josh.and.andra: intag

so we've mentioned a few times "Intag"... finally you will get some photos and more information!

Intag is a zone made up of about 5 or 6 towns. it's only about 50 miles from us, but the roads are terrible (windy mountain roads heading down in altitude) and so the drive takes between 2 and 3 hours depending on what road you take and what the weather is like. it's a lot lower in elevation than where we are, so it's warmer and there are more bugs. bug repellent is a must! there is a large river that runs through the zone, called the Rio Intag, and the area is known for its very adaptable climate, allowing for nearly anything to grow. coffee is a major crop and Rio Intag coffee is one of the good coffees that we enjoy.

our congregation has Intag as its territory. up until recently there were 2 couples and one single sister living full-time out there. they were having all meetings out there and were seeing attendance around 12. memorials also had excellent attendence. when we got here in may, they were all back in the states at that time for one reason or another (work, family stuff, etc) and it was impossible for our congregation to support the meetings twice a week so they tried to do at least the sunday meeting out there. there have been challenges these past 9 months: last year's rainy season was so bad that mudslides kept the local congregation from getting out to Intag for about 3 months; then over the summer our congregation had the drama at the district convention and the majority of the congregation was consumed with preparing for that; then we recently had KH renovation which made it difficult for consistent support on the weekends of Intag. one of the couples and the single sister who lived out there permanently have made a move to town after nearly 5 years in Intag - it is very isolating and challenging.... they needed a break. so now there is just one couple who is living full time out in Intag (michael and amber).

michael and amber went back to the states about 2 weeks ago for 3 months, for work. now that we have the car, our goal is to support Intag as much as we can.... and when they heard that, they took advantage! 2 weekends ago we went out to Intag for the first time in about 3 months and spent the day with michael and amber. they introduced us to their RVs and studies, or at the very least pointed out the house to us. we have a list of 30 people in the area who are solid RVs/studies, and we were able to meet about 9 of them and had about 7 other houses pointed out to us. michael and amber are trusting us to take care of these people so we're very excited, but also a bit overwhelmed.

last weekend we went out for the first time by ourselves.... we left at 6am and were in service until about 3pm. then we spent the night at michael and ambers house, with their adorable dog queenie. sunday morning we visited the 3 studies that live on the mountain behind their house. and by "live on the mountain" i am not exaggerating. we climbed for about an hour to reach edwin, who unfortunately wasn't home. but we met another man that he works with up there and were able to talk with him, and leave a note and the magazines for edwin. all in all it was an awesome weekend, very overwhelming but enjoyable and rewarding.

the people in Intag are so humble, so sweet. everyone drops what they are doing and pulls out a chair for you to sit down and talk with them from the bible. they are, for the most part, very poor, some do not know how to read. but the love of the bible and the appreciation for our work is there. in addition to the ministry being super enjoyable, the scenery is absolutely gorgeous. it is lush and green, and in this beautiful river valley surrounded by mountains.

below are photos.... quite possibly an excessive amount of photos! but there is a lot to share from these visits so im just going to include everything. so far we have been there 4 times now.

enjoy!

crossing the bridge from michael and ambers house (where we hold the meetings) to the side of the river where the road (and our cars) are

this little goat just couldn't get enough of our watchtower study conductor - followed him all the way down the hill :)

the happy service group after a yummy lunch by the river

eating lunch

more lunch eating

view of the valley

the temporary KH outside of michael and ambers -

they used to rent a building for the meetings twice a week but the rent went up and they decided we didnt need to spend the money, so this one week the meeting was held outside. now we hold the meetings in michael and ambers house instead.

in the background, the temporary meeting place.

in the foreground, michael and ambers awesome dog, queenie.

the sweetest sister ever - evangelina - i go with her on studies a lot - she is soooooo cute and tiny, i am like a giant person next to her

edison and his mom eating lunch - they are kichwa

a kitten

view of the Rio Intag

horse by the river

crossing the bridge to go to the meeting

view of the valley

the Rio Intag - in the dry season - when we were there last week the river was nearly covering this large rock, just a bit of it was showing. in fact the river was so high and so strong that it was splashing up onto the bridge you see in the photos above! sooooo scary.

view of the bridge we have to cross to get to michael and ambers house (and the meeting).

some car trouble :)

relaxing by the river for a few minutes after service and before the meeting

relaxing (and cooling off) by the river

Rio Intag

road in service

path in service

view in service

a house in service

crossing a river on our one hour trek up the mountain

two little old kichwa ladies we met on the trail up the mountain - when we got to the house of the RV we found out that there were more houses farther up the mountain, at least another 45 minute walk up - and that must have been where they lived because there were no other houses on the way. they were literally running down the mountain like it was nothing.