the room, but when we did, we saw the five Bible students sitting at a wooden table in plastic chairs, their Bibles, and books opened up in front of them. The instructor, a tall black lady named Luz, was talking, but stopped when we arrived. The other lady I'd heard about before coming, Tita, appeared soon after, and gave us towels to wipe off all the rain. Dad had arranged before coming that he would talk for a while with the students, so I went with the two ladies outside for a prayer meeting. I think the place we went to was a “prayer hut”. It reminded me of something you would see in Africa, but is also common down here. There were sticks stuck into the ground in a circle, all spaced about three inches apart, making a wall, the roof was made out of the same braided palm frawns that the natives used for their houses. It was neat to look up, and see how much work was put into building it, and how beautiful it looked. I was amazed at how, even though it was raining, NO moisture came in through the roof at all. We all sat down on pieces of logs set upright. A little after getting there, Aldo, the guy there from Chile, the third person working there arrived, and we started into prayer. It was so neat to hear these young people, so on fire for the Lord, praying for these Indians who are just about at the end of their instruction, and are almost at the point of returning to their tribes. It made me cry. I wish I could be that dedicated, and that so many other young people could see this, and appreciate the Lord, and want to do His will like these people, and have such a strong care for peoples' souls like they do.

Once finished praying, Luz read a Psalm, and we talked about it a little before going back into the house. We came in through a side door into the girls' room. Inside were about four wooden bunk beds with mosquito nets covering them. On one end of the room was the bathrooms and showers. When coming back into the big room I realized that the longhouse was divided in three parts. Cut in half longways was the area where the students studied and ate, with a little part cut out for the kitchen, then the other half was cut in two; one area for the guys, and the other for the girls.

As I talked with Tita (whose real name I found was Bellanira), she made coffee. It was interesting the way in which she did it; she placed a metal pitcher full of water on the burner, then once it was boiling, she placed a strainer that looked like a mini butterfly net, full of coffee grounds into the pitcher, dipping it in and out of the water, and taking a spoon, every couple seconds and seeing if the liquid was dark enough. While getting the bread ready, and pouring the coffee into cups, she told me about how it happened that she was here. For two or three years she went to Bible school, where they all had to wake up at the latest 5 every morning, and had classes 'till nine at night! There they had all kinds of Bible, culture, music, and other kinds of classes. They also had missions to different tribes. She spent a total of two years, I think it was, in Amazon tribes. There she and two or three others would live like the Indians, and try to learn the language. In her tribe, she was only with two other girls she knew, who were there for six months segments, where between those times, they saw none of the outside world. Anyways, she just finished missionary school, and was stationed here in Leticia three months ago. Of the students, two are from the tribe she was working with. Luz and Aldo were working with other tribes, but were also from the same missionary school as Tita.

When we were done preparing the snack, we went out to serve it to the students and Dad, but he was already outside taking the Indians on motorcycle rides up and down the road in front of the seminary school. The last time he was there, Dad asked them if they knew how to drive a motorcycle, and after replying no, he asked if they'd ever ridden one, and was surprised to their response that they had never even been on one! Being Dad, he had to give them a chance to ride; some he even let drive. Although he did have to explain that you kind of have to keep your eyes on the road and not on the group of your friends watching you, after an instance where he had to grab a hold of the handlebars when one of them was driving.

After everyone had a ride, Dad got off beaming just as much as those experiencing a motorcycle for the second time in their lives. Looking at them, you couldn't help but smiling too. We drank the coffee and bread, then had to leave. Dad let me drive! Because the motorcycle was “semi-automatic”, like the 50 we have at home, and you can change gears without having to use a clutch, it was easy. I was so sad to leave those people. I loved being there. They were awesome.

