Language Team 2011

Now that we’ve returned to the land of Internet, below are some images from our week in the jungle.

Work party getting materials ready in the evening before leaving for the jungle

Overlook of the area near the village

Dawn at the village

Girl washing dishes

Stove we used to cook in the kitchen hut

The villagers and the cooks on our team enjoyed discussing differences in food preparation

Rachel and a friend while getting ready for the wedding

Almost as soon as we arrived, we learned that one of our hosts in the village was preparing for his daughter’s wedding the next day. We modified our schedule to be able to help with the wedding preparations.

Getting ribbon ready for the family decorating for the wedding

With the wedding couple

The girls found new dresses for the wedding in a village clothing store!

A typical morning breakfast with the team in our kitchen hut

Evening singing in our living room

Elizabeth explains a filter system to a family

David installing a filter

On Tuesday we hiked down a big hill in the rain...beautiful, but wet!

Another beautiful vista as the clouds rolled through the valleys

On Elizabeth's birthday, we ate lunch overlooking a beautiful view of a mountain town

A giant plant we discovered growing in huge clusters along the mountain highway

A full back seat during our mountain travels

Teaching a song to the children

Jake as the statue in the Fiery Furnace story. Hooray for aluminum foil!

A three-legged race

Making a craft with the children

These children are a big part of why we go to language school and come out here!

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We spent the day in San Cristobal today, catching up on laundry, sleep, and final projects. On the way home from visiting Steven and Grace this afternoon, we stopped by a favorite sidewalk that is particularly precarious.

Jacob ventures down the sidewalks of San Cristobal

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Today we left the jungle after a week of building relationships, installing filters, watching amazing sunrises and sunsets, and learning more about these people, ourselves, and our God. Our week didn’t really go like we first thought it would but it went exactly like God directed it to be and we were blessed. I pray we also were a blessing.

On the way home we took a boat ride though an incredible canyon. As I gazed at the walls 1,800 meters above us I was reminded again of our big God. I was amazed as I thought about His faithfulness, His mercy, His greatness, and His creation. As amazing as God’s creation is, the most incredibly, amazing thing God has done is taken the hearts of men and renewed them to be after His own heart. To think that the Creator of the universe humbled himself, became a man, lived and died all so we could be restored to our God. All so we could be made a new man and live out the Heavenly Kingdom bringing glory to our God!

Today, may you be amazed by the work God has done in your heart and life!

For the team,
Kara

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The things that come to mind when I think of Wednesday are….

Elizabeth’s Birthday! | Driving through the mountains | Riding on top of the Yukon | Taking pictures | Having a picnic on some huge boulders |

Standing in awe at the majesty of God | Walking into a cool church that looked ancient but was really not so old | Loving the breeze as we curved through the mountainous terrain.

Later that day, we came back to hold the children’s program at 3 in the afternoon. Quite typically, the crafts go smoothly, the skits are hilarious, and the games are perfect for getting some energy out! It was a blast.

Then, as soon as that was over, we booked it back to the house to get changed for the Wednesday night church service. (Shhh…meanwhile, back on the ranch, Rachel snuck into the kitchen and was stewing up an amazing after-church surprise dinner for Elizabeth, complete with American dessert!)

Ahem, back to church. So…as we didn’t quite use all of the skits we had practiced for the kids, we actually got to do a very significant one for church. It was the story of two brothers – one laying down his life for the other. It was a perfect analogy for the Gospel presentation. And I believe that many of the people there were moved by the meaning of it. We also sang in English and Spanish. They seemed to like this, as they were constantly asking for more songs.

After church, I walked back with Elizabeth and Steven. (Most of the group had slowly slipped out one by one  to prepare for the party.) Anyway, once we got there, there were strings of balloons, good smells wafting from the kitchen, and people everywhere! Elizabeth’s eyes got really big with shock! It was terribly fun. We spent a good portion of the evening eating, laughing, talking, and saying our last goodbyes to all the villagers, who were eagerly asking when we would next return. Oh, and many, many pictures accompanied this night.

Wednesday. All in all, a good last day in the jungle.

Mandy, for the team

A wild and crazy game of unraveling toilet paper. Yes, it has a point! No, it has nothing to do with bringing order out of chaos. Why worry about that when you can just enjoy the chaos?

The place where we stopped for our picnic on the boulders

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A day of life in the jungle with the GE language team: a local missionary’s perspective…

It has felt a little odd spending this week with the GE team. Normally I am a member of the team, but this time I went as their “Tour Guide/Only As Needed Translator.” It has been wonderful to see everyone conversing with the local people. The locals have been so hospitable to all of us. That has opened up many opportunities for the team to practice their Spanish. They have all greatly improved their Spanish skills!

This day started like most of the others. The daily breakfast crew did an amazing job at satisfying the hungry, groggy-eyed people who emerged from their rooms. Being greeted by the smell of freshly brewed (and ground coffee and fresh breakfast is like aromatherapy to me. After having our delicioso desayuno the team sat down to their group devotions. Afterward, Daniel and I worked together as a team installing buckets. We went to Coapilla with another team to fill some requests for filters. Unfortunately, most of the people had changed their minds about filters, but while we were there, David (one of our hosts) told me that there was an invitation for us to to speak at the local Alcoholics Anonymous group that evening.

