I hope this blog finds you all in good health and great spirits. Right now I'm writing to you from the dinning room table watching my grandma kill two chickens in the backyard and listening to the neighbors attempt karaoke. Life is good.
If you remember way back in one of my earlier blogs I wrote about how Shell is the city where Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, and others based their mission organization. If you are familiar with the movie End of the Spear or the Documentary Beyond the Gates of Splendor this will be a little redundant, if you are not familiar, WATCH THEM! Now for a little history. Nate Saint and his crew came to Shell to minister to the Huaorani indigenous people. However, because the Huaorani live deep in the Amazon Rainforest it was difficult to come into contact with them. After many flights Mr. Saint spotted a Huaorani tribe next to small landing area carved out by a river. The place is known as Palm Beach and Saint and his men landed their in 1956. Sadly the missionaries were met with hostility and all speared to death by the tribe. Nevertheless, the story does not end there. The wives and other family members of the martyred men continued to reach out to the Huaorani, eventually converting many of them to Christianity. Saints mission still lives on in the form of an organization called MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) that is based out of Shell. The organization services hundreds of indigenous communities, providing them with different medical needs and clean water.
This past Wednesday Chad, the head pilot of MAF, invited me and a couple others to fly out to a Huaorani community in the jungle. The experience was nothing short of incredible. The people were so hospitable and welcomed us as brothers and sisters in Christ. When we got there we where introduced to the leaders of the community and they shared their testimonies with us. Amazingly one of the leaders of the tribe was part of the killing party that murdered Nate Saint and the other missionary men. After the introductions the leaders prayed for us and then took us to the main common area where they performed a dance and song.
It was amazing to see a people whose way of life has been touched so little my modern culture. The daily lives of the Huaorani people are spent hunting with spear and blow darts and harvesting crops. I am at a loss for words for describing what I saw, so I will just go with what I felt. At first I felt a little awkward walking into the community with my fancy clothes and shwanky camera. However, that was all pushed to the side the moment I met the people. Their hospitality and love was inspiring. Every person greeted me with a smile and hug and was eager to hear my story. We were from completely different worlds but through our shared love of Christ there was a bond. I like to think the experience was a little snapshot of the Kingdom of God. A heaven where all kinds of people from all races and cultures will come together as one in Christ Jesus. When we were leaving the man who was part of the killing party put his hand had my shoulder and told me that God is good and that he is looking forward to the day that we would meet again in heaven. How cool is that!
Grace and Peace
Kyle
Wow, what an adventure! It is amazing to see that the love of Christ is active in the dense rain forest.
ReplyDeleteKyle, Kyle, Kyle! There is no lack of adventure in your bones, is there? Great post, great pics......terrible A-form :) Glad you are safely on the ground back in Shell.....for now! Sending much love and many, many, many prayers!!!!
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