Thursday, November 24, 2016– Thanksgiving Day
Time seemed
to stand still in Aurimi. By the time Thanksgiving Day came it felt as if we
had been in the village for weeks. I woke on Thursday morning to Paige and Ashley
saying, “Happy Thanksgiving!” and still being groggy it took me a few seconds
to register that it was actually a holiday back home. I laid there for a little bit thinking;
“Never in a million years would I have pictured myself laying under a mosquito
net deep in the jungle on Thanksgiving Day.”
The morning
proceeded as usual, but with added excitement.
Today was the day of our jungle adventure! The group wanted to go over to a neighboring
village in order to tell them about the evangelistic meetings and pray with
them. Rain had kept us from attempting
the journey the day before, so today was the day. We tried to radio Adventist Aviation to let
them know of our plans but the man with the key had left the village early that
morning; therefore, the key to the radio room was somewhere deep in the
jungle.
Braids were
being given and breakfast was cooking when a father and daughter (who was maybe
1 ½ years old) showed up on our front porch. With a lot of motions and slow
Indonesian, Pastor Yeri tells us the gist of what happened. He sticks his left
hand out and then with his right makes chopping motions over his fingers.
The father begins pulling the girls hand out form under her bloody sleeve and
my stomach immediately drops to my feet. I brace myself to see mangled and/or
missing fingers….. Check out the nursing post for the rest of the story!
After a
breakfast of rice, cooked greens, and Ruth’s amazing granola our group, of
approximately 15 people, set out for the next village. We had been told that we would go to a canoe
and ride to the next village. Let’s just say I greatly over estimated how much
canoe time there would be and severely under estimated how much walking there
would be. So let the adventure begin!
By Thursday
I knew the general lay out of the village.
I knew which direction was the river, and where the church and other
houses were. So as we begin walking I’m
assuming to head down the trail that leads to the river, but to my surprise we go in the opposite direction of the river.
This was my first clue that today was not going to be anything I had
previously expected. Our group headed down a small smooth path that weaved
through the village and passed houses we had visited earlier that week. People would stop and stare as we walked, and
occasionally ask where we were headed.
We very
quickly ran out of the smooth trails that interconnected the village. It
continually got more and more muddy, and the trail turned into more of an abstract idea
than a concrete thing, at least that I could see. As the trail disintegrated so did the trees
over head. We entered a long stretch of
land that had obviously been destroyed by man. The trees had been chopped down
but left where they landed, and the jungle was slowly attempting to reclaim
what had been taken. I can only describe it as a tornado zone. Even the smell of the rotting trees and
swampy land took me back to the destruction Apison had several years ago.
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| Just a glimpse of the "tornado zone" |
With all
the trees gone, we were left with zero shade, hundreds of logs to scurry over,
and thick underbrush to wade through.
The sun beat down and seemed to radiate off the swamp and mud. Not 10 minutes into climbing and balancing on
the fallen logs I found the Achilles heel of Chacos. Wading through the swamp ment mud would slosh
between my feet and the base of my shoes.
So when I would step my shoe would grip and stay put, but my foot would
slide from the slippery mud killing any remaining balance. But to my rescue came the sturdy hands of the
men we traveled with. Most of them walked
barefoot and with such ease. I’m sure us
3 girls looked like a fish out of water.
There was one time in particular that stuck with me. I was
following a Papuan guy named Carl. To the right was a small log over ankle deep mud and slop. Carl grabbed my hand and started walking
through the mud. Trusting that he knew what was best I followed behind. He then
realized I was following his exact path and stopped saying, “No no!” He pointed
to the log beside us and still holding my hand he walked through the murky
water so that he could help me safely walk across the log. All the guys we traveled with were so kind and
so tough! They were the only reason we made it through without injury.
After at
least an hour of tumbling through the logged area we came to a narrow path that
entered the jungle. This dense jungle
path only got muddier but there were no logs in the way so I could manage
without too much help. By this point our
group had dwindled from 15 to more like 8.
Kathleen and some others had decided to take a different way to the
village. While Ashley had been much
faster and more agile than me so after a while she and 2 other Papuans were so
far ahead we could no longer see or hear them.
As we walked Paige and I both knew we would eventually meet up with
Ashley but silently prayed she was ok.
