While it was still dark this morning, at 4:45am, the team, sardined into the van with LOTS of packs, headed for the river.
They left almost a day later than planned because one of the team members' bus had been delayed because of bad road conditions. The roads were pretty bad, rather dangerous even. There had been some significant landslides recently. But most of the delay was due to the fact the workers (big machine drivers, flaggers, etc) had the holiday weekend off.
In order to make all the boat connections, they were thinking they may have to leave her behind. Thankfully, the cell phone signal finally got through. Just in time, too, as the van was burdened with stuff and the team was only bathroom breaks away from loading up. But, she was still nine hours away!
We decided to wait.
At 7am this morning, Micah called. I could hear a roaring motor in the background. Forgetting that I could hear him just fine, he shouted, 'We're in the boat! We made it. There were some landslides on the way, but it wasn't too bad. We're just about to pass out of cell phone range, so I wanted to let you know, they're saying that the rains from yesterday might have been just enough to raise the Chipporana enough that we won't have to do the LONG walk."
I smiled and said, "Of course. Because God IS good like that."
It could be that the delay was just what God wanted to bless them with. It hadn't rained for more than a week and the extra fourteen hours may have been enough to fill that little river. Let's pray that they remain sensitive to the Lord's leading and that everything continues to go well with them.
Preaching, teaching, praying, boating and trekking were the main events for 15 bible students and I last week. On Sunday afternoon a few brothers and I took off in the Lord's boat (El Chasqui Del Rey) and picked up students from several different villages along the river. These students are all preachers, teachers, and evangelists in their respective pueblos and are very key men who want and need biblical training.
During the course of the week we visited six villages where we did everything possible to get the gospel out to the people. Every afternoon we did "hut to hut" evangelism while passing out tracts, praying for the people and sharing Christ with them. In the evenings we held evangelistic open air meetings and then counseled interested souls.
Every day began with Bible reading and prayer and then we spent 5 hours between breakfast and lunch going through a course on Ecclesiology (study of the church). We went through the whole book of Acts and several key passages in the pastoral epistles. This was an extremely valuable time and great opportunity to pour into these men that God is using for His glory along the Huallaga river. Please pray for them!
Missions quote for the day from William Booth:
“Not called!' did you say?
'Not heard the call,' I think you should say.
Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father's house and bid their brothers and sisters and servants and masters not to come there. Then look Christ in the face — whose mercy you have professed to obey — and tell Him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish His mercy to the world.”
Micah for the Tuttle's
This morning I preached from Revelation 22. It seemed that the Lord really used it. Praise Him for the work He does in our hearts through the hearing of His word!
At breakfast we had turtle eggs that were mostly raw! Yum! No kidding they are quite tasty :)
Throughout the day I was able to pretend that I was a medical doctor. People in these villages are constantly battling with parasites, ulcers, and malnutrition. Because of limited quantities, I tried to keep it quiet that I had anti-parasite pills, vitamins and antibiotics but when the brothers realized that I was giving out medicine word spread quickly and soon the lines started to form. It was great to help these needy people :)
This afternoon I preached from Genesis 3-5. People listened well but I felt powerless as the seed seemed to fall on many hard hearts. Later that evening we moved the meeting out in the street, where I got up on a chair and preached from Mark 8:34-38. This time many seemed to be convicted of sin and drawn to the Savior. Only God knows what happens in the hearts of men! We finished the day with a video of Bert and Colleen Elliot's memorial service.
There are a lot of fish in the river right now. If you watch the shore at certain spots you can see literally hundreds of fish jumping out of the water at the same time. We even had two fish jump right into our boat as we motored along.
To give you an idea of what the convention schedule is like... Today went like this:
From 5-6 a.m Prayer and praise
From 6-7 I preached on knowing God (Lucas 10:39)
From 7-8 Breakfast
From 8-9 Brother Jairo taught on Daniel chapter 9.
From 9-10 Brother Neil taught against witch-craft.
From 10-11 We split into small groups, one of which I led (eschatology)
From 11-12 Question and answer panel
From 12-1 Lunch
From 1-3 Free-time (during which we played soccer and swam in the river)
From 3-4 Brother Neil taught against witch-craft
From 4-5 Brother Jairo taught on Daniel chapter 9
From 5-7 Dinner
From 7-10 I preached at the evangelistic meeting (Ezekiel 7:8-9)
That is what the hour by hour plan looked like these last couple of days. Pretty much every spare moment at free-time or meals was spent with individual brothers in mutual encouragement and council. We must make the most of every day! Praise God for these strategic moments with His key servants in this region!