The next week on Wednesday they invited us back for “deportes”; once a week they had a break from 3:30 to 5:30 where they played sports. We waited for dad 'till 4 at the house, then upon calling him, he said for us to just go ahead on the motos, (We had three rented, because the boys, Dave, Ben and Nate, had gone out earlier that day, riding down the kilometer road, then went swimming halfway through. They all got really burned, but it sounded like they had a lot of fun) and he'd come as soon as he could. So I got on the back of Nate's, Ben took Matt, and Dave took Durley (a really awesome Christian girl who comes over a lot to the Roberts with her husband Danny). The other girls stayed home, went shopping, and cooked.

We went back down zipping past the kilometers. Because we were really late, the boys had to drive really fast. It COULDN'T have possibly been the fact that they love speeding along that road ;D. I think Durley might have been a bit concerned about the speed at which we were going, but she didn't complain. Nate and I were in front most of the time. He would go really fast, then slow down waiting for the others, then as soon as they had almost caught up, he'd take off again. My helmet didn't have the strap again, so I had to keep on holding it on my head. It was so much fun. Just as we we were approaching, the sun was setting, and the sky was every shade of yellow and orange. It was absolutely gorgeous. Looking up, you could just see the silhouettes of the big jungle trees against it. Parrots and other birds were making all kinds of noise finding their perches for the night. Somewhere there were amazing smelling flowers too. Unlike the last time we'd been there, this time the air was the perfect temperature, and the wind felt wonderful.

When we pulled in, everyone was playing volleyball on a court that was crossways on the soccer field. They were hitting a hard, partially flat ball over a sagging net strung between two poles stuck in the powdery sand. Although they played sloppily, they kept the ball off the ground! Two of the guys were wearing gardening gloves, of which I never quite figured out what they were for. One of the Indians was wearing a headband made out of bright green braided palmfrawns. They greeted us with warm smiles, even though they were disappointed we were so late, and had been waiting since 3:30, and it was already 4:30. We watched for a while, then came in once one of the teams lost. Ben, two of the students, and I were on one team, while Nate, Dave, Aldo, and the girl who plays soccer extremely well were on the other. I think the other team could have whipped us worse, but did have some mercy; they didn't spike on us over the 6 foot net TOO much... It was a lot of fun. It was interesting how they kept track of points; instead of making four lines in a row, then crossing it off to make groups of five, like we do in the U.S., they draw a little box in the sand, each side being a point, then one goes through the middle making a group of five.


Then we played soccer with a REALLY flat plastic ball, but it was nice 'cause most of us were barefoot. That was almost as fun as the volleyball. I got to see the one girl play, and yeah was she good! The way she could move her feet was amazing.

About that time, Ben and Dave had to go back to Leticia to return one of the motorcycles to where we rented it. They left a little after five thirty to get back by six. They were going to bring back Dad to take us home. Later that night we found out that Ben's tire popped, and he had to walk it home, and Dave had to leave him, because he had to get back to the rental place before it closed.

Back at Kilometer 18 we were all hot and sweaty from playing, when they invited us to go swimming in a nearby lake. We changed into our swimsuits, and started down the road. It was practically dark as we arrived. It was more of a swamp than a lake; there was tall grass and palm trees surrounding the milky brown, calm water. We slipped off our flip-flops, and left our stuff on the bank, then jumped in. The cool water felt amazing. Although we could easily touch the ground, we preferred to tread water, be cause on the bottom was mooshy gooshy mud that was just about the consistency of dog pooh, mixed with grass and other decomposed things... we tried to float, or make it to the log in the middle of the pond if we got tired of swimming. Durley was a little bit paranoid in going in the lake. She was afraid of the huge boa constrictors that can swallow humans whole, especially knowing they are here in the jungle, or other scary animals around. It is especially disturbing when you can't see your hand more than six inches under the water. You have no idea what could be down there. Aldo and Nate especially enjoyed reminding her of such creatures every few minutes to which she would panic, and they would have to reassure her that they had never seen one there before. This anaconda (not boa... thank you Seth) is one we saw in the local zoo, found around here, and is only six years old....

It was dark by the time we climbed out of the lake, and slipped under the barbed wire to get out. Although we were all wet, and it was night time, the air was so warm, we didn't feel a bit chilly. Back at the longhouse, we changed into our dry clothes, then Matt and Nate played memory, while Tita made coffee, the students worked on their homework, Aldo played Christian songs on his guitar, which Durley knew, and I listened to them, while watching the boys playing their game.

