Blanco y Celeste: Up into the Mountains

This field includes both jungle and mountains. Bagua Grande where the bach is is around 400 m above sea level. Our forays into the mountains take us up to around 2,500 m above sea level - all in a 1-2 hour car trip, winding up gravel tracks. So you climb steeply! Our friends are scattered around in the mountains behind Bagua Grande. Most have come in touch through one original man called Antonio Delgado who saw truth and professed. Sadly, he later became involved in village politics and ended up joining the terrorists. He is still outside today, but maintains that what he heard was truth. From time to time the workers still visit him and his wife where they now live in the jungle, always receiving a warm welcome.

We went to a locality called San Jose at 2,500 m above sea level to have a few days, and the Sunday am mtg with a couple Silverio and Aleja. As a young man, Silverio worked for a man Samuel who had come to meetings through Antonio. Samuel would invite him each time the workers (Norman Nash and cos) would come to his house. Silverio was worried he would dock his pay while he attended the meeting! But Samuel promised him no, he would pay him all the same. Silverio and his wife both decided to follow Jesus, and at this stage, just one of their nine children did the same - more or less at the same time as his parents professed. While we were there, three of their sons and respective wives and kids came along to the gospel meeting, so there is hope yet...

This is the scenery while travelling in the vehicle climbing steadily up the mountain.

Silverio meets us where the vehicle leaves us, with his pack horse to take our backpacks

Taking a pack horse without a rider is like driving an empty car alongside passengers walking...I got the horse as Palmira doesn't ride due to back/hip problems. Which by the way all these native mountain workers suffer, due to having lugged heavy loads in their childhood/youth. From here it was an hour's walk/ride in to Silverio's farm.

This is still the "highway"

Leaving the road to start crossing farmland

Beautiful bush and farmland!

Smelt a very familiar scent...Pongas!!

Arrived. One of his sons lives up on that hill

Wow, this place is advanced!! Solar panels bring electric light! We each had our own bed! Mine is pictured behind the curtain. The meeting room is the part you don't see. The family sleep behind a partition that goes beyond the curtained "passage". Every morning tough grandma gets up at 5 to milk her 9 cows. Her grandchildren who were staying for holidays would go with her. Come back and rush off for the (cold) shower (high altitude at 8 am isn't particularly tropical temps). Milk is made into ricotta cheese, then eaten with mandioc and/or spuds for breakfast.

Kitchen scene. Grandma stoking fire, Palmira peeling spuds while two little cousins watch on.

I said this place is modern...a separate curtained off shower and longdrop. The shower consists of a hose connected to a shower head. You turn the hose on up at the house, and it comes out high pressure freezing water!!

Flashest longdrop I've seen in a long time!

Johanna, the 7 year old granddaughter who would delight in skimming up the tree when she saw me go off on a bathroom visit, then give me a fright as I walked back under it! Cute.

Dusk, from Silverio's back yard...cool palm trees

Sunset over the mountains

Grandma Aleja frying up guinea pig for tea!

Looks much better when it turns golden brown!

Taking corn off the cob (maize) to make tamales - a kind of dough made of ground corn, then wrapped in the husks and steamed, sometimes cheese in the middle.