When I tell people I am going to the Amazon, the first thing that they say is something like this……

“Aren’t there a lot of snakes in the Amazon?”

Or…..

“Wow that sounds adventurous…..Don’t put your hand in the water”……

Or…..

”Do you have good bug spray?”

So lets discuss and debrief this. I would like to address the three P’s.  What are the three P’s you ask?

Piranhas

Parasitical bugs

And…….

Poisonous snakes

I head out on Saturday to the Amazon in Ecuador with Northpoint Buckhead Church, I am trying not to think of the three P’s. Instead, I have been thinking about those kids I get to hang out with in the jungle and how fun it will be to introduce this church to Compassion’s ministry.  We are going to help build a water system for a river community (yes, the community is on the river but they don’t have access to clean water).

We will be traveling over the Andes and into the Amazon basin.  Sound exciting?  Yes I think it will be, but lets discuss those three P’s now.

First, about those piranhas.  I don’t plan on swimming so I don’t foresee the piranhas being an issue.  If for some reason I do end up in the river during my 30 minute canoe ride each day, I will certainly exercise my prayer life.

Second, about parasitical bugs. Now, I would like to declare that I am not necessarily afraid of bugs except for the kind that have poison or have parasitical attributes   I have seen big bugs, I have touched big bugs, I have torn the wings off of bugs and I have probably eaten bugs, Bugs have bitten me. With that said, I am not fond of the kind of bugs that bite and leave permanent damage to your flesh.  So, to avoid bug bites and things like malaria, I have purchased excellent bug spray, not only for my body, but also for my clothes.  In addition, I will be taking anti-malaria medication. Enough said.

Finally, lets talk about the poisonous snakes. I have no love toward snakes.  Snakes irritate me.   In all my travels, I have only seen one snake, and it did not bite me.  I won’t be reaching my hands in dark places, under rocks or in holes in the ground, and Jennifer Lopez showed me how to kill a snake.  My husband, being a thoughtful man, had me watch “Anaconda” the other night.  This less than great movie was filmed in 1989 and featured Jennifer Lopez and Icecube.  The story is about an unreasonable Anaconda, the Amazon, and a film crew doing a documentary.  In the end, most people die from the snake, but Jennifer Lopez and Icecube kill the horrible, death-defying Anaconda. So I feel ok about going now.  I love my husband for his thoughtful movie choice so that I could be prepared to kill an Anaconda if the need should arise.

Now that I have clarified myself and verbally processed, I want to say that in travel there are inherit risks involved just like riding the subway in New York City and driving in a car with my teenage daughter at the wheel. However, I don’t want to let fear, or my fear of what could happen, stop me from living the life God has for me. With that said, I trust God that all will be ok and that this will be an amazing trip and that the Three P’s will not be an issue.  I look forward to sharing my stories.