It was past seven by this time, and Dad still hadn't shown up. We only had one motorcycle, and had four people who needed to get back. We didn't have Dad's phone number or even a phone to call him on. Nate wanted to get back home, and decided to take Matt with him. We were worried about them, because being dark, driving on that road is really dangerous! Durley and I talked with Tita for about ten minutes after Nate left, when we heard the jeep pull in. It was Dad and Wellington (a Christian guy we'd met on the three day boat coming from Iquitos to here in Leticia). They apologized for being so late, then we said goodbye to everyone there, and left together.

Dad let me drive the jeep. It was crazy. The steering wheel is a little messed up; you have to turn it all the way from one side to the other to make it turn, then when it starts turning, you have to whip the wheel all the way back to the other side. You have to do it slowly, but quickly at the same time. It's pretty complicated. Then while whipping this steering wheel back and forth, you have to be putting the clutch in, changing gears, then letting up on the clutch not too quickly, but not too terribly slowly. Then, trying to do all this while trying to find the little “stick thing” on the floor as my dad called it, to take off my brights as a big truck flashed their lights at me, as it came barreling down the road at me, on this tiny skinny two-lane road. And the more nervous I get, the faster I turn the steering wheel, meaning once I turn it fast one way, then I have to swing it even faster the other way, over correcting, making me swerve all over the road. I probably looked drunk. Then, after this, we're passing a little town, and I see a bunch of little kids sitting on a curb, and when I look more closely, one of them is LYING in the MIDDLE of MY side of the ROAD!! I was like “oh my goodness!”, and swerved into the other lane. Was he dead, or hurt, what happened? Just as I was about to pass them, he jumped up and ran out of the road. They were just playing a game, and had probably dared that poor kid! It was kinda scary. I now have more respect for Dad, Paul, and Ben who drive the jeep all the time. I will no longer think “wow, this is kind of jerky” when they´re driving. I now understand.

We got in just in time for a wonderful dinner of dutch babies with peanut butter and maple syrup that the girls had cooked up for us. Ben and Dave had gotten back home safely even after all that had happened with the flat tire.

Another time we went out to the kilometers, we were going to have a picnic lunch out at a lake we'd heard of. Dad, Nate and Dave were on the motorcycles having Anna, Cam and Bethany on the backs. Ben got to drive the jeep (of which he did an awesome job, keeping the thing on the road, and was as smooth as was possible with changing gears) with Mom and I sharing the front seat, Lydia, Franklin, Wilmer and Matt sitting on the benches in the back. The whole ride we had to grab onto the sides, seats, or others around us to keep from being bounced all over the place. Those on the motorcycles looked like they were having a lot of fun! Nate's helmet was the one that was loose this time, and Cam had to keep on re-adjusting it on his head.

