A few weeks ago I stayed out at our church camp in Villavicencio. I was sleeping in a tent in the back yard as the dorm rooms were filled with our work crew guests. I was using one of the bathrooms at the back of the building. That is the one nearest the septic tank and sewer lines. And it was the closed one to my tent, which was set up in the back yard.
The church camp is a camp in a rural area. It is common to see iguanas running around and hear the howler monkeys in the early morning as they screech at one another. There are frogs and parrots and other “critters” all over the place out there. All of that makes for an enjoyable country setting for having church camp. But sometimes there are things that surprise even a veteran missionary!
As our work crew drew to a close, I headed for the restroom shortly before heading for my tent to turn in for the night. As I lifted the lid to the toilet, at first I thought someone had used it and forgotten to flush. But then the brown lump in the toilet raised its head and looked at me. It was a huge toad, that had apparently made its way up the sewer pipe and exited into the toilet, only to be trapped there. I laughed as I thought of what might have happened had one of the ladies or girls there been the ones to make the discovery!
I informed everyone on the work crew and of course they had to all run back and see this strange sight in the camp toilet. After everyone had a good laugh and took a few pictures, I felt sorry for the poor guy and put a plastic bag over my hand and reached in and saved the poor toad from his predicament. After all, toads are beneficial as they eat many bugs. But it all goes to remind you to make sure you look into the toilet before sitting down!