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Ten Days of Casave

Andrew Large, Nicaragua

This story takes place when Andrew and Diane Large were in Peru, a field they served for twenty-eight years.

“Riquelme, what are we going to eat?” I asked Riquelme Vela, a jovial pastor friend who had a big heart for people. The plan was to visit eighteen villages made up of four different Indian tribes and dialects along the Amazon tributary rivers. Riquelme Vela was to accompany me on a ten-day evangelistic and edification trip to these river villages. The arrangement we had made was that during our trip, I would provide the gas for the speedboat, and Riquelme would provide the food. When Riquelme stepped down from the dock into the speedboat, he carried only his little suitcase and a grocery-sized bag.

Andrew Large teaches a group of river people in one of their houses.

When we were two hours into the trip and going down the Amazon River toward the tributaries, I asked Riquelme what he had planned for our noon meal. He proudly took out his aluminum pot, opened it, and presented to me, “Mingado de Arroz,” basically rice cooked in an aluminum pot. Because of the salt in the rice, the aluminum flavor was super strong.
After trying a bit of it, I said, “Riquelme, this is not going to be good. This tastes like aluminum. What did you prepare for breakfast tomorrow?”
His answer was “Mingado de arroz con leche.” In other words, rice with sugar and milk instead of salt.
This sounded a little more appealing, but I asked Riquelme, “What are we going to eat for the next ten days?” He produced a couple of cans of milk, three or four cans of tuna fish, sugar, salt, and more rice. I said, “Riquelme, we’re going to starve!”
With a big, confident smile, he said, “We will eat well!”

The speedboat that Riquelme Vela and
Andrew Large used.

We made the four-and-a-half-hour trip to Pevas where the tributaries start, and went up the tributary to the village of Estiron. We tied the speedboat onto the balsa raft where the village boats were docked and where the ladies would wash their clothes during the day while the children swam. We climbed up the hill to the village leader’s home, which was built up on wooden stilts. We asked the family how they were doing, and they complained of certain sicknesses and ailments. Riquelme listened for a while and then began to give them practical natural remedies for each ailment. Our Indian friends sat spellbound as they listened to such practical wisdom from Riquelme Vela. For two hours, the conversation went on, and when we were done, we were offered some delicious hot casave with venison meat. Casave is made from a yucca root left to ferment in a submerged canoe for three days. Then the water is squeezed out of it, it is ground up, flattened like a pancake, and roasted over an open fire. It goes well with either smoked venison or smoked peacock bass!

We had a good church service in that village and the brethren were overjoyed and strengthened with our visit. At the next village we visited, it was much the same, as was the next and the next. Every village presented the same medical symptoms, and of course my wise friend Riquelme would give the same remedies each time. We ate like kings the whole time, and thoroughly enjoyed the fellowship and God’s provision on that trip.

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:31-33).