Cross Walk!

Today is Good Friday and what a good Friday it has been!  I grew up in the church and have known for years what this day represents, but I've never really done much to celebrate or reflect on this very important day.  

Today a group of staff from YWAM Salem went down town to do a "cross walk."  We literally drug a cross all around the center of the city while others in the group prayed and talked with people.  During this time several people asked questions about what we were doing and gave the opportunity for us to share the Gospel.  It was a great way to get people asking questions! 

I made the choice to carry the cross for a while and, oh my, I experienced a major download during those 5 or so minutes!  The first thing that hit me was how the cross was heavy and I could feel every little bump on the ground vibrate through my body.  I started to really think about how Jesus felt carrying a HEAVY cross... through RUGGED terrain... hearing FILTHY insults... after being BEATEN severely... knowing that he would DIE for the sins of the ENTIRE world.  I don't know how I kept from crying, but I somehow managed to keep walking. 

As I walked, I also thought of how Jesus died for some pretty awful things I've done.  It was a sobering moment, but then a spirit of thankfulness rose up in me and I began praising the Lord for saving me and calling me up into a wonderful life in Him.  God is so good!  He can take anyone from any situation and turn their life around.   

Throughout the morning I heard stories of how God is touching lives through different city outreaches that we have done as a YWAM base.  The man following the cross in the above picture is just one of those stories.  He met a couple of our staff guys several months ago and has really turned his life around.  He has gone from just out of jail and homeless to being connected with a church, living in his own place, and being really close to having a job (he has some secondary interviews coming up).  Please pray that he can get a good job!  I think it's amazing how we ran into him and he joined us in the outreach!  Here he is in the next picture choosing to carry the cross.

 I was nervous about this outreach... something about dragging a cross through the city didn't seem "normal" or fun to me, but I went anyway knowing that God sometimes asks me to do things that don't make sense.  What I found was that I really enjoyed the outreach once I got going.  I can relate this to my experience with the Giant Swing.  I'm scared every time I step up to the edge of the platform and take that step into thin air, but once I step off, I love it and enjoy the swing!  

It was a beautiful day for this outreach and the trees were so thick with Spring blossoms.  I think it's a picture of the new and wonderful season that is coming ahead!  I'm excited for it and all the amazing things God is going to do!

Hanging from Cables!

Hanging from the cables about 60 feet in the air is pretty exciting!  I enjoy physical challenges and always find it exhilarating to be high in the air climbing around on less than stable cables.  The cables wiggle and wobble and I just hold on and keep going to do whatever I'm there to do.  In this post I'm climbing up to show another guy how to string up the rope to use the "Flying Squirrel." For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a high element where someone is pulled quickly up into the air by the rest of the team pulling the rope they are attached to.  In about 2 seconds the person is dangling about 40 feet in the air... weeeee!

This is a carabiner and a daisy chain.

We call this system our "personal protection."  I love using a daisy chain because it has loops on it and allows me to hook in at a long length or a short length depending on what I'm doing.  It's very versatile for doing many different things.  I use this pretty much any time I'm out working.    

Heading out on the cables.

Getting set

Notice how I have two long yellow lanyards for safety?  I always have at least two safety lines, that way I can clip from one cable to another without ever being without a safety line.  Many times I have a third safety line for comfort.  Here I'm clipping the daisy chain pretty short so I can't fall very far at all.  

Moving out on the cables.

Almost to the pulley.

Climbing down to the lower cable to put the rope through the pulley.

 Climbing up in the cables is hard work!  Sometimes you are climbing across and other times you are climbing up and down between cables.  I find that it's a really good workout, but a workout that I can do pretty much all day because I enjoy it.  

Stringing the rope through another pulley.

 I ended up doing this climb 3 times as the "Flying Squirrel" was built.  First to put the pulleys on... then to thread the rope through the pulleys... and once again to double check everything to make sure we didn't overlook anything.

