The Village of Wakallani

(Suggested background song while reading this post: "Glorious Unfolding" by Stephen Curtis Chapman)

To understand our experience with the village of Wakallani, it may be helpful to consider an account from the Bible.

In Acts 16:6-10, Paul and his companions were quite determined to get to the province of Asia to share the Gospel. It appears that they tried at least a couple of times to get to Asia, but each time, the Spirit prevented them from getting there. Finally, to make His purpose abundantly clear, God gave Paul a vision of a man of Macedonia, where Paul and his companions started some amazing ministries.

I am sure it was no coincidence that Acts 16 was part of my morning devotionals during the days of ministry I later called "The Quest for Wakallani".

We had our relentless national leader/missionary, brother Juan Sosa, who took on the role of the apostle Paul. His passion to share Christ's love with this remote village deep in the Andes was strong and infectious.  It was not going to be easy to reach Wakallani because of the amount of rainfall that had fallen during the week prior to our arrival. Many of the road and walking trails leading to the village were closed due to rock slides, which blocked the paths, or difficult to travel on.

However, these obstacles were not going to deter brother Juan's desire and determination to bring us to Wakallani.  Years of traveling through the complex mountains roads outside of La Paz to visit all the Aymara village meant that brother Juan know every possible path to this village like the back of his hand. And he was ready to try every possible path... literally.

Attempt #1: Sunday
With picks and shovels loaded in his two pickup trucks - one red and one white, which our team affectionately nicknamed Jack and Jill (because, well, they went up the hill...) - brother Juan took us on the most direct route to reach Wakallani.  Unfortunately, the city officials deemed the road so unsafe that they actually put up a blockade on the road.  Brother Juan begged to differ and so we tried to make a way.  And, if you watched the video, you will see how Jack (the red truck) got stuck deep in the mud.

The next 6+ hours were spent figuring out how to get Jack out of the mud.  Most of us were transported back to the city by around the 4-hour mark. So we did not make it to Wakallani.

Attempt #2: Monday Morning
Brother Juan took us on the scenic route on this gorgeous sunny morning. The sky was blue, the air was crisp, and the view was absolutely breathtaking.

And then we came to a big pile of fallen rock blocking the road. No problem, let's get our the shovels and picks to clear a path. (We even sang "Heigh Ho" from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs)

Once we clear one roadblock, we discovered another one.  And so the team rolled up our sleeves and attempted to clear it.

Then, almost like a messenger from God, a young boy came strolling along the mountain road (maybe from Wakallani?) He informed us that this is only the beginning of the roadblocks.  There are so many more later on that it is not a good idea to keep trying this method.  So, after sharing the Gospel with him, we turned back to try another route (We did give the boy a ride to help him on his way). We did not make it to Wakallani this morning.  

Attempt #3: Monday Afternoon
It would appear that we had exhausted the methods of getting to Wakallani by car.  So brother Juan found a place to park the trucks and we set off by foot to get to this village.

Have you ever been on one of those trips where someone says, "Oh yeah, it's not too bad, about 30 minute to an hour and we will be there. No problem!"  Well, that was our impression when we began the hike.  But no one mentioned that it would be along a cliff with unstable soil (due to the rainfall).

We were told to be weary of those "holes" along the path.
I never asked what would happen if accidentally stepped into one of them..

Then we went down steep hills with no actual paths - "stick to the plants and grab them" was one of many useful advice we got (and these were life-saving words of wisdom).

Truly, off the beaten path

This finally brought us to a long and winding walking trail that seemed to go on forever. However, there were no complaints on the part of the team, the view was pretty amazing.

About two hours later (about 2pm), we found a lush grassy area to settle down for a nice lunch picnic.

The reason we were having lunch so late is because brother Juan's originally thought we could reach Wakallani "in no time" and have lunch at the village. Well, after lunch, even he realized that getting to this elusive village would take us a few more hours deeper into the mountains.  And of course, we still need to get back to the trucks somehow.  Here's how long we had already hiked already:

Yellow arrow is where the trucks were parked; orange arrow is our lunch spot (approximate travel time by foot = 2 hours)

So, change of plans, brother Juan and one of the team member, Mike, were going to head back to the truck. And rather than have most of us hike back (and uphill) through the treacherous terrain that had brought us to this point, we were to take a smoother path to a nearby village (named Chojo, not Wakallani) where the trucks would meet us. "It's about an hour" we were told. So off we went!

