One of the reasons I fell in love with Joil was his love for adventure and his ability to go on a whim! Our early days consisted of hiking the 14,000 ft Andes mountains near our home when we had downtime and traveling on canoes and trecking through the Amazon when we were working.
Adventure is part of our DNA but it is also part of our passion. I love the way adventure plays into the call, into missions, and into life when we allow it.
In January, after spending a week in the Andes mountains for a ministry event, we had the opportunity to do some hiking in our beloved BIG mountains, it was like taking the family to an amusement park, but better, mountains and rivers, and adventure at every turn!
On the way home, after having hiked up to Cotopaxi base camp (a 19,347-foot active volcano) we were talking about how grateful we were for the opportunity to live and be able to explore such a beautiful country. The conversation grew to name all the blessings in our lives and how amazing God truly is!
It wasn't long after that conversation that our kids starting talking about what they could do for missions and talking about how they could help others reach the hard places for the gospel.
Drew, our oldest son mentioned right away that he felt that God was telling him to climb these mountains for Speed The Light. If he could get people to support his vision and raise money for STL, then he would do it!
Six months later, one mountain turned into five and well, he has raised a lot of money for STL!
After relentless training, praying and preparing, along with his dad, have summited the first two of the five volcanoes. Pasochoa at 13,779 feet and Rumiñahi at 15,488 feet. Tomorrow, they take on Corazon 15,715 feet (this one wasn't planned, but why not one more, right?). Then next week, the two "Big Daddies" Ilinizas at 17,218 and Cotopaxi at 19,347 ft!
