More Pictures

I think this was the last big adventure before Christmas, so I'll stop overwhelming you with pictures soon. But this was, I think, one of the highlights of my time here so far and may well be of the entire time, at least spiritually.

The CCC takes an annual retreat every November, and this year we went to Bible Camp Mangayacu, which is just on the edge of the Andes where the great Amazon jungle starts. The drive through the Andes was gorgeous, could almost rival the Alps (don't let the Austrians hear me say that).

There were 5 sessions which a speaker from Quito, and I was surprised by how much I was able to pick up. Usually, it was easier if he had powerpoint slides with text because then I could listen AND read AND look up words in the dictionary. In between, there was some free time, but also some organized games, plus of course a bonfire one night. Those were fun times. I think my favorite was when I and my lowest student in my 1st level class teamed up and whooped everybody else in ping pong. :-)

On Saturday, we actually drove IN to the jungle a little bit to the town of Puyo where we visited a nature reserve where they grow plants and have demonstrations of what life is like in jungle aboriginal villages. The first one highlighted was the Waorani tribe, the ones that Jim Elliott and Nate Saint and my other 3 heroes of the faith died trying to reach with the gospel. We sat in a Waorani hut while the guide showed us how they use their hammocks, their cooking pots, their fishing nets, and their spears. It was hard not to get emotional, somewhat.

The walk through the bush was amazing! So many interesting plants and flowers that I can't post them all. The ride back to camp was a little less amazing. We rode in the back of these "taxis" that are two hard benches with a plastic tarp over your head, and two metal rods that dig into your back. I ended up in the taxi with all the boys which was a hoot, but meant to had to take care since I was wearing a skirt and the road was rather bumpy.

Sadly, I just never got a really good picture of the jungle stretching out in front of us because either we were in sessions, or it was raining (rain forest and all) or it was dark. Anyway, the night of this sunset was when I really just sat in awe, and it hit me that this jungle ran all the way across the entire continent to the Atlantic, and it was full of God's creativity and wonders, not to mention people he loved who haven't been reached yet. Oh the places he takes me....