Missionary to Missionary

At last my friends have come along

My lonely days are over

And life is like a song

When I was on the cable car to the ‘looking over the slums, I was tuned out to the others inside. I was consumed in poverty. How does this happen where one side is so rich and the other is so poor? I sit and ponder these things while others talk about face book and what they want to eat for lunch. I can’t really focus on that when I am looking at what’s below me.

Fortunately, there was a long way to go and we ended up three different cable cars to get to the top. The third cable car entered into complete natural beauty and I could refocus myself.

For an icebreaker (yes therapists use icebreakers too), I asked the four in the car if they would like a picture.  It was all downhill from there as we immediately clicked. Oh come on Priscilla how do you just click with strangers? I make jokes to make them laugh and we get to know one another. 

By the time we were off the cable car at the top of this amazing forest, they asked me to join them.  They brought their “lunch” and I brought myself because I planned to buy food at the top. I found some nice chocolate covered strawberries (need those) and a whole bunch of meat (not very appetizing). 

On our way past the local food, there was a man selling a gooey white substance. It was suppose to be a dessert. My new friend walks over to buy one and hands it to me. While I love sugar, this is not something I want I try. I taste and it taste like something gooey  with coconut. "Mmm" I smile. I walked around with it having small bites and acting like I like it. 

This was a National Park with 

many trails, hikes, waterfalls, ziplining, kayaking, bird watching, and more. My focus was on the activity and not so much on the eating. The Colombians make me lose my appetite with those bodies (yikes).

We had such a wonderful time taking a long hike to the park where you can kayak and zipline. We stopped at a couple waterfalls and made  silly jokes.

Along the way, they were eating their lunch. I stopped to eat their “lunch.” They said they brought a picnic lunch. An average person would think sandwiches, cheeses, and some fruit. Their lunch consisted of cans of soda, Cheetos, mini brownies, chocolates, and something like fritos. They kept offering it to me and I was thinking, “How do you all eat this junk and stay skinny?” It’s a metabolism thing I just never quite understand.

Nevertheless, it was cute watching these adorable Colombians chomp on Cheetos and walk like turtles. 

The guy, Christian, was quite a guy. He shared with me his story that he was a missionary and he preaches all over. He recently finished a trip walking from Panama City to Colombia through the jungle. This was hard to believe, but his friends all confirmed it. This kid was amazing and intriguing to have such commitment to the Lord to walk through a jungle hundreds of miles-maybe 1,000? When he explained his reasoning it involved doing something greater than what is asked for by the Lord. It involved service and it involved spreading the message of the Lord-powerful.

 People do incredible things and they do them with God whether they are aware of this or not.  PRIS

 

This was interesting because it turns out they were all Christians and they met through the local church. Two girls and two boys in their early 20s and committed to Jesus-beautiful.

Instead of taking the cable cars back down, it was recommended to take the bus. Oh my goodness, I love the bus, but this was like zig zag and zig zag all the way down. It was completely nauseating and I needed a break.  They weren’t up for kayaking and ziplining because they wanted to catch the bus down. They had church to attend-wonderful Christian new friends yaay.

They left me all by myself to zipline and kayak-oh so sad. The ziplining was quick and just went right across the lake.







 


























The kayaking was a rather large boat with a paddle. This was not a kayak. It’s made for 2-4 people, but I wanted to give it a try with one person.  The guy said I could go and try and out since they were closing and he didn’t think I would be out long with 1 person and 1 paddle. 

Well, I even surprised myself and the Colombian family in the water. I started off switching off my rowing. Something I was doing was unsuccessful because I stayed in one place. This caused laughing from the people across from me. 

I decided to move my body forward and this help me have a better grip. Off I went into the sunset and around the bay area. People were still watching as I was switching sides at a crazy pace. My speed was pretty good for one paddle.  When I took a break, I stared out into the sky and trees, took a deep breath, inhaled the surrounding and the beautiful day with my nice Christian friends. This day happened with reason.