The Canoe Ride Back - Part III

Our canoe slid into the muddy embankment and we climbed up the river bank and slipped back into the jungle.  The children ran before us on the path, showing us the drier sides of the muddy holes.  "Okay," we said.  "Okay," they echoed each time we approached a dry spot.  The older woman stopped and pointed out an opened Bird of Paradise.  "Wow!" I said.   "Wow," she replied.  All along the path in front and behind us we heard, "wow" and "okay" repeated.  We smiled...English lessons on the Curaray River.  Cool!  The villagers escorted us all the way back to our plane. We exchanged "Dios Bendigo" and hugs.  "Mucho, mucho gracias para hoy," again and again we repeated.  In our broken Spanish we told them that our hearts were connected to their hearts.  They understood...we know, because they touched their hearts.

We climbed back into our warm plane, waved goodbye and Chad positioned the plane for take off.  We traveled a short, bumpy minute on a grassy runway and left their village behind.  Chad banked right, carrying us back over Palm Beach for one last look at the sandbar below.

We landed in Shell right before dark, just as it began to rain.  Did we get to meet Dayuma?  No.  The villagers told us that she was in Puyo, a small town less than 10 miles from Shell, living with her daughter.  In her 80's now, she is suffering from the "benefits" of old age.  They told us she would probably never travel back to her village again.

The next evening, we had the privilege of having dinner with a nurse who has been at the Shell Hospital for 30 years.  She nursed both Dayuma and Rachel Saint.  She answered our questions about these two "soldiers of the faith" who had translated the New Testament into Waorani so the Waorani tribes could be delivered from darkness into Light.  "For you were once in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord..." (Ephesians 5:8).  Rachel Saint went back to live with the Waorani tribe even though they had speared her brother, Nate.  She lived all her adult life in the Amazon jungle with the Waorani.  She was called by God and "...God's gifts and his call are irrevocable."  (Romans 11:29)

It's odd how people whom we've never met can influence us, whether they are still living or not.  We both recall hearing about these five missionary martyrs when we were only children, but we never believed we would walk with their converts.  This particular journey has convinced us that we can all leave footprints that others can follow and that glorify God.

Thanks for taking this jungle journey with us.  Keep looking up and we will, too!