Meeting Heroes

The other day we were walking through town and saw one of the parents of a former patient.  This man, named Mincaye, happens to be the grandson of another Mincaye, the famous Waorani who speared Nate Saint and now is a sold out Christian and missionary to other Waorani.  Mincaye Jr is writing a book about the Waorani but doesn't have a camera to take pictures for his book.  We gladly offered to use our camera, and so on Monday night we had the great privelege of having Mincaye, Dewey, and Kimo, the three surviving killers turned on-fire Christians to our house for dinner.  It was amazing to hear about their history and life, to know the number of "kills" they each had before knowing Jesus and how He dramatically changed their lives and way of thinking almost over night.

                                                                        MINCAYE
Dewey commented how one seed sown by the five martyred missionaries became a huge harvest throughout the Waorani people.  The three we had to dinner were convinced that their people would have killed each other off if the missionaries and Rachel Saint hadn't shared the gospel with them.

                                                                             DEWEY
The men said their greatest struggle now is reaching their youth who are so distracted by outside sources like music, television, and western culture; this sounds too familiar to us and reaching our youth in the states.

                                                                               KIMO
None of the men know their true age only the season they were born in: "during the time of the mangoes", for example.

It was fun hearing the men's stories told in Waorani (then translated to Spanish for us).  Caleb wanted to hear a story about a jungle animal.  We were expecting a nice, calm story about a monkey, but Mincaye told us a Waorani legend complete with blood, headless humans, and cannibalism; not quite a three year old bed time story, but the way the Waorani shared their history with each other before they had a written language.

Before the men headed back to Mincaye Jr's house they showed us their blowgun skills by shooting our blowgun at a stuffed monkey.  Caleb loved it, but Jael wasn't sure she liked her animal being shot at.

  MINCAYE SHOWING CALEB HOW TO LOAD THE BLOWGUN
It's exciting to see how God is working now in the lives of Mincaye Jr. and his family.  He is a gifted evangelist and is filled with the Holy Spirit.  We would be honored if the Lord would have us be involved in some way with the ministry that is going on among the Waorani people.

Sharing Jesus

One of the neat things about being a missionary is getting to spend time with all the people who come to visit.  We just finished 12 fun days with Sydney (Kristina's sister) and her husband, Chad.  Not to brag, but we have an awesome family!  The kids had a great time getting to play with their Auntie and Uncle.  We couldn't be here without the prayers, support, and love of our friends and family.

Our best buddies from medical school (and now our next-door-neighbors) the Kappens have a visitor spending six weeks with them.  His name is Matt, and he's taught us about the importance of words that are in style now in California (including "sick" and "gnarly").  He's also unafraid about sharing Jesus.  He's shared his testimony with many patients during his time here so far, reminding all of us that we're here for one reason only: to tell others about God's awesome plan to love us and save us.

Left to Right: Jael, Dan, Matt (visitor), Matt and Amy Kappen

The list of patients coming in with odd or unknown diagnoses grows on a daily basis.  This gentleman had some general fatigue and told me that he had had a surgery on his chest several years ago.  A new chest x-ray showed the following picture.  If you know what it is, drop me an e-mail and let me know!

How Much Does It Cost???

We have a game for you to play.  Below we've listed seven items of differing price that are available here in Shell.  We'd like for you to try and put them in the correct order from most expensive to least expensive.  We will send a small Ecuadorian prize to the first person that sends us the correct answer through email or on the comments of our blog.  (We think there may be a small glitch in our blog comments as we haven't received all the comments we know people have tried to send, so it may be safer to send your answers through an email.)
Good luck!

• 5 gallons of diesel
• 1 can of Gillette shaving cream
• Burger, fries, and drink at the best restaurant in Shell
• 1 box of generic brand honey nut Cheerios
• First time visit to the doctor
• 1 1/2 hour bus ride from Shell to Banos
• 6 pineapples 

Fourth of July

Though we missed the parades and fireworks, we planned a little get together of our own. We sent out an email to the Shell missionary community to see if anyone else would be interested in coming to a potluck BBQ. We received a few replies and thought it would be worth the effort. Much to our surprise and happiness we had a huge crowd show up, many of whom are short termers here and we’d never met. We had a great time fellowshipping, throwing water balloons, and eating much coveted US of A foods that are difficult to get here like pickles, baked beans, and real Heinz ketchup.

                                                      Caleb in his homemade 4th of July hat.

                                                 Jael enjoying a red, white, and blue cupcake.

A Mother's Take on 1 Corinthians

It’s been a tough month for us with my “baby sickness” and Dan working every day and on call almost every other day. Sometimes this makes us question exactly why we’re here and what we’re doing. It’s easy to look at others and think they have it a lot simpler. There is a great family that lives on our compound with a husband/dad who is a teacher at the Nate Saint Memorial School. I think, “Why couldn’t Dan be like him?”: home by five every day, no work on the weekend, no night shifts, all holidays off, and an entire summer to spend with the family. But…God didn’t call Dan to be a teacher or me to be the wife of a teacher. Are Dan and I any more holy because he works more hours; no way. Dan and our teacher friend are both being obedient to what God has called them to do. We want to be obedient to what God has called us to be and do right here and now, and we want to do it in love. Remembering to be obedient in love can sure change my attitude when I’m spending another night solo with cranky kids, iffy electricity, and a very queasy stomach.

Kristina’s Take on 1 Corinthians 13:1-7

“If I can speak in baby language and talk all day to a three year with no adult interaction, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging symbol. If I have the gift to know “who started it” and can fathom all childhood illness mysteries and possess all the answers to a preschoolers many questions, and if I have faith that can move piles of dirty laundry, toys, and food-caked dishes, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all the energy I possess to doing sticky crafts and building blanket forts, and I surrender my body to stretch marks and morning sickness (24 hours a day) but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient and kind, even at 2:00 in the morning. Love is not jealous of other people’s lives or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, though everything in the day can seem irritating. It keeps not record of being wronged, or messes made, or numbers of hours spent on the floor playing. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects the children God has given me to care for, always trust that God can give me the grace I need for this day, always hopes that tomorrow can be better, always perseveres.”