The Hike That Seemed Never Ending

Let me tell you a story, one that I think you all would quite like. A story like no other, so stick around!

Let me set the scene for you. One afternoon our host, Wesley, tells us we are going to hike to a remote village to preach and do kids ministry. To be honest, we are told very little about this hike. We are told there is a possibility of mud and that it is quite long. We are told to be ready by 4am and to wear skirts since it is custom.

The day came. October 2nd, it was 4am as we headed out the door and onto a pickup truck. After about an hour later, we stop alongside the road and hop out. Our hike was about to begin.

We are walking on the road when all of a sudden Wesly take a sharp left and heads down. As we follow, we are introduced to the mud quite quickly. It had rained the precious night and it was quite foggy/chilly that morning so the mud was real fresh! Luckily, my parents gifted me some lovely hiking tennis shoes so I was fine, but the rest of my team was wearing their chacos. All of a sudden, Mikahla slips and her phone flies straight into the pile of mud. I begin to pray that I will not fall because 1. Mikahla was now covered in mud, so I did not want to get dirty 2. I did not want to look like a fool and 3. I also did not want to get hurt. This prayer of not falling soon came to a halt and I found myself falling down onto the mud. And it was not the last time I would fall, and soon everyone found themselves slipping. It was literally like watching an American Funniest Video and seeing so many people continue to slide down this muddy mountain.

As we continued onto our hike, my body soon began to hurt. About 2 hours into the hike, I wanted to just sit and I almost just wanted to give up. From the hips down, it was just shooting pain. Little did I know this was not going to be the hardest part of the day… But onward we went, and we soon reached the bottom. A three hour hike took us to the bottom of the mountain to a village where no one visits because no one wants to hike down/up that mountain and other reasons. The pastor had moved away, so there was a feeling of abandonment in the village. Luckily, the Lord called the same pastor to continue pastoring the church, so his wife and him hike every week to be able to preach (and here I was complaining about hiking it down once).

After our glorious hike, we were greeted by some of the people living there. We were also greeted by an interesting homemade dish. We were told about this dish, but I had no expectations. I applaud my team and I for eating the dish and truly am grateful for the people who prepared it. We ate fresh snail soup, with some fish and crabs. The people had gone down to the river early that morning to catch the food for us, so it was such a blessing.

For the church service, Mikahla and Amy preached a good word! So many people were blessed by them and it was so amazing to see God through them. God has been able to give me fresh eyes to see the work He is doing in each church we have visited. Afterwards, Maggie and I were able to teach the children about Moses and the Red Sea. It was such a special time with the kids and being able to see them dance and smile was so heartwarming. These kids have never had a Sunday school teacher or lesson, so it was nice to see them open to our activities and hearing the story. I could see Jesus in each of their faces and I prayed that God would bring them someone to teach them about who God is. Please pray for this village and the people living there. It is such a special place and I know the Lord will do amazing things.

I want to do a part two because I do not want to make this blog too long, but there is so much more to this story! So, stay tuned for the next part!!!

Also, there are several pictures that I would love to upload but international wifi is not the best haha!!! I wanted to upload them onto my blog, but it just is not working, so if you would like to check more pictures of this day here are my social platforms: joana_quintana_ (Instagram) and Joana Quintana (facebook).

Blessings to you!