The majestic Andes mountains sloping down into the Amazon Jungle is a spectacular sight to see as you dodge huge whirlpools and shoot the rapids of the Haullaga river. Fifteen brothers and I were on our way to the bi-annual convention of river churches. These conferences are always encouraging and looked forward to with great anticipation. Brothers and sisters come from the surrounding villages excited about the Bible teaching, worship and fellowship that takes place.
After a few hours in the boat we spent another hour or so in a 4x4. Mud flew, the truck lurched and we all hung on for dear life as our driver sped us down the bumpy dirt road. Finally, we arrived at the village where the conference was to take place: “Papa Playa”.
We made it safe and sound... but not without stiff necks, sunburned arms and a thick coating of dirt on our heads :) It was fun to be greeted by the crowds of precious brothers and sisters awaiting our arrival. We got cleaned up as fast as we could and went straight to the first meeting. I preached Mark 14 to about 300 riveted people. The Lord seemed to really work. We trust in God's promise that His word will not return
void!
The weekend before last, I was able to visit with and encourage the brethren in Tarapoto. Praise the Lord, the church is doing well! We had meetings to talk about the transitioning leadership (the brother the Lord sent to take our place last year will return to his hometown and our young men will be taking over), we discussed logistics of the youth meeting, and we broke bread together on Sunday.
The following Monday, myself and 3 young men headed out on a river trip to visit several different villages. The believers in each village were very excited to see us as our visit was unplanned and quite a surprise to all. It's been about nine months since I last visited these churches, so it was a real blessing to see these precious brothers and sisters and to note their growth in the Lord.
Ministry included dealing with church problems, doing lots of evangelism, preaching open air and taking medicine to the sick. The menu included broiled fish, corn on the cob, plantains cooked in the ashes and the famous jungle drink "mazato" (manioc spit juice). The motive was God's glory, including man's salvation and the church's edification.
Please pray for Jilmer, Delmith, Martha and Jaquelin who knelt and made professions of faith in the wet grass of Achinamisa, late Monday night after the open air meeting. It was exciting to preach and watch the Holy Spirit working on people's hearts, convicting them of sin and driving them to the Savior.
-Micah for the Tuttle's
Missionary quote for the day:
"It will not do to say that you have no "special call" to go. With the facts before you and the command of our Lord Jesus, you need rather to ascertain whether you have a "special call" to stay at home." -Hudson Taylor
Dear friends and family:
When we arrived in Yarina, we were warned that the day before 9 trucks were assaulted along the dirt road that leads to the next village. Myself and the three brothers with me had to get back to Tarapoto so we decided to "go for it" and took the only 4x4 that was willing to try the trip. God is good, he protected us and we made it to the next village (Pongo), escaping all thieves.
Things really got exciting from Pongo on. We'd experienced torrential rains for about 4 days in a row and village after village was flooded. There were landslides everywhere. They told us that the highway to Tarapoto would be closed for at least a week. Once again we decided to "go for it" and attempt to walk to where we might be able to catch a car to Tarapoto.
We ended up walking from kilometer post 50 to kilometer post 30 and crossed about 35 landslides. It took us 5 hours slogging through mud, crossing streams and picking our way through logs and huge boulders. We had a great time of adventure and worship as we sang and prayed and quoted bible verses along the way. 
Friday Sept 25, 2010
A big, bright, beautiful moon this morning at 4:45 a.m. Read Acts 1-7 until the sun fully came up. People started to come to the hut at about 6:30 so we started singing and then I preached on Joshua 1. Three people that had been convicted by the message last night made professions of faith this morning and we all rejoiced with them. We must pray that this fruit will be lasting. Two of the new believers and a few of the others were eager to start on the Emmaus discipleship courses. I'm really hoping that these courses will help establish the faith of the brothers in these villages.
After breakfast we packed out the house by putting on the movie Fireproof. This movie is great in these villages because fornication, unfaithfulness and broken relationships are rampant everywhere. Almost no one gets married and trading sex partners is commonplace. This is always the first area that we have to work on when someone comes to Christ. After lunch we played soccer with the men of the village (very rough) and then walked 45 minutes through the jungle to the next village.
