Imagine living in the wilderness with no electricity, no running water, and no tent for 4 days! How would you survive? We went with our class on a survival course to see if we had what it takes to do just that. Not that we plan to live in those conditions in the future, but it's always good to know necessary survival skills just in case they might be needed. We learned how to start a fire without matches, build rope out of plants, find food in nature, as well as basic orienteering using a compass and the sun and stars. We also learned how to build our own shelter and I've provided step-by-step instructions so you can learn how do it yourself!Find two large forked branches or trees and one long one to use as a pole and set up as shown. (It helps to have a cute wife help you, too)
Next line some smaller sticks along the middle pole and weave twigs through them so that you can add foliage for protection from the elements.
Finally, weave foliage into the twigs and make sure the leaves are pointing down to carry the water away from the shelter in case it rains. We used local ferns called bracken to cover our shelter, and amazingly, it kept us completely dry when it rained one of the nights. It was time-consuming to build the shelter, but it was so much fun and next time we go camping, we want to build another one!
Robynn and baby were well taken care of with great food over the fire (we hiked in with some food supplies), plenty of drinking water (provided), and a team to serve them and make sure they were okay.
Here's our team in front of some more shelters we made (Robynn carved the flowers out of wood).
We had a great time and we wish we could do it again. He has provided everything we need in His creation, and we experienced a simpler, more thoughtful way of life far from distractions and (in)conveniences. Robynn was sad to leave the first home her husband had made for her!
We're back in normal classes again and really enjoying them as we continue to learn about His work in the world. Thank you for thinking of us!
All our love,
Jonathan & Robynn (and Baby) only 8 weeks to go!
