Ladies Bible Study

Our ladies Bible study group usually meets in different church member's homes around town every week. This week was different as we took the group on the road and into the mountains!We started off by car and I had my first opportunity to ride in the back of the pick-up. It was quite the experience! The road is not paved and is badly in need of a grading job. We were not only jerked around terribly, but every time another vehicle passed us, we would be covered in a cloud of dust! But the scenery was beautiful and this is the way that almost everyone travels here as vehicles are very scare.

After about 20 minutes on the road, we pulled off to the side and found the trail we needed to take. I wish I could describe for you what the trail was really like! It is impossible to see in the pictures, but we were bascially hiking straight down the mountian side for about 30 minutes. We had traveled pretty high out of town and now we needed to hike down to Miguel and Rosa's house. I don't think I have ever climbed so steeply before!

Kris and Nate are wonderful hikers and led the group both there and back! I think Nate could have done the whole hike over again. We were all dressed in our good hiking shoes, but the ladies here just wear flimsy little sandals and yet they never slipped on the steep and rocky terrain! In fact, on the way back up, one of the ladies even carried Ellen on her back for part of the way!

At last we could see the house in the distance. The approach to the house is beautiful. The family was out watching for our arrival. You can just see the house in the distance in the picture below. I still had to climb down one last time and then up again to reach the house. Taking this picture, I could already see Nate snaking his way up to the house on the other side.
We were warmly welcomed by the whole family. Miguel and his wife Rosa live here with their older married daughter (her husband is working at the coast). Miguel and Rosa have six children and most of them are still quite young. The married daughter has five of her own children already! They are all boys except for one girl who is about 13. There certainly were a lot of boys around and it was impossible to tell who were Rosa's sons and who were her grandsons!

The house is very simply, but very neat. The yard is full of all sorts of animals. Cats and dogs of course, but also turkeys, chickens, pigs and more.

The ladies served a mountain coffee, which is a popular beverage here.

Above is a picture of Lia with her house helper, Maria (sitting besides her). The other lady in the picture is Marcella. Marcella helps us in our house three times a week. It is really wonderful to have her! She is a faithful member in our church along with her three children (sitting beside her is her youngest daughter). Sadly, she has been a widow for many years. Her husband was killed in a bus accident when her youngest daughter was just a baby.

Our hostesses with some of their children. I have a new appreciation for these ladies! They faithfully come to church on Sunday and that is no small undertaking-as I now experienced first hand! The daughter must carry her adorable, but very heavy baby on her back as well. It is so difficult for us to imagine what life is like for these people. Becuase of where we were born (by God's perfect plan), we enjoy so many privileges and blessings!

Have you ever read Country magazine? They always have a section entitled "View from our House". Well, this is the view from Miguel and Rosa's house. Sitting on a piece of board on their front "porch" (just hard packed dirt), they look out at this breathtaking scene.

It is a reminder that God is an awesome Creator, who is in control of all things. In an earlier post, I wrote about a terrible landslide that happened not too far from here. In the center of the picture above, on the furthest mountainside, we can see the spot where many people were killed.

I love Isaiah 40 and I was reminded again yesterday not only of the goodness and greatness of the Lord, but also His might and power and justice.

"Have you not known? Have you not heard?

The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor

is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength.

Even youths shall faint and be weary. And the young men shall utterly fall,

but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength:

They shall mount up with wings like eagles.

They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint."

Isaiah 40 :28-31