El Reto -

The weekend of the 12th we hosted an adventure race at El Refugio in partnership with an organization called Proyecto Aventura. They generally host three shorter races a year (about 30 km each) and then the Huaraisinchi (about 300 km). The shorter races consist of running, biking, and orienteering.

The event went well with our biggest concern being parking. Racers made it off alright, the first checkpoint was at the top of our property, 1300 ft. (400m) above the starting line. Teams in the elite category made it up in about 25 minutes. After descending they grabbed their bikes to re-ascend by a different route before finding a few orienteering points again on foot.

There are a few details here in Spanish, a few photos here.

Transition and third culture living –

The main thrust of the retreat we hosted for a group of missionary kids last week was how to navigate the many transitions of third culture living. Third culture kids are those whose parents are from one culture yet are living in a second country/culture. They in essence wind up being part of their original culture and their host culture(s) yet are rarely fully integrated into either one, thus the formation of a third culture due to influences from various people and places. The themes presented were Reconciliation (mending relationships), Affirmation (thanking and encouraging those who impact your life), Farewells (healthy goodbyes, good closure), and Thinking Ahead (proper expectations, anticipating realities). Through all of these we were reminded that God’s standard is that of love (1 Cor. 13) and it doesn’t change no matter who we are.

So what is it these kids like about going home on furlough? Root beer, Dr. Pepper, free refills, friends, Wal-mart.
And not so much? Not fitting in, prayer cards from six years ago, and speaking at churches.

They stopped on the church theme for awhile, mainly bringing up the questions and comments: “I changed your diapers when you were little.”
“We have your picture on our fridge.”
“Do you live in a grass hut?”
“Do you ride an elephant to school?”
“Do you have electricity?”
“Poor dears”
and not least “Aren’t you glad to be home?”
That last question once again sparked discussion as for nearly all these kids they are more at home in their host country than they are in North America.

I greatly enjoyed facilitating activities for these young people and I’m sure I learned more from them than they did from me. Not that they don’t face challenges but their global vision gives them great potential to be world changers.

Word association: Riot –

What do you think of when you hear the word riot? Last week I had the opportunity to facilitate for a group of missionary kids. It was eye opening. Those of us facilitating sat in on many of their other sessions in order to be able to use our activities to reinforce the lessons they were learning daily. The retreat leader was a former missionary kid and was able to speak from experience on many issues that third culture kids face. One thing she did was have the kids say what came to mind when she mentioned the word riot. Here are a few of their responses:
Rocks
Burning tires
Roadblocks
Lockdown
Travel restrictions
Emergency food supplies
Change of president

To say that these kids have lived a different reality than their North American counterparts is an understatement. It took a few days for them to open up to those of us who don’t fully share their experience but I was very grateful for the chance to get to know a few of them. While they are often put on a pedestal for wrong reasons these kids do have an incredible opportunity to impact the world.

Rumiñahui -


So the Geneva Youth team left on a Tuesday evening and with only two days until our next group several of us wanted a little escape. What more restful activity than seven and a half hour, 8.95 mile hike, 2900 ft. up, 2900 ft. down, topping out at 15,550 ft. ? Perhaps you can think of a few but we had a great time and God showed us some breathtaking panoramas and sights. A few pictures here.

Geneva Youth –

Our work projects continued with the Geneva Youth team: forty eight high schoolers and their leaders who upheld their reputation with us for hard work and great attitudes. The main project they worked on was pouring cement for our new shop/maintenance area. They also cleaned our irrigation pool, hauled brush, worked on our roads, and built areas, trails, and rails for low ropes activities. A VBS they held onsite drew 150 kids the second day. An overnight trip to the jungle was a good time to connect with more of the youth. We stopped at the MAF hangar where Nate Saint flew out of, hiked in the jungle, rode downriver in leaky dugout canoes, and had a baptismal service at a waterfall. Good times.