When we arrived in Pucalpillo everyone was weaving palm leaves (Krisneja) for their roofs. They said that one week ago a “Huracán” came through, destroying many of the houses and ripping off their roofs (there were plenty of demolished homes). We tried to help one family with the palm weaving but we were doing more damage than good so we decided to go door to door and hand out tracts. It was encouraging to backtrack through the village an hour later and see that many small groups of 5 or 6 people had formed around someone with a tract who was reading it out loud to the others.
At the open air meeting I preached Mark 8:35-37. About 200 people gathered to listen as I preached at the top of my voice for an hour. It seemed that many were seriously reflecting on the state of their soul but in the end there was no outward sign of God working in anyone. Only time will tell. His word will not return void.
sunset over the Huallaga River
After praying with the brothers in Ricardo Palma we headed further down river this morning. We were able to catch a motor boat (11 year old driver) and we quickly made it to Achinamisa where about twenty brothers were eagerly awaiting our arrival. They had asked me to bring a keyboard, 35 hymnals and 10 Bibles. I was glad to finally get rid of all that weight and not have to worry about the keyboard getting stolen or lost or going overboard. We had hoped to just hand over the requested goods and continue on to the next village but it's soooo difficult when they tell you that they have prepared a special meal of fried tucan and yucca spit juice!
After our exciting lunch we continued on to Solterito where lunch #2 was waiting for us. The real problem with eating so much on these trips is that many of these villages (including Solterito) don't have outhouses. You just have to find a tree and then the pigs do the clean up work.
It just so happened that the village was celebrating their anniversary and they had brought in a generator and a set of loud speakers. We asked if we could use the sound system for one hour before the party and the authorities agreed. Not only did all of Solterito come out to listen but also many people from the nearby villages showed up too. I preached on Matthew 7:13-14 (2 doors, 2 ways, 2 classes, 2 destinies... which will you choose?). Everyone seemed shocked afterward and I think I ruined their party. Everyone had come to get wasted on sugarcane gin and ended up getting shaken by God's word and forced to choose which path they would take. God planned it. Glory to Him.
-Micah for the Tuttle's
baptism from the previous day
Thursday, September 23
Since the moment we arrived here in Ricardo Palma we've been harrassed by a very annoying drunk that follows us around everywhere. He went door to door with us, ate with us, and continually interrupted our times of singing and bible reading. I tried to be patient with him but it was very clear that he wasn't going to sober up and had no intention to sincerely turn to the Lord. At the open air meeting he kept trying to come forward and “repent” (in a mock sense) but I told him to sit back down. One time I even had to take him by the arm back to his seat. It was a tremendous distraction to all, and in the end, this village was the least responsive to the gospel. It reminded me of Acts 16:17-18 (except I didn't cast out any demons).
At the open air meeting I preached Ezekiel 7:8-9 and then we put on the Fireproof DVD (I always take a few evangelistic movies to use whenever a generator and a T.V can be found). At about midnight we had a piping hot cup of chocolate milled from their own cocoa beans and then we were off to bed.
At 5:00 a.m the believers began to show up at the church building where we had slept on the hard ground. Thankfully they didn't catch us snoring away, we were up and ready to go. Eber started playing his guitar to lead us in worship and when he finished I preached on 1Thes 4 and Rev 20. The believers seemed to be very encouraged and had many questions. We finished up around 9:00 a.m and then had a scrumptious banana breakfast with coconut juice to wash it down.
Before we left, the three main brothers expressed a desire to start the Emaus corespondence courses but they didn't have any money to buy them (less than a dollar for course #1). I always insist that they pay for them because otherwise they just don't value the opportunity. One of the brothers offered to pay with his coa coa beans and just like that we struck a deal. Now they are happily studying their Bible courses and I'm happily drinking hot chocolate every day.
-Micah for the Tuttle's
Wednesday September 22
This morning I baptized the four people that placed their faith in Christ yesterday. Most of the village gathered around to watch and listen as I preached in the river. It was another good opportunity to preach the gospel. After the baptism we went back to the hut where we were staying and I preached from 1 John on four proofs of genuine Christianity. The believers were very attentive and we had a great question and answer time. Four of the men here bought the Emmaus correspondence courses that I've been pushing everywhere I go. They are showing a real desire to study and prepare themselves to lead this new work!
