LATCOM has hosted Short Term Ministry Teams from the States for many years. Leaving their familiar lives and traveling to another hemisphere requires a lot of trust by our team members—trust in the Lord as well as reliance on the missionaries who guide them and look after them while they are in country. And, while each team has particular goals to achieve, there are times when unplanned encounters teach the most important lessons.
One of our work team members from this summer, Galene, wrote the following story for her church:"After spending two nights in the jungle without water or electricity, I was really itching to get home. Or maybe it was the spider bite I got that night in Zapacó.
"Nonetheless, I was eager to get back to civilization, no matter what it took, which meant sitting six hours in the back of a dilapidated 1974 Land Cruiser with two indigenous Ayore men, flying across the one lane, unpaved road to the nearest city of Concepción. At least I didn’t have it as bad as the man who had to balance himself on top of the tarp which covered a fully loaded trailer.
"As we sped our way through the jungle, (LATCOM missionary) Nathan (Ramsey) caught sight of a man loafing on the side of the road, and slowed down so as not to hit him. The man was waving his hands frantically to get our attention. As we drew closer, I caught a better glimpse of this peculiar wayfarer. He wore a tired-looking sombrero and his clothes were bathed in grease. But my most striking observation--he carried a rifle in one hand and a machete in the other.
"When Nathan stopped the jeep, sombrero man ran over and begged for a ride into the city. Seeing how shady this man looked, the two Ayore men sitting with me warned Nathan not to give this person a ride. But Nathan, who had been in this man’s position before, asked the man on the trailer if he would mind the company. The man said, no, he would not mind, so on went sombrero man as well.
"As we continued riding into the sunset, Nathan noticed that the headlights weren’t working, and in dark jungle roads with no lamp posts, or any light source other than our dear old moon reflection, that was bad news.
"As the orange sky quickly turned pitch black, everyone became more and more nervous. Either we figure something out right away, or we would have to cut our journey short and spend the night freezing in the jungle. At first we employed flashlights, but they didn’t make a difference in the jungle darkness. Finally, when we were out of the trees and in open land, Nathan pulled to the side of the road to see if he could fix the lights.
"After a thorough inspection, Nathan declared that a fuse had blown out, but, regretfully, we didn’t have any spare fuses. What to do, what to do?
"Well, our hitchhiker knew what to do.
"He skillfully hot-wired the headlights to function good as new, and soon enough we were back en route to Concepción. …Our mystery man saved the day. Never judge a book by its cover, or rather, a man by his grease."
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