Out of this mountain flows streams of ice cold glacier melt water giving life to the valley below. We hiked most of the day to reach the base of the glacier where the two streams emerged from beneath the massive blocks of ice. There was a man and his young son nearby. The man tried to persuade his son to go up underneath the cave area with him to take a picture. The boy was frightened and didn’t want to go. Every now and then the melting of the ice would cause a rock that was perched on top to lose its footing and come sliding off the top in the direction of the opening to the cave. Moments before, I was taking a picture when a rock slid off and about hit me in the leg. The boy had reason to be scared, but his father told him “ten valor por solo un momento, estás conmigo, nada va a pasar.” “Be brave for just a minute, you are with me, nothing is going to happen.”
Later that night, I was thinking about that encounter and I remembered the time that I overcame my fear of roller coasters as a little kid. At Six Flags Over Georgia, I had only been on the Mine Train, the lesser of the roller coasters, and the one most kid friendly, until my Dad forced me to go on the Ninja with him. For me, as a child, that was terrifying, and quite a jump. I didn’t take the next step up to the Scream Machine or Georgia Cyclone, but instead jumped over those to the looping, head-bashing Ninja. I didn’t have much of a say in the matter, but I’m sure that I wanted to be brave for my Dad, and he was going along with me so I wasn’t as scared. I loved it and have not been afraid of roller coasters since.
The boy entered the cave, got his picture taken and promptly jetted back out on to the safe side of the river. He was not injured. His father was with him to protect him and make sure that nothing happened to him. I know that there are ways in which God the Father is telling me to “take courage, I am with you.” Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. I hope to have the faith to take those steps and the trust to realize that he is always with me.
This occurred one Saturday this month, on a day trip that I was able to go on with a group of students and friends a bus ride outside of the city. It has been good to reconnect with the students after getting back in town. Tonight I will be able to connect with a lot more as we are having one of our summer “Tertulia Lite” Bible studies. We are watching a video and discussing about fully living our lives Today. Things are coming together for our mission trip to Peru in early February. One of the students had a connection with an airline and was able to get us a discount on flights. This will save us over 2 days, more like 60 hours riding in a bus. We are very thankful to God for this good news. Another recent happening is that one of the student’s of El Oasis has created summer classes of English, basketball, theater, and music in the nearby boys’ home using other students from El Oasis as the teachers. Last night we taught English, and by teach English, I mostly mean that we tried to keep them from hitting and kicking each other for about an hour. These boys need friends, love, discipline, and consistency in their lives. More than anything the student that created this project realized that these boys don’t just need a day of service here and there throughout the year, but the consistency of role models who will be there for them as they grow up.
Teaching English in boys' home