.little daylight.

Before the gathering tomorrow, I wanted to make sure to share a few pictures of what I talked about in the last post. This first picture is in the village of Los Saltos in the Darien province. This is the seat of political power within the Embera people group of Panama. Most elected chiefs over the whole people group set up office here and retire here after their 5 year service. We spent a week traveling around to various villages in the Darien Province with Tulio Rosales as our guide (a passionate guy who is part of YWAM and longing to inject in his people group a sense of how God truly impacts and transforms not only individuals but a whole community). It was during this trip, and a handful of other communities that I was able to visit over the summer that I sensed God moving me to notice what a difference a change in worldview and expectations of that world can make in a community for health and life and vitality, or towards lethargy or fruitless striving.



The girls in the picture were some that would hang around our thatch-roof platform hut and giggle at our strange behavior and habits. The hut in the background was one that - in the name of progress- chose to add corrugated metal sides to the house which only made the heat a million times MORE unbearable. Tulio would shake his head so many times during our travels and say something like "if only my people would understand the value of the traditional ways of life, and seek to bring changes that would enhance their lives, not simply do their best to mimic the [majority group]." He taught me and all of us so much in regard to what God can do in a community if only we would apply what we know of his plans and purposes in the Bible. And he'd tease us to embrace our inner warrior as he'd let out a traditional Embera warrior cry, telling us that from so many generations removed from our warrior ancestors, we all needed guides who are closer to their roots. Thanks Tulio.

This next picture is one of a set of traditional houses in Tulio's village of Errebache. I think you'd like to see the website the photogenX team worked so hard on with Tulio to share his village with, well, everyone. So check this out.