The Glover Family Weblog

A poem entitled “Both women”

I see you walk balanced

a tub of river-washed clothes on your head,

a machete in your right hand.

I watch you cut wood for the breakfast’s fire,

bathe your children in dirty water.

I hear you laugh when I explain my fear

of actually swimming out there.

Why do I envy you?

You were born into this world

and are its expert.

You don’t see your life as hard,

you simply live.

You don’t long for that which

you don’t know you lack.

You will live your life

serving your family

and your God.

Yet I will always look at you

through tainted eyes.

Not wanting to be you,

knowing what I would have to give up.

Much of which I believe is better,

but much of which I know is unnecessary.

But if I were you…

Would I struggle less with contentment?

Would I be brave and naturally beautiful?

…not fearing, not hiding, not wanting?

But we are both women.

Both fallen.

Both restored.

This is all that matters.

Family Trip to Jungle Villages

In the days leading up to our trip we experienced many setbacks and even into the first day had to frequently change our plans. Here is a run-down of pre-trip events…

• Monday Ivan and Jennifer were still in Apayacu (visiting family) and said they would return Wednesday. When Wednesday rolled around, we discovered they were still in Apayacu. So we decided to pick them up on the way. (No need for them to pay to get to Iquitos only to leave again the next day.) However, due to this, we were unable to have team time for training and prayer earlier in the week.
• Tuesday Jake took the boat to the shop in order to have some repairs done. It was not ready until the last minute, late Thursday night.
• Wednesday Aladino told us his wife needed to be at work Monday morning. So we planned to cut the trip a day short, returning Sunday night. Thursday, we were told she could not come at all. While we were disappointed at this, we were glad that we could spend more time in the villages and return on Monday as planned.
• Thursday our designated boat driver had to cancel, however Jake was able to find another.
• Friday morning we received a call that there was a hole in the gas tank and gas had leaked all over the boat. It turns out there wasn’t a hole, only problems with a connecting hose. They were able to clean things up and this only delayed us about an hour or so.

So as you can see, we began the trip frustrated and a little disillusioned. We arrived in Santa Lucia Friday afternoon. We greeted some of the believers and “set up camp” inside their school building. We spoke with the pastor and discovered two things: a pastor from Iquitos had recently visited them, and some local seminary students working with the church in Pebas were planning on coming the next day to teach for a week.  Since we felt the church was healthy and seemed to have sufficient support from others, we decided to go elsewhere. We did spend one night in Santa Lucia and had an evening service in order to encourage them and explain why we were choosing not to stay. The next morning we left and went to the nearby village of Santa Rosa. Last year several trips were made to this area and they have a small but excited group of believers. They were very glad to see us. Jake, Aladino and Ivan were able to teach four lessons and often discussed the topic of baptism. Twelve believers said they wanted to be baptized in March when the team from Wedgwood returns.  They also decided take up a collection and send back one of their men with us so that he could purchase the needed materials to finish his house, which they would also make their church. Praise the Lord!

On a personal level, I considered this trip a milestone for myself. Not having been to a village in almost five years, I was somewhat fearful of carrying my girls along. But God was very faithful. Hannah did great. She played wonderfully with the other children and grew to like bathing in the river! She was happy and playful most of the time. Many would call her “blanca” but while her Spanish is impressive, she didn’t have a clue they were referring to her. I honestly believe that she doesn’t see herself as that different from them.  So, overall, she adjusted great to jungle life. We even had to scold her often about keeping shoes on her feet!  Abigail did well at first, but ran a fever off and on for about 24 hours making her clingly and cranky. We knew her body was probably just adjusting to the environment, but prayed she would not grow worse.  Thankfully, she never developed any other symptoms and after a day felt better. Even with Motrin in her system she laughed and grew more comfortable with our team members. She was amused by the chickens and often called them “kitty”.  I helped Jennifer teach the children some, and Hannah helped too as we taught them the motions to many songs. I continue to process so much of what I’ve seen and learned, but perhaps can write more on that later. More than anything, I enjoyed simply being out as a family and observing first-hand what God is doing!