As we
weaved under dense brush and through the mud a loud click filled the
jungle. It was so loud I jumped and
searched to see what in the world made that sound! It happened again and I
realized that it was Carl! I wish I
could better describe what he did, but he somehow would click his tongue in his
mouth. The sound would reverberate through the jungle. It was incredible! Paige and I attempted to
copy him but failed miserably, and all the locals almost died laughing. Carl
continued to do it and soon we heard an answer.
The same clicking sound echoed back to us from the rest of our group!
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| Edge of the dock looking back towards the trail |
Rather
suddenly the docks appeared in front of us and there was Ashley to greet us. I
turned around to see where we had come from and I could just barely see the
trail before the jungle swallowed it up. We were standing on this wooden dock
taking pictures and enjoying the rest when someone pointed down at our
feet. We all looked down to find
leeches!! I’ve never seen leeches like these before. They were tiny and moved like inchworms. We quickly flicked them off before they
attached themselves. We decided we
better take off our shoes to check more thoroughly. Sure enough there were MORE! Except these
were big!! One had attached itself right under my toe where it
meets the ball of my foot and another had attached to my ankle under my Chaco
strap! Neither Paige nor I could pull them off of ourselves; the feeling of them
was too gut wrenching! Pastor Desmond was our hero (after he snapped some
photos).
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| PC: Pastor Desmond |
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| Tired, bloody, but leech free! |
From the
docks we got into canoe’s to cross the river.
The river reminded me of something seen on an Amazon documentary; murky
brown, jungle on both sides, moving swiftly, and no clue of what creatures swam just
under the surface. The canoe itself was a narrow dug out log. In order to get to the waters edge, we had
to slip and slide down the knee deep mud bank.
My feet went from dirty and still bleeding from the leeches to solid
black. It looked like we were wearing boots.
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| Bye Ashley! (PC: Pastor Desmond) |
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| Elder of the village as our guide (PC: Pastor Desmond) |
Crossing
the river was very nerve racking! Not just because there may or may not be
crocs in the water (we never got a clear answer to that question), but the
slightest movement from the passengers could tip the canoe at any moment. I kept
telling myself, “KD it’s ok. Your camera is in a plastic zip lock. If you flip
just swim as fast as you can!”
Thankfully,
no one flipped and we made it safely across the swift current. Once across, I
assumed we would follow the mud beach for a ways, but again my assumptions were
all wrong. We headed straight into what
looked like a giantantic muddy cornfield (except the plants were not
corn). The plants were easily twice as
tall as American corn and the leaves were razor sharp. We soon traded the super corn for deep dense
jungle. I thought I had been in the
jungle before, but that earlier trail paled in comparison to this new trek.
There were many times I couldn’t see my feet as I walked because the under
growth! Several times I’d trip over vines or stumble over a log
because I simply could not see what my feet were running into. We passed so many new and exciting plants!
One of my favorites looked like a giant pineapple plant. It had long arching leaves stemming 8-10 feet
from the center, almost reminded me of an enormous green spider. However, this wasn’t even the largest foliage
we saw. Some palm fronds were larger
than doors, and the trunk that held them was just as massive. The jungle has a way of making you feel so
small!
As we
traveled Paige, Pastor Desmond, and myself began taking photos and would fall
behind slightly. Some of our group
continued at their own pace but most would patiently wait. Probably to make sure
Paige and I didn’t wander onto the wrong path and get ourselves lost.
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| PC: Paige |
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| PC: Paige |
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| PC: Paige |
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| PC: Pastor Desmond |
After a
very long, very humid walk we suddenly came upon the village. It appeared almost so suddenly that if I had
been looking down I could've smacked right into a house. I then hear Paige say, “Civilization!” We
both started laughing because we realized how relative that was.
This jungle
village was not what I expected at all, but then again nothing else had been
either. It was, however, just as hot as
I had anticipated. These villagers
didn’t live in Honai’s. Instead, the government had sent groups of carpenters
to build houses on stilts. This group of carpenters were the 3rd group sent in (the first 2 had failed to finish). The result of the building project was a long
row of wooden stilted houses, with tin roofs, and all painted bright blue (but
only on the front).
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| Carpenter's house |
We took a
break on the carpenter’s front porch sharing a few crackers and resting our
dirty feet. However, we didn’t stay
long. Come to find out all the
villagers, except 3-4 and the builders, were gone hunting or to another village.
