Traveling on the River
One of the houses along the river
The last couple of weeks were spent with a team visiting from Cleveland, Ohio. What a great time and what a great group of people. I had a wonderful time together with them and it was a pleasure getting to know them. They came to do a ministry trip throughout the region. I had the pleasure of hosting them during the portion of their trip that took them along the river.
We visited two small communities along the river. Both of them are characterized by a simple lifestyle – No electricity, no running water, and a basic sustenance lifestyle. The people were overjoyed with our visit. They were extremely grateful for the contact and ministry that the team did. One thing that really connected well between the team and the people was the transparent sharing of pain and difficulties in their lives. There were no barriers as people communicated their hurts and God moved in their lives.
One thing that always stands out as I visit along the river is that so many of these people are isolated by their poverty. They often are restricted to either traveling by foot or by dugout canoe. It seems that living is a dicey proposition and going without and is a normal part of their reality. It becomes too easy to romanticize the lifestyle in the jungle along the river, considering it idyllic, whereas the norm is a constant struggle to keep the family feed and clothed.
These are a people that are on the margins of society. They receive substandard education, health care, and are general disconsidered in most every way. The beautiful thing is that these are a people that Jesus died for, the ones that he considered the most precious. Their worth is not in physical appearance, financial wealth or intellectual ability. Their worth is in the fact that they each have a soul that Christ died for on the cross. It is in our need that we recognize our Savior and in the darkness that His light shines brighter.
Thanks for your prayers.
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Children learn to handle the dugout canoes from their earliest years