Each camp has four champas , or primitive stilt homes, and a cooking pit and mud stoves where meals are prepared. There is no hot water, electricity, or telephone service . Those conditions are similar to what Wycliffe translators experience when living among remote groups in Africa, Latin America, and South Pacific nations, Rick Pfizenmaier said. Teens sleep on wood floors or in hammocks, cook and eat in the open, and do building projects and other tasks. Rides in small planes and helicopters provide a glimpse of missionary travel, he said.
Campers observe ethnic customs at lunch.
An African meal of rice and ground nut stew is served and campers are cautioned not to offend their hosts with reluctant looks or negative comments, Dori said. Missionaries impersonating tribal people, complete with native dress, interact with the campers. The teen-agers experience the difficulty, even with a translator on hand, of explaining the Christian faith to someone who does not speak their language. Just learning their culture was hard. It assists Wycliffe Bible Translators by providing technical, mechanical, transportation, and personnel support to its missionaries around the world.