Mission Trip to the Jungle: May 18-27, 2016

(We've put several pictures on this blog post, for many more please click the link at the bottom of the page.)

The team!

What a great experience we had on this trip to the jungle! Several months ago we let it be known to the other OMS Ecuador missionaries that we would like to be able to get out of the Guesthouse, when possible, and help any of them with the ministry they are involved with.  Danny and Julie Beasley, missionaries in Loja, took us up on the offer and said we could help with a mission team that would be serving in the jungle with them.  Danny and Julie regularly visit these churches to preach, teach, and encourage.  This mission team is from the church where they were previously on staff in Illinois. There were 9 people total on the team.

The "real" trip didn't start until Saturday, May 21, but we wanted to be in Loja a couple days before that and spend time with Danny and Julie.  On Wednesday, May 18, we flew from Quito to Catamayo, about an hour flight.  Danny picked us up and took us to their apartment in Loja, about an hour drive from the airport.

Arrival at Catamayo airport.

There are no international arrivals in the Catamayo (Loja) airport, so the team flew into Quito first.  Danny flew from Loja to Quito on Friday afternoon to meet them.  They arrived late on Friday and had an early flight Saturday morning.  They spent a few hours at a nearby hostel between flights.

On Saturday morning they arrived in Loja - Danny had hired a driver, named Leodon, and he picked them up in his van. The 9 of us (10 including the driver) had breakfast together before heading to Gualaquiza.  We had two vehicles for this trip: the Beasley's SUV and Leodon's van.



On the way, we stopped for some pictures in front of this waterfall:

We arrived in Gualaquiza in the afternoon and checked in to the hostel.  We stayed each night at the hostel, it was our "home base".

Each morning we had breakfast at the restaurant next to the hostel, and we had supper there each night, too.  After dinner each night, we had some sharing time to talk about our personal experience from that day.  We talked about things that impacted us positively and negatively, things that were difficult, and things that were fulfilling.

The people group in this area are called "Shuar".  They are an indigenous group of Ecuador.  They are the ones that are known for head-shrinking, though that has not been a practice of the Shuar for many, many years. The communities we visited are very interested and accepting of the Gospel, and they want to learn about the Bible.  We went to several different Shuar communities around Gualaquiza, they are too small to find on the map so I couldn't pin-point each one.

At each community we handed out dresses for the girls.  There is a wonderful ministry called "Let's Dress the Girls"; the team from the states brought down 100 dresses that we were able to give away.  The dresses are called pillowcase dresses, and each dress comes with a headband, a pair of underwear and Bible verse. The girls were so excited to receive them.  Many of them put on their dress right away over their clothes, they were so happy.

We had a different schedule each day.

Sunday

We went to a morning church service in Gualaquiza.  Steven (in the photo at the top of the blog he is standing beside me in the blue jacket) preached in English and I translated. Before the group arrived, I had asked for some notes or a general idea of what the message would be about, so I could be prepared.  I was happy that Steven sent me the full message.  I looked over it several times before Sunday so I could figure out how to translate any of the more difficult sections.  With any translation, there are phrases or expressions that are impossible to translate word for word because they don't literally translate.  Those are the areas that I wanted to be prepared for in advance.  It was such a good thing that I had his message because it started POURING rain during the service and I could barely hear what he was saying.  Fortunately, I could hear enough to follow along on my copy of the message.

In the afternoon we went to a Shuar community in "Machinaza".  The plan was to have part of our group teach the VBS lesson to the kids while Steven and I ("the Steve Team" as Hannah called us) shared the message during a special afternoon church service.  There was a miscommunication/misunderstanding, which can often happen when working with the nationals, and we weren't able to have the church service.

Instead, we had a lot of extra time with the kids, which was very impactful.  We taught the VBS lesson and had a lot of time running around and playing with the kids.  The VBS lesson is about being thankful and it is based on Luke 17:11-19 when Jesus healed 10 lepers and only 1 returned to give thanks.  We taught the same VBS lesson in each community.  Afterwards, we played tag ("cogidas"), duck-duck-goose ("pato-pato-ganso"), and red light-green light. I played some, but mostly watched Hannah have a great time.  She is drawn to the kids and they are drawn to her.  

We left the vehicles and walked across the bridge...

...and up to Machinaza.

Monday

We spent the day at a Shuar community called Proveduria.  It was quite the adventure getting there.  Danny had been there once before and told us what to expect based on his experience.  Unfortunately, it wasn't at all the same.  When he went, he parked his car near a bridge and walked a short distance to get a ride in a canoe.  After a 10 minute canoe ride up the river, he got out and walked about 10 minutes to the community.  

Because of a lot of rain in that area, the road we were supposed to take was blocked due to a mudslide. We ended up driving across the river twice on different hanging/suspended bridges trying to find a way to get to the area for the canoe - it was quite scary.

