First up, Panama.
Our host took us to a local waterfall one of our first days here and we got to explore.
Ministry: YWAM (Youth with a Mission)
Location: Near David, Panama
Currency: Balboas, USD (1 Balboa= $1)
Language: Spanish
Overview:
During this month we lived on base with one other team and the DTS (Discipleship Training School) students at YWAM. This is about 20 girls in all. We had three bedrooms and one bathroom. We lived in a very safe rural area. About ten high schoolers lived in a house on base next door, since YWAM had a three year high school program. (Panama only requires school through sixth grade, so high schools are very hard to come by and expensive for those in rural areas and villages.) We had a dog this month. He belonged to the groundsman, but would come hang out on the porch with us.
Here is a video of where I lived in Panama:
What types of ministry did you do in Panama?
Ministry was widely varied in Panama. We visited an orphanage and a nursing home. We taught speciality classes to the high school students who lived on base. We led an after school program. We helped cook, clean and upkeep the base. We put on VBS programs for neighborhoods and schools. We participated in city wide Bible distribution. We also led Bible studies for the high school students.
This is Deira. She cooked all the meals on the base. I got to know her by working in the kitchen. I got to meet her granddaughter as well. She was all sass and joy and reminded me so much of my grandma.
How did you get to ministry?
When ministry was off base, we rode in a large 16 passenger van that we affectionately named Bertha. (I wish I could put the video I have of us pushing her to start here.)
What did a typical day look like?
6am: Wake up/Get ready
7am: Breakfast
8am: Personal quiet time
9am: YWAM staff worship/prayer
10am-noon: Nursing home
Noon: Lunch
1pm-3pm: Prepare/Plan time for VBS/classes/etc.
3pm-6pm: Speciality classes for high school students (dance, photography, etc.)
6pm: Dinner
7pm: Worship/Bible study
8:30pm: Team Time
During one adventure day a few of us bused to Boquete, a tourist town about an hour away. While hanging out in a coffee shop one day, who would waltz in other than the president himself?
11 Lessons from Panama:
1. People either live in a city or in a rural village. There’s not much of an in between.
2. Most kids will only go to school through sixth grade.
3. High schools are expensive and few and far between.
4. There are 3 main tribes of villagers in Panama.
5. Tribes are known for practicing outdated and harmful rituals.
6. All of the kids who go to YWAM’s high school program are village kids who couldn’t have gone to school any other way.
7. Jobs are very hard to come by for those living in rural villages because they have no transportation and most jobs are in the city. This leads to high rates of poverty in these places.
8. Religiously, you are either evangelical Christian, Catholic or practice voodoo in Panama.
9. Panama has a large presence of Americans. In the cities, a lot of individuals speak English. We also met many retired Americans now living here.
10. USD is an official currency here.
11. Boquete is the biggest tourist area aside from the Panama Canal.
Here is a video a teammate made for/of me in Panama:
Current fundraising update:
WE RAISED $4,000 IN ONE MONTH. I am absolutely blown away by the goodness of the Lord and yalls continued support! You are the reason I’m in Africa!! I only have $3,902 in total left to raise. We’re so close, sweet friends! I need to raise at least $802 of that this month in order to stay on track with the deadlines I’ve been given. I know we can do it! Feel free to click the donate button above or give through Venmo (@TaylorStamp) or Cashapp ($ButtercupMarie).
