Gary and Esther Smith
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“Cliff” notes of recent hike to outreach village

April 30, 2013 by Gary and Esther Smith

 

  • Left Saturday to begin a 3.5 hour extreme hike to the 2nd village church
  • Cautiously crossed many places on the trail that had been washed away by landslides.
  • Nearly swept away by higher than normal river water since the bridge got washed away.
  • Stung by bees (both Caleb and I) on the way.
  • Finally arrived several pounds lighter, had a wonderful time visiting and being fed tribal food (sweet potatoes, spinach, and beans).
  • Stayed up late with 2 bible teachers and families discussing Scripture and discipling.
  • Slept on half a mattress (shared it with a bible teacher from our village)
  • Woke up at 5am to our host worshipping the Lord in prayer.
  • Worshipped together with the believers in the 2nd village, who have just started the book of 1st Corinthians.
  • Hiked up to the 3rd village for the evangelistic lessons from Creation to Christ.
  • Few more pounds lighter
  • Observed as the group of bible teachers did the teaching and taught one of the 5 lessons for that weekend.
  • Consulted with the Bible teachers as to how things are going (if I was grading them I’d give them an “A”!)
  • Were ready to leave to head back home on the long trail, but God sent a huge rain and everyone wanted us to stay for fear of more landslides and even higher water level.
  • So glad God orchestrated it to stay another night as we got to visit with the 3rd village and heard amazing testimonies.
  • Hiked back down to 2nd village and ate more yummy tribal food (same as night before)
  • Sat in a house with just Caleb and one other man as he played his guitar and we sang worship songs together. Amazing!
  • Fell asleep to him continuing to sing and pray.
  • Next morning awoken at 5 by a man from another house playing his guitar singing worship songs.
  • Left for home. This time a man came with us to guide us.
  • Killed the bees that stung us on the way. (Not my idea but the man escorting us said they deserved it.)
  • Built a makeshift bridge over the troubled waters.
  • Just about crawled over the bridge.
  • Came to a really bad place on the trail that was washed away and watched the ground moving underneath as our guide trampled across it.
  • Caleb crossed fine, but I found myself giving in to fear. I felt frozen. God helped and I went across as fast as I could.
  • Turned around to look at what we had just crossed and saw more of the land slide down the steep mountain!
  • Thanked God for His protection.
  • Arrived home and put on all the pounds we just lost.
  • To see more pictures follow this link: https://blogs.ethnos360.org/gary-smith/photos/?album=1&gallery=13&show=gallery

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Gary and Esther Smith

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