We eventually made it to the bridge where we would leave the vehicles, but there was no canoe waiting for us.  We're still not sure exactly what happened, but there was no canoe ride and we had to walk to get to the community.  It. Was. Muddy.

We parked the vehicles back by the big bridge, then walked across the hanging bridge.

I nearly fell several times, I was in need of a helping hand

The walking adventure took about 1 1/2 hours - it was actually really challenging because sometimes we would sink into the mud and nearly lose our shoe trying to take the next step.  Even though the hike was a real challenge, we are very glad we got to have that experience.  It's amazing to think that the people from this community have to travel like this on a regular basis.

We made it! The church is behind me.

Not long after we arrived, the church service started.  The singing/worship time of the service is different from what we're used to.  First, there was a lady who sang and most of the others sang along, but we couldn't because we didn't know the words.  Then the pastor asked if there was anyone else who wanted to share a praise song, and someone else went forward to sing.  After that song, the pastor asked again if anyone else wanted to share a praise song, and someone else went forward.  That happened four times.  To us, it seemed so random and unorganized, but that's the way they do it and it was great to experience.

Hannah started crying during one of the songs.  She said she was just so moved - it just impacted her that here we are in some remote area of Ecuador and we're praising God with this Shuar community.

I translated the message for Steven

After the message, the pastor asked if anyone had something they would like to share.  Then he specifically asked Hannah and Julie.  I was just about to say that Hannah isn't comfortable enough with Spanish yet and didn't have anything prepared, when she nearly jumped up out of her seat and hurried forward.  She shared a little bit about how happy she was to be there and worship with them - I was so proud of her.

Hannah being brave

After the service they served us lunch.  As is common here, we got preferential treatment.  We were served first and we ate around a table under the roof.  It was the only table there. They served us way too much food.  We each were given a plate of rice, chicken and salad.  Plus we were each given chicken cooked in a palm leaf, which is not something they prepare every day.  It was prepared especially for us, no one else was served the chicken in the palm leaf.  You never know what kind of food you are going to be served, and though it didn't taste very good to us, it could have been a lot worse.  It was a huge honor because we know that this meal represented their appreciation and respect for us, and it was the best they have to offer. 

After lunch, we gathered the kids under the church roof and taught the VBS lesson.  At each place we went, it was so encouraging to see how well the kids received the lesson and participated with us.

After VBS, we were so happy to hear that we would be taking a motorized canoe back to the car instead of walking the trail back!

Awesome rainbow as we waited for the canoe

It was a short canoe ride.  After about 5 minutes, the canoe operator made a sharp u-turn towards the trees and we nearly tipped over.  We were a little shocked because it didn't appear that this was any sort of place to get off the canoe.  We stepped off into the mud and there was a very steep, muddy, hill to climb.  We though we were done with the muddy trails, apparently not.  It was about a 10 minute walk through the mud to get to our vehicles.

It was a challenging and very rewarding day.

Tuesday

We spent some time in the morning at a community called Naichap.  It was a very small community and it seemed like it was just one big extended family as the majority of them had the same last name, which is the name of the town, "Naichap".  We helped paint the church and we passed out the dresses for the girls.

In the afternoon we went to Roldos and taught the VBS lesson.  Since it was raining we didn't know if we would be able to, but the teacher of the school opened up the classroom for us.  This community really needs a lot of help and prayer; there is a lot of abuse, so much so that they have a social services type office in this small community. 

Wednesday

We spent the day in San Pedro.  We arrived in the morning and they were already getting things prepared for lunch.  Hannah and one of the ladies from the team went over to help out.  Hannah had a lot of fun talking to the Shuar women and learning how to prepare some of the food.  Hannah got to sample a lot of the food as it was being prepared, so she wasn't too hungry for lunch.  

Delicious grilled chicken

After lunch we taught the VBS lesson inside the church.

After the lesson, we went back to the hostel for a couple hours to rest and clean up, then we returned to San Pedro for the evening service.

Thursday

We left Gualaquiza after breakfast and returned to Loja.  We had lunch at the Beasley's apartment and then went to the airport to catch our flight to Quito.  We had a good view of Cotopaxi Volcano from the airplane; Danny took this photo.

We all stayed at the Guesthouse Thursday night. 

Friday

The group from the U.S. had a late flight Friday night so we were able to do some "touristy" things during the day.  We took the group to Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World).  Friday was a holiday as the country was recognizing the Battle of Pichincha (May 24).  Because of the holiday, there were some traditional dance presentations that were pretty cool to see.

We went to supper at a nice restaurant that overlooks the historic district of Quito and then we took the group to the airport for their flight back home.

This was such a good experience for us.  Thank you so much to those of you who support us and make it possible for us to do this.   

Please click the link below to see many more photos of our trip:

Jungle Trip photos