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We’re coming down the home stretch. Christmas is almost here, and packages are accumulating under the tree. There are just a few more “Advent Adventures” to share. After the survival hike, much of our training was complete but I still had plenty to learn. We were ready to move on to the last phase of …

Are you surviving the final days of last-minute trips to the mall and preparations for the holidays? Thanks for stopping long enough to read about another “Advent Adventure.” Shortly after Christmas, the staff announced to six of us that it was our turn for the 3-day survival hike. We had five minutes notice and were …

Christmas is just a week away. Thanks for carving out time to join me here on this “Advent Adventure.” We arrived in Advanced Base at the beginning of December, and Christmas was around the corner. I wanted to have some little gift ready for Linda. I found a fairly flat piece of bark, and I …

Advent is a journey that takes us closer to our destination of Heaven. Thanks for staying with me on this “Advent Adventure.” During those first weeks at Advance Base, the staff were expecting us to be able to purchase some food supplies from locals, but we were so far from the beaten path that not …

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 …