Jungle Retreat

Thank you so much for your prayers this weekend. The Lord´s safety certainly was evident.

We all left for the jungle early Friday morning. There were about 7 men from the church along and about 15 youth. We loaded 17 bikes onto the back of a pickup and then everyone loaded into a public bus headed for the jungle. It was a 6 hour trip to our destination. The rout took us high into the mountains and then down into the jungle. Partway down and two hours from our destination everyone who had bikes got off the bus and the rest continued on. We waited for about 30 min. and then the pickup showed up with the bikes. Everyone got on their bikes and the pickup took up the rear¨"picking up the pieces". Picking up the pieces is quite litterally what it was. The road was one lane and zig-zaged down the mountain. The road mostly rocks and muddy in a few places. It was quite a site to see 17 bikes careening down the mountain trying like crazy to dodge the rocks and not skid out on the corners. I was imagining before we left that everything was downhill, but such was not the case. The road generally lead downhill, but there were a few very long, hard, uphill stretches. On the first large downhill stretch, the front tire on my bike blew out and by the end, there were at least 3 flat tires. The pickup would would pickup the disabled bikes and we would kind of piece them together again. I swapped the front tire on my bike with that from another bike and was able to continue riding most of the way. Besides the flats and a few scraped knees and hands, there were no other mishaps.

I had my camera along, so I´ll have to upload some pictures another day. The scenery was spectacular. Orchids grew along the road and there were butterflies all over. Once in a while we´d stop and cool off in a waterfall next to the road. What a wonderful Creator we have!

We arrived a the retreat center late in the day. Some believers in the area had made an addition to there house for the purpose of holding retreats. The bottom story was open on 3 sides and had tables and chairs for eating and sessions. The upper story was divided in two and had matresses on the floor for sleeping. The whole structure was built a few feet off the ground and was made out of wood with a tin roof. It was very well designed.

Friday evening we had supper, a longer devotional and then headed to bed. We woke up Friday morning and had breakfast. It consisted of hot milk, a fried egg and a dish made from green bananas. After breakfast, we had breakfast and then had a time in the Word. At about 10:00 all 23 of us in the group loaded on and into the pickup and headed to look for a cave. Once again we drove on single lane rocky roads that climed right up the mountain side. There were waterfalls next to the road and part of the road was washed out in places. I was sitting on the back pickup right over it´s rear dual tires. As we went past one area where water had washed away the road, I watched as the outside, rear tire, hung suspended in the air for a brief moment. The Lord´s angels were watching over us.

On arriving to the approximate location where the cave was supposed to be we all unloaded off the truck and started the descent down into a valley. We didn´t find the path at the start, so kind of forged our own path through the tall grasses. Every now and then we would find a lemon tree growing wild so we would stop and pick some of the fruit. We finally found the path leading to the cave, and there headed into an area with more trees. This looked more like jungle to me. The path was muddy, and very steep. Impatiants grew wild and there were vines hanging from the trees. After about a 45 min hike we arrived at the cave. It was a big hole in the side of the mountain with a good sized stream flowing out of it. We entered and I wasn´t disappointed. There were 6ft stalactites, and the interior of the cave was very large. I saw a 8 inch spider hanging on the roof and there were large bats flying past our faces. We walked probably 20 min before we reached the back of the cave. We would usually walk next to the stream, but in one place had to walk in water up to our knees to get past.

We got back from our cave adventure at about 1:30 in the afternoon. We ate lunch and spent most of the afternoon relaxing playing soccer and volleyball in a swimming pool. After the activities we had supper and I had the evening session. I shared on Col. 3 and setting our affections on things above.

In the evening we went out to the town and walked around the central park. I tried taking some pictures in the dark. We´ll see how they turn out. At 10:30pm we all met at a corner waiting for the pickup to come and pickup us up, but it never came. Finally, a motorcycle showed up and said the lugnuts on one of the truck´s back tires had come loose. PTL the tire didn´t fall off with everyone on the pickup! We all ended up walking back to where we were staying in the dark. It was about a 30 min walk, and we were all ready for bed.

Sunday morning we had breakfast at 6:30am and then had a church service. Pastor Santiago lead the service and shared the message. He shared on the importance of following Christ and not looking behind. At about 10:00 we left for a nearby river. The plan was to go to the top of the river and walk down it. There were waterfalls all the way down and pools at the bottom of many of the falls. It had rained the night before, but we decided to still go. We weren´t able to jump into some of the pools due to the strong current. We walked around these and enjoyed some of the quieter pools and falls. The river made it´s way through a small canyon. There were trees overhead and vines hanging down. We could swing on some of the vines. Unfortunately, there was no way to bring my camera along for this adventure. In places we all had to get into the water and swim. This would have been quite impossible with a camera. It was a hard enough challenge for me just to keep track of my glasses.

Part way down the river, we realized there was no way we were going to make it back to the retreat center in time to catch the 12:00 bus if we continued down the river. So, we left the river and started trekking through the jungle in search of the road. After about a 20 min trek we found the road and everyone was given directions. Everyone was to begin jogging back to the retreat center. On arrival, there was to be no showers. (You can imagine what we looked like after trekking through the jungle.) Everyone was supposed to change, pack, and quickly eat lunch in order to catch the bus.

The youth were up to the challenge. Everyone cooperated and we made it in time. Since there were 20 of us riding in the bus, they were even able to convince the public bus to come out to the retreat center and pick us up. The trip home was uneventful. We arrived back in Cuenca at about 6:00pm, tired but very thankful for a safe long weekend.

Thanks again for those who where praying. The Lord´s safety was very evident. May the Lord use the challenges faced to teach HIS character in the lives of the youth and may they take to heart the spiritual teaching as well.

I´ll try to upload some pictures in the next couple days.