Reflections on Ecuador
Circe Torruellas
Aug 12, 2008 · 3:31 PM
Today was our first day in the jungle. The trek uphill to the village was long and hard, but worth it. As exhausting as it was, we all knew that our mission was clear, we needed to reach the village. No mud lakes, hills or wild farm animals would stop us. For me in particular the hike was somewhat of a welcome home. The smells of the jungle were familiar to the smells of “el Yunque” (the rain forest in Puerto Rico were I’m from), the fruits on the trees, the flowers on the way and even the animals we encountered were all familiar to me. However, I was not home. We were in Shuar territory. A people I had just recently learned about and in some ways a people that was still a mystery.
THE WARRIORS! That’s how the Shuar people are mostly known in Ecuador. This tribe used to practice “tzanza”or the art of shrinking human heads once they had killed their opponents as trophies of warfare. We were invited to the village San Jose Sur, to share the Good News of the gospel to the people of the Shuar Indian Nation and support the 20 member Shuar church in the village. There are over 100,000 Shuar Indians living in the jungles of the Amazon Basin of Ecuador. Our team was committed to reach these indigenous people with the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ while at the same time helping them with their medical needs and the need for clean water.
As soon as we arrived the village, while some of my teammates trekked back down hill to go back to the river to clean sand; others (me included) started to set up the medical clinic in a school house the church had reserved for us. We set up curtains with cords and rope, exam tables with school desks, a pharmacy and waiting rooms for our patients. Our first clients arrived soon after we were done. We worked with church members from the 20 member Shuar church in the village to register patients so Dr. Renasia and Dr. Justin could take care of them. Long lines of patients formed, families came and left and many were asked to come the next day since it was already late in the evening. Word about the clinic/medical mission had quickly spread among the villagers and even surrounding Shuar villages.
As exhausting as it was, I could see it on my teammates faces- we were happy. Truly happy. God had used us. There was no question about that. We all could see it at the end of the day and in our patients’ faces.
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