We passed some of the same houses, but this time we didn't go as far as the Bible school. Because the motorcycles were going way faster than us, as we pulled around a corner, we saw Dad motioning for us to turn into a driveway. The little bridge, similar to that of the one pulling into the Bible seminary was just barely wide enough for the jeep. Ben did an amazing job backing up, and pulling forward with that crazy steering wheel to make the turn into the place. I was so afraid we were going to end up in the ditch. As soon as we got past the gate we saw a beautiful lake with palmfrawn huts, tall palms and other types of trees all around. There was a deck with plastic lawn chairs, and tables. It was beautiful! We parked the jeep, and the boys put the motos in a row. Before unloading, we looked around for the owner of the place to ask if it was okay if we swam, but after searching, the only thing we found out from the Brazilian, Portuguese-speaking co-intruders was that the owners weren't there, but that it was probably fine for us to be there and swim also. Some changed immediately into bathing suits, while Dad hopped on one motorcycle, while Nate and I got on another to see if we were in the right place. It ended up it was, so we pulled out the peanut butter and guayava jelly sandwiches, along with the coke and guaraná soda. We sat on the white lawn chairs, ate, talked, and looked over the lake. Once we were done, we jumped into the water. It felt so good, 'specially when it's always SO hot and humid here. Here too, you had to be careful not to touch the bottom because of the slimy mud that was down there. The water was pretty mucky and brown too, but at least it was cool! Nate and Cam had a way over to the other side of the lake where they found a paddle boat, and paddled back over to where we were, and let the rest of us have fun on it too. The Portuguese kids played on it along with Nate and Matt. They would dive off it, and make big splashes. also An inflatable raft was also found, on which they had fun going all around the lake in. Mom and Dad got talking to a girl and her cousin, and got a short Portuguese lesson. Mom was telling them all about her sister-in-law from Brazil, and how she had just had a baby named Larissa that is going to be fluent in both English and Portuguese. She also said she wanted to be able to talk to her in Portuguese by the time we got back :D.
After getting tired out of swimming, Lydia and I sat on the deck, and listened to music until Dad said it was time to go. Ben got back in the drivers seat of the jeep, while this time I got to ride with Nate, Lydia rode with Dave, and Matt was with Dad. The sun was just going down, and we got to experience another amazing sunset on the motorcycles.

Paul knew a Christian guy who lived out in the Kilometers who Dad had visited the last time he was out there. He decided to do so again. After driving way off the main road, we pulled up in the jeep and all three motorcycles. A little shirtless girl peeked out of the doorway when we arrived. She ran to go get her dad. He was somewhere in his late fifties or early sixties while her mom is in her twenties. The man came out and talked with us, telling us about his brother, who he hadn't seen in five years had a serious heart-attack and was in a coma. He was pretty shook up about it, and appriciated the fact that we prayed with him. Before leaving we sang some songs we had memorized in Spanish. It was late, and getting dark, so we said goodbye, and jumped on the motorcycles and jeep. Bethany, Wilmer and I stood on the back of the bumper of the jeep on the way back. It was awesome. Ben was driving fast, and the wind was warm on our faces. By this time it was dark, and you could see the green fluorescent lights of fireflies blinking in the grass, and trees all around.

Jungle Adventures

a kid´s camp in quito, one quick day in lima, mountain towns near huanuco where we slept on sheep´s skin and used the privacy of a wall for our bathroom, a lovely conference, then a bus trip back to lima, a flight to iquitos and we´re ready to start with ¨recapping¨ our time on and near the amazon.

this is tuesday morning september 2nd--we were supposed to make it out of iquitos with themorning boat right after we arrived but that didn´t seem to be the Lord´s planning so webrought all of our stuff to a very nice hostal where we each got our own bed and a room with a private bathroom in it. we spent the rest of that day passing out tracts, sleeping, checking up onwhen we could get the next boat out to leticia, eating, and having a meeting. the next morninglydia and i woke up at 11:00 (much to our surprise) and grabbed some breakfast in the marketthen quickly packed all of our stuff up to hop on a 2 day boat to leticia. daniela, lydia, wilmer, anna, and i ¨saved¨our spots in the hamocks, although it didn´t seem to help one bit later on. meantime dave, franklin, lydia, ben, nathan, and daniel bought motorcycles and ate food. in the evening daniel took us out to grab one last ¨good¨dinner before being on the river for 2 days. then an hour and a half later than the time that we were supposed to leave (welcome to SA time!) we started our trip down river.

after getting ¨settled¨ if you can get settled with literally 3 people sharing your personal spacewe had a Bible reading with a young boy who seemed quite interested in the Word of God. afterthe reading we sat out on the deck for a while and watched the dark night slip by with the slapslap of the water hitting the side of the boat. finally after a long after noon of sitting in the hot wewere able to take advantage of the cooler weather and set to the task of finding a place to sleep. franklin had to sleep on the nice steel floor, anna and danna slept in the cabin (although they wanted to sleep in the hamocks), and most everyone else slept in hamocks. lydia and i had literally 6 people piled above, below, beside, diagonally, you name it around us. guess the south american men just really wanted to be close to the gringas. sleep did come though ,which was very surprising to me.

