The amount of bug spray, sunscreen, and buying half the store of old navy seemed to prepare me well to embark on this journey to the Amazon River. Little did I realize that the physical things I seemed to think I needed should not have been so high at the top of my list.
Never did I think I would ever be in a foreign country with nine other people I have never met before. Also did I never think that I wouldn’t have the accessibility to ever take a “normal shower”, or as to what I thought was normal. Let’s go over what my normal was… hot 30 minute showers, lets not forget my obsessive love of baths (I take an unhealthy amount). Training camp was my first introduction to the many bucket showers I would be taking. You really get to know girls when you are all in a shed with thin curtains pouring ice cold water that you got from the hose outside with your dedicated bucket that has gnats floating around in it. Next step was spending 34 hours sleeping on airport floors dreaming about showers and waking to realize my only option was taking a sink shower. While in the airport we prayed for our next location to have showers that did not consist of buckets… ask and you shall receive! The YWAM base in Iquitos had three showers that were such a blessing. Although there was no hot water, we learned to love showering with cold water. After 3 days of taking advantage of the city life of Iquitos we finally took a two hour bus ride to Nauta, then hopped on a boat and went up the Amazon river two more hours to finally arrive at our destination, The Farm. Don’t be confused, this farm is nothing like you are thinking in your head. It consists of 2 large hills that give you the ultimate leg work out. Imagine doing the stair master in 80% humidity when it’s 90 degrees outside. Yup that’s here, we do this at least 5 times a day. Never would I think I would be writing about taking a bath in the Amazon River… but that’s exactly how I cleaned off the first day. Definitely was great to write off my bucket list but that was the first, and only time I will ever do that. Let’s just say you come out physically more dirty than when you first came in, and you probably smell even worse. Thankfully, they also had a bucket shower so don’t worry I am still clean, well as clean as I can get pouring a bucket over my head!
You are probably wondering why you just read a whole paragraph about how I am showering in my journey to Peru. Although I know that is super interesting, the main thing that is important here is how much God is showering me in his surreal love. My main things I wanted out of this mission has completely changed since encountering God with my group on this trip. Instead of focusing on the little things that seemed so big, I am now seeing the actual bigger picture. I can say that God has been pouring his love on all of us and the people we are encountering while we are here.
Matthew 5:6
