Author: Emily Chase

Are you exhausted as Christmas draws nearer? Thank you for pausing to join us on this “Advent Adventure.” At last, at sundown, we arrived at Lake Ocotal. Filthy and footsore, we found our director waiting for us on the shoreline…with bad news. There were not enough trees to hang our hammocks on this side of …

Christmas is advancing upon us, and we are advancing to the second phase of jungle training in our “Advent Adventure.” Hiking to Advance Base took us on foot another 35 miles farther away from civilization. Campers each had a turn riding one of the mules for an hour. Our mules were slow but sure-footed as …

Today we complete our second week of our “Advent Adventure.” I hope you are tracking with me as I go through my jungle training course, but I also hope you are grasping how to trust God in every circumstance. After six weeks at the main base camp, the staff helped us plan for the second …

Have you toweled off after our time in the river yesterday? Ready for another watery episode in our “Advent Adventure”? All campers faced a tough canoe trip downstream through 22 sets of rapids. Each dugout canoe that we used weighed from 500 to 1000 pounds and held half a dozen passengers plus camping gear. Our …

Welcome back to Chiapas, Mexico. We are about halfway through our “Advent Adventure.” The jungle river that swirled past our camp was a never-ending challenge in our training. We rode in huge 500-1000 pound dug-out canoes through rapids, we bathed at the river, we swam there too. One day, Judy had one foot on land …

Thank you for returning faithfully each day to join me here for this “Advent Adventure.” Not all the lessons God taught me at the jungle training camp were painful memories. After returning from that 50-mile hike, staff who had remained behind in camp met us as we trudged in at the gate. They handed us …

Welcome back to another episode in our “Advent Adventure.” Our first night at Naja was miserable. Torrents of rain poured down, soaking our sleeping bags and leaving us shivering in the cold. At last, we erected a plastic tarp where we could gather underneath and build a fire. Our local Tzeltal guides were as cold …

Have you ever been camping? Join our “Advent Adventure” today for another episode in learning to depend more fully on God. This year, my son John and his family bought their first tent. They went camping in a state park. They hiked to a nearby waterfall. That evening, the family sat around the fire and …

Are you enjoying our “Advent Adventure”? Why not invite a friend to join us in the jungles of Mexico? Swimming class was held down at the river, complicated by flood season and steep muddy riverbanks. One day, after class, my contact lens fell out. The whole group of girls helped me search for it but …

Welcome back for another episode in this “Advent Adventure.” During the first week of our jungle training camp, I was assigned to make breakfast for the entire crew of over fifty people. Little did I imagine how one of God’s angels would have to protect me that morning! At 4:00 a.m. I trudged to the …