Day 7

June 3rd

Today was another awesome day....I'm running out of adjectives to describe things...maybe a thesaurus is in the works...lol   But anyways, today we spent the day touring the multiple mission organizations that are in Shell besides Alas de Socorro. There are ALOT of missions here! First off we toured the orphanage here in Shell. It was a tough sight. The facility was very run down and there was mold everywhere. Many of the kids had lice and so it was hard to really hug them and hold them. They are in the process of building a new site up higher on the hillside, but it won't be completed for another year or so. Yet even through the hard circumstances, one bright spot was the obvious love that the orphanage workers showered down upon the kids. And it showed through the kids. They all had smiles and ran to hug you when we walked through the gates. As we went through the nursery area where most of the younger kids were asleep, we saw two pairs of eyes twinkling back at me. A little girl named Laura was obviously not sleeping and she just sat there smiling back at us. Even through the hardships, the love of God shone through. This was an encouragement for me.

HCJB Mission Hospital

The next place we toured was the HCJB mission hospital. Although Shell has a public hospital, the care that many patients receive there is quite minimal, so some of the people that MAF flies in on emergency rescues come to HCJB where all the doctors and surgeons are experts in their field and provide excellent care for minimal cost. The reason? All the medical staff are missionaries. Many of them are from the US and are completely mission-supported. The facility was wonderful and it was so cool to listen to the director tell of how God has used the hospital to reach the Ecuadorians for Christ.

Rick Labuffe's hanger and plane.

Next, we drove to Rick LaBuffe's house. Rick is a very unique mission pilot in that he is not part of any specific organization. Also, he is different from MAF in that MAF pilots spend all their time flying and really don't do any direct evangelism while on the job. True, their lives are a witness of the love of Christ, but they do not preach in any of the villages that they fly to. Rick, on the other hand, will fly out in the morning to a certain village, land, and spend the day preaching to the village. If you have ever seen a pilot land in a village in the jungle, you will know that before you even get out of your plane, the entire village is swarming around your plane, eager to see their new visitor. The natives have excellent hearing, and so they can hear the drone of the plane miles off, so they know when you are coming in to land. Rick then says to all his captive audience upon landing, "Hey! why don't we all sit down, I have something to tell you guys. Something that will change your life." And they listen. Listening to Rick talk about his work fascinated me. I had never thought that this kind of mission work existed. It has definitely given me alot to think about. To be honest, I have heard alot of people from MAF tell me that after flying for 20 plus years, the joy of flying, just as in any other job, will wear off. And so if you don't have some other ministry in the area (like in the local church, or a bible study) you will get worn out and begin to think of your life as a glorified taxi-driver. Because the honest truth is, that because of the reduced support coming in for the organization, they have had to increase their commercial part of the program. So instead of flying only missionaries, MAF also flied commercially for businesses and oil companies that need to get supplies into the jungle. So although they still have the Christian influence and character, the operation is changing a bit. This is why Rick's work intrigued me so much. Because many of the tribes speak the trade language of Spanish, he can reach pretty much any tribe with the gospel, and instead of just taking supplies in only, he uses the plane as his transportation tool, just like a pastor uses a car, and goes around as a flying preacher. I haven't even begun to sort my thoughts out about this, but it has definitely opened my eyes to the multitude of opportunities that exist out there, that MAF is not the only option that there is.

And then, what better way to finish off the day, than a wonderful pool party with the group. The Hosteria where we are staying has a newly built pool, and a sauna, and a hot tub, and even a turkish bath. We tried everything (even though we didn't too much enjoy the smell of the roasting eucalyptus leaves that was so strong in there that it suffocated you.) But we had a blast sitting in the hot tub telling stories and sharing our thoughts from the day. We really have a great group here, and it has been a real joy to be around these guys.

Might not be able to see it, but we are sitting under this pretty epic waterfall at the pool...good times

Well until next time. This is Captain Snoopy, signing out from the jungle. You're watching Channel 20. Good Night...