Three interesting things in this village are:
- Good hunting: last night one of the men checked his “trampero” (Shotgun set up on a trip-wire) and found that he had shot a wild boar so we've been eating smoked “Sahino” meat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Yum!
- Interminable salt mines (click here, or see video below): The people harvest tons of salt and sell it down river in the “big cities”
- A pristine, crystal clear creek: the water cascades down a natural waterslide rock formation into a beautiful pool (just how I imagine the garden of Eden).
At about 3:00 p.m two of the brothers took us down river in their small paddle canoe. They guided us through a few difficult white water spots while Eber and I bailed the water that kept pouring in over the sides. After about an hour of sopping wet excitement we arrived in the next village (Ricardo Palma) where the believers were surprised, but, elated to see us. The message hadn't gotten through to them that we were coming but all the same they stopped everything to receive us. One brother went out to catch some fish for dinner, another went to mill some dried chocolate beans, the sisters got to work boiling plantains and cooking rice and the rest just gathered around as Eber and I sang hymns and read the Bible out loud. Praise the Lord for this opportunity to serve HIM.
"Wild boar brains, eyeballs, toucan meat, and yucca spit juice were just a few of the delicacies on the menu as brother Eber and I visited several villages last week."Um, yeah. So how's that for an intro? Does it whet your appetite to read more?! Awesome!
- Micah Tuttle
Well, we have another series of posts coming up this week from Micah's journal over the last week while he was out on the river going village to village. The dates of his trip were Tuesday 9/21 - Saturday 9/25. So without further ado...
Tuesday, September 21
We left Tarapoto at 3:30 this morning and about three hours later arrived in Chazuta where we immediately went to the radio station and preached on the air waves. The only communication access that the surrounding villages have is by radio and so it was a great opportunity to get the gospel to a lot of isolated people (it encouraged us when in each village people commented that they had heard the radio message). After breakfast with the believers we got the next boat down river and within an hour we were in the small village of Callanayacu.
This was an extremely exciting visit for me because just six months ago there were no believers in this village and now there are fourteen! In June two men from Callanayacu happened to be in another village where they heard me preaching open air. Both made professions of faith on that day and when they returned home they started sharing the gospel with everyone in Callanayacu. In three months eight more people have made professions of faith. Today Eber and I went door to door and then preached open air. Praise the Lord, four more came forward tonight to place their faith in Christ! Pray that this new infant work would produce fruit that will last!
- Micah Tuttle
Early this morning, I read Psalms 1-30 with the guys. We walked 2 miles to Pelejo, talking. Once in Pelejo, visited the main church leader, who gave us breakfast of plantains with HOT chile sauce. During the day we visited many houses, sharing the gospel and inviting them to the meeting in the night. In the evening, the verdant greens faded, the sun set, the stars began to glow. Preached Isaiah 55, in the dark to a good crowd in the plaza de armas (town square). I couldn't see anyone, until later when the light came on and sure enough I'd been preaching to a good sized group of people. Many were shaken and wanted to talk afterward. It seems like many people were interested in the message, but once again, we kept hearing the same sad story, people don't want church because of the bad testimony of a handful of leaders in the church. We NEED leaders.
Arturo (the almost blind missionary with lots of the Bible memorized),
myself and Hildebrando (the elder in the church at Pelejo).
Up at 5 a.m to pray and read with the guys. We read from Psalms 119 thru 150. Awesome God! After breakfast we went to pray for sister Patricia, she was in a lot of pain (everyone thinks it is appendicitis). I could only urge the family to get her to the hospital in Tarapoto as soon as possible.
At about 10 a.m we headed up river in a peke peke (boat with a motor, the sound the motor makes sounds like 'peke-peke') to the next village. Along the way, the propeller shaft hit a submerged log and the whole motor came flying out of its socket, flipped over and landed on Pablo's leg. He had a pretty good gash and lost plenty of blood. In the end he was alright, but the peke peke was busted and we were stranded on the banks of the river a few miles from the village. There was nothing else to do but to set out hacking through the jungle with machetes until we found a trail.
