The Ringing in My Ears

As we rode in a crowded little car between two jungle towns, a familiar sound, made foreign by the time that had passed since I last heard it, broke the monotony of the trip. I honestly did not believe my ears, but I quickly looked around to see if I could find some clue as the source of that strangely familiar electronic chirping. "Is that ..." I thought, "a cellphone!?" It couldn't be. As the driver reached down and and looked at the little device I once thought so necessary, I slowly realized that I had not heard one all year. For that matter, the car we were riding in was the first I had seen in two and a half months. I still had not tasted beef or pork and was another week away from a face to face conversation in English since leaving for this last trip. Such is life in the jungle.

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Praise God (and thanks for your prayers!):

• We never heard anything else about the rumor.
• The infection in my leg disappeared almost overnight.
• We continued telling stories to our two groups and added a third in Cascada. All three got to at least the story of Abraham and Isaac.

We spent the remainder of our time in Diamante Azul much as we had spent the first part: weeding crops, clearing new fields, and planting corn and beans. We also did a little fishing (I actually speared one before falling out of the canoe!) and visiting soccer tournaments once in a while. José and I get along great, which is surprising considering that it would be hard to put together a pair of personalities more opposite than ours.

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We arrived in Lima last Saturday, and have enjoyed all the comforts of a truly modern, if ugly, city. José left this morning with Leví, another Ecuadorian, to renew their visas, while I anxiously await the arrival of my parents tomorrow! We'll take a couple of weeks of vacation to see Peru: costa, sierra, and selva. Afterwards, I´ll meet with Joe and José in Pucallpa to discuss our next trip.

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I'll have more info to post then, and hopefully new pictures. It seems that my camera finally gave up the battle against the very humid and sandy atmosphere here, and its cable is in Pucallpa anyway.

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¡Dios les bendiga!

--At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ… that I may make it clear.
Colossians 4:3-4