32 Rivers...

HUSTON; WE HAVE A PROBLEM...



Tool box:                                          Check
Spare fuel pump:                              Check
Spare breakers:                                Check
Voltmeter, spare screws, jack, axle wrench, spare wheel bearing, oil, coolant, gas, check check check check check.

Spare welder..... Not so checked.
Scroll down to find out more...

 

 Rolling hills, mountains, villages nestled in remote valleys hugging a time when people lived by the sun and the crow of a cock. That's where we, and another 23, visited for a few days.
Ask anyone about Panama, and they'll mention, "Did you visit the Panama Canal" or "Playa Bonita", or the "Royal Decameron?" Although I'm sure these are all beautiful places, of which I have happily never visited, the real wealth here are the residents.
But, how do we reach these humble folk?
Start by crossing rivers - in total, 32 of them, mostly by foot. Glad it´s the dry season!

Colinas, montañas, pueblos enclavados en valles remotos abrazando a un tiempo en el que la gente vive por el sol y el cuervo de un grifo. Es aqui donde nosotros, y otros 23, visitó durante unos días.
Si alguien pregunta acerca de panamá, normalmente se escuchará: "Has visto al canal de panamá" o "has ido a playa bonita", o el "royal decameron"? 
Aunque estoy seguro que todos estos son lugares de gran belleza, (de los cuales nunca he visitado jaja)  la verdadera riqueza son los residentes. Pero, ¿cómo podemos llegar a estas personas humildes?  

 Our trusty buggy took all the loads for the initial 6, plus the few odd passengers who didn´t want to get their feet wet.
Nuestro Buggy llevó 6 a una area remota y más la carga toda hasta el punto de desembarque.

 Someone actually sat on top of the backpacks.

 If you're wondering why I'm smiling, see the video at the bottom. Almost wet my pants watching the antics.
Si quieres saber por qué estoy sonriendo, vea el video en la parte inferior. Casi oriné mis pantalones viendo las travesuras. 

 Kevin, the rear passenger, reminded me of the water runners - lizards that run on top of the water here. There are tons of them. Half way through a number of rivers, Ernaldo almost lost control, but Kevin's flapping legs kept everything upright.

Kevin, el pasajero trasero, me hizo recordar las lagartijas que atravesan la agua. Aqui hay un montón de ellos (lagartijas, no Kevins). A medio camino a través de una serie de ríos, Ernaldo casi pierde el control, pero kevin, con el aletear las piernas, pudo mantener todo en posición vertical.

 First house on the trail. As we went, we crossed several towns and spoke to everyone about Jehovah's message. As always, it is well received. Almost everyone is affected by change, even in this remote area. Although change is slow, it's inexorable, and everyone recognizes it. Most villagers have family in the big cities, and they are all affected by drug and alcohol abuse. As much as they live here to evade the problems, in the end Satan's system catches up with everyone.

Primera casa en el camino. Atravesamos varios pueblos y hablamos a todos sobre la mensaje de Jehová. como siempre, somos bien recibidos. 
Casi todos se ven afectados por el cambio deste mundo malvado, incluso los en esta remota zona. Aunque el cambio es lento, es inexorable, y todos lo reconoce. La mayoría de los habitantes tienen familiares en las grandes ciudades, y todos ellos están afectados por abuso de drogas y alcohol. Aunque ellos viven aquí para evadir los problemas de las ciudades, en el final el sistema de satanás afecta a todos. 

 Once I dropped off a number of men, I came back to join the rest of the group heading in the opposite direction. Both groups would join later that night. As the buggy and cars are full, Ernaldo (and elder and special pioneer in Hornito) sat on top, and went this way for about 20kms. Yes, he's talking on the phone, which he probably did through most of the trip.
He was also my guide, giving me direction as...

Una vez que bajó un número de hombres, regresé para unirme al resto del grupo que iría en la dirección opuesta. Ambos grupos se unirán esa noche.  Como la silla y los coches están llenos, Ernaldo se sienta arriba, y fue así por cerca de 20kms. Sí, está hablando por teléfono, algo que hizo cazi toda la viaje. También fue mi guía, como... 

...you can see here. Yes, he's still on the roof.

...se ve aquí. Si, todavía está en el techo.

Our group disembarks. Here, the regular 4x4s end their trip. I keep going for another 15kms or so.