The sky was beginning to darken as rain clouds swiftly moved in. We knew that
if we didn’t cross the river in time the current would become too dangerous and
we would be stuck. We quickly prayed
with the carpenters, and I silently prayed for water (at this point in the trek
I had finished my liter and did not know when I’d have a chance to filter
more).
To try and
beat the, rain we decided to go back a different route (the route Kathleen and
Pastor Yeri had taken). It started to
sprinkle as we began wading through another massive cornfield (or a razor-leaf
field). After no time at all we burst
out onto the steep riverbank. This time,
in order to cross the river, we had to take an even smaller canoe over the now
rising current. The canoe was so small it could only fit the owner, and 2
others. My partner was Pastor Edo (one
of the men that walked with Pastor Desmond).
I awkwardly scurried down the bank and immediately sank to my knees in
mud. The mud was so thick my feet became stuck! So stuck in fact, that when I tried to
lift my leg I was afraid my Chaco strap would snap. In order to dislodge my feet I had to reach
down and break the suction to avoid destroying my shoes. Finally free, I shakily climb into the canoe but I some how ended up facing the wrong way. So proceeded to turn around without tipping
the boat. Once situated in the canoe I attempted to wash my feet in the river
but because of the awkward way I was sitting I was very obviously
struggling. So Pastor Edo bends over and
begins washing my feet. I felt so
childlike and so helpless but his kindness burned deep, humbling me once again.
We shakily
crossed the river again through the rain and swift current. The other shore was no better than the one we
had just left. I clambered up the bank
and was surprised to find more stilted buildings. They were other homes of the villagers. Here, we waited patiently for the others to cross
the river. By this point, I was becoming
extremely dehydrated and so far past the point of hunger I just wanted to
sleep. My feet felt like iron and I was
dreading the walk back. Yet, God
provides.
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| Waiting for the others to cross the river... |
One of the
men who lived on that side of the river began chopping down coconuts for
us. Pastor Edo grabbed a machete and
skillfully opened one handing it to Paige and I (Ashley and Kathleen were
napping in one of the open shelters).
The coconut was massive! It held probably close to 2 liters of
milk. I’ve had fresh coconut milk
before, but never have I tasted one as good as this! Just as soon as we had the
open coconut Pastor Yeri come down the trail smiling ear to ear. In his hands were 2 small stalks of perfectly
ripe bananas. They were all the best
shade of yellow. I took and opened the
brilliant fruit… I believe I have now tasted heaven. I may never again find its equal, and I’m ok
with that! Then someone broke open a fresh jungle Papaya. Again, I was blown away! I’m usually not a big fan of papaya, but this
too was heavenly. Our Thanksgiving meal
may not have had all the staples like turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and
the assortment of pies, but it feast nonetheless. (Ashley and Kathleen
eventually joined us for the feast!)
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| Our feast! |
Once we
were all re-energized we hit the trail again. Along the way we passed under
dozens of banana and Papaya trees.
Pastor Desmond began whistling the hymn, “Anywhere with Jesus I can
safely go.” This simple tune filled my heart with joy and that surprised
me. On past mission trips I would hear
this exact song and simply roll my eyes, but now it was different.
The trail
got more and more muddy as we went along but the group was still all
together. I was walking in the middle
of the group, 5-6 people ahead of me and 5-6 behind. We all came to an abrupt halt as Kathleen
pointed out a dead Death Adder. Her
group had come across this extremely venomous snake on the journey to the
village and had killed it. The locals
say that one bite from a Death Adder and a person has approximately 15 minutes
left. I leaned close to snap a few shots
and was especially grateful that it was dead!
The locals were giggling and trying hard not to freak out over the
silver Death Adder. It was obvious how scared they are of snakes (but they have
good reason to be).
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| Death Adder |
We
continued on our way laughing off the nervous energy of seeing the (dead) Death
Adder. I still walked in the middle of
the group and was fumbling with my camera trying to tuck it back into my
bag. I wasn’t necessarily watching where
I was going but I was looking down focused on my bag. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a stick and
go to step on it when God opened my eyes.
What I assumed was a stick came into focus as a snake! At the last
possible moment my guardian angel pulled my foot back and there I was standing
toe to toe with this perfectly camouflaged creature. I’m not sure if I screamed, “Snake!” or if
perhaps my angel said it for me. I
honestly don’t remember saying anything but some how every one knew immediately
there was a snake on the path. It felt like an eternity that I was frozen in
front of this deadly creature. But within
a fraction of a seconded of stopping and saying the words, Pastor Edo grabbed
my arm wrenching me backwards towards safety.
