HeadHunters, Landmines, and a Monkey named Jason

This month we got the chance to help with some seldom-worked territory in the Amazon region. Here's our fearless field service group... The brother in the gray shirt was our host for the week, and he has quite the amazing life story! Before he came into the truth he was something of a modern-day pirate... he worked with a group of thieves robbing gold mines hidden deep in the jungle. Some of his experiences include being shot, being electrocuted, and nearly being killed in an accidental dynamite explosion inside a mine shaft. He's an interesting guy to say the least! ...Some years have gone by and he's an elder now. Together with his wife and two daughters, he's helped open-up remote territories in the Amazon region and form several new congregations/groups. We went with them on a week-long adventure to preach along the Nangaritza River in southern Ecuador.

To get there we left home at 3:30am and traveled 16 hours on a bus. Then we spent the night in a hostel, and the following morning traveled another 4 hours with 7 of us jammed into a 5 passenger Trooper... then another few truck rides, and a canoe in a downpour... let's just say it was a long trip!

What to do on the weekend

The family we visited lives in the town of Yantzaza, but are helping form a group in the village of Guayzimi (about 2 or 3 hours away via bad roads). Every Friday after the girls get out of school they head out to this isolated area in time to conduct a meeting Fri night.

An interested man in the area has been letting them use the lower level of his home as a kingdom hall. On the 2nd floor, the brothers rent a few very simple rooms where they can cook food and spend the night. All day Saturday is dedicated to the ministry and trying to keep-up with the many bible studies to be found. Saturday night they have the Public talk & WT study, and then the family makes the looooong trip home, well after dark. It must be an exhausting routine for them week after week, but with Jehovah's Holy Spirit they always seem to have smiles on their faces.

The kingdom Hall is a simple room with an old shower curtain hung on the back wall to make it resemble a stage. Interested persons have met with some intense opposition from the local Catholic church, but even so there are about 35 who attend the meetings.

We were all glad to help with parts on the meeting that week

On Monday we hired a canoe and started on a 2-day trip up the river. Along the way we met some soldiers going to patrol an outpost at the Peruvian border. We offered them a ride, and it turned out be be an opportunity to give a witness to them. We tried to get permission to enter the barracks and preach to the rest of the soldiers, but they said no.

Rain or Shine?


There seemed to be a downpour every half hour, but we were pretty happy with our home-made raincoats!


Even soaked, we had a great time!



The rivers are beautiful here. It really felt like we were in the middle of nowhere

Many of the people we met were Shwar... that is the tribe of Amazon people who used to be the infamous "head hunters". Thankfully that practice isn't so common anymore. Now, most of the people profess to be Catholic and are very devoted to Mary. We had a number of wonderful conversations and placed the entire box of literature that we'd brought along... and when that ran out, some in the group even placed their personal copies of the bible. One woman told us that she has always wanted a bible, but the local church (the only place to purchase one) charges around $40 US, and she's never been able to afford it. She promised to make good use of the New World Translation we left with her.

The boat stopped for us at all the little settlements along the river so we could visit people in their home too.


The white spots in the photo are raindrops... it POURED and POURED... haha, I guess there's good reason they call it a "rain forest".


Our favorite way to cross the mud holes


So very beautiful, but...


Be careful! The sign advises "landmines: don't touch them, don't step on them, don't punch them."
Great advice. Thanks guys.


After all that rain, it actually was a relief to know there was no flood coming :)

Because the territory was so far away, we brought our tents and expected to spend the night in the jungle. However, after preaching in one small village, the principal of the local school offered to let us pitch our tents inside the classroom. He even allowed us to use their gas stove to cook a hot meal. (That was soooo nice after having been soaking wet all day!) It was an uncomfortable night on a cement floor, but in the end turned out to be a real blessing. It poured rain again that night. If our tents had been outside I think we would've floated away.

the bare essentials



A little piggy that would not go home. Apparently we weren't the only one who were having issues with the rain


this would make an interesting pet


I'm not sure what this thing is, but his name is "Jason".


He's thinking: "hehhehheh... just you wait until I get out of here!"





...and then, we were attacked by a pack of savage man-eating turtles!!!!!!!!




Yikes! I thought these things were supposed to move slowly??


When it storms in the Amazon, strange and beautiful things happen....


I hope you've enjoyed the pictures! That's all for now, but if you'd like there's a few more pics here.

Thanks for keeping in touch! It's been really nice to get all your emails & messages! Talk to you soon...