Over the 4th of July weekend, I joined a fellow missionary and the pastor of our church for a weekend retreat in the desert of Colombia. Our pastor did a series of talks on
conflict...more about that later. The Guajira is about a 4 hour journey from our house in Santa Mara to the city of Rioacha. I’m always amazed at how in just a four hour trip one can see such a transformation in the countryside.
Upon arrival at CENFO (local seminary for the Wayuu Indians to train for 1 week a month for 3 years), we were greeted by the local pastor and many of the young people who had arrived before us. The facilities here are very crude, but they met all of our needs. Just to get an idea, the bathroom consisted of a toilet, with no seat or tank, and of course it did not flush, and a cup hanging on the wall for when it was shower time. These are the times that I wish that I had camped more in my life...well not really. My short time in the boy scouts cured me of those desires. These kinds of things are always a great reminder to me that we not only can you survive on less, but you can thrive.
The purpose of our time there was to lead the activities that helped support the theme for the weekend.. Conflict. We all know that conflict in any culture is difficult, but from what we are starting to understand about this culture, conflict with Wayuu can be extremely serious. For example, if I’m on your property and you are the cause of some form of harm to me, I will exact harm on you or your family. They are still living out the principle of an "eye for an eye". Therefore, looking at how to biblically resolve our issues is really something that needs to be talked about...not only in this culture, but our's as well.
We had a really fun time teaching them games and activities that required them to work together and get to know each other. It didn't take long to hear all of them laughing and giggling as they tried to un-tangle themselves when we played "human-knot". God was so good to us during this weekend as we continue to be amazed at all the new things that He is teaching us about His people and how He has intricately designed all of us, and provided us with amazing cultures through which this beauty is demonstrated.
There is just something so beautiful about these people. When we first arrived, they were quite reserved around us...they giggled a lot as we caught them staring at us several times. The other missionary Sam, is from Asian descent, so he was quite the oddity here. The younger ones had tons of questions for him...it was so neat to see his interaction with them and the sharing of cultures between God's people.
The women wear these beautiful robes, or mantas, that are the more traditional clothes.
So these are our sleeping arrangements here. Not really worth mentioning except for the fact that we are the only men in this covered area. We are "roughing" it with the teenage girls who are sleeping 2 to a hammock, while the "real" men had hung their hammocks in the trees outside. This provided us with endless amounts of giggles. One other side note here...most everyone was up by 3:45 a.m... I don't think my body functions at this time, so I stayed in till 5:30 a.m.
I am such a gringo.
Picture of Sam with a couple of the ladies
This is a picture of our kitchen
Can you tell where we are in this pic?
This is a picture of the school
Woman at the well
Trying not to get hurt
For some reason, we really enjoy goats...not eating them, just watching them...but we did eat them
Praises:
1)Amanda has finished her time with Evangelism Explosion for the year. It was a wonderful blessing to be apart of this program and share the gospel with the kids. Many of the students have already begun to share what they learned with family and friends.
2) A team from the US came a few weeks ago to construct a new roof for one of our sister churches. Jon was able to travel every day to help the team. During this time, we also hosted our bosses from the States for 3 weeks. It's always nice to receive encouragement from them and small gifts from our families at home.
3)We received our homeschooling materials for Kendall and she is doing well. She will continue to go to the Esperanza School in the morning, but focus on English in the afternoon. It's been a little complicated learning to read in English and Spanish at the same time, but she's hanging in there.
4) In the last month, we have both been able to share our testimonies with the youth group. They responded well and we were encouraged with our Spanish.
Prayer Requests:
1)Amanda will start a discipleship Bible study with a group of 10th grade girls at the school every Wednesday morning. Pray that this would be a time of growth for the students as they learn more about the Christian life. Pray that they would also develop a new friendship with Amanda.
2) Pray for the youth as we continue to meet with them every week. Pray for clear direction and wisdom about lessons and activities for the group.
3)Jon will be traveling to Medellin at the end of the month with a group from the US. They will be doing evangelism and discipleship with Colombians in the city. Pray for safe travel and growth of God's Kingdom during this trip. Pray also for the encouragement of local leaders and workers who will be involved.
Thank you for your continued prayers.
In Christ,
Jon, Amanda, Kendall, and Parker