After an exciting trek slogging through mud, eating a variety of jungle fruits and avoiding the many poisonous critters we finally made it to Puerto Mercedes, where we promptly began our regular hut to hut evangelistic visits. After giving out N.T's and tracts to a lot of people one family gave us a fine dinner of rice, beans and majaz which was muy rico (very yummy). That night the normally abandoned church building was so packed out I thought the elevated rotting wood floor was going to cave in (by some miracle it didn't). I preached from Mark 14:66-72 and everyone was very attentive. I was able to deal with several souls for a good amount of time afterward and I think the Lord was really working. Many people begged us to return and help resurrect this church that no longer meets together at all. If only there were 40 dedicated available men to serve in 40 different villages that all have a similar story.
At about midnight we said our good-byes, got into our canoe (the motor had been re-secured and brought up to the village by that time) and we headed into the pitch dark to sail the mighty Huallaga river. Despite the tremendous darkness, Pablo our peke peke driver, had no problems guiding us back to Papa Playa where we happily retired to our tents (in the company of rats).
This is a series of posts from Micah's journal that he kept on last weeks' river trip.
The dates of the trip were June 2nd - 5th. He plans to make at least one week long trip each month.
Here's part one:
6-2-10
Today I left Tarapoto at about 5:30 a.m with Edinson, Ever and Jerlin. As we headed over the 'seja de selva' [mountain sloping down into jungle plain] in a rented 4X4, we read 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon and Hebrews out loud. Each time the truck had to make a stop, we got out and sang, gave away tracts and shared the gospel to whoever would gather to listen. When we arrived in Papa Playa a group of brothers and sisters were waiting to greet us. This village has the healthiest assembly of all of the river towns along the Haullaga due to the presence of long time Peruvian missionary Arturo Napuchi. He is almost blind, has very limited resources, but regardless is a great preacher. He also has nearly the whole N.T memorized! It was a great joy to give him and his family a 110 lb sack of rice, some money and some corrugated metal sheets for his leaky roof.
We spent the afternoon going from hut to hut sharing the gospel, praying for the sick and inviting people to the evening gospel meeting. After a fine dinner of fish, banana juice, banana chips, boiled banana, and fried banana we hurried off to the meeting. Many people came out. Edinson and Jerlin led the music, Ever and I preached (you can't just have one sermon in these villages, they always ask for at least two). It was a good time and I think that many were encouraged. When everybody had left we set up our tents in the church building and drifted off to sleep to the sound of rats scurrying up and down the tent poles.
Ever playing guitar in the boat, the next day.
Micah got back on Saturday night, happy, tired and dirty. The trip was profitable... but I'll let him tell you all about it. I'll post a few pictures later tonight if I can... tonight IS date night though, so don't get your hopes up too high ;)
I did post a couple of pictures on my blog: HERE
amy for all
Sinking boat
Monday, April 26, 2010
Today we were up at 4:30 a.m to pray with the believers and say goodbye. They gave me a chicken, 2 kilos of peanuts, 2 kilos of cocoa beans (unshelled), and 50 soles ($17). Wow! They gave out of their poverty! I was astounded! We headed down river. Amazing sunrise. 10 foot long snake crossed the river just ahead of our boat - very impressive! We read 1 & 2 Thessalonians out loud. We stopped in Huimbayoc to drop off a passenger and visit a brother. As we were about to leave, an angry bull romped through the street. They had a hold of it with some ropes but couldn't control it. It went wild and started taking out anything in it's path, including a motorcar... We got back in the boat and went on to Yarina where the road is. Upon arrival we ate lunch with the believers and then set up with a truck to take us back to Tarapoto. On the truck I found a brother that I hadn't seen since I'd met him nine years ago. I asked him how it was going and he told me the story of how he had walked away from the Lord. I spent the next three hours trying to encourage him and exhort him to draw near to the Lord. I realized that God had put us together. It was a good couple of hours. After his stop I prayed for him and then Samuel and Edy and I read 1 & 2 Timothy... We arrived home in Tarapoto at about 7 p.m. All the kids came running out and tackled me (Amy had left my arrival a surprise). We had a great time looking at my pictures and wrestling around. Got to take a real shower and shave. Amy and I went out for a romantic date. I ordered lasagna! We had a great time talking. It is great to be home.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
We hit the trail this morning at 4:30 a.m on our way back to San Jose. It is absolutely amazing to walk through the jungle as dawn breaks. We saw a few añuje cross the trail ahead of us. Very cool! After crossing the river twice (wary of stingrays, electric eels, alligators and boas) we came upon three houses (15 people or so) and gave out tracts and N.T's. The people listened to the gospel eagerly. We continued on to San Jose and as we reached the village we could hear the church joyfully singing to the Lord. I entered muddy, drenched in sweat, and half limping from a bloody toe. After lots of hugs, kisses and handshakes, the brethren explained that they were waiting for us and wanted to hear from God's word. I preached on Heb 12:2. Edinson and Samuel also preached. As we came out of the meeting, someone had just killed an anteater. Yum! They didn't want to share with us though and we had to settle for majáz. As we headed down to the river to load up in the canoe we came upon 4 guys skinning a 25 foot long boa. When they cut it open it had a deer inside! The guy that killed it said it was coming after him but luckily he had his shotgun... We headed back down river. Read Philippians and Colossians out loud together. Arrived in Santa Martha, cooled off in the river, ate dinner and went to the meeting. I preached on Judges 3:7-11. The Lord seemed to work in several hearts. Met with the leaders afterward and tried to help them to work out their differences. It went well. Got to bed* at 1:00 a.m.
