It was 8 p.m and we could hear the brethren singing in the chapel. Ian and I must have been a pitiful sight to behold as we walked in with muddy boots, sweat-drenched shirts and 35 pound backpacks draped over our shoulders. We had traveled by car and then by boat and finally, for the last leg of the journey, we walked 15 miles. Our backs were aching, our calves were tight, we had blistered feet and sunburned arms but our hearts were full of joy as we met with the brethren in the village of Leche. Normally we would have cleaned up before going to church but on this occasion it seemed OK and no one complained :) After a lot of hugs and backslapping I went to the makeshift pulpit and preached a short 2 hour sermon on the life of Elijah.

On the following day we had to continue on in our journey and when we arrived in the next village we were greeted with many cries of "Arrepientanse" or "Repent" (the word that I repeated about 100 times when I open-air preached there last month). It was encouraging to me that they remembered my message but it was even more encouraging that there were five people that had been wrestling with the gospel that whole month and on this trip they gave their lives to Christ! Please pray for them!

During the course of the week I preached every night and then during the day we did many pastoral visits from hut to hut. We even went to some of the outlying homesteads that are scattered around the jungle within an hours walk of the village. We were able to give out new testaments, share the gospel, give out medicine and pray for people. What a joy! No greater work exists on the planet then to share Christ's love with lost sinners. It was a very profitable time with many opportunities to make Christ's name great.


To add to our adventure we made an exploratory trip into the tribal territory of the Cacataybo. This is an unreached people group that lives in the uncharted virgin jungles northeast of "my" farthest out village. We didn't find any sign of them but it was extremely interesting to hear about these natives from our guide (a brother who works as a national park ranger in this area). The Cacataybo speak an unknown language, are nomadic and naked. They paint their faces, scavenge for food and have only been spotted a few times from low-flying aircrafts. The most staggering thing to think about is that they are dead in their sins and know absolutely nothing of Christ and His saving power. Who will reach them?

On Saturday I started the long journey back to Tarapoto. I left Ian (our short-term visitor from Vancouver Washington) in one of the villages to fend for himself. He will be trying to practice his spanish with the people, learning the "jungle way" and helping the brethren in whatever way he can. He spent the last two and a half months preparing for this and now it was time to "throw him" into the village life (part of our discipleship process). It should be an exciting time for him as he will be there all by himself for the next month. The night before I left he almost stepped on a poisonous viper so please pray for him as he tries to survive :)




Missionary quote for the day by Hudson Taylor: "God uses men who are weak and feeble enough to lean on him."

Micah for the Tuttles