We awoke early and ran into our day! Having made previous arrangements, we circled the village in our Suzuki, picking up each pastor we had invited to join us. We then drove to the outskirts of the village, heading toward Mount Hanang.
Our car maneuvered as far along the dirt path as possible before we had to park and continue the trek on foot.
After a few minutes walking up the path, we arrived at the wooded area near the source of the village's water—a spring bubbling up at the base of a stately, old tree.
The gentle, bubbling water that emerges from deep within waters the village of Gendabi, but also flows into the valley below, reaching even to other villages nearly on the horizon.
Generations of local villagers have worshiped deities residing therein, holding ceremonies and making sacrifices to appease the spirits they believe are responsible for drought or flooding, famine or abundance. (The dark- and light-colored streaks on the tree's trunk testifies of a very recent sacrifice.)
Pastors and villagers readily testify that those who drink of the water that flows here suffer terrible physical, emotional, and spiritual problems. (More on that a bit later.)
Although Christians in the region have learned that they possess the ability and the authority to do something about this situation, they have lacked the hands-on experience.
The AIM team and 4 local pastors decided that we needed a spiritual strategy. So we decided to pray.