People behind me began saying, “JUMP! Jump over the snake!” I turned around saying, “NO!!” I may do some
crazy things but there was no way I was about jump over a snake! I was willing
to sit there all day until the dude decided he wanted to mosey back into the
jungle before I’d jump.
The snake
just sat there in the trail, perfectly still.
I breathed a sigh of relief thinking, “Oh good, it’s dead.” One of the Indonesian men came around with a
large stick and started poking at the snake. With lightening speed the snake
came to life! Immediately going into a striking position. The man eventually took the stick and flung
the snake head over tail into the underbrush.
As soon as Pastor Edo saw the snake fly into the jungle, he grabbed my
arm and dragged me behind as he full on sprinted to get as much distance
between the vile creature and us!
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| Find the snake.... |
As the reality of the situation began to sink in my
adrenaline was quickly replaced by a heavy sickening feeling. I was 5th or 6th in
line. That means every single person in
front of me, Papuans, local villagers, Paige, Ashley, everyone walked over the snake. No one was wearing boots;
everyone was either barefoot or wearing sandals. We had no protection from our
knees down. We had no medical access
that deep in the jungle. No anti-venom, we did have a first aid kit but a
band-aid would not necessarily fix a snake bit. It was at least an hour’s walk
to the nearest radio, which meant we had no way of getting a timely medical
evacuation. There was no possible way
the snake slithered onto the trail between Paige and myself. There simply was no time. I was not miles behind her; I was just a few
feet. Plus, human eyes are attracted to areas of movement so someone would’ve
seen it moving. How could I (or Ashley
and Paige) possibly make a radio call about loosing a fellow SM in the jungle
on Thanksgiving?!
There’s only one explanation. God closed the mouth of the snake. He closed
the mouth of the loins for Daniel; I fully believe that he did the same for us.
He sent an extra angel to pull my foot back at the last possible moment and
kept the snake calm enough to allow 6 other people walk over unharmed.
{Before there’s a flood of worried
messages exploding my inbox let me finish!}
As I continued to think about the
sickening radio call and the extremes of our circumstances, I remembered the
lyrics to the song Pastor Desmond had whistled. “Anywhere with Jesus I can
safely go. Anywhere He leads me in this world below…Anywhere,
anywhere! Fear I cannot know. Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go.”
The weight I was
carrying was quickly exchanged with pure thanksgiving.
Soon after the snake,
the trail went from being muddy to extreme swamp goo! Again, the Achilles heel
of Chacos came in. I was slipping and slidding all over the trail. I lost my shoes several times. Do you know how hard it is to slip out of
tightened Chacos? Let me tell you, it’s hard!
I was so tired and so uncoordinated that I began uncontrollably giggling. I knew that if I looked half as goofy as I
felt it would be a hysterical sight. The only thing I could say was, “I feel
like a baby giraffe!” I can know
empathize with baby giraffe’s in their struggle to stand and walk on their
towering legs.
After tramping
through the slop, we made it to slow moving creeks. We ended up have to wade
through them. Sometimes ankle deep, sometimes waist deep. Somewhere between the
refreshing water crossings and the mud banks I began thinking about home. And just how much I missed my family. I began thinking of old traditions. All the good and weird traditions that make
Thanksgiving what it is. One of the weird traditions I love so much is a song
called, “Alice’s Restaurant”. Every Thanksgiving my family plays this goofy song on repeat. The jungle
was soon filled with this strange song as I began retelling the entire story of
Alice’s Restaurant to Paige. She kindly
listened to me ramble and embellish the story. Unless she sprinted down the trail,
which was unlikely because she was rubbing blisters, she didn’t have much of
a choice.
Ages later, we
emerged in the tornado zone again. It
was an amazing site to see! Our showers were much deserved, and much needed! We
ended thanksgiving with Rice, Tempe, cooked greens, pineapple, and a
strawberry cake. Ruth had sent it for us to enjoy and have a special
Thanksgiving.
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| We survived! |
And so that’s the
story of our Jungle Thanksgiving. It was
a Thanksgiving that couldn’t be beat!
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| Our Indonesian strawberry cake! |
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| Thanksgiving super |
