Well, we made it back last night to the town where we
catch our speed boats today, well…just barely made it back, haha The last 2 ½
hours were a little interesting. =) To start with it was pouring! This ended up causing our
driver to make a full 180 degree turn while driving down river – and he didn’t
even notice it because of how hard it was raining. So a little while later,
Juan, who was sitting on the bow spotting for the driver (watching for logs),
waved at the driver to stop. We all kind of sat up to see what the hold up was,
yelling to Juan over the rain trying to find out what the problem was. Juan just
stood there staring intently at the river, and a few seconds later began
motioning for the driver to turn around – we had been heading back up the river!
The rain made it hard to discern which direction the river was flowing. We all
got a good chuckle out of that. Thank the Lord for Juan noting the direction of
the water despite the distraction of the rain! If he hadn’t, I’m pretty sure we
wouldn’t have made it back…because we would have run out of gas, lol.
 
Haha, so the second close call yesterday was that we started to run low
on gas halfway back to our stop (the total trip was about 7 hours). Our driver
started getting really creative, repositioning the barrels to get every ounce of
gas to the engine. I think the motor coughed to a stop 3 of 4 times, each time
in the middle of nowhere, still a good hour or so from the nearest place to get
gas. We all held our breaths each time, grinning at each other, nervously
chuckling, the boys joking around leading to a fresh round of nervous chuckles,
all the while praying silently that the Lord would once again provide as He had
so many times throughout our journey. That He would somehow multiply our gas…or
enable the motor to run on good old air. Anything to get us the rest of the way
back. And…He must have done something along those lines, because somehow each
time our driver was able to coax our motor back to life. Honestly, there’s no
way we should have made it that far. The Lord is good! 

Oh, and one more huge praise report! Throughout our whole trip, we had
Juan with us. He is the nephew of one of the elders at Hamer’s church. We were
so blessed as a team by Juan. He helped with the boat, carrying luggage,
translating, leading the kids during Kids Games, and basically whatever else was
needing to be done, he jumped up to do it. He pretty quickly became attached and
key member of our team. 
 
So after we got back to Hamer’s church and town where Juan lives, we
found out from his aunt that he had trusted Christ during the trip! Apparently,
he had lived with his uncle and aunt for the last year, estranged from his
father (hadn’t spoken to him in a year), and before the trip, he was on the
brink of being kicked out of school for his antics. His aunt told us they had
been praying for Juan, that the Lord would save him, ever since he had come to
live with them. He told his aunt as soon as he got back that he had accepted
Christ as His Savior during the trip and that he felt different. He wanted to
call his father and reconcile with him because of what God was doing in his
life! His aunt was SO encouraged! 

Needless to say, we were thrilled to hear the news! The Lord was
gracious to pull back the curtain and give us a little glimpse into what He was
doing through the trip. And all through a person, we didn’t realize the Lord was
pursuing! So cool. We all agreed – this trip was totally worth it if the only
purpose for the trip was for the Lord to work thorough our testimonies and
presence to save Juan. Who knows what else the Lord has done over the last
couple of days! 

I can’t wait to see what the Lord does with Juan – he’s such a great
kid and already such a bold leader. Saying goodbye to him this morning at the
port was bittersweet - our new brother in Christ, but he had become such an
important member of our team. We all hugged and rejoiced with him as we prepared
to leave. You could tell he had developed quite an attachment to the team. Boy,
are we going to be praying for him- that the Lord will give him friends who love 
 God and with whom he can grow in his walk with the Lord. The Lord’s got
something special in store for Juan – I can’t wait to see how the Lord uses
him!

We said a sad farewell to the village and the rest of the team (those
who had come from the neighboring tribe to work with Hamer’s discipleship
classes). I got to say “chau” to 4 or 5 of the girls who made it to the boat
before we left this morning. Sadly, I missed saying goodbye to most of the
girls. =’( Thankfully, Mayeer (I have no clue on the spelling?) was there, so I
got to say goodbye to him before I left. So many precious kidos! I’m really
going to miss them.

In a sense, I’m happy to return to the world of electricity, internet,
houses with walls and doors, washers and dryers, ovens and microwaves, privacy,
indoor plumbing, real showers and beds, and ice cold beverages. On the other
hand, I kind of hope and wonder if the Lord will open the door for me to go back
to the tribe (or a similar, remote tribe) for long-term. I definitely discovered
that I would not only like to work in a remote tribe, but I love the people and
with all of my heart want them to come to know my merciful, loving Savior!
Whenever I think of an unreached tribe in the Amazon, I will remember that group
of kids sitting in a circle in the mud, underneath a rainbow, hearing for the
first time of the story of their Creator who loved them so much that He promised
not to destroy all of mankind, but instead made a way for them to know and enjoy
His sweet presence for eternity. Now the term “unreached tribe” has faces,
names, shy smiles, and sweet giggles to go with it. 

As we all climbed back into our boat preparing to embark on our 8 or so
hour boat trip, Mayeer, one of the village boys who has been our constant shadow
since we arrived, climbed into the canoe adjacent to ours and leaned over the
edge into the boat with us, with his shy grin, as if to stowaway with us…Oh man!
Love that kid. There are about 20 little faces and smiles that have indeed
“stowed away” in my heart.

Today’s our last day here with the tribe… so sad! As I sit here in my
little pop-up tent with my flashlight handing down from the fabric top, I can’t
help but reflect on what God is teaching me here with these people.
 
Firstly, my mind constantly goes back to that moment when one of the
little girls here slipped her little brown hand into mine, interlocking her
fingers with mine. Oh boy…I was a goner from that moment on. I love these kids!
Wherever I go in the community now, I have two little hands interlaced with
mine. The remoteness and simple-ness of life here (before this trip, I would
have said “extreme-ness”) isn’t really that noticeable most of the time.
Occasionally, I’ll have a moment were I’m like, “Wow, this is so ironic! I’m 2
days from the nearest, moderately sized town, listening to the sounds of the
jungle, with a snake somewhere above my head (and thankfully so! He keeps the
rats from taking over the house at night and terrorizing us while we try to
sleep), hand washing my clothes, braving the enormous spider in the outhouse,
and all our cooking is being done over a fire with water that the boys haul up
from our swimming hole each day...” haha, granted, a little different from my
definition of “normal.” 

Overall, I’m quickly coming to the conclusion that I not only could
live in a place like this, but I think I would love (with God’s grace) to live
here, if God gave me the opportunity.