Icandi.

As our boat pulled up on the shore of Icandi and as we unloaded equipment I felt like the whole place was something out of a movie. We were surrounded by massive huts and packed dirt pathways snaked in and out of buildings and trees. It was the furthest away from quote on quote "reality" I’d ever been before. We call these trips “missions experiences” and for me this was definitely a little out of my comfort zone. I’d been on 3 of these trips before but never in such rustic and at times brutal living conditions. All 10 of us, the 6 stinters, the Tillinghasts and 2 Kuna pastors who came with us stayed in one massive hut, sleeping in hammocks and changing in darkness to try and grab some sense of privacy. But the people there were absolutely beautiful! I had never been in a Kuna village before but we were welcomed in as all the children and some of the men carried our equipment and set up our hammocks. The women were pretty shy and the language barrier didn’t help but we were still able to exchange smiles and have some conversation through our translators. Kuna women don’t speak Spanish but all the boys and therefore the men do, so it was interesting to be back in a situation where I couldn’t quite communicate at the level I’m used too.


The 3 and a half days we spent there were full of constantly changing plans and activities. We spent times throughout the day working with various families and Juan Carlos and I found ourselves grinding corn, cutting and gutting fish, machete-ing a little field and cutting and peeling green plantains. It was a totally new experience for me but one that we both enjoyed. The first day we didn’t really get a chance to talk with any of the families as we simply worked on our tasks, but as Juan Carlos said as we were working on a little field, “I hope that somehow this shows them the love of Christ.” And I pray that it did. We were able to have a bible study we the Kuna ladies on both days that we were there and I was able to share my testimony one of these days. This was while the boys on our team were entertaining and keeping all the tonnes of children distracted with singing songs and crazy re-tellings of bible stories.


The children too were absolutely amazing! We were mobbed as we walked throughout the villages and many a time I felt a little hand grab mine as we were walking to and fro. It was fun to play with them and teach them new games but also super encouraging hearing them sing Christian songs well into the night.


On our final evening there we had a chance to show the movie, “Magdalena.” It’s a newer film that uses scenes from the Jesus film and new scenes to tell the story of Jesus through the eyes of a woman. The message was powerful as the gender relations in a Kuna village are drastically different but not necessarily bad. When we asked a woman what her purpose was, she said it was nothing. It was sad to see women think that they were worth nothing but through the women’s bible studies and through seeing the film my prayer is that they know Jesus loves them and that they’re worth dying for.

It was a challenging three days but more than anything I left encouraged. There’s good follow-up set in place and a pastor named Lazaro that’s been visiting the village once a week. He’s respected by the chiefs and in the village and so as he continues to work there along with another Pastor named Leno I have a lot of hope for this village in spite of the challenges that are there. The beliefs of the people are so close to Christian beliefs; they say we have the same God and they believe that Jesus was the son of God. But they see no need for a saviour because their salvation is based on works. If the good things you do outweigh the bad ones you get to go to heaven. They're missing the truth of the word. The bible has been translated into Kuna but is still not in this village, the pastors have bibles but the people don't, many of them can't read. But my prayer is that as Pastors Lazaro and Leno teach from the word and build the church they just received permission to build, the truth about Gods grace but also the truth and need for a saviour would be spoken and received.