Jungle Details

This is a reposting of an e-mail I sent this afternoon. It’s written in the form of an e-mail and I did not bother to change it because despite the timestamp on this post, it is 11:59 and I feel like I have the right to be lazy. I just wanted to make sure everyone knew the details of our upcoming week and that you won’t be hearing from us until NEXT Monday.
Hi, everybody. I just wanted to let y’all know that we’ll be incommunicado for about a week. Most of you know this, but instead of hosting the two teams that will be here for Block 1, all 10 Quito Quest interns are going to the jungle to facilitate a Huaorani children’s camp/VBS for about 150 children from all over the jungle. They’ll be staying there and coming by foot, by plane, or by canoe. Our group will take a public bus from Quito to Shell and then fly from Shell to the strip in the jungle. We’ll be there from Tuesday afternoon until we fly back out next Monday morning. We’ll be bathing in and filtering our own water from the river, eating lots of Yucca and rice, wearing rubber boots and soccer socks all the time, have no cell phones, laptops, ipods, showers, or Taco Bell, watching out for anacondas, and having a fantastic time. And I’m not just saying any of that (including anacondas) to terrify my family and Barbara. I’m dead serious about every bit. And I’m STOKED.

Just pray for us in general as we travel and as we live in the jungle and work and play with and teach the kids. Also, specifically pray for:
–Sarah because she’s been a little under the weather. She got sick about the time the other interns recovered.
-Also, Lane injured his ankle playing basketball today after church, and he seems to be doing alright but definitely needs a complete recovery before we leave.
–Sarah and I, in charge of VBS and songs (wow, hoping to delegate a little bit)
–Matt and Angela, in charge of testimonies and programs for the week
–Sarah and Angela, our appointed translators (for the kids- most adults only speak Wao and will need two translators)
–Each of the five parejas who will be leading the group one day of the week for all our planning and our debrief that day
-Chet as he leads us all
–Lauren, Jenny and Tory who will be at Carmen Bajo without Pastor Fabian
–Dario, Sara and Adam DeVries, Christy, and the other full-timers who will be hosting teams in our absence starting tonight
–Jenny, Tory and Emily, the site hosts, as they begin really working at Carmen Bajo and Emaus respectively

The whole list of who’s going is as follows:

Dana Artinger, Maestra
Teddy Christenberry, intern
Bryan Cole, Maestro
Jerry Drew, intern
Fabian Erazo, pastor, Carmen Bajo
Necia Erickson, intern
Nicole Harrison, intern
Lane Hoffbeck, intern
Angela Markey, intern and translator
Sarah Miller, intern and translator
Danny Peck, intern
Danielle Silagi, intern
Matt Smith, intern
Chet Williams, YW adventure staff

I’ll probably update the blog once, maybe twice before we take off at 10:00am for the bus station, and after that, no news is good news until Monday, as our only contact will be via satellite phone if there’s an absolute emergency. I’ll also try to have some things written and ready to post when we come back, though I imagine a lot of sleep will happen between Monday and Thursday afternoons from when we get back to Quito and when our first teams arrive. Necia is bringing her camera so there should be some pictures at least. Some will go on the blog directly, and the majority are in the photos section (click the link at the top of my site). And if you want me to read any responses, you’d better get back to me before 8:00 tomorrow (Monday). If you want me to respond (more than two words), 10:00 tonight (Sunday) would be a good goal.

Love in Christ

Author: Danny

Occasional Ecuadorian View all posts by Danny