We went to church and heard some more white testimonies. Even though Sandy and Larry (seated behind me) kept prodding me to get up and share my story, I didn’t feel any leading from God to do so.

After lunch, Jun Jun took some of us on a hike to what we thought was a nearby waterfall. After hiking for an hour and 45 minutes we realized it was farther than we were led to believe it would be. At first it was just an uphill trail, but the last half-mile was dense jungle uphill without even a hint of a trail. The waterfall was ok, but we only stayed there for about 10 minutes because it was getting dark and it would take about 2 hours to get back to the village. I was very bitter on the way up because I kept stepping in water or mud, and then my feet would slide off of my sandals so that I couldn’t get traction to stay on my feet. Then I decided to go barefoot and that worked better while walking on the mud trail, but it was not possible to go barefoot after the trail ended because of the lolo (thorn bushes). The thorns were like an inch-long sewing needle and densely covered all the branches of each thorn bush. They were very painful when stepped on, mostly because you never stepped on just one, you usually stepped on 7 or 8 at a time because it was a branch that was laying on the ground. The hike would have been 100% better if I would have had shoes on instead of sandals. I also had my camera and was trying to “baby” it so my agility was much lower than normal. On the way back I had a much better attitude. Mostly because it wasn’t as hot and humid now that the sun was almost down, and also because we were hiking downhill. I felt like Indiana Jones in The Temple of Doom when I saw this enormous tree in the jungle. Although I didn’t find any golden treasures in the jungle, I discovered that the jungle, itself, is a very beautiful and valuable treasure.

After dinner, Gerry and Stephanie got into a debate over evolution. Gerry was trying to “shove” his belief down Steph’s throat, which only made her more defensive and resistant. Then one of the missionaries got involved and brought some sound theology to the table but was still “shoving” it in. Steph sounded confused and misled but open-minded for the most part. It seems there is a lot going on in her mind right now and it’s a bit of a mess. Maybe all she needs is some love and support from friends and family while she sorts it all out. I’ve never been in a debate (or even heard of a debate) in which one party is convinced by aggressive arguing to change his/her viewpoint/belief. Therefore, it seemed wise not to get involved in the debate since all it seemed to be accomplishing was division among the team. I mean, it wasn’t like Stephanie’s salvation depended on whether or not she believed evolution was possible or not, but to hear the debate, you’d think the salvation of all humankind was on the line.