 13 people packed in this pickup, 6 in my buggy, which is made for two plus gear.
From there, I had to climb a hill most people would never attempt, because of the deep ruts and wet clay:

13 Personas se aglomeraron en el pickup, 6 en mi buggy, que está hecho para llevar dos solamente con su cargita. A partir de aquí, he tenido que subir una colina que pocos intentan, debido a las profundas trincheras y arcilla húmeda: 

Once we reached the top, the real journey begins: a serious hours long hike in full gear, followed by a non-stop climb through several hills, culminating in the crest of the last mountain. Along the way, we passed through small communities and towns where we left bible literature. Our buggy was left at one of those houses, as Ernaldo wasn't sure the route was drivable (turns out that the buggy would have made it).

Una vez que llegamos arriba, el verdadero viaje comienza: varias horas de larga caminata en plena marcha, seguida por el subir por varios cerros, que culmina en la cresta de la última montaña. Y de allí empieza la descida. 
En el camino, pasamos a través de pequeñas comunidades y pueblos donde se dejó literatura biblica. Nuestro Buggy se quedó en una de esas casas, como Ernaldo no creia que la ruta estaba buena. 

 An all day hike, and we reach the last leg of our journey here. Little did the guys know that the algae is plentiful due to all the cow crap.

Por el atardecer, llegamos a la última etapa de nuestro viaje aquí. Poco sabían estos que las algas son abundantes debido al poopoo de todas las vacas.

 At about 7:30pm, we finally reach our destination.  The man in the background with the grey shirt is sitting next to his son (Blue shirt, 10 yrs old) and the wife in the pink shirt. The young girl next to dad is also their daughter (more on her in a minute). They had no idea 25 would be coming to stay with them. In typical panamanian fashion, they happily opened their home for our huge group, no questions asked. Their hospitality was astounding, and we enjoyed their company for two days.

A las 19:30 finalmente llegamos a nuestro destino. El hombre sentado atrás con la camisa gris es el que alquila esta casa, y junto de él esta su hijo, esposa de camisa rosada y su hija; más sobre ella en un minuto. No tenían la menor idea que 25 personas iban quedar en su casa esa noche. De forma típica panameña nos deran su hospitalidad sin dar 'peros'. Disfrutamos de su compañía durante dos días. 

 As they had little opportunity to learn, we spoke about God's message late into the night.

Como hay poca oportunidad de aprender de la biblía, hablamos hasta tarde en la noche. Sin sabermos, la hija estaba escuchando cada palabra hablada.  

 So, how did they accommodate 25 people in their home? All the guys slept on the porch, packed like sardines, and all the women on the floor in the adjoining room. The family slept together in a separate room.

Como se mete 25 en una casa? Los hombres durmieron afuera en el segundo piso como sardinas en una latita, y las mujeres en el piso de un cuarto interior. La familia se quedó junta en otro cuarto.

This girl knew her bible stories, and she didn't even have the book. Everything she learned came straight from the bible, which impressed me to no end. Once we gave her the book, she never left us alone. We must have done four or five studies with her before we left. We were sad to leave her behind. I have no doubt she would have progressed well had we been able to continue regularly. The rest of the family also listened very carefully, and we could see the seeds of truth starting to sprout in their hearts. The trinity came up, and was quickly cleared away, as was a number of other topics. A few times my anger boiled as I heard stories of how the local pastor purposely twisted bible truths, perhaps thinking that none would be the wiser. Jehovah took care of that, even in this very remote town.

La joven sabía todas las historias de la biblía, aunque no tenía el libro Historías biblicas. Cuando se le entregó el libro, no nos dejo, sino que quería saber cuantas historías podriamos contarle. Su sede para la agua de la vida era impresionante, y se hizo unos 5 estudios con ella antes de irnos. Estamos seguros que ella progresaria si no fuera por el hecho no hay nadie para le ayudar.
El resto de la familía tambien escucharon muy bien, y podemos ver la semilla de la verdad echar raízes en sus corazónes. Varios temas fueron hablados, como la trinidad, y rapidamente clarificados. Varias veces subio rancor en nuestros corazones por mentiras que un pastor había dicho a sabiendas, quizás pensando que nadie se daría cuenta. Pero Jehová sí, y él cuidó del asunto.

