Monday, January 21, 2008 - Lessons from the Wilderness
This year has been too hectic for me to get out and do any real camping. I have a waiting list of about 30 guys who want to do the wilderness survival course but I keep putting them off. After all that has happened recently with Carole and Terry moving out of their house, my Mom’s visit, the Southwell’s visit, problems at church, camp, the sport’s center etc; Patty (very lovingly) told me to go camping. She didn’t actually pack for me but I was given no choice in the matter.
I had planned to head out for two nights alone and made the mistake of mentioning it. Weverton and Valcione begged me to take them with me. I had promised to take them out as soon as I could find the time so I reluctantly agreed. I normally run the course with four and two is half the work. By church time Wednesday night I had all our packs packed and the excess gear stowed away. The phone rang, Andre had heard we were heading out and wanted to go too. He has been out with me before. He is very enthusiastic and squared away. I hemmed and hawed a second or two and decided to let him come too. After church I tore down all the gear and made up a pack for him.
I picked them up at 6AM Thursday morning and we arrived at the Uaimíí Forest (pronounced why-me) before 9. About two years ago Weverton had been run over by a car. His left leg had been crushed. Over the last two years he has had several surgeries and extensive physical therapy to recover the use of his leg. This was to be the first time he has done anything like this since the accident. Taking that into account I didn’t want to push him too hard the first day so I selected a campsite I had used before about 1 km in on the backside of a ridge.
The location includes a small forest of decent sized trees for hanging hammocks and a huge, overhanging shelter rock for making camp fires. I have used this place before several times. With Weverton’s leg being a big unknown I wanted a campsite that was a sure thing.
At the start of the adventure I have them spread out and find a place to sit quietly for a half hour. This in itself is a challenge as none of them are used to solitude or the bush. I ask them the question “What do we really need in life?” In the bush we are stripped down to the basics. The course covers our need for Shelter, Water, Fire, Navigation, and Emergency Signals. They live on a Spartan diet of instant oatmeal and Ramen noodles, food is not a 72 hour survival consideration.
One of the main premises of the adventure is that everything we need to survive is already out there in the bush, we just have to apply ourselves and make it happen. God has blessed us abundantly but those blessings are often secured through hard work.
I find that this wait at the start puts them in the right frame of mind. When they came back we had a little talk about what I expected out of them, what they could expect out of me, and the question we were trying to answer, “How do you survive out here?”
Much of the course material is taught as we meet each need during the course of the day and by necessity it is unstructured to account for the unpredictable nature of nature. I have attempted to organize it here in an orderly fashion and give an idea of the greater life lessons each component of wilderness survival can teach.
SHELTER – Mankind is essentially a tropical mammal. We need two things, warm and dry. God has loaded the wilderness of Minas Gerais with places easily adaptable to create those conditions. The giant rock overhang in our campsite is a perfect example.
I asked them, “Forget about our big shelter rock for a minute. If you had to build a shelter right here in the forest with just your basic equipment how would you do it?” They all came up with some form of ground shelter idea. I turned up the six inches of rotting leaves on the ground to reveal a mass of ants and assorted creepy crawlies.
“Do you really want to sleep in all of that?”
“NO WAY!”
“We need to sleep up above it somehow.”
This shelter was created from what the Lord provided. The only man made materials used were a machete, a poncho, and a liberal portion of elbow grease. Andre spent the night in this shelter.
WATER – A human being needs close to a gallon of water per day. Here in Minas Gerais at this time of year we drink at least 3 liters of water. The campsite I selected had no water nearby and I hiked them in with dry canteens to emphasize a point. God has provided for our needs but that doesn’t mean that provision is always within easy reach.
On the hike in we dug out a sandy seep that filled with muddy water. This water is perfectly palatable once filtered and treated and there was easily enough to keep a person alive for days. We decided to hike about a kilometer to a creek to fill our canteens.
For more lessons on wilderness water see the blog post The Rule of Threes.
FIRE – We use fire every day, it is the one of our most basic needs to cook food, heat our living space, and provide light for the multitude of small tasks we couldn’t get done during the day. Naturally it is the focal point of human community and has been for our entire history on earth. Fire equals fellowship. Almost every natural shelter space in Minas Gerais shows evidence of past campfires going back centuries in some places. Fire, like fellowship is essential but it doesn’t happen by itself (at least not the way we want!)
NAVIGATION – Getting lost in the wilderness is no fun. Valcione had been part of a day-hike gone bad a number of years ago. The experience of being lost in the wilderness left a deep impression on him. Getting lost in life is even worse. Compass navigation renders up more teaching opportunities about life than can be recorded here. It is a simple process of using a fixed point of reference and long term goals reached through a series of short term objectives that take you closer to where you want to be.
These guys did a fantastic job the second day of navigating many miles over rough terrain that included open country as well as short visibility, dense jungle thickets that literally had to be chopped through, steep ravines, and a large dose of the unexpected. Just like life.
 (Yes that is a "pungi stake" sticking out of my boot! Fortunately it only left a decent bruise on my foot and didn't break the skin. One more hole in a jungle boot makes little difference.)
SIGNALS – Knowing when you are in over your head is a lesson in humility. We all wind up in situations beyond our capability and have to let others know we need help, now! During the course I cover emergency signals such as the cell phone, whistle, signal mirror, and fire/smoke. Letting others know where you are going and when you will be back (accountability), prayer, asking for advice and help with life’s problems are all things we need but avoid doing at times.
Here the guys are approaching my location after I called them back from a distant ridge using the signal mirror.
Life is a Wilderness
There are a multitude of subtle lessons the bush can teach as well, working together, working hard, looking after each other, taking the initiative, understanding your needs as opposed to your wants, valuing the things you have, etc. The list could go on for pages.
Aside from learning how to manage a wilderness emergency they came back knowing a little more of how to manage the challenges of life.
For Weverton (standing) the trip marked the end of his exile from life limping around trying to recover. He covered a great deal of broken ground and did everything everyone else did. It was hard on him but he did well. Weverton has told me he has seen the Lord’s purpose for his accident and the growth it caused in his life. This adventure was a huge milestone and gave him confidence that he is physically capable of far more than he thought.
Andre (right) jumps into life with both feet and told me that soon he will be inviting me to head out to the bush. I look forward to that; he is a strong, natural leader and someone I want to invest more time in.
Valcione (left) is dedicated to the vision of a church that truly reflects the character and personality of Jesus. It was great to spend time with him as he hasn’t yet committed to membership at Hope Baptist. He told me on the phone today that he can’t live the rest of his life without a plan and the navigation course showed him that. He said, “Pastor Mac, I fail because I don’t have a clearly defined objective and a route mapped out to get there. I also have to know how to get back to the last place I was sure of and start again on the right course.” Can somebody say AMEN!
Me? The Lord knew just what I needed…
Mac
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