It’s month 9 folks! That means after this blog, there are only two more ministry updates to send! This month has been kind of all over the place so far, so bear with me as this update may seem a bit spastic.
This month in Panama, we were partnering with a YWAM base near the town of David. They seem to be involved with a lot of different ministries and outreaches around the area, and they also have a large base that can hold multiple groups at a time. Our first week here, a YWAM Discipleship Training School group and their Leadership Training group was finishing up their last week of school. So we did a lot of cleaning and helping out the staff getting the base ready for their graduation day.
One day, we also drove around a neighborhood inviting kids to the basketball court to play and hear a bible story. It’s kinda funny to see and be a part of things in foreign countries that would in no way be appropriate back at home. I mean, we were literally in a big white van, driving around a neighborhood to round up kids. To be fair, we would yell out that we were with YWAM ministries and to meet us at the basketball courts, and this outreach was something the neighborhood is used to..but still. Anyways, we were able to play with the kids, teach them knockout, do some fun songs and games, and then give a bible lesson!
Another partnership we have gone to twice is the Ronald McDonald Children’s Home for kids with cancer. This facility is a place for the kids and moms to both stay and it is located close to a hospital. It provides the families with financial support so that the kids are able to receive treatments. Most of the families would not be able to receive any type of care if this facility was not available to them. Our first time there, we got to meet both the kids and their moms. My teammate Cae had balloon animals she made for the kids and it was so fun to see their faces light up with excitement. I was able to spend time with the moms just getting to know them, encourage them, and to pray over them.
Our second trip there was a bit different. The country wide donation drive to raise money for the houses was coming up so we helped out with painting signs for them to use during the event!
The second week here was vastly different. We were told a group of 23 was coming and that we would be going about 3 hours away to an Ngabe village up in the mountains. So we cleaned and prepped the rooms the team would stay in and moved to a little more snug room ourselves.
They arrived one evening and we were off the next morning! Immediately, we were super excited to work alongside and serve this new team. They are a ministry called Face It! from Louisiana and not five minutes after arriving, their pastor Steve had introduced himself to myself and a few others, learned all our names, and had shared the story of this ministry and how it came about.
To describe this group in a word: welcoming.
At the Ngäbe village, we lived at a school that was on holiday. I slept in my tent (FINALLY) while others hammocked and the rest were on air pads in the open air classrooms. My team’s purpose was to serve as part of the YWAM staff. So we would wake up at 5 to start on breakfast, clean up, prep lunch, clean up, prep dinner, and then you’ll never guess..clean up. It was honestly kinda fun. It provided time for good conversation with both my teammates and our YWAM host Debbie who was in charge of the kitchen for the week. Where we stayed had no running water or appliances so all our meals were cooked over a fire. We boiled coffee in a large pot and scooped it into the large thermos every morning and all the leftover food we had was either given as scraps to the nearby chickens or wild dogs, or driven a half hour away (this was done after every meal by our host Debbie) and given out to the community there. It was really special to see just how intentional and involved every part of this outing was.
While there, the Face It! team did both a VBS for the kids in the area and also part of their fundraising went towards buying the supplies for and then they built a house for a family that didn’t have one. Once kids knew we were at the school, they would hang out there all day long. Some kids would literally walk 30 minutes just to see us. Most of the kids didn’t even speak Spanish but their own tribe language so communication was difficult to say the least. But if I’ve learned anything on the race, it’s that you really don’t need to speak the same language to show love. One day while it was raining, I was walking past three girls sitting down when they grabbed my hand to get me to stop. I literally stood with them for at least an hour just laughing and hanging out without using any words.
All in all, it was a really special week with some really special people.
Now we just ended our last week here partnering with another team that’s here from Nicaragua and some friends we made at church!
On Tuesday, we went to a different group of the Ngäbe Tribe in Soloy. They hold church on Tuesday nights so we attended the service then helped distribute food to the community afterwards.
On Wednesday Morning, we joined the Nicaragua team at a home for the elderly. They had some songs and skit prepared that we joined along with. And then the rest of the time we just hung out with the individuals there. This might be a bold statement, but for me, that was the hardest time I have had with the language barrier. The women I spoke with was the most kind, and I wanted to say so much and understand all she was telling me. I sat there painting her nails just wishing I could communicate. One girl near me was able to translate a tiny bit but not very much at all. Eventually we blew up some balloons and had the most fun just hitting them around and targeting people nearby with a sneak attack. Honestly, I haven’t laughed that much in a while!
In the afternoon, we went to a baby home. Many of my teammates hung out with the babies just holding them and taking care of them. I was with a different group cleaning, moving boxes of food, and organizing it. Again, that was a hard place to be at. All the workers there are amazing and they care so much for the babies. The whole time we were there we never saw a single worker slow down. But there’s just not enough help really. They had about 3 workers to take care of 50 babies.
On Thursday, we went to an orphanage where we did some songs, skits, and played games with the kids. Well in reality, the Nicaragua team led dances that we tried to follow along with and put on some skits that made you tear up they were so funny. That has been the cool thing about this month. We have had the opportunity to work alongside many different teams from all over the world. It’s been refreshing and eye opening to see how different mission organizations operate and to get activity ideas from each other!
One night we also held an English lesson for the local teenagers on the base.
And that just leaves Friday which was our last day of ministry where we spent the morning evangelizing in the town of Boquette!
Sunday we took a bus to Panama City to spend some time there before flying into Colombia on Thursday morning!
Thank you for all the continued support and prayers!
