You asked for it...

Hello young adult friends. Welcome to the May edition of You asked for it., the monthly email from NCP to folks like you. I hope your summer is getting off to a good start.

In this edition of You asked for it.

• Amazon Incredible
• Sudan-bound
• Facebook-yes we are!
• Enviro Fact, Justice Fact, Faith Fact

Thanks for tuning in.

David

Amazon Incredible
I´m writing from Quito, Ecuador, having just wrapped up our Amazon Learning Tour. It was a wonder.

Highlights:

• Spending three days with Siona shaman Delio (our guide for three years now, and the person on the NCP t-shirt). He explained the way he uses visions in his healing practices, identified countless plants and animals, and told us about the impact of oil drilling and mission activities in the region, including on his formerly nomadic people who now live in the only place left for them-a flooded rainforest (¨we kept having to retreat and retreat.¨)
• Hearing the story of something that happened the day after we left the rainforest-a woman came to our hosts´ compound carrying her 14 year-old daughter, who had been bitten by a snake and was unconscious. A hospital and a clinic at an oil refinery had turned them away-this was her last hope. As a staff person readied the vehicle to take them to a larger town, a Cofan shaman named Aurelio (who had hosted our group in his village the week before) went to a medicinal tree (cacao de monte), scraped off some bark, squeezed the liquid into the girl´s mouth-- then off they rushed to
  the hospital. She revived en route as a result of Aurelio´s intervention. (BTW, when they drew blood from her at the hospital after arriving, it was as thick as gelatin.)
• An encounter with a jaguar. Really. These elusive big cats (up to 260 pounds) are rarely seen, even by Delio, who at age 56 had only seen two in his life. And you usually don´t want to. It may mean you´re being hunted. So there we were, heading out of the rainforest in our canoe on our final day, Delio in the front of the boat-and all of a sudden he exclaimed ¨El tigre!¨ Sure enough, six feet in front of our boat a large jaguar was swimming across the river right in front of us. We had a look at it for about 10 seconds, then up on the bank it went, took a look at us, and headed off into the jungle.
• ¨This trip was the best experience of my life.¨ -young adult from Pa.

All of which says we need to preserve these places, these people, these creatures. Our world will be lesser-and lonelier-without them. Main impacts on the Amazon, which is already one-sixth gone? Beef production, oil drilling, timber harvesting, encroachment by the poor (because they have to) and the rich (because they can).

Sudan-bound
NCP has assisted four young adults (Emily Young, Melanie Blevins, Ian Christie, and Sophie Beya) in going to Sudan to volunteer for the summer. They
arrived in Nairobi today, and will end up in Nimule, along the southern border of Sudan in a week or so. They'll work at things that may include reforestation, teaching children, and women´s development. Pray for them-it won´t be an easy place to be. Looking for a gig yourself? We´ve got good contacts in Sudan, the rainforest, the Arctic and Central America. Just let me know.

Facebook-we are there, baby
Yes, it´s true. NCP has responded to popular pressure from people like you and gotten a site on FB. Are we cool or what.

Enviro Fact: One hectare (2.47 acres) of cleared rainforest produces 200 pounds of unhulled cocao (seeds to make cocoa) which will yield 9-15 pound of dried cocoa for which the producer will be paid about 50 cents per pound. It´s not worth it. -Delio, Siona shaman

Justice Fact: The world raises two billion tons of cereal grains per year. That´s enough food to feed 10 billion people on an East Indian diet-or-2.5 billion people on the typical U.S. diet. -The Future of Life (E.O. Wilson)

Faith Fact: ¨In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and the Spirit of God moved over the face of the deep.

And God said, ¨Let there be  light.¨ -Genesis, chapter one