If you've read many of the YWAM biographies in the Christian Heroes Then and Now series, you may have a guess as to which book our family recently finished when I explain that the photo above is of my sisters and me straddling the equator high in the mountains outside Quito, Ecuador back in 2006.
The book reminded us of the vast mountains and jungles...
...waterfalls and volcanoes...
And we were especially reminded of the people in this varied country who have been touched by the gospel through the ministry of HCJB and other mission organizations our family was privileged to come alongside for three weeks all those years ago.
That's right, it was the biography of HCJB's founder, Clarence Jones.
But don't worry if you couldn't guess. I had actually never heard his name or story before - even though he was also connected with the Salvation Army, Moody Bible Church, and Awana Clubs. But I would highly recommend this book even if you have never stepped foot in South America. These pictures may just help bring it more to life...
The main reason we all packed up and flew down in 2006 was so that Dad could help with the telephone systems on the HCJB hospital compound and missionary school (run jointly with MAF) in Shell Mera. He had done a bit of this work the year before when traveling down to get my older sister settled into her semester of student teaching at the Nate Saint Memorial School, and there was much more to be done.
Meanwhile, the rest of us enjoyed getting to know Maren's "other home" and friends in Shell while helping get the school cleaned, organized, and set up for the school year. We also got to teach 2nd and 3rd graders the first day of school, "spring clean" for missionaries coming home from furlough, hold orphans, tour the Nate Saint house when it was crumbling under the relentless onslaught of termites, shop the local produce and bakeries almost daily, walk on a hot and smelly volcano 3 weeks after it erupted and wiped out whole villages, and much more.
Elsa and I had the amazing experience of flying out into the jungle in a 6-seater MAF plane and visiting one of the Waorani villages. These remote people, formerly known as the Aucas, made international news in 1956 when they speared 5 missionaries to death on Palm Beach after spending some friendly days with them and even getting a ride in their little plane. (This story is powerfully told in the 2005 movie The End of the Spear as well as a 2002 documentary called Beyond the Gates of Splendor.)
The most amazing part of our visit was meeting one of the men who did the spearing! He came out to meet every plane that landed on their grass strip and prayed for us (center man in photo below). His smile was beautiful as he radiated God's love! We also met his grandson who was studying to become a pastor, plus we saw the foundation for the new church they were building up on a hill.
These people who used to live in fear and hate now love to have fun! They painted our faces with the bright red juice of the achiote, made us headbands from nearby plants, sang traditional songs, and laughed with us as we tried to use a blow-gun to hit a banana!
On a more sober note, we were privileged to get in on some of the work of the HCJB hospital in Shell, helping to try feed a toddler every few hours day and night. Marlin had likely suffered from meningitis in his jungle home before his family called MAF to fly him out to the hospital. We saw first-hand the way the missionary doctors and nurses shone with God's love and compassion in hard situations.
And we also enjoyed meeting the Salasaka Kichwa (their current preferred spelling of "Quichua") up in the mountains where the air is so thin that we got headaches!
And yes, that is the shortest I have ever had my hair cut! Between short, blonde hair and a foot or two more of height than most of the locals, I stood out like a sort thumb. (I am the tallest in the center of the photo below, if you can't tell. Those on the left are standing on a step and thus reached higher than my shoulders.)
How sweet to be reminded of all of this through an audiobook!