 As there was no more room, I slept on the floor next to my wife in the woman's quarters, as did another older brother. It took two nights, but something magical happened at 3am on night #2: All the snoring - a loud cacophony of disastrous noise topped only by the constant crowing of numerous cocks, suddenly became... well,  harmonious. Everything dropped into place at one magical point in time, every snore perfectly synchronized. I swear this is true. A number of us were awake and laughing at the whole mess (cus the bedbugs kept us awake), when we suddenly went quiet, in shock over what was now happening. And it went on for a good 5 minutes. Even the older brother, who sounded like a chainsaw, blended in. Brought me to tears. Unfortunately, the harmony was broken when a sister gagged on a cockroach. Ohwell. At least it wasn't me. I only got dive-bombed by a bat.

Como no había mas lugar para hombres, tanto yo como otro hermano durmieron en el cuarto de las mujeres. Algo impresionante se pasó en la segunda noche: El roncar, que hasta las tres de la mañana era una hodionda mezcla de bulha muy similar a los gritos de evnagelicos, rapidamente se syncronizó y finalizó en una orchestra impresionante. Los que no podían dormir por los bichos picando se quedaron admirados. Por 5 minutos, el roncar fuy una obra de arte. Hasta que Kimberly tragó una cocaracha. Allí terminó todo.

 Day #2, and we're out preaching to the local houses. We crossed 6 rivers again. At this point, we didn't even bother taking off our shoes. What for?

Día numero 2, e fuemos predicar a casas vicinas. Cruzamos 6 rios, y no quitamos los sapatos. Para qué?

 Masiel, Ernaldo's wife, who looks 15 but is in her mid 20s, had a nice conversation with this woman, who's husband lost his father - murdered by his wife. This murder shocked the village, and brought home the fact that even in a remote 'paradise' where everyone knows everyone, the worst can happen. He was murdered because the wife was jealous he gave away a parrot.

Masiel, la esposa de Ernaldo se parece que tiene 15 pero tiene unos 25. Tuvo una buena conversación con esta mujer, cuyo esposo perdió su papá cuando fue muerto por su esposa. Este homicida asustó el pueblo, y les dio una lección valiosa - que no importa donde estamos, no hay tranquilidad.

 Look carefully at the umbrellas a number of sisters are using. When in Rome...

Vean con cuidado el para-aguas de las hermanas...

 Every good thing comes to an end right? Nothing is more true than what happened to us at the end. The 10 yr old boy told us he could get us pack horses for the mountain climb - the horses would take up all our backpacks. GREAT! All the backpacks were put into sacks weighing about 100 #s each, and 21 people started the climb, while I helped the boy round up a couple of horses left grazing.  It was the crack of dawn, which is why there's no pics of this.
Darn horses are smart. Had to sneak up on them. Avoid the snakes too. Took us an hour and we got one. One. For 8 bags. Sheesh. Loaded 4, and had to take the other four on our shoulders. Must have been a good 3km long, 600 meter (1800ft) climb with a 100 pounds on our shoulder, and that's AFTER we crossed those darn six rivers.

Todo de bueno llega al fin. Así se pasó con nosotros cuando, por trampita del dueño de un cavallo, nos quedamos con 4 hombres, un cavallo, y 8 sacos, cada uno un quintal de peso. Bueno, cruzamos esos 6 rios otra vez y nos preparamos para subir la montaña con los sacos a la espalda.

 At the foothills, Ernaldo stopped me, amazed that my body was steaming. Anyone who knows me knows I am an oven, my body temperature higher then normal. Se he suggested we cool off in this waterfall. No argument here!
Next, back to the climb.

A los pies de la montaña, Ernaldo me paró impresionado que mi cuerpo estaba tan caliente que salía vapor. Insistió que fuemos a un charco antes de continuar. Bueno...

I'm about half-way up here. Chuleta. Does this never end?

Estamos a mitad...

 Success! If you tap the pic and look closely, you can see a house or two way down in the valley, off in the distance. That's where we stayed.

Si hacen 'clic' en la foto, pueden ver las casitas de lejo en el valle abajo...

 The trip back...

