Halfway Gone

Day 15: Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Life in a jungle village is never boring. Four am this morning the entire community was awakened by the terrifying screams of a pig being slaughtered. The problem was that they missed him three times before actually killing it. Craziness. But, of course, it didn’t stop me from going back to sleep. I figured I would sleep until I smelt the bacon I was hoping we would have for breakfast now.

Not many women appeared for the Bible study so they rescheduled for the afternoon.

For the rest of the morning they only thing there really was to do was watch the soccer semi-finals. After lunch I even inaccurately kept score. I don’t know how someone could miss something like a player scoring a goal when they watched the entire game. I blame the jungle.

The women gathered after the afternoon service to hear the story of Mary and Martha. We had a short prayer time to conclude. A neat thing about this group is that many times they participate in communal prayers, where instead of just one person praying, everyone prays aloud simultaneously. It caught me off guard initially but I find it very encouraging now.

During the futbol finale the Father gripped my heart. Sitting on the stoop of the church, I was watching this young boy. His appearance alone was desperate enough with his dirty and torn cream and plaid shirt and tattered blue shorts, but his eyes were slightly off too. He would look at me and smile but it took me a minute to realize he was looking at me and not someone else. So I went and sat by him on one of the church pews that had been evacuated to the outdoors when the team moved into the church. I shared a smile, “Hola, como estes?”, and the rest of my Bimbo (like sprite) with him. As soon as he received the bottled drink, he immediately turned around and gave it to his little brother. He didn’t take a sip, and his little brother still had his own drink remaining. That’s when I noticed his hair, filled with loads of grass and lice, yet his hermano’s hair looked quite decent. Just our brief interaction really touched my heart. Being the girl that I am, I started crying. I began searching for a quiet place to pray. The church was full and there’s virtually no privacy in the hammock so I went behind the water pump next door, nearly standing over a pile of garbage in order to be alone.

Weeping and praying, I felt the Lord answer my questions, “This is worth devoting your life to,” It scared me because I’d been thinking about what it would be like to live here. I’m still not sure exactly how it will turn out… I used my sunglasses to disguise any signs of tears as I returned to the church to get my Bible, hoping the Lord would continue to speak. My Bible opens to Lamentations 5, a random place I had stuck a note from Beth that said, “God knows what it takes to perfect you.”

I collect myself in time to engage in Sarah’s conversation with John and Daniel about giving up things for the kingdom – quite humbling.

To end the day we held a forever long service two couple were wed, Romanian/Spanish/English songs were sung, and we prayed for healing in the makeshift church in front of the church building.

Oh and today is the halfway mark. I left home two weeks ago and I return two weeks from today back to the States. Important things I’ve learned:

1) Mosquitoes are from the pit of hell
2) Pedestrians do NOT have the right of way in Iquitos streets
3) Our God is an awesome Creator
4) Skype is the best invention known to the modern world
5) Humidity is relative
6) All roosters should die
7) There’s a camera guru in every bunch
8) poco Spanish
9) Love isn’t bound by language
10) Deet ruins your toenail polish
11) Missions isn’t as romantic as I formerly believed, it involves much pain, suffering, and discomfort.
12) Jesus really is all I need!