Who's driving this boat?

We like to think we are in control of our lives. We like security and certainty. We work our whole lives to obtain these things but are they really obtainable? Our lives are like a boat headed down the river of life. We think we are driving and in control. If we see an obstacle we can steer around it. But there are unseen obstacles in this river of life and we never know what trouble they bring. Life is fragile and it could come to an end at any moment. The question is who is driving your boat?

I was planning to head to a church anniversary in a remote community called Nuevo Jerusalen. Traveling can be difficult to plan here and I had planned to travel to Balsapurto to meet a Shawi pastor, Alberto, at 8:00am Tuesday morning at the bridge. I was coming by road and he was coming by canoe to pick me up. But at 1:00am it started raining, and not the gentle Indiana type of rain but the jungle pouring buckets type of rain. At 4:30 I finally got out of bed and the rain had not let up one bit. The road I was supposed to travel is dirt so rain makes it very difficult to travel. Jennifer called the transportation company that travels the road to see if they were traveling in spite of the rain. They said they were going that morning but would not leave until they had a full vehicle which might be awhile as no one goes out in the rain. Jennifer gave them our number and said to call when they were full. They finally called at 6:30am, and we got out of town at 7:00am, two hours late. I had no way of contacting Alberto to tell him I was late as there is no cell phone service in his community so I had no idea if he would be there or not. But I did not worry because I am not driving this boat, God is.  The road was bad but we got through. The driver would stop and wade through the standing water in the road to check the depth before passing through and the worst spot was only knee deep. We finally arrived at the bridge at 10:30am and there sat Alberto in his canoe in the rain with a smile on his face. He told me that he had waited since 8:00am and not a single car had passed through so he figured the road was closed due to rain. He had just turned the canoe around to leave when he heard the sound of a vehicle coming and waited. It was me. I am glad I am not driving the boat.

The church at Nuevo Jerusalen.

We headed to his community to pick up his family and another pastor that was traveling with us. When we got there the rain came again and we decided to wait it out. He said that we needed to get going by 2:00 to travel the four hours to Nuevo Jerusalen before dark and that if the rain did not quit we would just wait until morning. At 1:00 the rain quit and we took off in the canoe. We were about two hours into our journey when we saw an approaching dark cloud. Thunder and lightning and driving rain followed and we were helpless in the little canoe. We could do nothing but continue on through the storm. It was so cold that my teeth chattered and I shivered and I thought it would be ironic if I died from hypothermia in the jungle. But finally the rain passed.

As we neared our destination Alberto looked at me and said, “the river is rising.” “How do you know?” I asked. “Look at it,” he replied. I looked but it just looked like the same old river I had been staring at for hours. “He doesn’t know what he is talking about,” I thought. Well I was wrong because about 20 minutes later I began to notice a change in the river. It began churning and frothing, the current picked up speed and the water began coming at us in waves. Soon I watched the banks begin to erode right before my eyes. He was correct, the water was rising.

 The house where 12 of us stayed.

It was then we reached our destination and I was glad to be off the river. They showed us to our house for the week, which somehow they had forgot to build with walls. Then they invited us into a kitchen to warm up by the fire. This was very unusual as the kitchen is a separate hut from the house and guests are almost never invited into the kitchen. I was very thankful.

A typical Shawi house on the right and kitchen on the left.

The men said they were going to kill a cow for the anniversary and invited me to come. Silly me I said yes thinking the cow would be near by but I was wrong. We walked, (they walked, I ran to keep up) 45 minutes through thick jungle to reach the cow pasture but the cows were missing. The pasture is just a clear cut area in jungle. There is no fence as the jungle is thick enough that the cows usually don’t wonder off. We searched till dark and found three cows but never found the forth which we had intended to slaughter. I think he knew we were coming and hid. We then returned to the village back down the path in the dark without flashlights. The path had been cut for the average Shawi man which is about five-foot-tall so about every three steps I got a branch in my face. Not to mention the fact that due to the heavy rains the entire path was mud and standing water. Needless to say it was a tough hike back in the dark and a fruitless adventure.

