In the Midst of Large Surroundings

July 16th

Rio Verde, Ecuador

Our last full day of the Youth Camp brought about as much scenery and excitement as one could ask for. I feel spoiled to some degree to see what I see each day. I never take for granted the beauty of the rolling Andes Mountains with their jagged faces, reminding you that the earth is an ever-changing and violent place. Today was no exception.

After the very long day yesterday with the campers, I took this morning to begin the process of getting my school affairs in order for the upcoming school year and answering a few emails before diving back into the youth camp. Today after worship, we piled on a bus and traveled to Rio Verde to visit Pailon del Diablo (Devil’s Cauldron), a gigantic waterfall fed by the hydroelectric dam in Banos. Today, it was especially violent and wet as two of the floodgates were open on the dam due to all of the recent rainfall we’ve had. It was my first trip to the waterfall this summer, but my third trip total and it was by far the wettest today. With my shorts hiked up and raingear on, I braved the mist and rain for just a minute to get a view of the water falling more than 100 feet violently onto the rocks below. And I’m not talking about a wimpy waterfall, this one packed a punch.

After the steep one kilometer back uphill, we traveled back down the road to Banos and stopped at the basket that goes over the gorge. Usually a must stop for incoming church groups, I had seen this attraction a few times, but like everything else in Ecuador, it never gets old. With the sun out today, you could see for the beautiful green scenery of the canyon for miles while on the basket.

With another adventurous day under our belts, we had dinner at the camp followed by worship and a bonfire. This week has been a productive one for our campers, a week that has stretched them to rethink about who they are. The theme of this week has been, “Dare to be different,” and the speakers have certainly challenged them to look at things differently. For example, the speaker last night talked about music and how it affects us. It was something neat to hear, even in Spanish, because a part of the talk dealt with music you couldn’t understand (because it was in another language). It might be fun to listen to, but are the lyrics uplifting and wholesome? An interesting perspective and take on the subject, especially in an Ecuadorian way.

Camp ends tomorrow, but I remain here in Ecuador for two more weeks. Tonight, I and several other staffers made a few phone calls and are attempting to plan a climb to the very top of Chimborazo or Carihuayrazo on either Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. It’s a short notice type of deal, but we have an expert guide willing to work with us so now we just have to plan a time to do the trip. Definitely a once in a lifetime deal, it’ll be an exhilarating trip to get to the top of either mountain. I really hope to climb Chimborazo as it is the tallest mountain in all of North and South America at 20,565 ft. Because of the bulge at the equator, it actually stands 2 kilometers closer to the sun than Mt. Everest. At that altitude, that would put me as the closest human being to the sun on the whole earth, an amazing thought for sure!

Our plans are still only plans though, but I share them with you because I may not be able to update my blog for the next few days. On Saturday, a large group from the camp leaves to Tena for our next week of work, hosting a vacation Bible School in the jungle. Therefore, not knowing the internet situation for the next few days, I hope that you will continue to check for updates and continuing keeping me in your prayers. More from God’s playground that is Ecuador soon.