I just returned Sunday night from another trip visiting an indigenous village. This time it was another trip with the Ayoreos. In March I went to a gathering of 5 ayoreo churches each from different communities where we basically had a 3-day church service. It was the first time they had done this since in the past there have been divisions in the Ayoreo community, each church claiming to belong to the mission that founded it and steering clear of churches started by other missions. They enjoyed it so much that they decided to do it monthly since then. 

Well, my first experience with them at this gathering was quite a bit awkward. They still are very faithful to their own language so I could understand very little of what was going on. But even more odd to me was that this was the first time in my experience here that I was not the center of attention when I went to some new community or church. Most people practically ignored me, some wouldn't talk much when I tried to converse with them, and a few were a little more talkative. But I mostly just sat and listened and spoke only when asked to. To my eyes they seemed to be pretty expresionless too. everyone I talked to kept a straight face.

The last couple months I was not able to go to their gatherings, but I did continue to sporadically visit the ayoreo pastor in the community near our house here in Santa Cruz. Then this past weekend I finally got to go again. 

I left Thursday night together with the members of the church in the local ayoreo community, arriving in the town of San Jose at 3:30am. It was too early to hitch a ride to our destination obviously, so we all (about 30 of us including children) walked to the nearby train station and they all pulled out their blankets and went to sleep right on the sidewalk, so I did too. Early in the morning we got up and someone had arranged for a flatbed truck to pick us all up and drive us another hour down the highway, where it turned off and took us another 30 minutes up a little dirt road through the forest to the village of Nueva Jerusalen (New Jerusalem). It is a very small village of 10 families on the top of a small knoll in the middle of the Chiquitana mountain range. The view from up there was amazing and we had some great conversations watching the sun rise and the stars disappear in the mornings.

From the get go things were still obviously awkward with me going along with this group of people, but things were different this time too. We new each other this time, and it seems like simply coming back and participating with them again showed them that I was sincere about wanting to support them. This time there was plenty of conversation, and even smiles and laughter. In their service they let anyone get up and speak or sing if they feel led to, and they love to sing, so I even sang a song for them in English. People were more willing to teach me their language and even were asking me questions. 

The kids, who were terrified of me before, got a lot more comfortable with me this time after two small girls came up to me with a piece of trash and asked me to make a paper airplane. I don't know why they thought I could make a paper airplane, but I made one and then when the others saw, they all wanted one. No more scared kids. 

I also began some wonderful conversations with ayoreo church leaders that we hope we will continue to have in the future. I was so thankful for this amazing opportunity and so encouraged that we will be able to make inroads into this community. I look forward to visiting them more often now that I feel much more confident in our relationship. There was a really special moment when we were playing soccer and suddenly everyone stopped and started dancing and shouting. I looked up and three pairs of scarlett maccaws flew right over us. Just seeing such a beautiful and rare bird in the wild was an amazing experience and the cherry on top of a great trip. Ann and I have seen blue ones before, but the red ones are very rare in Bolivia. It was really cool to see the awe that everyone held for such a majestic bird as well. Who dances out of pure joy just for seeing a pretty bird? I'm starting to really like these people.

Please pray that we will be able to serve the Ayoreo people and church in a God-honoring manner.