be this is now Thursday, september 4th and the morning on the amazon was very beautiful andthen the day turned HOT. we passed the day reading, writing, trying not to bump into too manysouth americans (although the task was next to impossible), playing games, sitting on the roof ofthe boat and getting laughed at by a dozen or so different people, and fighting...which seemed tothe most intereting activity for it took place the most often. :) in the evening we had a reallygood dinner (the food there was actually quite good). then, after another reading we went to bed. this time lydia and i got the cabin and the other sleeping arrangements for everyone else staying the same with exception to dave: he decieded to sleep on the roof of the boat if i´m not mistaken.

¨ Friday, the 5th happened just about the same as the previous day but had a little more suntanning or buring involved and also jumping off the railing (for nathan and dave). daniel met and talked to many south american people and planted a seed in many people´s hearts that we can pray the Lord will allow the increase. we were told we would arrive in leticia at 10:00 in the morning. we arrived at 6:00 in the evening in santa rose (just across the river from leticia). south american time agian for you. when we got off the boat and i was very happy to be on GROUND again. everyone got their passport business taken care of in santa rosa and then dave went down river with daniel to try to re-sell the motorcycles because the customs man was not letting them take them off the boat. daniel gives us instructions to meet paul at either the fruit market or the floating taxi dock. this then started an adventure including trudging through mud with our luggage (a backpack and duffle bag) plus daniel and dave´s for 1-2 a mile , franklin, nathan and i taking a few small backpacks up the road a bit to see if we could spot paul and get him topic of the others, not finding him, talking to several policemen for help, sending franklin back to tell the others that we´ll get them picked up soon, then nathan and i getting a ride to paul and martha´s house in a police car (what can i say, they´re famous here), and then finally getting a hold of paul to let him know where the other straglers were left behind. cheese sandwitches, carrot sticks, cucumbers, chocolate chip cookies, and juice has never tasted so good in my life! to be back with american food once again, we all were smiling and ¨ahhing¨like no other. their house was the best feeling we´ve all had in a long time. even nathan said after sitting down at the table ¨i think i´m going to cry¨.

the next day we had a late breakfast, got a grand tour of leticia , and enjoyed another amazinglunch. the rest of the day was filled with just relaxing and catching our breath from the trip. inthe evening we had a meeting on Acts 16. after the meeting everyone started to help with dinner.

the following days were not too busy because daniel had to go back to iquitos to return some bikes he and the boys had bought but the customs wouldn´t let them into leticia. so most of the time we wer just relaxing, at times cleaning, and eating. lydia and i got to teach and met some very interesting friends, lee and tanna chowning. the most significant thing about the day was that we were able to stand on the border of columbia and brazil--being in two places at once really isn´t all that bad! :) daniel got back the next day and started to plan some different outings with paul.

thursday the 10th finally arrived--the day we had all been waiting for: aunt cheryl joined us again in leticia. the whole brimlow family went to pick her up and i must say it was VERY good to see her again! the next day emily amsler switched her places with the united states as she went back home from visiting here in leticia.

