Hey Everyone,
I realized I haven’t posted a blog in a while so I wanted to catch you up with what we have been doing here in Chiriqui, Panama! Since August 13th, my team and I have been living at a YWAM (Youth With A Mission) base here in Panama. We were also combined with another team from our squad so there were 14 of us World Racers here at the base. The base is pretty awesome!
Living Arrangments
In our room there are 6 bunk beds so I live with 11 other girls (all of them being from my squad). We get to enjoy hot showers. Thankfully, our meals are prepared for us each day. For every meal we rotate helping prep and cook. The team also rotates kitchen clean up and cleaning the bathrooms each day. The base also has a quaint little library, washers and dryers, a volleyball court, and plenty of trees to hang your hammock. As far as ministry, we have kept ourselves busy doing a number of different things…
Bible Distributions–
Our host had taken us to a few different neighborhoods and we walked around with our hands full of bibles and passed them out. It was a lot like prayer walking too. We had opportunities to pray for each person that we met. We got to experience a lot of healing of hearts and physical bodies! Other times, for people who weren’t home, we would wrap up a bible in a plastic bag and leave it on the porch.
Children’s Cancer Center–
This was a really neat opportunity where our team got to spend time with children at a house for kids who are undergoing cancer. Every time we visited them we would have songs and a skit prepared. Their favorite things to do with us was bowling, coloring, reading, and they loved magic tricks!
The Village–
Twice, we were able to visit a village up in the mountains. It was really amazing. The kids loved having us around. They were jumping, laughing, and hugging us constantly. They really enjoyed learning how to play Duck-Duck-Goose, throwing the frisbee around, kicking the soccer ball, and learning new songs! I saw so much love and joy from these kiddos. It was precious!
Orpahange–
This was a great place to be able to love on some children. From what I understand, most of the children there at the have parents but the parents aren’t able to take care of them due to different circumstances. The orphanage creates a safe environment for the kids to grow up and provides them with food and a place to live. When we visited, our group would bring out the plastic bowling set, nailpolish, and beads. I’d say they received a lot of joy by going around and painting all of our fingers and toes!
English Class-
Our team was in charge of teaching English to the people who are living here on the base. It was a time to get together and just have some fun doing interactive games that also helped them practice their English.
Bible Study– For the kids living on the base, we taught a bible lesson and usually opened up some discussion between eachother in the group and always ended with a game or two.
Feeding Center– This was our first ministry opportunity that we only got to do once. We were asked to come spend time with some children at a feeding center. Our team put together a skit, some dances, and we had a big enough group that we played musical chairs and the kids had a blast! Afterwards, we served them crackers and juice and had some free time just to dance, be silly, and make them laugh.
Nursing Home– Though we only did this ministry once, it was actually quiet relaxing. Our team went to a nursing home and performed a skit for a room of roughly 30 elderly men and women. We also sang a song for them in Spanish and then we spent time getting to know them through playing cards, dominoes, coloring, and painting the nails of the women.
Mechanics With A Mission– This was a fun project for me. We got our artistic skills out and painted the mechanic shop. It took a full day! We also painted the inside of the office which took half of a day. There was also a few of us that were on rock duty to break up boulders and move them out of the way.
Projects on the base– Some days, we would stay on the base and do projects around the house. This included weeding, dusting, sweeping, mopping, making note cards, and prepping for meals. We stepped into the space of doing whatever the host asked of us and being servant hearted.
…The time went by so fast, and we are now headed back to the Motherland! We have two connecting flights, one being in Ft. Lauderdale and the other being in Boston before heading to Spain for debrief. Our time here in Central America has come to an end. Please keep my squad and I in your prayers as we travel to Spain and then Africa! Month 4, here we come!