After the children’s program in the village, all five guys went back to Coapilla for the meeting. Daniel was able to share from the Bible with the people at AA. David C. shared a testimony( not a personal one, mind you) pertinent to the group and then I was able to give a talk on needing Christ to truly have freedom. We were well received and the people listened intently. Jacob prayed for the people and I closed in prayer. Several professed to having accepted Christ that night. Only God knows if they were sincere in their profession but we shared what God put on our hearts and seized the opportunity to encourage these people. We let David from the village know what happened so that He can follow up with this group and guide them to good churches in their area. I pray that the churches they will go to will be faithful to disciple them and that I can follow up on our next trip out there.

Things started late at the AA meeting so we were pretty hungry by the time we got back to the village. Thankfully, the ladies had done an amazing job at making dinner and we were able to quell our insatiable appetites upon arrival. All in all, it was a good day with much Spanish conversation and opportunities to share the gospel and hand out discipleship material at the filter homes. This is Steven Curry, signing out for the language team. Dios les bendiga!

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Today was our first “regular” day in the jungle…if you can call any day regular! In the morning, we got up and cooked breakfast over a wood stove. Then after a short Bible study it was off to install water filters. Stephen and Daniel went to Copia the next town over to install 2 or 3 filters. The rest of us divided into two teams and installed filters in our village. After lunch it is siesta time in the village. From about 1 to 3ish most everything shuts down for lunch and siesta time. At 3 PM we went to the basketball court in the middle of town and did a children’s program on God as Creator. After the program we went back and cooked dinner for us and what seemed like half the village. We got to use a lot of our Spanish that we had learned talking with the families. Then it was off to bed to get rested up for another day in the jungle!

Jacob, for the team

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We have learned by now that mornings in our village will not be quiet. At any time, you might be fortunate to wake to music playing, children laughing, cows mooing, roosters crowing, dogs barking, or chickens walking with nailey toes on your tin roof.

Or, if you are unfortunate, you might wake to the tortilla man. He comes racing into town early in the morning with a red cooler strapped to the back of his motorcycle with bungee cords. While the sun is creeping above the foggy hills, he mashes his horn with the urgency of Paul Revere and offers fresh tortillas to the world. Things like this quickly remind us that we are in a very different-than-normal place and we are not here for comfort but for a mission.

This Sunday morning, we practiced several songs for the church. Upon arrival, we walked into a small church the size of a three car garage where two dozen people were gathering. The service was three hours long and featured a five man marimba and probably 15 songs. We sang several songs during the service and then did a shortened children’s program.

It was a beautiful afternoon, so we drove to watch a nearby soccer game where some of the church men were playing in a recreational league game. After they won, we drove to a spring fed lake with some of our hosts and whiled away time sitting on a dock enjoying the beautiful scenery, practicing Spanish, and fishing wayward Nalgene bottles from the lake.

After a short break back at the house, we prepared a children’s program for the two-hour evening service. We taught the congregation two Spanish songs and had a great time. We are trying to invite some family over each night for dinner so we can put into practice the rules and vocabulary we have learned in the past four weeks. Dusk fell and we chatted with families while a cool breeze rustled nearby banana trees and a skyful of stars twinkled down on us. The amazing thing about the body of Christ is that it is the most diverse group in the world.

Russ, for the team

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After a month in language school we packed up yesterday and worked most of the night getting ready to leave for our town in the Zoque jungle. The drive out here revealed breathtaking mountain vistas at every turn. As we looked at God’s majesty being shouted by his creation, our hearts were turned in worship of the Lord!

This trip has been different from many others because our focus is on study and preparation for future opportunities. Because of this, we’re getting to spend a lot of time together as a team and one of my favorite parts about it has been the wonderful fellowship with our team. Today we certainly enjoyed some of that good fellowship as we reveled in the realization of WHO God is…how beautiful he is, how he loves us, and
how wonderful to know that we are his! Sweet, sweet thoughts.

When we arrived at the village, it was wonderful to see friends from last summer’s trip here. Just getting to know these people, who they are, what their daily lives are like, and what their needs are has been great. Tonight we learned about the cheesemaking process from the abuelito (“little grandfather”) who raises ten cows and makes cheese. Tomorrow morning we’re going to see the whole process from the very beginning. Starting with… the cow! I’m going to love this week!!

Rachel, for the team

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The language team left today for their “final exam” – spend the next week in the jungle leading kids programs and installing water filters, all with no translators! They’ve been studying hard, and are excited for the opportunity to put all the hard work from this past month into practice. Be praying for them, for safety as they travel, good recall with Spanish, and effectiveness in ministry. They aren’t likely to have internet for blogging this week, but they’ll catch us all up on their adventures when they return.

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February 23

There are some days that not much happens around here except school. But to be honest, they are good days. It’s the simple days that I like the best. After school today, we had a wonderful lunch at our favorite restaurant downtown San Cristbol [Salsa Verde]. Upon returning home, we took our cup of coffee in hand and studied away. This team is so awesome. We all get along great, enjoy studying together, and share a few laughs [ok so it's a lot of laughs]. We have become quite a family [after four weeks of doing everything together]. When we are not studying, it is no hard task to entertain ourselves and get into trouble with the amount of Spanish that we know. This team has to be some of the most creative, mischievous, gracious people I know. How is that for a combination? In all honesty, I have seen this team live out the New Testament mandate to “esteem each other better than themselves.” The whole team has served one another and jumped in where there is a project that needs to be done. I would just like to take the opportunity to praise the team for their incredible attitude. It has been a blessing and privilege to lead them. I have learned so much from each one. From our opportunities of ministry together to studying Spanish; to spending time in the word during the mornings. I have personally been challenged by each one and would like to thank you for allowing the Lord to work through you. You are an example to me of how the body of Christ is to interact with one another. Keep up the good work my friends.

Daniel Cavanaugh

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