Sunday was the first sunday with a sunday school and breaking of bread that i actually understood. it was nice to be able to pray and understand what you were saying ¨amen¨ to. the sunday school was a good challenge, specially for the younger generation coming from judges 17. we discoverd that sampson´s great great or maybe just great grandpa could´ve known joshua...and yet look at where israel was during his time. and here the challenge was presented by paul and dan to not let the ¨spiritual bar¨ fall from generation to generation as it had for sampson. after a very nice breaking of bread we at a delicious lunch with the Chowning family (a family that lives here and helps paul translate and teach). during the after noon the young people (which was actually a nice group: lee, sarina, tanna, and fairy chowning along with the 8 others from our group) played authors, ¨agents¨, then psychaiatrist. after the chownings left we went into town for some south american icecream. as we walked back to the house us girls (lydia, danna, bethany, anna, and i) started talking about making a fancy dinner for paul and martha and dan and cheryl. when we got back to the house we went to the internet and did some research and came up with a hawaiin theme and threw around ideas such as fruit salad, shish cabbobs, crepes, and then something for dessert. in the eveing we had a question answer meeting with the question ¨why do we keep sinning after we get saved¨ the answer that i most enjoyed was ïf things were perfect down here we wouldn´t want to go or look forward to heaven.¨ that answer pretty well wrapped up the question in my mind although we spent another 45 minutes discussing the subject...it was a nice meeting though. after meeting we made pop corn (one batch of kettle corn....SOOO good!!) and cut up cucumbers and watermelon for an evening snack. daniella did the dishes as she often does and everyone else watched her and cheered. just kidding...everyone is very quit to jump in and hlep out here (with exception to nathan who we have to bribe with something containing sugar to get him to work). after everything was finished up everyone was quick to get to bed for an early start the next day, we were all going to go down the river to benjamin constante.

everyone sleepy eyed and groggy rolled out of bed at 5:00--all 15 of us and after a quick reading we went to the river and met tanna and her father will. we were going to go down river with them to benjamin. well, will was not expecting such a large group so after an hour of standing around waiting for our boat man and for life vests and a very unhappy will comlaining about how he was supposed to be there in 30 minutes when it takes about 2 hours we were told that 5 of us had to turn back. dave, nathan, lydia, bethan, and i were very quick to offer. so we sent franklin, ben, wilmer, daniela, and unlce dan down the river for th rest of the day. meanwhile back in leticia we all spent a pretty lazy day, eating, sleeping more (which some of us did right after we got back), checking the internet, and doing some individual studying and reading.

the next day, tuesday the 16th was not much more of a ¨sleep in.¨ we had to get up at 6:00 thismorning. but the day it brought was MOST rewarding! we got to take a boat down the amazonfor the whole day and go to 3 jungle villages and pass out the word of God in form of tracts andbook marks. bethany gave me a good book to read on the boat and it was a very fun ride. thefirst town was fun but the second town we went to was SO awesome! there were 4 differentgroups, all with walkie talkies and we got to tramp through alot of jungle scenery. after gettinginto one of the villages my group passed out tracts and bookmarks and we even got invitied to gointo a house and have a little sit down chat. dave and nathan took a swim and after coming out ofthe amazon were probably more dirty than when they went in. the next stop aunt cheryl, bethany, and i took a nap on the boat which was heavenly and i woke up to the sound of children calling out to daniel and nathan who were throwing them candy. the kids would very excititedly run back and forth and up and down to beat the next kid next to them to the piece of candy. it made me realize how much we must be leaving an impression with them and made me pray that the Lord would be able to use our time here to help do a work in their hearts. we then turned around from this village to go back to a village we had had stopped at to have a meeting. the fact that we had a huge amazon rain storm changed our plans and wet and cold we all descided to got straight back to leticia. after a good dinner we all went to bed, very tired but all very happy.

the next day i was very sick and so i didn´t do anything all day except lie in bed, drink tea, readand occasionally walk around. near the end of the day i felt very ¨emptied of self¨ as daniel likesto call it. the rest of the gang, however (with exception to martha, cheryl, lydia and daniela) went to the kilometers passing out some tracts along the road as they walked from house to house. they ended at a Bible school where kids right from the jungle come and learn about the Bible. appearantly the gringos tried to play them soccer and got schooled...by just 3 guys and 1 girl. they then came back and had dinner. the girls and i talked in lydia and my room about some more details on the fancy dinner/when we could do it. it was decided that we would do it friday and therefore needed to tell the dads so nothing would be planned for friday evening.

