Yesterday we got back to the Panama base from our week with the Embera tribe. The experience was incredible, and will be hard to describe in such a short blog...but here´s the basics of how it went: We drove about an hour to the docks and took a 2 hour canoe ride upriver to where the tribe lives. The river was low at many parts and so we all had to jump out and push the canoe--which was somewhat difficult going upstream with such a heavy canoe against a strong current. When we arrived at the village, we were all speechless at what was before our eyes. The Embera live in thatch huts raised off the ground about 8 feet. They bathe, wash dishes, and drink from the river. The women go topless and everyone goes barefoot. It was like seeing something on the Discovery channel...except that this was where we were going to live for a week.

There are probably 15 huts in the lower village where we were. All the families are really sweet and inviting people, and the kids are crazy. After we made friends with them all the first day, they clung on to us for the rest of the week. We did a lot of children´s ministry during a couple of the days and whenever there was a free moment. Physical work took up a lot of our time during the week-the community had several projects for us to work on. We worked on building a roof for one of the new huts, collected stones to make cement, sifting and cleaning sand from the river for a water filtration system they´re building, making a staircase from the riverbank up to the front of the village, and doing a lot of small projects as well. We also did hut-to-hut ministry times, where we would just visit the families and ask for their prayer needs and talk with them. One of the days we did something a little different: we gathered the adults and had a little activity for them. Our DTS team divided into groups of 2 or 3 and each had a topic that is fundamental to the Christian faith. (Sin and free will, love and grace, the bible, the cross, unity and the church, etc. ) We shared a short summary of what each topic was about and then invited them to come to whatever group/topic they had questions for. We told them it was an opportunity to ask us about any questions, express doubts, or just learn more about something. It was really great because the Embera have had numerous missionaries visit and so they´ve heard about the Christian faith and its basics...but this was an opportunity for them to go a little deeper. The ministry time went really well, and each of our groups got to talk with the community about their topic.

We did physical work and ministry every day and by the end of the 7 days we were pretty worn out...but it was such an incredible time for us all. It was hard to say goodbye as we pulled away in the canoe yesterday with the families gathered at the rivers edge waving us off. I would love to go back someday :)