Jungle Camp is a really neat part of the missions training program. The entire first year class (26 of us, plus children) takes part in this exercise that simulates some of the planning, preparation, isolation, challenges, and just plain hard work that are part of missionary life.
Jungle Camp is a six-week long class that began June 5th and concludes July 15th. We begin with two weeks of building, in which we are responsible to construct temporary dwellings in the bush. This takes place on the New Tribes Mission property. We use poles, plastic, duct tape, staples, and twine as our primary resources. Each family builds their own houses, and the singles work together in groups. My two roommates and I are building a house together. All the houses are located near each other, so we form our own little community out in the woods.
After the two weeks of building our houses, we move up into our new homes and live there for four weeks--that's right, an entire month! We have one day to move up. On that day, we haul up all our food, clothing, bedding, kitchen utensils, and everything else we think we'll need for the next month. We carry this all up on foot. Once we've moved up, we are not permitted to come back down to the main campus or go out into civilization. We are to cook our food on our homemade stoves, wash our clothes by hand (or in homemade washing machines), and entertain ourselves without computers, PlayStations, or TVs. It should be a lot of fun!
Stay tuned for further information, updates, and (hopefully) photos of our progress.
No comments:
Post a Comment