Monday, June 17, 2013
*these are slightly edited journal entries from our time with a tribe in the Amazon (6/16-19/2013) – so that’s why they are posted after the fact and in present tense. This was my first jungle trip! Loved it! We had so many stories from the trip that I decided to post a series of blog posts from my journal, of which this is the 3rd. I hope you enjoy getting a more detailed, up-close glimpse into some of our adventures with this tribe – I know I did! Thanks for your prayers!
Today’s been so fast! We got up whenever the rooster decided to wake us up…
well, it was more like the 3rd or 4th rooster’s crow. It was sometime around
6am, I guess. I haven’t looked at a watch since the beginning of the trip, and I
rather like it!
Today was our first day of Kids’ Games, and overall I would say it was
a success! We worked really hard to bring the kids out of their shells. Bethany
& I are teaching the kids the memory verse, and Steph &Max are working
through the gospel colors over our two days working with the kids. I’m so
thankful the gospel is being shared so clearly with the kids and the adults who
are watching from the sidelines! Steph also had gospel bracelets that her church
made to hand out, so all the kids get to take home a reminder of what they
learned – awesome!
well, it was more like the 3rd or 4th rooster’s crow. It was sometime around
6am, I guess. I haven’t looked at a watch since the beginning of the trip, and I
rather like it!
Today was our first day of Kids’ Games, and overall I would say it was
a success! We worked really hard to bring the kids out of their shells. Bethany
& I are teaching the kids the memory verse, and Steph &Max are working
through the gospel colors over our two days working with the kids. I’m so
thankful the gospel is being shared so clearly with the kids and the adults who
are watching from the sidelines! Steph also had gospel bracelets that her church
made to hand out, so all the kids get to take home a reminder of what they
learned – awesome!
Excited about their bracelets!
Bethany and I teaching the memory verse
Playing a water balloon game with the kids
Tom and I had 13 kids on our verde/green team. There were 5 teams in
total, so I’m estimating that we had somewhere around 75 kids, if my math is
trustworthy. ;) It was a good number! It was also really hot, lol, so after we
finished, we all headed directly for the swimming hole.
All during that time, the girls were reminding me that we had promised
to work on our beaded jewelry again that afternoon, so around 4ish, we finally
got settled at home and broke out the beads again. There had to have been at
least 15 girls and women sitting around in a circle on our floor, with several
men and boys chillin’ off to the side visiting with the guys.
After dinner and everyone went home (it gets dark in the houses really
early!), we were invited to join Hamer’s discipleship group/meeting. There were
about 5 men and 1 woman from the tribe, our whole gringo team, and all the
believers from the nearby village. I had heard from one missionary that worship
in some tribes is noticeably lacking joy and well…worship. Wow, was I blessed by
this group though!! The group of a ½ a dozen believers from the nearby village
are obviously so excited about the Lord and seeing this tribe come to know
Christ. The worship was heartfelt and full of loud, boisterous singing and
clapping. It was pretty evident that they love to worship and love the Lord!
total, so I’m estimating that we had somewhere around 75 kids, if my math is
trustworthy. ;) It was a good number! It was also really hot, lol, so after we
finished, we all headed directly for the swimming hole.
All during that time, the girls were reminding me that we had promised
to work on our beaded jewelry again that afternoon, so around 4ish, we finally
got settled at home and broke out the beads again. There had to have been at
least 15 girls and women sitting around in a circle on our floor, with several
men and boys chillin’ off to the side visiting with the guys.
After dinner and everyone went home (it gets dark in the houses really
early!), we were invited to join Hamer’s discipleship group/meeting. There were
about 5 men and 1 woman from the tribe, our whole gringo team, and all the
believers from the nearby village. I had heard from one missionary that worship
in some tribes is noticeably lacking joy and well…worship. Wow, was I blessed by
this group though!! The group of a ½ a dozen believers from the nearby village
are obviously so excited about the Lord and seeing this tribe come to know
Christ. The worship was heartfelt and full of loud, boisterous singing and
clapping. It was pretty evident that they love to worship and love the Lord!
Meeting with the local believers and tribal discipleship group
tribal worship
Sharing my testimony
We were asked to share our testimonies a couple seconds
before the service started. Haha, I was praying the whole time that God would
give me the words He wanted the people to hear. Hopefully, He did! Worshiping the Lord in the middle of the jungle, with
the sound of the jungle in the background, in a dark room, with a mixture of
first-generation believers, with three different languages represented, seeing
everyone sing their hearts out to the Lord…definitely one of my favorite moments
from the trip. So blessed!
before the service started. Haha, I was praying the whole time that God would
give me the words He wanted the people to hear. Hopefully, He did! Worshiping the Lord in the middle of the jungle, with
the sound of the jungle in the background, in a dark room, with a mixture of
first-generation believers, with three different languages represented, seeing
everyone sing their hearts out to the Lord…definitely one of my favorite moments
from the trip. So blessed!
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