*Going to bed on these trips means... setting up a small tent inside someone's house or the church and then arranging my semi-damp clothes over the floor for a cushion and zipping myself inside. It's definitely hotter, but it's worth it for the privacy and protection from mosquitoes and rats.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
All 60 members of the church here in Santa Rocio showed up at the 4 a.m meeting today. This church is by far the most mature and thriving. I taught on the gifts of the Spirit and miracles (there is much confusion over this topic everywhere). After a good question & answer time, I asked to have a meeting with the elders. I tried to encourage them in what they are doing. After breakfast we read Galatians and Ephesians and then went out to visit some of the houses in the surrounding countryside. We gave out tracts and shared the gospel with many. We ate fariña* and dried deer meat for lunch. On the way back to the village, we got caught on the trail in a torrential downpour and ended up soaked to the bone. Later, we ate doncella (fish) for dinner. We then went to pray for two sick ladies (they were moaning and wailing in pain). I wished I had a doctor with me. When we set up to preach that night there were not as many people gathered because on the other side of the village there was a big fiesta going on (competition with God's word). Once I began to preach, everyone left the fiesta running over to hear the sermon. My sermon was on the first questions of the Old and New Testaments. The people were very attentive. When I gave an opportunity to repent, Damian our peke peke canoe driver came forward. I had hired him on Monday back in Yarina when he was half drunk. In tears, he told how he had now listened to 11 sermons in 6 days and how he had heard us reading the Bible in every spare moment. He said that now he wanted to experience the forgiveness and peace that Jesus gives to those who repent and trust in Him... I am so overjoyed!
*Yucca left to soak, then ground and toasted (dehydrated yucca). Mix it with water and it sort of expands like cream of wheat. Many people on the rivers take a bunch of this on their treks and it serves for a simple meal.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Despite bad testimonies among the believers here, there are about 30 brothers and sisters that meet regularly and they, like the other villages, asked us to have the early morning meeting (4-8 a.m). I preached on Revelation 22 “Christ's last 3 calls”. Afterward, we met with the leaders and begged them to live lives worthy of the calling with which we have been called. At 10 a.m. we left promptly for our twenty mile trek on foot for the next village (the river was too shallow to travel in our canoe). After about two hours of hard walking we were startled by a 7 foot long black and yellow poisonous snake that came across the trail just a few yards ahead of us. It stopped and looked at us for a second and then disappeared into the forest. An hour later we had to cross the river. The locals say that people are always stepping on stingrays when they wade through and you have to throw rocks ahead of you to scare them out of your path. Very exciting! After about 5 hours of trudging through mud and traversing spectacular jungle landscape we finally arrived in Santa Rocio. We jumped in the river to cool off and then we were off to supper. One of the brothers had just killed a huangana and his wife made hot chocolate from freshly ground and toasted cocoa beans. Yum! That night I preached Romans 1 in the open air to all 150 inhabitants. Afterward we were very sore and tired but managed to read all of 2 Corinthians together in our tents before going to sleep.
That's a baby-ish anteater... yes, sad. They eat EVERYTHING here.
