Day one was a picturesque sunrise start, followed by an eight hour trek that can only be described as a painstakingly hilarious, circus act. This performance was then repeated the following two days, as we hiked, or rather, as we slipped, slid, and crawled the equivalent of 300 stories. After completing this momentous feat, we can, with a clear conscience, and utter conviction, say that we were all completely embraced by the mountains of Malekula.
As we began our journey, I found so much joy returning to me that had been missing for quite awhile. I knew I needed some father-daughter time with the Lord, and (no surprise here) He had already gone before me. He planned my entire trip and then set it in motion.
“The best part, I felt His arms around me the entire way.”
From the start, God blessed me in many different ways. On my flight I got the whole row to sleep on, which I really needed. After arriving, I had a wonderful time of fellowship with my friends from previous outreaches which was extremely encouraging. The last day I would be in range of WiFi I decided to walk into town to call and surprise my little sister for her birthday. As I got to the road, a car with a couple from our local church pulled up and they offered to give me a lift to wherever I was heading. What a blessing! Normally, I love the long walk, but I was actually quite tired from traveling and I just felt so incredibly loved and looked after by the Lord. I then started making preparations for my trip into the bush of Malekula. As I did, everything came together almost seamlessly, contacts were on time and available when I needed to chat and the doors just seemed to swing open. Another huge blessing was my two travel companions, Deborah and Marcus, who toughed it out alongside me on our wild and beautiful adventure. God answered my prayers in such a mighty way by having them not only in Vanuatu already, but available and willing to go with me! Otherwise, I would have been traveling alone in the bush and as much as I trust God to watch over me, I still had been praying for Him to provide travel buddies. Which, true to His nature, He did! These two blessed me tremendously and I know they were an answer to my prayers.
As we began our journey, I found so much joy returning to me that had been missing for quite awhile. I knew I needed some father-daughter time with the Lord, and (no surprise here) He had already gone before me. He planned my entire trip and then set it in motion. The best part, I felt His arms around me the entire way.
When we got to Malekula, we were met by my amazing Nivan brother, JoJo. He is the son of (my adopted village) Lambubu's chief and a man with a heart after the Lord. God used our time with him to inspire and encourage him towards a closer relationship with the Lord, not only for himself but for his village and family! Papa God is preparing him for such an incredible journey and I am excited for him to walk it out. Together, the four of us journeyed through Malekula on a scouting mission for my primary healthcare team. We started off our journey by truck to Lambubu Bay, then climbed into a longboat for our sail around the point of the island and into Southwest Bay. When we arrived, I was very excited to find that the place we were staying that night had puppies running around. Haha, what can I say? I love me some puppy cuddles!
From Southwest Bay, we traveled on foot up into the mountains. On day one, we hiked sunrise to sunset, a total of eight long hours. We repeated those hours on day two, arriving after dark at our fourth village. On day three, we again repeated the process, reaching another three villages and thankfully, arriving safely at the bay before the sun had set.
As we traveled to the middle of the island, we got to see incredible beauty and witness first hand God's goodness, faithfulness, provision and protection. At the end of our three day hike, we calculated that we had hiked over fifty kilometers, keeping a pace of around fifteen kilometers a day! We were hiking with packs that weighed around eleven kilograms, climbing up, at times, slopes that not even a horse could get up. Needless to say, hiking this bush path made Pikes Peak feel like a breeze. This was possibly due to the fact that we were up to our ankles in mud, our bodies' profuse tears made us feel as though we had just climbed out of the ocean, and the jungle oven we were in was seemingly set to broil.
We received a rather broad collection of cuts, bruises, rashes, bites, blisters and other tokens of affection, kindly lavished by the hills, bushes and trees along the way. Resting, was at times made easier as we ended up on our butts, backs and knees quite often. All this, our unrehearsed performance, occurred while trying to cross over mud slips, which often, were overlooking cascading cliff sides. All that to say, the mountains of Malekula are very physical touch and they fully embraced us all... many, many times.
Along the way, I received a true jungle education and I learned it isn't wise to high-five bamboo trees. They really don't like to be touched. Basically, they the "cat" of the bush and often prefer to be left alone. This is a fact that my julienne fingers are now, better aware of. Last, yet certainly not least, I'll mention my newest experience, communal village bathing. This turned out to be a comical performance which I fondly refer to as an, "act of love".
It included the village mammas, almost as many flashlights, yelps that could most definitely be acquainted with yodeling, fervent prayers throughout our balancing act upon slippery river rocks, and an unplanned chase as the river made away with unattended toiletries. Our experience brought us a whole new level of relational vulnerability as we made friends with the mammas of Malekula. This same performance reoccurred each night in rivers that, after nightfall, had turned from refreshingly pleasant, to more of an arctic vein. So there we were, with copious amounts of soap, side-splitting laughter and the metronome of chattering of teeth filling the night air. With this, our adventure was now complete.
As wild as it was, I know this remarkable journey was a huge blessing not only to the villages, but to each of us. I am so excited to be a part of the healthcare training in Vanuatu and to see it reach areas were it was previously inaccessible. This journey taught me well that God is faithful. He sent us to proclaim the good news of His love across the nations and that is exactly what we had the opportunity to do. What's even more amazing is that we had the chance to meet with all the chiefs along the way and explain the heart behind healthcare. We love because He first loved us. Now, we have future students from those same villages who are enrolling to be trained as healthcare workers for their villages. Praise the Lord!
I am deeply excited for all that God is doing and will do in the beautiful nation of Vanuatu.
Please keep us all in your thoughts and prayers as we continue on this incredible journey.