thursday, the 18th everyone went to the orphanage for about 3 hours and talked to the kids. bethany and i stayed in leticia and did some cleaning up around the house. later in the after noon when everyone got back we went into town and helped paul teach at a fancy hotel called the yurupary. paul and dan were both informed of our plans for doing a surprise fancy dinner for the couples and after the hotel paul dropped us off in town to do some shopping for the decorations. we arrived back at the house, ate dinner and then had an evening meeting. paul informed us that he was going out early friday morning to buy stuff for breakfast so we could join him if we wanted. we then went to the internet in the eveing where all the boys were informed of the plans and that we would need alot of ¨human man-power the next day.¨ knowing that we were going to have an early start and a long day the next day we all tried to get to bed early... 11:00 sharp. :)

friday....a big day! the girls got up and we grabbed our shopping list. after 2 supermarkets, andgoing to the fruit market we had the back of the jeep full of food. paul remarked with a bit of a chuckle ¨i have never been shopping for this long this early in the morning...you women are remarkable.¨ we had bought food to make fruit salad, lemonaid with frozen raspberries, tunna salad, crepes (chicken, beef, and ham), white sauses (4 different kinds, white, cheese, sour cream, and onion), and cheesecake. when we got back to the house we smuggled all the ¨wastable¨items into our room and then paul very helpfully took martha out of the kitchen to wake everyone up for breakfast. we then smuggled the rest of the items into the refrigerator. the morning started with breakfast and a Bible time as it always does. then the rest of the day consisted of alot of prepping, cutting up meet, and cooking various things that could be stored in the fridge that didn´t need to be fresh. throughout the morning and afternoon lydia made tuna salad and our own invention of cheese cake pudding: cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice, and uncooked crackers for crust. it was made into individual bowls so there wouldn´t be alot of mess serving it up. danna, bethany, and anna worked on the decorations which was to make flowers out of tissue paper to drape from the windows. nathan did his part in the dinner by setting up the lemon squeezer for us. then matt squeezed the few lemons that we had. we realized that we didn´t have enough of a few things so ben and dave went and did some shopping for us. they did a surprisingly good job at getting everything we needed...who says that guys can´t shop? i cut up chicken, beef, red and green peppers, and onions along with help from wilmer and durle (a girlfrom leticia, and a good friend of the robert´s and now of all of us!). at 2:30 everyone minus ben, bethany, anna, wilmer, matt, and durle went to the orphanage. the ladies were asked to leave during that time as well so they made good use of the internet café. matt sqeezed the rest of the lemons and made lemon juice. anna and bethany worked on stringing the flowers to a string and setting up the side table and other decorations for the dinner. i showed durle how to make crepes by pouring in a certain amount of batter, rotating the pan, and then flipping the crepe. she did her first one and was SO excited it was adorable!! she jumped around in a circle with her spatula waving above her head. then ben made the white sauces... i must say having him ask different questions from the recipe did make me laugh, but he did a great job. the cheese sauces were SO good. wilmer fried the green and red peppers in a sauce pan. and i cooked the chicken and beef, again, in a sauce pan. the moms walked in and the other people were not there... bethany was very nice to inform them that they had to be prisioners to their rooms until we called them back out. when daniella, lydia, dave, daniel, franklin, and the rest of the gang returned from the jail at 5:30 the house went into a hu-bub of excitement. dave and ben were put in charge of cutting up the pineapple, watermelon, papaya, strawberries, and peaches for the fruit salad. lydia went to work on her dessert...she was going to make some kind of pumpkin bread to go along with the cheesecake pudding. this task became a little difficult when she realized she didn´t have any of the 3 spices that normally go in the cake, so she improvised...the cake was still as good as ever! nathan, matt, anna, and bethany went to pick hybiscuss flowers from the median of a nearby street. daniela took over doing the ladies´ hair. i started blending the lemonaid and frozen raspberries and straining the juice. wilmer and durle watched the things on the stove-top. then bethany came and asked me to make the center peice for the table. the decorations that they had made were GREAT! they had strung up the flowers on the door way, set up the side table with a plant and 3 candles with a lace table cloth on it (concieling the cd player for their candle-light¨music), and then set up the candles