Another 2+ hour later, we arrived at the edge of the village Chojo, greeted by a somewhat excitable dog.

The dog looks mellow here, but he was quite agitated when we first met him.

This is where the story of what God did in Chojo picks up, so feel free to read my posting here.  But for completeness, here's how long we hiked after lunch:

Yellow arrow is where we had lunch; orange arrow is Chojo (approximate travel time by foot = 3 hours)

The truck did find us in Chojo by the early evening, but it goes without saying that we did not make it to Wakallani on this day.

Attempt #4: Tuesday Afternoon
So without dwelling on the details too much more, it suffices to say that brother Juan took us on another hike to get to Wakallani.

The sun on this day was particularly bright and it was quite hot such that a couple of team members had to turn back about an hour into the trek. We came to a point where it became obvious that, even if we made it to the village, it would not be possible for us to get back to the trucks by nightfall. (And no one wants to be lost in these mountains at night). So once again, we did not make it to Wakallani on this day.

We did, however, have some fun along the way (for those wondering, we are playing Heads Up!) and the view was once again spectacular.

Attempt #5: Thursday Afternoon
So by this last ministry day, our host and national leader, Osvi, had made it clear to brother Juan, that Wakallani is not happening this week.  But did that stop brother Juan from trying?  You guessed it! This time, however, it was a much smaller group that was with him. We had split the team up that morning so that Abigail and I could visit a house of peace with brother Juan in the village of Hankokawa.

Brother Juan carrying a bag of goods to the house of peace

As we left the house of peace, brother Juan turned to us grinning and saying the magic word "Wakallani?"  Abi and I looked at each other and we knew it really did not matter how we responded. So we went along with him. However, there was one problem - brother Juan had locked his keys in the truck!

It took us the next hour or so to get the car doors unlocked - during which time, I learned how to pick a lock.  This delay allowed the rest of the team to find us - and it was by God's providence because we were out of cell phone range, so they found us without any directions, deep in the Andes mountains!

"Jack" found "Jill" without any specific directions! 

Osvi quickly put the kibosh on the idea of trying to get to Wakallani that day.  Of course, I could not help but think that if the car keys had not been locked in the car, the other team would be looking for us along another (probably rugged) path to Wakallani. But God seemed to have intervened, so we did not make it to Wakallani on this trip.

Epilogue
So what does this all mean? Did our team spend a significant portion of our trip wandering in the wilderness with no fruit to show for our labors?  That was certainly not the case! The Gospel was shared in some unlikely places because of the paths we took. The friendship that were built as we struggled along the paths each day were genuine and Christ-centered. We laughed and sang praise songs, helped one another through difficult obstacles and carried each other's burdens (physically and emotionally), and had long and deep conversations.

Very few complaints were uttered on these days because there was a strong sense that we were where God wanted us to be. The focus was truly "on the journey and not the destination" when it came to the village of Wakallani.

In the Book of Acts, Paul did eventually make it to the province of Asia years later and planted one of the most well-known churches in Ephesus (Acts 19).  So when the Spirit prevented Paul from going, it was NOT because God did not want the people of Asia Minor to hear the Gospel, or that Satan had somehow been successful in thwarting God's plan. It was because the time had not yet come.

On one of the days that we were trying to get to Wakallani, Steven Curtis Chapman's song "Glorious Unfolding" came up on my iPhone.  As I looked at the truly glorious landscape of His marvelous creation in front of me, God spoke to me through the lyrics of this song:

And this is going to be a glorious unfolding

Just you wait and SEE and you will be amazed

You've just got to believe the story is so far from over

So hold on to every promise God has made to us

And watch this glorious unfolding  

Our team may not have seen what God has planned for Wakallani on this trip, but I am confident that there will be a glorious unfolding in that village at the time of God's choosing.  In the meantime, could you please pray for the hearts and souls of the people in this village?  And pray that God will continue to empower and protect faithful missionaries like brother Juan to reach out and share Christ's love with this precious village of Wakallani.

We were told that Wakallani is somewhere in this panoramic shot - just not sure exactly where...