That is truly what we had just a couple weeks ago as
we hiked up the mountain to spend some time with the
Guaymi Indians. You may recall in a past newsletter
Rod told you about the team that came to Panama to
build a building to start a new Latin America
ChildCare school in the mountains of northwest
Panama. We were making the six hour trip, with three
Panamanian brothers, members of the national
Christian school committee, to meet Aixa de Sorreno,
in charge of coordinating the new school. Aixa is
director of our school at Doleguita. She was
bringing a group of 40 from her church to help with
the feeding program at the site.
As we approached our point of rendezvous, it was
raining hard. What a sight to see the large group
carrying food and clothing up the mountain. It
became obvious that our progress would be slowed by
the weather. The rain had turned the deep ruts into
very slick red mud. We slipped and fell many times,
but finally arrived two hours later to what is
called Cerro Duima, the village where the new school
building is located. We were greeted by the many
Guaymi who awaited our arrival. Immediately, three
campfires were started in order to prepare the meal
for the Guaymi who were arriving from every
direction. By the time the food was ready, 60
children and 65 adults had gathered. It confirmed,
once again, the need for this new “mountain” work.
The names and ages of the children were recorded in
order to make plans for the classes. It was so
exciting to join hands with our national brothers
and pray for this new work.
Since we had the six hour return trip ahead of us,
we left ahead of the rest of the group. It continued
to rain hard. But we were already so wet and muddy,
it didn't really matter. Rod and Augustin went ahead
(to kill bear they said); Stephanie, Jennifer and I
were following and behind us were Maxi and Pedro. We
lost sight of Rod and Augustin and arrived at a “Y”
in the trail.
After talking it over, we decided to go left. After
about a half hour we realized that things didn't
look real familiar. We saw a hut ahead and decided
to stop and ask if we were on the path to San Felix,
a village close to where we began our hike. We were
assured that the path would lead there. After
another 45 minutes, we encountered a Guaymi couple,
who once again assured us we were on the path to San
Felix—just 20 minutes ahead. That was great news; we
were all beginning to get tired. Another 30 minutes
passed and we crested the top of a mountain. It was
at that moment I realized we were lost. As we
stopped to talk over our dilemma, we could see the
trail continued into the deep valley below and up
the steep grade of the next mountain.
As we listened we heard the roar of a river. We were
now sure we had made a wrong turn—we hadn't
encountered a river on the way up the mountain.
Soon, we saw two men coming up the trail. Once
again, the men assured us that the trail led to San
Felix and that the river was crossable. We all
agreed we really didn't have a choice—we had better
try it. We continued down the mountain, crossed the
river and prayed as we continued up the other
mountain that the road wouldn't be too far away. And
it wasn't! Everyone was so happy when we finally saw
the main road.
We asked a lady if it lead to the area we had parked
the van. She said it did, but that it was an hours
walk away. The two men refused to go a step further.
So we decided to wait for a vehicle to come by. As
we waiting we tried to figure out where we made the
wrong turn. Within 15 minutes, we flagged down a
pickup who happened to be one of the men from the
church group that went with us up the mountain. He
agreed to take us to the van since he had just
talked with Rod and Augustin, who were very worried
about us. We ended up being two miles from where we
were suppose to be. When we arrived to the van, we
discovered that several had been out looking for us.
As I look back on our experience, it was so easy for
us to get lost on that mountain when we lost sight
of our leader. It reminds me of all the people in
this world who are walking the life's path, but
going the wrong direction. They are lost. They need
a guide, a teacher, to help them find the path to
heaven. That is why this new Guaymi Christian school
is so important. It will help find the many lost
Guaymi find eternal life. Please continue to pray
for the development of this school—director/
administrator, teachers, additional buildings,
application process, etc. |
The cooks prepare “crema de arroz”
for the Guaymi—something like
rice pudding
One of our teachers from the El Buen Pastor
School in David collects names and ages of Guaymi
children
Members of the National Christian
School Committee with Stephanie, Jennifer and I in
the new
school building
"Got any rivers you think are uncrossable? Got
any mountains
you can't tunnel through?" |