on the table. i finished making the center piece by making a wreathe of greenery and then stuffing hybiscuss into it. the final product for the table was 7 white candles, 3 on each side of a tall candle (also the candle with the greenery/flowers) with each candle shorter than the previous, 1 green candle for each corner of the table, silver sparkles sprinkled down the center of the table around the candles, finished with a colorful menú card placed on a white napkin. i must give credit to a very beautiful idea that anna gave: to wrap the tallest, center candle with silver thread...which tied the silver sparkles right into the color theme of the evening. that was the encouraging/fun thing about the evening...there were some that didn´t think it could happen, and it was alot of work but everyone worked together and did their part SO well and helped pull off serving the food and making the place beautiful. getting back...the couple´s room was separated from the excitementof the dining room and kitchen by a lace curtan. nathan lit the candles and the men then went into get their beautiful wives (daniela did a GREAT job in their hair). when they came out we had to take alot of pictures of course then i intoduced the waiters: wilmer for dan, ben for martha, dave for cheryl, and matt for paul. the four waiters was to make sure that they all got thier food at the same time--no one was to wait longer than another. they were also informed that they were to check off what kind of crepe they wanted with what kind of sauce. then we all left and the dinner began. it started with the drinks and fruit, next was the tuna salad with melted cheese and parsly (courtesy of lydia...helping to make a very gormet look), and cucumbers. during the time of them serving the fruit we got their cards back with what they wanted on their crepes and after i flopped a crepe terribly (although it tasted good...it looked aweful) daniela was able to take over. she had just the right touch so i prepped 3 chicken crepes and 1 beef crepe and she cooked them. when they were done being fried, we smoothered them in the sour cream sauce that they had all requested. then the waiters brought them out. finally dessert was served with the help from bethany who decorated the cheesecake pudding with raspberries. lydia prepared a tray of her bread and the dinner was complete. after everyone recieved a crepe and food of their own we went and heard a very heart felt thanks from the parents. then we all sang ¨He brought me to His banquetting table¨and ¨emanuel´s land.¨ the kitchen was a MESS and after a lot of prepping/working in the kitchen the dishes were not looking too inviting. we was very happy when dave told us not to worry about the kitchen that he would take care of the dishes. and he and franklin did just that. it was fun to talk to all the girls after all the clean up had been done and just talk about the ¨miraculousness¨that the meal actually had worked out. it was alot of fun for all of us! after the big day when i laid down again i don´t think the bed has ever felt so good.
saturday was a fun day as well! we all had a late breakfast then after sweeping, dishes, and washing down the chairs we rented motorcycles and road into the kilometers. daniel took anna, dave took bethany, and nate took me. the rest of the people drove in the jeep. we stopped at a beautiful pond and since it was one of the warmest days ever we were all ready to jump in. some did jump into the pond just to get cool before we enjoyed a good pack lunch that martha had prepared for us. nathan and i swam across the pond and borrowed a paddle boat while others swam and lydia and franklin road motorcycles around a big soccer field adjoining the lake. then later everyone jumped in to go swimming and we enjoyed a fun time of just relaxing, swimming, and eating. after we had spent enought time at the pond and after dave and ben got back with the motorcycles we went to visit some other people further up the kilometers. then we returned for another awesome meal made with some of the left overs from Friday night´s meal. after a nice meeting with some other visitors we went to bed.

sunday the 21st we had breakfast, sunday school, breaking of bread, and then went to eat lunch at the chowning´s house. while there we had fun talking at watched lee do a puppet show. i think we should buy some puppets for nathan for when he gets bored since he seemed to be the one that enjoyed them the most out of all of us. :) we then returned to the robert´s where everyone took a nap or read and i came and spent the rest of my afternoon here at the internet. i just got paged: it´s time for dinner and meeting´s starting in a half hour.

thanks for all the prayers. God is working through all of us...but most importantly i see Him doing a beautiful work IN all of us. perhaps today we will be united with Him forever. until that day comes we must all continue on for His honor and glory.

-camrianne

Ben´s pics

Just a reminder, Ben is still posting pictures on his picasa! http://picasaweb.google.com/brimlow.benjamin