The story told here is tiny in comparison to the memories we carry. Hospitality, kindness, love, giving of all of us, getting even more back; sweat, heat, sweat, blisters, body odor haha, and oddly but not surprisingly, joy. Joy is a fruit of the spirit, after all. Use the spirit, reach people's hearts, teach the the truth with the 'sword', see the reaction, and every drop of sweat, every blister, every bedbug bite, and every cockroach that crawled over us suddenly becomes tiny: an unwanted and unneeded memory that quickly fades away to leave what really counts - the reason why we're all here, and everywhere. May we all praise our wonderful Creator, no matter where we serve!
Oh, and as to the disaster you saw in the beginning, well. Everything has its price, right?
I keep spares of about everything that can go in a trip, from bearings to fuel pumps, cus I know wifey will NOT be a happy camper. As in, we´ve broke, and now we have to camp camper.
But this took the cake, and ran, haha. Whole rear wheel assembly broke off, leaving me with no recourse but to call the only guy who can pull anyone out of anything: This crazy guy with an old Toyota landcruiser, jacked up a good three feet, with a huge 10 ton mech. whinch. Yup. It worked. Buggy is back home, minus one leg. Should be all welded up and reinforced, ready for next Sat. I hope.    

La historia contada aquí no es nada en comparación con los recordatorios que llevamos con nosotros. Hospitalidad, cariño, amor, el dar, el recibir en mayor cantidad; sudor, calor, sudor, dolores, heridas, y... alegría. 
Bueno, alegrá es un fruto del espirítu, verdad? Usa el espirítu, llega a los corazónes de las personas, enseñales la verdad con la espada, vea sus reacciónes, y cada gota de sudor, cada herida, cada picadura de un bicho y cada cocaracha que pasó por nuestro cuerpo esas noches son como una memoría distante, inecesário, y se queda lo que realmente cuenta - la razón de por qué estamos aquí. Que cada uno, sin importar donde estea, continue dando la gloría a nuestro impresionante Creador! 

Change is good?

What an odd title, right? Chris and I have been here five years running. We started off with our 4Runner, then used a bicycle to reach distant territories (and started many studies where Missionaries like Mike Lachynski and his wife visited), then used a dirt bike to get there regularly, then purchased...

 this, which we still use often. What a workhorse. It squeaks, groans, and climbs everything in sight. Impresses the hell out of everyone, and everyone wants to buy it, for $5. We are, after all, in latin america. (Jose is doing an impressive pose. He's coming with us on a Costa Rica trip in a few days).

 The views are, as always, spectacular, and the people even more so. Our territory in Volcan is getting smaller - a rarity, as most congregations in Panama have HUGE territories not covered very often. Because of so many studies, it´s very difficult to actually get out and witness. Our studies go from late morning to late evening almost every day. Added to this is the student needs - explaining the WT to those who can't understand it, working out minor (and sometimes major) issues that creep up and so on. Plus, we get the odd dropped study that comes around and asks for us to start up again. It's been five in two months, plus our regulars, which sit around 40.

 We don't have time to start any more, like these.

 The two kids you see here are unbelievable. Chris is doing an amazing job with both, and both the 6 and nine year old blow us away. They completely understood the 19 of January study article, in all it´s complexity, going so far as to explain why Jehovah wouldn't permit Acab's throne to be taken from him even though he was an evil king ("because Acab sat on Jehovah's throne, and only God could take it away"). In front of them is a model of the tabernacle they built together.

Although our territory is done often, we still have territory that has never been done before.

 This family has been studying for a while. Because of grandmother, a number of her family members are now studying too.

 Breathtaking views still blow us away, every day we're out.

 This little congregation is in Hornito. The only elder is deaf and very old, but is very lovable. His personality easily overshadows any limitations he may have. Another elder drives up from an hour away to help out. He's been doing this for 7 months. When we told them we were visiting, they misunderstood and announced we'd be moving into the area. Ouch. They have a huge territory too.

 Pictured is a Special pioneer who has been assigned to Gualaca. This is another huge territory, with only one congregation covering it.

 I knew this brother from way back when we first arrived.

 We had just come back from speaking to an evangelical pastor. This area is full of very poor people, many of them living in tin shacks and mud floors. On the way through, we passed an impressive church, and, from experience, guessed that it´s pastor lived nearby, likely in a nice house, with a Toyota Hilux parked in front.
We were right. Although I have no idea if this pastor used his own funds or not to build the church and sustain his means of living, our experience is chock full of ministers who use the bible to make a living, at other people's expense. In this case, our conversation went very well, and we left on friendly terms, hoping that the pastor would accept the bible truths we left with him.

Lots of territory, so few workers. We've been branching out to other fields. Our studies have either gotten baptized, will get baptized, are publishers, will soon be ones, or, for the odd ones, be dropped. Is it time to leave our area and head for riper fields here in panama?
We'll keep you informed...