The church decorated for the anniversary.

After a change of clothes, they fired up the generator and the evening church service began. We worshiped until about 11:00pm. Exhausted, I was glad to finally climb into my hammock for the night. But the night was only beginning as the winds picked up and the rain returned. In our little house without walls the wind and rain whipped right through and I froze. I climbed out of the hammock and curled up in a ball on the floor to try to escape the wind and rain. I laid there freezing and thinking, “why didn’t we wait until tomorrow to come?” We wouldn’t have froze in the boat and could have slept in a house with walls. Eventually morning came and as I looked toward the river I received my answer. The river had risen 12+ feet overnight and was extremely dangerous. There were full size trees, roots and all, swiftly washing down from the nearby mountains. If we wouldn’t have come the day before we may have not made it. Praise God I am not driving the boat.

Photos of the Yaniyacu River taken during flood and 18 hours later.

The next day was full of church services. We had service from 9:00am till 2:00pm then had a break for lunch and soccer. At dark the services began again and they announced it would be a vigil or all night service. For these long extended services, we had worship, then preaching, prayer and more worship. Then we had a 20-minute break for chicha before repeating the process again. I was able to preach twice and was blessed by their enthusiasm for worship and the word of God. I made it till 2:00am before I just could not stay awake any longer. You know your tired when you fall asleep standing up during worship. At 5:30am they quit, the last two hours they abandoned preaching and just worshiped to stay awake. Then we all packed up, said good byes, climbed into our canoes and left. The waters of the river had dropped significantly since the day before and were now safe to travel. As we headed down the river I realized that the driver of our canoe had not slept all night. Yet I was not worried because obviously I was not driving the boat.

Me and my new friend.

Nine hours later I made it home. It rained the whole way. The last three hours I spent in the back of a pick up truck with 10 other people in the pouring rain. I got home cold, wet and covered in mud from pushing the truck. But in spite of the difficulties my heart was full because I know who directs my paths, I know who is driving my boat. My prayer is that this story is encouraging to you. My prayer is that we all can place our trust fully in the One who drives the boat.

Trust in the lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

VBS in the jungle

After three failed attempts we finally made it to Segundo Jerusalem. We tried to go on Christmas but Jennifer was sick. Then we tried on New Years Day but due to heavy rains we couldn’t get there. Then last weekend we were planning on going but the rains kept coming and the road flooded. It was chest deep. Then this weekend, even though the road was bad and we had to rent a van, we finally made it.

 

Our van

We went with one prayer. That we may be a blessing to them. Segundo Jerusalem is a small group of families living together in community. It is too small to be called an offical community so it is actually a barrio or neighborhood. We have visited them before and they are always amazing to us. They are open, warm and inviting and we always leave with loads of plantains and papaya. They teach us Shawi words and ask lots of questions. Every time we visit, we leave encouraged and blessed. For this reason, we just wanted to bless them. 

 Eating some lunch on our porch.

Resting during the rain in our house.

We arrived Saturday morning and the first thing they did was offer us a house to stay in for the weekend. What a blessing to have a place to rest and get shelter from the rain. Then the men went to work. They are working to build a new church building. First they needed lumber so they went deep into the jungle, cut down a tree and milled the boards with a chainsaw. They are very talented with a chain saw. All the wood is cut so the men were working on hauling it out to the build site. I volunteered to go with them. After 45 minutes of walking through mud and standing water we finally came to a pile of boards 42 feet long.  Then it started raining and it took five of us an hour to carry one board back to the build site. I miss my local lumber yard. 

 One of the women preparing lunch.

After lunch of dried fish and rice the real work began, a Bible school for the kids. The rest of the afternoon was filled with Bible stories, games, songs, and crafts. At first the kids were scared to death of us. They wouldn’t respond to our questions or participate. The pastor told me the kids are not accustom to strangers and they were scared. But little by little they warmed up to us. Sunday morning, we continued with more stories and songs and by Sunday afternoon the kids were singing all the songs with motions, saying the memory verse, and participating in the games.

