Seth relentlessly tried to comfort me as tears like raindrops fell from my eyes. My two newest friends returned from their short journey into the woods carried on the shoulders of two of the interns guys as blood streamed from their poor little necks. I had been pre-warned not to bond with them, but I couldn’t help it. Toby was the youngest of the kids with a lot of spunk and a bit of angst, while Floaty was a bit more friendly and approachable. Both of them became very dear to me in the days we bonded while in “The Wilderness”. The poor little goats that we brought to the island with us to hunt were the sweetest little guys with the softest fur and the cutest little “sick with the cold” runny noses. When the students returned with them dead as blood dripped from their slit throats, ready to be slaughtered and roasted over the fire, I couldn’t help but cry. For the first time in my life I had seen two freshly killed goats and watched two seemingly gentle and tenderhearted girls chop the head off of a chicken they were hunting in the thickets. This is “The Wilderness”. We spent three nights and 4 days on an island in the middle of Lake Victoria with 22 new interns and a few leaders, one of which awoke them at 5am every morning to instruct them in aerobics. The lessons of unity learned in the team competitions and boat races will be with the Ignite (the internship at church that Seth and I lead) students for the rest of their lives, not to mention the endurance they portrayed when we gave them seriously treacherous tasks which brought out the best and worst of everyone. Next week we’ll post another update video with what’s going on in Ignite and how GenAlive is as well as show you photos from “The Wilderness” and of our smiling faces.

~ Diana