Quebradas Llanas and La Esperanca

I figured on starting off this month with a shot of our new family member, Jasper. He has grown very nicely since this picture was taken and has learned how to properly beg for food.

                       After one of the many downpours in rainy season, Chris has decided that even rubber boots don't work. Here, mud has gone over the top.
Rain is a real issue, as it destroys the trails locals call roads. We got so tired of driving impossible roads that ruin our 4x4 truck that we...

                           ...decided to get a dirt bike. It would take us about 2 hours to drive 22 kilometers (one way). I now do about 40 kilometers in one hour, which gives us tons of time to preach before rain comes. We reach La Esperanca, but to get there we pass single track trails, cross several rivers and generally have a blast hard time. My little Kawi KX125 handles everything superbly and has never let me down.

 

 Wilder usually comes along on a borrowed bike, and I've had Alex come on his bike once. Except he wiped out and his gas tank started leaking, so now he's scared (and he has a special someone who I won't mention that is consuming all his time, so he can't come out and play). Ohwelllllll...

 The woman of this house and her four kids now study, and her brother Rafael sometimes listens in.

Aside from La Esperanca, another group has been started in Cuesta Da Piedra. Our friend Eric and his wife Nelly were grabbed from the Ngäby and are now caring for this group. They will be having full meetings. The very first one had 45 people, with 22 being studies and family. We were very happy to have some of our own studies there, and even happier to see how hard the group is working to get the good news spread through the community. In total, there are 60 studies in the area, with 30 of them being Ngäbere. Because the indigenous understand Spanish, they will do just fine in this small but loving group.
The house belongs to Eric's mother in law.

 This family made it to the meeting, and two of the children answered during the Watchtower study.

 Chris's new study in Paraiso.

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This shot was taken just before our bike excursion to Quebradas Llanas, and from there to Cañas blancas - a brutal horrid terrain that would end up sucking the very life blood...Ok, I'm getting carried away a bit. (Quebradas Llanas is half way to La Esperanca)
We wanted to reach communities that had never been reached before, and that could only be reached on horseback or walking. Or biking, or so we thought...
Our guest Luke was all smiles at first.
Hehe. Luke was shyly asking if he wanted to read the info. Wanted. Uh. EVERYONE wants to read the info. I had to remind him that you don't ask if they want - just give it to them.
The people in this little ngäby hut were very shy, but we eventually got them out long enough to share some good news with them.
Luke's still laughing...silly him.
Not laughing so much now...
Here, we're at the midway point, about 35 kms in. We spent most of the morning and part of the afternoon riding and talking to everyone we met. Usually, they'd beg us to leave all the reading material we had with them.

At this point, Luke was TIRED. We were too, except less :) Ahem.

Anyway, the local town pastor, a catholic priest who was a slightly pickled asked us when we'd return. He carefully explained that he knew nothing of the bible and needed someone to preach it to him, and could we please come regularly?
Anyway, when we asked him how long it would take to return to Volcan, he said that if we started now, we'd get there by tomorrow mid-day. Luke didn't hear that part. I just told him we'd get back in two hours.

Luke enjoyed the punishment so much he's coming back for more.
Another bike trip - this one to La Esperanca.
Rafael was extremely hospitable. We reached there early afternoon, spent a few hours preaching and then made camp in Rafael's property. We spent hours clarifying bible truths with him and sharing a meal.
Once dinner was over, he pulled out his guitar and started singing. Unfortunately, he only knew one song, which he played over and over again.
Morning, and time to leave...
People here thirst for the truth. My wife studies with one lady in this house, but everyone wants to know more. They're viewing one of the society's videos here.
Usually afternoon downpour. Chris is very gung-ho. This day, serious thunderstorms had us jumping as we returned from a 25 kilometer hike. The night before, a lightening bolt struck one of our study's cows, killing it and nearly killing her too.
Another study told us she saw a couple walking home with their dogs - a bolt hit them, killing the dogs and putting the couple in the hospital.
I figured I'd include this one. Let's see. If I remember correctly, this is a cannibalistic tribe found in a remote Carib community we visited. They live very rudimentary, as you can see from their lack of fashion sense.

Or, it could be our congregation coordinator and a friend.

We study with the boy on the right. The one on the left studies with friends, as does the mom in the background. They come to the meetings every chance they get.
About six pm on one of our visits to quebradas llanas.
The little old lady is 94 years old and her memory is incredible. She's all there, and fussed over her picture being taken. That's why she's looking at me and not the camera.
Behind Chris is Dee, who is visiting for a few months from the states.
We just srted our monthly meeting at Quebradas Llanas here. We use our truck's battery and an inverter for power for our music and stereo system. Sometimes we show a movie, and we bring a projector for that. There's no electricity at the school.
Um. This is cow crap lake, which can be found on cow crap avenue. We fear that if we step in the middle, we'll die a horrible death.
Nadia, in the foreground, is tremendously supportive. As you can see, she's cheering Indiana Jane on, even though she's fallen in the river.
Never would Nadia make fun of her.
And that's not a muh-ha-ha laugh escaping from her lips either.

As you can see, we're having a blast here, lightening bolts and all. We can see so much potential, and only ask that God give us as much time as possible here.