The kids really touch my heart this weekend. We provided lunch both days for them and I am glad we did. I asked Sunday morning if any of them had breakfast and not a single one had eaten. We quickly tapped into our stash of granola bars and gave the kids a least a little something to eat. They had never jumped rope or played with a Frisbee. They had never heard of Abraham and Isaac. And they had never experienced a Bible school. I pray that we were a blessing to them but in reality they completely blessed us. To see the joy on their faces as they learned the stories, to watch them spend hours on a craft with complete patience to make it perfect, to hear them recite a Bible verse and sing songs, I can not describe how full my heart is today.

Our kids also had a blast this weekend. We asked them what was their favorite part of the weekend and they responded, "everything!" 

Henry loved playing in the dirt with the other boys.

Maggie climbed on everything.

Lucy was a leader of songs and games. 

 Our new friend Daili with her craft.

 Jennifer working hard to prepare.

My new friend John Kennedy.

  And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.   And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

Matthew 18:3-5

Children in need

Recently someone asked me what is the hardest thing about being here in Yurimaguas. After some thought I realized it is so difficult to find our place here. There are so many needs and we can not even begin to meet them all. The most difficult thing is finding our direction when we want to run everywhere at once. As a result we have spent the beginning of this new year in prayer for God's direction and He is responding.

Traveling on the Cachiyacu River in canoe

Last weekend I visited the community of Santa Clara which is just off the Cachiyacu River in the heart of the district of Balsapuerto. It is a large community with around 30 Shawi families. It is three hours on the road and two hours in a canoe to get there. The reason for the visit was to visit a feeding program that our mission has there as well as check on some agriculture projects. Our mission has five feeding programs in communities that struggle with malnutrition among children. We provide a meal for the children after church on Sunday. One meal a week is not a lot but for some of the children it is the only meal they get on Sundays. For them it is a lot. 

The boys Sunday School class

In Santa Clara there are between 60 and 70 children on an average Sunday. During the sermon at church the kids have a separate Sunday school time. There are two classes, one for the boys and one for the girls. I spent some time visiting each class to observe what was taught. There are no children's materials or crafts or snacks. The teachers have one of the blue pocket Bibles with Psalms, Proverbs and the New Testament in Spanish. They read a verse, talk about it and the kids memorize it. I am not sure how much they understand because a lot of the younger kids do not speak Spanish. Spanish is taught in the schools in the community so the older kids do speak it. After half an hour the kids return to the church to recite the verse together in front of everyone. As I reflect on my childhood I remember growing up in the church and what a privilege it was to have Sunday School. We learned songs, did crafts and learned the stories of the Bible.  The children of Santa Clara do not know these stories and it really touched my heart. What an opportunity and responsibility we have to teach our children!

 After church the kids received their meal of noodles and sardines

As we were traveling back we stopped at the village of Nuevo Junin. I was not able to visit their feeding program but I was able to talk with the pastor in charge of it. He told me they have 120+ children every Sunday but I also learned they have no Sunday school program. They did have one but the teacher quit because it was to difficult. They told me they thought the program was important and they want to restart it. God has put in our hearts to help the churches with their children's programing. This weekend I am planning to take the whole family for three days to a community for a Vacation Bible School. It is a small community with only 30 children but we are nervous as this will be our first overnight adventure as a family in the jungle. We are also nervous about running a VBS for 30 kids while taking care of our three at the same time. Additionally, it is currently the rainy season here and we just learned this afternoon that the road is flooded and impassible.  The only other way to get there is the river - but since it is flooded, it is extremely dangerous right now so that isn't really an option either.  Please pray that the water subsides and we are able to reach the village and these children with the Word of the Lord.  You can also pray for us as we are seeing more needs for children's ministry and we are seeing God open doors for us to help in this area.