 Later in the week I got the chance to take a ride on the "Flying Squirrel."  I've been on this element several times in Salem, but here in Maringa it was kinda special because I got to experience going on something that I helped build.  It was AWESOME!

Drilling...

Building a ropes course requires lots of climbing and drilling!  

Each cable connection needs to be drilled and fitted with a bolt to connect the cable to the tree or pole.  With all the different high and low elements we had to drill a TON!  My first "in the air" drilling experience was on this fine pole that is now the end of the zip line we built.   

At the bottom looking at the pole I need to climb... totally excited about it!

Ready to climb with my chacos (the best sandals ever) and the drill clipped to my harness!

For all of you who are worried about my safety... my harness is totally connected to the pole with a piece of webbing like this :) 

I made it to the top and am ready to drill! 

The lovely hole I drilled!

Tightening the nut so the bolt can't come out.

I think I remember getting slightly sunburned working up there... it was a super hot day and no shade!


When I think back to all the work our team did up in the trees I'm reminded of the way God kept us safe.  I'm truly thankful for all who were praying for safety!  Other than some scrapes and bruises we had no injuries at all!  Praise the Lord!!

Setting Poles!

We had to do a little extra work to build some of the high elements at the Maringa base.  There weren't  a lot of trees in the right places so we had to dig 5 BIG holes to put poles where we needed them.  

The guys digging a hole - notice the red clay.

The soil was really interesting to work in... it was this thick clay that would stick to everything!  The wet clay would stick to the bottom of your shoes and stack up until it was a couple of inches thick.  Made it really fun to walk around!

Eugenio enjoying the work!

Yana checking the depth of the hole and translating.  

It was really interesting to be building in Brazil... we had people who spoke only English and others who spoke only Portuguese.  This could have been a real big issue, but we had some wonderful people who could speak both languages.  It was really cool that some of the translators were kids... they may not have had the building skills, but they sure were helpful in keeping the communication going!!

How many guys does it take to dig a hole?

Transporting poles

 We were totally blessed to have a Christian construction company donate a truck and operator for the day to help us move and set the poles.  Moving and setting the poles could have been done by hand, but the use of a truck allowed us to get all the poles set in one day!  Thank you to the construction company and to God for providing the help that we needed for this BIG task!

Setting a pole in place.

With all the poles set we were ready to start drilling and hanging cable.... which meant more climbing!  YAY for more climbing!!

Building!

You may be wondering what it takes to build a ropes course.  I asked myself this question before I went on this building trip.  I really didn't know if I had the skills to do the job and going with a bunch of guys didn't help much either... needless to say... I was intimidated!!

We spent the first couple of days prepping the site for building.  We organized building supplies and cut down some trees.  One of the great blessings was having lots of help so prepping went quick and we got to building after just a couple of days!

ORGANIZING

Rapid links... put into groups of 5.

Hooks and light rope to make the spider web.

Bolts to connect cables to the trees.

CUTTING TREES

Climbing a tree with only my harness and 2 webbing straps!  A good workout! 

I climbed this tree to tie a rope around it so they could control the direction it landed.  We decided to do this after the previous tree took out the neighbor's fence. 

We didn't hit anything with this tree... yay for us!

Have I mentioned yet that I love to climb?  Well, just in case I forgot... I do love to climb!!


 

Rice and Beans...

Many people ask me about the food I eat in different countries.  Sometimes it's hard to explain the food, but this time it's really simple... I ate LOTS of rice and beans! 

I was at one YWAM base for the first two weeks of my trip.  It was an amazing time there and I will have to say that the rice and beans weren't all that bad.  They had good flavor and I knew that I could count on a hot meal that was gluten free.  My tummy was happy so how could I complain!   

Rice and beans with salsa...

Rice and beans with tomatoes...

Rice and beans with onions, sausage, and manioc root...

During this two week period, I didn't only eat rice and beans... I also had some VERY good BB-Q!  The guys down here love to BB-Q a LOT of meat and just eat and eat and eat!