Well are are about 15 hours from rolling out of Nauta, hopping on a boat and heading up the river. We will be bouncing around like a beach ball to 10 different villages and spending differnet amounts of time in each village. I am pretty sad about leaving the Complimento Renovacion (sp?) here in Nauta, but I am also excited to see what God has in store in the jungle! We will also be traveling with two cooks and two drivers who will become part of our team. One thing I became aware of last night when we were walking around was the insane amount of stars that you can see here. The sky is so Black and the stars are so bright. You can see every constellation. And I used to freak out at home when I could just see the big dipper! And from what I have heard, there are even more when you´re on the river. That is one thing that I am definitely excited about.
We attended church here on Sunday at the church we are staying at and what the pastor talked about has really been ringing in my ears ever since. He preached on Philipians 4 where Paul says to "rejoice always". The pastor addressed our team directly and said that there would be times when we are living in the jungle that rejoicing in the Lord would not be easy. We will be dirty and tired and probably spiritually drained sometimes. He encouraged us that we must, in every circumstance, "order your soul to praise the lord." This has been playing through my mind as my body is beginning to grow tired and my soul feals weary. Though our desire is to always praise the Lord, we sometimes my order ourselves to do so. A song we sang at training camp said, "bless the lord, oh my soul, and let all thats within me shout out." My prayer for the rest of this trip is that my soul will bless the Lord and I will be able to pour out all that is within me to praise Him.
Keep us in your prayers for the next few weeks and bless the lord with all you have!
