Quenaweno y Compasion

As many of you know, I had the opportunity to take another trip into the jungle, this time to a Huaroni community called Quenahueno.  It's located on the Curaray river, not too far from where the 5 missionaries were killed in 1956.  Our purpose was to perform check ups on children that are sponsored through Compassion ministries.  We partnered with Compassion a few years ago and were able to perform the required check ups and it was a great experience for us.  Accompanying me were Dra Paulina Roldan, a third year family practice resident, and Jonas Lopez, an Ecuadorian missionary with Compassion.  We left on a Tuesday and were able to do all that we needed to do in 2 days.

Jonas and I on the banks of the Curaray River

This was out first trip with Compassion ministries this school year.  There are over 40 communities and 1300 kids that need these checkups, so we'll be busy for the foreseeable future.  The plan was to fly in and see the sponsored kids and with the remaining time, also see those adults that wanted an exam and other children who aren't sponsored by Compassion.  Compassion has had a presence in the jungles of Ecuador for decades and really made a difference in the lives of many of these kids.  Jonas, the missionary standing with me, was a sponsored child many years ago.  As you can see from the picture, Quenahueno is a small community and we had no problems getting in or out.





While there, we had a fun time with the kids.  All seemed to be in good health and eager to interact with us to some extent, albeit from a distance.  There was one boy in particular, Omar, who was as quick as a whip.  He helped to unpack our things, carry medicines, and was familiar with many of the bible stories that we discussed.

Omar

Paulina Roldan examining an infant.

Jonas sharing the Word.

Soon it was time to pack up our things and head back to Shell.  Our time in Quenahueno was enjoyed by all.  Next week I head to another Huaroni community which is much bigger, Toñampari, and hope to have more pics to share with you.

Posting Comments

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We love comments-  yes, I'll admit it, I get very excited when I see that there are comments waiting to be read.  Part of the obstacle of writing a blog is getting past the barrier of, "does anyone want to hear what I have to say?"  We love to hear from you and love when  you email us and request to hear more about certain aspects of our lives.
Please be sure that you leave your name with your comments so we know who to love more than everyone else-

Contextual Clues

Remember contextual clues from school?  When you have to figure out the meaning of a word from the information around the word?  Well, most of the time I feel like I live contextual clues.  On a good day, I understand about 75% of what is said to me (either from missing vocabulary on my part or people talking too fast), so I have to put together the other 25% from what I do understand...... Sometimes I am correct and sometimes...... I am very wrong and sometimes I understand but still have questions....

http://www.ialf.edu/dpdf/april05page7.html

Additionally is the cultural aspect- just because I understand the words, doesn't mean I understand.  How many times when you have a conversation at work with your boss or an employee, especially over something very tricky and you think through it and make sure you phrase things just right- use just the right words so that your true meaning is understood.  There are little nuances in any language that say more than just the words spoken.  Currently, I am learning to understand as well as increase my comprehension and read into contextual clues through more than just the words.
 

I (Tracy) have been the laboratory director at the hospital since August and it has been wonderful for my language skills and has really truly shown me just how much I don't understand about the cultural aspect of the work environment.  So.... I will continue to fumble, ask lots of questions and hopefully grown leaps and bounds in an amazingly short period of time (I can dream, can't I) but more importantly through it all, show God's love and grace to those I work with, because after all, the rest is just the details.


Just as long as I don't turn into this person, I think we are going to be alright......

Some Days (and people) are Just Stranger than Others

Have you ever felt this way? I do almost every day.

 

I do almost every day of my life.  There is something to be said for thinking outside the box or better yet, finding another shape all together to be outside of (and yes, I'm aware I ended that sentence with a preposition- sorry about that).  But, that is the beauty of being a child of God.  We were all created in his image, no matter how strange we may seem.

Birthday of a Decade

Sebastiao turned 10 this year.  I asked him to stay out of double digits, but you know how kids listen these days.....  One of the good things about living outside of the country is that you can have multiple birthday parties on multiple continents.  Sebastiao had and early birthday party with my father whose birthday is the 3rd of August, while we were in the states.  Then he had a birthday weekend in Ecuador.  We started off the weekend with lunch on Friday and opened a few presents.  Then we had breakfast with a good friend and opened a few more presents.  We tried to go climb to a waterfall, but the rest of the country decided to celebrate with us, so we just played in the river for a while until I fell in the river submerging our camera.  The next morning we went bird watching (way too early in the morning) and saw some incredible sights.

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Jungle Trip Tomorow

Please pray for Joe tomorrow.  He is flying out to the jungle to do physicals for Compassion Ministries.  The community is Waroni and they will be seeing about 50 children and their families.  Please pray for their safety on the flight, while in the community and more importantly for the love of God to be spread as a result of their trip,  just as Jesus cared for people's physical needs along with their spiritual.

God's Purpose

As many of you know, we start each Monday morning at the hospital with a time of devotion that is led by one of the staff.  This month it's been Dr Javier Alcocer.  Javi is a good friend of ours and someone who takes call for us at the hospital from time to time.  This month he's been talking about sin and how it relates to our health.

Today he read from John and relayed a story that reminded me so much of an encounter that I had while in Haiti in December of 2010.  In John 9:1-12, John recounts how Jesus healed a blind man by making a 'dressing' for his eyes with dirt and some of his saliva and telling him to wash in the Pool of Siloam.  What had been asked of Jesus was why this man had been born blind.  It reads:

"As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth.  His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"

"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus,"but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. . ."

Javi then related how he'd been on call one evening when an elderly lady had come to our ER to be seen.  She was blind, depressed, and suffered from many medical problems including diabetes and hypertension,  To top it all off, she had been in a wheelchair for the last several years.  Javi asked her what he could do for her and she stated that she needed something to help her sleep.  Javi looked through her chart and saw that she had tried on a number of medications without help.  After spending more time with her he soon discovered that she was burdened about her family and their salvation as she was the only believer in her family.  Javi spent some time in prayer with her and gently suggested  that God may have burdened her with her illness and immobility to be able to witness to her family in a way that on one could.  She and her family lived in a remote area and were unable to attend any kind of church.  She began to understand all of this and left with a new found purpose.  What Javi was able to do was show how God had a purpose for her illness.

As many of you know, I spent 2 weeks in Haiti in December of 2010 as part of a small team from HCJB sent to assist Samaritan's Purse.  There'd been a major cholera outbreak that was ravaging much of the country following the earthquake from the previous year.  During one of our late night shifts, a little 4 year old girl came in with her parents with worsening cholera symptoms.  After many failed attempts we were finally able to gain IV access, however, she died anyway.  It was a very difficult experience for many of us.  After that shift, we all returned to our quarters tired and disillusioned wondering why this one little girl wasn't saved when others in much worse state had gotten better.  Later that evening we discovered that a team from Samaritan's Purse had gone by the little girl's home to pray with the family.  What resulted from that encounter was a profession of faith from her parents and 11 other family members!  What God had done was to use the death of this little girl to bring her entire family and many of her extended family into His fold.  We rejoiced as a team for not only their salvation but also for God allowing us a small glimpse into His purpose.  As we all know, we are often still left with the 'Why' and must trust our faith that He's in control.

What Javi did was remind me, once again, that God is always with us and always using circmuunstances in our lives for His great purpose.

Joe